"The mirror is in his hand, he's in the ...... Do you do the same thing as Toom?"

Ed asked palely.

Thinking of the basement across the wall, Oylan was doing the same experiment with the others, and he felt a chill.

- I don't know.

Bazel replied.

- There was a place I couldn't get into. Some kind of wizard's spell...... Keeping my body immobile, like when I was too close to him. I once thought about stoning him from afar...... But he helped me after all. I only hope you'll help me get that mirror back, I shouldn't have let it fall into the hands of any wizard.

“...... What about Hoan? Does he know what you want to do?"

――I don't know.

Bazel hesitated before continuing.

- I can't let him know about it. He saved me. He made me think I was still a savage...... Living barbarians, I am grateful. But he was weak, and he told me to trust his teacher, but I could see in his eyes that he was afraid of him and even hated him, just as he hated Tum.

“...... Then why did he come back?"

- He wanted the mirror too, he just knew that he couldn't control its power right now, he didn't even know what it was, and he needed someone to help him...... I couldn't trust him in this matter - he was still a wizard after all. He was afraid of death, but he had no respect for life and soul.

"He knows you...... Would you think so?" Ed asked, gesturing to his head.

Bazel couldn't show a "smile" on his face, but Ed could clearly see a smile in his eyes.

- No. He doesn't need to know.

Ed grudgingly smiled back. There was a faint sense of unease.

"So...... Why would you believe me?" he asked softly, "We've never seen each other before, and I ...... you"

Before realizing that Bazel was desperate to communicate with him. He wasn't very kind to him.

- You're afraid of me, that's right. I hate that, but that's right. Even I am afraid of myself.

Bazel told him calmly.

- It's true that we've never met, but I've heard your name.

Ed's eyes widened in surprise.

-- From a half-breed. He had a cart pulled by two reindeer.

“...... Hal!" Ed cried out in delight. He never expected to hear from Bazel about that half-breed friend......

- He gave me a ride...... Before finding out I was a dead man.

Bazel paused for a moment, his eyes a little gloomy.

- He told me your name. Tell me you're his friend, that you've saved barbarians from those wizards, and that you can consider half-bloods, dwarves, and evil dragons your friends.

"Uh...... But Is-the dragon wasn't evil. Ed scratched his hair in embarrassment. Explain instinctively.

- You can see its soul. Many people can't, they refuse to look.

There was a flash of hope in the savage's deep eyes.

- You didn't refuse. You didn't refuse me either.

Ed was stunned. Bazel probably wanted someone to see his soul - he certainly hoped that his soul would still be so strong. All people saw was his dead body. His situation is simply more difficult than that of Is...... and despair.

Ed would love to be able to blurt out "I can be your friend too...... The savage's tenacity made him admire him, and it was probably not just an accident that he was the only one of Toom's "test subjects" to succeed...... But he couldn't say it -- he couldn't do it. Even if he once shook his arm like a friend...... Most of it is to appease the other party to protect themselves.

Humans have an instinctive resistance to death. This was created by human mages forcibly tying life and death together...... I don't know what to call it.,Ridiculous and weird existence.。 It was beyond his acceptance.

Even now. Standing in front of Bazel, Ed's muscles were still subconsciously tense, and he wanted to stay away at all times.

"Hal still ...... Okay?" he asked, apprehensively.

――Yes. I didn't hurt him...... Half-breeds don't hurt half-breeds, we're all brothers.

Ed was stunned for a moment before he reacted.

“...... Are you half-blooded?"

"Bazel" is indeed more of a human name...... But he looked like a complete savage.

- I was fortunate to be more like my father, and I was stronger than even many savages, but yes, I was a half-blood.

Bazel replied proudly.

Ed hung his head and was silent for a few moments. Bazel told him all this without reservation. He should at least pay reciprocal trust, but ......

“...... If that mirror is found. What do you want to do with it?"

If only one thing could attract necromancers, dwarves, or even dragons at the same time...... It must have incredible power, and Bazel may not be able to resist it.

- smashed it.

Bazel replied without hesitation.

“...... Are you sure that will set the soul free?"

- No, I'm not sure. I saw myself in that mirror...... Not my current self. I am alive in the mirror, I can feel that I am alive in it...... If the mirror shattered, it was possible that my soul would cease to exist, but that would be better than now. And, I don't want anyone more...... Become like me.

Bazel looked at Ed pleadingly.

- I have a plan, of course there is danger, and if you don't want to agree, I won't force it.

Ed took a deep breath and suppressed the last of his doubts.

"I'll help you. He said.

Every day, Oylan would always be at the table by the fire and have dinner with everyone.

While still in bed, Ed had been wondering why Oylan insisted on doing this, because the atmosphere was always very strange and completely undigestible. No one would speak from beginning to end, and Bazel could not eat anything at all, but sat there staring at them.

Once he was able to sit down at the table, Ed understood better why Hoan was so thin - there was no shortage of food, and Hoan's craftsmanship was not bad, but the dead silence like sitting in the grave and eating was really unappetizing. Oylan didn't seem to care about it, but he also ate very little, and the only thing that benefited was probably the fat pigs they kept outside the house.

Only Ed always kept his head down quietly and quickly trying to stuff something into his mouth, even if it took him a long time to digest - he needed to regain his strength.

But when Oylan put down his knife and fork in an aristocratic and elegant posture, pushed away the bench, and turned away without a sound, he could not help but let out a long breath.

He bent down slightly and pushed the bench back with his butt to make himself sit comfortably, and Bazel stood up at that moment, as if he couldn't wait to leave the table...... Then he tripped over the leg of Ed's chair.

His strength was so great that he easily knocked Ed over along with the chair, but at the low exclamation of Joan, his huge body also lost its balance and fell uncontrollably to the side.

The barbarian slammed into the cupboard on one side. He grabbed a corner of the cabinet and tried to stop himself from falling, but he only pulled the whole cabinet crooked and fell on top of him, along with the several layers of wooden shelves next to the cabinet, and all kinds of things on it.

The sound of ping-pong is endless. Ed, who fell to the ground, propped up his body, looked at Bazel who was still fluttering in the smoke of various colors, and cautiously covered his nose tightly with his sleeve, and the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

Oylan turned back before he walked out the door, looking at the mess in silence, his face expressionless, and he didn't even move his eyebrows.

Bazel hissed and growled in exasperation, rudely lifted the cupboards and planks that pressed against him, and kicked and stomped hard as he stood up, until Joan stopped him with a trembling voice.

“...... I'm sorry. Huo An's face turned pale and he said timidly, "I will ...... I'll go back tomorrow to find what I'm missing. ”

Most of the shelves were filled with food and utensils, but the cupboards were mostly Oylan's spell materials—less precious, but essential. Every once in a while, Oylan would take something from here, and Joan's task, in addition to preparing food and asking for news, was to make sure that there would never be a shortage of materials for any of the teachers.

Looking at Hoan's bloodless face, Ed unconsciously felt a little sympathetic - Bazel was right, Hoan was indeed afraid of his "teacher", although in his opinion, Oylan was actually not bad for Hoan.

But he quickly lowered his eyes, got up and silently ducked to the side.

Oylan looked at Bazel, who was still staring at the mess on the ground like an enemy, nodded faintly, and turned away, as if he was not angry at all.

But he walked faster than usual—it seemed like enough to make Joan shiver.

After he left, the room returned to the dead silence of the meal. After a long while, Huo An sighed lowly.

"You'll have to be careful, Bazel...... If he gets angry and turns you into the same as any other undead, I can't help you. ”

Bazel was silent for a moment, then hung his head in frustration and made a haphazard gesture as if to apologize.

"It doesn't matter. Huo An smiled slightly, "We are friends, and friends need to take care of each other, don't they?"

He looked at Ed, who could only barely pull the corners of his mouth. But when he saw that the big and small ones began to squat there to pack up their things, he hesitated for a moment, but still silently leaned over to help...... At the same time, he secretly hid a sharp piece of broken pottery.

That might not be of much use, especially if you're dealing with the undead...... Of course, if Bazel's news is correct, he doesn't have to face any undead at all, but who knows?

Stumbling to the point, Ed has already understood that there will always be something that you don't expect.

(To be continued......)