Scott once said that Keller Brian never explained anything. That face that was so cold that it didn't look like a living person made a cheeky guy like Ed want to retreat every time he saw him. This time, however, the Half-Elf Priest carefully explained the mysteries of the River of Time to Ed with the patience that flattered Ed.

Time is beyond the gods, it cannot be created, it cannot be destroyed, its rules can only be followed by the gods - it is far more sophisticated and cold than all the magic in the worlds, the slightest fluctuation is enough to change the whole world...... The gods have also become the most faithful guardians of the river of time, and anyone who tries to make any changes in it will pay a completely unpredictable price, even if it is just to return to his original position-

"You mean someone changed the time?" Ed interjected stunned, "Who??mage?Why did he want to get me here?...... Or did he involuntarily raise his voice thinking of the worst-case scenario, "Did he get the others to other times as well?!"

No matter how lucky you are, there is a Felicity and a Celebrion waiting to help in every world...... What are the others going to do!

Ed frowned. Celebryan glared at him silently, his gaze gloomy.

“...... I think he's saying that you somehow changed the time to get yourself here. Felicity kindly reminded him. Although the girl who was only a teenager listened with great interest, she was not dumbfounded, or regarded the person in front of her as crazy. Instead, it naturally seemed to accept everything.

"That can't be!" Ed flatly denied, "I have no power left, and I don't remember anything I've ever done!"

"Just because you don't remember doesn't mean you haven't done it. The half-elf said lightly. "What's the last thing you remember?"

One last thing......

Ed remembered the blood on Naria's waist in the moonlight, and instantly felt dizzy.

"I told you before. Naria is injured...... Isis is also wounded......" he muttered, "Everyone is fighting, but I can't help anything......

Anxiety, anxiety, self-blame, and a deep sense of powerlessness...... He hated being so useless. It's like in Llewellyn's Colosseum, watching Borena die.

But he didn't think a miracle would belay him again.

"So, what do you want to do?" the half-elf's voice came into his ears. Soft and ethereal, indescribably good.

"I want ......"

He wants to change everything he can't undo, he wants to leave his friends unscathed.

"I do want to...... But I can't do it......" Ed's hand unconsciously grasped the pendant on his chest, the source of his power. It has been destroyed in his hands. What kind of god would be merciful...... Or blind enough to give him another chance?

"But you do, don't you?" said the half-elf's lips almost with a smile, but with bitterness and compassion, "Do you know how the gods created everything?"

His cold fingers tapped Ed's forehead, making Ed shudder, "They 'want'." ”

"But I'm just an ordinary human being, and 'thinking' only makes me look like a fool in a daze!"

Ed retorted loudly. There is an anger in my heart that comes out of nowhere.

"If you only deny yourself like that, you're going to stay here forever. The half-elf was surprisingly lifeless. Just told him so calmly.

Ed froze.

Of course he can't stay here...... He would never see Naria and Isis again, and even if he died in this world, he wouldn't even see his own mother...... He could have found Norvi, but he was only an underage elf now, and he didn't know him at all......

The time they spent together, everything they went through, he didn't want to give up at all...... He doesn't want to stay here!

"What if...... What do I admit?" Ed asked, spinelessly reluctant, "as long as I admit it...... Can I go back as long as I 'want'?"

"If your desire is strong enough...... Yes, I can teach you how to go back to the original time. The half-elf replied, "But you know, it's also a change for the River of Time...... and interference, you never know when, what price you will have to pay for it, and that may be something you can't afford......"

"I'm going back!" Ed interrupted him categorically, "I'll talk about it later, there's always a way!"

There's always a way......

Celebryan looked silently at the young man in front of him, who didn't know whether he was optimistic or stupid. Once upon a time, he also told himself so conceitedly that he also thought that there was always a way to escape from this terrible whirlpool, but in the end, he fell deeper and deeper. How much of his long life was consumed in this futile struggle? wandering through countless different worlds, facing one tragedy after another caused by his own willfulness...... By now, he has almost given up.

But the man in front of him ...... Maybe there's more to it than that.

Perhaps he appeared here, at a time when he was tired and desperate as he waited for death to bring him the last peace...... It's not without meaning.

"So...... Let's go back. ”

He reached out and stroked Ed's shoulder, whispering in a gentle tone that Ed had never heard before.

The sound of flowing water is endless, gentle as a whisper. Ed lowered his head, his mind at a loss.

That lost memory feels so strange. He seemed to be in it, and he seemed to be out of it, and he shouldn't have known it—but now, he knew full well that Celebrian had helped him with his own strength, even if it might cost him more......

He even seemed to be able to see himself through the eyes of a half-elf. So naïve, so ignorant...... But his ignorance is enviable.

Celebryan took his memories - without asking for his permission at all. This made Ed a little dissatisfied, but he also understood that the half-elf just didn't want Ed to be swept into the vortex of time like himself, and he could never escape.

The "Traveler of Time" - sounds so mysterious and desirable that he can escape the shackles of time and move freely throughout the universe, but in fact he is nothing more than a prisoner of time...... No one knows how much pain and helplessness is hidden.

But Ed knew...... He could feel it. He suspected that Felicity had returned to him more than just his original memories, but that many things belonging to Celebrion had been infiltrated in them, either intentionally or unintentionally.

He looked up at the apparition of the Sage, at the kind, wrinkled face, but in a trance, he seemed to see the young and pretty girl, with a high ponytail, always flailing behind him as she walked......

"I'll just say I know you. He spoke softly, but his eyes were involuntarily blurred.

He had never realized so clearly that time could be so cruel. It's just a blink of an eye for him...... But hundreds of years have flown by. The girl who helped him hundreds of years ago, he didn't even have time to say thank you to her, hundreds of years later...... She saved him again.

Maybe more than once.

Ed wiped away the tears that were about to overflow his eyes.

I knew it was like this...... He should have stayed a little longer in that time, at least, to get to know the Sage who had not yet become a Sage. Maybe they can be friends...... Maybe he can change something......

"You can't. The dead Sage sighed, but still had a smile on his face.

"I don't want to say anything about fate, or God's will, or anything. All of this, right or wrong, good or bad, is the result of the choices we all make. You can't want to start over just because it's not what you want – even if you have that power. You can't predict how many people will be drawn into chaos and they won't be able to fight back...... This is not fair. ”

Ed hung his head and said nothing.

He knew Felicity was right, and he had made the same mistake more than once. He just doesn't know...... Why can I still be forgiven?

"You're not as good as you think you are, Ed Singal...... I wish I had enough time for you to understand. ”

The helplessness in Felicity's voice made Ed suddenly surrounded by panic.

"You're going to ...... Are you leaving?" he asked, panickingly, and even reaching out in vain to grab the phantoms, but they could only catch the flowing water, which slipped easily through his fingers, "I don't know anything yet...... I still have a lot to ask you......"

He always felt that he couldn't just let go, that he couldn't just let Felicity go...... Where the hell was she? Why did she show up like that? Will he ever see her again?......

"I tried to tell you everything, and it turned out it wasn't a good idea. Felicity's lips curled into a wry smile, "Being too anxious is counterproductive...... Even if I live for hundreds of years, I'm still an impatient woman. ”

Those few attempts, apart from making Ed almost have a nervous breakdown, were really useless at all, but instead consumed a lot of her energy and made many things more troublesome.

She should have been more calm...... But knowing that his death is near, and the world is shrouded in a huge shadow, "peace of mind" is probably something that only a god with nearly infinite time can do.

She really had so much to teach Ed...... This little guy hasn't even learned a few spells yet...... There weren't many people who could help him......

Ed looked at her pitifully, like some little creature that knew he was about to be abandoned.

――It's hard to be reassured...... But I still had to let go.

"Find your own way, Ed. ”

The last voice of the Sage passed away with the wind.

"Believe in yourself. ”.

(To be continued......)