Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses rape, child sexual abuse and violence.

Villagers in Leiyang take gratuitous vengeance on Mugenese collaborators. Venka arrives in Leiyang, having fled the North when her cover was almost blown. She tells Kitay and Rin that Nezha has been ill for weeks. Kitay and Rin don’t tell Venka about the letter from Kesegi.

An old woman tries to sell two young girls to Rin. She heard the army was taking women and assumed it was as forced sex workers. Rin sends the woman away to free the sisters and asks if they want to join the army. The oldest, Pipaji, says that her sister Jiuto doesn’t talk, but agrees.

They arrive in Tikany two weeks later to find the Federation gone. Kitay oversees the survivors’ care while Rin walks to her old neighborhood. She sees no signs of her former teacher, Tutor Feyrik, in his house and begins to cry, but the specter of Altan in her head scolds her until her emotions harden.

Rin finds Venka with the girls who’d survived forced sex work. Venka loses her temper and hits a girl who refuses to eat. She tells Rin that the girls need to strengthen up to survive.