After only two sunny days after the sudden tsunami, the city of Neo was enveloped in continuous autumn rain.

When Nalya pushed the door open with a cool scent of water, Ed was sitting cross-legged on the floor and drawing—at least Naria thought it was.

The wind that swept in from outside the door was not strong, but it also blew the paper all over the place, and at a glance, the paper was full of all kinds of symbols that she did not recognize, some of which were lined with dots large and small.

Ed quickly grabbed the paper that flew away like wings, and was so busy that he didn't have time to turn back, until Nalya crouched down and handed him the paper in front of him, and he reacted with a loud voice, and covered his head even more hurriedly.

“...... Feel relieved. The corners of Naria's mouth twitched involuntarily, "I'm not going to shave your hair." ”

Ed laughed wryly. Once upon a time in Balach, he had seen with his own eyes, and as soon as Naria saw Is's sparsely cut hair, she went for scissors...... So when Isis used this to scare him, he unconsciously believed it.

“...... Is it ugly?"

After the danger of becoming bald was gone, another kind of apprehension came to the fore.

"It's nothing. Naria lowered her eyes, a little deliberately nonchalant, "But it's like a layer of snow falling on her black hair." ”

Ed was stunned, as if something indescribable had crept out of his heart, timidly unfurling the tiny leaves—something he had buried deep for so long that he never intended to dig out again.

Naria pretended not to see his ever-widening smirk and trance-like eyes, and quickly picked up the scattered pieces of paper and pressed them against the table.

"This is a star map?"

She finally made out the black dots, big and small.

Ed nodded vigorously.

"Exactly, Moira...... The Queen Mother asked me to take you to this. ”

Naria pulled out the carefully rolled parchment from her backpack that she hadn't put down, "I took a look...... It seems to be a star chart too. ”

Ed rolled the paper on the table and unfolded it. It was supposed that Moira had copied the ceiling of the king's bedroom, but the delicately depicted figures and scenes were reduced to extremely simple lines, the only thing standing out was the starry sky, in which three bright red dots were deliberately marked, which looked very striking.

Probably realizing that he didn't have time to observe the star map as he had said before, Moira carefully prepared this for him.

“...... She's about to leave Lockburg, isn't she?" Ed asked.

Moira has a certain insistence on Rockburg and Stonebutch...... But in his opinion, leaving is actually a good thing.

"At least it doesn't look like it's not going to go. Naria replied cautiously, frowning slightly, and her fingertips touched the stack of papers she had moved aside, "This...... Is that the mark on Filly's neck?"

Finger swiped to another symbol: "Is this the symbol that the pastor is happy to stuff on your slate?"

At one time, the symbols made almost no difference in her eyes - she couldn't read them anyway. But for now, at least she'll try to remember...... I don't know when it will be useful.

"They...... It's a lot like. She said.

When two symbols are side by side, the similarity becomes more apparent. She had seen elven writing, slender and delicate, winding like vines, and dwarven writing, straight and hard with each stroke, as if cut with an axe. But these symbols in front of me are like a simple and complete painting, but they are too abstract to guess what the meaning is.

"It's not just these two. ”

Ed quickly spread the stack of paper all over the table.

"Look, this is what I drew in the palm of our hand when I and Ise burrowed into that necromancer's lair in the Far Arctic Ice Field. And then this one, on another stone slab he brought from the Enshi Valley......"

If it weren't for Is's reminder, he wouldn't have realized the weirdness...... And uncomfortably similar, after all, there were two symbols, one he already knew had a definite meaning, and the other he couldn't understand at all. There are many symbols used by mages and priests, and it is not without similarities to them, but the similarities between the symbols used in the word of the gods and necromancy are so many that it makes people shudder to think about it.

Is the forbidden, dark and crazy spell closer to God?

He thought of Ankland, and he was a little dazed for a moment.

"What do you think, those stars that are lit up...... Will you make a symbol?"

Naria's clear voice, as if washed by rain, pulled him out of his chilling trance.

"Well," he replied, "it's just that I can't find it yet......"

He felt that the stars would form a symbol, that the sky and the earth would be treated as great altars, and that some new rules would be created, as the high priest of Anduch had guessed...... What could be sacrificed, the temple left by the gods in the sky and the souls that exist in it, or all the creatures on this earth?

He hardly dared to think about it.

“...... Scott must know ......," Naria sighed softly.

"But he won't tell us — he can't tell us. Ed looked down at the table full of papers, "If his life is just a gift that can be taken back at any time, if his soul is not completely controlled by himself, there must be many things he can't say...... But if that outcome isn't what he wants, he's bound to leave us some clues somehow. ”

“...... Do you really believe that?" Narya looked at him.

Ed nodded firmly—he had to believe so. But in fact, he doesn't intend to spend all his energy on finding the clues left by Scott.

He's got enough, he's got a dragon and tens of thousands of years of knowledge...... Even if they are on their own, they may not be unable to find the answer.

A slight smile tugged at Naria's lips. She had heard a lot of things, but it was clear that Ed was not as depressed as Vala had been when she died. This young man, who had not experienced any setbacks in the first ten years of his life and seemed to be always hesitating, gradually developed an indestructible resilience.

Even with her standing here, Ed's gaze had once again fallen back on paper. Before he leaned down to continue "drawing", Naria pulled him away from the table without saying a word.

"You haven't had lunch yet, have you?" she asked, "I don't know if not eating will make you particularly inspired, but I'm a first-time visitor to Neo! At least you can go shopping with me today?" I've heard that Tarana's lavender cod is the best on the whole continent, and that shop is nearby......

She's made a bet with Is...... And of course she will win.