Dr. Roberts asks Dr. Sands to lend him his power to defeat the man who caused all of this. He tells her that he rejected the elemental's suggestion that she use her own power, but that the "miasma" is thicker than he thought it would be, and that if she doesn't cremate him, then the magic will not be able to tell him the truth about his father's death. He says that he finds it cruel that family members can't say their last goodbyes, even though they wish they could. He also says that if those who don't have magic power come close to him, they'll be killed. He thinks that the curse is so strong that even in death, one cannot escape it. He explains that the children in this chapter are from a village caught up in a recent conflict, and they're the same family as his father. They've been begging for him ever since he disappeared, and now he's dead. He asks if he can join them in prayer, but they refuse, saying that there's nothing to pray for now. They say that their father was an "upstanding knight" who protected the country, and he would have wanted them to say their goodbyes like this