Contents
Chapter 48: Debts and Losses
Overview
Shae endures torture by the Faltas and trades minor informants for SN2 to keep Dudo alive. Hilo’s deal with Ayt flips the Matyos, enabling Vin’s sniper strike and Lott’s assault to rescue Shae and annihilate the Faltas cell. Afterward, Shae cannot tolerate jade, Dudo is permanently damaged, and Ayt quashes an immigration ban to cement the bargain.
Summary
Shae is tortured with a jade tub and rationed SN2 by a Faltas barukan crew demanding No Peak informants. To ease Dudo’s agony, Shae surrenders a few low-value White Rats, buying him brief relief while stalling and praying Hilo will find them. The interrogators press a mysterious “Euman Deal,” which Shae cannot place.
Hilo’s bargain with Ayt Mada flips the Matyos against the Faltas. In Leyolo, Vin Solunu sets up a long-range Perception shot as Lott Jin and a joint No Peak–Mountain team stage an assault. When the kidnappers receive word they’ve been sold out, their leader decides to kill Shae.
Vin fires, killing the captain through the wall. As panic erupts, No Peak and Mountain Green Bones smash in from front and back. A gangster tries to use Shae as a shield, but Lott cuts him down and frees her. The raiders secure the house; Shae learns Ayt aided the rescue.
In the aftermath, weeks of SN2 cure Shae’s Itches but leave her unable to tolerate jade; Dudo survives with severe psychological damage and will never wear green again. No Peak and the Mountain stay in Leyolo to wipe out dozens more Faltas leaders. Meanwhile, Ayt repays the bargain by defeating a proposed immigration ban, preserving Shotar–Kekon mobility prized by the Matyos.
Back in Janloon, Shae probes the “Euman Deal” but has no answers yet. Accepting her changed limits, she resolves to continue as Weather Man, focusing on rebuilding No Peak and guiding Kekon despite the personal cost.
Who Appears
- Kaul Shaelinsan (Shae)Weather Man; tortured by Faltas, trades minor informants to keep Dudo alive; rescued; cannot tolerate jade afterward; recommits to her post.
- Lott JinHorn of No Peak; leads the assault that frees Shae and eliminates the Faltas kidnappers.
- Vin SolunuNo Peak sniper; executes a crucial long-range Perception shot that initiates the rescue.
- Hilo KaulPillar; strikes a deal with Ayt to flip the Matyos, enabling Shae’s rescue; later discusses political fallout with Shae.
- Ayt MadaMountain Pillar; cooperates in betraying the Faltas and defeats an immigration ban to secure Matyos support.
- Dudo LimNo Peak Fist; tortured alongside Shae; survives due to SN2 but is left psychologically broken and jade-ineligible.
- Wen Kaul-jenPillarman; later visits Dudo’s family regularly; her earlier capture spurred the search.
- Anden EmeryClan doctor; treats Shae, explains her post-Itches jade intolerance as largely psychological.
- Woon PapidonShae’s husband; his presence underscores Shae’s post-trauma sensitivity to nearby jade.
- Koben Tin BettCouncilwoman; supporter of the failed immigration ban, undercut by Ayt’s intervention.