Genius Prismatic Mage Chapter 230

#230. Labyrinth and Records (4)

A winding passageway among the trees.

Greene was walking quickly, carrying a wooden tray filled with fruits and vegetables.

‘Ray, I think you’ve recovered some of your strength by now.’

Ray, who had escaped the labyrinth, was very exhausted and went back to his room to rest.

“Our Ray needs to rest for now! Look at him covered in sweat!”

“Well, I was running just now.”

“Oh my god! Your body is so hot!”

“People naturally get hot when they run.”

“I need to rest!”

No one could stand against Veronica’s fiery will.

Even Ray, who has the strongest influence in the room.

It was naturally decided that what happened in the labyrinth would be relayed after a break.

Knock—knock—knock—

But Greene is an elf with a great interest in history that would be sad to be second to none.

Because of that, I couldn’t suppress my curiosity and went to Ray’s room to check out the situation.

‘If it’s Ray, you must have succeeded in exploring new places. You must have discovered archives that you couldn’t reach before… .’

At that moment, Greene’s long ears perked up.

─Can I really touch it?

─Touch it. It’s very soft.

“… … ?”

Veronica and Ray’s voices were faintly heard from the room at the end of the hallway.

─Ha, but it’s scary.

─Don’t be afraid. It’s hard at first, but it gets easier after that.

It was a very suspicious conversation.

I had a natural picture in my head of what was going on in the room, and at the same time my face turned red.

It was known that the boy and the girl had a special relationship, and it was certainly a blessing that their love came to fruition.

‘But you two are still so young…! Are humans naturally fast since they are a species that burns their short lives like flames? No, no matter what… .’

Greene, 224 years old.

Although he was quite young by elven standards, he was quite an adult by human standards.

Feeling a great sense of responsibility, Greene strode over and opened the door.

Bam!

“What are you two doing right now…!”

“Ah! Your Majesty! You’re here!”

“You came just in time.”

Greene looked at the sight unfolding before his eyes with a look of emptiness on his face.

Ray and Veronica were running their fingers through the soft fur of the shrews on the table, handing them pieces of jerky one by one.

“The bowl is full of disappointment. What happened outside?”

“… No. Somehow, I feel like I feel a lot of emotions when I’m with you, Ray. I’m not the type of elf who normally has such a wide range of emotions.”

Grinne, sitting next to her, took a piece of jerky from Veronica’s hand and naturally put it in his mouth.

The conversation continued while Veronica’s pupils were shaking.

“The mother is worried. She says the children are refusing to touch her.”

“They won’t go away even if I try to send them back. Are they spirits that I made a contract with?”

“That’s not it. I think you’re upset because you’ve been taking care of these children for a long time.”

It was said that the spirits that Gwendel contracted with were separate.

“Spirits?”

“Multiple contracts are possible as long as you have enough mana to supply. However, it’s not easy. Spirits usually have a strong desire to monopolize the mana of the contractor.”

Greene’s hand reaching for a piece of jerky was stopped by Veronica’s hand.

Grinne asked Ray without much thought.

“How are you feeling?”

“I was a little dizzy earlier because I had too many thoughts, but I’m okay now.”

As Ray waved his hand in the air, the sketchbook flew out and was caught.

“You went into the labyrinth with a sketchbook. I guess you drew what Ray-nim saw there?”

“that’s right.”

Ray, who had checked Greene’s bowl full of curiosity, immediately turned the cover.

“This is… a mural. I can tell right away what you’re drawing.”

“Wow, it looks like a photograph, not a painting.”

“I can almost perfectly draw what I see. But I’m still not good at drawing things from my imagination.”

Flap- Flap-

With each chapter, Greene and Veronica’s emotions surged.

Ray, who covered the cover, also talked about the vision he saw.

“To summarize… the illusion is most likely a memory of the past reflected by the World Tree, and the last forest has a history of being invaded by the Red Citadel led by a person called Redran. All the other forests were burned down, so it was called the last forest because it was the last remaining one? And the woman with the purple jewel, presumably the guardian, went deep into the labyrinth and carved letters and pictures on the stone tablets and walls.”

Then Veronica spoke loudly with a face of realization.

“Couldn’t the murals in the basement of the ruins have been carved by that woman? She intentionally scattered them so that the Red Guardian wouldn’t destroy them!”

All eyes were on Veronica.

The girl was taken aback by the silence that followed.

“Oh, isn’t it?”

“That makes sense.”

“That makes sense.”

Ray and Greene spoke at the same time.

*

Ray and Veronica stayed in the last forest for a few more days.

The labyrinth had completely returned to its original structure and was motionless, and Ray followed Greene’s guidance as he toured the archives on the outskirts of the labyrinth.

“I expected the records to be written on something like paper.”

Ray said, looking at the vines forming letters in the air.

I touched it with my finger, but it didn’t move at all, as if it were stuffed.

“Elfs don’t use paper. It would hurt the trees. When they need to write something down, they ask the World Tree or other long-lived plants to do it for them instead.”

“You want me to write a text like this?”

“that’s right.”

“It seems like abuse.”

“yes?”

“If you were a human or an elf, you’d be forced to maintain one posture. And that would be for the rest of your life.”

Greene smiled.

“That’s not true. The perspectives of animals and plants are completely different. It’s not that difficult for plants that live in one place to establish a firm stance. The only downside is that the content can be disrupted by external factors.”

“It might be okay if it’s a safe place like a labyrinth.”

Ray began to read the ancient writing on the vines.

It mainly contained information about the culture and landscape of ancient tribes.

“…humans are the most openly emotional of all species.”

“You read it correctly. I have never studied the old characters, so I still don’t know how to read them.”

“This content sounds like a lie.”

“In what part?”

“Humans are not honest at all. Rather, they are eager to hide.”

“Well, is that so? Ray and Veronica, from what I’ve seen, are very honest about their feelings. Well, everyone’s standards may be different.”

“To be honest, I think the spirits are the most honest.”

Ray, who had a look of disagreement on his face, changed the subject.

“Didn’t you say there was a stone tablet in the vault?”

“Yes.”

Grinne bent down and pulled out the object that had been stepping on the table leg and lifted it into her arms with great difficulty.

… was a stone slab.

“Elfs treasure history.”

“Of course. Don’t misunderstand. I just supported it because the stone slab was strong.”

Ray dusted off the stone tablet and read the ancient writing on it.

It was revealed that the writing was written by a woman who ran deep into the place where purple mana was pooled, that is, a person presumed to be the purple guardian.

[This letter first originated from the 13th Purple City and has been traveling the continent for 21 years, bringing good luck to those who receive it. If you receive this letter, you must send a letter with the same content to 7 people who need good luck within 4 days, or you will suffer 10 years of bad luck… … .]

What the hell am I reading now?

Ray rubbed his eyes.

At first I thought it was a code, but no matter how much I looked at it, it was just some superstitious writing.

“It’s quite a prank, isn’t it? I think it might be a fake made to prank the Red Guardian who discovered the stone tablet.”

“That seems highly likely.”

Ray memorized the contents of the letter in detail so he could transcribe them later.

After that, I went to archives one after another, but I couldn’t find any information that was of much help.

I guess that’s what I thought.

Wouldn’t really important information be hidden in a secret place, like deep inside a labyrinth or underground in a ruin?

“This is the last storage area. Then, take a look around and come out.”

Ray, left alone after Grine went out, wandered among the vines, lost in thought.

Then suddenly I reached a wall.

widely.

I put my palm on it.

‘what do you think about it?’

The elves, including Greene, still do not know that the World Tree has been keeping silent on purpose to be hated.

If the truth is revealed, there is a high probability that the World Tree will harbor ill feelings towards him.

Perhaps it will have a major impact on the elves breaking their stubbornness and migrating to a new settlement.

‘Then it would be a great help to Grineh, who wants to leave the Last Forest with all the elves in the village.’

If we look at it from an efficiency standpoint, it would be right to just tell the truth… but when I think about the World Tree that would be criticized, I don’t want to do that.

At that time, my thoughts were increasingly leaning towards the option of asking the truth.

[Tell me the truth. So that the children of the forest can leave me without any regrets.]

The idea of the World Tree was conveyed.

‘Tell me the truth?’

I asked back right away, but there was no answer.

As if it was the last request that squeezed out all the strength he had left.

Ray stood there for a while and then left the room.

*

The elves were confused after hearing the truth from Ray.

“… So I would like you to make a decision as soon as possible about whether or not to leave the last forest. Veronica and I cannot stay here forever.”

“First of all, this is a very embarrassing story… but I will take note of it. We have been having meetings since then, so we will coordinate opinions and make a decision by tomorrow morning at the latest.”

Gant’s wrinkled face was filled with many emotions.

I think he’s angry.

It seems sad.

It seems like a relief.

It was an expression that could not be guessed from a boy with little experience in life.

Walking around the town that day, I could feel the chaotic and busy atmosphere.

Veronica whispered.

“I guess there are a lot of different opinions. Some want to stay in the forest, and others want to move to a new place.”

“… It seems like there are still more people who want to stay.”

The elves’ emotions changed from moment to moment, so it was impossible to know what the conclusion would be.

It wasn’t just the village.

The whole forest was like that.

The animals made noisy cries and the plants rustled their leaves.

It was as if a festival of sound had taken place throughout the forest.

And on the day of decision, in the morning.

────.

The noisy forest was surprisingly quiet.

As Ray and Veronica emerged from the tree, they saw a large crowd of elves and animals gathered in the town square.

Gantt approached and Ray asked.

“Have you made a decision?”

“I decided to leave.”

That’s what happened.

Ray, who was agreeing, discovered that Gant’s vessel had absolutely no feelings of hatred towards the World Tree.

The same was true for all the elves and animals in the square.

“Aren’t you leaving because you resented the World Tree?”

“Resentment. No, it’s not. I thought about it a lot… but where can a child truly hate their parents? The decision to emigrate was simply a matter of efficiency.”

Gant continued speaking softly.

Considering the possibility that the invader named Upseth might return, it would be wise to move to a new home.

Anyway, the lifespan of the World Tree is coming to an end, so if we don’t move, it will just stagnate here and die.

“I understand. So all the elves and animals gathered in the square are moving? Since there are so many of them, I think we need to design the teleportation magic circle well─.”

“Not everyone moves. Only the young ones with many days left to live leave the last forest.”

“…What does that mean?”

“It means that all the old beings like me who don’t have much time left have decided to stay in the forest. That way, when the World Tree passes away in the near future, we can stay by its side so that it won’t be lonely.”

Young beings with potential leave for a new home.

Older beings who have exhausted their potential remain in their old homes.

For a boy who had always lived his life making sure decisions, this was a completely unexpected situation.

I couldn’t fully understand it, but I respected the choice.

The installation of the moving magic circle was done in an instant.

“You can design the arrival coordinates as 412, 1, 31.”

This was because the travel distance was relatively short, nearly 300 elves participated in the installation work, and the forest had an abundance of available mana.

The elves, who were relatively young, entered the completed magic circle.

About 150 people.

The animals of the forest also came into the magic circle in pairs of one or two, depending on their species.

All young, about 500 individuals.

Just before departure, Gwendel approached the edge of the magic circle and handed Greene a large bag containing thousands of seeds, kissing her on the forehead.

“You must be doing well. My beloved child, whom I would not mind putting in my eyes.”

“Hey, why are you talking like we’re breaking up forever?”

At that moment, Ray and Gant were having their last conversation next to me.

“If we don’t leave, we’ll just dry up and die in the forest, just like you said.”

“It’s okay. Children who look like us will take root in the new land and sprout new life. In the end, we will die, but we won’t die.”

Die but don’t die.

Ray evoked the emotions he had realized in the last forest.

‘…a sense of belonging, or a sense of connection.’

Woohoo!

The green mana distributed throughout the area swirled and was sucked into Ray’s hand powerfully.

It was easier than ever before, and a lot of mana was gathered.

Then Gantt gave Ray the green gem.

“The Life Stone is a treasure that has been passed down through generations among the elves. I think it would be good if you could take care of it, Ray.”

The green jewel’s glow became more vivid as soon as it touched Ray’s hand.

“If it’s the elves’ treasure, wouldn’t it be better for Grine to take care of it?”

“Let me tell you why─”

It was then that the magic circle under my feet began to activate.

Woof!

Light scattering in all directions.

The field of vision turning white.

Ray felt as if he was being sucked somewhere, and all the senses in his body were fading away.

The voice that had not yet been delivered lingered in my ears.

According to the… story… you… are… probably… the same… as… .

Pfft!

At that moment, the boy’s body completely disappeared from the town square.