This chapter opens with a flashback to the beginning of the previous chapter, in which Nemo explains that he has come to the city of Edolas because he wants to return to the guild. He tells Nemo that he will not be able to do so if he takes him any farther than the city. He also tells him that if he goes any further than that, he will be unable to return. Nemo asks if he is really the Nemo he saw in the previous scene, and he replies that he is. He then asks if Nemo wants to perform the mirror act on him. Nemo says that he does not want to do it, because it would be too much for him. When Nemo asks him if he would like to be nicer to him, he replies, "I'm happy, and this is, and I'm from earth land, huh, what's you buttering up for?" He then goes on to say that the city has been transformed into a "lacrima" , and that the entire royal army has been taken over by the king. He says that the king has turned the city into "a pleasure town," and that he expected it to be run down. He adds that the people of the city have produced a ten-year period of prosperity, during which no one has been able to take away their nation's power.