Part III New Babel — Chapter Eleven

Senlin begins secretly tutoring Iren to read, hoping to earn her loyalty for a future crew. Despite her frustration and volatile outbursts, her determination speeds her progress. In return, Iren trains Senlin to fight, repeatedly flooring him while offering blunt corrections. Their bruising routine, cheered by dockworkers, slowly builds mutual respect.

While Senlin refines his reflexes and discipline, he studies the winds to plot an escape. Using homemade kites at dawn, he maps currents around the Tower’s facade. After many failures, he finds a narrow updraft feeding into a westbound current created by a shallow depression in the stone—dangerous to reach but a viable exit path.

Adam, meanwhile, is consumed by Rodion’s escalating attempts to sell Voleta into marriage, buying delays he can no longer afford. He doubts Iren’s loyalty and the feasibility of escape, but Senlin vows to intervene and presses on with the plan.

Finn Goll arrives unannounced, exposing Iren’s new literacy and condemning Senlin’s “meddling.” To test Iren’s loyalty, Goll orders her—via a written note—to strike Senlin, which she does brutally. Goll warns he won’t protect Senlin from the Commissioner or the Red Hand. Reeling, Senlin concludes Goll didn’t tip off the assassin. As Iren departs, her displeasure suggests the ordeal has pushed her closer to Senlin’s side.