#074. The Youth Who Pays Respect (5)
—
Mikhail almost fell backward at the sudden presence of Ray.
“Huh… Sir Ray?”
Quickly regaining his composure, he straightened his posture and spoke in a subdued voice.
“You said you’d ask the remaining questions later… So that’s why you came to see me. I sincerely apologize for what happened back then. No matter how angry I was, I shouldn’t have acted so rudely. I am willing to accept any form of punishment.”
Shame, embarrassment, and guilt flickered across Michael’s aura.
Ray lowered his gaze slightly and noticed another emotion lingering in the corner of his aura.
‘…Inferiority.’
Michael harbored feelings of inferiority toward Ray.
Even the concealment magic Ray had just used was on an entirely different level from his own.
‘Who is this feeling directed at? John? Skyle? The other bodyguards?’
Ray himself was unaware that this inferiority was directed at him.
Moving on to his next thought, Ray realized something.
‘It seems like he doesn’t know I just met John.’
Michael assumed Ray had come to the hotel to ask the remaining questions from before.
In reality, this visit was due to John’s summons.
But Ray saw no need to correct him.
He had planned to meet Michael again to have a conversation anyway.
‘There’s no need to disclose what John told me either.’
John’s decision to fire Michael tomorrow.
That was not Ray’s concern, regardless of how things unfolded between them.
“You said you’d accept any form of punishment?”
“Yes. As long as it’s within my capabilities. Though I’d prefer if you didn’t take my life… not that I could stop you if you tried—”
“Tell me about the principles behind summoning magic.”
“—which I have no way to… What?”
Michael was caught off guard by Ray’s unexpected request.
“Summoning magic requires handling the rare elements of control and manipulation. Not in small amounts, but in large quantities. Just knowing the principles doesn’t mean you can use it—”
Mikhail abruptly shut his mouth.
He recalled how Ray had replicated concealment magic after seeing it only once.
Of course, concealment magic was a basic academic spell.
Summoning magic, on the other hand, was something only a chosen few could use—those who had undergone specialized training. The difficulty level couldn’t even be compared.
“……”
And yet, for some reason, Michael felt that common sense wouldn’t apply to Ray.
Cautiously, he asked,
“Are you planning to command a summoned creature?”
“Yes. I heard that it’s possible to share senses with a summoned beast, and I thought that would be quite useful.”
“Do you have a specific animal in mind?”
Ray fell into thought.
Any type of creature would be helpful, but the most versatile choice was obvious.
“A bird. Like the one you use.”
“A bird…?”
“Yes. It seems like the most practical choice.”
A bird could fly high and survey the terrain at a glance.
It could carry messages or small objects tied to its leg for urgent delivery.
After contemplating, Michael finally responded.
“That’s a good idea. However, you’ll need to go to a higher sector and find a professional breeder to acquire a suitable bird for summoning.”
Ray understood the implication without further explanation.
Stray dogs, feral cats, and mice were easy to find in the sectors.
But birds were not.
He could count on one hand the number of times he had actually seen a bird with his own eyes.
*”Where have all the birds gone? Some say they’ve all flown away in search of a sky where rainbows still shine.”*
*”Unlike those bound to the ground, they can spread their wings and leave whenever they want.”*
As someone who believed in the existence of rainbows—or rather, needed to believe—Ray found the story quite plausible.
After all, a sky perpetually covered in soot-black clouds didn’t seem like a suitable place for birds to stay.
“Shall I start by explaining the theory?”
Mikhail’s polite voice snapped Ray out of his brief reverie.
“Yes, please do.”
“Alright then. First, let’s go over the principles of elemental fusion…”
Michael calmly began his explanation.
For reasons he couldn’t quite grasp, Ray had chosen theoretical instruction as his punishment.
“…So, in summary, the core principle of the magic is this. But what’s crucial is that you must have a thorough understanding of the summoned creature’s physical traits and temperament.”
“Are there cases where people abandon their summoned creatures?”
“It’s rare, but it does happen. If the summoner and the creature aren’t compatible, or if the summoner deems it useless, they release it back into the wild. Sometimes, if the bond weakens, the summoned creature escapes on its own.”
At some point, Mikhail realized he was answering with great enthusiasm.
He had become engrossed in Ray’s relentless curiosity.
“I think that’s enough about summoning magic. Next, do you know anything about rainbows?”
“Rainbows?”
Michael hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“There’s a turtle that lives under the Elton River—”
“Stop.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Anything else?”
“So you already know that story. I see… Apologies, but I don’t know any other rumors about rainbows. I don’t usually pay much attention to such fantastical tales.”
Ray tilted his head.
“What about the Rockdeer that John is searching for?”
“……”
Rainbows and the blue gemstone Rockdeer—both equally unrealistic.
Mikhail had no rebuttal to Ray’s point.
“What about the City of Magicians?”
“I believe that’s just another urban legend.”
The story claimed that if one followed the Elton River upstream, they would eventually reach the City of Magicians.
This time, Michael shared a few rumors he had heard.
Mirages appearing in the wastelands.
An underwater city beneath the Elton River.
A floating island in the sky.
Stories that sounded more like fantasy than reality.
“Some say it’s not a real place but rather a metaphor for something grand.”
“That information is worth twenty viola.”
“…What? What’s that?”
Unlike rainbows, there were no tangible clues about the City of Magicians.
Yet, for some reason, Ray had a strong intuition that it truly existed.
“This has been helpful. I have one last question.”
Ray paused for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts.
Michael, who had unconsciously tensed up, felt all his energy drain at Ray’s next words.
“What do you think respect is?”
It was a question he never expected.
—
—
–
**RUMBLE!**
A thunderous roar shook the earth.
Under the blazing sun, an enormous herd of Rockdeer stampeded across the land.
Fleeing from something.
With urgent, desperate movements.
Kicking up massive clouds of dust.
**VROOM!**
Behind them, about twenty vehicles chased at full speed.
_”In about four kilometers, we’ll reach the canyon.”_
Inside Ray’s vehicle, a voice came through the radio mounted on the dashboard.
Veronica, in the passenger seat, pressed the transmission button.
Without taking his eyes off the road, Ray responded.
“We can’t drive the entire herd into the canyon. I’ll split them up. Any group will do, but if we don’t show an effort to find the Rockdeer in the picture, John might get suspicious.”
_”Understood. As expected, you see things I don’t. I’ll support you once you take the lead.”_
“Got it.”
_”I’m also looking forward to your performance in the canyon. Well then, to our soon-to-be wealth.”_
“…Sure.”
Ray gave a half-hearted reply and signaled Veronica with his eyes.
She released the transmission button.
The radio switched channels.
Their next connection was John.
“Skyle must have told you. The blue gemstone Rockdeer is somewhere among these thousands. I’ll take the lead, find it, and drive the group into the canyon.”
— I see. Just as I heard.
“Yes. There are no major changes.”
— I trust you. I expect you to play a crucial role in the canyon as well. If everything goes smoothly, you won’t be left empty-handed. I know Skyle has quite a fortune. I imagine he’s also made a significant income through hunting.
*Static noise.*
— Then, for the success of our operation.
“Yes.”
A similarly indifferent response.
At Ray’s glance, Veronica lifted her finger from the transmission button and returned to her original posture.
For a moment, silence was about to settle.
**Vrooooom────!**
As Ray stepped on the accelerator, the roaring engine filled the air.
The speed surged.
The mercenaries’ vehicles, which had been running alongside, fell behind.
The rapidly advancing white vehicle broke away from the main formation and sped toward the Rockdeer herd.
Through the thick dust kicked up by the four-legged beasts, the rear of the gray mass came into view.
Suddenly, Veronica spoke.
“Thank you.”
Thank you? For what?
Ray was not accustomed to reading the intentions behind people’s words and actions.
But right now, Veronica’s words didn’t seem to fit the situation.
“For what?”
“For stopping them from hunting. At least yesterday and the day before, the Rockdeer were able to remain unharmed.”
In Veronica’s expression, beyond her gratitude toward Ray, there was also a trace of concern for the Rockdeer.
Not much, but enough to be clearly recognized.
‘I don’t quite understand.’
The way Ray defined *concern* was a feeling of wanting to protect someone without expecting anything in return.
It was an emotion typically found between family or close friends.
But Veronica had no special relationship with the Rockdeer, did she?
“…….”
He didn’t know.
What was certain was that Veronica and Philip possessed a wider range of emotions than most.
And every time he saw those emotions, he either redefined what he knew or learned something new.
“I didn’t do it to be thanked. I warned Skyle because the one I want to observe might get hurt.”
“Still, you can take some credit for it.”
Veronica genuinely felt grateful.
Until now, she hadn’t been able to express her concern for the Rockdeer openly.
‘Because I shouldn’t be a distraction to Ray.’
She already felt she had received enough consideration just by being allowed to bring Fran along.
But now that Ray had stopped the hunt, she couldn’t help but feel relieved and grateful.
“Take credit?”
“Yeah. When you make a big deal out of something you did, that’s called taking credit.”
“I don’t see why I should do that.”
Of course, he claimed he had done it for a different reason.
‘Maybe he’s just embarrassed.’
Veronica thought Ray was a remarkably considerate person.
He seemed indifferent on the surface, but his words and actions were meticulous.
Even at the bookstore, he had protected them from an external threat despite having no personal interest.
And when they left Sector 49, he had ensured that Malta and Yulfin would be safe.
*”I will do my best to ensure your safety in every situation.”*
Through such reassuring words, he had eased their anxieties.
Veronica felt a warm sensation in her chest.
“Ray, you’re a really warm person.”
“My body tends to run cold, though.”
“No, I mean you’re kindhearted.”
“Warm? Is it because I use fire magic?”
As their slightly offbeat conversation continued, the vehicle had closed in on the Rockdeer herd.
Ray slowed down to give the creatures time to react, and as they sensed the approaching car, they spread out to avoid a collision.
**Vrooooom───!**
Ray slightly increased the speed again, weaving into the path that had opened between the herd.
As they moved, the Rockdeer naturally parted to the sides or shifted forward and backward, forming a corridor.
“We need to find the one with blue skin.”
“Got it. I’ll let you know if I see it.”
Among the countless Rockdeer surrounding them, Veronica turned her head, scanning for their target.
Ray also split his attention between driving and searching for the creature.
They were looking in the same direction.
But what the boy saw in his eyes was slightly different from what the girl perceived.
**Rumble───!**
Because—
—*Krruuuu…!*
—*Kruurruk!*
The creatures, covered in gray skin and hardened shells, were—
**Rumble, rumble──!**
—*Krruuuk──!*
—*Kruuk! Krruurruk──!*
Each and every one of them carried a mass of emotions.
Fear, dread, confusion.
But above all else—
Blood-red rage.
What the boy saw was not a herd of gray-bodied beasts—
But a sea of crimson fury.
