Din Kol goes late to the post station at Daretana’s edge, noticing the Fisher’s Hook marking the month’s change. Postmaster Stephinos—still on duty—takes Ana Dolabra’s letter and hands Din his monthly dispensation so Din can forward his pay home. Din jokes about briefly feeling “rich,” then gives it back, and Stephinos praises Din’s careful addressing.

Uneasy from Ana’s quake instrument warning of a distant leviathan, Din asks Stephinos whether the coming wet season might be “good.” Stephinos rejects the idea and points Din to signs of preparation: churned mud, increased horses, stone, and crates of bombards heading east—evidence the Empire expects hard fighting at the sea walls.

Stephinos then quietly warns Din to take a back route to his quarters because Captain Alixos Thalamis of the Apothetikals came looking for Din about what happened at the Haza estate. Din follows the advice, reflecting on how life in the Outer Rim is shaped by constant leviathan fear and on Din’s goal of earning enough to move Din’s family inward, farther from the coast.

Despite Din’s caution, Thalamis is waiting at the entrance to the apprentices’ quarters and confronts Din aggressively. Thalamis berates Din for “formal complaints” from powerful people—implied to be the Hazas—about Din detaining and questioning Haza staff, then leans on his authority over altered organisms and Din’s pending final approval.

Thalamis demands Din reveal everything about the investigation and Ana’s plans, but Din refuses, citing Iudex policy and clarifying Thalamis is no longer Din’s commanding officer. Thalamis threatens to expose Din as a cheater who never deserved the engraver posting, promises punishment and career ruin, and suggests the Hazas might get Din’s apprenticeship terminated. After Thalamis leaves, Din suspects Thalamis is working for the Hazas, realizes the corruption around the case may be wider than Din thought, and goes to bed planning to learn more tomorrow.