Kino and Hermes stop in a town seemingly full of robots. Upon closer examination, however, they discover that there are people that live in this abandoned hamlet, but they are afraid of any human they come in contact with, save for one man who tells Kino the sad and tragic history of the town.

Kino runs across a group of men, traders they say, that have been stranded and snowed in for days in the mountains. Kino decides to help the men get back on their feet and finds them food, but when they finally recover and are able to free their truck, Kino learns the truth about them.

The end is coming, or so claim the inhabitants of the next town that Kino and Hermes visit. The good news for Kino, though, is that with the end coming by the next morning, everything is free. But when the world doesn't end, the local priests claim there was an error in the translation of the prophecy.

The tale of how Kino and Hermes first met each other is told. A traveler risks his life for the sake of Kino and Hermes.

Kino and Hermes find themselves in the company of a man who has worked for the railroad most of his life, shining the tracks without fail, as he had never been asked to stop. They then meet another who is tearing apart the same track, for the same reasons, and then another who is building the tracks for the same reason.

Kino has found her way into a city where a modernized form of gladiator combat is the norm, and the citizens' cheer with glee for the combatants. The winner becomes a citizen of the kingdom and gets the chance to make a new rule for the realm, and while Kino plans to surrender and be exiled, she changes her mind.