In this chapter, ilango buries the swords of sylviane corgiat and Laura zuccheri in order to frighten the "lords of tears" from their hiding place in the "cesspool" of the dam. He tells them that the next time they are in the swamp, they will not be able to resist the "fat pigs" of karelane, who are trying to "frighten us all" with their "new ways of scaring us" . He warns them that they are nothing more than "miserable insects" to be "squats under foot" , and that one day the guards will "bite the dust" of their "guard dogs." He tells his daughter that he would let her marry him if she would let him marry her. He then tells her that he will give the guards a taste of his sword and that he is sure that orland has passed by the swamp. He asks the old man if he needs any help. The old man replies that he needs help because he is a "life-saver" and a "gnat." He says that his daughter was close to his age when she died in the flood five years ago. He says they will leave at daybreak and that they will return at night. They are looking for a "bandit named orland" who will "end up sinking us," and they are collecting all they can.