Chapter 132 – Leap (One)

The day after Ray defeated Allerger.

A hazy afternoon with faint sunlight.

On a wide open field where the ground had completely dried and the traces of war had been swept away by the wind, two pairs of footsteps echoed sporadically.

Thud— thud—

It was Veronica and Curiosa.

Both wore faces (and dots and lines on a mask) intensely focused on something, palms facing the ground ahead as they diligently moved their steps.

“…….”

“…….”

So focused were they that not a single word passed between them.

Thud— thud—

Their steps seemed irregular at a glance.

Suddenly changing direction.

Staying in one spot for a long time.

Abruptly stepping backward.

But upon closer observation, one could see their steps never strayed beyond a certain radius.

A massive circle.

A Magic Circle.

Similar in size to the one drawn on the rooftop, but differing by orders of magnitude in required formulas, amount of Mana, and construction period—possessing an immense design difficulty.

The two, who had been exerting a high degree of concentration.

Thud— thump.

Their backs bumped while stepping backward.

Turning around and seeing each other, the two stiffened awkwardly.

“Ah, I need to pass this way… You go first.”

“Ah, no. Ghost Mask-nim, you first….”

They yielded to each other, and the work resumed.

And exactly five minutes later.

Thud— thump.

“Ah… This time, Ghost Mask-nim, you draw first.”

“Ah, shall I…?”

They stiffened once more.

The red-haired girl, distancing herself from the white mask on black cloth, thought.

‘I’m going to die of awkwardness!’

That’s what Ray had said.

Since they were now in a cooperative relationship, there was no need to be afraid at all.

He had also said this.

「Allerger and Curiosa. Unlike Walter, they feel more like dealing with people our own age than adults.」

He said it didn’t seem to be solely because of the Emotional Curse.

He couldn’t explain it precisely, but he got the feeling their mental age seemed to have stopped at something in the past.

「So you should be able to become friends easily.」

‘Become friends…? With Ghost Mask-nim…?’

Yesterday, the girl observed Ghost Mask-nim through a cold, sharp, and logical gaze.

She confirmed that, as Ray said, they weren’t dangerous.

But since her existing fear hadn’t been completely erased, the image of becoming close and chatting and laughing together didn’t form well in her mind.

Just right now…

‘I’m going to die! It’s so awkward!’

Why did you leave just the two of us here!

Fortunately, or perhaps it was fortunate, she wasn’t the only one harboring such feelings and thoughts at the moment.

‘This is awkward. Hmm, I should try to start some conversation….’

“…….”

Curiosa, realizing for a moment what she was thinking, felt utterly absurd.

‘What am I doing here?’

Who could have ever imagined she would end up drawing a Magic Circle with the red kid she once considered an enemy.

No matter how unpredictable life originally was.

Swoosh.

Curiosa raised her head and looked over the open field.

Thousands of elemental threads, widely scattered across the entire field, drawing a complex and dense pattern.

A Spatial Teleportation Magic Circle.

Designed precisely to skip over 8 Sectors from this location.

Curiosa recalled the conversation with the boy in her room yesterday.

「Spatial Magic, how far a distance can you skip?」

Startled by the sudden question, Curiosa was flustered.

But she could understand his intent from his following words.

「Among the orders you received related to gems. The ones around the 40-numbered Sectors have already all been carried out.」

Ray was in a state of slight doubt about their original journey method.

Moving honestly, one Sector at a time, following the Elton River.

Was that truly the most efficient method for tracking their goal?

Of course, they hadn’t gained absolutely nothing from each Sector, but the clues obtained weren’t entirely satisfactory.

The only significantly meaningful clue was Blue, whom they met in the wasteland.

The information gained from questioning Sector residents frankly had little to no nutritional value.

Then, in the midst of this.

They discovered a yellow gem here.

Sector 46.

Underground, beneath a building.

Exactly according to the keywords of one order written in Allerger’s notebook.

「The gem-related orders not yet completed total 22. Combining yours and Allerger’s. The closest one from here is near Sector 37.」

「So you’re saying to skip Sectors using Spatial Teleportation Magic now…?」

「Correct.」

Of course, following the Doctor’s orders didn’t guarantee they would definitely find gems.

Rather, considering that among the completed orders, all except the one in Sector 46 were marked with an X, the likelihood of coming up empty-handed was high.

But he thought it would at least be more efficient than the original journey method.

「You… do you know how difficult and complex a field of Magic Spatial Magic is when you say that?」

「I don’t. That’s why I’m asking you how many Sectors you can skip.」

Feeling an impulse to dump a whole bottle of headache medicine into her mouth, Curiosa explained as calmly as possible.

「What you see isn’t everything. It’s absolutely not an easy task.」

「Basically, if I were to skip 1 Sector alone, I would need Mana equivalent to 4 Rings.」

「Not only that, but the aftereffects would leave me bedridden for the entire day.」

「You ask if I hop in and out of my room freely normally? That’s an exceptional case because there’s an existing established passageway. Do you know how much I… to connect that…」

Ray dismissed all that explanation in one sentence.

「What if we draw a Magic Circle?」

「Hmm… Then it might be possible. Though I’ve never drawn a Magic Circle to skip such a long distance.」

Curiosa scanned Ray’s body up and down once.

She seemed to analyze something in her head briefly, then spoke.

「No, it’s sufficiently possible. For one person of this mass and volume, it should be enough to transport.」

「It’s not one person.」

「Ah, right. There were more companions. The red kid and the brown kid. That’s possible too.」

「And two animals.」

「Oh, sh—.」

「Let me tell you which element occupies the largest proportion in my Ring.」

「I’ll do my best, so I’d appreciate it if you could trust and leave it to me. The icon of trust and sincerity. That’s me.」

…Such was the course of events that led Curiosa to be here now, drawing a Magic Circle with Veronica.

She didn’t know how long it would take to complete, but to transport 3 humans and 2 animals.

“…….”

After briefly contemplating the transience and absurdity of life, Curiosa steeled her mind and immersed herself in the work again.

As she drew, she thought.

‘Still, if I become friends with the redhead, maybe I can dig up information about the white-haired one.’

What do kids these days like?

Should I ask what flavor cookies and ice cream she likes?

Have you ever tried Jet Cracker peppermint flavor? Like this?

Vroooom──

Just then, a shabby white vehicle appeared at the entrance of the basin.

Screech─ thud.

The people who arrived, opened the door, and got out were Ray and Philip, returning after finishing their Sector inquiries.

Seeing Curiosa, Philip flinched in surprise and offered an awkward greeting.

“Uh… Ah, hello? Di, did you have a good night last night?”

It wasn’t their first meeting.

Their first encounter was yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon.

After finishing his conversation with Curiosa, Ray returned to the Loyalist Faction’s Hideout.

「Your body? Is your body okay? Any injuries?」

「We were just about to send someone. We received a report that a building collapsed on 1st Street.」

While Veronica meticulously checked for any injuries beside him.

Ray spoke calmly.

「An Executive of Mercread. I defeated them. I think it’s safe to assume all dangerous elements are completely gone now.」

He then briefly explained how the battle with Allerger unfolded.

「As expected of Ray-nim!」

「Truly… It seems meeting the Wizard was a great fortune for us.」

「He’s our Ray! And I am Ray’s sun!」

「The sun! Amazing!」

Amidst waves of exclamations and admiration sweeping through the place.

Tap.

Ray looked at the empty space beside him and flicked his finger.

Then, Curiosa popped out.

「…….」

「…….」

Veronica, whose eyes met hers, let go of Ray’s arm she was fiddling with and quickly scurried behind the Operatives.

After a not-so-brief silence.

Colin, regaining his senses, asked.

「Th, the person next to you…?」

「An Executive of Mercread.」

「Huh…? Bu, but you just said you defeated…」

「That was a different Executive.」

That was everyone’s first meeting with Curiosa.

“Uh, hello.”

While Curiosa awkwardly accepted Philip’s greeting.

Ray went to Veronica.

“How much of the Magic Circle is complete?”

“Hmm. In terms of percentage, about 5 percent?”

Veronica’s tense heart loosened the moment she saw Ray.

She had intended to complain a little about being left alone, but her lips, which had softened on their own, wouldn’t listen.

The impact of the gift she received from Ray yesterday was significant.

He probably didn’t know the flower meanings when he gave it, but it was definitely a gift that perfectly suited the girl’s heart.

“Then, conservatively estimating, should we expect about 3 weeks?”

“Yeah. That should be enough.”

Unlike last time, Ray wasn’t participating in the Magic Circle design.

Even if he participated, the work speed wouldn’t increase meaningfully.

The core elements of Spatial Teleportation Magic were four.

Displacement, Opening, Space, Construction.

Among them, Ray could also draw large amounts of the elements of Displacement and Opening from the atmosphere.

The corresponding emotions were none other than curiosity and inquisitiveness.

They were extremely familiar emotions.

When he thought of the unknown of Magic, he could handle the pale purple Mana without difficulty.

However, handling large amounts of the Space and Construction elements was unreasonable.

The dark, murky brown Mana reminiscent of old wood.

He hadn’t yet figured out the corresponding emotions, and thus couldn’t freely handle that color of Mana.

‘Instead of time spent participating in the work, it’s more efficient to practice handling the Gem’s Mana.’

That was Ray’s conclusion.

After all, the time required to complete the Magic Circle largely depended on Curiosa, who could handle all the core elements.

“…….”

Looking back at Curiosa, Ray confirmed the 4 Rings that were almost showing their bottoms.

The satisfied employer, observing the worker’s diligence, opened his mouth.

“Your Mana is almost depleted. It would be good to take a short break before proceeding. I also have something to talk about.”

As he said this, Ray stared intently at the empty space beside Curiosa.

When nothing happened, he shifted his gaze and made eye contact with Curiosa.

What are you doing. Not opening the door.

“…….”

“…….”

Curiosa, who was about to have a fit, barely suppressed her agitation.

With a sigh laden with many meanings, she opened a space leading to her room.

Zzzzzzt──

“Go in. There’s a table and chairs inside.”

“Huh? Ah? Suddenly? I didn’t even prepare a gift!”

“So this is the place Ray mentioned. Excuse us! Teacher!”

Following Veronica and Philip, Ray also crossed over into the room beyond the space.

As Curiosa, recalling the location of her headache medicine, was about to follow them in, something suddenly caught her eye.

Words carved into the basin cliff.

Veronica. Philip. Ray.

…What is that now.

The outskirts of Sector 47.

Endless mountains of Scrap Heaps.

Curiosa’s Cabin was located in a very deep place.

However, the modifier ‘Curiosa’s’ seemed like it might soon be dropped or replaced.

Clink─ clink─

Seeing the teacups and refreshments being neatly set on the table by Ray’s Telekinesis.

Curiosa was momentarily dazed.

‘Did he memorize the location of everything when he came in yesterday? No, but those are the cookies I hid.’

“Here, headache medicine. I heard you muttering you needed it earlier.”

“Uh, thanks.”

Curiosa unconsciously took the bottle of headache medicine Ray handed over.

Something… something was going seriously wrong.

“The table, you can bring the one over there.”

“Got it!”

But there were too many wrong things.

“The chairs are folding ones that open toward the back.”

“Right. This is a really expensive brand.”

She couldn’t even grasp where to start pointing things out.

“Please sit here, Ghost Mask-nim.”

“Ah, okay. Thanks for inviting me.”

Curiosa sat down without even realizing it.

Meanwhile, Ray spoke to Veronica and Philip.

“It’s a Cabin in the Junkyard on the outskirts of Sector 47. It seems Illusion Magic and Distortion Magic are installed around it, making it a place others can’t find.”

Why are you explaining that.

Curiosa, who was crunching the headache medicine like candy, gave up on thinking any further.

Ray’s briefing continued.

“The inquiries in this Sector 46 were able to finish very quickly with the help of the Loyalist Faction Operatives.”

However, there were no major results.

Just like in other Sectors they had passed through so far.

It was a result everyone had expected.

「We’re going to try skipping Sectors.」

That was the reason Philip and Veronica agreed to Ray’s words without much hesitation.

They too had been about to bring up the efficiency of Sector inquiries.

「Good. That seems like a much more efficient method.」

「I think so too. Then we’ll skip directly to Sector 37 using Magic, right?」

They didn’t forget to take measures to not miss any potential information.

「Soil sample collection… and simple information gathering. Rainbow, Black Rain, brown-haired woman with a scar on her neck. These three keywords.」

From Sector 45, to Sector 38.

Curiosa agreed to perform the Sector inquiries on their behalf while traveling up the Elton River.

「Curly dark brown hair, and a scar on the neck……」

「Does something come to mind?」

「No. It feels like something might come to mind. Hmm, I don’t know.」

From Curiosa’s standpoint, it wasn’t a difficult request.

She was already traveling around various Sectors to find clues to lift the Curse Seal anyway.

“Ray, by any chance, are there teaspoons too?”

“Those are in the second drawer. I’ll get them out.”

And thinking about it now, accepting the request was a good thing.

If she had traveled with the white kid, she might have died of pent-up anger before even killing the Doctor.

Clink. Clink.

Along with the voices of the four, the teacups continued to move.

Inside the Cabin where the afternoon sunlight shone.

“So the direction of the journey from now on…”

“I understand! Then the things to do while staying here─.”

The aspirations and wishes each held were slowly beginning to mix together.

Clink.

Like the quiet whirlpool swirling within the cup, along with the teaspoon.

Exactly three weeks and two days later.

The wide open field surrounded by the basin.

Dozens of men had gathered there.

Deep regret and gratitude.

They all gazed in the same direction with eyes imbued with the same emotion.

The center of their gaze, the middle of the open field.

There, three boys and girls stood.

Soon, lines made of brilliant light began to be drawn across the ground of the open field.