Genius Wizard who sees Rainbows- Chapter 161

 

**#161. The Frozen Things (5)**

 

—

Stepping out to the entrance of the alley, Ray found a boy crouched down and trembling uncontrollably.

“I-I was just the lookout…! P-please spare me…! I-I’m not one of them, I swear…!”

He was a student from Class C.

Ray had seen him yesterday when he was playing tag with Ain around the mansion—he’d been cleaning the stairs.

From a conversation he’d overheard, his name was…

“Tommy.”

“Eek!”

Tommy shuddered in fear at the fact that Ray knew his name.

“Is this yours?”

“Eeeeek! P-please don’t kill me!”

When Ray extended a hand, Tommy recoiled violently with emotion.

“N-not mine…! M-my hands are s-smaller and s-smoother…! N-not so rough and u-ugly…!”

“His hand?”

Lowering his gaze, Ray realized he had extended the wrong hand.

“Ah, not this one. This.”

Ray revealed the ring he was holding in his other hand.

And once again, he observed it.

The jet-black fear that had overtaken Tommy’s eyes—and from the very depths of that dark well, a faint glimmer of greed.

“It’s yours, isn’t it?”

“Y-yes! It’s mine!”

“This originally belonged to Binjin, didn’t it? How did you get your hands on it?”

“……”

When Tommy didn’t answer, Ray flicked a knife beside his face.

*Whish!* *Thunk!*

The blade grazed his cheek by a hair’s breadth, embedding itself into the fence behind him with a splatter of blood.

“Answer me.”

“Eek! Eeeeeek! I-I went into the tower to serve Master…! A-and I s-snuck it out of the safe…!”

The summary of Tommy’s subsequent confession went like this:

One year ago, Binjin had received a letter that made him unusually happy.

He declared a full mansion-wide rest day and locked himself in the tower, indulging in food and drink.

“I-I brought him more alcohol. It was the first time I’d ever seen Master so drunk. Normally, he never drinks. He looked like he was in such a good mood and said this to me—”

Tommy paused briefly, then mimicked Binjin’s tone and expression.

“Tommy, you pathetic thing, do you know? I’ve finally been accepted into the Azure Dawn Society.”

“Oh.”

At Ray’s brief interjection, Tommy straightened with pride.

“Heh heh, it wasn’t easy. It’s not a group that lets just anyone in. Very secretive, too.”

“Oh.”

“But in the end, I, Binjin, did it. I had to give up one of my finest relics—one of only three—but it was worth it.”

“Oh.”

Ray kept encouraging him because the impressions were getting better.

Tommy, now forgetting his fear, immersed himself in his performance.

“This very ring. I gave them one of the three, so I still have two left. Do you know what this ring does?”

Tommy stopped mid-sentence and stared blankly at Ray.

“…….”

“……?”

“…….”

“……?”

Ray, seeing the question marks floating over Tommy’s head, realized what he wanted.

“I’m not sure.”

“Of course you wouldn’t, with your feeble mind. This is a relic that can disable a mage’s circle for a limited time.”

“Oh.”

“It’s a consumable with limited uses, but it’s ridiculously powerful. That makes sense, doesn’t it? Got it?”

Tommy glanced at Ray again.

“I understand.”

“Like hell you do, you wretch! You lowly thing! You fool! Let me explain. With this ring, even a 7th-circle mage would crawl at my feet like a dog. Come, come! I shall grant you the honor of experiencing it too! Kuhuhuhu—! Kuhuhuhuhuhu—! Kuhahahahaha—! You inferior—!”

*Smack!*

Ray slapped Tommy, who had been pointing dramatically at him.

“……?”

“I didn’t say to go that far with the impersonation.”

“Eeeeek! I’m sorry! Please don’t kill me!”

Tommy finally came back to his senses.

With the anesthesia of fear fading, he trembled as he continued his tale.

Binjin had gone on for a while, bragging about his other treasured relics.

Then he brought out a very uniquely shaped safe, placed all the items along with the letter inside—

“And then?”

“He suddenly slumped over the table. I was so startled, I froze. Once I came to my senses, I carefully approached him, calming my racing heart, and leaned in to listen…”

“And?”

“He was snoring.”

“……”

Seeing the open safe, Tommy was overcome by a powerful desire.

Maybe the sweet smell of alcohol had intoxicated him too.

Before he knew it, his hand reached forward, like he was possessed.

And then—

The moment his hand crossed the air and entered the safe—

*Rustle.*

Binjin stirred.

Tommy hastily pulled his hand back and stood at attention beside the table, heart about to burst.

Binjin stared holes into Tommy’s face for a long while.

*Kuhuhuhu, you pathetic thing. Your pitiful face looks even worse today. You must learn magic if you want to live an easy life.*

Saying that, he shut the safe.

*Go now. Seeing your hideous face has ruined my drink.*

Waving him off like a gnat, Binjin dismissed him.

And—

Tommy bowed deeply and left the tower—somehow clutching the ring in his hand.

“But you remember the details and lines from back then really well.”

“The parts I forgot, I kind of filled in with imagination… Ah! But none of it is a lie! I didn’t exaggerate anything!”

Noticing the suspicion in Ray’s eyes, Tommy hurriedly added that.

Ray asked,

“Binjin doesn’t know the ring’s missing?”

“I-I don’t think so. He once mumbled something like, ‘You only take out precious things on important days,’ so maybe it’s some kind of superstition…”

At first, getting the ring had filled Tommy with immense joy and ecstasy.

But it didn’t take long for those emotions to be replaced with fear, guilt, and other anxieties.

“M-my heart would pound every day. I couldn’t sleep. I even had nightmares where Master turned into a monster and ate me. I wanted to return it, but I never got the chance… and I couldn’t just leave the mansion on my own…”

Tommy began to sniffle.

His heart was filled with anxiety and guilt.

“And then the Tenon gang saw the ring and took it from you.”

“Y-yes. They threatened to tattle to Master…”

Ray summarized the situation in his mind.

‘Yesterday, when Binjin showed off the relics he claimed to have “identified the functions of,” none of them felt real.’

As expected, the truly important relics were stored elsewhere.

And clearly, Binjin didn’t realize that one of the remaining two rings in the safe had been taken.

‘There might be other setups inside that safe too.’

Just then, Tommy grabbed Ray’s pant leg.

“P-please don’t tell Master! I’ll be dead meat! He might lock me in solitary and make me listen to recordings of his insults forever! Please spare me! Mr. Hailer! Sir! Grand Mage!”

I’m not really your teacher, though.

Nor am I a Grand Mage.

Also, it won’t be insult recordings—you’ll be dust, ground down by exploitative magic.

Ray asked,

“Have you ever used the ring?”

“Eh? Y-yes. I used it once, and Tenon’s gang used it once… There are 2 uses left out of 4.”

“How do you know how many are left?”

“If you wear it once, you’ll see…”

Ray did as instructed.

Inside the ring, he sensed two very faint strands of mana, like threads.

“How long does the effect last?”

“I didn’t measure it exactly… but maybe around 3 minutes…?”

Ray paused to think.

The duration wasn’t that long.

But if it could really neutralize the ring of a 7th-circle mage… this could be a devastating weapon depending on how it was used.

‘Two uses left.’

If saved for later, it could be a huge advantage in future battles—

Against a Murcred executive.

Or that monocle-wearing mage.

Disabling their mana circle would make them much easier to deal with.

However—

He had to consider the possibility that Binjin still had the other ring and could use it.

‘I want to know exactly what the effect looks like. But how do you activate it—’

That’s when Tommy spoke.

“Should I just confess to Master now? Since half the uses are left, maybe he’ll only punish me with half the insults…”

“Hey, how do you use thi—”

In that instant—

*Vmmmm!*

Responding to Ray’s will, the threads within the ring traveled up his finger and arm, spreading like a spiderweb over his circle.

“W-wha! Mr. H-H-Hailer! Your circle just…! D-did you use one of the charges?!”

“Oh wow, my mana’s really not moving.”

*Thud!*

Tommy collapsed, letting go of Ray’s pant leg like he’d witnessed a disaster.

Unfazed, Ray examined his circle and made a discovery.

‘Only the circle is disabled.’

The mana in the jewel was unaffected—fully usable.

With this key information in hand, Ray reconsidered his next steps and adjusted his plans.

Finally, he spoke.

“You’re not going to get ground to dust by Binjin—or, uh, sentenced to insult torture.”

“Wh-what?”

“Just follow my instructions from now on. If you do, you won’t just avoid Binjin’s wrath—you might even get promoted to Class B, like you’ve always wanted. Though… it might not happen the way you expect.”

As Ray gave instructions, Tommy nodded as if hypnotized.

Turning back toward the inner alley with elemental destruction gathered at his fingertips, Ray added,

“And your face.”

“Y-yes?”

“It’s not ugly. Your nose, eyes, and mouth—none of the coordinates fall too far from average.”

Ray disappeared back into the alley.

—Let me take another look at your ring.

—Aaaaaaaaagh!

Tommy sat in a daze.

Strangely enough, the sting in his chest hurt more than the slap on his cheek.

What the…? Was he not a bad guy…?

*
*
*

After stopping by Amon’s office to retrieve two black cards, Ray cast invisibility magic and headed to Binjin’s mansion.

The magic on the front gate was too complex to disarm without triggering an alarm, so he opted to scale the wall.

*Tap— tap— tap—*

He moved quickly.

Binjin should be in the middle of teaching Class B by now.

‘This is probably the only time I can investigate the inside of the tower.’

According to Ayla, Binjin usually stayed inside the tower.

He even slept there most nights and rarely stepped out, even to help the Amon Family.

*Tap.*

Ray paused at the front of the mansion, checked for any nearby presence, then approached the wall.

It was over five meters high.

A reflection of Binjin’s reclusive nature.

Even with a full-power enhancement spell, it wouldn’t be easy to clear it in one jump.

He could try launching off a sturdy object—but Ray decided to apply a technique he’d recently learned.

Taking a few steps back from the wall, he steadied his breath and called upon the sky-blue mana in his circle, repeating to himself—

‘I love myself.’

To amplify the power of the mana associated with self-love.

‘I cherish myself.’

Then, he heard a voice in his head.

—Ray, please take better care of yourself!

‘I treat my body with care.’

—Your body too! You treat band-aids like stickers, putting them on and off all the time!

‘I train my body every day.’

—Since when does training mean hanging from a bar until your shoulders dislocate?

‘…….’

Ray paused his focus momentarily.

‘Veronica, go back inside.’

Unless you want to get scolded.

He chased the girl’s voice from his mind and refocused.

Soon—

*Vmmm!*

The mana circle responded to his will, drawing the surrounding sky-blue mana across his skin like a thin film of oil.

*Whoooosh—!*

In an instant, it turned into a cool wind, making his body feel as light as a feather.

‘Yep. Amplifying the emotion really helps.’

Not exactly.

The current sky blue mana was only the amount and power the boy could basically handle.

There wasn’t a speck of self-love in the bowl.

But the self-suggestion certainly had some effect.

───────!

In an instant, the boy broke into a sprint, slamming into the ground with explosive force.

Taang──!

At that moment.

Guoong──!

The tower shuddered as well.

 

 

 

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