Genius Prismatic Mage Chapter 215

#215. World Tree (3)

As we crossed the wilderness, homunculi attacked day and night.

“One on the left! Hit me!”

“Confirmed!”

Kwaaaaang─!

The homunculi have been ramming vehicles into the defenses nonstop.

Although they did not cause much of a shock and instead caused their vehicles to overturn and burst into flames, they did not show even the slightest fear of death in their hearts.

There were only two emotions observed.

Blood-red anger.

Malice as black as oil.

“Where do they come from, constantly appearing? Judging from their actions, it seems like their purpose is to risk their lives to slow down the bus’s progress even a little.”

Ray agreed with Greene’s words.

‘Homunculi, they’re like bullets.’

These are consumables that were created from the beginning with the fate of burning their own bodies, damaging the opponent, and then dying.

Kwaaaaang─!

“… … .”

Veronica looked at the cars moving away across the landscape, engulfed in flames, with a complicated expression on her face.

Having traveled with Ray many times, I was already somewhat accustomed to people’s deaths.

but.

Kwaaaaang─!

It seemed difficult to remain calm in the face of the continuous scenes of lives being lost without pause.

An artificial life form called Homunculus.

Although I am making such a high-probability guess, the appearance was still that of a human.

The boy asked, looking at the emotions of sadness and confusion rippling in the girl’s bowl.

“are you okay?”

“…are you okay.”

Veronica’s expression darkened, but she didn’t back down.

The mansion is already in a state of near war due to constant raids.

Not only was there no place to run away, but I had a gut feeling that this kind of situation would repeat itself countless times in the future.

At that time, Curiosa, who had come over to the bus via the space road, came down to the first floor.

“Damn it! The mansion. Why is it in such a remote place? There are no buildings, no people, nothing around. That’s why the homunculi, these insect-like bastards keep swarming without even noticing.”

“If you are struggling, go to the church. Ask for help from a priest named Solitaire. He will be more than happy to lend you strength.”

“Huh, help? I don’t need that. Of course I have this body. The kids in the mansion aren’t as unhelpful as you might think. It’s just a little annoying when they come in droves.”

Curiosa snorted and took out a number of red bloodstones from her bosom and clanked them.

It appeared to be things recovered from the homunculi that had raided the mansion.

“Look. The loot I recovered.”

“Doctor, where do you get so many red blood stones?”

“It might not be supply and demand. What do you think? Isn’t it great?”

“Are you talking about the possibility of production?”

“You’re quick with your words. What do you think? Isn’t it great?”

“Yes, it’s amazing that you’ve collected this many tokens of defeating enemies.”

Curiosa, satisfied with Ray’s reaction of applause, continued her explanation.

“It’s been over 20 years since the doctor took over the current executives.”

“A photo of a burnt building on the wall of your cabin.”

“Yes, that’s the Seanless Orphanage where the executives lived when they were young. The doctor had a lot of red bloodstones back then. He would give them one as a reward if they were good at what he said. I wondered back then. I wondered how many gems were in that pouch, and if I put my hand in it, wouldn’t it lead to infinite space?”

Production, not supply.

That made sense.

Red bloodstone was a type of gemstone that could not be found commercially.

Also, I had never heard of any mines around the sectors I had visited so far where red ore was mined.

“The doctor is the most mysterious person I’ve ever met in my life. I wouldn’t be surprised if he were to mass-produce red bloodstone using some unidentified technology.”

“Judging from the old characters, I think it’s possible that he’s a person from an old era.”

“It could simply be that he has as much knowledge as I do, but I can’t deny the possibility you mentioned. He’s from an ancient era, damn it, the possibility that he’s not human is creepy.”

Curios took her hand out of the cloth and made a motion to sweep the mask away.

“Why are you wary of me?”

“Hmm, sure, the Doctor is acting like a jerk right now.”

Curiosa went over the facts she had heard from Ray one by one.

“I know about you. Judging from the fact that he doesn’t come forward, he seems to be afraid of you. He tried to cover up the history of the old times recorded in the tower of the ruins. Hmm, this is the typical behavior of someone who is afraid of being caught doing something wrong.”

“Are you afraid of being caught doing something wrong?”

“Yes. It’s something that comes from a slightly childish psychology.”

At that moment, all the enemy vehicles fell away from the bus at once.

Veronica and Grinye, who had some free time, came over and listened.

“Quri, can I join you?”

“Is this a story about psychology?”

Curiosa was a little taken aback by the sudden attention, but she didn’t seem to be in a bad mood.

“Ahem, it’s not much of a story, but since everyone wants it, I’ll tell you. Yes, it’s a story from when I was a kid, living in the Seanless Orphanage. Back then, I was known as the Cookie Slayer. No matter where the director hid the jars of cookies, I would find them and bring about the end of the world. But after I did it, I always regretted it. Because I knew I’d get in trouble with the director.”

“So what did you do?”

“I covered up the incident. I hid the broken bottle, bribed witnesses, and tried to make sure the director didn’t notice the missing cookies until as late as possible. Of course, such attempts always ended in disaster.”

Curiosa said that she now feels that way.

I wish I had just revealed the truth and asked for forgiveness every time I made a mistake.

“If that were so?”

“It would have been less of a hassle. At least he didn’t lie. From a child’s perspective, it was a mistake that seemed like the end of the world, but to an adult, it was just a minor mistake that kids always make. Anyway, that’s how I feel. It’s like the doctor is covering up his own mistake.”

Veronica raised her hand.

“But isn’t the doctor a child? If you listen to Curie’s story, you seem to be very old.”

Curiosa shrugged.

“Then I must have made a huge mistake. Even if I were to tell the truth honestly, I would never be forgiven.”

*

At some point, the homunculi stopped appearing.

“Are we running low on troops?”

“It may be that they took a brief retreat to change their strategy.”

The exact reason was unknown.

Anyway, we were able to avoid any further delays in reaching our destination.

Wooooowoo …

As we passed through the huge distortion field that stretched across the wilderness, we could see Rael Lowe frozen inside.

The elders, including Falun, spotted the bus and quickly approached it with their short legs moving.

A thick helmet and coat that covers the entire body, including the face.

It was an outfit designed to prevent even the slightest sunlight from reaching one’s skin.

“Haha! Didn’t I tell you! They’d come back! Ray! You may be young and not yet fully versed in the ways of the world, but you must at least know the timeless truth that promises must be kept…”

Falun, who was showing excitement by talking about age, met Greene’s eyes.

The 224-year-old elf’s eyes narrowed.

“How old are you?”

“Ahem.”

The 184-year-old dwarf, who had been slowly avoiding eye contact, looked at Ray again and spoke.

“Forget about age. As you get older, you tend to talk nonsense more… Ah, I’m not talking about you, Mr. Greene. Anyway, I, Ray, never doubted that you would not break your promise.”

“Because promises are meant to be kept.”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

It was natural for the elders to express their joy.

Ray is holding the current stone, which is the power source of Lael Lowe.

If Ray had not returned, breaking his promise, Rael Low would have been destined to wander the wilderness with only the mana stored in his tank, which would eventually run out.

Ray shook hands with the elders one by one and looked up at Rael Lowe.

Top, watchtower.

A person was seen.

Although the face was not clearly visible through the helmet, Ray thought the other person was looking straight in his direction.

The helmet wiggled slightly.

Ray also nodded his head slightly.

After exchanging brief greetings, Ray lowered his head again and looked at the elders.

“How’s the condition of the land? At first glance, it looks pretty good.”

Veronica chimed in from the side.

“That’s right. I’ve been taking soil samples from outside the sector, and this is the best I’ve ever seen! There’s less black spots from the rain, and there are still traces of recent plant growth here and there!”

Veronica is happy as if it were her own work.

There was also a large amount of white mana in one corner of the bowl, and Ray, who looked at it for a moment, could tell what emotion it was.

‘worry.’

It was a pure concern for the future of the dwarf race.

Did you feel such true emotions?

The elders’ attitude toward Veronica suddenly became cautious.

“That’s right, beautiful human lady. We have already used our equipment to measure the nutritional status of the soil. The results are quite surprising. We have been wandering the wilderness for a long time, but we have never found a land with such high fertility.”

Veronica, her eyes wide, whispered to Ray.

“They call me a beautiful girl…!”

“Beauty, by dwarven standards, means being very efficient.”

Veronica, her eyes square, reached out to pinch Ray’s arm.

Falun continued speaking while the boy skillfully defended himself against the attack.

“We looked at many factors in this area, but we could only find one reason for the high nutritional status:.”

Falun raised his head.

Everyone raised their gaze accordingly.

The sky that you arrive at by ascending vertically from the top of Rael Low.

There were noticeably fewer clouds over there than elsewhere.

“The sky we know is always covered with clouds. Dim sunlight, gloomy visibility, and humid weather with periodic black rain. However, Ray, you are right. The skies above this area are noticeably less black clouds. It’s as if some invisible force is preventing the formation of clouds. Naturally, the amount of black rain precipitation is also low, and the soil is also in good condition.”

One of the other elders who had been listening nodded and answered.

“We have concluded that this underground space is a good base. If we plant the World Tree that you and Mr. Greene mentioned here and maintain the current state permanently, that is.”

The soil beneath Sky Island will be in better condition than other places.

These were fortunate stories in that the initial predictions turned out to be correct.

Ray pulled away.

“It must be because of the island located above the clouds. That’s why there are few clouds forming in this area.”

That night, a mana storm swallowed up all the clouds in the sky and the stars shone brightly.

What the boy saw was an island floating in the distant night sky.

The tiny size, like a speck of dust, made me realize how big a gap there is between there and here.

‘I definitely saw mana.’

Still, the boy could observe clearly.

It’s like the colorful mana surrounding the island is blocking the black smoke’s approach.

“… … .”

And the boy of the present looked up at the cloud-covered, hazy sky with limited visibility and thought.

Maybe that’s what the doctor is really trying to hide.

‘… it might be up there.’

The doctor knows my destination.

The homunculi appeared to be trying to prevent us from reaching our next destination.

At first I thought it was an attempt to prevent us from reaching Rael Row, but I soon concluded that it wasn’t.

‘Because there is no recorded history of ancient times in Lael Lowe.’

The dwarves, who viewed history as inefficient, destroyed all historical materials.

And most of the history that was passed down orally has been forgotten.

Assuming that what the Doctor is trying to conceal is the history of an ancient era, Rael Lowe is not a place that can prevent its arrival.

Then why did you pour out homunculi to try to stop this journey?

The direction of my thoughts naturally returned to one place.

‘The sky, the island floating high above.’

There is something there.

The doctor said he wasn’t happy about getting closer to the island.

Thinking about it that way, I could understand the doctor’s recent moves.

After this, preparations to plant the world tree were quickly made.

There were three things to prepare.

“These are two vials of potion that I found in Binjin’s safe before. The notes written in ancient script say that they greatly promote plant growth.”

The first was two bottles of growth hormone that Ray had deliberately saved.

“It’s usually a device used to promote the growth of edible plants that grow underground, but it may also be effective to some extent for plants that grow into the sky.”

The second was an electrode device developed by the dwarves using their own technology.

“These are the best seeds I have.”

The third was the seed of the world tree that Greene had.

Gulp gulp gulp─

The potion was generously poured over the soil where the seeds were planted, and the activated electrode device stimulated the soil in the area.

“There were four items to prepare, not three.”

Grinne, who was looking down at the ground, looked back at someone and said.

“It’s Ray.”

The green gem was handed over.

A huge amount of mana poured out from the green gem in the boy’s hand and permeated the soil.

soon.

Kkuddeuk──!

The World Tree began to grow at an incredible rate and reveal itself to the world.

At that moment, the boy was thinking of a way to get up to Sky Island.