Ed was still drunk that night, but woke up with more alcohol. He said goodbye to his friends like a street vendor with large bottles, small bottles, large bags and small bags, and climbed up the neck of the ice dragon with difficulty, and still looked back reluctantly when the ice dragon flew into the air.

The Unicorn is left behind on Rainbow Bend Island, and Bertram and his friends will not let go of a single word about the Black Sails Pirates. Before discovering Ninetoe's traces, Ed decides to talk to Sean first.

"Are you sure he'll tell you anything?"

As she quickly packed up the booze Ed had brought home, Naria asked, "He's even more stubborn than Scott...... And stubborn not as cute as the dwarves!"

"Not sure. "But I'll tell him everything I know and everything we want, even if he probably already knows." ”

Sean is indeed stubborn, but he is also stubborn in the face of Sean...... Or rather, awkward. They almost never spoke openly with each other, but he always felt that Sean had betrayed his trust—something he hadn't really given to, as Sean said.

However, there is no irreconcilable contradiction between them...... Although the paths they want to take may be different, they basically have the same purpose. Especially after Lydia's spell is lifted, the Paladin Master may be more willing to listen.

Thinking about it now, he even felt that Sean, who waved his hand at that time to let him leave quickly, was not without expectations...... It was he who hid too many doubts in his heart and unconsciously ignored this.

Hopefully, it's too late to make amends.

"Why did you suddenly come up with this?" Narya was a little curious, "Seriously, did anything good happen on Rainbow Bend Island? It was obviously there that it was attacked and suffered heavy losses...... You look like you're so happy that your whole body is glowing. ”

"Is it that obvious?" said Ed, touching his face.

“...... I didn't say you're beautiful, why are you touching your face?" Naria gave him a roll of her eyes with disdain.

Ed grinned, sneakily rubbed over to Naria, pulled out a necklace, and brought it to her with a flattering face.

It was a necklace made of stained glass beads, decorated with many small, bud-like golden bells, with a strong rainbow bend island style, but because the glass beads were small, they were arranged in a staggered manner, but they were not too bright to be too eye-catching.

“...... You're still thinking about this!" Nalya gave him a bigger roll of his eyes.

But Ed felt to himself that this white eye was different from the last one—it was a sweet white eye. The proof is that Naria took the necklace and stuffed it into her waist bag very casually, without even changing her expression...... But the ears were visibly red.

He didn't quite understand why he used to be generous in giving gifts to Naria, but now he had to be sneaky, but it felt very ...... It's special, it's just a lot of aftertaste.

A figure seemed to flicker outside the door, and Ed instinctively snapped a step away, and Nalya's hand shook and she nearly smashed a small bottle to the ground. After such an inexplicable weakness, they invariably looked at each other, and quickly blushed and looked away.

Isis stood in the doorway with a wooden face—the sticky, sweet and greasy atmosphere of the room made him feel like he couldn't get in, but after thinking about it, he walked in anyway.

"Alan is here. He said, not without satisfaction, watching the two flushed faces change color in an instant.

.

Because of Is's "kind" reminder, Ed and Naria who appeared in front of Eren looked serious - or maybe too serious.

But after more than ten days, Alan has become thinner. Beneath the dry skin on the back of the hand, the dark blue blood vessels bulge high and bulge like earthworms, which is very eye-catching. He seemed to be getting old faster and faster, so fast that Naria was terrified.

This sudden realization made the girl rare meek and quiet, and Ed did not dare to say anything else.

The news from Anktann was not good. Borena has yet to recover the missing Crofleur brothers, and on the northern border, the barbarians, who had been fighting on their own, have made disturbing moves earlier than in previous years. His Majesty, who had lost his consul, was a little anxious, and could only use the spirit of the desperate time to cheer up, so that the country that had just emerged from the war would not fall into turmoil again.

"He's probably not going to have the strength to keep an eye on the battle mages in the Branty Library. Alan said, "The attitude of the Anduhe Temple is a little ambiguous...... They have been 'at peace' with those mages for a long time, and their relationship has always been complicated......"

He was a native of Anktan, and although he had been away from home for many years, he still knew a lot about it.

"It doesn't matter. "There is another way. ”

“...... Isn't it 'there's always a way?'" Alan asked, half-jokingly.

Ed bowed his head a little awkwardly. His "there will always be a way" sounds quite optimistic, but in fact it is not very positive. In many cases, he was just lucky enough to wait for the right moment, or until someone else figured out a solution, although "lucky" is also an ability......

Alan didn't ask any more. He looked very tired, and after lunch, Naria pushed him to rest, leaving Ed and Isis with Akan who had eaten endlessly.

Akan was "borrowed" by old Joey for a while, and finally reunited with his friends, so elated that Ed, who left him, couldn't help but feel guilty. The big man, who had been fattened by the housekeeper Monson when he was in Christesburg, finally regained his former hard muscles, and although he couldn't "say" what he had done, he smiled brightly and was full of energy when he gestured, and obviously had a lot of fun.

Of all the people, he is the only one who doesn't seem to have changed at all.

When you see him, Ed can't help but think of Norway and Tate. In the past, the companions who set foot on the Far North Wasteland together in search of the ice dragon were always unable to get together for various reasons. But fortunately, he hasn't lost any of them yet...... He never wanted to lose any of them.

He did keep Akan out of the way, consciously or unconsciously, especially after the departure of Norway and Tess. The big man is empty but too simple, and he is always worried that it will put him in danger...... But now, he finally realizes that this "worry" hides his self-doubt and his unconsciously superior feelings. He actually needed every bit of help he could - he just had to learn to get different people to find their right place, just like Alan and Joey Sr. were able to do.

"You mean, learn how to take advantage of others. ”

After throwing the hungry and drunk Akan to bed, Isis concluded.

“...... Not really!" Ed muttered dissatisfiedly, "It's different!"