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#132. Leap (1)
The day after Ray knocked out Alleghen.
A hazy, sunny afternoon.
The sound of two pairs of footsteps echoed across the wide open space where the ground was completely dry and all traces of the war had been blown away by the wind.
Jeokbuk─ Jeokbuk─
It was Veronica and Curiosa.
The two people were walking briskly, their palms facing the ground in front of them, their faces (and the dots and lines on their masks) extremely focused on something.
“… … .”
“… … .”
They were so focused that they didn’t say a word to each other.
Jeokbuk─ Jeokbuk─
The gait seemed irregular at first glance.
Or suddenly change direction.
Stay in one place for a long time.
Or suddenly take a step back.
But if you look closely, you can see that the steps do not go beyond a certain radius.
A giant circle.
It was a magic circle.
It is similar in size to the one drawn on the rooftop, but has an enormous design difficulty that is on a different level in terms of the required formulas, amount of mana, and work period.
Two people who were showing a high level of concentration.
Thud-thud.
My back got hit while I was walking backwards.
The two people turned to look at each other and hesitated awkwardly.
“Ah, I have to go this way… I’ll draw first.”
“Oh, no. Ghost Mask, first…”
They made concessions and work resumed.
And exactly 5 minutes later.
Thud-thud.
“Ah… This time, draw Ghost Mask first.”
“Oh, is that so…?”
I hesitated again.
The red-haired girl thought as she looked away from the white mask with black cloth.
‘I’m so embarrassed I could die!’
That’s what Ray said.
Now that we have a cooperative relationship, there is no need to be afraid at all.
He also said this:
“Allegheny and Curiosa. Unlike Walter, I felt like they treated us as peers rather than adults.”
He said that it did not seem to be simply due to emotional attachment.
I can’t explain it exactly, but I felt like my mental age was stuck in the past.
“So it will be easy to become friends.”
‘Getting close…? With Ghost Mask…?’
The girl observed Ghost Mask yesterday with a cool, sharp, and logical gaze.
As Ray said, I confirmed that it wasn’t dangerous.
But since my existing fears hadn’t completely disappeared, I couldn’t quite picture the image of us becoming close and laughing together.
Just for now… .
‘I feel like I’m going to die! It’s so awkward!’
Why did you leave us both behind!
Fortunately, it wasn’t just the girl who was currently harboring such feelings and thoughts.
‘It’s awkward. Well, I guess I should at least say something… .’
“… … .”
Curiosa realized what she was thinking for a moment and felt utterly devastated.
‘What am I doing here?’
Who would have ever imagined that I would be drawing a magic circle with the little red kid I thought was my enemy?
Even though life is about not knowing what will happen even an inch ahead.
Swish.
Curiosa raised her head and looked at the empty space.
Thousands of solid lines of elements are scattered widely throughout the empty space, forming complex and dense patterns.
It was a space travel magic circle.
Designed to skip exactly 8 sectors from here.
Curiosa recalled the conversation she had with the boy in her room yesterday.
“Spatial magic, how far can you jump?”
Curiosa was taken aback by the sudden question.
But I could tell what the boy meant by what he said next.
“Among the orders you received, those related to jewels. Those in the 40th sector area have all already been carried out.”
Ray was starting to have some doubts about the traditional way of traveling.
Just moving along the Elton River, one sector at a time.
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Is that really the most efficient way to track your goals?
Of course, it’s not like there was no income at all in each sector, but the clues I got were not very satisfying.
The only clue of any real significance is Blue, who was found in the wilderness.
The information I got from interrogating the sector residents was honestly not very nutritious.
Meanwhile.
I found a yellow gem here.
Sector 46.
Under the ground, beneath the building.
It was exactly as one keyword in Allegheny’s notebook said.
“There are a total of 22 jewel-related orders that have not yet been completed. If we combine yours and Allager’s, the closest one is near Sector 37.”
“So you’re saying you’re going to use teleportation magic to skip sectors now…?”
“that’s right.”
Of course, there was no guarantee that the jewel would be found if one followed the doctor’s instructions.
Rather, considering that all of the completed orders except for the one in sector 46 were marked with an X, it was more likely to be a waste of time.
But I figured it would at least be more efficient than the original itinerary.
“You… Do you know how difficult and complex spatial magic is?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I asked you how many sectors you can skip.”
Curiosa felt the urge to shove the headache pills into her mouth whole, and explained as calmly as possible.
“What you see is not everything. It is definitely not easy.”
“Basically, if I were to skip one sector by myself, I would need four rings’ worth of mana.”
“And as if that wasn’t enough, I had to lie in bed all day as a result of the aftereffects.”
“Don’t you usually come and go from my room? That’s an exceptional case where there’s a previously built passageway. How long did it take me to connect that…”
Ray dismissed all of those explanations in one word.
“What if I draw a magic circle?”
“Well… then it might be possible. I’ve never drawn a magic circle that can jump that far, though.”
Curiosa ran her hands up and down Ray’s body.
He seemed to analyze something in his head for a moment and then said.
“No, it’s quite possible. A single person with this mass and volume can easily be transmitted.”
“It’s not just one person.”
“Oh, right. There were more people. The red kid and the brown kid. That’s possible.”
“Two animals too.”
“Oh, shit─.”
“I’ll tell you what element makes up the largest proportion in my ring.”
“I’ll do my best, so please trust me and leave it to me. An icon of trust and sincerity. That’s me.”
… This is how Curiosa came to be drawing a magic circle with Veronica here.
I don’t know how long it will take to complete, but it will be enough to transport three humans and two animals.
“… … .”
Curiosa, who had briefly reflected on the transience and futility of life, pulled herself together and returned to her work.
And I thought.
‘But I think if I become friends with the redhead, I might be able to find out information about the whitehead.’
What do kids like these days?
Let me ask you what flavor cookies and ice cream you like.
Have you ever tried Jet Cracker Peppermint? Like this?
Boooo …
At that moment, a shabby white vehicle appeared at the entrance to the basin.
Squeak─ bang.
The people who arrived, opened the door, and got out were Ray and Phillip, who had just returned from exploring the sector.
Philip was startled when he saw Curiosa and gave an awkward greeting.
“Uh… Oh, hello? How was your, uh, night?”
It wasn’t our first meeting.
Because our first meeting was yesterday.
Yesterday afternoon.
After finishing his conversation with Curiossa, Ray returned to the supporters’ hideout.
“How’s your body? Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I was just about to send someone out. I heard a report that a building collapsed on 1st Street.”
While Veronica was checking carefully for any injuries.
Ray said calmly.
“Mercred’s executive. We’ve taken him down. Now, we can consider the threat completely gone.”
He then briefly described how he fought Allegheny.
“As expected, it’s Ray-sama!”
“Really… I think it was a great fortune for us to be able to meet the wizard.”
“It’s our Ray! And I am Ray’s sun!”
“The sun! You are amazing!”
As waves of exclamation and admiration swept through the hall.
Exactly.
Ray snapped his fingers, looking into the empty space next to him.
Then, Curiosa popped out.
「… … .」
「… … .」
Veronica, whose eyes met Ray’s, let go of his arm and ran away behind the organization members.
A short but still static ending.
Colin, who had come to his senses, asked.
“Wow, the person next to you is…?”
“I’m an executive of Murcred.”
“Yes…? Joe, you said you knocked him down a little while ago… .”
“That’s a different executive.”
That was everyone’s first meeting with Curiosa.
“Oh, hello.”
While Curiossa awkwardly accepts Philip’s greeting.
Ray went to Veronica.
“How complete is the magic circle?”
“Hmm. As a percentage, maybe 5 percent?”
Veronica’s frozen heart melted away as soon as she saw Ray.
I was going to throw a little tantrum about being left alone, but the corners of my lips, which had grown soft on their own, wouldn’t listen.
The gift I received from Ray yesterday had a huge impact.
It is unlikely that he knew the meaning of flowers when giving them, but it was definitely a gift that the girl really liked.
“Then, can we estimate it to be around 3 weeks?”
“Yeah. That should be enough.”
Unlike last time, Ray was not involved in designing the magic circle.
Even if you participate, the work speed does not increase significantly.
The core elements of teleportation magic are four.
Displacement, opening, space, construction.
Among them, the elements of displacement and openness could be drawn in large quantities from the Raytheon atmosphere.
Because the corresponding emotions were none other than curiosity and a sense of exploration.
It was a very familiar feeling.
If you think of the magical unknown, you can handle the lavender mana without difficulty.
However, it was difficult to handle the elements of space and construction in large quantities.
A dark brown mana reminiscent of old trees.
It was a color of mana that had not yet figured out its corresponding emotion, and therefore could not be freely handled.
‘In the time spent working, it is more efficient to practice handling the mana of the jewels.’
That was Ray’s conclusion.
After all, the time it took to complete the magic circle largely depended on the Curiossa who handled all the key elements.
“… … .”
Ray looked back at Curiosa and saw four rings that were almost showing the bottom.
An employer who was satisfied with his workers’ work performance spoke out.
“I’m almost out of mana. I think it would be better to take a short break and then continue. I have things to talk about.”
Ray said as he stared into the empty space next to Curiosa.
When nothing happened, he turned his gaze and met Curiosa’s eyes.
What are you doing? Don’t open the door.
“… … .”
“… … .”
Curiosa, who was about to have a seizure, barely managed to calm down.
I opened the space leading to the room with a sigh that contained a lot of meaning.
Support support support──
“Come in. There are tables and chairs inside.”
“Huh? Huh? Suddenly? I didn’t even prepare a gift!”
“This is where Ray was talking about. Excuse me, sir!”
Following Veronica and Philip, Ray also crossed into the room beyond space.
As Curiosa was about to follow in, recalling the location of the headache medicine, something suddenly caught her eye.
It was a letter carved into the cliff of the basin.
Veronica. Philip. Ray.
… What is that?
*
The outskirts of sector 47.
An endless mountain of scrap metal.
Curiosa’s cabin was located very deep inside.
However, it seemed that the adjective ‘Curiosa’ would be removed or replaced soon.
Dalgrak─ Dalgrak─
Looking at the teacups and refreshments that are currently being set up on the table in perfect order by Ray’s psychic powers.
Curiosa was dazed for a moment.
‘Did you remember where it was when you came in yesterday? No, but those are the snacks I hid.’
“Here, some headache medicine. I heard you mumbling about needing it earlier.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Curiosa absentmindedly accepted the bottle of headache medicine Ray handed her.
Something… something was seriously wrong.
“You can just bring the table over there.”
“okay!”
But there are so many things wrong with it.
“The chair is a folding chair that blooms towards the back.”
“Yeah. This is a really expensive brand.”
I had no idea where to start pointing this out.
“Please sit here, Ghost Mask.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks for inviting me.”
Curiosa sat down without realizing it.
Meanwhile, Ray spoke to Veronica and Philip.
“It’s a cabin in a garbage dump on the outskirts of Sector 47. It seems like there’s illusion and distortion magic installed around it, making it a place that other people can’t find.”
Why are you explaining that?
Curiosa, who was chewing the headache medicine like candy, gave up thinking any longer.
Ray’s briefing continued.
“The investigation in Sector 46 was completed very quickly with the help of the supporters.”
However, there were no significant results.
As has been the case in other sectors we have passed through so far.
It was the result that everyone in the group expected.
“Trying to skip sectors.”
That was why Philip and Veronica agreed with Ray’s words without much hesitation.
The two men were also about to talk about the effectiveness of sector exploration.
“Okay. That seems like a much more efficient way.”
“My guess is the same. So you can use magic to jump straight to sector 37?”
I also didn’t forget to take steps to make sure I didn’t miss any information.
“To collect soil samples… It’s just simple information gathering. Rainbow, black rain, a woman with brown hair and a scar on her neck. With these three keywords.”
From sector 45 to sector 38.
Curiosa agreed to travel up the Elton River and conduct sector exploration instead.
“Curly, dark brown hair, and a scar on her neck… … .”
“Do you have any idea?”
“No. I think something might come to mind. Hmm, I don’t know.”
From Curiossa’s point of view, it wasn’t that difficult of a request.
Anyway, I was going around several sectors to find clues to release the parking lot.
“Lay, do you have a teaspoon too?”
“It’s in the second drawer. I’ll take it out for you.”
And now that I think about it, it was a good thing I accepted the request.
If I hung out with the white kid, I might die of an illness before I could kill the doctor.
Dalgrak. Dalgrak.
With the voices of four people, the teacup continued to move its body.
Inside the cabin, bathed in afternoon sunlight.
“So the direction of the journey going forward is….”
“I understand! Then what should I do while I’m here─”
The aspirations and desires of each person were slowly mixing together.
Dalgrak.
With a teaspoon, like a quiet vortex in a glass.
*
Exactly three weeks and two days later.
A large open space surrounded by a basin.
There were dozens of men gathered there.
Deep regret and gratitude.
They were all staring in the same direction, with eyes filled with the same emotion.
The center of vision, the center of the open space.
There were three boys and girls there.
Soon, lines of brilliant light began to appear on the floor of the vacant lot.