Slupor’s false report of his own capture was a deliberate attempt to strip Tiuri and Piak of their protection. By taking on false identities and announcing that the supposed murderer had been caught, he induced the toll lord’s attendants to abandon the travelers; the scheme exposed how much of the journey’s danger came not from open confrontation but from manufactured information and misplaced trust.

Context and Objective

At the Rainbow River, Tiuri and Piak had been left in the care of attendants connected to the toll lord. Slupor later explained that he saw the pair while they were detained by the toll lord and recognized an opportunity to separate them from their escort. His purpose was not simply to mislead the authorities: he wanted the travelers alone and unprotected, making them easier to pursue.

The false capture report also served a larger assignment. Slupor admitted that he had been acting on the orders of the Black Knight with the Red Shield. He would not identify his master to the bailiff, but his admission places the deception within the effort to obstruct Tiuri’s mission. The ruse was therefore both an individual pursuit tactic and part of a broader attempt to prevent the travelers from continuing safely.

How the Deception Worked

Slupor described using two disguises. First, he posed as a shepherd who had supposedly ridden away on the murderer’s horse. Then he appeared as a messenger bringing Knight Iwijn news that the murderer had been captured. The second impersonation gave the false story an official-sounding destination and purpose: it was presented as information Knight Iwijn needed, rather than as a rumor from an unknown passerby.

The claim succeeded in drawing away the toll lord’s attendants, who returned instead of continuing to escort Tiuri and Piak. Slupor’s admission makes the causal chain explicit: he wanted their protection withdrawn, and the invented report brought that about. His remark that Dangria was in turmoil further suggests that the deception was part of a wider disturbance, although he distinguished the portion he had arranged through others from the rest of what he had done himself.

Exposure and Pursuit

The falsehood began to unravel when Warmin, a guard from the Rainbow River toll station, arrived with a confused account. He reported that a messenger had told Knight Iwijn that Slupor was captured, even though Slupor was in fact waiting for Tiuri and Piak. Piak immediately recognized the contradiction: a messenger could not truthfully report Slupor’s capture while Slupor was still present to pursue them. The discrepancy turned the earlier report from apparent news into evidence of a deliberate trick.

Slupor later supplied the explanation himself. After admitting that he had manipulated events to get the attendants to leave, he described continuing the pursuit. He waited ahead of the travelers disguised as a poor old beggar, hoping their compassion would make them vulnerable. He said that people in the fields made a daylight attack undesirable, and that a farmer’s locked doors and barking dog frustrated him when Tiuri and Piak stayed overnight. Those setbacks did not end his pursuit: he rode ahead again and waited for another chance.

Consequences and Significance

Warmin’s account prompted the king to send him back to the toll lord before sunrise. Later, Slupor was summoned to explain what he knew, and his own account confirmed the purpose of the false report. The episode thus moves from deception, to a small but decisive contradiction noticed by Piak, to an admission that reveals both Slupor’s method and his assignment. The travelers’ vulnerability was not accidental: it had been arranged by a false story that made their protectors leave.

Slupor treated compassion as a weakness to exploit, condemning Tiuri and Piak for pitying a supposed beggar. Yet his confession also clarifies the limits of his scheme: although he succeeded in isolating them, the delays and obstacles he describes prevented him from completing his pursuit as planned. The episode makes information itself a weapon in the journey. A fabricated message can move armed attendants away as effectively as force, while attention to a contradiction can expose the hand behind it.