Chapter 155 – Rainbow, Sun, Rain (One)

“This is my research laboratory.”

Following Binjin’s guidance, Ray entered the tower and looked around inside.

‘It’s much more spacious than it looked from outside.’

That was his first impression.

The structure, with no separate floors or rooms but all spaces connected as one, reminded him of a massive cylindrical pipe made of concrete.

Raising his head, he could see the ceiling at a dizzying height.

Lowering his gaze slightly, he could see a spiral staircase winding along the wall.

And then, bringing his gaze back to the ground floor where he currently stood.

‘Are they all Magic tools?’

He could see countless neatly aligned tables and objects of unknown precise purpose displayed on them.

“It’s fundamentally a research laboratory, but I sometimes refer to it differently depending on who I’m introducing it to.”

Binjin said as he began walking.

“I might call it a study, a storage room, or a reception room. But to you, Wizard, I’d like to introduce it like this.”

Arriving before a table, he picked something up and turned his body toward Ray.

“As a museum of the Ancient Era.”

In Binjin’s hand was a pen.

It was no ordinary object.

Click.

When he manipulated the cap, a long, slender blade of wind instantly extended from the pen tip.

Whoosh—! Whooosh—!

The object, indistinguishable as pen or sword, drew several chilling lines in the air.

Click.

The cap returned.

Ray, who had been staring intently at the pen that had returned to being an ordinary object, shifted his gaze around and asked.

“Are they all items excavated from Ruins?”

“Yes. That’s correct. You absolutely cannot find Magic tools of such powerful performance on the market.”

Binjin added.

Most are still under research, but there are a few items whose uses have been identified like this.

“This is a coat that, when activated, absorbs external impacts for a certain time.”

“Oh.”

It certainly looked useful.

“These are glasses that, when activated, allow you to see the opponent’s heart rate with your eyes.”

“Oh.”

They certainly seemed practical.

“This is a leaf model that, when activated, takes the form of a leaf-mimicking leaf beetle.”

“……?”

“This is a stray cat that comes and goes here as it pleases. Parong, you rascal! You’ve come in again!”

“Oh.”

It certainly was cute.

After shooing away Parong, who had been napping on the table, Binjin said.

“The items found in Ruins, so-called artifacts, tend to have significant variations in functionality. As you can see.”

“Seems so.”

“I haven’t shown you my entire collection yet, but… perhaps any memories are coming to mind…?”

Binjin cautiously asked.

The Vessel still showed no particular suspicious emotion.

It meant he still considered Ray an Elf.

That is, an Elf who had awakened from a deep slumber and was heading to Ruins to recover lost memories.

“I think I need to see more to know.”

“Understood. Please come this way.”

As they passed between tables listening to explanations about artifacts, at that moment.

“What’s that?”

Something caught Ray’s eye.

“Ah, that one. It’s an artifact whose function hasn’t been identified yet. If there were similar-shaped objects, we could infer its use, but its unfamiliar appearance makes even speculation difficult.”

“Can I take a closer look?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Ray approached and picked up the object.

It was a square pyramid the size of a palm.

The surface was smooth and the interior transparent, giving an impression reminiscent of glass craft at first glance.

‘Glass? No, it’s made of something more special…’

Then Binjin took out a notebook and showed a certain page.

“This is?”

“Ancient Script engraved at the location where that artifact was placed.”

Unfamiliar characters, never seen before, were transcribed in the notebook.

It was information he hadn’t specifically heard from Curiosa.

“I speculate that this is a phrase recording the name and use of that artifact.”

“Speculation? Can’t you read it?”

“Haha. An Elf-style joke, I see. Among modern people, there likely isn’t anyone who can read Ancient Script.”

Binjin added.

Due to its unique difficulty and irregularity, Ancient Script is a field where academic research hasn’t even begun.

“I dipped my toes in a bit too, but there isn’t even a grain of similarity with modern grammar. The systems themselves are vastly different. However, after my own research… I reached one conclusion.”

Binjin caught his breath and finished his sentence.

“If the main communication method in the Ancient Era had taken the form of Ignition like in modern times, such a writing system would never have been born.”

In other words.

It’s highly likely that the primary means of conversation in the Ancient Era was not vocal language.

“Methods other than Ignition?”

“That, I don’t know. Perhaps there was a way to understand each other’s intentions and thoughts without speaking.”

Binjin then asked in a voice tinged with subtle expectation.

“Perhaps regarding the script, do you remember anything…?”

“It says ‘mirror’.”

Binjin’s eyes widened instantly.

“Th-that, is it true?”

“It says it’s a mirror that reflects what the user desires. You need to inject Mana in a special way to use it, but the method isn’t written here.”

“G-good heavens. C-could you, say it once more, please?”

Ray complied with Binjin’s request, who hurriedly pulled out a pen.

Binjin, transcribing the interpretation meticulously as if receiving an oracle, asked.

“P-perhaps, is there any other content besides that?”

“No. That’s the end.”

“Ah…! A pity, but I see. Still, it’s fine. What you’ve told me is already a tremendous gain. But Wizard, you truly are from the Ancient Era. To read Ancient Script so easily…!”

Binjin looked at Ray’s expression, as if seeking confirmation of his own words.

“That’s right. I can read Ancient Script.”

“…!”

The moment the words fell, Binjin handed the notebook to Ray and dashed somewhere beyond the tables.

He seemed to be going to bring more items related to Ancient Script.

“Just a moment, please wait a moment!”

Watching Binjin’s busy figure, Ray turned his gaze to the ‘mirror’ in his own hand.

‘A mirror.’

As Binjin speculated, the Ancient Script in the notebook indeed indicated the artifact’s name and purpose.

However, this was not a mirror.

It was an object called a prism.

A completely unfamiliar word he had never heard before, but it was clearly written that way in the notebook.

…For reasons unknown, he could read Ancient Script.

Why exactly? How?

Countless question marks churned in his mind, but no answers emerged.

He could only say that the moment he saw the characters, their meaning naturally entered his head.

As if, like breathing occurring naturally without conscious awareness.

“I can read Ancient Script.”

Therefore, that statement was not a lie.

“It says ‘mirror’.”

Only the interpretation was nonsense.

The object’s true name was.

‘Prism.’

It was an object created not for reflecting something, but for venerating and commemorating someone.

However, the content written in the notebook was brief, so nothing beyond that could be known.

‘Venerate and commemorate, whom?’

To venerate meant to highly revere and look up to.

To commemorate meant to praise and remember a great person.

…Could there have been someone who achieved some great feat in the past?

The exact details were unknown.

However, it was clear that those who used the prism deeply missed the object of veneration and also held profound gratitude.

Because.

“……”

Such emotions were being conveyed intact from the Ancient Script in the notebook.

This… was extremely strange.

There was no other way to express it except to say emotions were felt from the characters.

As if emotions well-preserved from the past were leaping across time to be delivered to the present.

‘What principle is this? Is Magic bestowed upon the characters themselves?’

A moment of thought.

‘That doesn’t seem to be it.’

According to Binjin, the script in the notebook was simply transcribed from what was at the Ruins.

Thinking there must be some principle, Ray stared piercingly at the Ancient Script in the notebook.

About five minutes had passed since he began this fierce mental battle with the typeface.

“Can you look at this too!”

Binjin returned.

Thud!

A heavy object was placed on the table.

“Huh…? But Wizard, your eyes are terribly bloodshot.”

“Elves are originally like that.”

Ray, temporarily releasing the typeface that showed no intention of revealing anything under interrogation, turned his gaze to the object Binjin brought.

It was a worn, grayish Stone Tablet.

Ancient Script was densely engraved in intaglio.

He could instantly sense it was the one Curiosa had mentioned before.

He recalled the conversation in Sector 46.

「On some Stone Tablet in the Ruins, the method to create the Element of Destruction was written.」

「The last sentence was cut off where new content began. It said Element of Creation.」

‘Then it seems Curiosa can also read Ancient Script.’

For now, the Stone Tablet Binjin brought, judging by the content of the first sentence, seemed to be a completely different Stone Tablet from the one Curiosa saw.

Ray first asked.

“This is?”

“It’s a Stone Tablet I discovered in the Ruins. It was attached to a wall, but who am I? I managed to detach it somehow.”

So he was a tomb raider, not a scholar.

“I’ll try reading it.”

“As expected…! I entrust it to you!”

Ray calmly read the characters engraved on the Stone Tablet.

[This is the story of the one who waits.]

The first sentence was fine.

[In the primordial sky, a Rainbow always floated.]

But the moment he encountered a certain word in the following sentence.

‘Rainbow.’

Oooooom!

As Yellow Mana explosively filled the Vessel.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

His heart also began to race.

Amid intense excitement and thrill, the boy hurriedly read the next sentence.

[The splendid seven-colored Rainbow was exceedingly beautiful. The sun, the clouds, the rain, the snow, the wind all thought so.]

So?

[But the Rainbow fell to the ground. Thus, the world shed its shell-like overlay of black and white and became dyed with color.]

It fell? Why?

[The world became beautiful, but no Rainbow floated in the sky anymore. The sun, who loved the Rainbow, grew gloomy and began to lose its light.]

The sun?

[So the sun chased the Rainbow and itself fell to the ground. Once descended to the ground, the sun……]

The boy unknowingly gulped.

But.

“?”

The story was cut off there.

He turned the Stone Tablet over and rubbed it, but could find no more content.

Snatch!

Ray grabbed a hammer from the adjacent table and swiftly lifted it.

Thump!

“Wh-what! No! You mustn’t break it!”

Startled, Binjin rushed over and desperately clung to Ray’s arm.

“Why, why are you doing this? Wh-what content is written, could it be some ancient Magic that leads the world to destruction or something…!”

Ray’s hand holding the hammer trembled as if it would immediately descend upon the Stone Tablet.

The anger of a reader subjected to content truncation was truly formidable.

But the tomb raider’s determination to protect his property was also not to be underestimated.

“I won’t break it.”

“Really?”

“Elves don’t lie.”

A momentary exchange of glances occurred.

Binjin released the held arm, and watching Ray place the hammer back on the table, he let out a sigh of relief─

Grab!

Snatch!

─he couldn’t.

Thump!

“No! Absolutely not!”

Binjin shouted, sweating cold sweat.