The secret door opens in the storage room on the first floor - in fact, it is the door of the storage room, but it opens in a different way and leads to a completely different place. Scott flattered Naria with a courteous demonstration of the clever mechanism, and Naria looked at him with her arms folded for a moment, but only snorted coldly.

"Do you think I've lived here for a few months and really don't know all about all of Alan's mysterious tricks?" she said, "of course I know how to open it, and I know that not everyone can get out of it without a word." ”

“...... So you know I'm not the enemy?" Scott touched his chin and smiled wryly.

"That's hard to say. Naria shrugged, her tone still lukewarm, "Alan said, 'Be vigilant and drive any rats who dare to haunt the darkness into the light instead of following them into the darkness.' ’...... I just listened to him. ”

That's Allen's exact words, but with the missing sentence "In the field they are familiar with, you are definitely not their opponents", it sounds completely different......

Ed gave Naria a cautious look, not daring to speak.

“...... He was right. Scott sighed and nodded in agreement, "Honestly...... You really shouldn't have come back at such a time. ”

"We didn't come back for you. Naria said bluntly, "We don't care about your scandals or ambitions. ”

Scott lowered his eyes, his smile bitter and embarrassed, but not the slightest bit angry, which surprised Ed slightly. Almost everyone told him, explicitly or implicitly, that Scott's temper was getting worse. It's easy to get provoked...... But now, he seemed more tolerant and peaceful than when they first met, only. Perhaps because he was in the dark, he seemed to have lost the vitality of the fiery brightness that he used to have, like sunlight and flames.

"Why are you making yourself a ...... So?" Ed gestured to his face, trying to change the subject.

"How did you recognize me?" Scott asked with a laugh.

"Your ...... Eyes?" Ed replied with some hesitation, "while you smiled at me." ”

That's hard to tell. It seems to be described as loving-kindness, but it is different from parents...... Ed didn't have any other relatives, and for a moment he suddenly realized. This "uncle" that he can never call is no longer as simple as "Is's brother" for him.

"It's ...... Some kind of transformation spell?" Naria looked Scott up and down, anger fading in curiosity.

"Nope. Scott smugly pulled his messy hair back. "That's ...... Some kind of deceptive little trick. ”

Naria raised an eyebrow, and Ed suddenly felt something was wrong - no one likes to be deceived so thoroughly by "some kind of deceptive little trick".

But Naria only watched with interest as Scott trimmed his unkempt hair a little neatly and wiped it back across his face.

"Nia is good at this. Scott told them, "If he wants to." He made it so that neither Ellen nor I could recognize him...... You don't even need to change much. Just a slight change in the features that people can most easily tell you about...... When you speak, you should raise your tone, add a different accent, and walk with your shoulders curled up and look left and right...... He also made up a new identity for me - which is probably the part he is most proud of. Of course, if you spend too much time together, people who know you will always see some clues, so I never stay in any one place for too long. ”

As he straightened his back, his voice grew deeper, and it was no longer the twinkle of the gaze standing in front of them. Looks greedy and cunning drunkard, but ...... Himself. A Sage who was always more like a warrior—though Ed felt, judging by the dimming look on his face, seemed to be more willing to be the drunkard.

"You look like you're having fun. Naria seemed to see it too, "Although I don't know why you're doing that...... Wouldn't it be more convenient to use Transfiguration even if you needed to disguise your identity? Don't tell me you can't—even Iss does. ”

“...... I can turn into some kind of animal, if you want to see it. Scott smiled wryly, "But becoming another person is not as simple as you think." Is...... He's different. ”

He's trying to avoid telling them "why", but Naria isn't that easy to fool.

"Isn't that fun?" she asked him, clasping her arms together, "pretending to be another person and living another life, listening to other people discuss topics that will never be discussed in front of the Sage...... Alan didn't even say you still have this hobby. ”

Scott looked at her, still not angry.

"I do need to know things that I can't know as a Sage, and do things that can't be done by Scott Christus......," he said, "and there aren't many people I can trust in Ston Butch." ”

Naria fell silent. The tense shoulders and the twinkle in her eyes made Ed realize that she had been nervous. She stabbed Scott under the control of the White Raven, which was the reason she left Stonebug...... And a few months later, her guilt and self-blame did not disappear, but only manifested themselves in another way.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Ed blurted out without thinking.

"I wanted to know more about how I could help you. Scott smiled at him, "I didn't know you had been looking for me until I got back to the temple...... But it's not a good place to talk. ”

For a man who is known as a saint, the temple belonging to his deity should be the place of his trust...... Ed looked at Scott in a trance, as if he were seeing himself. Their experiences are so different and yet so similar...... Is the bloodline of the Chrysers family cursed?

Suddenly, it occurred to him that the "bloodline" that had been repeatedly mentioned by Teliner and Young might not be a clue to give up easily...... Although the biggest problem now is that he has not too few "clues" but too many, which makes him clueless and at a loss.

He shook his head, retracted his scattered thoughts, and for a moment didn't know where to start.

"He just wanted to ask you, do you know where those elves from the Antler Forest have gone?" Narya glanced at him and replied preemptively, "Those elves are followers of Nessus after all, and we thought you might know...... Norway was worried about his people. ”

“...... Is Norway back too?" Scott frowned slightly.

(To be continued.) )