Chapter 270 – The Saintess and the Miracle (Two)

Whether it was due to the wind stirred by magic from his swift descent down the hill,

or the faint excitement of preparing a gift for Veronica, he couldn’t tell.

He arrived at the street before long.

What did Veronica usually like?

Since nothing was definitively decided, he began by looking around as he walked.

The street had shed its festival-like appearance and returned to its everyday scenery.

However, a clear difference from before existed.

Thump!

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“No, it was my fault for not watching where I was going!”

People apologized first in situations where fights would have broken out before.

“It’s on the house. Yes, just come visit often in return!”

“Let me carry that for you. Where are you headed?”

They acted without calculation even in trivial matters and showed consideration for the weak.

Purple, that is, violet-colored emotions swirled within their vessels.

Ray continued observing and thought.

‘Has hope caused a change in people’s behavior?’

The hope that thanks to the Artificial Sun, the world would gradually become a better place.

It didn’t seem like a change that would only last a short while and end.

According to Philip, good deeds beget other good deeds, and barring major variables, that chain reaction usually continues for quite some time.

As long as something like the Artificial Sun’s light suddenly disappearing didn’t happen, it should be fine.

“Hey, look at that sky.”

“I don’t even know how long it’s been since I’ve seen a personal sky like that.”

Ray raised his head at the conversation he overheard.

The sky was clear without clouds, but it didn’t feel refreshingly blue.

To be precise, it was closer to a bluish-gray.

The primeval sky he saw in the World Tree’s memory was much bluer than that.

For residents who had lived their entire lives under the Black Cloud, even a sky like that seemed to evoke heart-fluttering emotion.

But for Ray, it was insufficient.

Not just the sky, but the sunlight as well.

The sun currently floating high shone as dimly as it had when seen from the Sky Island.

He had thought the sunlight would naturally grow stronger with Veronica’s awakening.

According to the Purple Guardian, when the sun returned, the world would regain its original light.

‘But the sunlight hasn’t changed.’

Interpreting ‘original light’ as referring to the Artificial Sun was a stretch.

While the Artificial Sun’s light was tremendous, it couldn’t compare to the primeval sun.

‘When the sun returns.’

Couldn’t that statement simply mean Veronica realizing she is the reincarnation of the sun?

And.

For the world to fully regain its original form, not only the sun but also the Rainbow had to return, she had said.

This part might perhaps be related to the blueness of the sky.

‘Returns… returns…’

Muttering internally, Ray took out the Cromwell Encyclopedia and looked up the word.

[Return]

[To come back to the original place, position, or to return to that state again.]

The sun’s original place was the sky.

So did that mean Veronica had to go to the sun in the sky?

Imagining Veronica riding Blue and racing toward the sun, Ray suddenly stopped walking.

The great bridge leading to the island at the Sector’s center appeared before his eyes.

The bridge, which should have been traversed by vehicles, was bustling with people heading to the sanctuary.

Ray joined the procession and walked.

How long did he walk like that?

He was able to arrive before the Artificial Sun radiating dazzling light.

Perhaps due to its grandeur and wonder, not a single person crossed the temporarily erected rope line to approach closer.

“……”

He gazed silently.

Unlike ordinary people, Ray could feel something more than warmth from the Artificial Sun.

The white-light Mana filling its interior.

That was the Element of Creation.

The omnipotent element that could be created by combining all existing types of elements.

‘The opposite is the Element of Destruction.’

The production rules for both were already established in Ray’s mind.

The Primeval Mana originating from each fragment of the Rainbow emitted light of various colors, and combining all of these resulted in a pure white light.

This was the Element of Creation.

Conversely, the Mana that had lost its light and become turbid while drifting through the world, when combined, resulted in black.

This was the Element of Destruction.

While the point of combining all types of elements to create them was the same, the resulting manifestations were polar opposites.

Hmmmm──.

Ray extended his hand and absorbed white-light Mana from the Artificial Sun.

He had created the Element of Creation before, even on the Sky Island where Mana was endlessly purified by abundant vegetation.

However, the difference was that the one from the Artificial Sun was of much higher purity.

No, rather than higher purity.

‘The source of all Mana in the world.’

It was closer to that.

The Light Cluster held in Ray’s hand gradually weakened.

On his carefully opened palm appeared small statuettes of a cat and a mouse.

They were Nero and Lato from the mansion in Sector 37.

For reasons unknown precisely, animals, regardless of species, followed Veronica to a suspicious degree.

Veronica also took good care of such animals and had missed them a lot while coming up to Sector 28.

That’s why he had tried making them as a gift.

“……”

They were quite clumsy.

Perhaps it was because the images of Nero and Lato weren’t vividly stored in his mind.

Swish.

He first put the statuettes away in his pocket and stored the remaining Element of Creation within his body.

It wasn’t permanent like the Ring’s Mana, but he could retain it for some time.

Afterward, Ray turned and left.

From behind, voices reached him.

─What principle makes it emit light? It truly is a miracle.

─In my opinion, there must surely be some magical principle hidden within.

─But I can’t sense any Mana at all. It’s the same even using equipment.

Among the crowd gazing at the Artificial Sun, the number of Wizards was not small.

Whether they were those who had flocked from various places after hearing rumors, the chance of them figuring out anything about the Artificial Sun was remote.

The Element of Creation existed only in the form of light inside the Artificial Sun and possessed colorless, odorless properties.

Moreover, it had the characteristic of responding only to the boy’s call.

Returning to the street, Ray searched the stalls and display cases inside and outside shops.

Then he stopped squarely before one place and entered as if entranced.

Ding-a-ling──!

“Welco─!”

The shopkeeper’s greeting trailed off.

Because a young boy had entered a professional equipment shop where rough Mercenaries comprised most of the customers.

“Um, is there something you’re looking for?”

“I’ll look around.”

The shopkeeper didn’t immediately chase Ray away as he inspected the equipment.

It wasn’t that there were absolutely no types who started activities in Mercenary groups from a young age.

Plus, his appearance was refined.

Regardless of status, the probability he had a lot of money was very high.

‘He seems like a young master from a wealthy family. Has he gotten deeply into playing Mercenary?’

However, that thought didn’t last long.

Because Ray’s gaze and movements as he inspected the equipment were extremely professional.

‘I’ve never seen a knife made of mitonium before. How does it compare to the equipment in Akrassium?’

Ray’s eyes held strong interest and curiosity.

In an instant, he gathered several knives, a pistol, and boxes of ammunition and explosives.

Wouldn’t Veronica be happy with these? Yes, surely she would.

Thud!

Seeing the items placed on the counter, the shopkeeper, unable to contain his curiosity, asked.

“That’s quite a lot. Are these items for you to use personally, young Mercenary?”

“I’m not a Mercenary. They’re gifts for a friend.”

“Gifts?”

“My friend is troubled because of something, and I thought receiving a gift might make her feel a bit better.”

Ray thought for a moment and added.

“Come to think of it, I think today might be her birthday too. I’m not sure, though.”

“……”

Giving such terrifying weapons as a birthday gift?

The flustered shopkeeper asked a few more questions and managed to ascertain that the gift recipient was an ordinary teenage girl.

‘Is he in his right mind?’

He gave a look of disbelief, but the boy with the delicate appearance didn’t bat an eye.

He seemed completely sincere.

“Please ring me up.”

“No, wait a moment.”

While selling the items would naturally be good, he couldn’t just watch a relationship head for disaster.

Frantically returning the items to their places, the owner gave Ray a note with something written on it and said.

“Forget about other things, just buy these and go, okay? Huh?”

“Flowers… a necklace… Compared to these, something like the Bullet 6 series from Bolt Action seems like a more certain choice.”

“If you give that, you might very well get shot by that gun yourself.”

The desperate persuasion that followed.

Ray eventually gave up on purchasing the equipment and set out to find another shop.

“I’d like to buy some flowers.”

“Oh my, is there a specific flower you’re looking for?”

“I’ll look around.”

Ray strolled inside the flower garden.

Due to the characteristic that most land in good condition within the Sector was used as farmland, the quantity and variety of flowers weren’t very abundant.

‘Still, if I have to choose from these…’

Come to think of it, Veronica liked flowers too.

Sector 47.

The bouquet he received as a thank-you gift from the shopkeepers after helping Nisohwa win the war.

After the ensuing battle with Allerger, only one flower remained, and he had brought that flower to Veronica.

She had been extremely happy.

She kept it carefully in a water bottle, and even after it withered at the end of its lifespan, she didn’t throw it away for a long time.

‘I didn’t see it in the trash bin, so I don’t know how she disposed of it.’

Anyway, it seemed like gifting that flower again would be good.

But it wasn’t visible in the flower garden.

He couldn’t remember its name either.

Ray took out his sketchbook.

Skritch─ skritch─

The image in his memory was clear, so drawing it wasn’t a problem, and he completed it in an instant, showing it to the owner.

“Wow, it’s a sunflower! Did you study drawing professionally? I’d believe it was a real flower.”

Sunflower, Ray repeated internally.

“Waiting, admiration, worship, I will wait only for you. That’s its flower language. But I’m sorry, currently we only have one stalk left in our garden. It’s a flower that only grows in environments with sufficient sunlight, so it’s very difficult to cultivate.”

The owner added with a smile.

With the Artificial Sun, cultivation might become easier in the future.

“I’ll take that one for now.”

“Yes! I’ll wrap it up prettily for you.”

“Please make the bundle underneath large.”

“Huh? But it’s just one stalk?”

“It’s fine.”

Wouldn’t Veronica be happier if there were several stalks?

With that thought, he visited other flower gardens, but none had sunflowers left.

Gazing at the sparse bouquet, Ray suddenly remembered something.

Hmmmm!

He emitted the white-light Mana stored within his body toward the bouquet.

Soon, where the light disappeared, nearly ten sunflowers appeared.

Their scent, color, texture.

All were perfect, real sunflowers.

Was it due to his mental growth?

Or due to the purity of the element itself?

Or perhaps because the image was clear?

The mental energy consumption was much less compared to when he handled the Element of Creation on the Sky Island.

No, it was almost negligible.

After carefully examining the bouquet, Ray left satisfied.

And.

There was one fact he hadn’t noticed, being so engrossed in the work.

Namely, that there had been a passerby watching the scene from not far away.

The reporter’s notebook tucked in his front pocket.

The posture of someone who had just looked away from a camera.

In a voice yet to recover from the shock, he muttered without realizing it.

“Saint…?”