"Sit here for a while, and you'll hear pretty much all the hottest topics in town right now. Nari smiled and whispered in Ed's ear, "For these people whose tongues have been soaked in wine, 'Someone Else's Tale' is definitely better to drink than my bolognese." ”

- She brought him here so that he could get more news.

Ed finally understood, with gratitude and shame. That's what he's good at...... When did he forget?

The Nautilus never closes. As the night deepened, there were still people in and out of the tavern, and dozens of tables, even in front of the counter, were almost empty. The strange man didn't sit beside Ed for long, he staggered away, greeted those he knew warmly, and quietly rubbed enough of his drink, and then staggered out of the tavern.

He didn't even give his name...... And Wrigley doesn't seem to bother to mention it at all.

Ed watched his back disappear into the darkness outside the door, and was unconsciously stunned for a moment.

They sat until nearly midnight. The tavern was so noisy that almost everyone was yelling and trying to make their voices loud and try to overpower the others, though they were inevitably dizzy, and with Wrigley's sneering comments, they did quickly learn a lot about what had happened to Tonbuch in this short time.

The little king, Frederick Bofford, had left Lockburg more than half a month earlier for Odegar, the territory of the Count of Canso in the southwest, to begin his first tour from Bramburg - this was the news that Ed had received on the way. One with his full gear...... The young knight, who was also his only equipment, was in a country inn that was much smaller and more dilapidated but much warmer than the Nautilus. I was very excited to talk to them about the jousting tournament that would be held in Brancburg, and even the ordinary farmers were quite excited about it. After the war subsided, such a tour. It seemed beneficial to the little king who had just ascended the throne and to the country as a whole.

But in Stonebuch, the focus was entirely on something else – that it was his grandfather, Walter Carlos, and his uncle, Gard Carlos, who followed Frederick out of Lockburg, and Queen Moira, who was supposed to travel with him, stayed. It was never before in the history of Ruttgar that a woman was in charge of a newly stabilized country, but people were not too surprised, after all, Moira had a solid and powerful backing that had never been seen in Ruttger's history before, Scott Christus.

More than ten years ago. The priesthood of the god of water had proclaimed Ante Beaufort king since the civil war, and in return, the new temple of the god of water was built in great grandeur. Sage Felicity and Paladin Master Sean Freicher wielded more prestige and power than any other nobleman or lord in Stonebutch, and Ante was always respectful, at least on the surface...... But even then. Nor has the connection between kingship and divine power ever been so close.

Ed choked on his windpipe when he heard the bizarre news that Queen Moira was about to marry Scott. Coughed so much that he almost died.

Outside of Stonebuge, probably no one would dare to talk about this kind of topic so brazenly. Ed had been astonished to discover that, as the city most directly under the rule of the king, the people of Ston Buchi had a strange lack of respect for any kind of authority. Whether it's a king, or a god...... It's a lot like ****** Neo, but the Neo people at least respect gold and mages, while the Stonebugs don't care about anything, even if it's to dispel the plague at Scott. After saving the whole city, a brief period of gratitude and worship. More suspicions quickly seeped in.

In recent times, Scott has been less and less visible. He's simply moved into Lockburg - and the news is evidenced by a former guard who had just been expelled from Lockburg.

Above the royal court, inside and outside Lockburg, the change of power was dizzyingly fast, and Scott didn't seem to bother to hide his influence on it all. While most of the changes have been applauded, the rapidly expanding power of the Temple of Nethers continues to raise suspicions.

Almost every topic ends up being related to Scott. Ed listened in amazement, unable to tell the difference between "Scott and Moira were originally lovers, which is why Scott was secretly killed by the jealous King Ante, and now justice has been proclaimed, and this great love has been blessed by the gods" and "Scott wanted to take the throne from the beginning - after all, he was a descendant of the ruler of the previous dynasty, and he approached Moira only to achieve his own ends, and although he was left by his relatives' protectors, the poor little king who lost his father probably won't live long"...... and more whimsical but exciting speculations, which one is closer to the truth...... or more acceptable.

It is not for nothing that Allen's face is getting gloomy day by day...... He told them so lightly that Ed mistakenly thought it was just some inconsequential gossip.

Maybe it's a good thing that I didn't meet Scott in the first place today...... Ed felt he needed a little time to digest this.

He knows very well that although half of what he hears in such a place is likely to be true, it is as real as a pile of fragments of a broken mosaic, and you need to reassemble these 'true news' with what you can really grasp, with your own understanding and judgment, in order to arrive at the final truth. But sit here and listen to the people you know and respect...... Listening to his family being talked about like this made him feel quite uncomfortable.

The wine grew bitterer and bitterer, and the sound in my ears began to turn into an indistinguishable cacophony. His head drooped until Naria patted the back of his hand gently.

"I think it's time for us to go. She said, "I'm sleepy." ”

She said it so naturally, as if it were true...... But Ed could see that she was in a much better spirit than he was. Her brown eyes were still awake, bright as if they had been washed with water.

He could only smile gratefully at such thoughtfulness, and politely bid Wrigley his farewell, though Wrigley didn't seem to like him very much.

Not far from the tavern, the silence of the night completely swallowed up the noise behind the half-open wooden door, but the sound of the Vinz water lapping against the reef from farther away was distinctly clear. They walked slowly along the gray robe alley, silent all the way, but at a certain moment, they suddenly looked at each other in unison-

They were tracked.

(To be continued.) )