"Dear cousin Alan, you don't seem to be looking normal lately, is there something on your mind?" Dressed in a brown fine linen tunic and soft-soled bast shoes, Lusan Minest, dressed as a scholar, strolled into the garden and slowly approached Alan sitting in the shade of the tree with a concerned look: "It's too cold outside, you should go back to the house." ”

"Thank you for the relationship, Cousin Ruthen. Allen, who looked a little sad, barely showed a slight smile and shook his head towards Lusen: "But I really don't need to, I just need to rest a little." ”

"Don't be like this, we are a family, and it is right to care for each other. Lusen gently stroked Alan's narrow shoulders and sat down: "Now that the whole family is preparing for your coming-of-age ceremony, you should look happy, so that we can rest assured." ”

There weren't many days left before Alan's coming-of-age ceremony, and as Lusen said, the entire Minest family was planning for it, discussing which guests to invite, where to hold the banquet, drinks and snacks at the banquet, and people were busy everywhere. Even though it was late autumn, the Minest family mansion was still in full swing, just like the harvest season in the middle of summer.

This was both happy and a little overwhelmed for Alan - since she was born, she had been treated as a substitute for Sera Kwyn, and even the servants of the castle had never really respected her, let alone so many people who cared about her, busy with the rite of passage, and had never experienced this.

So although Alan kept telling herself that it was all for the sake of the Kwyn family, for the sake of her father and mother, even she didn't believe it at the time if she didn't have the slightest gratitude—she had received far more care in this strange house than she had in the past ten years.

But the maiden did not understand that the servants of the house were so attentive only because they had served her as their future mistress—and the Marquis of Holard Minest had remained silent and had neither objected nor acknowledged the rumours which Madame Angelica had quietly spread among the servants.

But for Luceen, the matter is a little troublesome. He liked the young and energetic cousin very much, but it didn't mean that he wanted to marry her, and the two didn't really have much in common - he certainly understood the reason why Aunt Angelica would encourage him to pursue Ellen, but it was clear that the title of lord of Fort Hague lacked the necessary allure for a young man who was likely to inherit the Minest family.

In his opinion, it was the best choice for Greene Turn, who had become the commander of the Garrison Legion, to form an alliance between the Tern and Minnest families, but the only good news was that Greene would not be on the side of Nafario Brindisi.

But as soon as he thought of Green, Lusen remembered the conversation between the two of them in the café that day, and it was clear that the friend meant something - he said that he wouldn't get his wish because someone else knew who Eren really was, but Green didn't know it from himself, so it didn't seem to make sense.

Allen's coming-of-age ceremony was the first time he had shown his abilities in front of his grandfather, and Luthen didn't want to mess up, and he didn't want Grandfather Holard to think of him as a stupid boy who couldn't even run a party.

"The thing about the coming-of-age ceremony...... I told Sir Lawrence. After a long silence, Allen, who lowered his head, finally said slowly: "I don't know if it's the right thing to do, but he looks shocked and ...... Suddenly. ”

"It should be, Sir Lawrence is a respectable elder, and I would do the same. Lusen nodded, he had also met this middle-aged knight who was in charge of guarding Allen on behalf of Lord Otto Kwyn on behalf of the Hague Castle, and he had met him a few times: "No one is more qualified than him to escort you at the banquet of the coming-of-age ceremony." ”

Luce could have imagined what this Sir Lawrence would be shocked to be—to think a little about what it would be like if he suddenly found out that Green Turney was in fact a woman with a horse on her chest, and that she had been "ill-intentioned" all along. Compared with himself like that, the middle-aged knight's surprise will only be more and not less.

"Don't worry, Sir Lawrence is a very solid knight, and it won't be long before he figures it out - nothing will happen. Lusen patted Allen on the back: "Actually, I just saw him riding out this morning, probably to relax, so experienced people must have their own ways to get themselves back to normal, and we don't need to ask more at all." That's why your father, my uncle, Lord Otto Kwyn, trusts him so much, doesn't it?"

........................ By the time we left the hills of Marcherus, it was getting late. Edward, who was slowly wandering through the deserted streets at first, walked aimlessly through one street after another as if he were walking, but never far from his goal, as if he was cruising.

It is true that at first Edward thought that the letter was from Marco Tasker, but when Edward left the palace, he immediately dismissed this suspicion - the other party did not say anything other than let himself go to that street, and he was careful enough, but the more this happened, the more impossible it became.

The cunning Marco Tasker would have told him immediately if something had become so urgent that he would have to inform him of it - though Edward had serious doubts that even at that point he would not have said without asking. But as long as he does such a risky thing, this guy will never deliberately sell off, because he understands that the value of intelligence is linked to the "shelf life".

So the letter must have been sent in by someone else, someone who knew someone else about him—there were many possibilities, but whoever it was, there must have been some important purpose in calling himself out so much, either to kill himself or to help him. Edward expected the latter, but believed in the former.

A street near the garden, no tall buildings and far from the viaduct, which means that there is no need to watch out for ambushes and sneak attacks from high places, a few withered leaves flying in the cold wind of late autumn nights, empty alleys, long shadows dragging on the ground, men in dark overcoats and armor, and hoods are standing there, waiting for themselves to take the initiative to pass.

Edward walked over slowly, the crushed leaves under his feet kept making a crisp sound, his hands hanging at his sides, a smile on his face, not even the slightest vigilance to draw his sword, just slowly approaching the guy standing there.

The other party's figure is quite burly, similar to Sir Leonardo, but it is also slightly different, and it seems to be a little familiar, it is likely to be someone he knows, but he suddenly bumped into it but he really can't remember.

What's more, the other party must be very powerful...... It's just a feeling, but the distance is about closer, the heavier the fierce aura that comes to his face, and it is quite intuitive to tell Edward how many lives this guy has on his hands, and the knight's sword at his waist is definitely not a joke.

"It's coming!" Almost in the blink of an eye, the hooded swordsman had already drawn his sword, and the heavy jet-black spine left an afterimage with a whistling sound in midair, like a monster with open fangs, and slashed down with that fierce momentum!

The sturdy figure of the other party was already approaching him, and Edward, who had dodged sideways, almost strode behind him with his scalp against the opponent's sword, immediately unfastened the shoulder strap on his shoulder, grasped the hilt of the sword, and threw the undrawn scabbard as a javelin with inertia, towards the face door under the hood.

The powerful slash seemed to have no inertia at all, and without even the slightest pause, the blade of the sword turned in an instant, cutting the scabbard thrown by Edward in half, and in an instant, the cold light that cut off the scabbard collided with Edward's steel sword in mid-air again, and both sides slid their blades down the spine of the sword almost at the same time, trying to take the opportunity to let the opponent's weapon go.

But just as the two men were almost facing each other, Edward suddenly took a big step forward, suddenly broke behind the other, put the tip of the sword on the ground with the saber in his hand, and then grabbed the hilt of the sword with both hands and swung it hard, and slammed it into the other's back. The burly body reacted instinctively, turned around extremely quickly and then slashed with the blade, but suddenly the body was cold!

Hit the mark......

"Smack-!" The steel sword that was obviously aimed at the back hit his wrist hard, and the corner of Edward's mouth, who was holding the sword in his left hand, showed a chuckle, and before the other party could rein in his strength, he immediately slammed against his sword spine and smashed it on the gauntlet, but the sturdy body that was caught off guard suddenly couldn't even hold the sword steadily, and was picked up by Edward and flew out at once.

The swordsman, who had no weapons in his hands, stood in place, neither running away nor dodging, letting Edward's blade against his neck, as if waiting for the last moment, but he waited for a long time and did not wait for the moment when Edward swung his sword.

Edward, who breathed a sigh of relief, slowly left the other party's neck, picked down the black hood by the way, and then withdrew the long sword into the scabbard, bowed his head slightly with an extremely respectful expression, and saluted him without the slightest rudeness, but a pair of black eyes looked directly at him unceremoniously.

"Good afternoon, Sir Lawrence. ”