The morning mist swept under the silver-white wings, and small droplets of water glistened like gems on Ed's wet black hair. Mountains and forests stretched out to the horizon in front of his eyes, and the green was boundless, replacing the white and yellow of winter. There were only a few thin clouds in the clear blue sky, spread out like a veil, and the river Vinenz in the sun seemed to flow with gold, winding from the north, magnificent and calm.

Not many people in the world are fortunate enough to appreciate such a magnificent view, but Ed is only staring blankly in the powerlessness of his heart.

He rode on the neck of the ice dragon, his legs hanging wiltedly on his sides, and his entire upper body lazily lay forward on the cold and smooth scales, his hands resting on his hands, not wanting to move.

It's one thing to know you're useless, it's another to be explicitly said to your face as "untrustworthy...... He also used to be naïve enough to think that Sean had admitted him...... But what he admitted was apparently only Nio's choice, Felicity's instructions, and not Ed's "neither devout faith nor great power".

The most hurtful thing is that he can't refute every word Sean.

But he's been trying hard to learn anything that Sean tells him to learn...... He still remembered Felicity's words, "Trust Sean Fletcher, he will be the one to help you unconditionally." ”

He believed in Sean...... Sean didn't believe him, the young man who was still ignorant and ignorant under the name of the Sage.

- Who is to blame for this? After all, he is useless.

Ed let out a long sound. Moaning and groaning, he slammed his forehead into the ice dragon's scales again and again.

“...... Sit it down for me!" the ice dragon finally roared uncontrollably, "I let you fly around on my neck to convince those stupid humans that you 'tamed' me. and poured out under the radiance of thy unrivaled strength and holiness...... A puddle of mud has fart brilliance to speak of!"

"I didn't agree in the first place. Ed continued to slump there in a huff, "You didn't even ask me if I agreed!"

The ice dragon spewed a cloud of cold air from its nose and suddenly flipped over in mid-air without a sound.

Unprepared, Ed slammed headfirst down the Vinez River, a scream in his throat as the howling wind swept through his throat. He knew that Iss couldn't let him fall to his death, but as he watched the black reef on the riverbank approach rapidly, he instinctively began to dance with his hands, panicking in an attempt to slow down the fall.

Then the ice dragon's silver-white body took over his entire line of sight—and he fell on Is's back. It took two laps to stabilize his body, and he crawled back to his original position with his hands and feet.

"Still don't agree!" Ed angrily slapped the ice dragon on the neck, "Don't think that will scare me!"

But after all, he still didn't dare to continue lying there without an image.

The ice dragon snorted coldly. With a flick of his long tail, he turned in the other direction - the direction of Kriesburg.

As he watched the familiar castle on the cliff get closer and closer, Ed finally panicked.

"Wait, wait!" he grabbed the ice dragon by the horn and tried to break its head in the other direction. But the huge head didn't move at all.

"Don't go there. Is!" Ed pleaded in a panic, "Please, don't go now...... Or put me down and throw me wherever I want, and I can go back to the temple by myself!"

It's certainly not that he doesn't want to go home...... Sometimes he would even dream that he had returned to the old castle, running barefoot down the long corridors, and someone behind him would cry helplessly: "Ed Singall, stop me!"

- But he couldn't go back. Not now.

“...... Doesn't Vala know yet?" the ice dragon asked angrily, "how long do you think you can hide it?" let her learn from the others that her son has become some kind of hellish sage. That would only get worse. ”

"I know...... I know......" Ed scratched his chin with a bitter face, "but I haven't figured out how to tell her yet...... Tomorrow, tomorrow!"

"There's not much left of your 'tomorrow'. The ice dragon said casually, and then suddenly realized that this sentence seemed a little ominous, and couldn't help but close his mouth tightly.

Ten days later, on May Day, Sean chose the day to publicly announce Ed's identity, and he really didn't have much time left to tell Vala everything himself.

"It's not okay to run away from a problem instead of facing it. "It's old-fashioned, "You're not a kid anymore!"

Ed was listless and snorted twice in response.

The ice dragon turned around and flew across the river to the other side of the Vinez River, deliberately skimming slowly through the fields so that the panicked farmers could see the black-haired young man around its neck - was that enough? As a dragon unwilling to surrender to the gods, it really didn't know how to behave "tame" enough.

But it suspected that those who were just holding their heads and scurrying around didn't have time to see if it had a person riding around its neck.

“...... I think you just scared them out of the way. Ed didn't help at all, just smiling and gloating.

"Shut up!" the ice dragon roared in exasperation as it soared into the air.

When it flew back to Collins Square, it found that the paladins had fenced off enough space for it to land, and a pang of displeasure rose in its heart - if it landed inside, it would really be like a wild horse in captivity......

But after circling twice, it still managed to swallow its breath and landed in the fence, lowering its neck so that Ed could easily jump to the ground.

“...... It's too late to regret it. Ed whispered anticipatory encouragement in its ear.

The ice dragon glared at him fiercely, fell down with a thud, and simply closed his eyes.

"Ed!" Eric shouted as he hurried over, "you need to try on a new dress......

"Try again?!" Ed jumped, "When the hell will it be over! I'm not a girl going to the prom!

The ice dragon couldn't help but laugh sullenly, laughing so much that his entire huge body trembled.

"Hmm...... I didn't count that. Eric replied honestly.

Ed murmured, but shuffled after him.

The idle, ice dragon soon became a little drowsy. Sean allowed it to enter the temple in its human form - "Anything that will open for you, you can enter." - That's what he said, but honestly, it's not ...... The architecture that once imprisoned it was really not interested.

It tucked its head under its wings, rested its front pawns, and yawned lazily with its huge mouth. Even with its eyes closed, it could hear the sound of the paladin grinding against the armor as the paladin tensed his muscles from nervousness, which made it slightly proud.

The knights always hid themselves behind shiny armor, and the helmets that showed only their chins and a small part of their cheeks managed to obscure their expressions, making each one look blurred and indestructible, as if it were some kind of symbol, not a living person of flesh and blood. The ice dragon was a little curious about how they could tell who was who, and it seemed that they were almost all identical, protecting themselves with faith and armor, seemingly fearless...... There was still instinctive fear in the gaze cast at it.

Standing to its left was a young paladin, always sneaking into its gaze from time to time, and in addition to fear, there was a little more curiosity.

But another gaze ...... The familiar chill in it made the ice dragon wake up suddenly.

It opened one eye slightly, peering at the paladin to its right. From this angle, only the side of him can be seen, and the black beard covers his face......

The paladin glanced sideways at him quickly, his black eyes as heavy as eternal night.

-- That's Byee Jan.

The ice dragon closed his eyes, suddenly a little distraught. That fallen paladin...... Did he even risk sneaking back to the temple in order to kill it? he knew that no one would help him here, and that his former companions would only draw their swords against him mercilessly......

The hatred that had made it angry and disdainful was now a little overwhelmed.

It never wanted to think about whether Jules had been killed by it, and the fragments of its memory could not piece together the facts. It had tried to tell itself, what if it killed, it was a dragon......

But it's not just a dragon, it's Is-Christus. The human boy remembered Jules' broad smile and low voice, his archery skills as good as those of the elves, the sparkle in his eyes when he treasured every plant and tree in the Arkwood Forest, and the fact that he always took care of him and Narya secretly when Eren was gone......

He didn't deserve to die at its hands.

It can tell that it was completely delirious at the time...... But Beye, the man who lost his brother, will probably never be able to accept such an explanation.

His hatred is understandable, but it is himself who hurts the most. Now that Jules's killer, the "evil dragon", can lie in the sun outside the sacred temple of Collins, he has lost his proud identity and can only hide in the armor of others, risking death to continue his hopeless revenge.

The memories that had been deliberately forgotten, the guilt that he had tried to suppress, all came to his mind uncontrollably, and the ice dragon shrank uneasily, hesitating whether to expose him. All it takes is to call out Bye's name, and instead of using it, the paladins here can help it take down the haunting foe......

But in the end it just dug its head deeper under its wings, and waited with trepidation - it certainly couldn't die under the sword of Baie, but it should give him a chance, even if it was a little respect for his perseverance and courage......

But Baie never made a move.

At noon, the paladin who had come to change shifts took over from Baie and the young man, and as he walked to the corridor leading to the back of the temple as Baie heard his footsteps, the ice dragon looked up slightly in confusion and looked at his back.

Bye didn't hesitate in his footsteps - wasn't that what he was aiming for?.

(To be continued......)