Ed lowered his head. The sun began to shine through the window and fell on the black stone slabs. Those lines undulated so clearly in his eyes. They are simple—like looking down on the earth from the sky where an ice dragon can't reach, meandering rivers and towering mountains, dense forests and rolling coasts, all as simple as a stroke, like the first ripples on the water when the wind rises, like the low arc of a thin flower stem......

Inclusive of all things, infinite change.

He held out his hand. In a trance, he realized that the picture was incomplete, it was missing a few strokes. He tried to make up for it...... He should be able to make up for it.

What stopped him was an instinctive panic and uneasiness, and a cool finger that suddenly grasped his wrist.

"Ed!"

Is's voice was light but resolute.

Ed looked up, and Main, who had been keeping an eye on him, involuntarily took a step back, shivering and dizzy in shock—for a moment, she saw the starry sky in those dark blue eyes.

But in the blink of an eye, the starry sky turned back to the sunlit sea, leaving only a trace of confused fog.

“...... Can you tell me where you found it?"

Ed asked softly by hiding his trembling hand under his sleeve.

Main didn't hide it—she didn't intend to hide it when she decided to take out the slate.

"In a cave on the coast to the west. "About two years ago, a group of children discovered the hole, and there was a skeleton in the hole, lying on the ground and curled up in a ball, holding this in their arms." ”

She waved her hand, and a young man who was waiting to the side lightly picked up another wooden box.

"All the things that are left of him are here. She said, "His bones...... It's buried near that hole. ”

Inside the wooden chest was a dagger unsheathed, delicate, sharp, but dull, a half-decayed leather belt with buckles cast in the shape of leaves, and the remnants of leather faintly embedded with silver threads, and two rings, one of which turned out to be made of rare mythril, bent into an elegant silver serpent......

“...... Genie. Ed whispered.

Main nodded.

"We used to show the patterns and patterns of these things to the merchants from Neo, and they said the same. She said, "'It's the style of the elves.'" ”

"You say, 'He'?" Ed recalled.

"He's tall. Mei Ying replied, "The skeleton is slender than our men, but the pelvis is small...... If there is such a difference between male and female elves, it should be a male. ”

"Didn't he leave a single word?"

"At least we didn't find it, if you want to go and have a look......"

Ed was silent for a moment, then shook his head - he had an easier way.

He held the Mithril ring in the palm of his hand. The magical metal was still as bright as snow in a place where magic didn't exist, if anything remained......

Once again, Iss stopped him, and he immediately realized that casting spells here was not a good idea.

"Can I take these with me?" he asked, "I know...... Some elf friends. ”

Main didn't hesitate for long.

"Of course. She said.

These things were indeed a mystery to them, but they were also a mystery of little significance—the elven ships had never, and probably never were, in their harbors.

Ed was a little surprised. Judging by the way they preserved these things so preciously, he didn't expect it to be so easy.

"Thank you. He thanked him solemnly, "These things...... It's very important to me. ”

"The notes you left behind are also very important to us. Main admits it calmly.

“...... I didn't want to swap ......," Ed muttered a little dazed.

"That's why I said, 'Of course.'" "It's not an exchange — it's not a deal." But I hope it's a good start, and if one day I get a chance to visit Neo City, maybe I can tell the others, 'I have a friend here, his name is Ed??' Singel'?"

"Of course!" Ed replied eagerly and loudly, so loud that Iss could only roll his eyes in silence.

"So, are you planning to go to the Eastern Continent?" Ed couldn't help but ask.

"Yes. Main smiled and replied, "One day...... On our own boat. ”

They have been waiting...... We have been trying to create a suitable time, and that day may not be far away.

.

Ed left the notes, the two big, not-so-looking cloth bags, at the edge of the reef when they landed. When Main and her men carefully took over the wooden boxes, Iss transformed back into an ice dragon before their eyes.

"He's a dragon. Ed proudly introduced to the Noua, "It must be your legend that flew over this continent and life was born from its dripping blood...... That kind of dragon. ”

In astonishment and instinctive awe, Main subconsciously blurted out, "Oh...... Then he's really ...... A little small?"

In their legends, the dragon's wings could cover the entire sky!

Perhaps stunned for a moment, the ice dragon didn't let out a roar in time. By the time it could react, Ed had already touched its wings and tried desperately to reassure it.

"Not small!" he tried to explain, "it's still young...... It can still grow!"

The anger shifted instantly, and the ice dragon slapped him into the sand with one claw.

.

"That's a mayor!"

Sitting on the ice dragon's neck and flying into the sky, Ed was still babbling and complaining, "You're a good person with status and respect!

The ice dragon didn't bother to pay attention to him at all—at most, he rolled his huge eyes that he couldn't see. He rambled for a while before he deflated himself.

He took the slate out of the smaller sack, held it in his arms, put it back in it, and asked the ice dragon, "Can you hide it?"

That mysterious "place", which he doesn't even know where it is, should be safe enough, right?

"Can't hide!" the ice dragon yelled at him impatiently, "how big do you think that place can be?"

Ed let out a long sigh and hugged the slate tighter.

"What the hell is that?" the ice dragon asked him.

“...... At last...... Chessboard bar. ”

It was a long time before Ed replied wistfully.

He didn't like it, whoever created it...... Undoubtedly, it is useful. And the danger it poses is probably as great as its usefulness.

"Don't you think that's too much of a coincidence?" he patted the ice dragon on the neck, "We landed in the wheat field of the halfling, only to find something left behind by a priest who came here decades ago...... We wanted to give this thing to the people who deserved it, and we got this slate......"

"So, do you want to thank Nine Toes, or do you want to thank that blown dice for the 'good luck' it brought you?" the ice dragon scoffed.

"That's it...... What a coincidence......" Ed muttered, suppressing the uneasiness in his heart.

He didn't know if it was good luck or not.