#085. Black Rain and Seeds (1)
Philip heard every detail of what had happened in the canyon.
"Wow... I really should've seen that for myself."
He expressed deep regret at missing the sight of Blue, the azure Rock Deer.
"John and Skyle... they're dead. They attacked each other. Ray, it happened just like you said."
Ray nodded knowingly, as if he'd expected his prediction to come true.
"...Curiosa? A Merkred executive? A doctor? Wait—that's too much information at once..."
His face scrunched briefly under the overload of details about Merkred and its associates before clearing with understanding.
"So our main objective now is to track down Merkred's executives."
"Right. But nothing changes. We were already heading upstream along the Elton River anyway."
The binding magic's arrow pointed upstream too—their path would naturally intersect with Merkred's leaders.
"Then the gem embedded in Blue’s forehead... is it a fragment of the Rainbow?"
"It’s possible. At the very least, it’s clearly a gem holding an immense amount of mana."
Blue’s sapphire. Merkred’s ruby. Combined with Walter’s orders and Curiosa’s account, the "Rainbow as gems" theory gained credibility.
"Something’s fishy here. Are we about to become the first researchers to discover the Rainbow?"
Ray shook his head at Philip’s excitement.
"We can’t be certain yet. It’s just a possibility. We’ll focus on the gem theory but keep other options open."
"So wise, our leader."
Philip chuckled before growing serious.
"But if we need to collect all the gems... getting Blue’s won’t be easy. It walks on air and creates oases in a blink. Is that something humans can capture?"
Ray recalled facing Blue in the clearing—the aching longing that welled in his chest. Capturing it never crossed his mind.
‘...Even if I tried, I’d fail.’
Blue was an unknown being, but one thing was clear: it transcended human power utterly. Even Curiosa with her four rings abandoned pursuit, merely watching it leave. Attacking would have been fatal—or as Curiosa put it:
‘You’d end up like an ice statue in the wilderness, licked indiscriminately by animals.’
‘...But for the Rainbow’s sake, we can’t waste opportunities.’
Ray concluded:
‘Let’s not rush.’
Confirming Blue’s existence and learning about Merkred from Curiosa were already significant gains.
He spoke: "We can table Blue for now. Once we solidify the gem hypothesis, we’ll find a way. For now, we depart after gathering intel here."
Philip and Veronica nodded. They were a crew bound by fate, and Ray was their captain steering their course—a role they trusted implicitly.
"One more thing," Ray said, producing a photo from Walter’s basement. "Likely shows Merkred’s doctor and executives."
"Whoa. Ancient photo—black-and-white and blurry."
"But names are written above each child: Walter, Curiosa, Alagger..."
Philip froze mid-sentence, murmuring:
"Upseth..."
His finger hovered beside a girl in the center.
Ray asked: "You know that name?"
"No... It's new to me. Just... she looks familiar somehow."
The photo was too aged to discern faces clearly, yet Philip couldn't look away from the girl until finally returning it to Ray after a long pause.
●
The next dawn...
Ray woke early and moved to the window—perhaps roused by the violent whoosh of rain outside. The streets lay dark and deserted under ink-black droplets that tap-plink-plonked against the glass like desperate intruders.
Black rain diseased all it touched: flesh or soil alike. Before leaving the canyon clearing, Veronica had scooped tainted earth into a bag:
‘The Rock Deer migrated early—maybe their food source was depleted.’
The magic-lifted soil bore hues between brown and black—corrupted land where nothing grew.
‘What lies upstream of Elton?’
The black rainclouds always came from there—a fact Ray noticed only recently while sky-gazing for Rainbows:
they seemed to drift down from higher-numbered sectors where golems spewed black smoke by condensing atmospheric mana into fuel.
Efficient, but flawed—mixed mana inevitably darkened.
Now he idly swirled mana into a black orb. It floated out like soap bubbles but, unlike normal mana, couldn’t dissipate, ascending skyward just like golem exhaust—confirming what countless observations already proved.
"And when I reach the top of the sky, I'll become a dark cloud."
This was why Ray believed the dark clouds' origin must be the mages' city.
"To create dark clouds vast enough to cover the sky..."
Such a place would require repeated use of immensely powerful magic - spells potent enough to blacken mana through blending multiple elements.
Engulfed in endless rumination, Ray failed to notice the rain weakening around him.
Swoosh──
●
Morning arrived at their lodgings with faint sunlight piercing through dissipated clouds.
Splash―
Ray stepped over a black rainwater puddle as he declared:
"If we find no useful leads by today, we move sectors."
"Agreed," Philip concurred.
Day four in Sector 48.
More than enough time for five ordered crews to comb through every corner for their keywords.
Black rain. Rainbow.
Brown-haired woman with neck scar.
Any relevant intel should've surfaced through their networks by now.
Yet not a single clue emerged.
'This sector likely holds no answers.'
While they couldn't completely dismiss overlooked information, pursuing new sectors proved wiser than clinging to dwindling hopes.
The boys paused by the roadside.
"Remember anything else about your mother?"
"We... separated when I was six." Philip stared at his palms. "Her face, voice... all blurred now."
His memories lingered as sensory fragments - the park's muted colors when she left, crinkling biscuit wrappers in small hands, phantom sweetness in the air.
"I remember being cherished. Childhood feels... warmly nebulous."
"She must've loved you deeply," Ray offered, recalling textbook definitions.
"Love feels inadequate. Maybe... attachment? Obsession?"
Their conversation fractured as─
"Good day!"
─multiple voices echoed down the street.
The crew captains approached for reporting.
"They found something useful," Ray observed.
"How can you tell?"
"Their vessels reflect different emotions."
"Ah."
Philip's eyes shone with revelation.
●
The group marched straight to Sector 28's outskirts post-meal.
"Is this lead credible?" Veronica pressed.
"Worth verifying," Philip answered. "It concerns our primary objective."
Ray nodded. Any black rain clue demanded attention.
Clack clack clack──
Their footsteps echoed through increasingly dilapidated streets until reaching a slum hut.
"Local rumors say he's a scavenger," Philip noted, eyeing the junk-filled yard and distant scrap mountains. "Perpetually drunk."
Creak──
They navigated through debris to knock:
Knock knock─
Silence.
Thud thud─
Still nothing.
"Empty?"
"Must be out."
"He's inside," Ray corrected.
Mana surged through his palm into the lock.
Click─
The door swung open.
"Still amazing," Philip breathed. "Teach me, Veronica?"
"You'd need basic mana control first."
Inside revealed a hearth-centered shack littered with food scraps and yellowed newspapers.
"Nobody's here?"
"We could wait─"
Ray marched past them to a corner crate.
Since forming his imperfect 1.5 Circle, his mana vision pierced through objects - now revealing pitch-black terror within the wooden box.
Creak─
The lid opened to a cowering man:
"P-please! I'll repay everything! Spare me!"
"Mr. Hender."
"Y-yes?"
The man blinked up at non-debt collectors.
Ray's voice cut through the gloom:
"We need information about the black rain."
