A Legion patrol arrives to secure the scene after the deserter attack. Din Kol, blood-soaked and shaken by his first real fight, drifts into Suberek’s mill and sits in the dark, struggling with the memory of killing.

Captain Strovi returns with a lantern and pushes Din to treat the site like an investigation. Seeing Din’s shock, Strovi gently cleans the blood from Din’s face and insists Din wipe and sheathe his blade. When Din realizes the sword is not his—his practice wooden sword was lost—Strovi briefly laughs at the absurdity, cutting through the aftermath.

After Strovi leaves to handle the bodies, Din searches the mill for records that might identify who placed a large fernpaper order after the Engineers’ poisoning, or for clues about Yonas Suberek’s whereabouts. The mill looks lived-in but solitary; Din finds no documents, only tools, a cot, and basic provisions.

Following an overwhelming stench and swarming blackflies, Din discovers a hatch and climbs down into the basement. There he finds a seated corpse, heavily fly-covered: a broad-shouldered man with a small dark hole at the base of the skull, matching the drilled wound Din saw on Rona Aristan. Din identifies the dead man as Yonas Suberek and finds nothing else of evidentiary value.

Miljin calls down from the hatch and confirms he cannot fit into the basement. Din reports the drilled head wound; Miljin immediately connects it to the earlier murder and notes Strovi’s report that Din killed multiple deserters by “remembering” his training. With the broader investigation crew arriving, Miljin urges Din to come up to face the coming questions.