Chapter 191 – Rael Low (Four)

Pam-pam-pam-pam-pam─

With the trumpet sound blaring from the ceiling speakers, Ray’s eyes snapped open.

He slowly raised his upper body, froze for a moment, and slightly furrowed his brows.

“…….”

He had definitely dreamed something, but no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t come back to him.

The content, the colors, the atmosphere.

It was as if it had been bleached pure white; not a single thing remained in his memory.

But it wasn’t that he hadn’t dreamed at all.

If that were the case, this heavy, lingering feeling in his chest wouldn’t be here.

Emotions unfamiliar enough to evaporate and disappear in the heat of daily life.

Yet sufficient to make the boy’s actions and thoughts pause for a moment.

…Lately, a similar situation had been repeating every morning.

Not long after, the boy who had regained his senses looked around.

“…….”

The ceiling lights, which had been off all night—perhaps controlled by the system—were slowly regaining their glow.

‘Is it morning?’

He reflexively turned his head, but only saw the grayish-white wall surface.

For some unknown reason, it seemed Rael Row had no windows.

Perhaps because of that, it felt like he had spent the night deep underground.

────.

A few seconds later, the lights emitted a bright, dazzling glow.

Just as Ray finished washing up and stepped out of the bathroom, someone knocked on the door.

Knock knock.

Opening the door, it was Is.

He wore the same thick coat as yesterday, his face bearing its characteristic cynical expression.

“You’re here very early.”

“Guiding you is my role.”

“That coat… the scratch on the sleeve is gone.”

“I have several of the same outfit.”

“How many?”

“Seven. So I don’t have to think about what to wear every day.”

Ray nodded.

Truly efficient.

If it weren’t for Veronica, who kept dressing him in this and that, he probably would have adopted the same method as Is.

Knock knock.

Knocking on the next door, a half-awake Veronica appeared, looking disheveled.

“Wait 10 minutes… Grine-nim is washing up. I need to… wash up too.”

Thud!

The door closed and she didn’t reappear for a long while.

Is, checking his watch, spoke in an impatient voice.

“Human, didn’t she clearly say to wait just 10 minutes? It’s already been 13 minutes. If we’re late to the dining hall, we won’t get to eat and will have to go hungry.”

“According to Veronica, women have more to prepare than men. And my name isn’t ‘human,’ it’s Ray.”

“What exactly is there to prepare?”

“I’m wondering that too. Don’t Dwarf women do the same?”

“No, they don’t.”

Unable to stand still, Is couldn’t hold back and knocked on the door again.

Through the crack of the opened door, a Veronica with wet hair appeared and said,

“5 minutes! Just wait a little longer!”

Thud!

The door closed again.

An eternity passed.

“She said to wait 5 minutes. How many minutes have passed now?”

“6 minutes and 34 seconds.”

“Is the human time standard different from ours?”

“I don’t think so.”

Knock knock knock knock!

The door opened, and a Veronica with freshly dried hair appeared.

“5 minutes! Almost done!”

Thud!

The door closed again.

An eon passed.

“…How many minutes this time?”

“This time, another 7 minutes and 3 seconds.”

“What on earth is she doing in there?”

“If you’re curious, go in and see.”

“That’s a bit…”

Is kept checking his watch, his foot tapping nervously, and he bit his nails.

Just as the young Dwarf’s anxiety and impatience were about to explode—

Creeeak—!

Finally, the door opened, and Grine and Veronica, fully prepared, appeared.

Is guided the group to the dining hall at a pace almost like running.

The spacious Hall was filled with nearly a hundred Dwarfs sitting at tables, noisily eating their meals.

“Good, fortunately we’re not late. This is Dining Hall 3.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Is led the group to the serving line.

The servers on duty glanced at Is, rolled their eyes once, then silently scooped food onto the trays without a word.

Then, upon seeing the group, they flinched slightly and whispered among themselves.

“Humans…?”

“Haven’t you heard? There were visitors who arrived last night.”

“Ah… so that was the humans?”

Though wariness was evident in their Vessels, there was no issue receiving the meal.

As they headed to an empty seat, gazes poured down like arrows.

Most were looks of wariness and curiosity directed at Ray’s group, but…

“Isn’t that lazy Is?”

“Finally got something to do thanks to the visitors, huh? Tsk tsk.”

The disapproving glances aimed at Is were by no means few either.

Ray quietly observed Is.

He seemed accustomed to this situation, showing no particular emotional fluctuation.

Creeeak— Thud.

The group and Is sat at an empty seat and began their meal.

The menu consisted of salad, simple meat dishes, and such, giving an impression not much different from human fare.

Perhaps sensing Ray’s questioning gaze, Is spoke.

“You’re thinking right. Almost everything here is food made from human mass-produced goods.”

“I thought there might be special dietary habits. Like how Elves go crazy for meat.”

Grine put down her spoon, her expression serious.

“Ray-nim, how many times must I say it? That is seriously incorrect information.”

“I didn’t know that. So Elves like meat.”

“That’s not it.”

“My point stands. Elves can’t control themselves when they see meat.”

A slight verbal exchange ensued between Ray and Grine.

Afterwards, Is talked about the Dwarves’ staple food.

“I don’t know the details either. I’ve eaten this kind of food since I was born. But I know that in the distant past, they used plants that grew deep underground or animals that lived there as their staple.”

“Why don’t they do that now?”

After a brief silence, Is answered.

“Because the Black Rain contaminated everything underground.”

As Veronica’s fork, which had been spearing a not-so-fresh carrot piece, paused…

Is’s voice continued.

“All the plants and animals underground died. The few that survived became highly toxic and unusable for food. The only things unaffected by the Black Rain were minerals, and we use those to trade with human Sectors for food and daily necessities to live.”

Veronica wore a somewhat shocked expression.

She hadn’t considered that the Black Rain affected not just the surface, but below as well.

Grine also had no change in expression, but her Vessel held a complicated emotion.

The surroundings were still noisy.

“How about a game of stickball after today’s work?”

“No thanks, you’re not good at sports, are you? You lost to me last time.”

The gazes toward the group also remained.

However, the wariness within them had, at some point, changed to curiosity.

“Interesting.”

“What is?”

At Ray’s muttering, Is asked.

“Everyone seems very curious about humans, but no one tries to start a conversation or join our table.”

Is, who had been staring intently at Ray, offered a simple conclusion.

“Dwarves don’t like change.”

“Is that also related to efficiency?”

“In a way. The moment a variable occurs, the probability of not being able to keep to one’s schedule increases, and that ultimately lowers productivity.”

As if to support Is’s words, the Dwarves who finished their meals returned their trays and left their seats without a moment’s hesitation.

They scattered for their work.

“The Elders have also started their own schedules. So we can’t meet them right away.”

“How long do we have to wait?”

“Until 5 PM. That’s the official end of the workday in Rael Row. The Elders said to guide you around various places in Rael Row until then.”

Yesterday, the Elders had shown a strong pride in the technology possessed by the Dwarves.

Ray suspected they probably wanted to show off their fortress, built using that technology.

“Follow me, I’ll guide you.”

The group, having finished their meal, followed Is.

Each time they turned a corridor or rode an elevator up and down, new spaces appeared where they could see Dwarves carrying out their tasks.

There were those tempering metal in the forge.

Those repairing piles of stacked clothes in the sewing room.

And those fighting each other, clashing with metal gloves in the training hall.

“This is Rael Row’s control room.”

It was a small room.

At the front, dozens of monitors showing the inside and outside of Rael Row were densely packed.

Below them, a panel filled with all sorts of switches and handles was positioned.

“From the external rechargeable turrets and Mana traps to the security devices laid inside, you can think of them all being operated from here.”

The Dwarves in the control room glanced at Is as he explained, then focused back on their own tasks.

…A gaze by no means friendly.

‘It’s not just here.’

In every place they passed, cold gazes were poured toward Is.

Even without reading the Vessels’ emotions, the meaning in their eyes was clear.

‘Because…’

I too.

Have countless experiences facing that kind of look in the past.

It was the look given to an outsider.

The look of contempt, fear, and anxiety when seeing a being different from themselves.

“…….”

The impression Ray received of the Dwarves was that they were all cogs in a gear, each in their place, meshing and turning without a hint of error.

But Is felt different.

It was as if he were a cog that couldn’t withstand the meshing and had been flung out.

‘Is is also the only one wearing a thick coat inside.’

Had some incident occurred between Is and the other Dwarves?

Holding onto his questions, Ray continued to follow the tour.

They visited quite a few places throughout the morning, but still hadn’t found a single window.

“Is.”

“What?”

“Does Rael Row originally have no windows?”

“I was curious about that too. You need sunlight for energy to circulate in your body!”

Veronica chimed in, backing up Ray’s question.

Is, who had been staring intently at the two, turned his body and manipulated the wall surface with his metal-gloved hand.

Whirrr—

The grayish-white wall surface split in half, revealing a new wall made of transparent glass.

As their current location was quite high, only the skyward scenery was visible outside.

“Watch carefully.”

Is rolled up his coat, exposing his forearm, and stretched it in front of the transparent glass.

The faint sunlight passing through the glass fell onto the Dwarf boy’s cracked skin.

And then, immediately.

“Ah…!”

“What… kind of situation is this?”

Moans escaped from Veronica and Grine’s mouths.

Because the stone-like pieces growing on his arm were crumbling off, and the cracks in his skin were rapidly worsening.

Confirming the group’s reaction, Is retracted his arm, lowering his sleeve, and said,

“As you can see, Dwarves cannot live under sunlight. Our bodies are destroyed and shatter into pieces.”

Veronica, with a shocked face, stammered as she asked,

“Then… you have to live in Rael Row your whole life?”

“Going outside is possible without much issue. If you wear a thick coat and a specially made helmet.”

“…….”

Veronica fell silent.

She couldn’t even imagine how stifling and frustrating such a restricted life would be.

“Is that the original physical characteristic of Dwarves?”

At Grine’s question, Is shrugged his shoulders and answered.

“Well, I don’t know either. It’s just that all Dwarves are born like this—”

“They probably weren’t originally like that.”

With everyone’s eyes on him, Ray looked at Grine and said,

“Remember the Murals we saw in the underground Ruins?”

“Of course I remember.”

“In the front part of the Murals, there were depictions of the ancient races living together peacefully. Among them were Dwarves, shorter than the other races.”

“We’re not short. You’re just unnecessarily tall.”

“They were definitely there. Depicted as having a short stature. Ah…!”

“Do you want to be erased? We’re not short.”

Grine’s face showed realization.

Ray nodded.

“Right, the scenery in the Murals was all above ground. None of it was underground. In other words—”

“Elves aside, the average height difference between humans and Dwarves is less than 15cm.”

Ray took a breath and continued.

“It means Dwarves could originally be active under the sun as well.”

Is, who had been looking around, brought a small box and stepped onto it.

And from his heightened line of sight, he looked down at the group.