Genius Wizard who sees Rainbows- Chapter 149

**#149. Inferior Beings (2)**

 

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“Th-Then, please enjoy your time!”

The head disciple, gasping in fear of Ray, bowed so deeply his forehead nearly touched the floor.

Then, as if fleeing, he rushed out and closed the door behind him.

*Creaaak─!* *Clack!*

‘Pathetic. To be flailing like that in front of a guest.’

“Click.”

Without realizing it, Binjin clicked his tongue, but immediately turned to Ray and smiled brightly, as if his face had never been scowling.

“You must be hungry, so let’s talk over a meal first. I’ll give you a tour of the estate afterward.”

Ray and Binjin sat across from each other at a table and began their meal.

*Clack.*

“This dish is boiled pork topped with fermented onions. Please try it.”

*Clack.*

“This is a tenderloin steak with demi-glace sauce. Try this one as well.”

*Clack.*

“This one is brined chicken, deep-fried and seasoned.”

A barrage of dishes was rapidly placed in front of Ray.

He looked around, but the table was covered only with meat dishes.

This was a bit much…

‘Not bad.’

Ray began eating.

“I’ve looked into more literature about elves and the ancient era. I thought there might be something I’d overlooked.”

Binjin’s vessel brimmed with expectation, curiosity, and an eagerness to explore.

Even without much of a response from Ray, he kept talking passionately on his own.

“Ruins are perhaps the most powerful physical evidence of the ancient era. You mentioned you’d visit them in person to regain your memories, but you must be cautious…”

Stories about the ancient era and elves.

They were quite detailed and informative.

Ray carefully sorted and stored the newly learned information in the bookshelf of his mind.

All the while, he couldn’t take his eyes off the tower visible through the window behind Binjin.

‘…There’s something .’

It was an indescribably strange feeling.

A high level of danger was being detected.

And at the same time, there was a sense of familiarity.

“Explorers these days give up on expeditions the moment they encounter the slightest hardship.”

“I see.”

“If there are traps and keepers, it’s proof that a rare artifact lies beyond them. It wasn’t like this when I was active.”

“That makes sense.”

Before they knew it, the dishes on the table were completely empty.

Wiping his mouth with a napkin, Binjin spoke in an elated tone.

“This was truly a fruitful conversation. I’ve never met someone I connected with so well. I’d dare call you a soulmate.”

*Snap!*

With a snap of Binjin’s fingers, a group of disciples waiting outside entered the room.

“W-We’ll clear the dishes.”

“D-Did you enjoy the meal?”

Nervousness was written all over their faces as they cleared the table while glancing nervously at Binjin.

Ray thought to himself:

‘All from Class C, huh.’

Binjin had divided his disciples into three major classes based on their abilities.

Class A, composed entirely of circle-holders with both strong theoretical and practical skills, some even capable of entering the Magic Tower.

Class B, a mix of circle-holders and non-holders, with talent either in theory or practice.

And Class C, entirely made up of circle-less disciples, unskilled in both theory and practice.

「Each class has ten members. Regular evaluations allow for promotion or demotion at any time.」

Binjin had added, saying it was meant to spur competition and motivate learning among the disciples.

“We-We’ll clear this right away.”

None of them had circles.

Nor was there a single member among them Ray remembered from Class B based on facial features.

It naturally led to the conclusion that they were all from Class C…

*Clatter!*

Suddenly, a sharp sound rang out.

“S-Sorry! I-I made a mistake…!”

Perhaps from being overly nervous, one of the disciples had dropped and broken a dish while clearing the table.

Objectively speaking, it wasn’t a big deal.

The dish was empty since the food had already been eaten, and it was a common mass-produced item one could easily find on the street.

No one was hurt.

Yet Binjin’s fury was explosive.

“Click, how disgraceful. To act like this in front of a guest.”

Like a predator waiting for prey, a stream of scolding poured out.

“Jacob, this mistake stems from your lax mental state. I’ve told you before what to correct, but you haven’t changed a bit. Do you even think with that thing on your shoulders?”

His tone was calm, but the content was scathing.

The more the verbal abuse continued, the lower Jacob hung his head.

His face turned red, tears welled up in his eyes, and the navy mana in his vessel swelled violently.

Self-loathing, inferiority, depression.

Emotions rooted in hating oneself.

The reactions of the other disciples weren’t much different.

As if they were the ones being scolded, they hung their heads and fidgeted.

Their navy mana also swelled.

‘This is… just like on the first floor…’

Emotional contagion.

Though the exact mechanism was unknown, it was the spread of one person’s emotions to those around them.

If it had stopped at the disciples, Ray might have dismissed it as an occasional phenomenon.

But—

“You still haven’t formed a circle after all these years. What a disgrace.”

—With those words, even the mana in Binjin’s own vessel began to swell.

To be precise, it was dark navy mana.

A color nearing black.

It was the same mana color contained in the vessel and circle of the one-eyed monocle-wearing mage.

At the time, Ray hadn’t understood the significance, only noting the color.

But now, it was different.

‘It’s self-hatred, mixed with malicious intent toward others.’

At a glance, Binjin seemed to have high self-esteem.

He always maintained a superior attitude toward others like Amon and the disciples.

And objectively, he had wealth and knowledge anyone would envy.

…But.

Judging by the emotions and their distribution in his vessel, he harbored a deep inferiority complex.

‘Why?’

What exactly was he so dissatisfied with?

As Ray carefully observed Binjin continuing to scold, he witnessed something unusual.

The two circles seated in Binjin’s chest.

Above them, a point of mana slowly revolving, trying to form a third circle.

‘The rotation speed is absurdly slow.’

It was practically at a standstill.

Like trudging through thick swamp.

At that speed, he’d never reach the next circle no matter how much time passed.

As someone usually uninterested in others, Ray hadn’t noticed before.

“Inferior fool, incompetent fool, useless fool. Click click. How hard is it to form just one more circle?”

His stagnant growth.

Binjin’s verbal abuse now sounded like it was directed at himself.

“Get out of my sight. I don’t even want to see your foolish face.”

“I-I’ll clean the broken dish.”

“Click, forget it. I’ll do it myself.”

*Bang!*

With a wave of his hand, the door flung open.

The Class C disciples quickly finished cleaning the table and rushed out.

“My apologies. You had to witness such an embarrassing scene.”

Ray didn’t particularly care.

But according to *“10,000 Daily Etiquette Scenarios for Ray,”* compiled by Veronica, continuing such scolding in front of a guest might be the greater embarrassment.

*Buzz.*

Dark navy mana flowed from Binjin’s hand, wriggling like a snake through the air.

*Crack! Crackle!*

As it touched the broken shards, they instantly froze solid.

They floated midair via telekinesis, then were incinerated by a burst of intense flame and vanished.

“……”

Ray couldn’t take his eyes off the process.

Because both the ice and flames were black in color, and black smoke rose from where they had been.

Sensing Ray’s gaze, Binjin asked,

“Is something wrong?”

“The color of your magic—it’s unusual.”

“Ah, the color. I use a rather special method.”

Binjin explained that he stored all elements inside his circle in a mixed state, like muddy water.

“This way, no matter where I extract mana from within the circle, all elements are present. It drastically reduces the time needed to sort elements.”

Indeed, the earlier ice and fire had formed very quickly.

Ray stared at Binjin’s circles.

The first and second circles.

Both were filled with dark navy mana.

‘…This really is an abnormal form.’

Normally, each circle should show a different distribution of elements.

The elements and their ratios are determined by the mage’s personality and disposition at the time the circle is formed.

In other words, such a form shouldn’t exist.

Unless two circles were formed *simultaneously*—a miracle.

Also, maintaining mixed elements in a circle, which naturally tends to separate by type, should be impossible.

“You’re using a special method?”

“Yes. A procedure I developed myself. When applied, it causes these color transformations in magic.”

Binjin added with a gleam in his eye,

“Would you be interested? It’s a highly secret and valuable technique… but for a mage with whom I connect so well, I wouldn’t mind offering it once.”

Expectation and greed swelled in Binjin’s vessel.

It was clear he’d shown the magic just to bring up this topic.

‘Procedure, huh.’

Ray had no intention of turning his circles into that mess.

Sure, spellcasting would become explosively faster, but there was a glaring downside.

‘Too many elements are wasted when casting.’

While not as bad as pure black mana, Binjin’s dark navy mana also contained many kinds of elements.

Fire, ice, enhancement, connection.

Speed, binding, control, barrier…

Just like he had used the same mana for both ice and fire spells earlier, it was possible to cast various spells from different schools with the dark navy mana.

But in doing so, elements not used in the spell would be discarded.

‘High destructive power in a short burst, but I can’t guarantee sustainability.’

Just like black mana.

Ray focused on a different part of Binjin’s explanation.

“I admit I’m curious… But you said you developed it yourself?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Without anyone’s help?”

“Of course.”

Binjin’s vessel trembled slightly.

‘He’s lying.’

It wasn’t a technique he developed on his own.

Which meant Binjin was either part of some organization or had someone behind him.

One figure came to Ray’s mind.

‘…The one-eyed monocled mage.’

A faint thrill rose in Ray’s chest.

It felt like he had taken another step toward his revenge.

But for now, he had to be cautious.

If Binjin was an ally of that mage, then he was an enemy too.

He would stay calm, not get ahead of himself, and slowly circle in, gathering information.

“So, are you interested in the procedure?”

“I’d like to hear more about it, at least.”

Binjin’s lips twitched upward uncontrollably.

“Excellent. Let’s move somewhere more private. My laboratory is in the next room…”

Ray seized the opportunity to gather more intel.

“The next room? I thought your lab was in that tower outside.”

“Oh, that tower?”

Binjin followed Ray’s gaze toward the window.

“That’s not a lab—it’s more of a testing facility. And if you decide to undergo the procedure, that’s where it’ll take place.”

“……”

The sense of unease coming from the tower had not changed.

In a brief moment, Ray considered and decided on many things, then spoke.

“I’d prefer to have our conversation in the tower, not the next room. If I’m going to receive the procedure, I’d like to see the place in advance.”

 

 

 

 

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