As soon as the words came out, he regretted it. He did it on purpose, but the word "go back" also stung him, and his anger did not subside by half a point, but increased by a more intense anger towards himself.

Nia's eyes flickered. He understood...... But soon, that nonchalant smile came back to his lips.

"Does it stink?" he looked down and sniffed himself, exclaiming, "I can't even feel it." ”

The smell of the other world had long permeated his blood and soul...... No matter how much he pretends to be a human.

He sneered, laughing louder and louder, but then he grew lower in the silence of Is, and it was as low as if he were sobbing.

He shuddered, cowering in the shadows and not moving. He had forgotten what he was here for...... He didn't even know what he was here for. It was as if he had just suddenly discovered that he had nowhere to go.

Without a word, Isis bent down and carried him out from under the trellis.

It was really a hug - the little boy who had just learned to walk and who had stumbled behind him before he was waist tall was now a few heads taller than him.

“...... Don't you feel disgusted?" he muttered, almost with a malicious impulse, "Is...... I'm a monster. ”

Isis held him steadily, bowing his head and passing under the flower tree.

"It doesn't matter. He replied softly, "Me too." ”

.

No one treats him like a monster.

Naria's exclamation was only because he was covered in wounds, and Ed, who came in a hurry, asked guiltily and worriedly, "This...... It wasn't Finway's doing, was it?"

“...... I'll admit that his short knife is a little faster than mine. "But I'm not that bad!"

Ed grinned, not even asking him where he had gotten Finway...... Is he so confident that he won't do anything to that elf?

As he stared at the back of his smooth hand, in a daze, Nalya brought him honey water. The thief bared his teeth and licked at the child-fooling thing, but he didn't dare to ask her for a drink with the sure reason of "You see my wounds have been healed!"

No one asked him anything. Even Alan just sat not far away, his hands clenched into fists on his knees, looking at him silently, and there were many emotions in his complicated eyes that he couldn't understand...... There is no disgust or fear alone.

He's come here by magic, and that's probably all he wants.

"Speaking of which," he cleared, "I have that red-haired thief and her ...... Uh, her squirrel's message. ”

"Mongoose. Even though she knew that he did it on purpose, Naria blurted out to correct him, "Little Mo is a cat......"

She stopped, and bit her lip in frustration and helplessness - it doesn't seem to be a mongoose now?

"They got into the pit of the Bolt dwarves. Nia narrowed her eyes and smiled, her head twinning, "They—and a female warrior with short hair and an elf with two swords on her back. ”

“...... Rosa!" Naria's eyes lit up, "and Sesyana...... They're together!"

"Hmm. "Half of the highest peak in the Kitts Mountains has collapsed...... You all know what time it is. I don't know if it has anything to do with them, but they came close to the dwarves who went to find them after the mountain collapsed...... It's a pity that my 'eyes' can't get into the dwarven mines. I heard that those dwarves seem to be crazy, and they don't do business anymore, digging around, and they don't know what they're looking for...... But they guarded their holes more tightly than ever, and barely let a rabbit come near them. ”

Naria's heart, which had just been put down a little, lifted again.

"The dwarves over there......" she remembered, "aren't Norvi their friends, they should ......"

The dwarves, would believe that their friend had turned into a mongoose?—— it seems, a little harder.

"There's Rosa. Ed had no choice but to comfort her.

Naria smiled wryly. Rosa is certainly reliable and can ...... They were so far away from her that she couldn't help them in their time of need......

And she can't leave everything behind.

She chose the more important ones. She chose the way she could maximize her power. But at this moment, she regretted this reason...... She should have chased after Tess when she left the letter and left, and stayed with her, just as they had been with her too.

"Did you know that the Black Rock Dwarves are turning back into stone...... They lose their souls before they die, and they become stones, because they were born of stone in the first place. Nia sat there drinking with honey water, his legs dangling—the chair was too high for his feet to touch the ground, "Maybe that's the case with the Ert dwarves? ”

"Where did you get the news?" asked Naria, "the gates of the Black Rock Dwarves will only be more tightly hidden than the Bolt Dwarves. ”

That's not questioning, just curiosity.

"Said the gem merchant from the north. Nia said.

"That's just their guess. Alan finally spoke, "This year's trading month, there are indeed no dwarves in Yamashita Town...... But they used to shut themselves up like this for no reason. ”

Ed listened quietly. He had seen the Black Rock Dwarves, the silent and serious dwarves with old eyes, far less energetic than the Silver Fang Dwarves...... Akrui, the oldest of the dwarven kingdoms, has always carefully hidden its entrance, and even the merchants of Visa City cannot find their gates. Over the years, the dwarves have become less and less visible, but they have never given a reason. The city of Visa, whose jewels are its mainstay, has had to look for other business opportunities...... He knows all of this. A few years ago he was worried about it, and now he ...... He really didn't care about it.

"'Now' is not the same as 'before'. Nia said.

This seemingly random remark silenced everyone.

“...... Any news from the Bronze Flame Dwarves?" Ed asked softly.

Naria shook her head with a heavy heart, "It's been a long time since Mock replied to my letter. ”

Naturally, they were all more worried about the Bronze Flame Dwarves.

"Maybe I should go check ......," Ed muttered. As one of the few humans who have ever entered the Silvertooth Mine, he can teleport into it with complete accuracy, without worrying about being smashed into pulp by the dwarves in an instant.

The thief, who had succeeded in diverting everyone's attention, drank the last sip of honey water contentedly, licked his lips with a lingering expression, and when he raised his eyes, Alan Carvo's heavy gaze pressed down like a net from which he could not escape.

...... Well, not "everyone".

.