NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
#139. Light and Shadow (2)
After finishing their meal, the group moved to the second floor terrace.
“First, I have something to show you.”
As Ray turned the paper bag over, seven pairs of leather gloves fell onto the table.
“Oh! That’s it!”
“What we saw on the street when we were riding the rickshaw!”
Philip and Veronica tried on the gloves, fussing about it.
“It’s a perfect match for my wallet. That’s leather too. This is leather too. But where did you get all this?”
“I picked it up.”
“Oh, you picked it up.”
Such a natural answer.
A normal person would have just let it go, but the other person was Philip, who had mastered Ray’s speaking style.
“Lay, were these gloves dropped not on the ground, but on other people’s hands?”
A nodding head.
Philip let out a small sigh.
… Ray, we made a social agreement to say that we didn’t pick it up, we stole it.
This was followed by a detailed explanation of what happened before and after entering the cube.
“Ugh….”
Veronica, who realized that it was a dead person’s belonging, slowly took off the gloves, causing an earthquake in her pupils.
“Then, in the worst case scenario, we might not be able to use the cards we have.”
Philip shrugged off the source of the gloves and got to the most important part of the story.
Ray nodded.
“That’s why I collected them. I might not have enough money to buy a car. I’m thinking of selling them on the way to the black market to find a broker. Except for a pair.”
“Why a pair?”
“I thought it would be good for you to write it.”
Philip nodded, clapping his gloved hands.
“Good. With this, you can use any power you want without your magic.”
Then Veronica hesitantly joined the conversation.
“But there are those people that Ray got rid of.”
“Nostra Clan?”
“Yeah, Clan Nostra. You said earlier that they’re a powerful organization in the northern part of the sector. I wonder if anything will go wrong because of that?”
In Veronica’s bowl looking at Ray, a white sun of a century that was not weak was rising.
But soon─
“Don’t worry. No one saw it and I cleaned it up thoroughly.”
“Yeah! Then that’s good!”
─As the boy spoke, he appeared to be shrinking in size.
After that, the group divided up roles for the tasks that needed to be done immediately.
“I’ll go check out the black market, while Philip and Veronica go and secure the items listed here.”
“good.”
“okay!”
A plant guide available for purchase at bookstores.
Catalogs of nearby auto shops.
Other various necessities.
While Philip and Veronica looked over the list in their notebook, Ray got up first.
I returned to my room, changed into my workout clothes, and left the inn.
“Ah! Are you on your way out?”
The rickshaw driver, who had been waiting, suddenly jumped up from the saddle.
Gratitude, joy, faith, etc.
The bowl was overflowing with positive emotions.
‘My emotional distribution has changed. Since I burst into tears earlier.’
In order to increase the friendliness felt by the other person, do you have to cry first?
Ray pondered the correlation between crying and friendliness, and asked a question.
“Jang, have you ever been to a black market?”
“You mean the black market? Yes, I’ve been there. I’ve seen that street a lot when I go back and forth.”
A large market that runs in a ring shape along the perimeter of the entire sector.
That was the black market.
“There is no specific entrance or exit. As you walk through the slums, if you start seeing street vendors and booths lined up, that’s where the black market starts.”
Ray asked, recalling the street vendors he had seen when he first entered Sector 37.
“Are the items somewhat varied?”
“Drugs, wild animal parts, illegal weapons, magical tools, etc. You can think of it as selling anything that can make money. Come on! I know a quick way!”
Ray shook his head.
“I’m going to walk while getting familiar with the geography. The two people behind me will ride the rickshaw.”
“Yes, I see. I understand.”
A look of immediate acceptance.
Ray asked the chief.
“But you don’t seem very curious.”
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“yes?”
“They don’t even know who we are yet, and they don’t seem to react at all when a child mentions the black market.”
Ray’s gaze remained on the bowl of soup.
‘There is very little purple mana. Even that is suppressed by gray mana and cannot move.’
The purple mana is curious.
Gray mana is calm.
It was a distribution of emotions that was far removed from the general form.
Jang hesitated and answered.
“Ah, that’s… Usually, if you try to find out about things in the world, you’ll get in trouble. If it’s something I really need to know, I won’t have to tell you, I’ll just find out later on.”
Jang said it was a life lesson he had learned in his own way.
“… … .”
Ray looked into Zhang’s face.
I kind of know, but I don’t know.
It was a difficult word.
However, I could get a feel for what kind of person Jang was.
‘Even if you see a lot of money, you don’t get greedy. You don’t get unnecessary curious about things that ordinary people would be curious about.’
A rather refreshing type of character.
I thought it might be useful to do various things later.
At that moment, Jang’s voice was heard.
“That, my lord, seems to be a bit of an odd person.”
“Is it unusual?”
“Oh, oh! I don’t mean it in a weird way, it’s just… you ask questions that other people wouldn’t normally ask.”
“… … .”
Something felt strange.
To hear that from someone who cries like a newborn in front of food.
“Take this with you. It’s the sector map I used to get my bearings.”
“Don’t you need a bowel?”
“I have a map in my head.”
“Then I will take it.”
“Yes, that will help. See you later. Have a nice trip!”
Ray, carrying a map, randomly chose a direction and headed out.
Knock─ Knock─ Knock─ Knock─ Knock─
Thanks to the high-powered use of reinforcement magic, the pace was very fast.
A terrifying speed that would make anyone turn around in surprise.
However, none of the many pedestrians on the street paid attention to the boy.
This was because the boy’s movements were carried out in a way that was completely unnoticed by people.
Knock—knock—knock—
Hiding in the shadows cast by the building.
Knock—knock—knock—
Pushing through the crowd.
Knock—knock—knock—
I got through the gap in the cars that had stopped at the signal.
Thanks to his experience of being chased by someone, the boy was good at moving while avoiding people’s gaze.
And that instinctive concealment.
A moment of short darkness passing through the tunnel under the bridge.
Woof.
The hair and eyes turned black and became even more perfect.
‘I feel like something is missing.’
Ray headed towards the street stall.
“I’ll buy this.”
“Huh? Just the glasses frames?”
Ray, who had gained a sense of stability by wearing round glasses, now focused his attention on familiarizing himself with his surroundings.
‘You are currently at 2nd Street. If you cross the square over there, you will reach 7th Street.’
I pressed the surrounding scenery into my memory.
We proceeded while checking the important points closely against the map.
of course.
‘What kind of feeling is that?’
I also never forget to periodically be captivated by the colorful emotions that people harbor.
How long did it take to walk like that?
Ray suddenly noticed a change.
It wasn’t just because the scenery was starting to become increasingly run-down as the downtown area ended and the regular city began.
It was because of people’s emotions.
Black mana.
Deep fear.
People who had been bustling about on the street stopped what they were doing and hurriedly retreated to either end of the street.
Ray mingled with the crowd and observed the situation.
“Mom, what are you doing now?”
“Shh! Lower your head quickly! You must remain quiet and not say anything! Do you understand?”
A little boy lowered his head in surprise at the words of a woman who appeared to be his mother.
Then he raised his head slightly with a curious face.
“… … !”
When he found people looking at the ground with stern faces, he closed his eyes and lowered his head.
“Brother, bow your head quickly!”
“Helen, shhh…!”
“… … .”
Ray looked at the little boy’s small hand tugging at his sleeve, then raised his head and looked around.
He was the only one.
He who raises his head.
There was a terrible silence.
The air was so tense it felt like it might burst.
‘…something is coming.’
The large road that people had made by stepping back extended all the way to the other side of the street.
The corner at the end.
A dull noise of mixed sounds was gradually growing in size.
The boy concentrated his hearing.
…the sound of footsteps and shouts.
…the sound of wheels and the roar of a huge engine.
What on earth is it?
First of all, if you think about safety, it would be right to bow your head and follow people.
But his curiosity was piqued, so the boy spared no mana and used his stealth magic at full power.
─────.
──────.
The tension in the streets grew as the noise grew louder.
And then, soon.
“Worship!”
The source of the noise appeared around the corner.
It was dozens of people marching with a huge trailer vehicle.
“The end of days will come soon!”
People wearing white priestly robes.
The voice of the person in the lead, who had used voice amplification magic, resonated through the streets.
…and on the trailer.
‘ball?’
A truly gigantic sphere was supported by supports.
“Only those who live under the sun will be able to survive the apocalypse!”
The sun.
I wonder if that’s what the sphere means.
Ray prepared to lower his head if his stealth magic failed, and watched the sphere closely as it drew closer.
It appeared to be a sculpture made by processing a huge piece of ore.
A shiny surface like an egg.
The basic color is white.
All over it, large, red, orange, and yellow patterns resembling spreading starlight covered it like a mosaic.
The number of patterns was not just one or two, but the colors did not deviate from three categories, with only differences in saturation.
… was magnificent and imposing.
The timid emotions spread out all around represented the current psychology of pedestrians on the street.
But why is that?
Ray, unlike them, couldn’t shake the impression that he was crude in the sphere─
“Worship! None dare open their eyes before the light of the great sun!”
─I soon realized why.
‘There is no light.’
According to the content of the scream, the sphere appeared to be referred to as the sun, but it did not emit any light.
From an objective perspective, it was just a well-shaped lump of rock.
“The sun will rise! It will drive away all the shadows that have fallen on you! A world will come where you will have nothing to fear!”
The march was getting closer by the minute.
The sphere with its large volume cast a shadow over people’s heads, and the tension and fear in the streets grew accordingly.
“Believe! Follow! Worship!”
Priests of various ages all wore rings on their chests.
From as few as 1 to as many as 3.
They were all wizards.
However, it seemed that none of them had enough mana sense to see through Ray’s stealth magic.
Seeing that Ray, who had raised his head openly, was completely unaware of it.
“The returning sun will tear apart those black clouds that cover the sky!”
The moment the front procession passes and the sphere on the trailer passes right in front of Ray.
“… … .”
“… … .”
Ray met eyes with a man standing next to the sphere.
Ray’s black eyes sucked in information from his opponent.
Gorgeous blonde.
Appearance of early to mid 20s.
A distinct starlight in the center of the bowl.
…and 3 circles.
‘The fourth ring is almost finished. Its shape is becoming clear.’
A brief moment that lasts only a few seconds.
The opponent also looked at Ray.
To be exact, it would have been correct to say that he was looking at where Ray was standing.
Because the emotions in the bowl were in the form of doubt and questioning rather than certainty.
“… … .”
“… … .”
The distance is getting further and further away.
The young man’s gaze followed Ray tenaciously until the last moment, but he ultimately failed to recognize him.
The procession soon disappeared completely down the street.
At the same time.
“Hoooooo─.”
“Oh my.”
The sound of held breaths being exhaled could be heard here and there.
People went about their business as if released from a spell, and the streets quickly came back to life.
There were quite a few people who couldn’t leave right away and had to talk, perhaps because of the tension that was holding their bodies together.
“This is just plain crazy. What kind of chaos is this every time we march? I can’t even lift my head properly.”
“Hold on. Didn’t you see Jack accidentally lift his head last time and get dragged away? What was that? Blasphemy, or something?”
Ray listened to the conversation around him, staring at the other side where the procession had disappeared, thinking.
‘I think that group that just passed by was a religious group.’
platform.
It was a group whose existence I knew of through Graham and Curiosa, but had never heard a detailed story about.
Because neither of them were the type to show interest in religious life.
“So you said that your ultimate goal was to find the saint?”
“That’s right. That’s why I said I would put an artificial sun in the sky.”
“How do you know that?”
“If you go to a weekend service, you’ll hear it so loud that your ears bleed. I never go unless they give me bread and something to drink.”
Ray turned in the direction where the conversation came from.
I thought as I lifted the hiding spell.
I don’t think it matters if the knowledge you had is lacking.
I approached him and spoke to him.
“I’d like to hear more about that story.”