Ed's lips quirmed, and he didn't know what to say for a moment.

If it weren't for the sentence blurted out, even he wouldn't have realized that deep down, he actually wished that Iss was an ordinary person...... In that case, will their lives be different? Will they be able to have a calmer and simpler life? They don't have to face more difficulties, they don't have to take on more responsibilities......

Ed couldn't help but smile wryly. He knew he lacked the courage to move forward, and if there was a way back, he always wanted to back down and retreat to a safer and warmer place...... But the "if" that cannot be changed is the most meaningless assumption.

"If you were a normal person, wouldn't you go out of your way for Scott anymore?" he asked.

Isis looked at him in a daze, and didn't answer—and didn't need to answer.

"In that case," Ed shrugged his shoulders with feigned ease, "maybe you're a better dragon." ”

Isis tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Vala once told me," Ed said softly, after a moment's thought, "if you remember the purpose of each of your choices, you won't forget who you really are......"

He didn't know if that would be any comfort to Is. However, around the corner, the door of the hotel was already in front of him, and Alan Cavo was standing outside.

The cobblestone festival had just ended, and the people had not yet returned to Balach after a carnival, and the figure of the white-haired old man on the empty and deserted street looked abrupt and lonely.

Ed's heart tightened, and he quickened his pace.

"Sorry for our late return. He said, deliberately making his tone lighter, "Where are you going?"

"I thought you wouldn't come back until dark. Alan looked calm, "I was about to visit an old friend. ”

"Do you need me to come with you?" asked Ed politely, "we're only going back to Stonebugch tonight anyway...... However, I don't think the people in the city have come back yet. ”

"Cobblestone is half a day's journey from here. Alan groaned, and naturally turned back to the hotel, "I'd better go later." ”

Ed looked down and couldn't hold back a laugh, and Ise followed them in silence.

Alan glanced back at him and asked as if nonchalantly, "How's the situation at the Sidney Temple?"

“...... There are too many people. Isis said.

"Very much. Ed added, "The devotees filled the squares and shrines, and we simply couldn't get close. ”

He actually had no intention of hiding it, but he couldn't help but downplay it: "However, we saw that ...... Dragons, they hid it in Miaz-Weis...... It does have a heartbeat. ”

“...... And then?" Alan asked, "you just did nothing?"

He wouldn't believe it.

"That thing...... Something quirky. "We think it's best not to act rashly." ”

Even he himself felt a little embarrassed when he said it—they were reckless and reckless, and now they suddenly knew "don't act rashly".

There was a smile in Alan's eyes, but it didn't pierce him.

The Plantagenet Inn is not as empty as the rest of the town. The guards and attendants sent by Borena were quiet and courteous, attentive and attentive, but did not disturb the only three guests.

Ed whispered Lydia, the crow's speculation. Alan was silent for a long time, dipping his tea in the tea and drawing a simple symbol on the table, like two concentric circles, each with a small opening, in opposite directions.

"It is carved on an altar in the ground of Ankeland. "Lydia claims that it is some kind of mark belonging to the necromancer, albeit with some differences...... Later Cele Brian told me that a slight difference in a symbol used in a spell could mean something completely different. And this symbol - even he couldn't make out it. ”

He stopped, and for a moment his eyes drifted away in a daze, as if sinking into a distant memory.

“...... He came to me. He muttered, "Keller Brian...... He came to tell me that Lydia would awaken a power beyond her control beneath Ankeland that would destroy everything...... We tried to stop her...... At that time I thought we had succeeded, albeit at an unbearable cost - no, sometimes I even wondered if I wouldn't have lost so much if I hadn't stopped her?...... I know that the same pain afflicts Celebrion, and his remorse may be deeper than mine......"

The half-elf once asked him, "Do you believe in prophecy?" ”

At that time, Isis was less than a year old. They gathered at Christesburg as usual, and Is, who still loved to cry but laughed even more, brought them joy that they had never had before, almost enough to forget that it was not a young and cute little boy, but a dangerous ice dragon who would wake up at some point.

Kelle Brian excluded himself from such joy. He always watched from afar, his eyes cold and complicated.

"I know what you're worried about. Alan told him that, in a sense, it was also convincing himself, "but you see, things may not be that bad......

"One day he's going to kill Scott. Keller Bryant interrupted, "It's not 'worrying,' it's ...... Prophecy. Alan Carvo, do you believe in prophecy. ”

He did not believe in prophecy...... But he believed in Keller Brian. Even if that trust cost them Laugan and Niya, it cost him a leg.

He accepted the price, and he could only accept it - he still had a daughter to take care of. And at the end of the day, that's his own choice.

He thought Kellerbrian would be more receptive than he was. The half-elf was made of ice and snow, with almost no human emotion...... But while he was lying in Christesburg, tossing and turning from the loss of his right leg, the half-elf guarding his bedside suddenly trembled and nearly collapsed one night.

"It's my fault. He said, "It's my fault." I can't tell the difference between the past and the future, between reality and nightmares. I don't know when I am or where I am...... I don't know what has been changed and what will never be possible. In my hands was a tiny speck of dust from an endless stretch of time, and I thought I could piece together the future I wanted...... Alan, why didn't I die?"

Alan was at a loss.

But the half-elf quickly returned to normal, as if the brief moment of vulnerability and despair had never happened.

They rarely saw each other after that. However, when Ed and Naria were about to travel to the ice field to find Is, Celebrian brought this news to the hesitant Alan:

"Let them go, Alan. I thought I could change the future...... But they are the future. ”

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