On the vast plains of the central continent, the autumn grass withered earlier than usual, and made a soft sound in the cold wind from the north. Alamit, the great elven city that stood here thousands of years ago, has not left a trace on the ground, but deep in the earth, the passages dug by the dwarves back then are simple but sturdy, and most of them are stubbornly remnants of the grandeur that the brave and resolute warriors of that era naturally created.

Lydia sat on a rock that jutted out of the ground, listening to the singing not far away.

She had heard elves' songs under the stars in Grivar—and indeed she was singing now. But in this deep underground, in the darkness, the song that has not been blessed by the starlight is clearly more vibrant.

It's kind of ironic...... In particular, the singer is still a ghost who has been dead for an unknown number of years.

The corners of her mouth curled up involuntarily. When a figure appeared behind her silently, her shoulders shrank slightly almost invisibly.

“...... A pregnant woman can't afford such a fright. When she turned around, her raised brow was slightly resentful, and she did not hide her nervousness.

"It's a good song. She explained to herself why she was here, knowing that Ancrane would probably not give her any response and didn't care.

It might seem strange to anyone that they were staying together like this, but she wasn't as nervous as she appeared. Many people may speculate that her child is also his, as the two little ones thought in the first place...... It's actually quite interesting, but fortunately, it's not.

She smiled to herself, and listened to the song before she got up to leave.

Ancrane stood alone in the darkness for a moment, stepping forward as the song began to sound again.

The passage connects to a neat square hall. The meticulous character of the dwarves was evident in this temporary gathering place, but where there was once rumbling footsteps and low war cries, only a lonely ghost sang and floated around.

When he appeared, she came suddenly, but she stopped a few steps away because of the constraints of the spell, and could not move forward.

"My son ......"

She stretched out her hands and called earnestly, not resentful of his imprisonment of her. In her already scattered consciousness, only his existence cannot be forgotten and replaced.

She was born to conceive him—this was all she had left, a sense of self. Blended into her remnants, fiery nature like a summer flower, paranoid but moving.

However, she no longer remembered the spirit who had lived proudly and wantonly before that, she did not remember her former lover, her distant dreams. If it was her own willingness, he would have thought her a little stupid, but he would have been somewhat grateful...... But her love for him is nothing but manipulated, false emotions.

He didn't know which of them was the pathetic.

"......Soon," he said softly, with a deep voice that belonged to a soul that had struggled for thousands of years, and a hint of tenderness that belonged to Norvi Sunstrider, "You're ...... soon You will be free. ”

Utter freedom.

When he stepped out of the ground and into the garden where he could have a moment of tranquility, what awaited him was not a thoughtful, but knowledgeable mage, but a young man with strange gray hair.

"I beg your pardon. The young man raised a smile that was purely courteous, but still bright to the point of blindness, "But since you're still here, you probably don't mind me disturbing me...... I've brought wine, can we have a talk?"

The elves were not interested in talking. He could almost guess what Ed wanted to "talk to" him. Some things will slide into the doomed abyss no matter how many times they are repeated, and he has long since grown tired of his role.

But when he raised his hand, for some reason, he didn't mean to refuse.

.

The delicate garden, protected by magic, did not stop the changing of the seasons. A fiery red maple burns quietly in a corner of the garden, its brightness and coldness scorching under the blue sky, which looks out of place in this quiet garden.

The fiery red faintly fell on Ankelan's eyes, making him look a little strange. Ed never saw through this elf, and when they faced each other several times before, his expression could not even be described as "indifference", but empty and nihilistic, even if he occasionally showed a trace of emotions like a living person, laughing, and sarcastic, it was like drawing lines in water, without any sense of reality...... As Sachses said, he didn't seem to be here at all, just an unconscious, manipulated projection.

But there was color in his eyes...... When faced with Tess.

When Ed brought the gift he had brought with him, the cider from Naria, the elf was even slightly stunned.

Ed was not arrogant enough to think that the little wave in his eyes at this moment was really because of his appearance or his gift, and he didn't know why he suddenly wavered, but he was keenly aware that this might be a rare opportunity for him.

“...... Remember that silver coin?" he poured them new amber wine from a glass of ice-cemented wine, and suddenly talked about the distant past.

It was the silver coin he wore around his neck when he first walked into Tess's shop...... A gift from Is. Lydia recognized it, and Iss finally remembered who he really was. At that time, he didn't know anything, but he was just blindly happy that he had made new friends because of it.

If he had known what was going to happen next, would he still have stepped into that little shop?......

Absolutely.

"It turns out that there is more than one silver coin in Is. He pulled out a small silver coin and placed it on the table, and the rusted and blackened pattern on the upward side was faintly a wine glass.

"Is this a wine glass?" he asked, as if out of pure curiosity, "I thought only dwarves liked to carve beer glasses into their shields. ”

"Are you finally willing to admit that 'your friend' is me?" Anclan lowered his eyes, looking at the blue sky and sunlight rippling in the transparent wine, and did not answer his question.

"He's not you. Ed, still unthinking, denied, "Maybe you were already hidden in his consciousness by then...... Perhaps you are the one who can dominate everything, but Novi Sunstrider, 'my friend', he is who he is—no matter how he was born, he is already a soul in his own right. It's you who should admit this. ”

“...... I thought that people who ask for help should be self-conscious. Anclan tapped his glass, no displeasure in his tone.

Ed blinked.

"But I didn't want to 'beg' you anything. "He looked innocent when his eyes widened," I said...... I just wanted to come and have a chat with you. ”