**#139. Light and Shadow (2)**
—
After finishing their meal, the group moved to the second-floor terrace.
“I have something to show you first.”
When Ray flipped over a paper bag, seven pairs of leather gloves tumbled onto the table.
“Oh! These are—!”
“The ones we saw on the street when we were riding the rickshaw!”
Philip and Veronica exclaimed excitedly and tried on the gloves.
“They totally match my wallet. Leather too. But where did you get all these?”
“I picked them up.”
“Oh, you picked them up.”
A perfectly natural reply.
Most people might have let it pass, but not Philip, who had mastered Ray’s way of speaking.
“Ray, when you say you ‘picked them up,’ do you mean they were on the ground? Or were they… on other people’s hands?”
A nod.
Philip let out a small sigh.
…Ray, we’ve collectively agreed, socially, to refer to that as *confiscation*, not *picking up*.
Ray then gave a detailed explanation of what had happened before and after entering the Cube.
“Ugh…”
Once Veronica realized the gloves had belonged to the dead, her pupils trembled, and she hastily removed them.
“So, worst-case scenario, we might not be able to use our cards anymore.”
Philip, unconcerned about the source of the gloves, went straight to the key point.
Ray nodded.
“That’s why I collected them. We might end up not having enough money to buy a car. I plan to sell them on the way to searching for a broker in the black market. All except one pair.”
“Why keep one?”
“I thought it’d be good for you to use.”
Philip clapped his gloved hands together and nodded.
“Nice. With these, I’d be able to manage even without your magic.”
At that moment, Veronica hesitated before joining the conversation.
“But those people Ray took down…”
“The Nostra Clan?”
“Yeah, the Nostra Clan. You said earlier they’re a major force in the northern part of the sector. Will something happen because of that?”
In Veronica’s vessel, not a weak white sun had risen—but a strong one.
But soon—
“Don’t worry. No one saw it, and I cleaned everything up thoroughly.”
“Oh! That’s a relief!”
—her sun shrank in size at Ray’s words.
After that, the group divided up the tasks they needed to get done.
“I’ll check out the black market. Philip and Veronica, head out and secure the items listed here.”
“Got it.”
“Okay!”
A plant encyclopedia from the bookstore.
Catalogs from nearby car dealers.
Various daily necessities.
While Philip and Veronica checked the list in their notebook, Ray stood up first.
After returning to his room and changing into casual wear, he left the inn.
“Ah! Heading out, sir?”
Jang, who had been waiting by the rickshaw, stood up straight from the saddle.
Gratitude, joy, trust—
His vessel was filled with positive emotions.
‘His emotional pattern changed. Ever since he broke down crying earlier.’
Do you have to make someone cry first to raise their affection level?
As Ray pondered the correlation between tears and goodwill, he asked a question.
“Jang, have you ever been to the black market?”
“The black market? Yes, I have. I often pass through that area.”
A massive market forming a ring along the outer edge of the entire sector.
That was the black market.
“There’s no clear entrance or exit. Once you start seeing street vendors and booths while walking through the slums, that’s when you know you’re there.”
Ray recalled the street vendors he had seen upon entering Sector 37 and asked,
“Is there a good variety of items?”
“Drugs, wild animal parts, illegal weapons, magical tools—if it makes money, they sell it. Please, get in! I know a shortcut!”
Ray shook his head.
“I want to learn the layout, so I’ll walk. The rickshaw’s for the two coming behind me.”
“Understood. Very well.”
Jang accepted without question.
Ray then asked him,
“You don’t seem very curious.”
“Pardon?”
“You still don’t know who we are, and yet you’re not reacting much even though a child mentioned the black market.”
Ray’s gaze lingered on Jang’s vessel.
‘There’s barely any light purple mana. And what’s there is suppressed by the gray mana.’
Light purple mana meant curiosity.
Gray mana meant calm composure.
This was a highly unusual emotional distribution.
After some hesitation, Jang replied.
“Well… trying to learn about the world too much often leads to trouble. And if it’s something I’m truly meant to know, I’ll find out naturally in due time.”
A life lesson he had learned in his own way, Jang said.
“……”
Ray looked at Jang’s face.
Hard to tell if he understood or not.
It was a difficult idea.
Still, Ray had a rough grasp of what kind of person Jang was.
‘He’s not greedy even when big money is involved. He doesn’t show unnecessary curiosity when others would.’
A rather refreshing type of individual.
Might be useful for various tasks later on.
Then Jang spoke again.
“Uh, sir, you seem rather… unusual.”
“Unusual?”
“Oh—! I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just… you ask questions most people wouldn’t think to ask.”
“……”
It felt oddly strange.
To hear that from someone who had bawled like a newborn in front of food.
“Take this with you. It’s a sector map I used when I was learning the area.”
“You don’t need it?”
“It’s all in my head.”
“Then I’ll take it.”
“Yes. I’m sure it’ll help. See you later. Safe travels!”
Map in hand, Ray picked a random direction and began walking.
*Tak— Tak— Tak— Tak— Tak—*
Thanks to using enhancement magic at high output, his walking pace was extremely fast.
Fast enough that anyone would turn in surprise.
But none of the countless pedestrians on the street paid him any mind.
Because Ray’s path was carefully chosen to remain out of sight.
*Tak— Tak— Tak—*
He slipped through shadows beside buildings.
*Tak— Tak— Tak—*
Wove through dense crowds.
*Tak— Tak— Tak—*
Darted between cars stopped at a signal.
Having plenty of experience being pursued, Ray was adept at avoiding attention.
And this instinctive concealment became even more perfect—
As he passed through a short tunnel under a bridge—
*Vmm.*
His hair and eyes turned black.
‘Feels like I’m forgetting something.’
Ray approached a street vendor.
“I’ll take this.”
“Huh? Just the frame?”
Feeling more grounded with a round pair of glasses on, Ray now divided his focus between memorizing the layout.
‘Current location: Street 2. Cross that plaza and I’ll hit Street 7.’
He imprinted the surrounding scenery in his memory.
Important landmarks were carefully checked against the map as he advanced.
Of course—
‘What kind of emotion is that?’
He didn’t forget to periodically get distracted by the myriad of emotions around him.
How far had he walked?
Ray suddenly noticed a change.
Not just because the scenery shifted from a busy district to a more rundown residential area.
But because of people’s emotions.
Black mana.
Thick fear.
The bustling crowd halted and quickly retreated to both sides of the street.
Ray blended in and observed.
“Mom, what’s going on?”
“Shh! Keep your head down and don’t say a word! Got it?!”
A child, startled by their mother’s words, ducked his head.
Then, with curiosity all over his face, he peeked up.
“……!”
He saw everyone staring only at the ground, and quickly shut his eyes and ducked again.
“Brother, you should keep your head down too!”
“Helen, shhh…!”
“……”
Ray looked at the small hand tugging on his sleeve, then lifted his head to scan the surroundings.
He was the only one.
The only one with his head raised.
A dreadful stillness hung in the air.
The atmosphere was taut, like it might burst.
‘…Something’s coming.’
The wide path people had cleared stretched all the way to the far end of the street.
At the corner of that path—
A dull noise—an amalgam of many overlapping sounds—grew louder and louder.
Ray focused on his hearing.
…Measured footsteps and shouting.
…Wheels and the roar of a large engine.
What could it be?
If he wanted to stay safe, he should probably duck his head too.
But curiosity won out, so Ray poured mana into his concealment spell at full power.
─────
──────
As the noise grew louder, the tension in the street rose with it.
And finally—
“Revere!”
The source of the sound rounded the corner.
A massive trailer truck, accompanied by dozens of people marching.
“For the end times are near!”
People in white priest robes.
The voice of the person leading the group rang through the street, likely using a voice amplification spell.
…And atop the trailer—
‘A sphere?’
A giant orb, supported by a frame, hovered.
“Only those under the sun shall survive the end!”
The sun?
Did they mean that orb?
Ray watched the slowly approaching sphere closely, ready to duck if his concealment failed.
It looked like a sculpture carved from a giant mineral.
Its surface gleamed like an egg.
Primarily white in color.
Covered with large red, orange, and yellow patterns that spread like starlight, mosaic-like.
There were many such patterns, but only within those three color ranges.
…It was grand and imposing.
The oppressive emotions all around reflected the psyche of the street’s pedestrians.
But oddly—
Unlike the others, Ray couldn’t shake the feeling that it looked crude—
“Revere! None may open their eyes before the light of the great sun!”
—And then realized why.
‘It gives off no light.’
Though the orb was referred to as the sun, it emitted no light.
Objectively, it was just a well-sculpted rock.
“The sun shall rise! It shall banish all shadows! A world without fear shall come!”
The procession drew closer.
The massive sphere cast its shadow over people’s heads, and the tension deepened in proportion.
“Believe! Follow! Revere!”
All the priests, of various ages, had circles on their chests.
Anywhere from one to three.
All of them were mages.
But none seemed capable of detecting Ray’s concealment magic.
Not a single one noticed him openly looking up.
“The returned sun will tear through the black clouds covering the sky!”
Then, as the front line passed and the trailer moved directly in front of Ray—
“……”
“……”
Ray locked eyes with a man beside the orb.
Ray’s black eyes drew in the man’s information.
Luxurious blonde hair.
Appearance in his early to mid-20s.
A clear starlight in the center of his vessel.
…And a third circle.
‘The fourth ring is nearly complete. Its form is distinct.’
In the span of just a few seconds—
The man also looked at Ray.
More precisely, he was looking at where Ray *was*.
Because the man’s emotions weren’t certainty, but suspicion and curiosity.
“……”
“……”
As the distance widened,
The young man’s gaze clung to him until the last moment, but he ultimately failed to detect Ray.
The procession soon disappeared into the distance.
And at the same time—
*Fuuuuu—*
“Whew.”
Sighs of relief echoed all around.
People, as if freed from a spell, resumed their paths, and the street quickly regained its energy.
Some, still shaken, stayed to talk a while longer.
“What a pain. Every time they do one of these marches, it’s chaos. Can’t even lift your head.”
“Just bear it. Didn’t you see Jack get dragged off last time for accidentally lifting his head? Blasphemy, or whatever.”
As Ray listened to the conversations, he kept his eyes on where the procession had gone and thought:
‘That must’ve been the Order.’
The Order.
He had heard of them through Graham and Curiosa, but never in detail.
Neither had shown much interest in religion.
“They said they’re looking for the Saint, right?”
“Yeah. And they’re gonna raise an artificial sun into the sky.”
“How do you know all that?”
“Anyone who’s been to weekend mass knows. It’s drilled into your ears. I’d never go if they didn’t give out bread and drinks.”
Ray turned toward the direction the voices came from.
As he dispelled his concealment magic, he thought—
It probably didn’t matter that he lacked prior knowledge.
He walked over and spoke up.
“I’d like to hear more about that.”
