The "whoosh" sound was not an imposing threat, but an angry and helpless rebuke - Nana bit it on the ear.

The patience of the white leopard, who had been tossed all the way, was exhausted. It pulled the little dragon chop that was still crawling around its neck and pushed it to Ed's feet in disgust.

Ed couldn't help but smile and picked up Nana. The little creature rolled over in his arms, looked left and right, flapped its little wings hard, and stumbled towards Payne, the tallest shelf it could reach.

When it crouched on Payne's shoulder and shouted discontentedly at the elders on the high platform, as if questioning how they could sit taller than it, the solemn atmosphere in the council chamber was completely destroyed.

What made Ed have to admire was that the elf king was still able to act as an introducer and introducer with a calm face, as if there was no little dragon grabbing his hair and draping it on his body at all.

He pronounced the legendary elven surnames, and the elder sitting on the high platform bowed his head slightly. Even if the king of another race stood under the high platform, such a return seemed to be condescending to them—and it was a blessing that it was Mork standing here, and if it was a more grumpy dwarf, there might have been an axe whistling down on their noble heads.

Ed didn't bow his head. He calmly looked at the faces of the ravines, and felt that what he saw was not the elves who had lived for nearly a thousand years, but the ancient trees that had begun to wither and crack—those expressionless faces, without warmth, with scrutinizing gaze, fell on Nana's body...... also fell on his head.

Yes, on the head. Instead of looking at his face, they were looking at his hair.

Ed no longer tries to hide his gray hair. The gray and gray mixed in the black hair was not pretty, and he knew that even if Nalya comforted him, it would only fall on his head like snowflakes. It would be fine if it was as pure white as Felicity, but his messy gray, white and black mixed together looked like the result of a failed hair dye.

His friends naturally didn't care about this, even if they were strangers, they wouldn't stare at it so rudely, instead of being as unscrupulous as these elven elders who had simply regarded themselves as "courtesy".

- So, what's so nice about this?!

He thought with some exasperation, not daring to ask.

The other half of the circular platform rises behind them. As "guests", they still have seats...... But sitting on the snow-white, simple and elegant stone chair, Ed felt that it was better to stand—the cold, hard chair, on which he could feel the cold rushing up his spine, and one by one so far away that he couldn't even whisper to his friends!

Even the white panther has its own seat. The elders treated it almost more respectfully than Mork, but Bai didn't appreciate it—it slouched under the high platform, looking at the starry sky beyond the dome with its blue eyes that seemed to see through everything.

It's still just a spectator.

.

There are ten elders. When Ferry sat back in his place, there were still two vacancies on the raised platform opposite, belonging to the dead Kao and the imprisoned Helenor.

New elders have not yet been elected. Among the eight elders, Fei Rui's face was too young and out of place, and he had been cold and silent, like a stone statue with a pestle there.

However, listening to the old, low voices—though they were actually quite nice—Ed quickly lost interest, and even felt that Fairy's cold words were at least meaningful.

They took a short time to welcome Mork, but in fact they still knocked on the side even though they knew what he was coming from, as if they felt that he had come from thousands of miles away to enter the realm of elves with whom he had not interacted for more than a thousand years, and there must be some ulterior motive.

Mock is calm and resolute, but he is a dwarf after all. When he heard that these old and immortal creatures were actually suspecting that the Black Rock Dwarves had deliberately cut that crack near Grivar's forest, no matter how good his bearings were, he couldn't suppress the surging anger.

He stood up, and the stone chair that kept his feet out of the ground wasn't very comfortable anyway.

"The only one alive is an elf. He noted that he managed to remain calm in the midst of his anger, "and everything we know comes from his mouth." I have more reason than you suspect my people to doubt the truth of what he says, but I don't—I choose to believe him, at least until I find evidence to the contrary. Because I thought that even though elves and dwarves had regarded each other as rivals for thousands of years, they still had some respect for each other...... Maybe I should thank you for the disappointment you gave me, it obviously made me more sober. ”

He jumped off the platform and looked up proudly, "I don't think you're going to imprison me and use your guesses to prove how justified it is, right?"

Ed immediately jumped off as well. Of course, he was also embarrassed by Payne, but at such times, of course, he had to stand by the dwarves.

There was silence on the high platform opposite. Ed was furious and confused, he couldn't tell the embarrassment or annoyance on those indifferent faces—he couldn't tell if they really had such foolish suspicions, or if they had some other intentions...... But compared to them, even Helenno is no longer so disgusting.

When Isis threw Nana at him, he was even ready for battle - they were all ready for battle, otherwise Iss wouldn't have stood that far...... That was to prevent him from flying them out when he turned back into an ice dragon.

The leopard paced calmly, its fat paws patting the ground. As the closed entrance opened silently a few steps away, Ed saw for the first time a hint of surprise in those eyes that had never been waveless.

Xiaobai flicked his tail and was the first to leave, and he didn't need anyone's permission. Ed exchanged glances with his friends and followed behind it.

If you can't fight, of course, it's better not to fight.

They weren't stopped, and Payne quickly followed, catching up with them on the next floor.

“...... I'm sorry. ”

He was silent for a long time, and only those two words were uttered.

Mock nodded in acceptance, while Ed was sympathetic.

"It's none of your business. He said.

"Nope. Mock said unceremoniously, "It's about him." ”

Payne smiled wryly and bowed his head. He had to admit this, because as the Elven King, what those elders did couldn't have nothing to do with him...... Nor can it be unrelated to him.

"I'll send you out first. He said.

It's not that he can't guarantee their safety, but there are some things, and getting them involved in them will only complicate the situation.

As if sensing something, Mock turned back to him as he left the Tower of Silence.

"When we mine ore, we often encounter rock formations that are hard to dig and have little value. "We've invented something dangerous for that...... But destroying those obstacles is not the only way. ”