"What do you want to do?"

Is, accustomed to his whimsical whims from time to time, couldn't even raise his spirits for a moment, and just lazily asked rhetorical questions.

"If we can open the gates of Black Rock - of course, we have to get Mock's permission first. Ed folded his hands, full of longing, "But if we can help the Black Rock Dwarves, just as Tess helped the Bolt Dwarves, and get them out of trouble, maybe ...... You can get more news about the Eternal Flame from them. ”

"First of all," Iss didn't move his eyebrows, calmly retorting to him one by one, "Akruj, the gate of the dwarves' oldest kingdom now, even if we can find it, it is not so easy to open, unless we don't care about the three-seven-twenty-one, and risk being counterattacked by magic or blowing off half of the mountain—are you going to do that?"

Ed shook his head vigorously.

"Secondly," Iss cocked up a second finger, "the Black Rock Dwarves are not as ...... as the Bronze Flame Dwarves Lively and cute, they are not as easy to impress as the Bolt dwarves, they are old-fashioned, stubborn, and tenacious...... In short, even if you try to help them, they will only think that the Eternal Flame belongs to them, no matter how I got it, no matter what I am going to do with it, even if they pick up an axe to split my head, they will definitely get it back into their hands, and no one will stop it, and even if they fight until the last dwarf is left, they will never give up—are you sure you want to give me such trouble for a 'maybe' enemy?"

Ed shuddered at the scene he described, slowly wilted, and struggled to pull himself together: "It's possible, you can get a strong alliance......

"How strong can a group of dwarves who can't even solve their own problems and just wait for death behind closed doors be?"

"But......" Ed's voice grew quieter and quieter, then vanished into his stomach.

He always remembered what he had seen on the streets of Visa City as a child, with a large black beard that was always thick and braided and drooped above the knees, calm and serious, with deep eyes. They did seem to be unapproachable, but they were very gentle to the mischievous human children who deliberately dared to hit them, and although they were silent, the expressions on their faces were as if carved out of stone, and there was little change, but the force that pushed them away was always light, as if they were afraid of hurting them...... Even if they know that it will embolden them even more, they will be even more emboldened.

Narya said that it was more like patience and tolerance than affection, but wasn't it also a kind of kindness to be able to show patience and tolerance to a young race that they felt was weaker than herself, rather than arrogance and contempt?

He also remembered the two Black Rock Dwarves who had been invited to the Temple of Collins for the May Festival, perhaps because of their closeness to Mork, who had only saluted him once when he was recognized as a saint, without even saying a word, and were the first to leave the temple. But their etiquette was meticulous, there was no perfunctory or dissatisfaction at all, and the gifts they gave were also sincere. Even when he saw them off, unable to utter even a simple blessing because of nervousness, they only nodded to him tolerantly, and said the only thing that was said to him:

"May the path you go on is a smooth one. ”

It wasn't like a blessing to a saint, but more like a blessing to an ordinary young man. At that time, he was still uneasy about this for a long time, thinking that this might mean that the Black Rock Dwarves did not actually recognize him as a "Sage". When I think about it now, I can feel the simple kindness more deeply.

They may really look like stones, but Ed doesn't want them to actually turn back into stone at all.

"If you really want to see if they're all turned to stone," Iss knew what he was thinking as he looked at his wrinkled face, "go to Sean Fletcher, and with the Water Temple's friendship with Black Rock, he might have some way to get into Akruy." ”

Ed's eyes lit up - why didn't he think of it! Now he had a much better relationship with Sean than before! He probably wouldn't refuse him...... bar.

"As for the Eternal Flame," Iss warned him, "you'd better not mention it at all." Those dwarves were stone-headed, but they weren't stupid. ”

Ed casually agreed, not too much to heart. He was thinking about how to write his next letter to Sean...... Moreover, you still have to ask Mock what he means first, after all, today's Mock is also the real king of all dwarves.

And, of course, the Black Rock Dwarves weren't stupid, but he wasn't stupid either! If Felicity could gain their trust and respect, he would ...... At least give it a try.

.

There's one more thing to do, and Ed is busy. In a sense, this is also a good thing, at least, he doesn't have time to think about "what if it fails" and so on, which makes him panic and can't sleep "maybe" - the sentence Norway said, "with the best hope, prepare for the worst", what he can really do is actually only the first half.

So he took the liberty of changing that sentence to "do your best with the best hopes" and other ...... Think about it when the final result comes out.

Yes, he is Ed Self-Deluded Singall, but it is better to be self-defeating than to give up on yourself.

"Optimistically, maybe we'll all be gone by then...... There's no need to 'think' about anything anymore. Isis didn't think there was anything wrong with him thinking so, and comforted him "kindly".

Ed was silent, buried himself in writing, and held back his heart attack.

I don't know if it's a delusion...... No, definitely not a delusion. Ever since he hung out with that fat blacksmith, this guy's mouth is so poisonous that it's almost catching up with Tess. He's glad that he can get along with other people more easily, but he really doesn't need to improve the skill of "poisonous tongue"!

Mock quickly replied to him. He wasn't against them entering Black Rock, in fact, he was perhaps more eager than Ed. But in the current situation, he can only get out of the situation by arranging the development of the pure gold mine first. Sean's reply was surprisingly quick - he did have a way to enter Black Rock, but he could only use it once, and he wasn't sure if it would be possible to use it when the dwarves had completely sealed off their kingdom.

However, before returning to Stonebutch, Ed had to at least fully repair the circle. The urgency of time squeezed out the efficiency that he himself did not expect - he completed the task in five days.

.

"So...... What are we going to summon first?"

In the depths of the Anduhe Temple, at the edge of the circle that had just been drawn, Ogro, the battle mage who had joined the cooperation with great enthusiasm, unconsciously rubbed his fingers and was eager to try.