In this chapter, we meet the narrator of the previous chapter, who has just returned from the challenger finals of the All Japan Karuta Association. The narrator tells us that he was hoping that the Shiranami club would win the tournament, but that he is disappointed that the tournament has already been won by the queen. He says that it is a joy to be able to focus on only the queen candidates, and that he will be reciting round two of the tournament the next day. He tells the narrator that both the queen and the master candidates do not care what they look like, and he hopes that he would have won if he had been in the tournament. He adds that he has lost many times in the past because of the way that he recites, and now he is tired of it. He asks the narrator if he would like to eat some food, and the narrator replies that he does not. He then asks him where he is going, and when the narrator tells him that he said he would go for a walk, the narrator says that he did not want to go because he was afraid that he might be lost.