#085. Black Rain and the Seed (1)
—
Philip had been thoroughly informed of everything that had happened in the canyon.
“Oh, man… I really should have seen that for myself.”
He expressed deep regret over not having witnessed the blue-hued Rockdeer, Blue, firsthand.
“So, John and Skyle are both dead. They ended up attacking each other. Ray, you were right.”
He nodded as if he had expected this outcome.
“…Curiosa? A executive of Murcred? Doctor? Hold on, that’s a lot of information all at once….”
Hearing about Murcred and the people involved, he briefly grimaced as if his brain had overloaded.
But soon, understanding dawned on his face.
“So now, the main goal of our journey is to track down Murcred’s senior members.”
“That’s right. But nothing changes for us. We were already heading upstream along the Elton River anyway.”
The binding magic’s arrow also pointed toward the upper reaches of the Elton River.
By continuing in their current direction, they would naturally encounter Murcred’s senior members.
“So, the gemstone embedded in Blue’s forehead—is that a fragment of the Rainbow?”
“It’s a possibility. At the very least, it’s definitely a gemstone infused with an immense amount of mana.”
A blue gemstone possessed by Blue.
A red gemstone possessed by Murcred.
Considering the list of orders Walter had received and Curiosa’s words, the hypothesis that the Rainbow was actually a collection of gemstones gained credibility.
“This smells fishy. What if we’re actually the first investigators to uncover the truth about the Rainbow?”
Philip’s excitement was met with a shake of Ray’s head.
“We’re not at the stage where we can be certain yet. It’s just a possibility. We’ll continue investigating with the gemstone theory as our focus, but we’ll keep other possibilities open.”
“As expected of our wise leader.”
Philip chuckled.
Then, lost in thought for a moment, he spoke more seriously.
“But if we have to collect all the gemstones, getting the one from Blue won’t be easy. Walking in the sky, creating an oasis in the blink of an eye—is that really a creature humans can capture?”
Ray recalled his encounter with Blue in the clearing.
A distant, aching sense of longing filled his chest.
He had no thoughts of capturing Blue.
‘…Even if we had tried, we wouldn’t have succeeded.’
Blue was an unknown lifeform, but one thing was certain—
It was a transcendent existence, far beyond human power.
Even Curiosa, who had four rings, had given up on capturing Blue and had simply watched it leave.
Had they attacked, they would have most likely lost their lives.
If he borrowed Curiosa’s words, they would have ended up as frozen statues in the wilderness, left to be licked indiscriminately by passing animals.
‘…If the Rainbow is truly our goal, we should seize every opportunity that presents itself.’
After some thought, Ray came to a conclusion.
‘No need to rush.’
He repeated the thought to himself.
Just confirming Blue’s existence and obtaining information on Murcred through Curiosa was already a significant gain.
Ray finally spoke.
“For now, we can set thoughts of Blue aside. Once we confirm the theory that the Rainbow is a collection of gemstones, we can figure out a plan. For now, we’ll leave as soon as we finish gathering information here.”
Philip and Veronica nodded at Ray’s words.
No matter what, they were bound by fate, sharing the same journey. And Ray was the one steering the ship.
Of course, their agreement was built on a foundation of trust.
“And there’s something else I want to show you.”
Ray took out a photograph he had found in Walter’s basement and showed it to the two.
“It’s a photo that likely shows Murcred’s boss and senior members.”
“Wow. That’s really old. It’s in black and white. The image is so blurry.”
“But we can still make out the names written above the children’s heads. Walter, Curiosa, Allager, and…”
Philip suddenly froze and muttered in a dazed voice.
“Upsess…”
His finger had stopped next to a girl standing in the center of the children.
Ray asked, “Why? Do you know the name?”
“No. It’s the first time I’ve seen it. It’s just…”
“Just?”
“Just… It feels familiar somehow.”
The photograph was old and worn, making it nearly impossible to recognize the faces clearly.
Yet Philip couldn’t take his eyes off the girl in the picture.
Only after a long while did he finally return the photo to Ray.
—
The next morning at dawn.
Ray woke up in bed and slowly got up, walking toward the window.
Perhaps because he had taken a brief nap between the afternoon and evening the day before, he had woken up earlier than usual.
Swoooosh—
“…….”
Or maybe it was the sound of the heavy rain pouring outside the window.
The streets were dark and silent.
Amid the dense, unrelenting rain, there were no open shops or passersby in sight.
Of course, that was to be expected.
Because what was falling now… was black rain.
Gazing quietly at the scenery, the boy raised his palm to the window.
Plop. Plop. Plop.
Ink-black raindrops pounded against the glass, as if eager to break through.
“…….”
Anything that came into contact with black rain would become diseased.
Be it a person’s body or the land itself.
Before leaving the clearing in the canyon, Veronica had collected some soil samples in a ziplock bag.
“The Rockdeers moving ahead of schedule… Maybe it’s because their original habitat ran out of food.”
The soil lifted with magic was a murky blend of brown and black.
It had been tainted by the black rain.
It was said that no plants could grow on land that had turned coal-black.
‘What’s upstream of the Elton River?’
The storm clouds pouring black rain typically drifted down from upstream.
Ray had only recently noticed this, as he had been looking up at the sky more often while searching for the Rainbow.
‘Storm clouds from the upper sectors seem to be descending to the lower sectors.’
So far, the person who had traveled furthest upstream along the Elton River was Michael.
“I’ve been as far as Sector 31. I was escorting the Representative.”
“Beyond that? I never felt the need to go further. I was already living well where I had settled.”
Even in Sector 31, black rain had fallen.
Which meant the origin of these storm clouds lay in an even lower-numbered sector.
And Ray suspected that the starting point… was the City of Mages.
‘Every time a Golem moves, it emits black smoke into the sky.’
A Golem’s movement was simple.
It absorbed vast amounts of ambient mana into its core and used that as fuel to move.
Since it wasn’t a sentient being, there was no risk of mana intoxication.
An incredibly efficient form of locomotion.
But it had side effects.
The swirling, multi-colored mana inside the core would eventually mix and transform into a single, blackened form.
That was the true nature of the black smoke Golems exhaled with every step.
“…….”
Ray gathered mana around him and forcefully mixed the colors together.
The orb of mana in his palm darkened, eventually turning completely black.
When he released it, it floated into the air like a soap bubble.
Unlike ordinary mana, it didn’t dissipate into the atmosphere. Instead, it drifted upward, slipping through the window and vanishing.
‘It’s rising into the sky.’
Just like a Golem’s black smoke.
He didn’t even need to look outside to confirm it.
He had observed it enough times to know.
‘And once it reaches the top of the sky, it will turn into storm clouds.’
That was why Ray believed the City of Mages was the source of these clouds.
‘To create enough storm clouds to blanket the sky…’
It had to be a place where powerful magic was used at an extreme frequency.
Magic so potent that it fused various elemental energies into blackened mana.
And so, Ray fell deep into thought, unaware that the downpour was gradually easing.
***
In Front of the Lodging: The Rain Stops and Morning Sunlight Breaks Through
**Splash—**
As Ray stepped through a puddle of black water pooled on the ground, he spoke.
“If we don’t get any useful information by today, we’ll move on to the next sector.”
“I agree,” Philip replied beside him.
It was the fourth day since they had arrived in Sector 48.
With five groups searching the entire sector based on the given keywords, there had been ample time for investigation.
**Black rain. The Rainbow.**
**A brown-haired woman with a scar on her neck.**
If any relevant information had been circulating in the sector, it should have been caught in their search net by now.
The fact that they hadn’t found even a small clue suggested a high likelihood that—
**‘There is no relevant information in this sector.’**
Of course, there was another possibility they couldn’t completely dismiss.
They might have simply failed to discover the information hidden somewhere in the sector.
However, rather than lingering in one place and wasting more time, moving on to a new sector and continuing the search elsewhere would be far more efficient.
The two boys stopped walking at the roadside in front of their lodging.
“Do you remember anything else about your mother?”
“Hmm… Honestly, not much. We were separated when I was really young. I think I was about six. I don’t even remember her face or voice clearly.”
What remained in Philip’s memory wasn’t a precise image but rather a feeling.
That day—when his mother left him behind—the colors of the park surrounding him, the faint sounds in the background.
The crinkling sensation of a biscuit wrapper in his hands, the sweet scent that lingered in his nose.
“I do remember that she cared for me deeply. When I think of my childhood, I feel vaguely happy. Even if I can’t remember the details.”
“She must have loved you a lot.”
Ray recalled the dictionary definition of love as he spoke.
“Hmm… I think I’d need a word stronger than love. Maybe… attachment? Obsession?”
As the two boys conversed—
**—”Greetings!”**
**—”Good morning!”**
A chorus of voices accompanied by multiple footsteps rang out from down the street.
The leaders of the five search groups had arrived to report.
Seeing them, Ray commented,
“Looks like they found something useful.”
“Huh? How do you know?”
“The emotions reflected in the Vessel are different from before.”
“Oh.”
Philip’s face lit up with admiration.
—
# A Clue to the Black Rain
After finishing their meal, the group immediately headed to Street 28 on the outskirts of the sector.
“Do you think this information is real?”
Veronica asked with anticipation.
Philip responded, “It’s definitely worth investigating. It might turn out to be a waste of time, but it’s a lead on the black rain—one of our group’s main objectives.”
Ray nodded slightly in agreement.
When it came to their mission, even the smallest clues were worth pursuing.
**Tap, tap, tap—**
Three pairs of footsteps echoed through the streets.
As they neared the outskirts of the sector, the surroundings grew increasingly desolate.
Eventually, they arrived at a shabby hut in a slum.
“The informants said he’s a drifter. He survives by scavenging from the junkyard, is drunk almost all the time… I can picture him already.”
Philip glanced around as he spoke.
Inside the poorly fenced-off area surrounding the hut, piles of scrap littered the ground.
Not far behind the hut, a mountain of metal scraps loomed, marking the presence of a junkyard.
**Creak—**
The entrance to the fence wasn’t locked.
Weaving through the scattered junk, the group reached the door of the hut and knocked.
**Knock, knock—**
No response.
**Thud, thud—**
Still nothing.
“Is he not home?”
“Maybe he’s out.”
Philip and Veronica exchanged puzzled glances.
But Ray simply said, “No, he’s inside.”
He placed his hand on the door handle and channeled mana into it.
**Click.**
The lock released instantly.
Philip let out an exasperated sigh.
“Magic really is something else. The more I see it, the more amazing—and unfair—it feels. Veronica, do you think you could teach me that?”
“Hmmm… Even if I taught you, I doubt you could use it. You’d have to be able to control mana first.”
The group stepped inside.
In the center of the hut stood a stove with a chimney connected to the ceiling, and around it, furniture such as sofas and tables were haphazardly arranged.
Scattered food scraps, torn newspapers, and various junk littered the floor, making it hard to believe anyone actually lived there.
“Huh… No one’s here.”
“Yeah. Maybe we should wait for him to come back or return later—”
As the two spoke, Ray silently strode toward a wooden crate in the corner.
**1.5 Circle.**
Ever since forming an incomplete magic circle, Ray’s vision had changed.
**‘He’s in there.’**
He had gained the ability to see mana through objects.
Just as he could now see the black lump of fear hidden inside the crate.
Obstacles like walls and furniture were no longer barriers to Ray’s perception.
**Creak—**
“I-I’m sorry! P-please…! I-I promise I’ll pay back the money, just don’t… d-don’t kill me…!”
The crate lid lifted to reveal a man.
His head was buried between his knees, hands pressed together as if in prayer.
“…Mr. Hender.”
“Huh…?”
The man hesitantly raised his head.
Realizing that the people in front of him weren’t debt collectors, he looked momentarily bewildered.
Then, Ray spoke.
“We need to talk. You seem to have something to tell us about the black rain.”
