Genius Wizard who sees Rainbows- Chapter 293

**#293. Figures of the Past (3)**

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Rael, once gruff and imposing, now appeared courteous and composed.

Ray found it strange.

*‘He said “you’ve finally returned”?’*

Rael’s gaze was fixed directly on Ray, leaving no doubt that those words were meant for him.

But Ray wasn’t the one who’d lost consciousness and then woken up. Wouldn’t “returned” be more fitting if Rael were talking about himself?

As Ray puzzled over this—

*Rustle—*

Rael prostrated himself flat on the ground, bowing deeply toward Ray, and spoke.

“…Thank you. For returning.”

His voice was soaked with emotion.

His body trembled faintly.

It gave the surreal illusion that Rael was not a machine, but a living being.

“Returned…?”

“How could I not recognize you? You are the one who once imbued the surface’s living beings with emotion.”

“You’re mistaken about something.”

“No, Rainbow.”

Rainbow.

The moment that word, briefly spoken, reached his ears, Ray felt as if the entire world had started to tremble.

His heart began to race.

His breathing quickened.

Turning his head, Ray addressed the dwarf elders.

“This one… wasn’t fully repaired.”

“Hm… But we followed the schematics exactly.”

“Could we have made some sort of mistake?”

“Maybe a good hit will fix it?”

As a flurry of opinions passed back and forth, Rael slowly rose and spoke.

“I am not malfunctioning. I clearly remember who I am, and I am aware of the mission I was given.”

Ray looked seriously at him and asked,

“Who are you, then?”

“I am Rael—or more precisely, a clone that inherited Rael’s personality and memories.”

“And your mission?”

“To serve the returned Rainbow and help the world regain its original form.”

This much Ray already knew from the journal of Rael he had found in Akrasium.

The problem, however, was that Rael had clearly misunderstood something.

“I’m not Rainbow.”

“That cannot be.”

Rael, with a wistful, faint smile, removed his top completely.

With his short, thick fingers, he executed a precise manipulation on his skin. A seam appeared on his chest, and a compartment opened.

At the center of a complex mechanical structure—

—was a small, transparent, colorless jewel.

“You scattered all your colors across the world until your strength was spent. This is the last trace that remained in the place you departed from. The Guardians engraved a resonance signature into it so it would react to your soul.”

Swallowing his trembling voice, Rael continued with difficulty.

“But… perhaps such a device was unnecessary. Just by standing in front of you, this certainty swells within me. It’s true. How could we not recognize your greatness?”

*Click.*

The jewel, removed from the device, began to glow with a brilliant light and vibrate.

The moment Ray took it in hand, memories related to Blue resurfaced.

*‘So this was the method to identify the Rainbow’s reincarnation.’*

And with that, he realized that everything Rael said was true.

But recognizing the truth of Rael’s words and accepting that he himself was Rainbow’s reincarnation were two very different matters.

*‘I’m the reincarnation of Rainbow?’*

He had never considered it before, and even now, he couldn’t accept it.

Of course, throughout his long journey, there had been moments that defied explanation.

How could he manipulate fragments of Rainbow so freely?

Why had the Doctor said his world had failed—and shown fear toward him?

Why did Veronica’s white sun only rise when she looked at him?

He sank into thought, but still, accepting the situation was difficult.

*‘Not enough.’*

There were only 72 instances in total that made him question his identity.

*‘…Or is that already too many?’*

For now, Ray asked while holding on to his confusion.

“…Whether I’m Rainbow’s reincarnation or not, I’ll think about that later. First, can you tell me what happened yesterday?”

“Yes. I will explain.”

Rael nodded and continued calmly.

“Last night, that man—Redran—appeared. At the time, I had not yet recovered the true memories of Rael, so I didn’t recognize him.”

At first, Rael thought he was a regular client.

Wearing a mask to hide one’s appearance was common in Dark Alley.

“…After checking him via CCTV, I focused on my work. All consultations are handled by attendants anyway. But midway through, I heard a scream and rushed out—only to find the attendant melted into the floor, and Redran standing over him, heat blazing from his hand.”

Rael said he could never forget what Redran said next as he looked at him.

—“It’s been a long time, Rael. You survived, too? I searched everywhere and never expected you’d be hiding in a place like this.”

“I didn’t know what he meant… or who he was, but I instinctively felt my life was in danger. I tried to flee, but he caught me and threatened me in a chilling voice. He told me to make equipment that could get through the Land of Calamity safely.”

“The Land of Calamity?”

“A region you must cross to reach the sealed ruins of the Indigo Guardian. The fairies have layered it with thousands of barriers and traps. There’s no way through by conventional means.”

Rael then gave him the coordinates.

Ray checked them on a map and realized something.

*‘That’s the place I saw when I climbed the World Tree.’*

Where lightning struck without pause from the sky.

Where flames surged from cracked ground at the horizon’s edge.

Rael finished his account.

“…Anyway, I activated the security system in the workshop, narrowly escaped Redran’s grasp, and hid in a bunker.”

“Then the Doctor probably burned the whole workshop down. Good thing you survived.”

Had Rael been caught or killed, the fog around the Doctor’s trail wouldn’t have lifted.

“But I still don’t understand why Redran is heading to the sealed ruins. What is he…”

“He wants to absorb the power.”

“Power?”

“The Indigo Guardian’s power.”

Rael fell silent.

Then slowly nodded.

“…I see. Redran always had a powerful hunger for strength. But even if he does find a way to break the seal and absorb the power, it would be almost impossible.”

“Why?”

“The Guardians’ powers are based on the emotions granted by Rainbow.”

For the Indigo Guardian, the source of power was the combination of superiority and inferiority complexes.

“No one except the Indigo Guardian can truly embody both those opposing emotions simultaneously. Even if Redran absorbs the power, he won’t be able to control even one percent of its original strength.”

“No, there is someone else.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Someone besides the Indigo Guardian who can perfectly embody both superiority and inferiority.”

Ray was thinking of the man the Doctor had taken away—his vessel brimming with dark blue mana.

*
*
*

After talking for a while, Ray gave Rael an order.

“Go stay with Rael Row for a bit.”

Partly because of the dwarf elders’ eager eyes—but mostly because Ray needed time to think.

Of course, whether Rael would comply quietly was another matter.

“We’ve finally met again after so long—how can we part so easily?! We should spend at least 100 hours catching up—!”

“Ancestor! Please take us with you!”

“We have so many questions to ask!”

*Creak—Bang!*

Ray looked at the door Rael had been dragged through, then turned away.

*‘…So I’m Rainbow.’*

He understood it in his head.

But his heart and emotions refused to accept it.

Such an unexpected shift in identity—was this what Veronica had felt when she was told she was a saintess?

Ray summoned the fragments of Rainbow and stared at them for a long moment before coming to a conclusion.

*‘No need to overthink it.’*

Regardless, his goal remained the same: destroy Indiago, take revenge, and capture the Doctor to gather all the fragments of Rainbow.

The lighthouse’s light shone far and bright. All he had to do was run toward it.

Ray left the Tower of Magic and returned to Dark Alley by train.

Using information from Nila and the help of a thoughtful local guide, he tracked down the house of a resident who began acting strangely after meeting the Doctor.

He soon arrived at a shabby door.

“Th-this is the place. So, can I go now? Really?”

“Yes. You guided me here and helped move unconscious Rael. You’ve done enough.”

“Th-thank you!”

*Crack!*

Before the lackey could flee, Ray struck him with a bolt of lightning, then opened the door to the house to the sound of hiccups behind him.

*Creeeak—*

A small yard appeared.

A woman was hanging laundry.

Her eyes were vacant, and her motions robotic.

Even when spoken to, she only glanced over briefly before resuming her task.

*‘There’s not a shred of emotion in her vessel.’*

It wasn’t the first time Ray had seen something like this.

Homunculi also lacked emotions.

But this time, it was different—this was a real human.

The Doctor’s goal was to return the world to its original emotionless state.

…Could this be evidence that his experiment was nearing completion?

*Wumm.*

Ray summoned the orange gem he had absorbed beside his heart, extracted from Orea’s Tear.

He closed his eyes and summoned his emotions.

Comfort. Safety. Gratitude. And…

Resonating with those emotions, the orange gem released mana toward the woman. All the harmful imprints clinging to her mind began to dissolve.

It was thanks to the gem’s high-purity element of purification and stability.

But the power of the orange gem didn’t end there. Rael had said:

*“I can’t say for certain, but if you have the orange gem, you might be able to pass through the Land of Calamity more easily. The Land of Calamity were created by the fairies, and the orange gem belonged to the queen of the fairies, the Guardian of Orange.”*

That must have been why the doctor sent Madam Philia to the auction house to obtain Orea’s Tear.

When that plan fell through, he had probably come looking for Rael at the workshop.

*And the reason he’s trying to absorb the power of the Indigo Guardian…*

…was probably to stop me.

Just then, the woman, whose focus had returned along with the vessel’s emotions, spoke.

“…Huh? This place… what… happened…?”

“I need to ask you something.”

“Uh, you are…?”

The woman, initially flustered as she grasped her surroundings, soon calmed down and answered Ray’s question.

“You asked if I’d met a large-built man? Oh, right! He gave off this intense heat, like he’d come from standing next to a fire. Then suddenly, he reached his palm toward my face, and I drifted home in a daze… and after that…? I just kept hanging the laundry…? Without stopping, mm…? Why did I do that? It feels like I woke up from a deep sleep.”

*Intense heat.*

It appeared the doctor had met this woman sometime after visiting the workshop.

Ray listened carefully to the rest of her story, but nothing particularly helpful came up.

Ray pulled out a high-value coin and showed it to her.

“Was there anything else? Did he say where he was going, or have any verbal tics or odd habits, anything distinctive? Even the smallest detail is fine.”

The woman’s eyes lit up at the sight of the coin, and she racked her brain with all her might.

Then after a moment, she opened her mouth.

“He asked, ‘Where in this city do the most children gather?’”

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