Ed thought that Baie would leave with Tyliner without a sound and leave him here alone, but Baie sent him downstairs with a gloomy face.

As he was about to step out of the doorway, Baie grabbed him and dragged him back into the shadows behind the door.

"Don't trust anyone. He whispered word by word in Ed's ear, "Sean, Tyliner, Scott...... Even that dragon. ”

Ed looked at him in surprise, "I thought you called me here because you believed in Tyliner. ”

Baie snorted coldly, "Don't tell me you're really naïve to this point. ”

Ed smiled awkwardly, "At least, some of the things he said...... I can't argue with that. ”

He may not be lying, but he is definitely not telling you the whole story. Bye loosened his clothes, "And why did he tell you that?—you may not be a true Sage, but don't be stupid enough to be a stupid puppet either. I know these people, they do everything just for themselves...... No, everything everyone does is for themselves in the final analysis, even if it is Sean......"

He suddenly closed his mouth, as if realizing that he had begun to gush uncontrollably again, and his face became more and more gloomy.

“...... I'll be careful. Ed blurted out, "You too...... The same. ”

He knew very well that Bye had called him here for his own purposes...... But at this moment, he couldn't help but look at the lonely, gloomy man in front of him, who had no one to rely on, no one to trust, nowhere to go, homeless, and even his soul to belong. Compassion.

The complicated look on Baie's face at that moment was something Ed had never seen before, but he didn't say a word after all, and pushed Ed out of the door almost rudely.

On the way home, Ed was a little distraught. Tyliner's words, even if he knew it wasn't necessarily true. But it always lingered in his ears. That almost made him just jump through the front door.

He made his way to the back door, only to bump into Dorian around the corner of the hallway that slipped back to his bedroom, and the butler, who was still more like a dwarf, was visibly relieved to see him.

"Thank you, gods! He wrenched his hands and lowered his voice, "I'm almost unable to appease that paladin!"

Ed smiled apologetically and asked with some curiosity, "How did you hold him back?"

"What else can I do?" I told him, Master Singel...... No, Lord Sage...... "Realizing the current identity of the little master seemed to make Dorian suddenly feel a little overwhelmed.

“...... Just call me Ed. Come on. Ed smiled wryly.

"Your Excellency. Dorian ignored the choice of a respectful and vague title, "I told him that the Lord needed a break, and told me to wake him up at lunchtime...... You're going to have lunch at home, right?"

He looked at Ed expectantly. Ed could barely bear to refuse, but it had been a few moments since he left the temple......

"I have sent a message to the temple that the Sage would like to eat at his home at noon today. Dorian clasped his hands together in a serious manner and added.

It's too long for half a day. For the first time, Ed couldn't help but laugh.

"What are we going to eat today?" he asked in a brisk tone. There was no doubt that Dorian had prepared a big meal.

"There was your favorite cherry pie and smoked chicken...... But, my lord, I'm afraid you'll have to crawl through the window into your room...... That paladin is at the door of your room. "Even though I insisted on going to the point of anger, telling him that it was an insult to my duty and ability, he stood there without leaving for a moment." ”

Ed scratched his head. Outside his windowsill was a large bush of roses......

――Isn't it a bit of a waste to use teleportation at a time like this?

Go back to the bedroom in an overly extravagant way. Ed returned to his white robe, which seemed to be getting heavier and heavier, and froze for a long time at the staff of eternity that had not disappeared. Trying to calm himself down, he didn't open it until Dorian knocked on the door and walked out.

Rowell, who had been ordered to protect him, was pestled at his door like a statue, leaving Ed feeling apologetic and once again apprehensive about his recklessness - if something really happened to him when he sneaked out, it would definitely hurt Rowell.

Dorian graciously invited Rowell, who seemed to have been silenced, to dine with him. The Paladin nodded without hesitation, not showing any discomfort about eating at the same table with the Sage.

Lowell was nearly forty years old, but he was not a high-ranking paladin, with a few silver strands in his short light brown hair, and a clear face and graceful demeanor. When Ed first met him in the temple, he thought he was more of a scholar than a knight. But Filly clearly trusted Lowell and did not hesitate to give him the task of escorting Ed to King Ante.

It is said that Lowell was not only from a noble background, but also a well-known mage before becoming a paladin - a rare experience that intrigued Ed. He asked tentatively, but Lowell was obviously reluctant to talk more, and he had no choice but to give up.

- But I still slipped away under his nose.

Thinking of this, Ed unconsciously felt a little proud.

The pie made with cherries fresh from the season was so delicious that Ed stuffed several in a row. Dolly was relieved and satisfied that another basket was delivered, and Ed had just stretched out his hand when the maid who had delivered the pie suddenly knelt beside him.

Ed's hand froze in mid-air, staring at the girl with curly chestnut hair in surprise.

"Your Excellency...... Sage, please help us!" the girl bowed her head deeply, her long hair in braids hanging down to the ground.

“...... Sylvie!" Dorian exclaimed, apparently equally surprised, "what are you doing?"

He strode over, and his angry appearance was a bit of a dwarven warrior's momentum.

The girl cringed visibly, and Ed quickly reached out and grabbed Dorian: "Don't scare her...... Uh, whatever it is, can you stand up first?"

Every time someone knelt in front of him, he felt uncomfortable - his royal blood must be quite thin.

Sylvie just lowered her head more deeply, not trying to stand up at all.

Ed rubbed his hands helplessly: "Okay...... How can I help you?...... Is anyone in your family sick?"

"Not really...... My lord, they are going to kick us out of the house, please help us! we have nowhere else to go!" the girl began to sob.

Ed blinked blankly: "Uh...... Who's going to chase you? Where is your house?"

"Hmm...... If that's the case, I know a little bit about it. Dorian frowned, "Her family is in the Old Street Market, and I heard that His Majesty the King is going to tear down the place and build a new library. ”

-- That's good news.

That was the first thought that popped into Ed's head.

The chaotic and stinking Old Street Market has always been a scar in the City of Ten Thousand Springs. It was never completed - Casagrande I, who built the city, intended to make it a bustling commercial district, but it was not completed until his death. In the chaos of the alternation of thrones, the wide, straight streets lined with magnificent stone pillars and arches, and the mostly dilapidated houses on all four walls were gradually occupied by homeless homeless people, and by the time the successive kings had the energy to clean up the mess, the number of people living here had increased to the point of a headache. Poor dwellings were built out of discarded stone and wooden planks, stacked on top of each other along the streets that were getting narrower and narrower as they were constantly occupied. People who are too poor are often desperate when the only thing they have is taken away from them, and if not handled carefully, it can easily lead to another riot.

For nearly 200 years, plans to clean up the Old Street Market have been repeatedly raised and shelved. In the last decade or so, new towns have been built outside the walls of Ston Butch, and some of the people who lived in the Old Street Market have moved out, but many more have been reluctant to leave. Regardless, if you can turn that place of much sin and darkness into a library, most Stonebugs would probably applaud.

Ed was sure that King Ante would not just kick out all the people who had lived there - he might be hypocritical, but he was not stupid.

"I know it's not easy to leave your home and move to another place to start over......" he tried to soothe the girl, who was still sobbing, "but His Majesty will settle you well, won't he?"

"As far as I know...... It seems to be moving to the west of the new town. Dorian said.

"But it's a wasteland!" Sylvie cried out indignantly, finally looking up, "where are we going to live? The trees in the vicinity are almost cut down...... Are we going to cut down trees in the Elven Forest?"

"Uh...... Can you buy it?" said Ed. He also knew that because of the expansion of the city, the stone and wood in Stonebuch had been a little tight in recent years, but it was not too expensive to buy from a small town in the middle of the river.

Sylvie looked at the young Sage with a complicated look: "...... We don't have any money, my lord. ”

"I'm sure King Ante will make amends to you. Ed was a little helpless. He never knew that the Sage still had to deal with these issues...... Isn't that the duty of the king and his ministers?

"Compensation?" Sylvie scoffed, apparently lacking respect for the Sage, "I don't know if I can buy a wooden beam." ”

"Sylvie!" Dorian rebuked dissatisfiedly, but Sylvie, who seemed to be only a teenager, just glared back without fear, although there were tears in her eyes, but it was clear that she was not a supple girl in the first place.

Then again, it's probably hard to survive if you live in a place like the Old Street Market, which is too supple.

"So be it. Ed scratched his head with a wry smile, "I'll go talk to my father...... The Singhals will help you build your new home in the new town, and until then, I promise you won't be evicted from your home...... Is that okay?"

Sylvie hesitated, still looking dissatisfied.

"Can't we not move?" she asked, "and there is no gate to the west, so we'll have to make a big circle to get into the city." ”

Ed was stunned, and suddenly there was nothing to say - maybe he shouldn't have cared about it at all.

(To be continued......)