Is's arm holding the little dragon tightened slightly unconsciously, and the gaze that shot at the Elf King was instantly sharp and cold, as if threatening, and a little unexplained, he couldn't tell whether he wanted him to stay away, or warned him not to refuse this obvious request to "come and hug".

Payne, however, didn't care. He hesitated for a moment in astonishment, then cautiously reached out to hug it—a threat from the eyes of a dragon that didn't really count him as anything! But no elf had ever had the chance to hug a dragon...... No one wanted to mention it except for the one, as if it could be the elf who gave birth to a half-dragon as if she never existed.

He remembered the distant, tragic story, the soul of the spotted leaf dragon that had somehow helped him and quietly disappeared...... Think of the countless fallen dragons and countless fallen elves beyond the walls of Alamit. The incomprehensible hatred that has been piled up with layers of blood and bones seems to have lost its meaning when one race is almost extinct, and the other is decaying to the point of being in a corner of the continent, and there is no way out.

The many complicated thoughts that were churning in his mind faded little by little as the small dragon's thin scales pressed against his palm like a cool gem.

Isis silently let go of his hand and did not stop him. He held the small, fragile life, stiff with nervousness, and so overjoyed with joy that he let it grab his hair and even stuff it into his mouth, unconsciously showing a little smile that he had probably never had, almost silly.

The sound of the little dragon's babbling was scattered in the originally heavy air, and the night breeze with the coolness and fragrance of flowers seemed to finally be able to blow into people's hearts, even if it could not blow away all the clouds, it could always make a little starlight fall among the clouds.

This brief moment will remain the most profound memory of Payne Silverleaf's long life many years later. Something is completely shattered in that moment, and something changes from that moment...... He gave a lot for that change, but he never regretted it.

As Nana arrogantly tried to grab Payne's long hair and climb up, there was a sound of hurried footsteps stopping on the platform under the steps outside the door.

Payne responded when the silver bell rang softly in the corner of the room, and moments later, Lance Sunstrider appeared by the door. He hurriedly saluted his guest, silently handing Payne a small scroll of paper.

Ed got up and picked up Nana—he figured they might have to leave first.

The little smile on Payne's face was gone, and it was clearly not good news for him. But he allowed Ed to take the dragon away, but asked them to stay.

"I need to confirm one thing," he said, "and it won't take much time...... We may have news of those three Black Rock Dwarves. ”

- Before dawn, they stepped into the Dragonthorn Glade.

.

In the deepest darkness of the day, even in the bright light of the fire, the dwarves lying on the grass seemed to sleep in another world shrouded in shadows...... Indeed, he has slept in another world.

The dwarf's face was staggered with bloodstains, but his expression was almost serene, but he was used to two deep lines at the corners of his sunken mouth, and he may have been a little resolute and old-fashioned when he was alive, but at this moment he showed a bit of sadness and helplessness.

"The leopard brought him, and we didn't move. ”

The elf standing beside them whispered, his tense voice clearly defensive.

I don't know who placed a small bouquet of white flowers next to the dwarf's corpse...... The unknown wildflower was small and pale, but it seemed to have a warm power, at least, it made Mork more understanding in his grief and anger for the cautious, proud, and more willing to stay out of the way—this matter had nothing to do with them, and they still told the Silver Leaf King instead of simply destroying the corpse.

He half-knelt down, carefully examining the wounds on the dwarven corpses, and listening to the unconsciously soft conversation of the elves.

Before they arrived, the elves had followed the leopard that had dragged the dwarf to the dwarf's place of death, and the cause of the dwarf's death was almost immediately apparent - his neck was twisted at an eerie angle, limp to the side.

"He fell from a great height and broke his neck. The elf said.

The dwarves had fallen beyond Grivar's range, closer to the human village, where there were still many towering trees, tall enough to kill a skeletal dwarf, but the elves searched around and were surprised to find that there was no sign of climbing on any of the nearby trees that were tall enough.

"Actually," the elf hesitated for a moment before making their inference, for it was a bit of a strange thing, "he was more likely to have fallen from mid-air, for the highest branch above him had been broken where he had fallen...... Even the nimblest of us could not have climbed such thin branches. ”

Not to mention a dwarf with strong muscles and sinking like a stone.

"If you don't believe me," the elf added stiffly, "you can see for yourselves." ”

- from mid-air.

Ed snapped back from his confusion and looked up at Is.

He certainly wasn't suspicious of his friends, but many would take such speculation for granted. After all, "being thrown from mid-air by a dragon" is completely in line with the death of the dwarf in front of him. Even if it's not Is, it's probably his own kind—who can be sure that he's really the only dragon left in the world?

“...... I have a way to confirm. A sentence rushed out of his mouth.

"There's a spell...... It allows me to see what the deceased saw at the last moment before he died. He said.

He instinctively didn't want any suspicion to fall on his friend.

"It's just that you can see it. Iss glanced at him faintly, but his eyes were clearly annoyed and warned, "What can you do to convince everyone that it was indeed what you saw, and not that you made it up?"

Ed bowed his head wryly. He didn't expect it to be Iss who said this, but ...... Of course, he knew it was necromancy, and he was probably fed up with his audacity in casting spells.

- It shouldn't have been said first.

Ed, who hadn't learned much of his lesson, thought silently.

"So, let's take a different approach. Payne, who had been silent for a long time, spoke, "Recreate what happened...... It's not impossible. ”

“...... It's not impossible to find out the truth without relying on any magic. Mock stood up and looked around a little helplessly, "I thought elves were better at this than dwarves...... And, I thought I was the one who was most anxious to get an answer, didn't I?"

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