Chapter 258 – Things in the Sky (Two)

“No! Absolutely not! I’d rather die!”

The dwarf bellowed.

“You want me to hand over all the Terracote I have?!”

“…….”

“These are things I’ve painstakingly collected!”

“…….”

“This is wealth I’ve gathered for the revival of the dwarves!”

The woman only smiled silently.

“I absolutely cannot hand them over…”

“…….”

“Absolutely…”

“…….”

“…….”

The dwarf, sweating cold sweat as if pleading desperately, finally raised both hands in surrender.

“Damn it! Fine, take them! Take them, you wicked woman!”

“Thank you. Rael, I knew you’d be willing to give them to me.”

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”

As the dwarf waved his hand through the air, space split open.

Beyond it, a vast space made of black and white marble was visible, where endless shelves created a landscape of infinite repetition.

In that instant, Ray’s memory flashed.

‘I’ve seen this before.’

The moment he entered Ignis’s Cube in Sector 37 to withdraw money.

It was the exact place he had glimpsed through the momentarily opened Spatial Rift.

Back then, the shelves were neatly stacked with an overwhelming amount of banknotes and coins.

In various spots, money would disappear or appear, repeatedly enveloped in Light Clusters.

Colorful animal Spirits were organizing the newly appeared money onto the shelves.

He had thought then.

Perhaps it was a massive vault-like space where all the customers’ deposits were gathered.

‘But now it’s different.’

The shelves held not money but all kinds of ores, and not a single Spirit was in sight.

“My lifeblood…”

Grumbling, the dwarf stepped into the space beyond and returned a few minutes later carrying a square-shaped box.

Click!

“One… two… all ten are here.”

“…….”

“Ten pieces.”

“…….”

“Hmm, ten pieces.”

The dwarf, grinding his teeth, pulled two more pieces of Terracote from his pocket.

“You’re like a ghost of a woman.”

“Think of it as an investment. An investment to gift our descendants with the world in its original form.”

The woman took the box and turned.

She walked toward the man still kneeling and spoke.

“Here, Azema, take it. This number of sunstones should be sufficient to find the reincarnation of the sun.”

“They’re not sunstones, they’re Terracote.”

“Thank you, Guardian. I will use these sunstones to surely find the reincarnation of the sun.”

“They’re called Terracote.”

After receiving some cautions and guidelines from the woman, the man carefully stored the box and disappeared toward the stairs.

Watching his retreating figure, the dwarf asked.

“If we just find the reincarnation of the sun, can we restore the world to normal?”

“No. We must also find the reincarnation of the Rainbow. For while the sun brought life to bloom in the world, it was the Rainbow that breathed in the colors named emotion.”

As the woman moved her hand, a window appeared in the air, showing the outside scenery.

A desolate land and a sky filled with Black Clouds were visible.

“…Emotion is Mana. Mana is emotion. We have inflicted too many wounds upon each other. Envy, jealousy, arrogance, hatred… these chaotically tangled emotions gave birth to sharp malice that seemed capable of cutting the heart upon mere touch. The land became barren, and the Atmospheric Mana began to lose its light. And, the more powerful Magic we used to take each other’s lives… the more the volume of the Black Clouds covering the sky grew.”

The woman turned her gaze to look at the dwarf.

“Rael, the world has lost its color. Black Clouds and gray earth. Out there, what colors can you find now, aside from a limited few?”

Ultimately.

“The Rainbow must return. To restore color to the world.”

“…I understand.”

A brief silence flowed.

The woman spoke first.

“Rael, what do you plan to do now?”

“First, I’m thinking of building a castle with the resources in the warehouse I showed you earlier.”

“A castle?”

“Yes. A massive, moving castle that dwarves can board. With all the magical beasts and anomalous phenomena caused by polluted Mana… the wilderness has become too dangerous to roam unprotected.”

The dwarf added.

He also planned to equip it with appropriate Distortion Fields and siege means in preparation for the possibility of being discovered by Redran.

Hearing this, the woman expressed admiration but also doubt.

“Is such a structure possible?”

“There’s nothing dwarf engineering cannot create. For the power source, using the yellow light fragment of the Rainbow that I possess will be sufficient. Ultimately, Rael Row will become a mobile fortress that simultaneously protects both the dwarves and the fragment.”

“Rael Row… a rather uncreative name. Still, wouldn’t it be better to split and store the fragment separately, just in case?”

“What did you just… Hmm, actually, half the fragment should be enough to move Rael Row. Then I’ll need to think a bit about where to hide the other half.”

The dwarf bowed his head, seemingly lost in thought, stroking his beard.

Then, looking at the woman, he said.

“I’m also considering making some arrangements for the Rainbow.”

“What kind of arrangements?”

“Well, arrangements for the case where the Rainbow reincarnates as a human. If the Rainbow is reborn in the forms of us, the various blessed races, the probability of it being a human—the race with the shortest reproductive cycle—is highest.”

The dwarf glanced at the woman’s reaction, cleared his throat, and spoke.

“I’m thinking of creating a bank in human cities.”

“A bank?”

“Creating a system so convenient they can’t help but use it. Then all the money in human cities will flow and accumulate in the bank.”

After a moment of silence, the woman spoke.

“So that the reincarnated Rainbow can use that money, is that what you mean?”

“You’re quick as always. It’s a kind of activity fund.”

“Not a bad idea. But, while establishing the facilities and system won’t be a problem with dwarf engineering, how do you plan to transfer the deposit usage rights to the Rainbow?”

“I’ve thought of everything.”

The dwarf’s metal-gloved fingers tapped the Cube wall.

“The essence of the Cube is storage. Whether the object placed inside is a person, an item, or a memory, it can be kept safe.”

Create a card linked to Ignis’s entire account system and store it within this Cube.

The key to open the Cube will be delivered to the Rainbow, along with its location, through descendants.

That was the dwarf’s plan.

“Our race has a long lifespan, so there will likely be an opportunity to encounter the Rainbow’s reincarnation someday. A truly perfect plan, isn’t it?”

“How will you recognize the Rainbow’s reincarnation?”

“Uh, that, well…”

Towards the flustered dwarf, the woman gave a gentle smile.

“Don’t worry. I know a method to recognize the reincarnated Rainbow. I’ll tell you. But before that.”

“Before that?”

“Can the Cube really store anything?”

“Of course, it’s one of my most outstanding inventions among countless others. Anything is possible.”

“Even this very moment we are having a conversation?”

“Hmm… I haven’t tried it, but…”

After a moment of thought, the dwarf spoke in a confident voice.

“It’s entirely possible.”

“Then please do that. So that the Rainbow who opens the Cube can also know what kind of conversation we had.”

“Wait a moment. If I set it like this… done. However, note that due to capacity issues, it cannot record and store every single scene.”

The woman nodded.

“Thank you. Then I’ll tell you the method to recognize the reincarnated Rainbow.”

“Yes, please tell me quickly. I’m all ears now.”

Ray nodded from the side.

The method to identify the Rainbow had been a mystery he was extremely curious about for a long time.

“First, the Rainbow is… that… soul…”

‘……?’

“…different from… pattern… that… distinguish… or… another… method… sun… Rainbow… soul… pattern’s… registration… I… will help…”

The woman’s voice was breaking apart.

Looking around, the scenery was also undulating violently like waves.

Could it be that the scene stored in the Cube ends here? It was bewildering.

He tried focusing his mind, waving his hand in front of the two figures, making every effort, but he couldn’t stop the scenery from vanishing.

When he regained his senses.

“…….”

Before his eyes were the wide-open Cube and two people with worried expressions.

“Are you alright?”

“Ray-nim, are you okay? You suddenly stopped rigidly in place, not moving a muscle…”

Solite abruptly stopped speaking.

Because an indescribably thick killing intent was emanating from Ray in streams.

“Ray-nim, why suddenly…”

“It cut off at the most important moment.”

“Huh?”

“Philip said the most infuriating way to treat someone is to stop speaking mid-sentence.”

“Huh…?”

While he couldn’t fully understand the meaning, it was clear Ray was very angry.

Then the Pope spoke.

“First… it doesn’t seem like something’s wrong with your body. If it’s alright, could you explain the situation a bit?”

“…….”

Ray suppressed the surging anger in one breath and asked.

“Do you know a little about the Rainbow and the Ancient Era?”

“More or less, it was one of the research areas I took great interest in when I was young.”

“Then the conversation will be quicker.”

A calm explanation followed.

First, the silver Bolt that acted as the Cube’s key was something received from the dwarves.

“You received a token of trust from the dwarves…?”

The Pope couldn’t hide his shock.

He had experience meeting a few dwarves who visited human Sectors for material exchange.

They said they were representatives and envoys of a place called Rael Row.

The dwarfs the Pope had encountered were a race with extremely difficult personalities, stubborn, harboring infinite suspicion toward humans.

Yet to receive a token of trust from them.

Since he held the Stone of Oath, he couldn’t not believe it.

“And, I saw a scene from the past stored in the Cube.”

“What kind of scene?”

“That…”

Another calmly flowing story.

“Ah…”

The Pope staggered with a sigh, and Solite hurriedly supported him.

“Your Holiness, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. It’s just that I suddenly encountered too much knowledge. The history of the Ancient Era I knew was but a drop in a vast river.”

The Pope’s eyes were already glistening with tears as he breathed heavily.

“Still, it’s fortunate to learn the roots of our Order. That the will of the first Pope has been well maintained until now is truly moving and fortunate.”

“…….”

Merely enduring as much as possible, Solite was also experiencing immense confusion.

The Ancient Era, war, Guardian, Rainbow…

The heat violently emitted by the knowledge engraved in his mind made him feel as if his entire body would melt.

Meanwhile.

Ray headed toward the center of the Cube’s interior space.

‘This is…’

On the rectangular pedestal lay a single thin metal card.

An Ignis customer card.

But its appearance was slightly, no, significantly different from the usual ones.

Because the entire card was not black but white.

‘…It seems like something Rael prepared for the Rainbow.’

Considering the mention of deposit usage rights, he guessed it might be a card linked to Ignis’s massive vault.

Jalgureok. Jalgureok.

“…….”

Ray fiddled with the silver Bolt retrieved from the Cube.

Rael probably left instructions for descendants to deliver the Bolt, the Cube’s key, to the Rainbow.

However, that message was likely forgotten at a rapid pace while Rael Row wandered the wilderness.

‘Because not dwelling on the past is part of dwarf values.’

Consequently, the Bolt was delivered to the wrong person, and the scene stored in the Cube was replayed in the wrong person’s mind.

‘It was originally meant for the Rainbow.’

He felt extremely awkward.

The white card before his eyes was the same.

Since it was prepared for the Rainbow, he shouldn’t touch it recklessly.

But, still.

‘Just touching it lightly should be okay, right?’

Ray recalled Rael’s words heard in the past scene.

「Preparing only money for the Rainbow? That’s not it. I plan to place all the treasures I possess into Akrassium as they are.」

The vault interior scenery of Akrassium he saw through the Spatial Rift was only a part.

The actual Akrassium was likely far more massive in size and probably stored many items besides money.

‘Perhaps.’

There might be powerful ancient armaments or magical artifacts.

If so, he could arm the pure Ring priests and narrow the overwhelming power gap with the Dawn Society.

Excitement, elation, curiosity, inquisitiveness.

Various emotions held hands and danced.

If the returning Rainbow later filed something like a compensation claim, he could just put Philip on the front lines.

That future opponent was highly skilled at subduing others with his silver tongue.

Nod.

Having convinced himself, Ray picked up the card on the pedestal.

At that moment.

Beep beep beep!

Seven-colored lines spread out in a zigzag pattern, and a voice sounded from the card.

[Recognizing user.]

[Recognition complete.]

[Welcome, User No. 1.]