Genius Wizard who sees Rainbows- Chapter 279

#279. Registration and Commission (1)

—

Gustach was a tobacco enthusiast.

Throughout his life, he had collected and smoked many different kinds of tobacco. The mana-infused tobacco he had recently settled on gave him deep euphoria and a sense of calm, leaving him highly satisfied.

He had run several experiments, wondering if the performance would differ depending on how refined the infused mana was, but the results didn’t vary much.

Whether it was mana from the atmosphere—

Or mana stored in a circle—

Though Gustach didn’t realize it, neither source was truly different, as both were mana that had yet to reclaim the light of the Beginning.

But right now—

The mana from the two gems was different.

Primal mana, still holding radiant light, was drawn into Gustach’s body through the metal cigarette.

*Wooooong!*

The mana of those two lights circulated through his body, awakening pure emotions he hadn’t felt since childhood.

The yellow mana stirred feelings of excitement and nervousness.
The green mana evoked curiosity and a sense of connection.

“…!”

Gustach’s pupils dilated.

His hands and feet began to tremble.

And before he knew it—

*Drip.*

Tears fell.

“W-What… is this…?”

His startled hands covered his face.

But he couldn’t stop the tears that leaked between his fingers.

Emotions suppressed for decades erupted uncontrollably.

And at last—

When the two radiant manas finished circulating through his body and slowly faded away—

“Ah…”

Gustach let out a sigh of wonder.

It was filled with unmistakable regret.

He had completely forgotten the shame of crying in front of a guest and hurriedly asked in a flustered voice:

“W-What did you just do? Is your mana special?”

“…”

Ray was equally surprised by the situation.

He knew that the characteristic of light mana was that the more it mixed, the brighter it became, which meant black smoke wouldn’t occur—but he hadn’t expected it to evoke such intense emotions in the recipient.

‘It seems to have produced an effect similar to directly infusing mana into the vessel from the atmosphere.’

Ray recalled the concept of *artificial emotions*.

The difference, however, was that the emotions just now didn’t seem to have damaged Gustach’s vessel at all.

Perhaps because the emotional purity had been extremely high.

“W-Why aren’t you saying anything? If it’s okay with you, could you infuse mana again?”

Gustach’s previously high-handed attitude had softened considerably. Ray could now take the lead in the conversation.

“Are you finally willing to listen to what I have to say seriously?”

“That mana—if I could just have it again… You were talking about a new school of magic, right? You mentioned demonstrating magic. I can’t promise unconditional approval, but I’ll try to relax the criteria as much as possible. Let’s get this processed quickly so we can go back to talking about your mana.”

“There’s no need for that. As long as you don’t find excuses to nitpick, that’s enough.”

“How incredible must the magic be to…”

Gustach couldn’t finish his sentence.

A blue flame, radiating cold, was already flickering above the table.

“W-What is this…?”

The sight was so shocking it completely blew away his thoughts about Ray’s mana.

He examined the magic with dazed eyes, but could find no trace of deception.

“My god, how… Combining opposing elements? This is absurd… Don’t tell me this is possible because your mana is special?”

“No. I used ordinary mana for this spell. The only thing special was how I handled it.”

Imagination.

Gustach finally understood the word Ray had mentioned.

**“You’d better treat this guest well. He might give you a chance to change your life.”**

He now realized that the administrator of Ristoa had meant every word—and hadn’t exaggerated at all.

“…Who exactly are you?”

“Someone in search of a rainbow.”

“A rainbow… That thing that appears in countless stories, yet no one has ever truly seen?”

“That’s right.”

Gustach stared blankly for a while.

Then Ray extinguished the blue flame and said,

“Anyway, I think this should be enough to establish a new school of magic.”

“It’s more than enough. If imagination isn’t enough to serve as the foundation for a new school, then no magic tower deserves to claim that title.”

The ability to combine elements beyond the limits of magical laws—

If the theory of imagination continued to develop, it was impossible to predict what forms of magic might emerge in the future.

*Shff!*

With a gesture from Gustach, bundles of paperwork and pens flew through the air and began circling around him.

“Normally, evaluations take a few days. But since I witnessed a miracle with my own eyes, I’ll approve it right away.”

“The sooner the better.”

“First, I’ll register you as the administrator of the school.”

“Okay.”

“If there are others currently in your school, let me know.”

“There are none.”

“You’re starting completely from scratch, then.”

The pens moved on their own, filling in the forms as they followed the conversation.

“Next is the motivation behind establishing the school. It’s not that important, so you can be brief—”

“To build the tallest magic tower and place a ban on experiments across the entire city.”

The scratching pens paused mid-motion.

Gustach asked quietly:

“Do you understand what that implies?”

“I do.”

Gustach stared at Ray for a long moment, then burst into laughter.

“Haha, right. All the towers obsess over experiments to uncover magical truths—but if that truth appears, there will be no need to experiment anymore.”

The pens resumed moving, and the questioning continued.

“Do you have a thesis that outlines your theory?”

“No.”

“Normally, it’s a requirement, but the association president has some discretion. Just keep in mind—the initial impression other schools get of yours might not be very good.”

He explained that the thesis would usually be distributed along with the announcement of a new school to all other schools—essentially serving as an introduction.

Without it, the response was likely to be unfriendly.

“I don’t mind. It’s not a concept that can be explained with a long thesis anyway.”

“Straightforward. I like that. Besides, there’s a slot for demonstrations at the regular academic conference. Change their minds then.”

*Whish! Whish!*

The completed documents floated down onto the desk, leaving only one form left.

“Lastly, what is the name of your school?”

Ray recalled ancient knowledge he had gained from Blue’s memories.

Without hesitation, he answered,

“Imaginus.”

It was an old word for *imagination*.

*
*
*

After Ray left the association office—

Gustach leaned deeply into his chair and gazed up at the ceiling.

“Hoo—”

The cigarette in his mouth now carried the yellow and green manas Ray had infused.

There was a sense of mental clarity.

Energy welled up, and his mind felt at peace.

Forgotten emotions came back, prompting him to reflect on his life.

‘What kind of dreams did I have when I was young?’

At the very least, he probably hadn’t wanted to become a greedy, irritable man like this.

“Heh heh…”

Gustach chuckled and, as Ray had instructed, tried drawing a picture in his mind.

The mana didn’t move at all.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t realize magic through imagination.

He had a thought.

Maybe, by living such a hectic life and using busyness as an excuse, he had abandoned something important from childhood.

“Hoo—”

It was disappointing—but there was still one thing he could vividly imagine.

The stunned faces of the proud bigwigs at the regular academic conference.

That alone was a delight to picture.

*
*
*

Having left the association, Ray boarded a train to seek out an information broker.

His destination: Sector 20.

It wasn’t too far.

*Clack, clack—*

Looking out the window as the train slowly picked up speed, he observed people using magic on the streets below.

He read their lips.

—“Did you see that Dancing Flame spell the Plea School presented? It’s amazing, right?”

—“Frozen Lance is kind of old-fashioned now.”

Apparently, the moment a magic spell was publicly announced within the inner walls, it would be registered in the association’s magic compendium.

Then, depending on the school’s decision, its use could be made public, kept secret, or sold through magic shops.

But all spells shared one trait:

They were given names, and like a cooking recipe, followed a precise formula.

To Ray’s eyes, it looked like magic was being stuffed into fixed molds.

‘In the old era, everyone used magic through imagination.’

At what point had imagination started to fade from humanity?

And what conditions would awaken that dormant imagination again?

So far, Ray had discovered a total of three people who had awakened their imagination:

‘Myself, Veronica…’

And Vicious, an executive of the Murcred who had fought him in Rael Row.

What was the common thread?

He thought deeply, but none of the clues had the decency to reveal even a hint of themselves.

One thing was certain:

Imaginus would likely remain a one-person school for the time being.

*Clack, clack, hiss—*

While lost in thought, he arrived at Sector 20.

Leaving the station, Ray held up the business card and went straight to find the information broker.

‘A bar?’

What appeared before him was a multi-story, upscale bar.

*Buzz—*

As he entered, soft lights turned on and gentle music filled the air.

Some patrons glanced at him briefly before returning to their conversations and drinks.

Ray walked over and sat at the bar, speaking to the bartender who was polishing a glass.

“I’m looking for someone named Nila.”

“There’s no staff or customer here by that name. And we don’t allow minors in here.”

“I’m an adult.”

“How old are you?”

“Thirty-two.”

Locking eyes with the bartender for a moment, Ray then pushed forward the business card.

“I came with a referral from the administrator of the Ristoa School.”

“Hm.”

After examining the card, the bartender called for a staff member.

“Show him in.”

“Understood. This way, please.”

Ray followed the staff member into an elevator. It brought them to a small office.

He sat at a table, waiting—until the side door opened, and a woman of captivating appearance entered.

“Hm, so you came with a recommendation from Raker?”

The woman crossed her legs and sat across from him.

Two large men stood behind her, hands behind their backs.

Including the woman, all were 4th-circle mages.

Ray removed his hood and said,

“You’re Nila?”

“Oh my, you’re handsome. Once you grow up a bit more, you’ll have the girls in tears. Yes, I’m Nila, the one who runs Nila’s Information Agency.”

Nila smiled with her eyes as she spoke.

“But Mr. Raker isn’t the type to introduce people. That uptight old man who doesn’t trust anyone. Kid, if you picked up his business card somewhere and are using his name, you’re going to find yourself in a not-so-fun situation.”

“You could always contact the Ristoa School and confirm.”

Nila stared hard at Ray.

Then, leaning back from her previously forward posture, she said,

“Well, fine. That’s not the look of someone lying. Alright, what kind of information are you looking for?”

“An investigation into specific groups.”

Murcred and the Azure Dawn Society.

After listening to Ray’s explanation, Nila folded her arms and spoke.

“Those aren’t keywords in our database. But I’ll look into them. Normally there’s an upfront fee, but I’ll do this one for free. I owe Mr. Raker a debt.”

“And one more thing.”

Ray was planning to request an investigation into the Shards of the Rainbow.

The red shard was with the Doctor.

The blue shard was with Blue.

And the yellow, green, and indigo shards were currently in his possession.

But the whereabouts of the orange and purple shards remained unknown.

“Hmm, I don’t mind the request, but I can’t do the second one for free. We’re the best information agency in the city, so our labor doesn’t come cheap. Can you afford it? You’re a handsome young gentleman, but you don’t look particularly wealthy.”

“…”

Ray slipped his hand inside his coat.

He injected mana into the White Card linked to Acrassium and pictured what he wanted to summon.

Soon, a thick bundle of cash was in his hand.

Money was something he had in abundance.

All the funds deposited into Ignis’s cube were stored in Acrassium, after all.

Ray placed the bundle of bills on the table.

Thump!

“Oh, so you’re not broke after all?”

Thump!

“Still, that much won’t be nearly enou—”

Thump!