At Ed's call, the young man in the cell hesitated for a moment before slowly standing up, cautiously approaching the door, and squinting at the small window that shone brightly.

"Ed?" he whispered as if in disbelief, "Ed, Chrissus, is that you?"

"It's me, it's me!" Ed replied, ignoring the wrong surname, "The gods are above...... Why are you here? Are you hurt? Don't worry...... I'll get you out right away!"

"I'm not hurt...... I don't know where this is...... Ed, did you see Behring? He's injured and I can't find him......"

The little prince's voice seemed to be trying to keep himself from crying immediately, and Ed could only comfort him desperately: "Behring is amazing, you know, right? He'll be fine, we can go to him together......"

He had heard about the disappearance of Sercio and Belin, which was one of the reasons why the chaos in Anktann had not been fully contained to this day, but he could never have imagined that Sercio would be held here...... What the hell is going on? Do they know who he is? Did they mistake him for some necromancer and arrest him?......

In a mess of his mind, he lowered his head and tugged at the padlock on the deadbolt, which was new, rough but sturdy, and he couldn't have opened it without tools.

"Bazel!" he turned back to the barbarian's plea for help, but was met by Oylan's indifferent eyes.

"Stop. The old man's hand grasping his wrist was strong, "Do you want to lure everyone in?"

"They must have made a mistake...... Ed couldn't answer the question in a panic and confusion. "If they knew who he was, they would have let him go......"

"What if they knew exactly who they were locked up?" asked the old man.

Ed glared back into his eyes, suddenly irritated.

"Then I'll get him out. He said. "Now!"

"I said, 'Stop'. The old man frowned slightly, "If he disappears from here, those people will soon find out, which will ruin my plans." ”

"You can control them even if someone finds out, can you, like just now!" Ed tried to keep pulling the lock in his shackles, "That's going to be easy for you!"

"It's not as simple as you think. Oylan slammed him away from the door—his strength was not at all like that of a thin, gray-haired old man.

"But you can't control me!" Ed yelled at him lowly. There is unwarranted anger in my heart...... and fear, "He's still a kid, I'm going to get him out!"

Oylan watched him quietly. His eyes grew colder and colder.

He opened his mouth and spat out a series of strange incantations, and before Ed could react, there was a sudden sharp pain in the back of his head. It was as if someone was trying to pry his skull open with some sharp weapon.

He opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound. Cold sweat poured out instantly, and there were bursts of blackness in front of him, and he fell to the ground involuntarily.

He heard Sercio banging on the iron door calling for him, and he heard Oylan whispering calmly, "I really can't control your soul, 'Sage'...... But it's not completely impossible to control you. ”.

When he woke up, there was silence around him, and he was alone by the fire in the small room, and the sharp pain in the back of his head turned into a constant dull pain. Ed struggled to his feet. With a gloomy face, he touched the back of his head.

There was a wound there, which he had thought was the one he had received when he had been struck down by a demon. And Oylan stitched it up...... Now that I think about it, it was most likely cut by Oylan.

Did he carve something into his skull, like the runes on the foreheads of the skeletons in the tombs? How could he get rid of it......

He had always wondered why Oylan never seemed to worry about him running away...... He already knew there was no way he could escape!

The deep frustration made Ed curse under his breath and slammed his fist into the ground.

He looked around in the light of the fire, and realized that this place was very similar to the shelter he and Norway had chosen for the first night they had come to the Far North Light - it was probably the underground storage room of some elven shop, but it had been cleaned up so clean that there was not even any dust on the ground, and a beautiful but dull pattern was faintly revealed.

The door opened, and the faint light made Bazel's figure seem larger and more terrifying, but Oylan was nowhere to be seen.

He sat down silently on the other side of the fire, handed Ed a glass of water, and began to gesture to Ed as he leaned feebly against the wall, dumbfounded, but also seriously thinking about how to escape.

- Listen to him.

He told Ed.

- Don't provoke him.

“...... I thought barbarians were fearless. Ed couldn't help but stab him, and regretted it a little - what he should be doing now was to enlist Bazel's help, not provoke him, right?!

But his mind is now jumbling because there are many uncertainties...... I don't want to be anxious about the doubts that I am sure of.

- As I said, I'm afraid of death.

Bazel was very calm.

- I don't want you to die...... You are no match for him.

Ed fell silent, frustrated to realize that he couldn't refute the latter sentence.

- Obedient, waiting.

Bazel told him silently.

-- There will be a chance.

Ed was slightly stunned, and looked at the stiff and slightly swollen face of the half-breed, and a faint glimmer of hope rose in his heart.

Another gust of cold wind poured in through the open door. Oylan pulled up his robe and walked down the steps, calmly sat down by the fire, dragged the bag Ed had carried all the way, pulled out his painting tools, and began to paint as if no one was around.

Along the way, he often paints something in this way, sometimes just the scenery around him, sometimes even Bazel or Ed, and sometimes it is clearly a picture in his memory or imagination. But almost all of the paintings ended up being burned by him in the fire—and Ed even felt a little sorry for that.

Ed was quiet for a moment, still thinking about Bazel's warning, but his mouth was already involuntarily asking, "You...... Didn't do anything to him, did you?"

Locked in the cell, Sercio was pale, but he appeared to be healthy and should not have been subjected to any abuse...... But if it falls into the hands of Oylan, it will be difficult to say.

Oylan glanced up at him.

"He's good. "I just won't remember anything that happened today." The rest of the prisoners are also - Ed Singh, you have made me spend a lot of effort in vain. ”

――That sounds like a reckoning.

Ed involuntarily flinched, but still driven by curiosity, he asked unknowingly: "The rest of the prisoners...... Who are they?"

What exactly are they locked up here, Risek is a question he has to care about, but he is a little afraid to hear the answer.

"All sorts of people. Oylan replied without raising his head.

“...... There's no Hoan in there?"

This time, Oylan looked up at him again.

"You thought he was locked up here, didn't you?" asked Ed, stubbornly.

"No, he's not here. Oylan replied.

But he didn't deny Ed's second question—he did come to Hoan.

"Why would you think Hoan would be here?" he asked.

"Why can't you ever learn to shut your mouth?" Oylan frowned.

Ed glanced at Bazel and obediently shut his mouth.

In the suffocating silence, darkness flowed silently through the room as if something tangible, beyond the insignificant range of the flames. Ed couldn't help but think of the stories about the city—the curse of another distant, long-ruined ancient city, the vengees who died silently on the Tower of Atonement with a grudge, the curse and blood on the Temple of the Sun, the beautiful city that eventually fell...... The voice of the Silver Leaf King seems to be still in his ears, but how much of the legend that almost put Norway to death is true?

"Have you ever heard of the legend of the Far Northern Light?" he asked, involuntarily, "as to why it was abandoned?"

Oylan's brush paused for a moment, then rustled on.

"The elves who used to live here were ridiculously stupid - just like they are now of their kind. He replied.

Almost immediately, Ed began to get angry again. He admits that the elves are not as perfect as he had dreamed of as a child...... But whether it is Norvi, Silver Leaf or Sesyana, they are still sparkling in his eyes, they are agile, intelligent, brave, loyal, and beautiful...... In short, there is absolutely no "stupid to the point of being ridiculous"!!

But he succeeded in suppressing his anger - Oylan apparently knew something, and as far as he had known these days, Oylan knew the truth that was hidden in the darkness.

"Is this really a cursed place?" he asked softly, "what kind of curse is that?"

"Curse. Oylan sneered, "The proud, high-eyed 'darlings of the gods' will only believe in such things, fate, curses, the will of the gods that cannot be disobeyed - nothing cannot be explained, or disobeyed, as long as you can find a way." ”

Ed listened silently. This is Oylan's usual argument, as if he could even create or destroy an entire world with a single sentence if he "finds a way...... It's like a god.

What's more terrifying...... He began to think that there was some truth in this, too.

"So what the hell is that?" he stubbornly asked, "if not a curse." ”

"Strength. Oylan replied, giving him a disdainful glance out of the corner of his eye, "Otherwise why do you think those 'friends' of yours would build a huge temple in such a deserted place?" Do you really believe that it was only because 'the goblins brought it here' and 'thought there were enough materials to borrow here'?"

Ed's mouth opened and closed silently, like a fish thrown ashore, and finally realized, in frustration, that he might really be a fool......

But weighing heavily on his heart was another kind of fear—about what was happening here...... And how much does Scott know?.

(To be continued......)