Ed wasn't afraid, he was just a little dissatisfied. He'd already fallen once, and there was nothing to fear. And falling with the current and going up against the current are two completely different feelings, and that's not what he wants......

The body slammed, and something tightly wrapped around his waist. He didn't get the "feeling" of the water as he had hoped - in the blink of an eye, he was once again under the protection of the ice dragon's massive body.

The dull roar was indistinct in the rumbling sound of the water smashing on the ice dragon's back, but I knew that the ice dragon, who was not very good at scolding like him, was only a "fool" or an "idiot" when he scolded, "Are you crazy?......!" And so on, it's really not lethal.

He writhed around in the restraints of the long tail, stubbornly trying to crawl out. He's not messing around, he's in a clear head...... Well, maybe not so sober, but he knew there must be an idea hidden in his head, and he needed some kind of strength to smash it out.

I don't know if the ice dragon didn't have the strength at all, or if he finally decided to give up on him as a fool - he actually succeeded. He held the tail of the ice dragon and squirmed upwards like a worm. The power of the water was not as strong as he thought...... Maybe it's because the ice dragon is no longer flying up, but falling down little by little.

Still, the power could easily break his bones and crush him into a puddle of flesh...... The human body is so fragile.

But he's still alive. Powerful force washed through his body, scraping off his flesh and shattering his bones, destroying him bit by bit, and regenerating him bit by bit.

He looked down at his hands. Bright red blood oozed from under the pale skin, and it was washed away in an instant. He felt a strange emptiness, as if something was peeling away from him. He knew that it was a necessary price to pay and that he would become more pure...... Pure and powerful. But the "impure", the imperfect, is also precious.

- He didn't want to give up.

He let go of a hand and lifted it little by little with difficulty, palm up, as if begging, as if accepting...... It's also like rejection.

“...... You could have been God. ”

In the back of my head, someone's voice was sighing quietly.

- But I don't want to be a god.

He replied.

He had never been so determined. He even thought it wouldn't hurt if that would end it...... Then it was Isis who stopped him, and now, in temptation again and again...... Or after the test, that little unwillingness is even stronger.

He just wants to be an ordinary person. All his perseverance and hard work are for the day when he can go on adventures with his friends, freely and happily...... It's all for the first, and the best, wishes.

Why, exactly, no?

The water seemed to sigh, but it gradually parted on the palm of his hand, like going around an indestructible rock. The crack grew bigger and bigger, until the ice dragon could be in it.

Even Ed could feel the vibrations emanating from deep within his chest as it roared. It struggled upwards like a spear bursting through the air. The whistling wind made a sharp sound in Ed's ears, and he looked up at the faint glow of light in the deep darkness.

That's starlight on the other side of the world...... That's the starlight they gave birth to.

.

As soon as it burst out of the sea, the ice dragon fell into the sea, and its four paws fluttered and grabbed a reef so that it didn't get washed down again—it really didn't have the strength to do it again.

Thick layers of ice spread out on the surface of the sea. The ice dragon immediately collapsed on the ice without a figure, panting like a dog about to die.

Ed slipped off its back—like a rock, to be exact. It gave him a boost by the tail to prevent him from falling headfirst and turning his head open, and rejected him when he tried to treat it.

His situation didn't feel right, and it was a little uneasy.

"Again...... Can't die. It gasped and told him, "Lie down for a while...... That's it. ”

Ed nodded, sat down quietly, and didn't insist any longer.

"You...... Has your brain been smashed by water?" the ice dragon asked him.

It was so tired that it didn't even want to speak. Its low, deep voice sounded unimposing as it gasped incessantly. But such a quiet, lifeless Ed Singh...... It didn't like it very much.

“...... Maybe. Ed pulled out a smile that was uglier than crying.

The ice dragon breathed a sigh of relief—fortunately, it shouldn't have broken badly.

"Just lie down for a while. It comforted him.

Ed was stunned for a moment before he reacted: "...... You mean my brain?"

The ice dragon hooked its tail instead of nodding its head—its head was now as heavy as a stone, and it couldn't move.

Ed stared at its violently undulating belly, at his friend who was still joking, and the stiff arc of his lips gradually softened.

He chuckled lowly, and fell backwards with his arms outstretched, flattening his limbs, feeling the cold but real ice, listening to the sound of the ice cracking a little by the way the sea fought back.

It should be able to hold out for a while. He thought.

Then he closed his eyes and fell asleep, not dreaming a single dream.

.

When he awoke, he lay on the back of the ice dragon, with a faint dawn in front of him, and the inky blue water swept below him.

They are flying north.

The thorns on the ice dragon's back were not very neat, and they had obviously been broken by the current, and it was very uncomfortable to look at it crookedly. Ed silently restored them to their original ways in exchange for the ice dragon's lazy response:

"'Just lie down for a while'—I'm not wrong, am I?"

Ed smiled and nodded vigorously.

"I've got to tell you," he said, "that I turned down a deal that actually made a lot of money." ”

Now, he felt like he could tell it anything...... He could have told him anything.

"Oh. The ice dragon replied.

“...... Don't you ask me 'what's the deal?'" Ed was a little dissatisfied. That's not good for his friends, and it's not fun to tell him a story!

"Well, what's the deal?" the ice dragon asked perfunctorily.

“......”

Ed suddenly didn't want to continue. He figured that Isse probably didn't care at all—he wouldn't call him stupid, let alone rebuke him for being selfish.

Isn't what it always insists on exactly the same as what he has chosen?

“...... I won't tell you!" he cocked his chin.

"So, you just want to be thrown by me?!" the ice dragon snapped its tail in his ear in annoyance.

"Try it, I'm not going to be thrown down so easily!"

......

They argued pointlessly, until Ed finally remembered something more important.

“...... Did you see the boat?" he asked.

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