Dorian plans to take Sylvie – and her parents – back to his hometown of Haggs. It was a quiet town on the east bank of the River Veinz, not far from Grival. Sylvie's brothers, all sailors, had not yet returned from a voyage, and it was impossible for the stubborn and determined girl to leave her parents in a city shrouded in ominous prophecies.

The young man has sent a letter to River to quit his job. Although he is a little reluctant, he also has a carefully considered plan for his future.

"Maybe one day we'll come back to Ston Butch. He smiled at Ed, a little hopeful, and like a rare joke, "After all, even the three-storied pagoda will change." If you need a housekeeper then......"

"It could only be you!" Ed assured, patting him on the shoulder.

.

After Dorian left, Ed stared at the door for a moment.

“...... What's the problem?" Naria asked him.

Ed came to his senses and scratched his head.

"Maybe I'm thinking too much. He said, "I always felt that Sylvie's purpose in getting married in such a hurry was not just to 'get what she wanted to do before the world was destroyed'......"

"You're saying that girl doesn't love Dorian?"

"Not really......" Ed remembered the sentence Sylvie blurted out when she stopped him on the street in the west of the city, "Dorian is sad...... She should have cared about Dorian, too.

"I don't know. He admits that it was just his own speculation, and that he did care more about Dorian, "but Sylvie is a ...... Clever girl. ”

Smart, bold, and knows how to do it for their own benefit...... Although it is not without kindness and loveliness. When it came time to leave Stonebutch, she found a place for herself and her parents in time for what couldn't have been better.

"'Smart' isn't a bad thing. "And, although Dorian is always a little too serious, he doesn't seem stupid, and if he's willing to accept it, what's the wrong thing?"

She glanced at Ed, her eyes a little uncertain: "Alan said, 'Don't take love as everything.'" ”

Ed shrugged his shoulders and involuntarily became apprehensive.

Naria lowered her eyes and hid a smile.

Ed froze for a moment, then became excited again. It wasn't until he finished telling the story of how the three-storied pagoda came to be what it was now, and how he felt it resembled Is...... Only then did I discover the worries that Naria was hiding in her eyes.

“...... What's wrong with you?" he whispered, "I'm not good, I'm not very risky." ”

At least there is no danger in "finishing" the thing itself.

Naria was stunned and shook her head: "No, it's not because of you. ”

Ed felt ...... It seems that there is a little bad feeling in my heart.

"Do you remember Ollie?" asked Naria.

“...... Who's that. ”

"Old Joey's man, the youngest son of the Cobain family. "You have seen it, he has come to our house, and you have brought it back...... The night she brought back Eleana. ”

Ed remembered—he was flustered and overwhelmed for a moment, except that the young man seemed to speak in a strange way.

"He went to follow two followers of Nessus last night...... According to you, they should have been in the three-storied pagoda at one time. But Ollie still hasn't heard a word from him...... Hopefully nothing happened to him. ”

As she herself said, as soon as Naria returned to Stonebutch she began to gather all kinds of information, in great detail. Stonebuch, which is almost an empty city, has indeed sneaked in with many people recently, including even the mages of the Archmage Tower.

"And the necromancer. Narya sighed, "They're back!"

When Scott still shows up in front of people's eyes...... Those people didn't even dare to come near Stonebutch. And now, in the dark shadows of the city, how many people with other purposes are hidden, even Old Joy can't be sure.

Ollie wasn't actually sent out by Old Joey. The frizzy young man had no problem moving with everyone, but he didn't seem to be very reliable on his own...... Although he at least remembers leaving a message to tell his buddies what he had done.

"I can look it up!" said Ed volunteering.

Naria shook her head, "Maybe we should wait a little longer...... she paused, then changed her mind again, "Or I'll ask Cobain what he has on him that he can recognize." ”

"No, I don't have to. "I have another way." ”

“...... You're not trying to use ...... Necromancy, huh?" Narya stared at him warily, "I mean, though it's not entirely impossible to use ......"

"It's not. Ed smiled, a little smug that he couldn't hide, "I have ...... Another pair of eyes. ”

.

The guards at Lockburg were unusually enthusiastic about Ed's return - although Ed had been able to come and go freely in the past, they would have mostly saluted him as if he didn't exist, rather than saluting him respectfully, as they do now, and keeping their eager eyes on his back as he walked by.

And the three-storied pagoda that has changed its appearance...... The shock of looking up at it from a close distance is much stronger than seeing the three black shadows pointing to the sky from afar.

In fact, as they walked all the way, almost all of the people who had not left Stonebutch were standing in the street, pointing at the already different towers, and there was a lot of discussion, excitement and confusion and uneasiness. Ed was confident that Balk would be able to handle the matter - Moira had kept him at Lockburg not just to get the news, but to convince those who stayed here that the king might change the palace...... but they did not abandon the city.

That's not something that can be done by a few ministers who are willing to stay. And when it comes to grasping people's hearts, no one can beat Balk.

As Ed pushed the door open, he heard some kind of crisp bell, as if to welcome, and even Naria looked up suspiciously—she heard it.

Entering the three-storied pagoda from the main entrance, what you see is no longer the bookshelves and rows of books that stretch from the floor to the ceiling, but the statues on the four walls of the grand stone hall—all carved by a single person, different postures, different attire, the same square jaw and stern paranoid expression, and even the scorching, all-incinerating flames in the sunken eye sockets are almost perfectly expressed.

"It's ...... Casagrande I. ”

Ed explained, a little awkwardly, "It was built that way...... It doesn't completely change what it looks like. ”

"I know. "It's like no one can choose their origin." ”

Ed smiled: "Also, the bottom of the other two towers can already be entered!"

At Naria's slanted glance, he immediately changed his words: "Of course, we didn't come because of this!"

.

。 m.