This chapter's epigraph comes from a famous poem by the famous poet, Shmoo. Shmoo's poem is about a group of petty guards fighting each other in a battle of wits, and Shmoo is one of them. He tells the other guards that the mercy palace is their hiding place. The other guards think they're going to win when they attack first, but Shmoo reminds them that they can't beat Shmoo because Shmoo has so many tricks up his sleeve. He also tells the guards that he's going to fight Shmoo in a duel with them, and that Shmoo should stand up and kill Shmoo if he doesn't want Shmoo to be scolded by his master.