**#187. The Ancient City (5)**
—
A voice from the past rang vividly in the boy’s ears.
—Hyung! Hyung! They say there’s a pretty ring in the sky called a rainbow! It looks like a doughnut with a bite taken out of it!
Rainbow.
He had only ever heard of it in stories, and due to his limited imagination, he had never formed any image of it.
But the boy immediately recognized that the band in the mural was a rainbow.
He lowered his gaze slightly.
The figure beneath the rainbow was also drawn in richly colored lines.
But there was no other information.
Lacking eyes, nose, and mouth, it was impossible to tell what expression it wore.
Likewise, without any physical features, its gender, age, and race could not be identified.
The ancient beings in the mural all looked up at the figure beneath the rainbow with lifeless expressions.
He stepped toward the next mural.
*Tak.*
The rainbow had changed into a bead and was held in the figure’s hand.
*Tak.*
The bead split into multiple rays of light that scattered in all directions.
*Tak.*
The light rays imbued the ancient beings and landscapes with vivid colors.
*Tak.*
Then the figure turned into light and disappeared, leaving behind a resplendent halo of seven colors.
*Tak.*
The boy’s steps quickened.
The halo continuously emitted colorful energy, and expressions returned to the once-blank faces of the ancient beings.
*Tak.*
They smiled.
*Tak.*
They cried as well.
*Tak.*
They grew angry or quarreled.
The world within the murals then underwent rapid development.
Buildings rose, populations grew.
The ancient beings used the energy from the halo to lift heavy objects, and they could manifest fire or wind from their hands.
*Tak.*
At some point, they divided the halo into seven pieces among themselves.
*Tak.*
And at another point, they pointed sharp weapons at each other.
*Tak.*
They mixed the various energies, creating powerful phenomena, and the blended colors turned black as they rose into the sky.
Black clouds covered the sky.
Buildings collapsed, and the population shrank.
The following murals depicted the long and bitter process of war.
*Tak.*
And then he reached the final mural.
A person holding a navy-colored shard was surrounded by others who each held the remaining six.
“They look like guardians.”
He turned at the voice and saw Grine standing beside him.
Her long, slender fingers brushed across the painting.
“What happened to the guardian with the navy shard? Surely they were so powerful that the other guardians had to join forces against them?”
Ray nodded slightly in agreement.
Grinne continued.
“There must really have been a great war in ancient times, based on these records. But it’s a shame the exact cause isn’t shown. Do you have any thoughts, Ray?”
“I’ve heard most conflicts come from scarcity. When I was in Sector 50, I fought with the street kids a lot over food.”
“Yes, usually that’s the case. But the murals suggest the old world was overflowing with resources… It’s hard to say.”
Grinne spun around and approached the stone tablet.
“The writing’s short. What does it say?”
*“We are waiting for your return.”*
Grine turned wide-eyed to Ray.
“Ray, just now….”
“It’s what’s written there.”
“Are you a scholar?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Are you just saying that to mess with a naïve-looking elf?”
“That’s not it either.”
“Then did you study the language separately?”
“Not really.”
Grine didn’t doubt Ray’s words.
She knew he wasn’t the type to lie or joke about such things.
“Then how did you read it?”
“It just… conveyed its meaning.”
“It conveyed its meaning?”
“Yeah. It entered my mind.”
Grine fell silent, trying to interpret what she saw using her knowledge.
In the meantime…
Veronica, who had finished examining the murals late, approached with a tearful voice and expression.
“Ray… it looks like the black rain’s been falling since ancient times. What do we do? If it’s still falling now, maybe it’s something we can never fix.”
As Veronica spoke with concern, the white sun within the vessel shone even brighter and expanded in size.
Watching it, Ray’s lips moved as if in a trance.
“It’s okay. Once the sun rises, the black clouds will all be driven away.”
At that moment, Grine jumped back into the conversation after some thought.
“Maybe Ray is a survivor from the old era? That would explain why he can read the ancient language—despite never having learned it.”
She stared intently at Ray.
“Are you… perhaps an elf?”
“Ray, are you an elf?”
“I’m human.”
“Phew.”
“So you’re human.”
Grine asked again.
“Then how are you still alive?”
“Well, I just didn’t die.”
“Ray promised he’d live a long, long time with me.”
“I did?”
“Didn’t you?”
The boy averted his gaze from the girl.
“Hmm….”
Grine let out a small groan, then sighed.
“Sorry. I let my own wishful thinking color my assumptions. I’ve always wondered if a survivor of the old age might still be out there.”
“If anyone’s a likely candidate, it’d be the head of Murcred, the Doctor. According to Curiosa, he doesn’t seem to age.”
“Curiosa?”
Ray gave a quick summary of Curiosa.
That she used to be an executive of Murcred and now seeks to kill the Doctor to lift her emotional restraints.
“…She’s also curious and enjoys drawing magic circles.”
“I see. I’d like to talk to her sometime. And earlier, about that phrase on the tablet.”
*“We are waiting for your return.”*
“Yes, that phrase.”
Grine stepped to the mural and pointed to the figure drawn in multicolored lines beneath the rainbow.
“I think ‘you’ refers to this figure—the one who gave mana to the ancient beings.”
“That interpretation works.”
“Yes. And the colored energies spreading in all directions represent mana. In a way, this could be a depiction of the birth of mana.”
Grine’s interpretation was plausible.
The group continued forming hypotheses and speculations based on the murals.
What became of the prophet-like figure who granted mana?
What exactly sparked the great war?
And what happened to the navy-colored guardian, driven into a corner?
“What was the purpose of this place?”
The elf asked.
“To convey emotion.”
The boy answered after a moment of thought.
*
*
*
Back on the surface, the group continued their exploration of the ruins.
“I—I, too, shall inspect the kingdom!”
A man hurriedly followed after them.
The man who called himself king stepped out of his castle for the first time in five years.
Shaking with emotion, he gazed upon places he had once avoided out of fear of the Keeper.
And occasionally—
“……”
He stood frozen, blank-faced.
Was he gradually regaining his mind?
…Tears ran down his dry cheeks.
“The jewels don’t seem to react.”
Grine said, disappointed.
They had checked around with the yellow and green gems, but no resonance occurred.
It seemed there were no rainbow fragments in this ruin.
If there had been, they were likely taken by a Murcred executive who arrived earlier.
All they gathered were odds and ends from the ancient era, with no clear purpose.
Demper lifted a heavy sack and said,
“Selling all this stuff could bring in a fortune. Collectors buy first and ask questions later when it comes to relics.”
Ray asked,
“How much are we talking?”
“Don’t be shocked—at least 100 million shillings.”
“That’s not much.”
Ignis’s account alone had over 300 million shillings.
“…What?”
Stunned, Demper froze in place for a moment, then hurried to catch up with the group.
“Ray, that looks… a lot like Kelley.”
“It really does.”
The group had discovered something else during their exploration.
Mechanical animals were scattered throughout the ruin.
All were broken and ruined—mere remnants of the past.
“……”
Ray picked up a small mechanical bird.
A winged creature said to fly high in search of the rainbow.
Unlike four-legged creatures like wild dogs, sewer rats, or stray cats, birds could no longer be found in nature.
Only a few were commercially bred in higher sectors.
—*Clink.*
This rare mechanical bird had a broken wing.
Perhaps, long ago, it had flown through a clear sky free of black clouds.
He tried to picture it, but couldn’t.
Ray wrapped the bird in cloth and tucked it into the inner pocket of his coat.
After spending considerable time exploring, the group returned to the outskirts of the ruin and boarded their bus.
“……”
The man stared blankly at the group as they busily prepared to depart.
Ray noticed Veronica watching the man from her window and asked,
“Do you want to help him?”
Startled, the girl looked at Ray, then hesitated before replying.
“…Yeah.”
“Then bring him aboard.”
“Uh, what?”
“Thanks to him, we found the underground tablet and murals. And he’s a mage, so he might be useful.”
Her large eyes grew even wider at the unexpected answer.
Though the man had once threatened their lives, Ray had shown great mercy in sparing him.
Now he was suggesting they take him with them.
Veronica rushed down the steps before Ray could change his mind.
“Your Majesty, may I ask your name?”
“…!”
The man flinched at the question and answered with a tearful voice.
“M-my name is W-William….”
“King William, would you consider visiting our kingdom sometime?”
He couldn’t respond, just stared at her with trembling eyes.
And then—
“Come with us.”
The moment he saw her outstretched hand…
He could no longer hold back his emotions.
“Thank you… th-thank you, *hic*, thank you… Finally… I can finally leave… *sob*.”
Veronica gently held the hand of the now-kneeling William and patted his back with a warm gaze.
After everyone had boarded, the bus once again cut through the wilderness.
Though the original ruin they were headed for wasn’t far, they decided not to stop.
Instead, they would return to Sector 37.
They thought it best to quickly share the Doctor’s latest movements with Curiosa.
And they needed time to prepare for the upcoming visit from the Azure Dawn Society’s envoy.
*VROOOOM—!*
Day and night in the wasteland continued to alternate rapidly above the dust cloud stirred by the bus’s wheels.
Sandworms followed at times.
But to the boy, who now fully understood their behavior, these beasts posed no threat.
He sometimes let his thoughts wander during battles.
Could he truly trust the oldest memories he recalled?
What did the Dawn Society mean by “His resurrection”?
What exactly did the Doctor mean by returning the world to its original form?
And how could he protect his precious jerky from the elf’s greed…?
Before departing for the sector, Ayla kept trying to assert that she was the older one. Once they returned, he would need to come up with some kind of countermeasure.
“……”
Then, before he knew it, he’d find himself deeply reclined in a folding chair by the campfire at the campsite.
Everyone else was asleep on the bus.
It was his turn to take the night watch.
Crackle— Crackle crack—
As he stared at the embers scattering in the night air, the boy realized something.
He slowly looked around.
A massive sandstorm had, at some point, surrounded the campsite.
‘…A mana storm.’
It wasn’t a big problem.
Judging by the size of the currents and fragments of flame manifesting within it, it was weaker than the one before.
He could endure it just fine.
However, the anomaly occurred just as he was about to rise from his seat to wake the others.
───!
Inside his coat.
Something thrashed violently.
When he pulled it out, it was the mechanical bird, flapping its remaining wing relentlessly.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
The boy instinctively knew—the bird was trying to fly into the storm.
And when he lifted his head—
“……”
He could see a massive silhouette looming within the storm.
Even when he craned his neck, he couldn’t see the top of the towering shadow.
It had the shape of a fortress.
