Chapter Summaries

Carlo helped Isaac lose the bidding on a ring from the Ghoul Cult, then revealed that he planned to steal it from the buyer. Carlo left the black market with a way to identify the buyer and stallholder as targets for the Joint Investigation Bureau.

• A stranger bid against Isaac for the ring, and Carlo drove the price up to forty pounds before dropping out, leaving the stranger to buy it for twenty pounds.
• The organizers collected Isaac and Carlo's lanterns as they left the black market, and Carlo explained that the lanterns showed they had paid admission.
• Carlo told Isaac they would retrieve the ring from the buyer, calling the planned theft an operation to check the buyer's water meter.
• Carlo argued that the buyer and stallholder had traded a Wonder connected to the Ghoul Cult, giving the Joint Investigation Bureau grounds to investigate them.
• Carlo said he had provoked the buyer and stallholder to make them easy to identify by their emotional reactions, then took out his dice.

Carlo used the buyer’s anger to track him to Sherwood’s villa, then took Isaac along to conduct an unofficial raid and search for the ring. After Isaac’s charm check persuaded the front door to open, Sherwood heard a sound from the living room while examining the ring alone.

• Carlo manifested threads linking him to the two people he had angered and followed the buyer’s thread to Sherwood’s villa.
• Carlo and Isaac put on hoods and tried several checks to open the locked door, until Isaac’s charm persuaded it to click open.
• Carlo and Isaac entered the villa and found Sherwood in his study examining the ring by gaslight.
• Sherwood considered whether the ring came from a deceased god and planned to have the master who told him about it inspect it.
• Sherwood heard a faint sound from the living room and froze, since he lived alone and no one should have been in the house.

Carlo and Isaac broke into Sherwood’s study, took the ring, and questioned him about its origins. After Sherwood revealed that a man called Bachelor had discussed the ring at occult gatherings, Carlo sensed that someone wanted Sherwood dead as a bullet approached.

• Sherwood heard voices outside his study, but two hooded robbers kicked in the door and disarmed him.
• Carlo demanded the ring and questioned Sherwood about why he had offered 20 pounds for it.
• Sherwood said he had learned about Morzul’s ring from Bachelor at a gathering for people interested in mystical matters, and described how an unseen organizer arranged the meetings.
• Carlo identified himself and Isaac as members of the Joint Investigation Bureau and demanded a statement about the ring and gatherings.
• Isaac’s surroundings froze when Carlo activated a Check Domain, and Carlo assessed whether Isaac could deflect an incoming bullet.

Isaac Lessing and Carlo defended Sherwood from a gunman and a Shroud-Wrapped Walking Corpse. Isaac disabled the corpse and dodged the gunman’s next shot, taking cover beside the window.

• Isaac used Carlo’s specially made sword-cane to deflect a bullet aimed through the study window, and Carlo dragged Sherwood out of the line of fire.
• A Shroud-Wrapped Walking Corpse climbed through the living room window and attacked Isaac with an axe.
• Isaac learned that the corpse’s treated wrappings resisted his sword, so he targeted its exposed joints and severed both arms.
• Isaac spotted the gunman outside the window and, after a successful check, dodged the incoming bullet and pressed himself against the wall.

Carlo and Isaac captured the gunman who attacked Sherwood and suspected the attack was connected to the ring Sherwood had bought. They went to find the ring’s seller, while Baker recalled how he had acquired the ring and sold it to the first man who brought it to his pawnshop.

• Carlo used a check to stop the fleeing gunman from escaping, and Isaac helped corner him until patrol officers arrived.
• Carlo identified himself as Schuster of Section Nine and told the officers to hold the gunman and Sherwood until the Joint Investigation Bureau took over.
• Carlo questioned Sherwood, who recalled hearing about Morzul’s ring and seeking a Relic of the gods, and Carlo suspected the ring had made him a target.
• Carlo and Isaac set out to find the seller, fearing he might be in danger or involved in the attack.
• Baker remembered that a month earlier a man had pawned the ring for ten pounds, claiming it belonged to the Ghoul Cult and could preserve youth by consuming corpses.
• Baker recalled that the man never returned to redeem the ring after half a month had passed.

The Joint Investigation Bureau used spirit-reading on Handel Baker’s corpse and learned how he had obtained and sold a cursed ring after it caused his mother-in-law’s death. At the meeting, Carlo noted that spirit-reading had not revealed what happened before Baker died, and a City Police Force inspector challenged the Bureau’s use of the technique.

• Baker’s mother-in-law wore the ring and died three days later, her body rapidly shriveled while the ring remained on her finger.
• Baker recognized the ring as an item from the Ghoul Cult and heard his father-in-law recall that she had grown energetic before dying after muttering “Morzul.”
• Baker secretly removed the ring, concealed the suspicious death from the church, and arranged a funeral at the house with a man posing as a priest.
• Baker sold the ring at the black market, warning buyers that it kept the wearer young but needed corpses to maintain the effect.
• Morris told the Joint Investigation Bureau meeting that its spirit-reading of Handel Baker’s corpse had revealed the ring’s history.
• Carlo pointed out that spirit-reading had not explained what happened before Baker died, and a City Police Force inspector asked why the Bureau had used the soul-desecrating technique.

At a joint meeting, the investigators discussed Handel Baker’s death, the ring, and the Foul Spirit’s unexplained disintegration. The Joint Investigation Bureau kept George Sherwood in protective custody despite pressure from the City Police Force, which was acting on behalf of Vista Industrial Bank.

• Morris explained that spirit communication revealed Baker had accepted the ring, given it to his mother-in-law, and later sold it, but the original pawner’s identity remained unknown.
• Carlo said he had the ring, while the inspector questioned the Bureau’s handling of evidence and Morris acknowledged signs of an intrusion where the Foul Spirit had disintegrated.
• Rano reported traces of a curse on Baker’s body and asked about George Sherwood, who refused to discuss the gathering until his lawyer arrived.
• The inspector said Vista Industrial Bank wanted Sherwood released so he could work, and offered City Police Force protection instead.
• Carlo challenged the inspector’s proposal because the attack on Sherwood involved a Shroud-Wrapped Walking Corpse, and Morris insisted Sherwood remain in Bureau custody.

Carlo and Isaac concluded that Jacob Hamil may have acted on his own rather than being hired by the Ghoul Cult, and went to question him. Carlo noticed that Hamil’s recent change in personality suggested someone else might be living in his body, then used a die to make him reveal his other name.

• Morris reported that Jacob Hamil had controlled the crudely made Shroud-Wrapped Walking Corpse, and that Hamil’s testimony about his employer was inconsistent.
• Isaac argued that Hamil may have targeted Sherwood himself to obtain the ring, and Carlo agreed to question him because Morris had assigned them no other work.
• Isaac told Carlo that the Foul Spirit had disintegrated in Bureau custody, and Carlo guessed that Patch had scratched it apart.
• Carlo and Isaac visited Jacob Hamil in cell three, where Hamil anxiously claimed he had been paid to scare Sherwood.
• Carlo pointed out that Hamil had changed from quiet to outgoing while seeming ignorant of common knowledge, and used a die to demand that Hamil reveal his other name.

Carlo exposed Hamil as Li Jiehao during an interrogation, and Li Jiehao recalled how he had transmigrated into Jacob Hamil’s body and tried to gain power through a ritual. His attempt to retrieve Morzul’s lost Holy Relic ended with him arrested, and the chapter left him facing questioning at the Joint Investigation Bureau.

• Carlo asked Hamil his name, and Hamil blurted out that he was Li Jiehao.
• Li Jiehao recalled dying after an all-night gaming session and waking in Jacob Hamil’s body in Vista.
• Li Jiehao learned about Jacob’s past and tried to improve his prospects by making a Shroud-Wrapped Walking Corpse.
• The walking corpse told Li Jiehao that Morzul had chosen him to retrieve a lost Holy Relic in Vista.
• Li Jiehao followed the corpse to a villa, where he encountered two masked robbers and was arrested.

Carlo revealed that he was a transmigrator and questioned Li Jiehao about the ring he had been sent to retrieve. The ring and the walking corpse’s orders suggested that the vanished god Morzul might still be active, leaving Carlo and Isaac wary of what was behind the relic.

• Carlo identified Li Jiehao as a transmigrator occupying Jacob Hamil’s body, then admitted that he was also from another world.
• Li Jiehao excitedly called Carlo a fellow countryman, but Carlo warned that they had no reason to trust each other and told him that speaking otherworldly languages could attract a dangerous hunter.
• Carlo questioned Li Jiehao about the ring, learning that a walking corpse had called it Morzul’s Holy Relic and ordered him to retrieve it.
• Carlo explained that Morzul was believed to have vanished and that rituals directed at Him were thought not to work anymore.
• Isaac realized that the walking corpse’s successful ritual and its orders meant Morzul might not be truly gone or might have become active again.

Carlo brought Li Jiehao out of detention on the condition that he work for him, and assigned Isaac to help the newcomer learn about their world. Li Jiehao joined Section Nine under the alias Jacob, while the mystery surrounding the ring and the force hunting transmigrators remained unresolved.

• Carlo questioned Li Jiehao about the ring and concluded that Handel Baker's death might not have been connected to the attempted theft.
• Carlo agreed to get Li Jiehao released if he followed his rules and worked for him.
• Carlo told Isaac that fewer than ten transmigrators were known to be alive and that an unknown force hunted them.
• Carlo brought Li Jiehao to Section Nine and told him to use the alias Jacob, warning that revealing his real name was dangerous.
• Li Jiehao recognized Isaac as the person who had fought the walking corpse, and Carlo asked Isaac to teach him about the world.

Isaac explained the continent’s history to Li Jiehao, from the early kingdoms and the Kaolose Empire to the Great Sunset and the War of the Churches. The empire still existed in name, but its capital and imperial bloodline were sealed behind fog, while three border grand dukes held limited power over the fractured territories, including the Western Territory around Vista.

• Isaac described the Era of the Ancestors and the Era of Kings, then explained how Kaolose conquered much of the continent and founded the empire’s line of emperors.
• Isaac recounted how Alexius ended the Great Rebellion, established the Kaolose Dynasty, organized the provinces, and granted autonomy to four border grand dukes.
• Isaac explained that a Northern Territory rebellion led to the abolition of its grand dukedom, leaving three border grand dukes by the time Julian the Mad King ascended the throne.
• Isaac told Li Jiehao that the Great Sunset sealed the imperial capital in fog, after which the War of the Churches and demigod battles shattered the continent’s order.
• Isaac explained that the empire remained in name only, with the three grand dukes governing temporarily, and that Vista was the seat of the Western Territory’s grand duke.

Li Jiehao learned how supernatural powers worked and signed on as a non-staff agent for Carlo’s agency. When he wrote his real name on a second form, strange personal details and attributes appeared on it.

• Carlo explained that churches told conflicting histories of the empire and that Lessing had omitted their disputed influence from his lessons.
• Carlo described three kinds of supernatural power: learned skills, divine gifts, and rare innate abilities, and suggested Li Jiehao might have a dormant seed after surviving Morzul’s ritual.
• Carlo offered Li Jiehao a non-staff agent contract paying two pounds a week, and Li Jiehao signed it as Jacob Hamil.
• Carlo gave Li Jiehao a second form and told him to write his real name, so Li Jiehao entered Li Jiehao despite his unease.
• The form filled in Li Jiehao’s age, gender, occupation, and attributes, identifying him as an 18-year-old male student and false believer.

Carlo explained Li Jiehao’s attributes, including his permanently increased spirit affinity and his poor judgment, then arranged for him to stay near the Joint Investigation Bureau. Carlo and Isaac accompanied Li Jiehao to his sealed room in Gray Pigeon Street, where he gathered a few belongings.

• Carlo told Li Jiehao that his physical stats were poor, his spirit affinity had permanently risen by two after Jacob Hamil’s ritual, and his sanity was stable despite his bad judgment.
• Carlo arranged to reimburse Li Jiehao’s lodging near the office and said he could eat at the Joint Investigation Bureau cafeteria.
• Carlo and Isaac accompanied Li Jiehao to Gray Pigeon Street to collect his belongings, warning him not to go alone.
• Carlo showed his credentials to a City Police Force officer, who let them enter Li Jiehao’s sealed room.
• Li Jiehao searched the room and packed notebooks, writing paper, clothes, and a few coins.

Li Jiehao retrieved his Chinese diary from a loose brick in the washroom, and Carlo warned him that writing in another world's language could attract the entity hunting transmigrators. When Li Jiehao briefly failed to recognize his own writing, Carlo explained it could be semantic satiation or a warning that the entity had noticed him, leaving Li Jiehao uncertain and frightened.

• Li Jiehao led Carlo and Isaac to the washroom and pulled his diary from a loose brick in the wall.
• Carlo read Li Jiehao's diary entries aloud, revealing his complaints about food, rent, work, and his hopes after gaining supernatural powers.
• Carlo warned Li Jiehao that writing in Chinese could be dangerous because the entity might track written language as well as speech.
• Li Jiehao briefly failed to recognize his own Chinese handwriting, then saw that the characters looked normal again.
• Carlo said the moment could be semantic satiation or a sign that the entity had noticed Li Jiehao, but he could not tell which.

Li Jiehao left his unsafe apartment and moved into a hotel near Carlo’s office, where Fenri would stay with him as protection. Carlo explained that a Wilderness predator hunted transmigrators and warned Li Jiehao to keep a low profile as he began reporting to the Joint Investigation Bureau.

• Li Jiehao packed his belongings and left Gray Pigeon Street with Carlo and Isaac, who explained how short-term rents fluctuated with demand.
• Carlo brought Li Jiehao to his office on Red Maple Street, where Li Jiehao met Fenri, Isaac’s aloof black dog.
• Carlo said Fenri would stay with Li Jiehao at a hotel for protection and claimed Fenri could handle the being that hunted transmigrators.
• Carlo explained that the hunter came from the Wilderness and was drawn to transmigrators who attracted attention, leaving Li Jiehao worried that he had already made himself conspicuous.
• Carlo arranged a week’s stay for Li Jiehao and told him to report to the Joint Investigation Bureau during the day and keep Fenri leashed outside.

Isaac learned that Edward Lessing had been a transmigrator who inspired Vista’s transformation with a vision of its future. Carlo explained that the city’s development diverged from Lessing’s ideal, leaving Isaac to reconsider his adoptive father’s life and legacy.

• Isaac asked Carlo why the creature hunted transmigrators, and Carlo said he could banish it but kept his method secret.
• Carlo told Isaac that a transmigrator who arrived about fifty years earlier had described a future for Vista that inspired Grand Duke Ogway and the city’s transformation.
• Carlo revealed that Lessing was the transmigrator who had inspired Vista’s development.
• Carlo explained that Vista’s railcars, parliament, and investigative bureau had emerged through compromises that made the city unlike Lessing’s vision.

Carlo Schuster wrote that he was leaving Vista after the church classified his case as blasphemy, reflecting on the city’s development and the way its social order reshaped his ideas. He left questioning whether he had changed Vista or merely accelerated its course, and described order as a vast, difficult-to-understand force.

• Carlo Schuster packed his belongings, donated books to the library, and prepared to leave Vista.
• Carlo visited the elevated railcar station and saw workers preparing a line that would open after his departure.
• Carlo imagined merchants using the railcars to move workers between cheap lodgings and factories, rather than for the broader public benefit he had intended.
• Carlo reflected on how his proposals had been received by scholars, merchants, officials, and priests, and questioned whether his ideas had changed Vista or only sped up its development.
• Carlo compared social order to a nearby Cthulhu, describing it as a deep sea whose currents could sweep people and cities beyond their intentions.

Edward Lessing wrote a long farewell letter reflecting on how order had changed him and Vista, and on the gods’ capacity to change. He planned to leave Vista and travel east to investigate the traces of the Great Sunset near the imperial capital.

• Edward Lessing wrote that order had drawn the Grand Duke and himself into compromises, and admitted that thirty years in Vista had changed him.
• Edward Lessing explained that he had turned to historical research and studied how the gods appeared after the Great Sunset.
• Edward Lessing noted that Vicania’s teachings had absorbed ideas of efficiency, progress, and order, and wondered whether the goddess herself had changed.
• Edward Lessing said he would leave Vista and travel east to search for traces of the Great Sunset near the imperial capital.
• Edward Lessing enclosed the key to his house at 122 Red Maple Street and ended the letter by asking for no reply.

Isaac read Edward Lessing’s letter and learned that the old house at 122 Red Maple Street had burned down, while Carlo gave him Lessing’s old key. Isaac and Carlo began investigating the ring’s life-draining power, but Baker’s death remained unexplained.

• Isaac read Lessing’s letter and asked Carlo about the former house at 122 Red Maple Street.
• Carlo explained that a fire had destroyed the old wooden houses and gave Isaac Lessing’s worn brass key as a keepsake.
• Carlo said he had kept Lessing’s letters in chronological order and hinted that his own longevity came from a secret method.
• Carlo explained that Spirit Vision had shown him the ring carried power like a fragment of a greater source.
• Isaac and Carlo theorized that the ring first used stored life force, then drained its wearer to replenish its power.
• Isaac asked whether the ring had caused Baker’s death, and Carlo said the connection still needed investigation because Baker had not worn it when he died.