The carriage drove out of the forest, surrounded by mountains, and the lonely castle on the cliff leaped into view, and the gray granite stone blocks were washed clean by the heavy rain, and if you didn't look closely, you could hardly see the difference in color between the remnants of the dragon and the newly repaired parts.

At Vala's insistence, Chrysersburg was rebuilt exactly as it was, but the drawings from which the castle was built had been completely lost, and the only thing the craftsmen could use as a basis was a stack of yellowed sketches in the study that had survived, and who they didn't even know who the author was.

The restoration was slow and difficult, but Vala refused to leave. Sometimes Ed doesn't know if it's the castle that his mother is obsessed with, whether it's Scott who helped her, or the family she still misses but never goes back to—her father died shortly after Ed was born, and she has no place to stand there.

The rain had stopped, and the courtyard of the castle was full of mud. Ignoring the studge splashing on his boots and trouser legs, Ed greeted familiar and unfamiliar faces as he strode up the steps leading to the castle gates.

Vala greeted him outside the door. She smiled and hugged her son, frowning at his embarrassment.

"You can wait until the rain stops and come back. She grumbled.

Ed cracked his mouth and laughed, "I brought you a gift!" He brought gifts to almost everyone in the castle.

He glanced back at the large and small packages that had been carried into the hall one after another, and rushed over as a long wooden box shook from the top of a pile of boxes and nearly fell.

"Wow, be careful!" he shouted, clutching the wooden box in his arms.

"This is mine?" Vala deliberately held out her hands.

Ed's face blushed a little, "It's, uh, for Naria." ”

Vala smiled slightly, "She's right here, you can give it to her yourself." ”

"Here?" Ed asked, surprised and delighted, "she knows I'm back today?"

Vala shook her head amusedly, "Nobody knows, okay? ”

"Derian...... Alan Carvo: What is he doing?" Ed had a bad premonition.

"I asked him to come. Vala took her son by the arm and led him through the gate, "They discovered a secret passage last month while cleaning the east side. I thought it was similar to the one I found before, a hidden side door to the backyard or something, but this one wasn't quite the same. ”

Ed stumbled under his feet.

He knew what it was. The long, dark passageway, the neat stone steps seemed to stretch endlessly in the flickering firelight, and the blonde boy breathed steadily behind him, and his heart, which was beating wildly with excitement and fear, calmed a little.

He remembered the closed iron door at the end of the passage.

"You found the door?" he blurted out, realizing something was wrong.

Vala turned her head to glance at him, unexpectedly without any angry or stern expression.

"I knew it. She said lightly, "You probably got through all the places in this castle that you could get into when I couldn't see." ”

Ed smirked.

"The craftsmen tried, but no one could open it. There is no keyhole in the door, I guess it is sealed by magic. I had the intention of having it sealed up with stones, but that night it rained heavily, and it rained for several days, and the passage was full of water, and that's when it began......," she hesitated, "and people began to say that there were ghosts haunting the castle. It would appear in the middle of the night, just wandering silently around the castle, and one craftsman said with great certainty that he saw a white image seeping into the sealed iron door like water. ”

"Wow......" Ed didn't know what to say.

"You know I don't believe that. The dead have their own abode, and the mortal world has no place for them. ”

Ed felt his mother's arm tense in the crook of his arm.

"Until I saw it with my own eyes...... That one. Vala's voice lowered, "It's in my room, standing in front of the window, a hazy white shadow, like a mist condensing into a human shape. ”

She wasn't terrified, and the grief overcame everything—a suffocating grief emanating from the erratic shadow.

It didn't do anything to try to hurt her. Vala felt as if it didn't feel her presence at all, or didn't care at all.

It didn't stay there for long, and then suddenly disappeared into the darkness, as if it had never been there. But Vala knew it wasn't a hallucination.

The next day she stood for a long time in front of the passage that was about to be closed, looking through the stagnant water that had not yet been drained, at the iron door that remained silent in the shimmering waves.

She changed her mind.

"You want to open that door?" Ed asked, surprised, not at all like Vala, "None of us know anything about magic, so there might be some danger." Iss had fainted in front of that door, and he had a gut feeling that it wasn't a good idea.

"So I brought in Alan Carver, if he had been a friend of Scott's, a well-known adventurer, he would have seen a lot of things like that. Vala patted his hand gently, "And I know you hate those paladins, and you wouldn't like to have them here, would you?"

That's true.

Ed closed his mouth and couldn't help but sniffle. He was furious when he learned that the Paladins were going to Esteros to find and kill the ice dragons. The weapons showroom was crushed under piles of rubble, and he couldn't reach the elven sword he had with him, but never came in handy, so he sneaked a guard's sword and rode into the forest, ready to find a way to ambush the shameless Ironskins.

He lay on the yellow leaves, heard a long chirp, and looked up for the last time in the blue sky cut by the interlaced branches.

The shadow of the ice dragon swept by. He heard that it flew to farther, colder places and never looked back.

Later he finds Naria, and the girl tells him everything she knows.

He now knew that Alan was not named Delian or a carpenter, but that Alan Caver was a warrior who had ventured around with Scott, the mage Lydia, the half-elf priest Celebrian, and the dwarven warrior Ragan and a thief, Ninia, in search of ruins and legends, and even Norway and Tess had heard their names. They retrieve Isis during their adventures, unaware that it is the son of an ice dragon.

"At least that's what Eren said," Nalya said angrily, "though he must have something to hide from me." I'll figure it out someday!"

Her relationship with Alan was pretty bad for a while. Ed left Chrysers shortly afterward, and the last time he returned, the atmosphere between father and daughter was less tense. Eren seems to be teaching Naria how to fight with a sword.

Now it seems that Alan Carvo's identity is no longer a secret.

A damp wind blows in your face. Ed helped his mother through the narrow passage beside a small pile of rocks. This is already the place where the castle has not been restored.

Nalya and Eren stood a short distance ahead, looking down at the rain-soaked passage again.

"If you hurry up, you can drain the stagnant water before it gets dark. He heard Naria say.

"It's useless, it'll rain in a while. Alan looked up at the sky, where the dense clouds were still piling up under the drive of the wind.

"You can stay here tonight. Vala opened her mouth to invite, "We have enough room. ”

The young woman turned her head and smiled at Ed, "Long time no see. "She was tall, muscular, slightly dark-skinned, and her black hair was simply pulled behind her head, and she looked much calmer than before.

Ed gestured back and forth for a few moments to make sure he was still half a head taller than Naria, and then secretly relieved.

"Ed," Narya asked, a little curious, "what are you holding?"

Only then did Ed realize that he had been holding the wooden box in his arms.

"Oh, this one is for you. He naturally handed the box over, and then suddenly realized that the parents on both sides were staring at them, and his hands couldn't help but stop in the air.

The atmosphere suddenly became a little awkward.

"Thank you. Naria smiled and took the box and opened it. Lying in the box was a one-handed sword, the dark brown wooden hilt embedded with a simple and smooth silver pattern, and the same decoration on the scabbard, when drawn out, the blade of the sword, which was still dazzling even under the dark sky, and the ripple-like lines of water were clearly visible.

"It's beautiful!" she couldn't help but admire, and it made Ed grin.

"Elven craftsmanship?" Narya couldn't help but want to make fun of him.

"No, as my friend Norway said, humans also have very good craftsmen. This is the craft of humans from the East. Ed clasped his hands behind his back triumphantly, "I know you don't like elaborate decorations, but it's too dull to have no decoration at all!, though I also know that decoration doesn't matter to a sword......

The father, who had been left out in the cold, cleared his throat loudly.

"Anyway, this is the right one for you. Ed hurried to finish his sentence.

"Thanks, really. Naria gave him a gentle hug, "Also, welcome home." ”

qidian.

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