The water poured into the lungs between breaths, and there was a faint disgusting, fishy sweet smell in the throat. Water droplets fell from the ends of his hair and into his neck, causing Ed to shiver.

His clothes were almost soaked...... It was as if he had been standing in the mist, without a moment bathed in the clear, fragile sunlight.

Was that a reality that had ever happened, or was it a distorted illusion? Who wanted him to see this, and for what? Felicity, Felicity...... What exactly did she want him to do, and where could he find the real answers?

He stood dejected for a few moments before looking back behind him.

"Eric?" he called out without much hope, and as expected, received no response.

He shook his head, moving again with an unusually heavy foot.

He felt like he had crashed into a labyrinth out of nowhere...... But in the midst of the fog, someone told him, "Ed Singall, it's not going to be any use if you stay here all the time." ”

He could only keep going, even if he was hit on the head and bleeding.

Suddenly he was in the fog again, and he couldn't figure out where he was—was he still on the forest path, and they were not far from the shore, or was he standing on the lawn in front of the temple? Did he really walk?......

He walked with great caution, but he didn't take a few steps before his feet were empty, and before he could curse, he fell straight down—yes, he knew there was a hole in the grass, the same one that Iss had smashed to save him...... But haven't they covered it up?!

Instinctively, he reached out his hand. Trying to grab something - he did catch something. The fragile grassroots simply can't carry his weight, but at least it keeps him from breaking his leg.

He bent and rolled on the ground when his feet touched the ground, fortunately uninjured. But a wave of chagrin unconsciously welled up in his heart - why did he always make such a mess of himself?

Even if you complain at this time, no one will comfort you...... Or make fun of him. He could only get up silently and look around.

He had a hard time seeing anything. The only light came from above him, faint and misty...... But the fog didn't invade here with the light.

The tomb was unusually dry, and although there was still an undissipated stale atmosphere, it was not as damp as he had imagined. Ed let out a long breath as he fumbled for a torch on the wall and lit it smoothly.

The flame is dark red. It seems weak and dying, but at least it can dispel the darkness and coldness around it.

Finding that weird black "flower" doesn't take a hard time. It wasn't far from where he fell...... It hasn't gone away.

It was quietly open there, just like when Scott brought them to see it. The black metal as thin as spider silk coiled into overly complex petals, and together with the runes in the center of the flower, they still lit up and darkened in his gaze like breathing.

Ed cautiously leaned in. The thin slit in the heart of the flower still seems to be a sleeping eye. But there was a faint disturbing stir.

Even more unsettling to him was the color of the metals near the center—they were no longer the deep black of the cold glow, but seemed to be beginning to wither, a lifeless gray.

He didn't need anyone to tell him, and he knew it was dangerous - if it was Icabard's masterpiece and indeed protected the Temple of Collins, he was using a dangerous and uncontrollable force. What the consequences would be, I'm afraid no one can say.

But Ed didn't dare touch it...... He had no idea how it was made or how it worked.

It's frustrating to admit your ignorance. Maybe he should have spent more time in Icabird's library.

- Maybe he can find something there?

Ed smiled wryly and shook his head at himself. He doesn't have that much time.

He is driven around by one mystery after another...... But I can't solve any of them.

Once again, he looked apprehensively at the source of power and chaos. Guarding the fainter and fainter flames on the torches, he turned away, but accidentally found the ground. Around the black flower, there was another circle of runes.

Was it originally here? Or did someone draw it later? He couldn't remember.

"Ikabard?"

He shouted with a hint of luck, and of course received no response.

"I hope you know what you're doing......" he sighed and muttered, reaffirming that he didn't have anything to do here.

The door leading from the tomb to the temple was open. Ed had just gotten out the door and looked at Eric at a glance.

A faint mist floated around him. The young paladin stood in front of the statue of the goddess in a daze, looking up at the ancient, serious face, dazed and tired, like an exhausted traveler who had forgotten his way home.

Ed breathed a sigh of relief, walked over to him and carefully patted his arm.

Eric turned his head to look at him, still dazed.

He turned his gaze to the people struggling and shouting at the feet of the goddess, and said abruptly: "I almost drowned in the pond when I was a child. ”

Ed nodded slightly: "I've heard of it...... You hear a call from the water. ”

He knew the reason why every priest, every paladin had entered the temple - he felt he should at least know that.

Eric was sent to the temple by his parents because he had disappeared from the water for a long time and was still alive when he was found...... That's certainly a miracle.

“...... No. The smile on Eric's lips was bitter and stiff, "I was scared to death...... If there is a call, it is also the call of death. I didn't die because I grabbed the foot of a fellow on the shore and dragged him into the water, alarming the others—I wasn't in the water long at all, but no one knew when I fell into the water. The boy in the lead, fearing that he would be scolded by the adults, made up such a lie. ”

Ed stared at him in a daze, not knowing how to respond.

"I'm not you, Ed...... My parents knew what was going on, and I told them...... They sent me to the temple only because they couldn't feed so many children. I'm well aware of this. Eric's voice was calm and hollow, "You have no idea how sensitive a ten-year-old boy would be to this kind of thing...... And they didn't even think to avoid me when they talked about it. ”

Ed swallowed.

He didn't like the topic...... But if Eric wanted to speak, he was willing to listen.

"I thought I was going to be kicked out soon. Eric continued in a low voice, "I thought that those in white robes and armor, the messengers of God, would soon discover that I was a fake...... But they didn't. They nurture me and train me...... Day after day, even I began to believe that I was a warrior chosen by God to give me the strength to protect the world...... But is that true, Ed...... Is that true?"

Ed blinked. He couldn't answer that question...... Not when he himself was skeptical.

"Does she really exist, where does our power come from?" Eric once again looked at the indifferent face of the statue of the goddess, and finally blurted out the question buried in his heart, "Will she judge? Will she forgive......? Will you care about us?"

Ed stared down at his toes—as he always did when he wasn't overwhelmed.

But standing in front of him were people who were even more overwhelmed than he was...... His soul was lost in the fog deeper than he was. If he can't hold him, where will he go?

“...... I do not know. "Once, I thought I could hear her, but then I realized that it might not be her at all." I can't tell you for sure who and why she gave us power, or if she really cares about us or the world......"

He could only tell him what he knew.

"But I know someone cares. "I know my relatives and friends care about me, I know I care about you, and Eric and Philip Zeri care about you, no matter how ugly he may scold you...... I also know that at least the one who came all the way to see you, and gave you that not-so-beautiful but terrible bag of tobacco, your sister Penny, who cares about you...... You still have that tobacco bag, don't you? Even if people always make fun of you. ”

Eric subconsciously reached for his waist - he did keep it, even though it was useless...... He doesn't smoke at all.

Ed couldn't help but smile slightly: "If you can't find strength in your beliefs, at least you can fight for them...... Sometimes I think that's kind of a kind of faith. ”

Eric looked at him in surprise, his eyes confused...... But it doesn't seem so lifeless anymore.

"Are you making me abandon my faith?" he said, "forsake the Goddess?"

"I'm telling you...... At least you can't abandon yourself. Ed replied softly, realizing that he was answering too...... Or convince yourself.

Eric hung his head thoughtfully, and didn't speak again for a long time.

Ed stood quietly with him for a few moments, then quietly walked to the tomb on the other side.

He didn't want to disturb Eric, and he hoped he wouldn't run around anymore...... He has another thing to confirm.

(To be continued.) )