One month earlier, Tachibana tried to stop the wolf from running away, but the wolf was too scared to stop him. The wolf and his companion, hagiri, have come to apologize to the people who have been harmed by the wolf's actions. They have brought medicinal herbs, which are poisonous, and they apologize for everything, since they are the ones who caused the trouble. They also apologize for not being able to join the wolf pack when he was a pup, because he "soiled of death" and no one would let him join the pack again. They will come back the next day to tell the rest of the story.