There was silence.

Time seemed to stand still for a long time, and then Naria grabbed Tess by the hand.

"Are you sure that's him?...... Is he okay? What does he look like? He ......."

When her voice began to tremble, she stopped and bit her lip.

"Oh, he's fine. Tess patted her hand comfortingly, "Awkward and violent, worthy of a dragon." ”

"You didn't tell me!!" Ed slammed the table with a look of grievance that made Tess feel a little guilty.

"Shut up!" said Naria, slapping his hand on the back of the head with great ease, suddenly realizing that Mrs. Vala-Singhal was sitting across from her, her face flushed suddenly, and her hands frozen in the air were awkwardly retracted.

"Please go on, Miss Shepard. Vala pretended not to see anything, "You say it'...... 'awkward and violent'?" I remember it...... Isis is a very quiet and obedient ...... Child. ”

Whether to treat Isis as a dragon or as a man seems to have made Mrs. Singer a little difficult.

"Please, ma'am, just call me Tess. Tess grimaced, and the sound of "Miss" made her feel uncomfortable, "Norway and I were just going to visit a friend who lives near Sword Lake......"

The elf had a faint smile on his face, but he felt a hint of regret for Ed. He didn't want to lie to his friends, but knowing that Ankland's presence wouldn't do anyone any good, and wouldn't help them in any way. The best thing to do is to let that secret continue to sleep in the dark, and no one will know about it again.

In Tess's colorful and dancing description, Norway notices Alan Carvo's rock-tough, expressionless face.

He seemed too calm, as if he already knew everything.

Nori lowered his eyes and sipped the golden wine in his glass, a subtle uneasiness passing through his heart.

He had heard many stories about Eren and his friends, and it was an enviable team of warriors besides Ellen, a mature and powerful warrior with the young and hot female mage Lydia, the courageous paladin Scott who never looked back, the mysterious half-elf priest Celebrian, the nimble and dexterous thief Niya, and the grumpy but unstoppable dwarven warrior Lagun...... They have created many legends in a short period of time, but they have quickly disappeared from the conversation.

Now he knew that Scott had disappeared from the Civil War nearly a decade earlier, and that Ed had told him about Keller Brien, that Allen had broken his leg, and that Lydia, Nia, and Ragan had ......

The abrupt dwarven skeleton in the chamber suddenly appeared in front of him.

The ice dragon clearly recognized the dwarf. And the only dwarf he could have known and appeared in that kind of place was probably only one - and that was Logan Türk.

The elf's heart sank sharply, and he involuntarily clenched his glass.

They've been there before. Alan and his companions, who discovered Ankeland before he did.

If Ragan dies there...... What exactly happened to them there?

When he looked up, Eren was quietly taking his eyes off him.

The elf couldn't help but want to smile bitterly. He seems to be the only one who has the secret.

Tess's story of cutting corners and adding fuel to the fire has come to an end, and Alan Caver hasn't said a word from beginning to end, not even the wrinkles on his face. But when he exchanged glances with Valla, Norway could still see the relief.

"Sounds ...... He is not evil. Vala's right hand unconsciously pressed against her chest. Traveling thousands of miles to find a dragon that might only see humans as food is a rather crazy venture, and Norway has always wondered how a mother like Vala could so easily agree to set her only son on the journey.

"I told you!" Ed writhed excitedly in his chair, "Iss is different!"

Nori glanced at him. There is a possibility that he has been hiding in his heart and has never spoken out to hit his young friend. He knew Ed's plan, and it sounded like love and hope, as if people would cheer for a good dragon - but the world was far from ready.

Now, he had to remind Ed: "You have to know, even if you can find Is...... There is no going back to the way things were. He's a dragon after all. You can convince him that you are still his friends, that he will not be feared and disgusted as long as it can be proven that he is not evil...... Instead, he could be killed, his kindness would be his greatest weakness, and he would probably have died at the hands of people before he was accepted. ”

"Then we will protect him. Naria said firmly, "Anyway, I won't leave him alone with this!"

Norway smiled. He knew from the beginning that the hope of these young friends was almost naïve, that it was almost impossible to realize, but that it was too beautiful to give up.

Alan listened quietly. He had consulted with Scott countless times about what they would do if Iss turned back into an ice dragon one day.

At worst, he is completely obedient to the dragon's nature, greedy, and ruthless, then one day he will harm humans and be hunted down to death by people. Rather than that, they would rather end his life with their own hands. If he still retains even a shred of humanity, they will stop him from harming or being harmed at all costs, even if it becomes the enemy of the whole world.

It was their responsibility, starting with their decision to protect the little boy who had broken out of the dragon's egg. More than once over the years he wondered how long he could last, more than once he sat in the dark, enduring self-blame and despair, and even resentment against the missing Scott.

That bastard kid, just inexplicably disappeared without a trace, leaving him alone to face it all.

And tonight, the young people sitting in this room are preparing to take on the burden that does not belong to them.

I have to say that the story that Tess and Norway brought to him was a little relieved, but it didn't make their task much easier. He believes in the steadfastness of Naria and Ed, while Norway and Tess ...... They were hiding something, but they didn't seem to have malicious intent, and their story was at least mostly true, which explained much of what he had gotten.

The team was far from good enough - no better team ever had - but when he looked around at the young and vivid faces, which had not yet been destroyed by time and the world, he felt a glimmer of hope, like the sun piercing the gloom.

"There's something you need to know. He spoke slowly, interrupting the growing but mostly naïve plan of "how to save a dragon," "First of all, you're not the only ones looking for Is. ”

"I know that the paladins of the water god have made it their most important task to find the ice dragon - because Isis has destroyed such a tiny corner of their temple. Ed gestured disdainfully with his fingers to create an extraordinarily small range, "And the adventurers...... Although I have to admit that it is a huge temptation for them to defeat an ice dragon, after all, there has been no dragon in this world for hundreds of years. ”

"To make matters worse, someone is secretly helping them. "Alan can't run around like he used to, he's lost his right leg and he's more or less still under surveillance, but that doesn't mean he's going to sit still.

"Ice dragons can fly above the clouds and land on the top of mountains, completely avoiding people's eyes and ears. But as long as he has been missing for more than a while, there will always be someone who will get the exact news and find Is, or at least the trail he left behind, and if it weren't for that, it would have been difficult for people to maintain such a frenzy for so long. It wasn't until he flew to the northern ice field that there was no more news, and even so, there were still people who had chased them to the ice fields at the risk of being driven and killed by the barbarians, and searched everywhere, but never found them. Legend has it that he went farther and colder than the ice fields - a sea of ice that even savages would not venture into. And once it reappears south of the ice sheet...... The story that Ed thought was a myth that the dwarves shot down an ice dragon was actually partly true. The dwarves of the Silver Tooth Mine were told that an ice dragon would come and plunder the gems they had just mined. The dwarves were suspicious of this, and out of caution, they strengthened the sentry at the top of the mountain, and they did shoot a few arrows as the ice dragon flew by. ”

"That may have been the news from the dead necromancer, who knew that Iss was following him and that the Silver Tooth Mountains were the way to go. Norway couldn't even ask the ice dragon why it was tracking the necromancer.

"Perhaps...... But now, you're not the only ones who know that Isis was in the Weeping Forest. Allen said.

"So, did you already know?" asked Naria, exasperated. She knew that Alan was still well-informed, but he always hid everything from her, and they quarreled and quarreled about it, but nothing changed.

She's not a child anymore, when will Eren find out, if he still stubbornly prevents her from finding Is......

Alan's calm voice rang in her ears: "...... If you want to find him before anyone else, I'm afraid you can't wait until next spring. ”

“...... Do you agree?" Narya's eyes widened, unable to believe her ears.

"I want you to know that this will be more difficult than you think, and that you may be dealing with not only paladins and adventurers, but also necromancers, and even more......" Alan looked at his daughter, who had a very similar appearance to her mother, but had the same eyes as when he was younger. He should have known that she would one day leave to create her own legend in this vast world.

"Yes, I agreed. "But whether you can find him or not, you have to make sure to come back by next fall." ”

Ed's big, silly smile made Tess want to slap him on the back of the head, but Naria just hung her head and didn't say a word until the others started discussing what needed to be prepared again, and she suddenly turned sideways and gave her father a short, soft hug.

When the night was dark, Vala had to drive the overly excited young people to rest, but Norway deliberately slowed down.

"Please stay, Norvi Sunstrider. ”

Allen's voice was completely expected by the elf: "I think we need to talk. ”