"It's you?!"

Allen, who had just opened his eyes and was still a little dizzy, suddenly shook in his heart when he heard the voice of the cat house manager, and then got up from the bed without saying a word, tensing the nerves in his whole body and becoming highly vigilant. At the same time, a huge shield inscribed with heraldry appeared in front of him.

I don't want the store manager to sit down opposite Allen when he sees this, and says with a smile: "It seems that everything is still going well! Although it is only subconsciously, as long as you practice more in the future, you can put it away freely." Rest assured, I won't attack you again. How's it going? It's still very uncomfortable, isn't it?"

IS THIS THE CURRENT FORM OF YUMA? IS IT BECAUSE THIS GUY IS ATTACKING HIM TO HELP HIM AWAKEN, OR IS IT JUST A MEANS TO LET MY GUARD DOWN SO THAT I CAN WAIT FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO KILL ME WITH ONE BLOW?

In a short split second, countless possibilities flashed through Allen's mind, but Allen no longer dared to trust any of them easily.

On the other hand, the guy had a calm face, and actually leisurely picked up a cup of tea in front of Allen.

The two men confronted each other for a long time, and finally Alan moved first, but instead of attacking the man, he put away his shield and walked to the man and sat down, and drank tea.

"It's quite bold, but it's so easy to trust someone who was once your enemy, but you're going to suffer a big loss!" As he spoke, a dagger suddenly appeared in the store manager's hand and stabbed at Allen.

But Eren sat there motionless, even when the sharp spike had touched his throat, he didn't dodge in any way.

Finally, the dagger stopped just as it was about to pierce Allen's skin, "I didn't think you were very strong, but you have a lot of courage." ”

"If you really want to kill me, why wait until now?"

"It seems that I really underestimated you, but you seem to have overlooked a very important thing!"

"What's the matter?"

"Can you still hear her?" said the store manager, gesturing to the pendant on Alan's chest.

"You ......" Hearing him say this, Alan realized that he hadn't heard her voice since he was woken up by YUMA from that strange state, but what made Alan even more terrifying was that the store manager actually knew about YUMA's existence.

"Don't be so surprised, after all, we're the same kind of people in a way!" said the man, untying his tightly held collar. Alan found out that the store manager also had a pendant around his neck that was very similar to YUMA!

"It seems that you know everything, and as soon as I entered the door, you were already targeted, right?"

"Of course, although you are not the first time-traveler I have met here, you are the most special one. ”

"Just because of this pendant?" Alan was keenly aware of what the store manager was referring to.

"Yes, among the many traversers I've seen, you're the only one who has such a pendant!" Speaking of this, the store manager paused slightly, took a sip of the teacup in his hand, and then continued, "But at first I was just curious about you, and I didn't have any other ideas, until I saw the box that Yorkon Feng gave you......"

"You mean...... The Philosopher's Stone?"

"That's right, it's the Philosopher's Stone. I don't know why he gave you such a precious thing, but when I first saw this Philosopher's Stone, I made up my mind that no matter what method I used, I would definitely get my hands on it, even if it was ......."

"Kill me?"

"Yes!"

"In that case, you can poison my food, with your cooking skills, it should be easy to be unaware of ghosts without a trace, right?"

"Cooking is a sacred thing, and poisoning food is the worst desecration of food! ”

"No wonder you can make such delicious dishes, but is this Philosopher's Stone really that important to you?"

The store manager didn't answer Allen's question directly, "If I'm not mistaken, the partner you just said should be integrated with you and have an independent personality, right?"

NOW, THE TWO OF THEM HAVE ALREADY SPOKEN, AND ELLEN HAS NOTHING TO HIDE, SO HE NODDED, "HER NAME IS YUMA!"

"YUMA? THAT'S A GREAT NAME. ”

"What about yours?"

"Sheaz, but I prefer to call her 'Jing'. The two of us used to quarrel with each other all the time because of this......" The store manager said, as if he had fallen into a long memory.

"...... you" Seeing the store manager's expression, Alan couldn't help but ask.

And the store manager didn't shy away from it, "Yes, after a long time getting along, the two of us fell in love." ”

"Phase...... Love?" Although he vaguely guessed something, when the store manager said it himself, it still shocked Allen.

"Yes, we fell in love, and I also learned from a mysterious time-traveler that finding the Philosopher's Stone would transform her into human form. So, I joined the Adventurer's Guild and embarked on a journey to find the Philosopher's Stone. ”

"That's why you want to snatch it from me?"

Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper shook his head, "In order to find the Philosopher's Stone, we formed an adventure team, and despite the many hardships and dangers we experienced in the long search journey, we never gave up hope, until one day, we broke into the territory of another traverser......" Speaking of this, Alan noticed that the shopkeeper clenched his hands, intentionally or unintentionally, as if he was enduring great pain.

"There, my adventure party was wiped out. I was the only one who escaped, and instead of dying, I activated Jing's second form in the fight to the death! But before I could breathe a sigh of relief for the rest of my life, Jing told me that the two of us were going to be separated for the time being. Only then did I know that Jing was able to activate her second form at the critical moment of my life and death was because she had detonated her intelligence core! But at that time, I never imagined that I would have to wait for 20 years!"

As he spoke, the shopkeeper drank all the tea in the cup, "I haven't heard the sound of silence since then, after so many years, I dare to think about whether those words were true or false, and I don't dare to verify them, because I'm really afraid that in the end I will get the worst answer." So I came to the imperial capital and opened this canteen, just to wait for someone like me. Finally, you appeared! And just as I was about to have a good chat with you, I stumbled upon the Philosopher's Stone! And after twenty years, I finally heard the sound of silence! Although it was only a few dreamlike whispers, it was enough to drive me crazy. ”

"I can't imagine that the shopkeeper has such an experience, so why don't you tell me directly?"

The shopkeeper chuckled when he heard this, "Tell you directly, and you'll give me the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Of course not!"

"Hmph! That's true, so I'm going to have to use a tough one. ”

"You still don't understand what I mean. As he spoke, Alan grabbed a cup and poured himself a cup of tea, "How can I give you such a precious thing for nothing? I'm a businessman, of course I have to make a good deal!" said and deliberately showed the store manager the merchant's badge on his chest.

It was only then that the store manager smiled a little embarrassedly and wryly, "If I knew this was the case, no matter what the price I had to pay, I would be willing!"

"It's not too late to find out!"

However, the store manager sighed heavily, "It's too late...... You're in exactly the same situation now as I was, but the difference is that you have the Philosopher's Stone on you, and you shouldn't repeat my previous mistakes. ”

"But in that case, uncle, you ......"

"It's okay, with your previous sentence, it's enough. Actually, there is another reason why I chose such a strong method, if you can obediently hand over the Philosopher's Stone, of course, it is the most ideal outcome, but if you can take this opportunity to help you awaken, it will be even better. After all, I've been through all this, so I know how much it hurts, so I don't want others to go through the same pain, so now hurry up and follow the method I said, and use the Philosopher's Stone to wake up your partner!"

Listening to the words of the store manager, although Alan still sympathized with him a little, he was still a mortal after all, and he had not yet reached the lofty state of self-sacrifice, after all, he did it for the sake of YUMA. So he took the box out of the storage ring, but when he opened it, it was empty, and the Philosopher's Stone was gone!

"How could this be?" Before Alan could react, the shopkeeper exclaimed unexpectedly, and at this moment, YUMA's voice rang out unexpectedly, "How is it?