As we head north, the marks of burning on the ground fade away, as if to prove that Nine Toes did not intend to set the fire...... It can also be proven that the ship has solved the problem of its "leakage".

Ed wished it to crash, but alas, all he could "see" was a ship whose mast had all broken and its keel had cracked, gradually recovering as if it were alive.

It is impossible for a ship to have the blood of God like him...... So why on earth is its power not affected by this continent?

In retrospect, what happened to him on the night he was dragged into the deep sea was actually the same ritual that happened in the Tower of Silence, and even what Scott did. It's just that in the Tower of Silence he was used as a container for power...... It was treated as another form of "god's bone", but he was not a dead thing like bones or gems - he refused.

And at the bottom of the sea, he is the chosen sacrifice, and it is the ship that gets the power...... What's so special about that power?

Iss had suspected that the vessels that Scott had obtained through the ritual to contain the power of magic were intended to create a huge circle. But Scott gave the Heart of the Mountains to Tess, and the Nine-Toed Magic Ship was probably not a pawn that he could arrange at will...... No, if he knew, there would be no way he would have allowed Nine Toes to use Ed as a sacrifice.

He thought of the Archmage Tower again. It is likely that the plot to turn nearly half of the tower into dried corpses was for the same ritual, but it fell short because of the resistance of the mages.

It couldn't have been Scott – Scott wouldn't have sacrificed a living person.

Ed knew he trusted Scott too much, and he had been warned more than once for it—even Scott himself had warned him, but he stubbornly held on to that trust.

That's Scott?? Chrysers. It was he who told him when he was at his most confused that he had the right to make his own decisions – but also to bear the consequences. He told him that they were actually walking in the fog, but they could only walk.

He let him go alone, trusting that he would find his way through the fog. Then, at least, until there is conclusive evidence that he is completely lost, or falls into darkness, he will believe in him, believing that in that soul that once shone like the warm sun, something will never change.

He prefers to believe that someone is doing the same thing as Scott, but not necessarily for the same purpose. And who it will be, it doesn't seem difficult to guess.

As his vision blurred up, Ed changed his spell. The little bit of consciousness he had separated was originally attached to the black smoke rising into the sky, and through the connection between the drifting smoke and the ship, he tracked and peeked into the ...... But it can only move with the black smoke. And now, he'd ventured into the ship—a wisp of black smoke wrapped around the re-erected mast, wisps of broken black sails.

He always felt that Nine Toes hadn't come here with them. Perhaps he changed his mind after discovering them, and had to leave as soon as possible because the magic ship was damaged, but his original purpose was even more unsettling to Ed.

Where would he go if the ship was fully restored? He still had the breath of life that had been taken from Rainbow Bend Island, and what he would do with it, they had no idea.

He had to keep an eye on him.

Single-minded, and from time to time he couldn't help but look at the vibrant land of Hetland, who was more tired than usual...... He's really spending too much energy these days.

But he managed to read Muru's diary as the ice dragon flew at a rapid pace. From the northernmost coast to the halfling settlement, the once proud and confident young priest crossed the continent with his own feet, and appeared in the halfling town as a down-and-out middle-aged man.

He had seen almost all the races of the continent: the Noua controlled the northern coast and the vast plains, the villages and towns were paved with smooth roads, scattered but not isolated, and though they did not have the prosperity of the eastern continent, they lived peacefully and abundantly under a powerful ruler and a system more free and equal than Rutgar, and by the rich lands of Hertland. To the south of the Nou's territory, the vast and dense forests are the mysterious realm of the centaurs, a sturdy and tall race that is superior to the Noua, but far less numerous than the Noua. They are cold and calm, they seem to have little emotional turmoil, and they don't like to deal with other races - the forest has given them everything they need, and they protect it. It is said that several smaller races that also inhabit the forest are also under their protection, such as the petite winged elves with wings on their backs, but Muru was not able to see them when he was quickly driven away. After seeing a few mages and their mercenary warriors' half-rotten heads that had sneaked into the centaur temple for unknown purposes, the priest felt that he had only been "driven away", at least proving that the centaurs weren't really that vicious.

Thea, the female mage, had to return to the Eastern Continent with the ship for some reason, and the few mages who remained in Hertland didn't seem to be able to complete their mission. They showed little interest in the Noua, who were similar to the Bries, and made their way inland very early. The mages from the Archmage's Tower have always been known for their audacity, but after losing their proud spells, it is clear that such "audacity" has quickly brought them death. Except for the three who died in the forest, Muru had never heard of the other two, and most of them were unlucky.

Centaurs have their own temple, which excites Muru. Even if they believe in the forest itself, it has no name, no form, and is present in the life and soul of all living beings in the forest.

But the original belief of human beings is actually nothing more than that. The names they chant when they pray today, and the statues that are erected in the temples, are either from the elves or the dwarves, or they are a fusion of the legends of the dwarves and the elves in the legends of the humans themselves. Could the same be the case in Hertland?

Even if they were not allowed to stay in the forest, the priest stayed at the edge of the forest for a long time. However, against the taciturn but determined centaurs, his efforts had little effect. In the past two years, the centaurs who occasionally appeared in front of him, even if they were just simple teenagers, had never said a word to him. Even if he ventured across the border, he would not get a single reprimand—only the spears that flew out of nowhere and stuck in front of him, digging deep into the dirt. He had no doubt that if he dared to take another step forward, another spear would penetrate his body.

He left with regret and wandered through the wilderness of Hertland for an unknown number of years.