**#245. The Sun, and Love (2)**
—
Red, orange, yellow, pink, and more…
The emotion swirling and blending into various colors atop Philip’s plate was love.
Feeling a strong curiosity, Ray quietly activated a stealth spell and approached the two from behind.
“Ayla noona, um… what are you doing tomorrow after class?”
“Hmm, tomorrow? I’ll be practicing elemental fusion in my room.”
“Then what about the day after?”
“Catching up on some theory I fell behind on.”
“…And the day after that?”
“I’ll be accelerating circle rotation. If I don’t do it regularly, there’s mana loss.”
The two of them were sipping tea while gazing at the view beyond the balcony.
Ayla was answering without much thought, while Philip was doing his best to keep the conversation going.
Unusually for Philip, there was a strange tension and nervousness in his voice.
‘Yup, it’s definitely love.’
Stuttering when speaking to a certain person.
Getting unusually nervous and making mistakes.
Those were among the symptoms of love Ray had previously concluded.
“Th-then, the day after the day after that?”
“I’ll be training with Ain.”
“Doesn’t Ain usually win in sparring?”
“No, I’ve been practicing a lot too now, so… hmm?”
Ayla suddenly turned her head, realizing that last question hadn’t come from Philip.
“Kyah!”
She screamed in surprise and stumbled backward when she saw Ray right next to her.
Philip quickly caught her as she performed a clumsy yet bold roll to recover.
“Whew… th-thanks.”
“You’re really bad at being startled, noona.”
After catching their breath, the two turned to Ray and shouted at the same time.
“Ray!”
“Ray…!”
Joy and happiness overflowed in their hearts.
“Is your journey over now? Did you manage to find a settlement for the dwarves?”
“We were waiting for you to come back every single day! Not just me and Ain, but all the kids in the mansion too!”
Apparently, the wait had been long—Philip and Ayla burst out with words like a flood.
“You know the Amon Family you left me in charge of? It was tough at first, but the more I did it, the more fun it became. I even started getting ambitious.”
He was well suited to running the organization, and Ignis’s bank account was steadily growing.
“Ain and I are still in charge of teaching the mansion kids. They’re all steadily improving. No one’s managed to activate the mana sphere you installed in the lobby yet, but…!”
Everyone was so dedicated to their magical studies that they were sleeping less, and they’d handled the homunculi attacks on the mansion without any trouble.
Also—
“The mansion kids are helping a lot with managing the territory. Since our mages regularly patrol the streets, other groups don’t dare encroach. It’s a form of military power, really.”
Ray could now understand how Philip and Ayla had grown so close in such a short time.
Philip oversaw the Amon Family’s operations.
Ayla supervised the mansion children.
As managers, the two of them had to communicate frequently.
It felt… strangely heartwarming.
Even during his absence, the mansion and the organization had been running this smoothly.
Feeling grateful, Ray spoke up.
“For now—”
“So the number of shops currently is… huh?”
“This journey’s over. But I’ll probably have to leave again in a week. I’ll explain more when everyone’s gathered. For now, I have to head back to the settlement.”
Philip and Ayla nodded.
“Yeah! I bet this time’s adventure was exciting too. Since it’s a long story, let’s hear it over a nice meal and some drinks.”
“I think that’s best too! Hmm? But wait, Philip, do you even drink?”
“Ah, uh…! I often meet with business owners and executives, so…! I don’t drink like a drunkard—I just have enough to enhance the flavor of the food, really! Please don’t misunderstand, noona!”
Though Ayla had asked innocently, Philip flailed about awkwardly.
Afterward, Ray handed Philip a notebook containing the list of travel supplies.
“I’m off. I have class soon!”
Ayla disappeared down the stairs.
And once she was completely out of sight—
“Philip, do you like Ayla?”
Ray’s sudden question made Philip spit out the tea he was drinking.
“Pffft! Cough, cough! Hah, hah! W-what do you mean? Do I like Ayla noona? What kind of question is that all of a sudden? Ah…! Damn.”
Extremely flustered, Philip suddenly remembered his special friend could read people’s emotions.
Still, he tried to deny it.
“No, I don’t. I don’t like her. I *hate* Ayla noona.”
“I’ll pass that along.”
“P-please don’t, friend.”
Philip grabbed onto Ray’s pant leg just as he was about to head down the stairs.
After the chaos settled, the two boys sat across from each other at the balcony table.
Ray asked,
“When did it start?”
“Not sure. I really don’t know. At some point, whenever I saw Ayla noona, my heart would start pounding. At first I thought it was arrhythmia, but turns out it wasn’t.”
“When you like someone, your heart pounds… noted. How does it feel?”
“Well, of course it makes you excited and happy every time you wake up in the morning… wait, didn’t you say you were busy? Why aren’t you leaving?”
“I have to hear this.”
“Sigh.”
Though terribly embarrassed, Philip sighed and gave in, knowing how persistent Ray could be.
“Well, you know. It’s like life itself becomes fulfilling. The moment I wake up, I think of her first. I smile for no reason, my heart flutters, I feel motivated, and I end up working even harder. But when I doesn’t meet her expectations, sometimes I get this bitter feeling.”
“Like when she just answered your schedule question with her own plans earlier?”
“Uh… yeah, that.”
Philip stared into the air with a wistful expression.
“Anyway, I think about her all day.”
“That’s love?”
“Yeah, that’s love. Romantic love.”
“I’m jealous.”
“…You’re jealous?”
“I don’t know what it feels like to love someone else.”
Ray then brought up what Veronica had once told him.
“She said, in order to love others, you need to learn how to love yourself first. But I’m not even sure if I love myself.”
“Hmm… well, everyone has different definitions of love. I personally think it’s possible to love someone even if you don’t love yourself…”
Philip trailed off, thinking about Ray.
‘He’s changed a lot. The awkwardness in how he acts and expresses himself hasn’t completely disappeared, but…’
Compared to when they first met back in Sector 49, Ray had become someone full of emotion.
He said he’d discovered many feelings himself, and from what Philip had seen, it was true.
But love—being one of the most complex and elusive emotions—seemed to be difficult for Ray to grasp.
“…Do you think I’ll ever be able to love someone?”
Ray muttered.
Philip suddenly asked,
“What about Veronica?”
“Veronica?”
“Well, when you think of her, what comes to mind?”
Yeah. Since my own love seems unlikely for now, let’s help out Veronica first.
“Have you ever had your heart race when you saw her? Or found yourself thinking about her for no reason when resting? Or felt like she treated you differently compared to others? What do you feel when you think about her? Anything—emotions, mood—just saying it might help you recognize love.”
Philip nodded to himself internally.
Surely, he’d realize it from that.
Even Ray, with his non-existent sense of awareness, wouldn’t miss something this direct…
“……”
“……”
The longer Ray pondered, the higher Philip’s hopes climbed.
And finally—
“Veronica is good at healing.”
“You seriously need to reflect on yourself.”
“When she’s around, I feel warm. Why should I reflect?”
“Not knowing why you need to reflect is exactly why you need to.”
“You sounded just like Veronica just now.”
Philip shook his head.
*
*
*
Back at the settlement, Ray was greeted by the sight of dwarves and elves marveling at the massive oasis before them.
“Ho ho, to think the drinking water issue would be resolved this easily. It almost feels too easy.”
“Even if every elf here worked together, we still couldn’t have created a water source this vast.”
*Sploosh!*
Just then, Blue soared up from the center of the oasis and landed before Ray.
With all eyes naturally drawn to them, Ray and Blue conversed.
[Thank you. I was just about to ask for a favor. You also added a shield to the distortion field around the settlement, right?]
[Such favors are easily granted. Boy, you saved my life.]
[Are you leaving right away?]
[Yes. Beyond here, many lives still need tending in the wilderness.]
As Blue prepared to leap back into the sky, he turned to Ray one last time.
[When your memories return, I hope you’ll call on me.]
[I know the way to recognize the returned Rainbow. I’ll do my best to remember soon.]
[I’ll be waiting.]
[Oh, but one more thing.]
[You still have something to say?]
[What do you think love is?]
Blue’s clear, watery form rippled strongly.
[A difficult question. Love… there’s no emotion with a less defined shape. I’d appreciate it if you could narrow it down a bit.]
[Any kind, really… but if I had to choose, romantic love.]
Blue thought for a moment before answering.
[At times, it boils like scalding water. At others, it freezes solid like ice. And always, it takes on a shifting, fluid form like water. Does that answer your question?]
[Not really. But thanks for answering seriously.]
Nodding, Blue kicked off the ground and vanished into a blue dot beyond the sky.
After the excitement and heat left by Blue had subsided, Ray went on to speak with the other two races in turn.
Elder Farun spoke first.
“The underground city construction is going smoothly. We’ll have to see how deep we can go, but at this pace, we should have enough space for all of Rael Row’s dwarves to relocate within a month.”
Ray remarked that it was much faster than expected, and Parun laughed heartily.
“Ha ha! That’s the power of dwarven craftsmanship. Hm? You’re asking about terranote ore? Of course I know it—it’s a rare ore known for its extraordinary strength. We have a sample in Rael Row. I’ll get it for you if you’d like. And… hm, what is love?”
Furrowing his brow, Parun then pounded his chest confidently and said,
“Love is like the unyielding flame of a molten furnace—it never goes cold.”
—
The next person to speak was Grine.
“Everyone’s adjusting to the new settlement without much trouble. The elves and the animals alike seem both surprised and delighted that there’s a place like this outside the last forest. As for what happened in the sky… let’s take our time talking about that. Love? The first thing that comes to mind is that damned elf, Karon… Sir Ray, please don’t ever get married. No, seriously. Just don’t.”
Grine, who was unusually agitated, finally calmed down and continued.
“To give you a sincere answer… I think love is the process of two completely different shapes, who’ve lived entirely different lives, trying to fit together. Of course, there are those cursed shapes of fate that can never, ever match, no matter what you do…”
Trailing off with a vaguely chilling smile, Grine stepped away.
Next came Veronica, holding the fox spirit in her arms.
“Pant, pant! Lord Ray! There are so many fascinating things around here!”
“Ray, this really isn’t the real Philip, right? I’ve never heard of a spell that turns people into animals! Oh, right! And we should bring more medicine and bandages from the mansion! Some of the dwarves and elves are getting injured during work…”
Ray parted her lips and asked,
“Veronica, what do you think love is?”
“Huh…? What?”
As she realized the question, Veronica’s face slowly began to flush.
The red-haired girl thought to herself:
So then, the reason my cheeks are so hot right now must definitely be the sunlight.
