The summer rain always comes suddenly. In the blink of an eye, the thin rain turned into a bean-sized raindrop, and the stone slammed down on the black feathers.

The crow instinctively let out a cry of discontent and struggled through the rain curtain. Ston Buch on a rainy night was blurred like a charcoal drawing blurred by water under its wings, and there was a faint hint of decay in the darkness.

This city, which has only been built for 200 years, seems to be coming to an end.

The crow staggered to the west, making a strange trajectory in the air, its goal very clear - just for a moment, it would forget.

The temple of Nesses towered beyond the walls on the west side, and in the shadow of the three-storied tower, it looked as white as a skeleton. The crow rushed down, and in the dim light of the fire it could see the small courtyard surrounded by corridors, and a man in the corridor looked up as if sensing something, and his gaze was locked tightly on it through the rain.

The crow slammed into it.

It landed down the hallway, shook its body, lowered its head and combed its feathers, let out a warning cry as the man tried to get closer, flapping its wings and flying farther away.

It has forgotten why it came here.

- I guess I'm just here to take shelter from the rain.

The world in front of me swirled like a whirlpool, and it hurried away. Isis jerked his head up and took a step back in a daze, an inexplicable irritation rising in his heart.

He lost contact with the controlled crow the moment it stormed the courtyard...... The Temple of Nesses had some sort of magical protection, something that didn't exist at the time of his departure.

But at least...... He has seen what he wants to see.

"Kicked out?"

The crow's gloating voice seemed to add fuel to the fire at the moment, "I told you, if it were me, I wouldn't have used such a crude spell to do such a dangerous thing—you have to be glad that you are a dragon, do you know how many self-conscious little mages have become idiots because of such a failed attempt?...... Oh, no, little dragon, you've got to go back and let me see, if you get stupid, I'm not going to be able to get out of here...... Hey, little dragon?"

Iss glared back at her gloomily. He really wanted to freeze that mouth if he could—probably because it was so boring, the woman became more verbose day by day.

The mage leaned against the doorframe and looked at him with a smile, unconcerned. No matter how bad he was to her, she never seemed to be angry, just funny...... This makes Iss always more and more angry.

"Would you like to make a deal?" Raven asked him, "if you could lift the ban and let me go out for a walk, I could teleport you to Stonebutch and back again, and you could see for yourself if your friends and your dear brother were safe and sound, instead of going around here every day in a frenzy, looking like I wanted to set fire to the whole valley - if you didn't, I'd love to make this my castle." ”

She couldn't get out of the seemingly fragile wooden house, but Ise couldn't stop her from standing inside the door and sneering at him in the courtyard.

“...... Stop dreaming. ”

He threw her a cold word and squeezed past her with his head held high.

Entering the laboratory and slamming the door shut, his shoulders immediately collapsed, and he stood stunned for a few moments before reaching the large wooden table in the center of the room.

Mudian lay there quietly, looking like ...... A piece of wood.

Isis lowered his head to look at the expressionless wooden face, and his heart was indescribably sad. He really wanted to see for himself if Ed was safe...... Especially after getting the warning of that half-dragon. Distance wasn't a problem for him at all, he didn't need magic, he had wings, but he was afraid that once he got back to his friends, he would never be able to leave, and now ...... He can't get out of here - until he fulfills his promise.

Inglis died.

The old mage persevered until he returned from White Rock Island, but could no longer teach him anything.

For the last two days, he lay in bed and gasped for breath, without saying a word—no accusations, no warnings, no teachings.

He had already said what he had to say. It was Isz himself who gave up the time he had to learn more from him to do what he thought was more important.

Then, he could only sit there in a daze, full of remorse, and look at Inglis Neff, the light of life of the great mage could not resist the merciless devouring of time, and was irretrievably extinguished little by little.

The white crow had never entered the room, and only occasionally leaned against the door with a cold face, looking at Inglis's crumpled and gray face shrouded in the shadow of death, not knowing what to think. But when they make eye contact, Iss will be very embarrassed to feel that he is the superfluous one.

This time, Mudd collapsed completely the moment the old mage stopped breathing.

Isis already knows everything about this valley. If he can't bring Mudder back to life, the defenses of the Enshi Valley will be vulnerable, and once invaded, the wooden house will ...... Including the white crow trapped in it, it will be pulled into the space where the library is located, completely disappearing from this world, and can no longer be entered.

That was Inglis's last protection of the wealth he had created and accumulated throughout his life, though he preferred that one day it would be used by the right people and in the right way. Although he had told Is, if he had to choose to abandon this valley, renounce his oath...... It's not a big deal.

He said this with a calm and somewhat nonchalant voice, which made Iss particularly angry—a dragon would never break his oath, even if he became more aware that for some unknown reason, Inglis had intentionally tripped him here.

But he never tried to control Iss with his powerful spells, nor did he stop Iss from doing whatever he wanted.

So, now...... He couldn't leave.

He buried the old mage's body by the river, accompanied by the undying Ambition Flower and the gurgling water. Even if it was just to guard that humble grave, he couldn't just leave.

Mudder has a "soul" of his own, but if he can't connect with another living soul, it's like a rootless fire that can't burn at all.

The cabin had all the materials he needed, and resurrecting it would be a test of Is's patience like never before - it was extremely cumbersome, and there was no room for mistakes, otherwise, the damage to Iss would not have been very serious, but it could have completely destroyed Muod's original soul.

Of course, he can create a whole new Mud...... But how long will it take him to learn to make such a proper herbal tea?

(To be continued.) )