Chapter 147 – Misunderstanding (Three)

“Of course, this is assuming the story about that person named Binjin is true, but isn’t it possible that the Doctor is a Guardian? According to Lady Curie, he possesses a red gemstone.”

Ray and Philip’s gazes fixed on Veronica’s face.

“No… Don’t stare so blatantly, it’s embarrassing. Ahem! Anyway, to continue my deduction, the Doctor’s goal is to restore the world to its original state, right? Couldn’t that mean rebuilding the destroyed Mage Kingdom? That’s why he’s collecting the gemstones. Probably because completing the Rainbow allows any wish to be granted.”

Veronica, fanning herself incessantly with her hand as if her face was heating up, said everything she had to say.

Philip clapped his hands.

“An excellent deduction, our Rainbow Expedition’s honorary investigator. But your deduction has a critical flaw. Namely, the fact that the Ancient Era was at least several hundred years ago. It’s impossible for a Guardian to have survived until now.”

Veronica, detecting a mocking tone in Philip’s voice, immediately flared up.

“The Doctor could be an Elf!”

“Hmm, didn’t you say Elves have a strong peaceful disposition? It doesn’t seem likely such a person would create a criminal organization.”

“Th-that’s!”

“Ah! No, no, I momentarily forgot that your knowledge about Elves is nonsense. Their diet… what was it again?”

“Elves’ staple food is vegetables and fruit!”

Philip gave a bitter smile.

“What? You fool, it’s not vegetables and fruit, it’s canned meat!”

“No! My grandfather said Elves are vegetarians!”

Veronica panted heavily.

She was so angry she felt tears welling up.

She had felt it many times, but winning a war of words against this apostle of a wicked three-inch tongue was impossible.

The girl, biting her lip hard, shouted.

“Nero! Bite him!”

Haaak!

“Y-you discriminatory cat!”

Ray, who had been watching the scuffle between two humans and one animal for a moment, spoke.

“Veronica’s words have some merit.”

The fight stopped.

“See! Even Ray says it has merit!”

“Has merit?”

Ray nodded towards the two who turned to look at him.

“I believe the possibility of figures from the Ancient Era, including Guardians, surviving until now clearly exists. They could be Elves, or perhaps some other long-lived race we don’t know about.”

Philip asked back, bewildered.

“There are other races besides Elves and humans…?”

“Since they said they selected outstanding individuals from various races as Guardians. If that’s true. And there could also be cases like Blue, where memories are passed down through generations.”

Ray paused for a moment before concluding.

“We can’t completely rule out the possibility that the Doctor is a Guardian himself, or a successor.”

Veronica, backed by the support of the Rainbow Expedition’s highest authority, was triumphant.

“Hmph! See! Nero! Come here! Don’t even go near that nasty human!”

“Hmm, when Ray says it like that, the persuasiveness suddenly skyrockets.”

Amidst such a commotion that wasn’t quite a commotion.

Outside the window, the sun behind the hazy clouds was diligently moving its body.

Evening, as everyone finished their arduous daily tasks and prepared to wrap up the day.

The crimson sunset shining from the edge of the horizon warmly embraced the entire Sector.

The benevolent sunlight spreading in all directions.

One ray, holding an exceptionally high warmth, passed through the glass window of a building in the bustling district.

Saaaaaa──

It sparkled and shattered like grains of sand upon the voluminous red hair swaying with each brush stroke.

“……”

The girl stopped brushing and looked at herself in the mirror.

Her hair, which had been in terrible condition from being exposed to wind and sand while traveling through the wasteland, had actually improved compared to when she stayed at the Bookstore, thanks to Madam Renia’s secret method.

“My hair seems fine, but my face… sigh, my cheeks are too red…”

Her cheeks were flushed crimson, emitting a faint heat.

It probably wasn’t just because of the sunlight.

Because right now, the words the boy had thrown at her were echoing in the girl’s mind, drawing a whirlpool of eternity.

─I have something to talk about before dinner later. I’ll be waiting in the backyard.

I’ll be waiting…

Be waiting… be waiting… be waiting…

Be waiting… be waiting… be waiting… be wait…

The girl covered her burning face with both hands.

Of course, she had already received the declaration of war when they rode the Rickshaw together in the morning.

「I’d like to talk in a quiet place after we secure lodging.」

「It’s a very important talk. I really hope you’ll listen.」

He said.

‘But I had no idea it would be today…!’

Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would jump out of her chest.

It seemed like he was planning to assassinate her by suffocating her Darling.

The girl took a deep breath.

“Hoo-ha─ Hoo-ha─.”

Right.

Hadn’t she anticipated that a day like this would come someday?

It’s just that the time of the decisive battle arrived faster than expected.

She needed to respond gracefully and wisely, like a cultured lady…

Am I cultured enough…?

‘Ooh, if I’d known this would happen, I should have asked Madam Renia about various things besides hair care methods.’

The girl agonized, crossing her arms in front of her to hide her reddened face.

After a while like that, she first laid out the items she had purchased from the general store today on the table.

It was a makeup kit.

“……”

She had never worn makeup before.

She had certainly never learned it separately.

Watching precocious kids at the orphanage do it with tools they secretly obtained from somewhere over their shoulders was all.

Her memory was somewhat there, but…

‘Can I do it well?’

There was no one around the girl to teach her what could be called the rites of passage for that age.

Adults were absent.

What shape and texture life had.

An adult to act as a guide ahead.

That story applied equally to the other two boys.

The boys and girls had no choice but to collide with everything in the world and learn for themselves.

Experiencing trial and error,

It would be clumsy at first,

Gradually finding the knack,

In the end, they would find their own way.

“Hoo.”

Veronica, with a determined face, gripped the makeup tools in both hands as if holding a spear and shield.

She had roughly understood the usage after listening to the store clerk’s explanation.

The thin brush, trembling slightly, headed towards the girl’s eyebrows.

Swish─ Swish─

Intense concentration and tension.

Within that, the work proceeded.

‘This is the right way, right?’

Contrary to her worries, Veronica was doing very well.

Basically good dexterity.

Exceptionally outstanding aesthetic sense.

It was the result of the two elements combined.

Tap tap tap tap.

Confidence gradually attached itself to the girl’s movements.

The Vessel was now imbued with Mana of various colors.

Red, yellow, orange…

And a hint of sky blue was also visible.

The associated emotions were joy and cheerfulness.

But more importantly, it was a color that only appeared when one showed interest in oneself.

How much time had passed like that?

‘Is this about enough…?’

The atmosphere of the girl in the mirror had distinctly changed.

It was light makeup, as she still lacked confidence for flashy makeup.

But that was actually the method that suited Veronica’s case.

The result of a slight addition of maturity.

The girl, who had been merely fresh, had become a young lady with looks that anyone on the street would turn to look at once.

‘Maybe it’s okay…?’

After a long standoff with the mirror, the girl suddenly checked the time, startled, and left the room.

As she went out to the lodging’s backyard, the white-haired boy was waiting.

Just thinking about the sentence that would soon leave the boy’s lips made her heart pound as if it would burst.

Hoo-ha. Hoo-ha.

Heart, don’t act up.

Veronica, spinning her toe on the ground, asked brightly.

“Wh-what did you want to talk about?”

“Shall we walk first?”

“Y-yeah. Okay.”

Right.

Since it probably wasn’t an ordinary talk, Ray would also need time to mentally prepare and gather courage.

Tap─ Tap─

The backyard took the form of a small garden suitable for strolling.

Stone steps and benches.

Flowers and bushes of various colors.

Though not meticulously maintained, the scenery draped in crimson sunset was enough to further fuel the girl’s excitement and anticipation.

Tap─ Tap─

An intense silence flowed while walking.

Veronica couldn’t raise her head due to her face, red as if about to burst.

‘Thank goodness I put on makeup.’

At least she could hide her face, ripe like an apple, a little.

‘But… Ray isn’t saying anything either.’

He was usually quiet, but this silence was slightly different in nature.

This… was the kind of silence that appeared when Ray was deeply immersed in a single thought.

Instantly, her heart sank with a thud.

‘He’s… preparing that statement.’

Right now, Ray is waiting for the appropriate moment to bring out the decisive words.

The moment she realized that fact, the girl’s world spun dizzily and tilted.

‘Wh-what do I do. What should I do!’

Hoo-ha. Hoo-ha.

Is Ray’s heart trembling like mine too?

Is it a nervous and excited heart?

Veronica, firmly steadying her turbulent heart, thought.

‘Ray, have courage. I’m cheering for you from beside you.’

How long had she walked, clutching her bursting chest like that?

Tap.

The boy stopped, and the girl flinched.

‘Is it now?’

But contrary to expectations, Ray looked at the ground for a moment, then lifted his foot and started off.

Veronica quickly followed, matching his stride.

And again.

Tap.

‘Is it now?’

This time too, Ray looked at the ground and started off, and Veronica had to quickly follow and match her stride.

And once more.

Tap.

‘Not yet?’

Tap.

‘I’m ready!’

When the same situation had played out about five times, Ray finally opened his mouth.

“Veronica.”

“Yeah!”

“What do you think?”

What do I think? About what?

About our future married life?

Countless scenes flashed through Veronica’s mind in an instant.

Veronica, with her head deeply bowed, spoke in a voice that crept in.

“I, I think one son and one daughter would be nice. O-of course! The decision will be made after coordinating opinions with Ray, though.”

“One son and one daughter?”

“And I think trust and respect are most important in a marital relationship, and the place we settle down doesn’t necessarily have to be a big city.”

“Trust and respect?”

“If we become a long-distance couple because of work… I don’t even want to imagine that, I hope it doesn’t happen, but even if such a thing happens and we have to live apart, I’d like to be buried in the same ground when we die.”

Ray, who had been tilting his head throughout the story, reacted to the word ‘ground.’

“Right, ground. Veronica, what do you think about the ground at the location we’re stepping on right now?”

“Huh? This place is tainted by Black Rain, so for us to be buried… Huh?”

It was at that moment that Veronica realized something and sharply raised her head.

A transparent plastic roof covering the entire garden came into view.

The holes punctured here and there, and the blackened, specific patches of ground right below them, too.

Only then did Ray’s image, wandering while staring at the ground, come to mind.

“Could the talk you wanted to have be…”

“It’s about the Black Rain. I’ve discovered a few facts recently that might help your research.”

“Ah…”

As her face flushed intensely, Veronica’s body slumped down deeply.

Crouching down, burying her face in her knees wrapped by her arms, the beet-red girl muttered.

“I’m an idiot… a fool… I’m the world’s biggest blockhead Veronica…”

“……?”

Ray tilted his head.

He tried to discern the cause of the sudden behavior by observing the emotions contained in Veronica’s Vessel, but it wasn’t easy.

Red, orange, yellow, and also…

‘A color combination I feel like I’ve seen somewhere.’

Only chewing on new questions with a sense of déjà vu, as if knowing the source but not quite.

And then.

There was a person sitting on the third-floor windowsill, wiping a pistol with a cloth while watching this entire situation.

‘See, I told you. The reason Ray called you probably wasn’t for that.’

Looking at the girl who had slumped down and seemed unable to get up, Philip let out a sound along with a sigh.

“Veronica, did you have a happy dream?”

The next afternoon.

An upscale mansion located on the eastern outskirts of the Sector.

“Thank you for your trouble coming here. It’s an honor that you’ve come.”

A middle-aged gentleman waiting in front of the main gate bowed politely towards a boy who had appeared from afar.

And then, straightening up, he whispered.

“Since you’re hiding your Elf identity, I’ve introduced you to my disciples as a Mage Tower student from the upper class.”

Ray nodded.

But Binjin’s words weren’t properly entering his ears.

The boy’s nerves were entirely directed beyond the iron-barred main gate.

‘Something’s there.’

…Inside the mansion, an inexplicable sense of incongruity was being felt.