**#181. The Forgotten Tale (1)**
—
—Laqria.
Inside the gem.
A being that had been slumbering within an infinite sea of golden mana opened its eyes.
The view outside was refracted chaotically through the faceted surface of the gem.
Moreover, the being did not have good eyesight, but it had no problem perceiving the situation.
The seal of the contract engraved on its heart.
Through that, the boy’s will was being transmitted.
────!
The being unfurled its coiled body with force and emerged from the gem.
It saw it.
A massive worm baring its countless toothed maws in their direction.
It was enraged.
A primitive species that had not even ascended to the level of a spiritual beast—how dare it bare hostility toward it?
In an instant, the being expanded its body and manifested into the physical world as a tangible form.
And in the next moment—
What the companions witnessed was a massive serpent, dozens of meters long, coiled tightly around the sandworm’s body.
With each surge of sharp current emitted from its golden scales, the wasteland’s monster convulsed in agony.
Screeeeeech—!
A tremendous screech that seemed to rupture eardrums.
Everyone instinctively covered their ears and staggered back, but they could not look away from the sight before them.
The battle between the two massive creatures, which dominated the landscape, dulled their sense of reality.
At the same time, it was enough to flood their bodies with intense adrenaline.
The desert monster moved nimbly, attempting to bite the serpent’s neck.
But the serpent smoothly shifted its body, easily evading the attack, while tightening its grip even further.
*Crack!*
Screeeeeeeech—!
The intense pressure, the likes of which it had never experienced before, left the wasteland’s sovereign dumbfounded.
No enemy had ever inflicted such pain on it.
Everything had always been swept away by its movements; all living things on the ground were nothing but powerless prey.
But now, things were different.
The newly appeared opponent was larger in size, faster, and stronger.
It couldn’t win. It would be eaten.
The moment that realization struck, the monster became aware—for the first time in its life—of the emotions called fear and terror.
Screeeeeeeech—!
It thrashed wildly and launched a desperate attack, but nothing changed.
Its strength rapidly waned, while the serpent showed not the slightest sign of fatigue.
Naturally so.
*Vrrrrmmm—!*
A stream of golden mana from the gem held in the boy’s hand was connected to the serpent’s body.
“……”
Ray was controlling the mana from the gem and supplying it to Laqria.
This was the reason Laqria was able to exert far more power than its original form.
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
The gem’s mana was far more difficult to handle than atmospheric mana.
And whenever Laqria drew heavily from the mana to make big movements, the boy felt his mind reel.
It was akin to holding the leash of a violently rampaging beast.
How much time had passed like that?
The moment the monster’s thrashing ceased—perhaps from exhaustion—
*Crunch!*
The serpent bit into the sandworm’s neck.
Then tore it apart roughly.
Flesh radiating with boiling heat scattered into the cold night air.
After landing the decisive blow, the serpent began to shrink as it was wrapped in a halo of light.
The king of the wasteland collapsed to its side without even a final cry.
And then—
*Boom!*
It fell.
The gust of wind that surged from the impact caused hair and clothes to whip wildly.
The massive shock and astonishment of the situation froze both thoughts and movement.
And in that moment—
Having spent its main energy, Laqria had returned to the size of an ordinary snake and settled on the ground.
It flicked its tongue and slithered toward the gem in the boy’s hand.
That was the serpent’s nest.
A place filled with supreme mana, unlike any it had ever experienced before.
Resting there would soon fill its body with vitality and a sense of comfort.
Laqria stopped moving then.
Its head turned toward a girl with wide, startled eyes.
A warm radiance, like sunlight pouring down from the sky.
Laqria, still heavily ruled by its animal instincts, turned its body.
“…!”
The girl, seeing the snake approaching with its tongue flicking, almost screamed.
It was her first time seeing Laqria in person.
Laqria had spent most of its time asleep inside the gem, and even when it emerged, it acted as an invisible spirit being.
‘Wh-What do I do?’
The girl had always been afraid of reptiles.
More precisely, she had no tolerance for animals with more or fewer than four legs.
While her body froze stiff with fear, the snake reached her feet.
It looked up at her as if waiting for a response.
‘It won’t bite me… right?’
The girl mustered her courage and bent her knees, reaching out her hand.
*Slither.*
The snake climbed onto her hand naturally.
She flinched at the unfamiliar, cold sensation of its scales, but quickly got used to it.
Looking at the snake’s round eyes as it gently coiled around her arm, she thought:
‘Now that I look at it this way… it’s kind of cute? Or maybe not…?’
After gazing quietly into its eyes, the girl finally spoke.
“Thank you for helping us.”
As she gave a small bow of her head, the snake mimicked her action.
Just then, a voice rang out.
“Who are you? And how do you have a fragment of the rainbow?”
She turned her head.
It was Yeren, staring directly at Ray.
Veronica felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of unease—and realized the source was the lady called Grine and her other disciple, Chepel.
The two said nothing.
They didn’t move their eyes, didn’t breathe, didn’t open their mouths. They simply stood like dolls, without the slightest motion.
The moment a chill ran through Veronica’s entire body—
“That’s what I’d like to ask you.”
Ray replied, looking at Yeren.
The two locked eyes for a long moment.
To an outsider, it appeared as though they were having a silent conversation no one else could understand.
At last—
“My name is Grine.”
The one to speak first was Yeren.
She removed her hat, and her messy brown hair shifted into a rich emerald hue.
“I’m from the Last Forest.”
Veronica gasped upon seeing her pointed ears.
*
*
*
Mrs. Grine and Chepel dissolved into green-tinted forms.
They turned into two small animals and climbed onto Yeren’s—no, the real Grine’s—palm.
Veronica whispered excitedly to Ray.
“That! That! I’ve seen that in the field guide!”
“What is it? And stop hitting my arm.”
“It’s a chameleon! An animal that changes its skin color depending on its environment!”
“I see. Please stop hitting my arm.”
Ray tried to block Veronica’s hand but gave up and continued speaking with Grine.
“You’re an elf?”
“Yes, as you can see.”
Grine touched her ear as she answered, her demeanor quite different now.
Her youthful appearance had shifted to a far more mature one—likely her true face, which she had been concealing with transformation magic.
She looked to be in her early twenties.
Her exquisitely sculpted features exuded a noble air that was not easily approachable.
Her height had always been slightly shorter than the average adult male.
Both Jang and Demper were refined enough to know that staring at someone’s face was rude.
“……”
“……”
But they couldn’t help where their eyes were drawn.
They were simply and genuinely in awe.
Of course, none of that applied to the boy.
He dove straight into conversation.
“You have a fragment too, don’t you?”
Grine nodded and pulled a small object from her robe.
When she unwrapped the cloth around it, a shimmering green gem appeared.
It seemed the cloth had been masking the gem’s presence.
Wooooooong──!
Ray’s yellow gem.
Grine’s green gem.
The two gems began to emit a radiant glow, accompanied by a resonance so strong it could be heard even by ordinary ears.
“Why is it doing that?”
“They’re resonating. The rainbow was originally one.”
A rainbow that had once been whole.
Ray, struck by a memory, asked,
“Is it related to that story?”
“What story?”
“The one about the rainbow falling from the sky and breaking into pieces.”
“Yes. Though rather than saying it *fell*, it’s more accurate to say it *descended*.”
Ray tilted his head.
“I don’t see the difference.”
“The rainbow descended of its own will. It didn’t fall because of some external force.”
“The rainbow has a will?”
“Of course.”
The conversation was getting harder for the boy to follow.
There had been times when the mana in the gem felt alive—but was that what she meant?
“We’re talking as if the rainbow is actually a gem, which is the most convincing theory. But it’s hard to understand how an object could have a will.”
“I feel the same way.”
Ray made the most incredulous face he’d learned from Philip.
But Grine just smiled gently, so it didn’t seem to have much effect.
“I don’t know much either. I only know fragments of ancient history recorded on stone tablets.”
“You found a stone tablet in a ruin too?”
“No. I’ve never been to a ruin. I’m talking about a stone tablet preserved in my village—in the Last Forest.”
Forest.
He’d seen the word in a dictionary once.
A vast stretch of land filled with plant life. To Ray, it had always seemed like a fictional term.
‘Because of the Black Rain, not even a single tree can grow.’
Only a tiny fraction of land within the sectors could support any kind of roots.
Even then, the soil quality was far from good, and it wasn’t much different in the wastelands beyond the sectors where rainfall was scarce.
But a land covered with thousands, tens of thousands of trees?
No one Ray had met had ever seen a forest, and most didn’t even know what the word meant.
“Forests are real places?”
“They are. It’s where I was born and raised.”
There was no trace of deceit in Grine’s expression. Still, it was a hard claim to believe.
‘According to Philip, real swindlers tell lies so big people don’t even think to question them.’
Outlandish lies are the ones least likely to be doubted.
Maybe elves had some sort of technique to conceal their emotions.
As Ray mulled it over, he muttered unconsciously.
“…Sounds like a scammer.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing.”
“You just called me a scammer.”
“You said our meeting was timely.”
“Doesn’t feel like it.”
Grine stared at Ray with unblinking eyes, then continued.
“The forest is real, but it’s definitely rare. Since it’s called the Last Forest, the place where my village is might be the only forest left in the world.”
“So it’s not just a name someone made up?”
“According to the records, no. Are you familiar with ancient history?”
“A little.”
The ancient era—a time long, long ago.
According to Grine, there had once been conflict among the guardians of the seven fragments of the rainbow.
That conflict expanded into a war between races.
As a result, the world was devastated, and only one forest remained—the elves’ homeland.
“Of course, it wasn’t only the elves who lost their homes. Humans, elves, dwarves, giants, spirits—every race lost their place in the world.”
“There used to be a lot of forests?”
“Yes. According to the records, the world used to be full of vibrant colors. Not this ashen landscape we have now. Under clear skies and warm sunlight, deep green vegetation stretched out in every direction….”
“Scammer.”
A short silence followed.
“You just called me that again….”
“You misheard.”
“Elves have good hearing.”
“Noted.”
Grine once again stared at Ray, then briefly explained the reason she’d left the forest.
“I came out to find my husband.”
