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#214. World Tree (2)
Rustle.
Ray took the envelope from the man and opened it, then paused for a moment.
The letter was written in old characters.
The moment I stared at letters that I couldn’t pronounce but could understand.
“I warn you.”
“Don’t come any closer.”
“Be content with your current situation.”
“Stop looking for feelings.”
As the meaning was conveyed, someone’s voice rang in my head one after another.
“… … ?”
I quickly raised my senses, but the colorless and odorless voice had already disappeared without a trace.
… was it a mistake?
No, the voice was too clear to be an illusion.
I thought back to the message conveyed in the letter, thinking that perhaps it was the doctor’s voice.
‘Stop searching for emotions and be content with where you are?’
It’s as if the country knows everything about the special nature of humans.
How on earth?
The fact that he is emotionally impotent is something that has never been fully revealed to anyone except Veronica, Philip, and Graham.
Even if you were to spread homunculi and monitor them, it would be impossible to figure out just by observing the external aspects.
There is only one likely conclusion.
‘Doctor, you are someone who already knows me well.’
Questions and curiosity boiled over, and when he realized it, the boy was already asking questions.
“Where is the doctor?”
“… … .”
“What is your identity?”
“… … .”
The homunculi had no answer.
He just stared at Ray with a blank expression like a doll.
Then, at some point.
“What is the doctor’s purpose?”
“Emotions are useless.”
The man who handed the letter opened his mouth.
The surrounding homunculi repeated.
“Emotions are useless.”
“Emotions are useless.”
“Emotions are useless.”
The man spoke again.
“Answer me.”
The repetition continued again.
“Answer me.”
“Answer me.”
“Answer me.”
Ray could sense that further attempts would not be enough to communicate with the homunculi.
The fact that even if we capture and interrogate him, there will be no information that can be extracted.
“Answer me.”
“Answer me.”
“Answer me.”
But when you ask me to answer, what?
‘Are you asking me to reply to the letter?’
If there was an answer to the warning to stop looking for emotions, it was already decided.
Ray looked back at the homunculi with a cold gaze and said.
“Be satisfied with the current situation and don’t come near me any further. I absolutely cannot do that.”
The series of scenes that unfolded immediately afterward all happened in an instant.
The empty rings of the homunculi were filled with red mana.
The homunculi took a stance to throw the fireballs they were holding in their hands.
and.
─Kwaaaaang!
My vision flashed with a loud noise.
Where the homunculi had stood, only black ash remained, and Ray’s body, which had just finished being electrified, was returning to its original form, scattering sparks.
At that moment, the space next to me rippled and Curiosa appeared.
“I heard a loud noise, so it looks like the situation is already over.”
“The homunculi have come.”
Curiosa paused for a moment, looked around at the piles of ashes surrounding her, and then spoke.
“Well, I thought it was about time I came to see you in person.”
“Curiosa, it was exactly as you said. At first, I had no emotions, but at a certain moment, I exploded with emotions. Anger and malice toward the other person. And as if I resonated with those emotions, the empty ring was filled with mana.”
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Curiosa expressed her doubts.
“There was a ring…?”
“I also used fire magic.”
“He even used magic… I’ve never seen anyone use magic before. Did the doctor improve him again in the meantime? No, if you think about it the other way around, it’s also possible that he was simply hiding his abilities… … .”
Curiosa muttering in thought.
Ray asked, staring at the lavender curiosity of his opponent, who was rumbling so loudly that he couldn’t control it.
“What kind of being is a homunculus?”
“An artificial life form created by a doctor.”
“Artificial life? Not human?”
“My guess is yes. They all have almost the same face in each group that appears. I think they’re making copies of someone. Using some unknown magic or technology.”
…an artificial life form created.
“I definitely felt that way. The rings of the guys that showed up today all looked like they had been created not long ago.”
Then Ray noticed something shiny in each pile of ashes.
After handing the letters over to Curiosa, he used his psychic powers to bring them forward.
Fingernail-sized red gems with a familiar appearance.
“… red blood stone.”
A high-quality charging stone carried by members of the Murkred organization.
It seemed that this was the core that breathed emotion and mana into the vessels and rings of the homunculi.
Then Curiosa’s shivering voice was heard from behind.
“That last sentence seems to be targeting me. I don’t know how you lifted the loyalty spell, but a child who doesn’t listen has to be severely punished? Doctor, this crazy bastard…! You’ve already engraved a damn curse on me that prevents me from controlling my emotions, and severe punishment? Just wait, Doctor, I’ll tear you apart with my own hands and kill you.”
Curiosa’s anger was so strong that it could be felt behind her back.
Ray muttered in a voice that seemed to be looking into the distance, while fiddling with the red bloodstones in his hands.
“I said that emotions are useless.”
“Yeah. It’s useless. Getting angry, crying, and feeling depressed because of emotions. The root of all evil comes from emotions. Damn it, and I’d rather live like a machine without any emotions than spend all day being curious about something I don’t want to do.”
Curios, who answered absentmindedly, looked at Ray’s back and asked.
“Who said that?”
“Homunculus.”
“Homunculus?”
Instead of answering, Ray turned around and met her gaze, asking in return.
“Do you think a life without any emotions is better than the life you have now?”
A tone that is particularly more serious than usual.
Curios, who had tried to accept it indifferently, had no choice but to calm down and think calmly.
“… Whether you feel emotions or not, each has its pros and cons. If we were to choose which has more total advantages… I think it would be better to live while feeling emotions.”
Curiosa frowned, as if her head ached from the thought-provoking question.
“Damn it. Why are you suddenly asking me such a difficult question? If you want me to do anything, you have to pay me. At what point did you start ordering me around without any information? You little brat with no conscience at all…! Give me information about yourself…! Anything that can satisfy my curiosity even a little bit─.”
“i think so too.”
“─What are you saying? You don’t have even a shred of conscience?”
“No, I also think that the advantages of living a life with emotions are greater.”
Curiosa’s anger evaporated in an instant.
“Ahem, information about values. Okay. The good thing about living a life where you feel emotions… What’s next?”
“I think it’s bigger.”
“I think it’s bigger… memo.”
Ray looked at Curiosa, who was diligently working with her pen over her notebook, and then gathered all the red stones into his bosom.
And as I raised the wind and blew away the ashes that had piled up in the street, I thought:
The statement that emotions are useless.
‘… I said that my goal was to return the world to its original state.’
Maybe it has something to do with the doctor’s purpose.
*
The bus raced through the wilderness, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The destination is the wilderness outside of Sector 33.
The land at the coordinate point where Rael Lowe will arrive first and be waiting.
Boooo …
It took only the shortest route to its destination, without passing through the intermediate numbered sectors that were transit points.
So the expected arrival time was within 5 days.
KWAAANG──!
Ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki──!
The variables that occurred caused much more delay.
Mountain vehicles lying in ambush throughout the wilderness charged fiercely toward the bus, and Veronica had to urgently deploy protection.
Kwaang─!
Cars that had crashed into the guardrail rolled away behind the rearview mirror.
Kuung─! Kuung─! Kkikigikkik─!
Other vehicles kept slamming into the guardrail, turning their steering wheels left and right.
“First of all, I blocked anything that entered the protection range!”
Veronica shouted urgently.
The white guards were able to withstand the onslaught of attacks without difficulty, but the situation was by no means one in which one could rest easy.
The number of enemy vehicles was well into the three digits.
“We’re completely surrounded. I’ve heard that there are bandits who often target travelers. Are they after our treasure?”
“I’m not a robber. I’m a homunculus.”
Ray answered Greene’s questions while concentrating on driving.
I glanced around, but there was no sign of emotion from the passengers beyond the doors of the mountain vehicles.
Even just a little bit of emotion.
‘Homunculus.’
No other conclusions were reached.
“By homunculi, you mean the ones that attacked you when you left the mansion yesterday?”
“that’s right.”
“That seems to be the case. When I focus my senses, I get the same uneasy feeling as yesterday. It seems like the Doctor is continuing to target Ray, who ignored the warnings.”
“I agree. Hold on tight.”
At that moment, Ray turned the steering wheel sharply to the right.
The hemispherical white shield surrounding the bus moved together.
Kwaaaaang──!
Enemy vehicles that were nearby were overturned one after another.
“That’s a good idea. Since it’s going fast now, I think I can get it off with just a slight push.”
Grinne spoke, supporting her body with the elf’s unique sense of balance.
Degururur─!
After rolling around three times, Veronica stood up naturally as if she had intended to and grabbed the handles of the chair.
“My mana is still sufficient─.”
Squeak─!
Immediately afterwards, the bus veered to the left and rolled forward three times.
Grinne spoke in a faster-than-usual tone of voice.
“Ray, please open the window. I will use magic to shake off the pursuers.”
“No, go check the mansion first. It might not be the only place that’s being attacked.”
“all right.”
Greene disappeared down the stairs to the second floor of the bus.
A moment later, he returned with a rumpled suit and spoke first.
“Homunculi have also appeared around the mansion. There are about 30 of them. They are all at the level of 1st Circle, and Lady Curiosa and the magicians of the main building are guarding the wall so that they cannot climb over.”
“Your Majesty, I will take care of the driving.”
Fortunately, the defense of the mansion seemed to be proceeding without difficulty.
The boy, whose worries had disappeared from the bowl, pressed the button to open all the windows on the right.
Wheeee …
“Then, I’ll ask you something.”
“Yes, please leave it to me.”
After handing over the driver’s seat, he passed the girl who was completely at one with the floor, climbed up the stairs, and climbed onto the bus through the ceiling opening.
My vision became clearer.
There was no moment of swaying or anything like that because the wind was blocked by the protective shield surrounding it on all sides.
Whirilirik─!
Behind the bus, green mana-infused seeds could be seen growing into thorny vines, covering the pursuing vehicles.
‘The back will be fine. There’s a cliff on the left, and the rest of the way.’
I turned my gaze to the right.
Dozens of vehicles running alongside the guardrail as if to block the bus from escaping.
In the hands of the enemies sticking out of the window, bright red fireballs were clutched like bombs about to be thrown.
Hurrah!
A spark also bloomed on the boy’s palm as he looked up into the sky.
Hurrruk!
In an instant, its body swelled up.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Even after it expanded to a size larger than a bus, it continued to grow larger without end.
High quality mana stored in circle 3.
There, the red mana resonated with the boy’s emotions.
The fact that his mansion, his treasure trove, had been invaded set off a strong fire in the boy’s sense of territory.
As a result, the emotion that arose in the boy’s heart was anger of unprecedented magnitude.
Whoosh whoosh!
A huge blast of heat engulfed the vehicles on the right, swallowing up the weaker blasts.
And at that moment.
A woman was watching the scene from the top of the cliff.
“That’s amazing, really. I can see why Father is so wary. And why Vicious was taken.”
The lips of the brown-haired woman formed an alluring smile.