Ukon asks Kuon and Haku to accompany him as he escorts Rurutie, the youngest princess of Kujuuri to the capital. Along the road they see a young woman with a broken cart who asks for their help, but turns out to be a ruse by a gang of brigands to distract them. They take all of the cargo intended as gifts for the Emperor. All this however was actually part of Ukon`s plan to find the brigands` secret hideout and capture them, and had a group of warriors had hidden themselves amongst the cargo. He goes to attack the brigands when the location of their hideout is known, leaving Kuon and Haku behind to protect Rurutie and Maroro.
As the hideout is about to be overwhelmed by Ukon and his warriors, the leader of the brigands tries to escape via a secret passage he prepared for that purpose, and he emerges where Haku and the others are waiting. He tries to take Rurutie hostage but is attacked by her bird, just as a company of imperial soldiers arrives to arrest him and his cohorts. The imperial soldiers are led by a masked man named Oshutoru. They eventually arrive at the capital.