In the night, even without the Great Fog, it was difficult to make out the man and cat on the beach. After Shade finished telling his story of his "great battle" with the Water Ghost in the lake, the cat suddenly spoke again:
"My ancestors may have once looked upon this lake from this very beach."
"But they certainly wouldn't have done so in the form of a cat, like you."
Shade was joking, but the Sorceress did not seem to find it amusing:
"You noticed it too, didn't you? Those two Eighth Ring Arcanists who could cast spells together were no ordinary Ring Arcanists."
The cat's voice was very soft:
"The Edwards Family seems to have a peculiar bloodline connection. I can almost certainly say that they are my two nephews. The Invisible Man knowing the location of that Graveyard was probably related to them as well."
"If they really are your relatives, then they would be the two grandsons or grandsons through daughters of the fourth generation's Firstborn, Hohenheim Edwards. This way, all the sixth-generation people are accounted for. The Firstborn's two descendants are members of the Mirror Society; the twin descendants of the second son, Edward, are the noble brothers of Wilundell whom I know; the Third Son Alphonse's daughters are you and your sister; and the youngest daughter Maria's descendants are the two people you know."
"Yes."
The cat spoke softly, then added:
"I won't introduce you to them. They are just ordinary people, and I do not want to drag them into this lightly."
"I understand."
Shade nodded. Thus, among the eight confirmed living Edwards Descendants, aside from the uncertain sister of the witch Audrey, only the youngest daughter's descendants were truly ordinary people.
Even a Ring Arcanist family with such a long inheritance as