Genius Prismatic Mage Chapter 175

#175. Wilderness (2)

The day the expedition departed.

Southwest, outside of Sector 37.

The rickshaw puller sat in the bus driver’s seat and wore thin gloves on both hands.

I gripped the heavy steering wheel, changed gears, and gently pressed the accelerator and brake.

“Well, it’s no different from other vehicles.”

As I turned the key, the bus woke up with a roaring engine noise.

Kirik─! Dddddddd─!

I tried manipulating the buttons on the panel to figure out their functions.

“This is an emergency light, and where is this….”

Click!

Wheein─! Wheein─!

When I raised my head, I could see the wipers moving across the windshield.

And beyond that, the endless expanse of dry, colored wilderness.

─Did you load everything?

─This too! Hurry up!

Right nearby.

People were also seen moving busily between parked cars, moving supplies such as gunpowder and food.

A strange murmur of emotion came out of Jang’s mouth.

“I never thought I would end up at a historic site.”

It was two days ago that I received an offer from the boy.

Would you mind driving the vehicle to the historic site?

“It’s dangerous work, so I can’t guarantee your survival. But if you return, I promise to give you a share of the rewards for your participation in the expedition, as well as additional compensation.”

The amount mentioned was a sum that could be used to live off of for the rest of one’s life.

“I will do it.”

However, the reason I accepted the offer without hesitation was not because of the money.

It was because I wanted to watch the boy from the side.

─If you’re resting in a rickshaw, isn’t the back seat much more comfortable than the driver’s seat?

─Come in and rest. I’ll get you a room.

─Sit down. Let’s eat together.

Because the sentences the boy said were still vivid in my memory.

The boy offered me a good seat several times without any discrimination.

And this time, I was invited to sit in the driver’s seat.

Phew─

It was spacious and comfortable.

“Oh, if you press this, your waist will be fixed! If you operate this switch, your butt will get warm!”

This was the story of how Jang returned the rickshaw to the company and took up the wheel.

Jang, who was amazed by the features he had never seen in other vehicles, quickly pressed the button when he saw people approaching outside the door.

Pushii──

As the door opened, Ray and Veronica appeared, carrying bags.

Ray asked as he got on the bus.

“How about it? Is it possible?”

“Yes, of course. I have experience as a taxi driver in the past, so I am confident in my driving skills. I will make your stay as comfortable as possible.”

“Hello, Mr. Jang. Please take care of me.”

“Yes. Please take good care of me, Miss Veronica.”

Veronica and Jean nodded to each other.

After getting on the bus, Veronica’s eyes widened when she saw the inside.

“Wow…! It’s so wide…! It’s completely different from what I thought…?”

The interior of the bus had all the seats removed, except for the front part, including the driver’s seat.

The empty space was filled with built-in furniture such as a sofa, shelves, tables, and kitchen facilities.

Veronica, with an excited face, climbed the stairs to the second floor.

─Oh my! It’s small, but there are several rooms! There’s even a bedroom! Goodbye to the days of curling up in the back seat and sleeping like a shrimp! Goodbye to the days of rolling over!

A loud, excited shout is heard.

Ray asked Jang as he put his bag down on one of the front seats.

“Have you stocked up on food and water?”

“Yes. I have finished purchasing the items on the list you provided and have filled the trunk.”

“great.”

After that, Ray and Veronica, who came down from above, went out of the bus.

Veronica looked at the busily moving expedition members and suddenly said.

“Lay, but it seems like we joined the expedition more easily than we thought. I thought the background check would be much more stringent.”

“It’s not just us.”

“okay?”

“There are many others whose skills have been proven, but whose identities are unclear.”

Veronica let out a moan and then said,

“Is it that difficult to save people…?”

“There’s no such thing as that.”

When I turned my head at the answer I heard, the expedition team leader Damper was there.

“The percentage of people who return alive from the ruins is extremely low. If someone risks their life to make a lot of money, there’s a high chance that they’re on the edge of a cliff, and those people usually have shady backgrounds.”

Damper and Ray’s eyes met.

“… If we were to examine each person’s status, it would be difficult to organize an expedition. Little brat, I thought you would disappear when the departure date came, but you showed up instead of running away. Judging from the fact that you even prepared a car like this, you seem very sincere.”

Damper looked at the bus and admired it.

A double-decker bus of monstrous size stood out among the vehicles arriving at the scene.

“There’s no particular reason to run away.”

“You passed the exam. Kid, but why do you keep talking to me informally since last time?”

“You do it too.”

“… … .”

Damper, who had nothing to say, turned to Veronica and said.

“I didn’t know that this ignorant brat’s friend would be such a refined young lady. I heard she’s a magician specializing in defensive magic. Please take good care of her.”

“Oh, yes. Please take good care of me too.”

Damper nodded.

Veronica, who had suddenly become a refined young lady, nodded along with the most elegant gesture possible.

Afterwards, Damper handed Ray the radio.

“Take it. All orders will be given via radio. You said this is your first time, right? Follow Gaiol’s instructions carefully. That will increase your chances of returning safely to the sector.”

“First time, just us?”

Damper remained silent and looked around at the other explorers.

“… I guess we should consider all of them as first-timers, except for a few.”

The expedition team said that most of its members would have to be first-timers.

It is an occupation where the concept of an experienced person is difficult to exist due to the low survival rate.

The vast majority of survivors either quit their jobs out of fear or retire right away after amassing a fortune through a few expeditions.

“You can see that the only people with significant experience in the expedition right now are me and Mr. Gaiol.”

Ray thought for a moment and then asked.

“Is there a reason why the two of you don’t retire? If you’ve been successful in several expeditions, you must have saved enough money.”

It didn’t take long for that question to be answered.

“Well, people who are addicted to adventure can never return to reality.”

*

Before departure, Gaiole gave a speech to all the crew.

“Don’t we all have such dreams? We want to live comfortably for others. We want to live in front of others and show off. We want to live enjoying everything we can. In the end, what we need is money. It is the only reliable friend and universal tool in this world.”

As the sentences continued to be listed, Gaiole’s voice became louder and more agitated.

“And, there are relics and jewels that will turn into money scattered around the ruins we are heading to. They are just waiting to be harvested by our hands. Of course, the road to get there is very difficult, but don’t worry. I am right here!”

An exclamation mark placed at the end of a sentence.

The explorers could not hold back their excitement and shouted in unison.

The anxiety and worry that had been in the bowl disappeared, and emotions of hope, anticipation, and desire flashed loudly.

Ray looked at Gaeol and thought.

He seems like a person who is quite good at handling people’s emotions.

“Well then, let’s go!”

A dozen or so vehicles, each carrying a total of 33 explorers, formed a line and raced through the wilderness.

The bus was located at the back of the line.

“… … .”

The boy’s dry gaze landed on the rearview mirror that rattled ceaselessly.

The road that was quickly disappearing behind us was telling us that the vehicles were heading towards a place that was increasingly untouched by human hands.

Veronica said from the side.

“I’m a little nervous. This is my first time going off the road and into the wilderness. Ray, what about you?”

“I’m not particularly nervous, but I’m curious about what’s at the end of the wasteland.”

“Hmm… maybe there’s an end to the rainbow?”

“The end of the rainbow?”

“Yeah. There was a story I heard before. The two ends of a rainbow in the sky are stuck somewhere on the ground.”

“… That could be the case.”

Ray answered and stared out the window.

As I watched the quickly passing, repetitive scenery, I felt the fatigue from the past few days of not getting enough sleep and moving my body too much.

… That moment when I closed my eyes without realizing it.

─Kid, stop moving. Have lunch, take a short break, and then move again.

Damper’s radio transmission was heard.

“check.”

I answered the radio and looked at my watch. It was already past noon.

“Veronica, how many hours did I sleep?”

“2 hours, 32 minutes, 31 seconds!”

“Don’t lie. You changed the time on the clock without me knowing, right?”

“… … .”

Ray quickly got up from his seat when Veronica narrowed her eyes and tried to pinch his arm.

After getting off the bus, we saw the vehicles stopped in a line and the explorers came out here and there to stretch their legs.

Knock knock knock─

Ray approached Gaiole and Damper, who were talking in front of some object in the distance.

“Ah, Ray. You’ve traveled quite a distance. Are you feeling okay?”

“Kid, your expression hasn’t changed at all, so I guess you don’t have motion sickness or anything.”

Ray nodded in response, then stopped walking and stared at the object the two were looking at.

A long pole stuck into the ground.

A square board attached on top of it.

‘Sign?’

Made of white metal, it was similar in shape to a sign.

However, the reason Ray raised a question mark was because there was nothing written or drawn on the board.

Then Gaiole placed his palm on the sign.

Woof.

A holographic map appeared in the empty space.

“Mr. Gaiole, how much further do we have to travel for this distance?”

“It should take a day if you go the straight line. However, considering the various variables, it will probably take three days to reach the ruins.”

Two locations were marked on a map detailing the terrain.

Current location.

And far away from there, in a place full of geometrically shaped buildings.

Gaiol took out his notebook and checked the map he had previously drawn, then raised his gun and aimed it at the sign.

Bang─! Bang─! Bang─!

The sign fell over after being pierced by a series of shotgun shells.

One of the surprised agents ran over and asked,

“Ah, Mr. Gaiol, I understand that isn’t that an old signpost? I think it indicates the location of a ruin, but is it okay to destroy it like that…?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve already made a copy of the map. And if we destroy it, won’t there be any expeditions that come to the same ruins as us after seeing the sign?”

“Oh, I see…!”

Daewon looked relieved at Gaeol’s calm answer.

“I put the safety and benefit of the expedition first. There is a reason for everything I do, so please tell others not to worry.”

… putting the safety and benefit of the expedition as the top priority.

Ray, who was staring at Gaeol’s bowl, thought.

‘well.’

After a short break, the meal began.

There was no food distribution or eating together; each person brought their own food and lived separately.

widely!

Ray set up a makeshift table under the shade of the bus.

I had a meal of preserved food with my group and checked on the other members.

“… … .”

To be precise, the gaze was directed only at the emerald-haired lady, Grinne, and her two disciples.

When I saw it briefly at the inn.

The feeling I had at that time was stuck in my body like a thorn and would not go away.

… the identity of the sensation was vague and impossible to grasp.

Then, his eyes met with the lady’s.

The moment I saw her get up from her seat and come towards me.

‘ah.’

The boy finally realized what that feeling was.

It was exactly the same feeling I had when I encountered the yellow gem in Sector 46.