"You know Lydia?"

Lady Raven's soft voice came from the door.

No one knows when she was there. The hostess of the castle looked leisurely, and although she asked a question, she didn't seem to care about the answer.

Naria flinched back vigilantly - a female mage acting strangely was certainly dangerous, and a female mage who had colluded with the necromancer's leader was even more dangerous.

"Hopefully, tonight's little adventure game will satisfy you. Raven smiled, "I think you're tired too—why don't you have someone take you back to your rooms and get a night's rest?"

Her tone was so considerate that she seemed to be a hospitable hostess, but her eyes were always on the two girls, completely ignoring the elf who held the twin swords in one backhand.

"I'm afraid our companions will worry about us. Rosa replied tactfully, "We should have gone back before sunset...... They're probably looking around for us. We really don't want to cause you any more trouble. ”

The smile on Madame Raven's face deepened: "There is no need to be so polite, I am willing to entertain your companions well." A Sage...... And a dragon, isn't it? How many people in the world have the privilege of being able to welcome such a distinguished and special guest in their own home? You can't let me lose this rare opportunity. ”

The corners of Naria's mouth twitched - she really wanted to summon Isis to give the pretentious female mage a real "honor".

Rosa smiled wryly and shook her head, obviously unable to continue such a fake, meaningless conversation.

"I love to hear you sing. Rosa ......" Raven smiled kindly as he approached her, "What song is that? Maybe you can teach me ......"

Sesyana dodged in front of her, silently watching her. The eyes are sharp and cold.

The white crow's expression froze.

"You have a good pair of swords. After a moment, she spoke faintly, "The magic attached to it is ancient and special...... Put them down, and roll back to the bottom of the well with the mud, and perhaps I'll consider keeping you alive—I've heard that elves are good at tending to plants, and that my castle is short of gardeners. ”

The twin swords snapped out of their sheaths, and Narya didn't have time to stop them.

When a mage stands in front of a powerful warrior with such fear, it usually doesn't end well to attack rashly - this is one of the "lessons" that Naria has learned from Alan.

Rosa probably had the same experience. She reacted quickly to stop the elf's twin swords...... But in a way that Naria hadn't thought of at all.

The girl's eyes widened in disbelief as she watched as Rosa's wrist flipped and the dagger popped out of her sleeve stabbed straight into the back of Cesyana's heart. Frozen in stunned, unable to move.

By the time she could react, Sesyana had already secured Rosa's dagger with the sword in her right hand without looking back, and the sword in her left hand was pointed directly at the crow in front of her.

"What did you do to her?" he asked in a deep voice. There was anger in his voice. But he didn't seem surprised.

Even more astonished was Rosa herself—she stared at the dagger in her hand that stabbed at the elf, as if she didn't understand how she could do such a thing.

"Mind control!" Naria blurted out, frustrated that she hadn't seen something wrong with Rosa sooner, "Necromancer's specialty...... Did Lydia teach you?"

"Lydia...... Teach me?" Raven chuckled, "We did exchange some spells. Lydia is a smart child...... Smart and funny, she has a lot of wonderful little ideas, and some bold ideas, but unfortunately she lacks talent...... No. I don't know how much she's learned from me, but this-"

She snapped her fingers slightly. Rosa silently withdrew her sword and stabbed at Sesyana's waist again, but it was obviously not strong, and she was easily blocked by Sesyana's backhand again.

"It's my 'best job'...... However, Rosa Latus ...... Your will is stronger than I thought, I guess it has something to do with that song?" asked the crow curiously, as if he couldn't see the sharp sword in front of him.

There was a deep anger on Rosa's brow - no one likes to be controlled like this. Her body shook slightly, trying to back away, but her hand remained stiff in her grip on the dagger.

"I don't believe it! My father always said that Lydia Bell was the most gifted mage he had ever met...... Even if she falls into the dark path, she can easily become the leader of the necromancers, and you want to say that you are more powerful than her?

Without a weapon, even if she had, it would be useless, and she could only try to distract the crow with her words.

"If you want to defeat a mage, you have to distract him in any way possible. -- Another experience of Alan Carvo.

"You claim to have a dragon as your friend, but you don't know what a real talent is. The white crow smiled lowly, and in the palm of his hand, the flowing light transformed into a white rose, pure as ice and snow, as light as a feather, and the slowly blooming petals seemed to be some kind of sweet call, attracting all of Naria's eyes little by little.

A cold light flashed in front of him, and Sesyana's sword swept past the phantom of the rose, undamaged it, but succeeded in pulling Naria's sanity back.

"Look. The crow withdrew his hand indifferently, "The elves are far more resistant to this than humans...... That's a talent. Talent is something that flows in your blood from the time you were born, whether you love it or hate it, whatever you do with it or nothing at all...... It can't be changed and it won't go away. ”

“...... Like the magic power of a dragon?" asked Narya, involuntarily.

The white crow nodded slowly, with a hint of sadness in his eyes: "It's like a dragon...... When I learned what a magical and great being a dragon was, I wished I could be one of them......"

She looked up at the room, and Naria's gaze shifted with it, only to realize that the ceiling of the room looked like it had been moved from an old wooden house. The dusty wooden beams were mottled with the marks of age, and the nose could even smell damp and rotten.

"But I was born here," crow murmured, "to be born an ordinary human, surrounded by stupid and lowly farmers, and the only magic that can be accepted is the clumsy tricks of the ragged minstrel of the town at festivals...... They are afraid of true power - they are afraid of anything they cannot understand......"

The white rose dimmed and disappeared from her palm, and the mistress of the castle bowed her head slightly, her brow furrowed slightly, as if she had suddenly been immersed in a not-so-good memory.

Naria quietly shifted her steps, trying to pull out Rosa's dagger with all her might. Rosa's eyes were a little strange, but she didn't resist, but her hands were still stiff and kept holding the sword, and it took a while to relax.

She smiled gratefully at Naria and rubbed her wrist, a rare flash of anger in her eyes.

Sesyana remained in his original position, unmoved, even though he no longer had the dagger that would stab him at any moment. In the silence, Naria realized for a long time that the elf might not have done so voluntarily - his always firm and steady hand was trembling slightly, as if he was trying to fight against some force.

If the crow could control him...... Naria and Rosa together are no match for him either.

Without much thought, Naria threw her dagger at the crow, and unsurprisingly watched as the whizzing weapon stopped in mid-air—less than a finger's distance from the crow's chest, as if it had been grasped by an invisible hand, and could no longer move forward.

But Sesyana finally broke free from the invisible restraint at that moment, and even the sword pounced on the woman who was still leaning against the door like a gust of wind.

Rosa cautiously stepped back further, presumably fearing that she would be controlled to attack her companion again. Naria grabbed all sorts of things on the table beside her—jewelry, dry bones—and threw them at the crow. It wouldn't be lethal, of course, but at least it would interfere with the crow's vision, or provoke her or something......

The girl's hand stopped, and her father's voice seemed to be in her ears - "Don't easily provoke a powerful mage......

There was a hole in the ground, as if a big hole had suddenly opened in the ground...... Oh shit, there's really a big hole in the ground!

Naria screamed, and fell down unexpectedly, desperately waving her limbs trying to grab something, but she could only watch the lights above her farther and farther away, and the crow's cold voice floated down: "This is your own ......"

Fingers fumbled for the silver brooch on her chest, and Naria finally shouted, "Is...... Is!!"

There seemed to be a flash of silver light in the darkness, but none of the ice dragons immediately appeared beside her, grabbing her out of the bottomless pit where she would fall—of course, too small to fit Is's wings......

Maybe she should have asked for help sooner...... Why does she always like to be strong so much?

Frustrated and frustrated, Nalya hugged her head, but before she could despair or grieve, she fell heavily into a pool of soft, stinky, muddy things.

It's good not to fall to pieces on hard ground...... But my whole body still felt like it was falling apart, and I was so dizzy that I almost wanted to vomit.

A black shadow above her head smashed straight down, but Naria didn't have the strength to move away, so she could only resign herself to her fate and shrank into a ball.

But the shadow twisted in mid-air, moved away a little, and fell beside Narya with a thud.

"Sesyana!" Naria exclaimed in surprise. She shouldn't have wanted her companions to fall like herself...... But it's nice not to fall into this place alone!

Another black shadow fell rapidly, and the faint light above his head suddenly disappeared. In complete darkness, Naria felt the sound of wind rushing in her face, and Sesyana leaped to her feet, followed by a dull thud...... And a terrible soft sound as if a bone breaks.

(To be continued......)