Genius Wizard who sees Rainbows- Chapter 325

**#325. Side Story 2. The Girl in the Orb (1)**

 

—

*Tap— Tap—*

A dark underground space.

Footsteps echoed within it—two pairs.

The woman followed the boy.

The gray metal that formed the floor and walls resembled stone, giving the feeling of being sucked into a deep cavern.

She found herself tense without realizing it.

If not for the dim magical lights lining the ceiling, even minimal visibility would have been impossible.

…

*Tap— Tap—*

In truth, she could have simply conjured a sphere of light with magic.

Then her field of vision would be far brighter—beyond comparison.

But she couldn’t.

…Because she didn’t have the courage to face this space properly.

Fear, trembling, dread.

Those were the feelings that had taken root in her heart from the moment she first set foot on the stairs descending into this underground place.

No matter how hard she tried to suppress them, they surged back up to assert their presence.

She was a woman who hated more than anything to show weakness, but this time—she had to admit it.

*Tap— Tap.*

After what felt like endless stairs and corridors.

They finally reached the very bottom floor.

In the center of a small room, where silence lay thick like dust, sat a wheelchair.

When she focused her gaze, she saw that someone was sitting in it.

But the figure didn’t stir in the slightest.

The boy beside her parted his lips.

—“It’s the Doctor. He’s dead now.”

—……

As the woman felt a sinking sensation in her chest, the boy began recounting what had happened here yesterday.

With as much detail as possible.

So the woman could know everything.

—“So, right before his final breath, the Doctor laughed loudly. He lived his whole life wrapped in fear, but at the very end, it was like he realized—he never needed to be afraid at all.”

All humans live with some kind of fear.

Just like yesterday—when the boy said she had the chance to meet the Doctor and suggested they go together—and she couldn’t muster the courage.

It was a mix of emotions.

She hated the Doctor enough to want to kill him, but also… feared him.

*Tap—*

After a long hesitation.

The woman approached the wheelchair.

Under the faint lighting, she confirmed the old man’s face.

His head had fallen backward, eyes toward the ceiling, with a frozen expression that might’ve been relief—or regret.

—Ah.

The woman gasped in surprise.

The person who had stolen her life—this “Doctor”—had the face of an ordinary old man you could pass by on the street.

No sharp horns.

No grotesque skin.

No crimson eyes like a demon from imagination.

Somehow, her mind went blank.

She had imagined that when she finally met the real Doctor hiding behind his golem, she would tear him to shreds.

But now… she couldn’t summon that rage.

She just felt numb, hollow.

The black fear she had held for the Doctor was completely gone from her heart.

—

 

……

How much time had passed?

As she stared blankly, her eyes met the boy’s.

—“The seal of emotion.”

The boy spoke.

“Are you ready to release it now?”

“…Huh? What?”

Snapped out of her thoughts, Curiosa quickly looked around to reorient herself.

They were inside a cabin, sunlight filtering in.

A small child stirred a teaspoon in front of her.

Ah, right.

She had been talking at the table with the boy who had suddenly shown up at her house.

The topic of the Doctor came up, and she had recalled past events.

“What did you just say?”

“I asked if you’re ready to release the emotional seal now.”

Would she release the seal?

This was the third time he’d asked.

The first time was when the boy had obtained the orange shard of the rainbow.

*“I can release the emotional seal engraved on the back of your hand.”*

She had answered after deep consideration:

*“…I’ll put it off until I’ve taken revenge on the Doctor. If I release the seal, I might lose my hatred for him.”*

A firm refusal grounded in her vow for revenge.

The second time had been right after confirming the Doctor’s death at his residence.

*“Are you ready to release it now?”*

*“…Not yet. I need time to sort out my emotions.”*

She had declined because she wasn’t mentally ready.

“It’s been a week since you visited the Doctor’s place. I thought maybe you’d had time to sort things out.”

And now—the third time.

Curiosa stared at Ray.

About two years ago.

The boy she had first met as an enemy in the canyon of the wasteland had grown—no longer looking like a mere child.

He still had the delicate looks that might make him a heartbreaker among girls his age.

But something in his deeper gaze and aura told her—he had changed.

He had grown.

Both physically and mentally.

“I’m not a kid anymore.”

“Stop reading my thoughts.”

…Anyway.

‘On the other hand, I…’

She had lived easily twice as long as the boy.

But if asked whether she had grown—well.

She had lived her whole life as a “monster of curiosity,” thanks to the Doctor’s hand.

In those repetitive days, there had been no spark of change, no room for growth.

Her life had been frozen in place.

Those years were long—so long—that now, her memories as Curiosa were far clearer than her memories as an orphaned girl.

That’s why.

That’s why she didn’t have the courage to easily remove the seal on her emotions.

According to the boy, everyone had a vessel that held their emotions.

*“…In your case, it’s filled with violet curiosity.”*

The artificial, abnormal emotions generated by the seal of curiosity—

Would all vanish.

If she released the seal.

…But then what?

*‘If I break the seal, what emotions will fill the empty vessel?’*

She didn’t know, and that uncertainty terrified her.

Releasing the seal meant facing her true self.

But hadn’t she long since forgotten what that true self even was?

*‘I’m just Curiosa.’*

A monster of curiosity who had lived only for revenge against the Doctor.

Beyond that… she remembered nothing.

*Vwoom!*

“…?”

Suddenly sensing mana, Curiosa snapped to her senses and saw the boy’s orange-glowing hand creeping toward the table.

She used spatial magic to quickly teleport behind him.

“You little brat! Put that thing away!”

“We have to release the seal, don’t we?”

“Not now! I need more time to think!”

“How much more?”

She was momentarily speechless.

It wasn’t something she could answer with certainty.

So she raised her voice, trying to cover up her fear.

“Hmph! What’s the rush, anyway? You’ve absorbed the power of the rainbow’s orange shard. You can release the seal any time you want, right?”

“There’s no rush, but…”

“But?”

“I want to finish as much as I can before I go on my journey.”

“…Journey?”

A dot and a line on Curiosa’s white mask shifted to form a question mark.

“You? A journey? What kind of sudden journey?”

“I want to visit the places I’ve passed by before. Slowly. At ease. I thought it might be a good chance to reflect on myself.”

A chance to reflect.

Curiosa instantly understood.

The boy, too, was wrestling with something similar to what she felt.

Her prickly tone softened.

“Hmph… well then, I wish you a successful journey. Anyway, this means it’s still not the right time to release the seal on my hand.”

“What are you so afraid of?”

Flinch.

Curiosa scoffed.

“Afraid? Me? Of what? I’m the great explorer of ancient ruins, a high-ranked 4th-circle mage, and the Cookie Slayer of the Shunlis Orphanage! What’s there to—KYYYYAAAAAAA!”

Seeing the mouse Ray pulled from his pocket, Curiosa screamed and vanished into a spatial rift.

*Crackle.*

The rift closed.

“……”

It had happened in a blink.

Silence returned to the cabin.

Ray fed the mouse a small piece of cheese and returned it to his pocket.

Then he spoke toward the empty air.

“I found it. The Shunlis Orphanage.”

*Crackle.*

Curiosa peeked her head back out once she confirmed the mouse was gone.

“…You found it?”

“Yeah. It’s mostly ruins now, but the original site still exists.”

Curiosa was stunned.

She recalled what she’d said before.

*‘Shulnis Orphanage? That’s where I lived before the Doctor took me in. Same goes for all the other Murcred executives.’*

*‘I don’t really remember it well. It was dirty, damp, and dark. Beyond that… not much. It’s been too long.’*

She had said it offhandedly.

There hadn’t been any meaningful clues in that statement.

But he’d found the old site?

“…You’re not lying, right?”

“I have quite a bit of money. And plenty of people in the world are willing to do legwork for money.”

He had put out notices and combed through every sector with help from locals and vagrants.

“Even so, issuing search notices to all sectors would take—oh.”

Curiosa trailed off, then realized.

After collecting all the rainbow shards, this kid had been showing powers that defied common sense.

Like casually using spatial magic—which drained both mental strength and resources—to the point it seemed like breathing.

Distance between sectors no longer meant anything to him.

“I can take you there, if you want.”

“……”

Curiosa hesitated.

But she already knew her answer.

Even if it was just ruins, it might hold clues to her childhood self.

“…Fine. I’ll visit. But I need time to mentally prepare. At least two days—”

“You don’t have to be so scared all the time.”

Ray waved his hand in the air.

Mana surged as a spatial rift began to open.

“W-wait, kid!”

“There are others coming with us.”

Just as Curiosa panicked, she caught sight of the person and scenery beyond the rift—and fell silent.

“Miss Curie! How have you been?”

Red hair, wide-brimmed hat.

A fancy travel outfit and a suitcase.

It was Veronica.

Behind the grand corridors of a cathedral, priests’ panicked voices and footsteps echoed.

“The Saintess has vanished!”

“She was supposed to meet the congregation soon—where did she go…?”

“Search all her usual escape routes!”

Curiosa spoke with a sour expression.

“It looks like they’re looking for you…”

“Veronica is free.”

“No…”

“Free.”

Staring straight at Curiosa, Veronica enunciated each word clearly, then hopped over into the cabin.

Afterward, the spatial rift closed—

*Bzzt—*

—and then reopened.

The scenery and people had changed.

“Hello, Miss Curiosa! Wow, it’s been a while, everyone!”

Like Veronica, Philip also had a travel bag beside him.

The background was now a sleek, modern mansion. Standing behind him was a brown-haired woman.

It was Philip’s birth mother, Philia.

Once affiliated with Murcred under the alias “Obsess,” she had now broken free from her bindings and reclaimed her own life.

She looked at her son with warm eyes, which then met Curiosa’s gaze.

“……”

“……”

No words were exchanged.

But Curiosa could tell.

That as someone who had released her bindings first, Philia was sending her a look of encouragement.

“Well, I’m off then!”

“Alright. Take care of yourself. Since Ray’s with you, I won’t worry too much.”

Philip crossed over, and the rift closed.

“Veronica, you look like you’ve bulked up a bit since I last saw you.”

“If you don’t watch it, I just might tell Lady Philia that you’re dating Sister Ayla.”

“Hahaha! Whoops, that was a slip of the tongue! Gained weight? No way! You’ve actually gotten so skinny you’re unrecognizable!”

As the cheerful conversation continued—

Curiosa found herself wondering.

What sector number was the site of the old orphanage, that the entire group would be going there together?

*Bzzzt—!*

Ray opened a new portal.

Following the others through the rift, Curiosa instantly noticed a shift in the landscape’s color tone.

Dreary buildings.

Passersby in shabby clothes.

And on a sign, the number *49* was smeared, the ink bleeding down like black rain.

—