At the entrance, they encounter the guardian who controls access to the island. The guardian recognizes Nauplion and the other traveler, but treats Boris differently. Boris is an outsider, and Moon Island is extremely distrustful of outsiders.
However, Boris has come to undertake the island's pilgrimage, so he is permitted to enter.
They pass through the entrance and Boris briefly sees something completely different from the beautiful island that is supposed to be there.
He sees ruins.
There are enormous standing pillars, no roofs, dust, barren ground, and traces that resemble footprints or tracks. Nauplion and the others tell Boris to remember what he has seen — and, at the same time, to forget it.
Nauplion then gives Boris the object/token necessary for him to see the island as it normally appears.
The barren ruins disappear.
Moon Island is revealed as a beautiful, inhabited place, with greenery, houses, and its own community.
Boris is brought before the island's religious authorities. Moon Island is governed through a religious system involving several priests, each associated with a particular discipline.
Nauplion is the Priest of the Sword.
Because Boris is an outsider who wishes to undertake the pilgrimage, he cannot simply enter Moon Island as an ordinary resident. He must follow the island's customs.
One of those customs concerns his identity.
Boris gives up his old name for the time being and is treated as the Nameless One, until the island gives him a proper name.
Before being settled into his lodging, Boris is also made aware that Moon Island has strict rules concerning swords.
Ordinary islanders cannot simply possess swords.
Boris, however, still has Winterer.
He keeps the legendary sword at his waist, hidden inside an old and unremarkable sheath. Boris has no intention of casually handing Winterer over to anyone.
After being given his lodging, Boris encounters several island children bullying another boy.
The boy is weak and timid, and the others are demanding that he hand over the shiny stones he possesses.
Boris intervenes.
The bullies quickly discover that the outsider they were dealing with is much stronger than they expected.
But then they notice the sword at Boris's waist.
This changes the situation completely.
Boris's possession of a sword is itself a violation of Moon Island's rules. Only the Sword Priest and his properly recognized apprentice are permitted to possess a sword.
The children report the incident.
Boris and the others are brought before the island's authorities at the town hall.
The bullies present their complaint against Boris, focusing on the fact that he is carrying a sword despite being an outsider.
The boy Boris rescued is also brought into the matter, and the children attempt to make him part of their accusation.
Boris does not simply submit.
He questions the islanders' treatment of him and points out that he is supposed to be a guest undertaking their pilgrimage.
The dispute becomes increasingly serious.
Then Nauplion arrives.
Nauplion reveals that Boris is his apprentice.
This shocks the people present.
Nauplion is the Priest of the Sword, and he has never taken an islander as his apprentice. Now he has chosen an outsider as his apprentice.
This changes the status of Boris's sword.
Boris is no longer merely an outsider illegally carrying a sword.
He is the apprentice of the Sword Priest.
The punishment for ordinary unauthorized sword possession is severe, involving the cutting of fingers, but Boris's newly revealed status means the accusation against him cannot be treated in the same way.
The immediate conflict is therefore settled.
Only after this confrontation is over does the boy Boris rescued approach him again.
Grateful that Boris intervened on his behalf, the boy takes Boris to the island's library.
This is Boris's first real connection with one of the island's ordinary inhabitants.
The library is modest and somewhat makeshift, but it is clearly precious to the people who maintain it.
The boy is particularly happy because Boris is the first person he has brought there.
The librarian is pleased by this and gives Boris a book as a token of his first visit.
For a moment, Boris's strange first day on Moon Island becomes unexpectedly peaceful.
But Boris's status has already changed.
He is no longer simply a nameless outsider.
He is now Nauplion's first apprentice.
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