Isn't this guy supposed to be an intelligent young author/novelist?
The buildings don't look that old, so it's not like anyone else could have died in that area other than his parents and his maid. Even if he forgot his maid's face, if he didn't recognize the ghost as being his mother, then by logical deduction, he should have quickly realized that it was his maid. It certainly couldn't have been his dad... I hope (lol).
I dislike when authors make a supposedly intelligent character temporarily stupid, like in that scene, just to drag out the number of panels/pages.
@tblst
"I would be riddled with guilt for the rest of my life if that smile came back to haunt me of what I couldn't protect."
He was 4 or 5 years old. There's no way a tiny toddler is going to be able to protect and save his parents or maid from a fire, so absolutely no reason to feel guilt. Only feel lucky and grateful at having escaped alive.
If anything, she might have been the one who saved him (if it wasn't his brother), and then she may have succumbed to, and ultimately died from, smoke inhalation after getting him safely out of the house.
From wikipedia: "Some 50–80% of fire deaths are the result of smoke inhalation injuries, including burns to the respiratory system."