Bazel looked down at Ed and didn't answer.

At such a close distance, Ed couldn't smell any rancid smell from him, only a faint smell of herbs...... He couldn't even smell the sour stench caused by not taking a shower for too long.

The barbarian is clean, but his body is cold. There was no flow of blood, no pulse, the dark skin believed the loss of blood, only a faint gray, tangled thick hairs covered the wound on his neck, and the way he walked was not as slightly rickety as the undead Ed had ever seen, and his steps were stiff...... If he just walked on the ice field, no one would have been able to tell that he was actually dead.

――But is this really "death"?

Ed raised his head to meet the barbarian's gaze. The face of the dead and the eyes of the living looked so strange that he was still afraid.

He frantically searched for another question, as the previous Bazel seemed reluctant to answer...... Or don't know how to answer.

The savage, however, suddenly drew his arms, grabbed him by the shoulders, grabbed him like a sack of potatoes as he had done last time, walked a few steps to the bed, threw him rudely, and then held him down with all his might.

The pain struck, and Ed's eyes blackened, and he could almost hear his unhealed bones clattering in protest. He was stunned for a moment, and instinctively began to struggle - so Bazel couldn't really control himself completely, did he crave life and blood like the other undead, would he die?......

In a panic, Oylan walked into the room.

“...... Let him go. Bazel. The old man frowned slightly.

The savage obediently let go of his hand and stepped aside, unable to make out the expression in the deep eyes of the protruding arch of his eyebrows.

"You want to escape. I can understand that. Oylan stared coldly at Ed, who was in a state of panic and trying to shrink his body into a ball, "But if you do it again, I'll cut off your feet." Egbert needed someone to talk to him - you could use it without feet until he lost interest. ”

His tone was so calm, but it sent chills through Ed's marrow.

"Can be used"...... So is he really just a talking, doll-like toy?

Fear and anger were tangled in his heart and blocked in his throat. He couldn't say a word.

Oylan walked away from his bedside, removed a clay pot from a wooden shelf in the corner of the room, and turned to leave. Didn't look at Ed again.

"Bazel. He called out outside the door, "Follow me." ”

- Ed felt that he almost wished he could run away so that he would have enough reason to cut off his feet. That made him creepy, and he didn't dare to move.

The barbarian gave Ed a deep look. gave him a look of apology and warning. Then he left the room with heavy steps.

Ed stared blankly at the straw-covered roof, his mind in a mess.

Bazel didn't want Oylan to know that he was trying to communicate with Ed - he could think. Not just "has a consciousness of his own", he really "thinks" and has a keen sense and is even quite cautious, not like a barbarian!--Did Oylan make him like this?--Does Hoan know this?--What the hell is going on?--What will the world become?......

He hugged his head, deeply feeling that he needed an extra brain to digest these endless questions.

Hoan returned to the cabin before the snow fell, and saw Ed sitting on the bed in a daze, slightly startled, and his smile changed from his pale and thin smile. The face blooms as if it lacks nutrients.

"Ed!" he cried, "you're awake at last!"

He looked genuinely happy...... But Ed has already seen his acting skills.

He really didn't want to face the blonde boy's smile again...... No matter how much he tries to forget. That experience of being completely deceived and betrayed will probably always be a sharp thorn in his heart that cannot be pulled out.

But the situation in front of him was so weird, he couldn't continue to pretend to be dead.

He glanced at Joan quickly, unsure if he was pretending not to know if he had been pretending to be asleep or if he really didn't know.

"What do you think?" Huo An asked as he walked to the bedside and asked kindly and thoughtfully, "If you still feel pain......

Ed shook his head quickly, even though the action made his neck hurt like it was going to fall off his shoulders - he didn't want to drink any more medicine, no medicine...... God knows what Oylan added to it.

"So, you must be hungry, aren't you?" asked Joan cautiously, his look apprehensive and earnest, making Ed feel like he was kicking a puppy if he refused again......

- Ed Singall, you've been fooled once, don't be stupid enough to do it again!

He warned himself sternly in his heart and remained silent.

“...... I know I've hurt you. Huo An lowered his eyes and looked gloomy: "Can't you forgive me, even if you're not dead?"

Ed stared at him, completely unsure of how to answer the question.

"Besides, I've forgiven you. Huo An looked at him again, his blue eyes clear and innocent, "Why can't you forgive me?"

"Uh, excuse me...... 'forgive me'?" Ed finally couldn't help but wonder if he had misheard something, "What exactly have I done that I need your forgiveness?"

"You betrayed me, but I forgive you. Joan nodded earnestly, "So you should forgive me too—friends are like that, aren't they?"

"I ...... Betraying you?" Ed retorted incredulously, "Why don't I remember this?!"

"I asked you to leave with me, but you won't ...... You know who I am—you know who I am, and then you're going to tell your 'brother' and tell the Nesses believers, even if you know they're going to kill me......" Joan looked right, "isn't it?"

Ed closed his eyes, feeling a sigh of relief.

He did have doubts at the time...... But he didn't do anything! He was even going to let him escape, wasn't he?!

"That's why I stabbed you...... I don't want to die, just like you. Huo An's every word was so natural that he was powerless to refute, "But you didn't die, and neither did I...... I thought I would never see you again, but I found you in the forest and saved you...... It's fate, isn't it? We're meant to be friends. ”

Ed's face turned white and blue, unable to open his mouth, and then closed again.

He had nothing to say—he couldn't even understand Hoan's way of thinking, so it might be better to keep his mouth shut so as not to get another stab for some reason...... He might have died another time, for he doubted that the goddess would save him again, even though he was still the "Sage" with whom he had made a contract...... But it is neither the only one, nor the most obedient one.

He had probably been completely abandoned.

"You can stay here. ”

As if taking his silence as a tacit acquiescence, Hoan suddenly became happy, "It's safe here...... No one can hurt you. ”

“...... What if I wanted to leave?" Ed couldn't help but speak, "Are you going to cut off my feet, or are you...... Let your teacher turn me into another 'friend' like Bazel?"

Huo An looked at him quietly for a few moments before shaking his head.

"Bazel wasn't made by a teacher. "He's here because he has nowhere else to go -- no one can accept his presence like we do." He would be burned to ashes like a monster, or locked up somewhere, his body cut apart over and over again...... And he's conscious, you can perceive it, don't you? He knows what's going on...... Have you seen his body, although the teacher has done his best to fix it...... Even if you don't feel it, it won't hurt...... That's scary, too. ”

The sympathy in his voice sounded genuine.

Ed folded his arms, chills unconsciously soaking through.

"You don't need to be afraid of him—he won't hurt you, if you don't try to escape. Joan smiled and told him, but there was still something in that smile that made Ed's hair stand on end.

He figured he didn't have to ask for the answer to the previous question.

For a moment he felt like a legendary princess imprisoned in a tower by an evil dragon - and then he spurned himself for the inappropriate association.

Of course he still has to escape...... But not now.

Ed spent more time observing Bazel. The silent savage wasn't actually utterly speechless, but his throat had been slit, and the sound he could make was so faint and hissing as if he was leaking air that he almost never spoke.

He was rather sluggish in front of both Oylan and Joan, as if he could only understand some simple words, and do things that were extremely simple and did not require the use of his brain at all, as if his remaining consciousness was no longer enough for him to think more.

He doesn't need to eat, whether it's human food or human flesh...... Ed didn't know what kept his dead body strong and strong, and didn't decay - he confessed that his curiosity grew stronger, until one day, Oylan suddenly said something that made his heart beat and he didn't dare to look at Bazel again for the whole day.

"If you continue to take this interest in him, and every day you want to know 'why,'" said the old man, looking him calmly into the eyes, "then you are only one step away from becoming a necromancer." ”

He meant it - the realization of this scared Ed's whole body.

He had never thought about why a necromancer would become a necromancer...... Perhaps the dark path from which there is no turning back really started with a little greed, or a little uncontrollable curiosity.

But when Bazel asked him for help again, he still couldn't refuse.

(To be continued......)