Before leaving, Ed insisted on sneaking into the village of Karnak.

Although it was still some distance away from Kriesburg, the loud rumbling noise in the middle of the night woke the sleeping villagers. The candles lit up, and some shrank in the darkness, while others gathered in the light and whispered, looking at Christus, who was obscured by the forest, wondering what was wrong with the cursed castle.

Iss didn't think he needed to pay attention to these guys. Blocked by the fog of Collins, there are not many people left in this small village, which is becoming increasingly inaccessible...... And no one cares about them.

But Ed cared.

"Speaking of which, this is the domain of the Chrysers family. "Scott never collected their taxes, but he protected them......"

All River bought was Criesburg, and Karnak Village naturally became the territory of Visa, but now, the lord of Visa probably doesn't have the spare energy to take care of this remote village.

"All it takes is a small spell. Ed was still a little confident about this, "Let them sleep soundly and wake up tomorrow without remembering anything...... I can at least give them this tranquility. ”

Iss didn't say anything more.

The power of magic crept in in the night wind, dispelling whispers of fear and unease. One by one, the lights dimmed...... Only the lights of the tavern at the head of the village flickered on and off.

The owner of the tavern stood just outside the door, his bald head reflecting the candlelight, smoking his pipe silently, his chubby face dim in the occasional spark.

When the whole village was quiet, he reached out and tapped his pipe on the doorframe, and suddenly spoke:

"Is it the little master of the Singal family?"

A moment later, the young master of the Singal family came out of the darkness and stood in the light that cast from the door of the tavern's cave.

"Long time no see, Uncle Birch. He greeted, "How do you know it's me?...... Can you sense my spells?"

His eyes were bright, and there was only pure curiosity in his questions, and there was no cold suspicion...... It seems that it is still a few years ago, when everything has not happened, the heartless little boy who always comes to play with his sister and brother at the carpenter's house.

Bulch smiled unconsciously, not answering his question.

"Is that old man Alan, with you?" he asked.

Ed nodded and shook his head.

"Not right now. "But I know where he is." ”

Alan will be in Balach for a while

Bourch nodded, and suddenly raised his hand and tossed him a small cloth bag.

"Something he wanted. He said, "By the way, pass on a message to him on my behalf, just say that Bulch is old, and he just wants to live by eating and waiting to die, and probably won't help him much." ”

"Of course. Thinking of the dead Goodyle, Ed bowed his head slightly, humble and sincere: "...... Thank you. ”

Birch was stunned, his already small eyes narrowed into two lines in a deeper and deeper smile.

"How old are you?" he asked.

“...... Twenty-two?" Ed replied, somewhat inexplicably, the mindless question.

"Married?"

“...... Not...... No. ”

"Oh yo. Brorche shook his head regretfully and happily, "This is not good, youth is fleeting, young man." Look, I have a niece who's about your age and cute......"

Ed's face turned white in fright for a moment, and he shook his head repeatedly.

"Don't look at me like this, my brother has a big business in Neo City. "Your father must have known him!" continued enthusiastically, "You see......

An irrepressible chuckle came from the darkness not far away, and Ed waved his hands in a panic, muttering without knowing what to say, and turned around in a hurry and fled.

.

Even though it had already flown into the air, the ice dragon couldn't help but smile sullenly, and the vibration of his chest spread throughout his body, making Ed sitting on its neck stiff, and his hot face couldn't cool down against the cold wind.

"Have you laughed enough?" he exasperated, "Have you laughed enough?!"

"Do you need me to tell Naria?" the ice dragon still laughed.

Ed was so shocked that he nearly rolled off its neck.

"Why did you tell her?!" he yelled.

"Let her know that you're being asked for too. "That way she'll care more about you." If you want to chase a girl, you need to use more snacks. ”

"No, no, no!" Ed shook his head desperately, "Don't, don't...... Where the hell did you hear this!"

"I'm a dragon. "My ancestors also walked in your cities in human form...... I know a lot. ”

"So......" Ed suddenly wondered, "you will ...... too Uh, 'chasing a girl'?"

The ice dragon was silent for a moment.

"Yes, yes. "It's just not like a human being." ”

Dragons worship great power. Their "chasing" ...... Most of them are not much different from robbing. And "love" is even more insignificant to most dragons, and even for their offspring, they don't have any feelings.

They claim to be powerful and intelligent, but in many ways...... They are no different from ignorant beasts that live on instinct.

The Ice Dragon's mood visibly quickly dropped, and Ed wisely stopped asking.

He pulled out the small cloth bag that Bulch had thrown at him, opened it and looked at it. The bag contained a black, unpolished obsidian with a small dagger crookedly carved on it, and a neatly folded piece of paper.

Ed told himself that it wasn't right to peek at someone else's letter, and pulled it out and read it—Ellen wasn't "someone else" anyway.

But he didn't understand a word. To be precise, he knew every word, he understood every sentence, and when they came together, he didn't understand what it was talking about.

He read it aloud to Is, and the dragon who "knows so much" couldn't understand it either.

"Some kind of code word. It said, "Naria may know." ”

It was late afternoon when they arrived at Tonbuch, and the situation on the ground was beyond their expectations under the bright sun.

All the gates of Stunbuch City were wide open, and the crowd poured out of the city like a tidal wave, as if anxious to escape some kind of disaster, and even the ships in the harbor were leaving one by one, and the scene was chaotic, but it was barely able to maintain order, not so bad as to be in turmoil.

“...... Is the plague coming again?" Ed whispered, stunned.

The ice dragon hovered in midair, deliberately hiding its form, and quickly fell to the ground.

.