Synopsis: Balsa, Chagum, Tanda and Torogai travel to Toumi Village as the warriors and Shuga pursue them.

Balsa meets up with Tanda, Chagum and Torogai at a temple. Tanda says to Balsa that he is worried that she’d be captured by someone from court. Torogai tells Balsa that she heard about what happened. They have no choice but to go directly to Toumi Village. Chagum tells Balsa that he’d like to return to the court just once and find out more about his brother but Balsa tells him she can’t let him go. She will explain later. Balsa says that shaking off their pursuers comes first.

Meanwhile, Shuga is discussing with the warriors. Shuga says that Chagum changed so much that he can easily be mistaken for a city bo, as if he had no intention to be found by someone from court. Jin enters and reports that he searched all over Lower Ougi but found no trace of the spear-wielder and the Prince.

Zen shows the package that Touya was supposed to deliver to Balsa. Judging from its contents, it seems as if Balsa and Chagum were going on a journey. The warriors believe that even before Balsa met Shuga, she was already planning to go somewhere. Jin says that based on the quantities of the items in the package, the trip will take three days. They cannot cross the Aogiri with just those goods but the warriors deduce that they will either head south via the Tonan Highway or travel into the mountains to the east. They wonder if Balsa will be heading to Rota or Sangal but it would be strange to head to the border with food supplies and besides, as Shuga says, there are many inns along the way.

Shuga decides that he will send a messenger to the Tonan Highway Checkpoint first, as finding the Prince on that route will be easier. As for the mountain to the east, Shuga wonders why Balsa would head there. The mountains are not as tall as Aogiri but it is covered by primeval forests. There are only Yakue settlements there.

Shuga then realizes that Balsa might be going to a Yakue village. Shuga found it strange that Balsa, being from Kanbal, knew more about the water spirit than he does. He thinks Balsa must have gained knowledge from the Yakue. Zen also points out that near the place where they first fought the spear-wielder, there was a Yakue settlement, the Yashiro Village. If Balsa is heading there, she wouldn’t have made much preparations and even if she goes further in that direction, it would be hard to believe that Balsa and the Prince would continue to the original destination now that they know they’ve been discovered. Shuga, however, says that he will account for that possibility. He will instruct that security at the border checkpoints for Sangal and Rota to be strengthened.

Mon, the leader asks if it would be wise to mobilize an army to check all highways in and out of Kousenkyou. Shuga replies that it will take too much time and besides, he cannot help but feel that he and the bodyguard are thinking along the same lines. Shuga thinks that Balsa could also be searching for knowledge.

Meanwhile, Balsa and her party are continuing their journey. Chagum falls and Tanda offers to carry him on his back but Balsa says that if Tanda will carry Chagum, who will carry Tanda’s luggagge. Chagum then says that he will walk on his own but he asks Balsa about the “reason” and the egg inside him and why it is more important than his brother’s death. Balsa tells him that they don’t have time for it at the moment. Torogai interrupts them and says that she thinks she’s lost.

They find a cave and they stay there for the night. Balsa tells Tanda what Touya did to warn her. Tanda then says that it must be a long time since Torogai last went to Toumi. Balsa tells him that Torogai was just being considerate of Chagum (that was why Torogai said she was lost so they could rest). Tanda says that he’s only been to Toumi once but he doesn’t remember the way anymore. His uncle took him there when he was younger than Chagum. Tanda narrates that her grandmother on her mother’s side came from Toumi Village. When she got married, she left Toumi to live with his grandfather but she and his grandfather returned after. Balsa asks if they are well. Tanda replies he’s not sure. They might be dead already.

Tanda then asks Balsa how she is going to tell Chagum about the Egg-eater. Balsa says it would be difficult, especially since Chagum’s brother has just passed away. Tanda suggests that maybe they can wait until things calm down a little but Balsa says that they will have to tell him at some point. Balsa then says that once they reach Toumi and find a way of dealing with the Egg-eater, she will tell Chagum.

Torogai arrives and she tells Balsa and Tanda that she found the way. She also brings come food with her.

The following day, Shuga and Mon are trying to find where Balsa went. They learn from some bum at a temple that a spear-wielder and a child passed by. A Yakue man and an old woman was with them.

Two of the warriors arrive. They report that they received a smoke signal from Zen and Yun. It appears that Balsa did not stop by Tokal Village. Taga and Sun, who were checking the other settlements, also sent the same signal. So among the Yakue settlements they inspected, only Toumi is left. Shuga states that Toumi is one of the remaining villages where the old Yakue lifestyle continues. He then tells Mon that he will go first. The leader tells him that from where they are, Toumi is difficult on horseback, even on foot. He says that he and Jin will go first and Shuga and the rest will join them after. Shuga agrees but he instructs the warriors not to take any action until he arrives. Shuga says that there is something he wants to ask Balsa personally. Mon gives him his word.

Balsa and her party continue to travel. Torogai seems to have discovered a shortcut that will enable them to gain half a day. Rain falls and they find a shelter.

Mon and Jin arrive to the cave where Balsa and the others stayed the previous night. Though there are no traces of them being there, the warriors find it suspicious.

Balsa catches a bird and Torogai comments that they will have something decent to eat for the first time in two days. Tanda asks Chagum if he is starving but Chagum does not reply. Balsa then senses that someone is close by. She rushes off to the direction of the sound and finds a girl who slipped on the ground.

Balsa asks the girl if she lives near the place. Torogai and Tanda come. The girl seems to recognize him. The girl leads them to the village. She explains that Tanda’s grandfather took care of her family that’s why he recognized him.

Up ahead, bird skeletons are hung over the village entrance. The girl jumps and touches the bones with her forehead. Torogai explains that it is a charm. One shakes the bones of the nahji strung on the rope to ward off demons. Chagum says that he saw something like it in the Yogo villages. Tanda says that it is an example of Yogo people copying Yakue customs and that hanging the skeleton at the village entrance is the correct way to do it. They then enter and Chagum touches the bones with his forehead too.

The Yakue who live in Toumi were amazed to see the visitors. The villagers gather around them, they seem to be curious about Balsa and Chagum. An old man named Souya comes and introduces himself as the village chief. He says that it’s been years since they had visitors from outside the village. He then asks Tanda if he is the grandchild of Kunda since he looks just like him. The village chief then tells Tanda that his grandfather passed away two years ago.

Tanda expains that they came not to visit his grandfather but to seek the Yakue’s ancient wisdom. He tells the village chief that they would like to hear about the Nyunga Ro Chaga. The village chief then invites the visitors to come to his house.

After they had settled, the old man asks why they came all the way to ask about something that happened long ago. Torogai explains that if possible they would like to talk to the storyteller about the Nyunga Ro Im’s last succession that happened a hundred years ago. Souya tells them that his father’s older brother, who died young, was a Nyunga Ro Chaga. His grandmother, however, would experience grief everytime she would tell the story so the village chief tells Torogai and the others that he no longer remembers much of the details. Not only that, his mother, the last storyteller, passed away the previous year so there is hardly anyone in the village who can tell about the Nyunga Ro Chaga in detail. Balsa asks why the village chief allowed the tradition to disappear. The village chief replies that the storyteller’s training is harsh. At a young age, the trainee is made to memorize thousand of stories from morning till night. The village chief thinks it’s too cruel so he decided not to appoint a successor and besides, there is the Official Founding History. Torogai and the others are disappointed.

The girl who led them to the village seems to be related to the village chief. She speaks up and says that she heard about the Nyunga Ro Chaga from her grandmother. Balsa asks her to tell them what her grandmother said.

The girl narrates that according to her grandmother, the Nyunga Ro Im’s egg suddenly appeared in his great-grandfather’s brother. The Nyunga Ro Im is a spirit that lives deep underwater in Nayug. It looks like a large shell. The life force it expels from its mouth turns into clouds in Sagu. These clouds create rain. Every hundred years, the Nyunga Ro Im lays an egg and dies. When that happens, clouds disappear from the sky and a drought begins. That’s why since ancient times, the Yakue have carefully protected the Guardian of the Sacred Spirit so that the following spring, the Nyunga Ro Im will hatch safely from the egg. However, when it is time for the egg to hatch, the Guardian journeys alone to the Place of Celebration and never returns.

The girl continues that when the even day in springtime drew near, the Nyunga Ro Chaga left the village as though it were a migrating bird. The adult villagers followed him and they arrived at the source of the Aoyumi River, a large spring where the sig salua blooms. There, the Guardian of the Sacred Spirit began preparations to return the egg to Nayug. However, the La Lunga, which was also from Nayug, was there. It went after the Nyung Ro chaga and with large claws, unseen by humans, it ripped the Nyunga Ro Chaga in two before the villager’s eyes.

Chagum becomes frightened upon hearing the story. He panics and asks Balsa if he is going to die the same way. Chagum faints. The village elders asks who the boy is. Balsa tells him that he is the Nyunga Ro Chaga.

The warriors, meanwhile, have found the shortcut to Toumi village.

Anyway, this was a great episode with so many revelations. I love how Nahoko Uehashi has created the world where the story is set. Story aside, the backgrounds were simply breathtaking.

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