A few days after the smoke of "Promised Day" cleared, Amestris ushered in the long-lost peace.
Ian was not in a hurry to leave, but temporarily lived in a manor he purchased in the countryside. As all the layout came to an end, he also casually removed the defensive spells that were originally shrouded around the house to shield his perception.
Early that morning, there was a knock on the door.
Standing outside the door were Edward and Alphonse·Elric.
Looking at Alphonse who no longer wore an empty armor but had a body of warm flesh and blood, Ian did not show much surprise. Although the boy's body was slightly thin, he did not need a long period of rehabilitation to be able to walk like in the original work.
"It seems that Zhang Mei used the stone I gave him very well." Ian leaned against the door frame and commented lightly.
"Yes," Alphonse's voice revealed unconcealable gratitude and joy, "With the help of that stone, Mei's Alkahestry was greatly increased, which allowed my body to recover its functions in a short time."
Ian turned sideways to let the two of them into the room, and waved to summon a tea set. After a few simple greetings, he put down the tea cup and went straight to the topic:
"Let me guess, you are here for those two Chimera friends - Jerson and Sambano?"
"Yes, Mr. Bones." Alphonse said eagerly.
"I can tell you clearly that I will not personally help them recover."
Ian's tone was unquestionable, as if stating some kind of rule, "If you want to help them, do it yourself. I will open my private the Library to you, where there is all the core knowledge about biological refining and species reversal."
He paused and his eyes became sharp. "But, as a Alchemy master, you should know the rules. I follow 'Equivalent Exchange'. If you want to take away knowledge from my the Library, you must leave knowledge of equal value in exchange."
This had been expected by Hughes, and the brothers were not surprised. On the contrary, as long as there was a way to go, even a rugged mountain road, there was hope for them.
During the conversation, Alphonse glanced at his brother who had been silent beside him and pushed him gently.
Edward·Elric, the former "Fullmetal Alchemist", is looking at his hands in a daze at the moment.
"What? Are you embarrassed to speak?" Ian raised his eyebrows.
"Mr. Bones," Alphonse asked for his brother, "We want to know... is there any way for my brother to regain Alchemy?"
"Yes." Ian answered simply, "As long as you can become stronger than the existence that took away your ability."
"You mean 'Truth'?" Edward finally raised his head, his golden eyes filled with confusion, "What on earth is that?"
"I don't know."
Ian spread his hands and gave a philosophical answer, "As He himself said, He is God, the universe, the whole, one, and you. Or from a more rational perspective, He is a super administrator program responsible for maintaining the underlying logic of this dimension 'Equivalent Exchange'."
"But that's not important. What's important is that you lost Alchemy, not just because you sacrificed your 'Gate of Truth'."
Ian stood up and sketched a simple model in the air:
"I have done experiments before. I asked a prisoner who came to the world of Self to sacrifice his door in exchange for knowledge. Then, I tried to restore his abilities."
"I taught him a high-level Meditation Technique that originated from Self's hometown - a technique specifically designed to allow Muggles who have no talent to perceive and control energy. I improved it and adjusted it to the 'Crustal Energy' frequency for this world."
"The results are very interesting. The prisoner has extremely high theoretical talent, and he successfully 'perceived' the flow of Crustal Energy through meditation. But..."
Ian pointed at Edward's eyebrows:
"He can't 'output'. It's like a student in the examination room who clearly knows the answers to all the questions, but his hand has been cut off and his mouth has been sewn shut. He cannot write the answer or tell the process of solving the problem."
"In the rules of this world, 'Gate of Truth' is not only a storehouse of knowledge, but also the 'only driver interface' that releases Alchemy. When you sacrifice it, Truth not only takes away the door, but also deletes the corresponding driver in your soul."
"So, even if I teach you that Meditation Technique, you can only be a bystander and will never be able to interfere with the form of matter."
Edward After listening, the light in his eyes dimmed a bit, but he quickly felt relieved. He had anticipated this result the moment he made the decision.
"However, I still have a question."
Edward didn't want to get entangled in this heavy topic, so he asked instead, "Since according to your theory, if you sacrifice something, you can't get it back. Then why did Colonel Mustang's vision recover after using Philosopher's Stone?"
"This involves the difference in 'judgment mechanism'."
Ian sat back on the sofa and explained:
"Think about the difference between you, your teacher Izumi, and Mustang. You and Izumi 'actively' violated the taboo. That was your subjective choice, so the punishment is absolute."
"And Mustang was forcibly opened the portal and was a passive participant. In Truth's logical algorithm, there is room for traceability of this 'involuntary transaction'. Therefore, he allowed Mustang to pay the price (Philosopher's Stone) to redeem his eyesight."
"Tch, I've never thought that guy was so 'merciful'." Edward mocked.
Ian shrugged, noncommittal.
After sending the brothers away, the figure of Morgana emerged.
"Master, you seem a little agitated recently?"
"I know." Ian rubbed his eyebrows, "I'm just frustrated by some kind of 'unknowability' in this world."
"Is it because of Truth?"
"Yes. When I faced Herpo the Foul, at least I could collect information. No matter how small the information was, I could piece together the truth step by step through logical deduction and formulate countermeasures. It was a difficult but traceable game."
"But facing 'Truth'..." Ian looked at Void, "It's like facing an absolute black box. There is no data overflow, no logical loopholes. This complete information asymmetry makes me very unhappy."
Morgana gave a few words of comfort, but she also knew that for a master who pursues omniscience and omnipotence, this "unknown" itself is the greatest torture.
In the afternoon, the manor welcomed the second group of visitors.
Mas Hughes brought his wife Gracia, and two little girls.
"Thank you so much for saving my husband's life." Gracia placed a delicate basket on the table. "I can't repay you. This is the miso caramel apple pie I baked myself. I hope you don't mind it."
Ian accepted the gift with a smile. His eyes fell on the two children.
One is Elicia, the biological daughter of Hughes, and the other has short brown hair--Nina·Tucker.
Ian squatted down and his eyes were level with the children.
"Nina, how are you doing recently? Do you like your new home?"
"Yeah!" Nina nodded vigorously, with a long-lost smile from the heart on his face, "Uncle Hughes and aunt Gracia are both very good to me."
The haze that once enveloped her seemed to have dissipated a lot under the nourishment of love.
"That's good." Ian touched her head and looked at Elicia, "What about you? Do you like this new sister?"
"My favorite! My dad used to be too busy working to go home, but now I finally have someone to play with me!" Elicia innocently hugged Nina's arm.
Seeing this scene, Ian's usually cold heart softened a little.
In the original work, the tragedy of Nina was difficult for countless readers to understand. But now, because of his intervention, the girl survived and was adopted by Hughes.
Although we cannot Resurrection her parents, this may be the best ending.
After sending Hughes's family away, Ian took a bite of Gracia's apple pie. It was indeed delicious. He even asked for a recipe specifically for House-elf to learn from it later.
As night falls, a third visitor arrives uninvited.
Olivia·Armstrong.
Different from the politeness of the first two groups of guests, this female general kicked off her military boots and took off her blue military jacket as soon as she entered the door. She only wore a black tight vest and went straight to the wine cabinet.
She deftly selected a bottle of the strongest wine, uncorked it, and took a long sip.
"What's going on today?" Ian looked at her funny, "Who messed with our Majesty the Queen?"
"Grumman That old fox has become the president."
Olivia wiped the wine stain from the corner of his mouth, looking unhappy.
"Oh? What about you?"
"Since most of the top brass are either dead or traitors, in terms of military rank, that old guy is indeed the first in line. As for me... hmm, I was just promoted to general."
"It sounds like you're not going to rebel?"
"It's not necessary. I have already reached an agreement with that old fox." A glint flashed in Olivia's eyes, "He promised that he will be the caretaker cabinet during the transitional period, and I will be his designated successor."
"What about Mustang?"
"Him?" Olivia sneered, full of disdain, "That boy who only knows how to play with fire can only follow me and eat ashes."
That night, Ian drank wine all night with the depressed and ambitious queen.
Under the influence of alcohol, Olivia revealed a side that she usually hides deeply - both her desire for the future and her confusion about leaving her homeland.
Of course, before dawn, she refused Ian's invitation to spend the night together and left gracefully.
"What a woman with personality."
Ian looked at the empty wine bottle with a playful smile on his lips.
All causes and effects have been resolved, and all foreshadowing has been recovered.
In this world, he has no regrets.
"It's time."
Ian stood up and looked out the window at the rising sun.
"It's time to go home."