**#258. Those That Were in the Sky (2)**
—
**“No! Absolutely not!”**
The dwarf shouted at the top of his lungs.
**“You’re telling me to hand over all the Terranote I have?”**
**“……”**
**“Do you know how I collected those?”**
**“……”**
**“That’s the fortune I’ve been saving for the revival of the dwarves!”**
The woman only smiled silently.
**“I will never hand them o—”**
**“……”**
**“Never—”**
**“……”**
**“……”**
Sweating coldly like he was under a curse, the dwarf finally raised both hands in surrender.
**“Damn it! Fine, take it! Take it, you wicked woman!”**
**“Thank you. Rael, I knew you’d give it willingly.”**
**“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”**
As the dwarf waved his hand through the air, space split apart.
Beyond it, a vast area made of black-and-white marble came into view—an endlessly repeating expanse of shelves stretching into infinity.
A flash of recognition sparked in Ray’s mind.
*‘I’ve seen this before.’*
Sector 37, the moment he entered Ignis’s cube to withdraw funds.
In the brief instant that the rift in space had opened and closed, he had caught a glimpse of that exact location.
Back then, the shelves were piled high with so many bills and coins it made his head spin.
Money would continually vanish in shimmers of light or appear again elsewhere.
Spirit animals of various colors were organizing the newly appeared money on the shelves.
He had thought it to be a massive vault where customers’ deposits were gathered.
*‘But now it’s different.’*
The shelves were filled not with money but with all kinds of ores, and not a single spirit was in sight.
**“My blood, sweat, and…”**
Muttering resentfully, the dwarf entered the space beyond. A few minutes later, he emerged holding a rectangular box.
*Click!*
**“One… two… a total of ten.”**
**“……”**
**“Ten.”**
**“……”**
**“Hmm, ten.”**
Grinding his teeth, the dwarf pulled out two more Terranotes from his pocket.
**“You ghost of a woman.”**
**“Think of it as an investment. An investment to gift the world, in its true form, to our descendants.”**
Carrying the box, the woman turned and walked over to the man still kneeling.
**“Here, Azema. Take this. With this many Sun Stones, it should be enough to find the reincarnation of the Sun.”**
**“They’re not Sun Stones. They’re called Terranotes.”**
**“Thank you, Guardian. I’ll use these Sun Stones to find the Sun’s reincarnation for sure.”**
**“They’re *Terranotes*.”**
After receiving some warnings and instructions from the woman, the man carefully took the box and disappeared down the stairs.
Watching his retreating figure, the dwarf asked:
**“So if we just find the reincarnation of the Sun, we can restore the world?”**
**“No. We must also find the reincarnation of the Rainbow. The Sun breathed life into the world, but it was the Rainbow that added the color called emotion.”**
With a wave of her hand, the woman conjured a window that projected the outside world.
A desolate land and a sky full of black clouds came into view.
**“…Emotions are mana. Mana is emotion. We’ve wounded each other too deeply. Envy, jealousy, pride, hatred… those tangled emotions have birthed malice so sharp it cuts just by touching. The land has become barren, the mana in the air has lost its light. And the more powerful magic we used to take each other’s lives… the thicker the black clouds covering the sky became.”**
The woman turned to look at the dwarf.
**“Rael, the world has lost its color. Black clouds, gray earth. Can you find any trace of true color in that scene before us?”**
In the end—
**“The Rainbow must return. To restore the color to the world.”**
**“…I understand.”**
A brief silence followed.
Then the woman spoke first.
**“Rael, what do you plan to do now?”**
**“First, I’ll use the resources from that warehouse to build a fortress.”**
**“A fortress?”**
**“Yes. A moving, massive fortress the dwarves can ride. The wilderness has become far too dangerous for anyone to walk around unprotected—filled with beasts and anomalies from corrupted mana.”**
The dwarf added that the fortress would also have distortion fields and siege mechanisms in case Redran discovered them.
The woman, impressed, still showed a hint of doubt.
**“Is such a structure really possible?”**
**“With dwarven technology, there’s nothing we can’t build. As for the power source, I’ll use the yellow shard of the Rainbow I possess. That will be enough. In the end, Rael Row becomes a mobile fortress that protects both the dwarves and the shard.”**
**“Rael Row… what an uninspired name. Still, wouldn’t it be wise to split the shard just in case?”**
**“What did you… well, actually, the fortress can operate with just half the shard. So I do need to consider where to hide the other half.”**
The dwarf stroked his beard, seemingly deep in thought, before looking back at the woman.
**“I’m thinking of making arrangements for the Rainbow too.”**
**“What kind of arrangements?”**
**“In case the Rainbow reincarnates as a human. If the Rainbow is reborn among the various blessed races, the chances are highest it’ll be human—since humans reproduce fastest.”**
After glancing at the woman for her reaction, he cleared his throat and continued.
**“I plan to build a bank in human cities.”**
**“A bank?”**
**“A system so convenient people won’t be able to resist using it. Then all the money in those cities will naturally flow into the bank.”**
The woman paused before replying.
**“You’re saying… you’ll make that money accessible to the reincarnated Rainbow?”**
**“As expected, sharp as ever. It’ll be like an operating fund.”**
**“It’s not a bad idea. But while your technology can handle the facilities and system, how will you convey the withdrawal authority to the Rainbow?”**
**“I’ve thought of that too.”**
The dwarf tapped the wall of the cube with a metal-gloved finger.
**“The core function of a cube is storage. Whether it’s a person, object, or memory—it can protect it safely.”**
His plan was to create a card linked to the entire Ignis account and store it in the cube.
The key to open the cube would then be passed down through descendants, along with its location, until it reached the Rainbow.
**“Our race lives long. Surely, we’ll have a chance to meet the Rainbow’s reincarnation at some point. Isn’t it a perfect plan?”**
**“How will you recognize the Rainbow’s reincarnation?”**
**“Uh, well, that is…”**
The dwarf faltered.
The woman smiled brightly.
**“Don’t worry. I know a way to recognize the reincarnated Rainbow. I’ll tell you. But first—”**
**“First?”**
**“Can a cube really store *anything*?”**
**“Of course. It’s one of my greatest inventions. It can store absolutely anything.”**
**“Even this moment, right now, while we’re talking?”**
**“Hmm… I’ve never tried, but…”**
The dwarf paused to think, then replied confidently.
**“It should be possible.”**
**“Then please do it. So that the Rainbow, when opening the cube, can know the conversations we had.”**
**“Just a moment. If I configure it like this… Done. Just know that due to space limitations, not every scene can be recorded.”**
The woman nodded.
**“Thank you. Now, I’ll tell you how to identify the reincarnated Rainbow.”**
**“Go on, I’m all ears.”**
Ray nodded from the side.
He had long been curious about the method to identify the Rainbow.
**“First, the Rainbow is… its… soul…”**
*‘……?’*
**“…different… pattern… that… distinguish… or through… other… means… Sun… Rainbow… soul… pattern… register… I’ll help with that too…”**
The woman’s voice began to distort.
Looking around, Ray saw the surroundings ripple like water in a storm.
*Was that the end of the scene recorded in the cube?* He was bewildered.
He tried to focus, waved his hand in front of the two figures—nothing could stop the dissolution of the vision.
When he regained consciousness—
“……”
Before him stood the open cube and two people looking at him with concern.
**“Are you alright?”**
**“Sir Ray, are you okay? You suddenly froze in place and didn’t move at all…”**
Solite suddenly stopped speaking.
Ray was exuding a murderous aura so intense it was beyond description.
**“Sir Ray, why are you suddenly…”**
**“It cut off at the most important part.”**
**“Pardon?”**
**“Phillip once said the most infuriating thing is when someone stops mid-sentence.”**
**“…Pardon?”**
They couldn’t fully grasp his words, but one thing was clear—he was extremely angry.
Then the pope spoke.
**“Well… it doesn’t seem like you’re physically harmed. If you’re able, could you explain what happened?”**
Ray forcefully suppressed his burning anger and asked:
**“Do you know anything about the Rainbow and the Old Age?”**
**“Of course. It was one of my main areas of study in my youth.”**
**“Then this will be quick.”**
A calm explanation followed.
First, the silver bolt that acted as a key to the cube was something he had received from the dwarves.
**“You were given a token of trust by the dwarves…?”**
The pope was visibly shocked.
He had once met some dwarves who visited the human sectors for resource exchanges.
Representatives of a place called Rael Row, he recalled.
In the pope’s experience, dwarves were a difficult race—stubborn, distrustful, and guarded.
Yet this young man had received their token of trust.
Holding the Stone of Oath, he had no choice but to believe it.
**“And I saw a scene from the past stored in the cube.”**
**“What scene?”**
**“That was…”**
Once again, the story flowed calmly.
**“Ah…”**
The pope let out a groan and stumbled. Solite rushed to support him.
**“Your Holiness, are you alright?”**
**“I’m fine, I’m fine. I was just overwhelmed by too much new knowledge at once. The history of the Old Age I thought I knew… was just a single drop in a vast river.”**
Tears welled in the pope’s eyes.
**“Still, I’m grateful to have learned the roots of our faith. To know that the will of the first pope has been faithfully carried forward… it’s truly moving and reassuring.”**
**“……”**
Solite was merely enduring it as best he could—he too was experiencing immense confusion.
The old era, war, the Guardians, the Rainbow…
The frenzied heat emitted by the knowledge etched into his mind made him feel as though his entire body might melt.
In the meantime—
Ray moved toward the center of the cube’s internal space.
‘This is…’
Atop a rectangular pedestal lay a single thin metallic card.
An Ignis client card.
But its appearance was slightly—no, significantly—different from the usual.
Because instead of being entirely black, the card was white.
‘…Looks like something Rael prepared for the Rainbow.’
Thinking back to the mention of access rights to deposits, he guessed this card was likely linked to Ignis’s massive vault.
*Clink. Clink.*
“……”
Ray fiddled with the silver bolt he had retrieved from the cube.
Rael had probably left instructions for his descendants to deliver the bolt—the key to the cube—to the Rainbow.
But while Rael Row wandered the wastelands, that message had likely been forgotten in short order.
‘After all, dwarves value not looking back on the past.’
As a result, the bolt had ended up in the hands of the wrong person, and the scene stored in the cube had been replayed in the wrong person’s mind.
‘It was originally meant for the Rainbow.’
A deep sense of awkwardness washed over him.
So too with the white card before his eyes.
It had been prepared for the Rainbow—he shouldn’t handle it carelessly.
But still—
‘Just touching it a little should be fine, right?’
Ray recalled something Rael had said in the vision from the past.
*“Do you think I only prepared money for the Rainbow? Of course not. I plan to leave all the treasures I own in Akrassium.”*
What he had seen of Akrassium’s vault through the rift in space had been just a portion of the whole.
In truth, Akrassium was likely much more vast in scale, and it was highly probable that many items beyond just money were stored there.
*‘Maybe…’*
Maybe there were powerful weapons or magical artifacts from the old era.
If so, they could be used to arm the priests of the Pure circle and close the overwhelming gap in power between them and the Dawn Society.
Excitement, anticipation, curiosity, a thirst for discovery—
All those emotions joined hands and danced.
If the Rainbow returned later and demanded compensation or damages, he could simply put Philip at the forefront.
That man was exceptionally skilled at subduing opponents with his silver tongue.
*nod*
Having convinced himself, Ray picked up the card from the pedestal.
And in that moment—
*BEEP BEEP BEEP!*
Seven-colored lines spread out in a zigzag pattern as a voice rang from the card.
[User recognized.]
[Recognition complete.]
[Welcome, User No. 1.]
