The ice dragon flew low for only a short moment before quickly pulling up, annoyed at his carelessness.

The Archmage's Tower is not surrounded by castle-like walls, and the so-called "gates" are merely statues standing opposite each other, and what Bertram calls "closing all the doors" is nothing more than a red glimmer rising between the golden rain hedge and the statue—that means no access.

Even though the Archmage Tower was no longer in place, the magical barrier that had been opened when it was closed still existed. Similar to the barrier outside the Enshi Valley, it was some kind of psychic attack. The ice dragon could almost ignore it, and Ed didn't seem to feel anything, but Nalya was visibly stiff and nearly slipped off it.

Ed grabbed her with a quick hand. Sensing her strangeness, the ice dragon realized that it was nothing more than a low flight that suddenly rose up to admire the rich expressions on the faces of those mages, but it was very likely to hurt her.

At the moment of a whim, it didn't think of this at all.

Spontaneous frustration...... and some more complex emotions, so that it flapped its wings listlessly, and unconsciously flew higher and higher.

“...... Wait!" Naria exclaimed, her tone as calm as if nothing had happened, "Do you think...... It's about to disappear from this world?"

The ice dragon lowered its head, and the spires on the ground were indeed much more blurred.

Ed saw something else.

Because at a high altitude, the entire Archmage Tower is clear at a glance. Although the architectural style is completely different, the outline outlined by the perimeter hedges, the angle between the four towers and the supreme tower...... They all look familiar.

If you replace the hedges with high stone walls, the four spires that reach into the sky with lower towers, and the highest towers with three-storied towers...... That's clearly Lockburg.

He had seen the maps of Tonbutch and Lockburg so many times that he could draw accurate lines with his eyes closed. He'd actually seen the map of the Archmage's Tower...... It's just that every time he sees it is different, even the map in the elf's hand is not the same as what he sees now—the mages have apparently used some method to hide its true face.

In Lockburg, the four towers are connected, and the center of the intersection is not a three-storied tower, but a pomegranate hall. And here it is......

He gestured vaguely, his gaze resting on the large library in front of the Tower.

The altar was hidden beneath the pomegranate hall, and beneath it was the empty obsidian sarcophagus of the mage king Dolon...... What about here?

"I have to go down. He said.

While the Archmage Tower hadn't completely disappeared, he might be able to find something that the mages wouldn't allow him to approach. And now, even if they want to stop ...... They were like two overlapping shadows, unable to do anything to each other at all.

As for whether the mages will trouble him in the future...... Who knows if there will be any future, maybe the Archmage Tower will disappear into another world from now on.

“...... This place looks like Lockburg?" Narya had already seen it.

"Doren Bofford is also a disciple of Santo the Stone Shaper. Ed told her, "Supposedly the first...... The original Lockcastle was a square fortress, but it was Doren who transformed it to its current appearance, except for the three-storied tower, the square tower and the location of the main fortress have been changed. At that time, the construction of the Archmage Tower was beginning to ......"

To this day, it is impossible to tell who copied whom. After all, Santo wasn't the only mage who helped build Fort Lock.

He thought of Rockburg, which seemed to be forever shrouded in some kind of dark and gloomy atmosphere, and of the chaotic but full of life when Stormbell led him into the Archmage's Tower...... Ed felt that they might not be the same in nature.

As he lowered his head, the ice dragon's long tail flicked over and curled him gracefully...... Then he threw it down without hesitation.

“...... What are you doing?!"

Naria stayed for a moment before she screamed.

"Isn't he going down?" replied the ice dragon sullenly.

Naria slammed her face and yanked at the thorns in its neck. Maybe it's like pulling a hair out of it...... But she had no other way to express her anger.

"If he still fell to his death by now, it would be better to die sooner!" the ice dragon stiffened his neck and growled unhappily.

"Shut up!" Naria yelled louder than it, "don't say that word!"

Of course she knew Ed couldn't fall. When she looked down in horror, Ed was already in mid-air, and even waved at her before floating down slowly...... But that doesn't mean he deserves to be thrown down like this!

"We ...... Gotta talk about it. ”

After trying to calm down, she spoke in frustration.

Although some problems are almost more difficult for her than saving the whole world...... It's always something you have to face.

.

Ed, who was suddenly thrown down, was surprisingly calm.

He was accustomed to Is's bad temper, and besides, he understood why it wouldn't send him back to the surface—if it was for Naria's sake, of course it could be forgiven.

The wind lifted him like a cloud at his feet. It was an amazing feeling, but he didn't have time to slow it down.

He felt a moment of discomfort when he hit the ground. There were many mages gathered outside the Great Library, most of them very young, and even though they were already blurred like smoke that would disperse when the wind blew, their overly enthusiastic gaze still made him a little unbearable—surprise, curiosity, envy, awe, suspicion, hostility...... He felt like a suckling pig roasted on a silver plate, or a silly bird that had fallen out of the air and into a flock of monkeys.

Someone broke up the crowd and squeezed out, and Ed breathed a sigh of relief.

That's Stobel.

He could see the mage's slightly agitated expression and his lips moving rapidly, but he couldn't hear what he was saying. They competed with each other and finally found the easiest way to communicate - pen and paper.

Thank you, gods, most of the priests and mages carry this thing with them.

As Ed expected, the mages guarding the library did not welcome him in...... But they couldn't do anything.

As he slid straight through their figures, Ed felt like ghosts—judging by the mages' expressions, they probably felt the same way.

He was a little worried about what would happen to Stallbel, but the mage himself didn't seem to care—he had something more to worry about.

"I have some clues that the current situation may be related to the 'whisperer'. ”

"Is there a basement here?"

They glanced at each other's holding up papers, the handwriting faint as if it had been blurred by water.

They don't have much time left.

“...... As far as I know, no. ”

Stobel replied.

.（）