"How can you do that to him!"

The girl standing in front of Ed had brown hair similar to Rafferty's and blue-gray eyes, which made Ed immediately realize who she was - Rafferty had only seen her once, and he couldn't tell who was one of her sisters and sisters.

The girl swung her fist at him fiercely, as if she was going to rush over and beat him up immediately, so that Ed, who was a full head shorter than her, couldn't help but retreat.

"He's your friend!'Ed Singal is my friend,' he always said!" the girl's eyes were red, "how can you do that, even if he blackmails people, we need money!—he has never done anything to be sorry for you, and he hasn't asked you for a copper coin, even though he was once bitten by a dog for saving you, and he was so sick that he almost died! Do you think the guys who surround you every day are your friends? They follow you just because you are rich and stupid!"

Ed listened to all of this in a daze, and it wasn't until Patty Monson, the housekeeper of the Singal house, came out that the girl spat at him, turned and ran away.

He should apologize.

Ed Singhal finally decided after spending the day in his soul. He should say sorry to Rafferty and then he can help him.

But the next day he told himself that he had done nothing wrong, that it was Rafferty who was wrong. He shouldn't have blackmailed anyone, he shouldn't have told him nothing. If Lafferty comes back and apologizes to him, to everyone, he can forgive him, and then he can help him.

A few days later, he decided again that as long as Lafferty returned to his friends, he could act as if nothing had happened. They are still friends, and he can still help him.

A little over a month later...... Rafferty is missing.

Escape, to be exact. Perhaps because even the nominal "friend" no longer exists, Lafferty's behavior is even more unscrupulous. After a failed theft, he stabbed a sailor in the back alley of a tavern in the docklands and fled. When Ed got the news from his friend, he rushed to the docks and scurried from ship to ship to ship amid the shouts of the sailors, trying to find Lafferty - he suspected that the teenager would hide in some ship and leave Visa far away, as they had done as they had done as children.

But he didn't find it. He snuck around Rafferty's house to see if the teenager was hiding in the house, and judging by his sisters' reactions, they apparently didn't know where Rafferty had fled. And he was unlucky to be spotted by the girl who had blocked him at the door, and cursed loudly and chased him out of the streets.

Perhaps in the eyes of everyone, Lafferty is a villain, a thief...... There is even a good chance of becoming a murderer, but Ed knows that he loves his family as much as his sisters love him. After the loss of his parents, he took care of all his loved ones, and he kept his sisters from dying of cold and starvation...... That wasn't supposed to be a burden for him.

Ed doesn't know why he didn't realize sooner that his friend needed his help.

He had no memory of how he got home that day. When asked by Vala with concern, he sat at the table, clutched the knife and fork in his hand, and cried loudly.

It was his friend, he had saved him, he hadn't done anything to be sorry for him.

Ed could have helped him, but now, he may never even get a chance to say "I'm sorry" again.

No one ever saw the boy again. For a long time, Ed would have nightmares about Rafferty drowning in the Vinz River, just like the floating corpses they had seen by the river, with a pair of eyes that could never be closed on his pale and puffy face.

At that time, River Singal had returned to Visa from Stonebuch, which had just come out of war. They begin planning to move to Chryses, the castle that River recaptured for Walla. The father, who was not too close to his son because he didn't spend much time with him, was kicked out of the room by his wife to comfort their listless son, and after spending a lot of time digging out Ed's little secrets little by little, River, who has become a successful businessman, can only comfort Ed like this:

"Different lives have different difficulties, and if you make a choice, you have to bear the consequences. ”

The twelve-year-old boy, who didn't understand at all, looked at his father blankly, and the rare deep big businessman had to shrug his shoulders: "Someday you will understand." Besides, instead of regretting an unspoken apology, it's better to be more practical and think about what else you can do. ”

Ed understood.

Before leaving Visa, Ed took out all the pocket money he had saved up to give to his father to help him "make some investments", put it in a small bag, and threw it into the window of Lafferty's house at night.

Other than that, he didn't know what else to do.

Since then, he has always seemed to be in a hurry to apologize to everyone...... He doesn't hide anything from his friends, he doesn't say anything that hurts them, he always feels like it's his own fault when anything goes wrong......

But that didn't get Rafferty back.

"I thought I'd never get a chance to see you again......" Ed muttered to himself, staring blankly at the apparition that looked like Rafferty at one moment and Isis at the other.

"Perhaps. Phantom said.

"So I'll find you, Is, you don't have to be alone in whatever happens, you have friends, we'll help you ......" Ed said to himself.

"But you can't find me here. The phantom turned back into a blonde teenager.

Ed retracted vigilantly, clumping his body into a ball defensively.

"Can't I stay a little longer?" he said unhappily, "even if this is your dream, you must have pulled me in, you can't drive me out like this!

The phantom, who had always been gentle and patient, finally couldn't help but sigh: "Yes." But if you stay here forever, you may have to say more 'sorry' to more people. ”

Ed stared at him quizzically, and there was a word in that sentence that sounded like ......

He lunged over and tried to grab Is.

The phantom gently swung open, changing, like a wisp of smoke in the water.

"You say 'maybe'...... He's alive!!" Ed asked aloud hopefully, "Is that right?

The phantom smiled at him, and it had changed to a different shape.

"Get me out of here!" Ed jumped up, feeling his limbs no longer languid, without any strength. As the light and water reced, darkness will strike again.

"Next time!" Before the phantom could disappear, Ed only had time to yell out, "Could you please tell me directly?!".

Ed snapped his eyes open, seeing nothing.

He sat up, but his forehead struck a stone slab.

"It's fantastic. He thought to himself, trying to drive away the fear, "Am I in a coffin?!"

He lay there, stretched out his hand and groped, it seemed to be stones up and down, left and right, it felt like a sarcophagus, but it was oblique, he moved a few times, and then he slid his head down, but he didn't hit anything.

He reached over his head and touched it.

- Empty.

But with a little force, he slid down a little more.

Ed stared in the darkness, racking his brain to figure out what it was, but he could hear a faint sound coming from the direction above his head.

“...... Eric?" he asked cautiously, hopefully.

No one answered, perhaps too far away. And he didn't dare to cry out - who knows what else is hidden in the darkness?

"Okay......" he said to himself, rolling over and starting to crawl slowly and carefully with his head down, which was not very strenuous. But listening to the movement of unknown people in complete darkness can't help but think of countless terrible things.

Ed paused and said hesitantly to his chest, "...... Some light?"

That was probably not the right way to call the gods, and the crystal ball around his neck didn't respond in the slightest.

Ed grumbled and continued to climb down, leaning at a higher angle, sometimes wondering where he would slide if he was relaxed...... Maybe it's better not to try.

I don't know how long it took to slip, but the sound from the front suddenly disappeared.

"Eric?" he exclaimed, suddenly realizing that he had thought the voice was coming from Eric on wishful thinking—it might not have been an animal, or worse, a corpse awakened.

No one answered.

Ed hesitated, wondering if he should retreat, but the narrow space didn't seem to be enough for him to turn around and climb the slope backwards in this position.

He gritted his teeth and continued to crawl forward. Along the way he had vaguely guessed where he was—the long, narrow, downward-sloping passage, which was presumably a drain, and could lead down to the sewers, where there was at least room for him to turn around, or try to find another exit.

Feeling a stronger flow of air, Ed cheered inwardly and sped up.

He knew he was right!

But as soon as he poked his head into what seemed to be a wider space, something suddenly brushed his hair, and as if he had misplaced it, it immediately sank and stuck his neck.

It felt like a hand, but cold and stiff.

The ensuing sound relieved Ed, who had fallen into an ice cave and thought he had really run into a zombie again.

"Who are you?" the voice growled, "how do you know my name?"

"Eric!" Ed cried out, slapping his hand to let him go, "It's me!"

“...... Ed Singhal?" Eric sounded puzzled, "How did you know me?" but his hand let go of his hand a little.

"......," Ed was speechless, and his mind was swirling with a myriad of blasphemous complaints—why couldn't it be made easier, or at least a reminder to him first!

Eric Vaughn, the hapless young paladin, has apparently lost his memory once again.

"If you could let go of my neck. Ed sighed in resignation, "Maybe I can explain it to you?"