#318. Side Story 1. Collapse (2)
—
**Imaginus Magic Tower.**
Voices echoed thunderously through the upper corridor.
“What exactly were you thinking?! At a time when we’re already short on carefully and patiently building consensus, you send a message like a declaration of war?!”
Ray, who had been inspecting a wall ornament, turned to look at Gustach.
Behind him, a guide stood nervously, shifting on their feet.
“If you had waited comfortably in the drawing room, I would have come to see you shortly.”
“How could I wait comfortably when something like this has happened! Hm? Explain! What were you thinking, causing all this?”
The “incident” referred to was the message Ray had sent using the administrator’s pad the day before.
— We announce that the first speaker of the upcoming regular symposium will be Ray, Administrator of the Imaginus Magic Tower.
— Topic: On the Destruction of the Wall that Divides Inside and Out.
As a result, the Association was now being flooded with inquiries full of discontent.
“It’s fine. I plan to convince them all at the symposium.”
“Fine? Do you know there’s nowhere in the city right now where people *aren’t* talking about this?!”
Gustach spread open the front page of the newspaper he’d brought.
**\[Young Genius of Imaginus Declares the Destruction of the Wall — Arrogant Provocation?]**
“Oh.”
“‘Oh’?! Your reputation and prestige, built up over all these years, are plummeting in a single day!”
Ray stared at the fuming Gustach and asked calmly:
“Do you also disapprove of tearing down the wall, President?”
“As I said yesterday, I have no particular stance. Whether the wall thickens or falls, it doesn’t matter to me. What I value is not a person’s origin, but their ability.”
However—
“The issue is the backlash your radical claims are going to provoke. Integration between the inside and outside? That all people are just people? Do you realize how difficult it is to uproot perceptions that have clung to people’s values for so long?”
“I do.”
Ray answered curtly and moved on to inspect the next ornament.
“That’s why I’m pushing hard and fast—so they won’t even have time to react properly. Who knows how long it’ll take to change people’s perceptions slowly.”
If he went with a lukewarm approach, he might die before the wall was ever torn down.
That was Ray’s belief.
“Even so, couldn’t you at least have consulted with me properly—!”
At that moment, Ray spun around.
He pulled a mana cigarette from Gustak’s front pocket, infused it with mana, and handed it over.
“I think I last recharged one for you at the previous symposium.”
“Oh, hmm, hrm.”
Gustach let out an awkward cough.
Regardless of the wall incident, he had already been watching for the right moment to ask.
Ray’s mana provided an extraordinary experience no regular mana could offer.
“Well, I’ll accept it for now.”
With a sheepish look, Gustach accepted the cigarette and put it in his mouth.
*Huuuhp—*
Pure childhood emotions rushed into his mind.
With a deep sense of tranquility, his face took on an enlightened expression.
Why was I angry again?
Life is so peaceful.
“…Anyway, I trust you have a plan. I’ll handle the Association inquiries as best I can. I’ll see you at the symposium. While I’m here, I might as well take a look around at the art pieces.”
With a benevolent smile, Gustach walked away.
The guide followed after him.
Watching their retreating figures, Ray turned to the person beside him and asked,
“Joshua, what do you think?”
“Uh, hmm… I actually agree with President Gustach.”
Joshua—a gray-haired boy one year older than Ray—replied.
His real name was *Hern*.
He belonged to the Stona school.
As the first of the initial exchange students to awaken his imagination, he now commuted to the Imaginus Tower and managed the new exchange students.
“It does feel sudden. Until now, Ray, you’ve never made any allusion to the wall in your role as Imaginus’s administrator.”
And the wall—
“It’s such a deeply rooted structure in the city’s history that even imagining destroying it feels impossible.”
Ray shook his head and changed the framing of his question.
“Forget whether it’s radical or slow—what do you think of the wall being torn down itself? You’re from outside the wall too, aren’t you?”
“Uh…”
This time, there was no immediate answer.
He had never seriously considered the topic or tried to form an answer.
But the hesitation was brief.
Joshua soon collected his thoughts and spoke with clarity.
“I do think it’s something that has to be torn down eventually. I believe all people are the same too.”
“So that’s what you think.”
In Joshua’s vessel, emotions like conviction and belief had gathered in the shape of starlight.
Ray’s lingering stare.
A gaze that seemed to see through everything.
Slightly flustered, Joshua switched the topic with a question he’d long been waiting to ask.
“By the way, what about my brother? He’s alive, right? I heard about it. That you visited Sector 50 a few days ago.”
There were two major people Ray had met in Sector 50 a few days back:
Viola, the violet guardian.
And Humphrey—Joshua’s older brother.
At the time, Sector 50 had been occupied by the Hector faction, which was exploiting its residents.
Humphrey had rebelled and failed, ending up as a mining slave.
But not anymore.
Ray had swiftly taken care of Hector and his subordinates and handed everything related to the organization over to Humphrey.
Now, Humphrey was working with like-minded allies to normalize the sector.
“He’s doing well.”
There was a lot to say, but Ray deliberately kept it short.
The right to share the circumstances and emotions belonged to the brother, not him.
Joshua stood stunned for a moment.
Then tears welled up in his eyes.
“Ah… thank goodness. Really. He’s alive. And doing well.”
“You can meet him anytime. Just go to Sector 50.”
“Ah, but… I don’t think it’s the right time yet.”
Ray tilted his head.
“Why not?”
“Because I like this city. Even if it started with me being sold into slavery.”
Joshua spoke clearly.
That he intended to rise to a position no one in the city could look down on.
And once he’d truly secured his place, he would bring his brother over to live together.
“That would make us both happier—him and me—rather than living in harsh Sector 50.”
Ordinarily, someone would rush to reunite with their only family in the world.
What kind of resolve must it take to delay that meeting?
“……”
Ray felt he vaguely understood.
He chose to respect Joshua’s decision rather than comment.
Instead, he brought up another issue.
“To rise to a high position, someday you’ll have to reveal your origin. You can’t hide it forever.”
“…That’s not wrong.”
Even Ray—currently the most influential figure in the city—still had people murmuring about his background.
They just didn’t speak openly because of Imaginus’s overwhelming influence.
So the treatment of the average outsider from beyond the wall was all too obvious.
Ray continued,
“Lately, I’ve heard about groups pushing pureblood ideology. I think they formed as a backlash—seeing how perspectives on outsiders are starting to shift positively, probably because of me.”
“Ah, I’ve heard too. They even invited my administrator to join. But their views are so extreme and radical that she refused right away…”
Joshua fell silent, his face tense.
Clearly, he was deep in thought about his origins and future in the city.
“Joshua.”
“Huh, yeah?”
“How about a direct confrontation?”
“A direct confrontation?”
Ray nodded.
“If it’s something you’ll have to face eventually—then at the next symposium. Of course, it’ll require courage from you.”
—
**Imaginus School intends to tear down the city’s wall.**
The rumor spread like wildfire.
Countless speculations and theories followed, but no one was able to resolve their questions.
Since sending that first message, Ray had drastically reduced public activity and hadn’t released any further statements.
Instead, he stoked the fire by hiring the information broker Nila to further stir the city with rumors.
He also secretly met with several school administrators he was on good terms with to explain his plans in advance.
Schools with values aligned with Imaginus, like:
* The Harmony School, previously ranked number one.
* The Wid School, led by Mrs. McQueen, who was connected through the train terror incident.
* The Ristoa School, whose reputation soared after proving that excessive magic use caused the black clouds.
These three were key examples.
They would be reliable allies when the time came for Ray to speak at the symposium.
Time passed quickly, and the day of the regular symposium arrived.
Administrators and aides from all 124 schools gathered at the Association’s magic tower.
“Tearing down the wall? I can’t begin to imagine what they’re thinking.”
“It’s still just a rumor. Administrator Ray hasn’t confirmed it himself yet.”
“According to what I heard from the President, the message wasn’t a mistake.”
As soon as they saw each other, the administrators started discussing Imaginus.
Reactions varied by school, but one feeling was common among them all.
Confusion and doubt.
Like a fog, hazy and shifting.
*Wiiing──*
The administrators boarded the elevator.
“Recently, the number of outsiders in the city has been increasing. Whether brought in as slaves or for experiments, or settling inside and having children…”
“Although such a trend may be an unstoppable current, tearing down the wall is still too radical….”
The heat of discussion and debate did not die down until the moment they arrived at the hall and took their seats.
“I sincerely thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend today.”
Just then, Gustach’s voice echoed through the hall via a voice amplification spell.
In an instant, the room fell silent.
Gustach glanced around the room once.
“Surprisingly, there are no absentees at this conference. A full attendance rate. This is only the second time in the history of the society. I’m sure everyone here already knows the reason why.”
The reason for the full attendance was clear.
To hear Ray’s official statement.
An unprecedented full attendance was now occurring for the second time in just a year, once again due to the influence of the same individual.
“Haha, everyone looks like they’re bursting with impatience. I feel the same. There’s no reason to delay any further. Then, let’s begin the 198th regular conference.”
The moment he finished speaking, a burst of applause erupted as though it had been waiting for the cue.
Soon, the sound faded.
*Clack.*
Ray stepped up onto the platform.
“It’s been a while, everyone. I’m Ray, the administrator of the Imaginus School.”
He offered a somewhat friendly greeting, but the air in the room was tense.
Well, that was expected.
He didn’t particularly mind.
He simply gazed calmly, observing the swirling colors of emotion in the audience’s “vessels.”
Those who showed friendly emotions.
Those who showed hostile emotions.
Those who remained neutral.
Each group made up about one-third of the room.
And the ones he had to win over with this presentation were the neutrals.
“I’ll skip the preamble and get straight to the point.”
Ray concluded his sentence as if declaring it.
“I intend to tear down the wall.”
—
