Genius Wizard who sees Rainbows- Chapter 35

# Ch- 35: The Undying Ember (5)

 

 

—

“AAARGH!!”

A piercing scream from the infirmary erupted, accompanied by the sound of furious footsteps growing louder by the second.

“What… What’s going on?”

“Oh my god!”

As the children scrambled backward, the previously obscured view became clear.

Kedrick, with a twisted expression, was sprinting toward them.

“He must’ve woken up in the infirmary!”

“Look at his hand! His h-hand!”

**BZZZZZZ!**

An eerie, venomous voice sliced through the tense air.

Everyone flinched in unison.

Clutched tightly in Kedrick’s hand was a scalpel, likely taken from the infirmary.

The children instinctively stepped back, creating a clear space between Kedrick and Ray.

“R-Ray! We’ll hold him b—”

“No. Stay back. I’ll handle this.”

Ray motioned for everyone to retreat as Kedrick’s erratic steps came closer.

**Tap, tap, tap, tap!**

In the suffocating silence, Kedrick’s erratic, hysterical footfalls approached. Faces paled as the children glanced nervously between Ray and Kedrick.

The situation left no doubt—Kedrick was charging with the intent to strike.

Yet Ray stood motionless, defenseless.

“What’s he thinking? Is he going to just stand there?”

“That’s a scalpel, not a bare hand! It’s too dangerous! We should—”

“No. Ray said to step back.”

Kedrick was now mere moments away.

Though uneasy, the children held their positions, obediently trusting Ray.

“Dieeeeee!!”

Kedrick lunged, thrusting the scalpel toward Ray’s face.

**Swoosh!**

His followers, watching in horror, bolted instinctively.

‘Damn it! Is it too late to stop him?’

‘Why is Ray just standing there?!’

From their perspective, Kedrick’s actions were impossible to predict.

But so was Ray’s calm composure.

“Wha…?”

Kedrick’s blade stopped midair, mere inches from Rey’s face.

Frozen.

It wasn’t blocked by anyone else, nor had Ray cast any spell.

Kedrick had stopped himself.

Trembling violently, he muttered disjointedly as he gripped the scalpel with unsteady hands.

“You were planning to scar my face with that, weren’t you? Go ahead. Do what you came to do.”

Ray grabbed Kedrick’s wrist and pulled it closer to his face.

Startled, Kedrick yanked his hand away and stumbled backward.

“You…! You…”

For a moment, Kedrick’s lips moved as if to say something, but no words came out.

Then, in a flash, he flipped the scalpel in his hand, aiming to stab himself in the throat.

**Swish!**

But he failed.

**Clang!**

Ray moved faster, closing the gap and snatching Kedrick’s wrist.

“Urgh…!”

With an iron grip, Ray forced Kedrick to drop the scalpel, sending it clattering to the ground.

**Clink!**

Without hesitation, Ray kicked the scalpel far away.

Kedrick backed away, clutching his wrist, his face a mix of fear and confusion.

Ray stepped forward.

**Thud!**

Kedrick tripped over his own feet and fell flat onto the ground.

Ray loomed over him.

The tyrant who once ruled Sector 49 with oppressive violence and fear was no longer there.

All that remained was a fragile, trembling boy stripped of his malice.

“…”

From the beginning, Ray knew.

He knew that Kedrick would never go through with the attack.

“Stand up.”

Ray extended a hand toward the crumpled Kedrick.

“We have a lot to talk about.”

—
—
—

# Inside Philip’s Office

Three boys sat around a table.

“My bad. This was my fault. I should’ve cleared out all the sharp objects from the infirmary,” Philip said, visibly guilty.

Ray shook his head.

“It’s fine. No one got hurt. I’m unharmed, the hotel kids are unharmed, and even Cederic is unharmed.”

He glanced briefly at Cederic, who sat silently, his face blank and devoid of life.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Silence fell between them. At least they were now gathered for a conversation.

Philip hesitated, then cautiously addressed Kedrick.

“I heard what happened. You tried to end your life… You didn’t mean it, right? You weren’t serious, were you?”

A long pause.

“No. I meant it.”

“Why…?”

“Because I lost the duel. Now, everyone will think I’m weak. They’ll ridicule me. Look down on me.”

Philip looked deeply shaken by the blunt admission. Gathering himself, he quickly countered.

“No, that’s not true! Nobody wins all the time. Losing doesn’t mean you’re weak. Besides, it wasn’t that you were weak—it’s just that Ray was too stro—”

“You know nothing!!”

**Bang!**

Kedrick slammed his hands on the table as he stood, his breaths heaving.

The colors of his mana swirled chaotically, flickering wildly as they radiated from his core.

A clear sign of emotional instability.

But Ray noticed something far more concerning.

‘…The speed at which his mana is dissipating is abnormal.’

A suspicion formed in Ray’s mind: mana poisoning. Perhaps an aftereffect of prolonged exposure to red mana.

Ray recalled a conversation with Veronica about a peculiar gemstone.

_”A magic stone? Hmm… This one seems to be a type of mana-charging artifact. It gathers and refines ambient mana automatically.”_

Veronica had added that while such stones could store high-quality mana, they were inherently limited.

_”The mana they refine is never as pure as mana processed through a proper circle. Overexposure carries the risk of mana poisoning.”_

Ray’s interest was piqued.

If even the highly efficient mana from a ring exhibited side effects, just how pure could the legendary “Circle mana” be?

“I need to research this further next time I visit the library.”

Lost in thought, Ray was snapped back to reality as Kedrick collapsed into his chair, head bowed low.

“I’m finished… My life is over. Why did you save me? Why didn’t you just let me burn?”

His voice was hollow, drained of hope.

Philip reached out hesitantly toward Kedrick but faltered, pulling back at the last second.

Finally, he spoke.

“Because you’re my friend.”

Kedrick’s head shot up.

“Friend? Are you mocking me? I tried to kill you! I terrorized the hotel kids and drove them out of their homes. You know this. And yet, you call me a friend?”

Kedrick’s voice grew louder, his anger boiling over.

But Ray noticed something—his mana showed no trace of the crimson hue associated with rage.

‘He’s pretending to be angry.’

Philip flinched momentarily but held his ground.

“I’m sure there’s a reason behind everything. You wouldn’t act that way without cause.”

“Philip, stop spewing nonsense.”

The argument escalated, a whirlwind of emotions flaring in Kedrick’s core.

“You’re my friend. That’s why I saved you.”

“SHUT UP!!”

Kedrick gripped his head, as if trying to block out Philip’s words, while his mana stormed chaotically.

But the storm gradually weakened, fading with each passing moment.

“Kedrick. Please. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“…”

At last, the storm subsided.

Kedrick’s remaining mana reflected guilt, self-loathing, regret, and sorrow.

Finally, he spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

Tears rolled down Kedrick’s cheeks.

—
—
—

Kedrick cried for a long time, sobbing uncontrollably in Philip’s arms.

“I’m sorry, Philip. I’m so, so sorry.”

“It’s okay. Don’t cry. Please don’t cry.”

Philip, too, eventually succumbed, tears streaming down his face.

Ray silently observed, recognizing the pale pink mana of shared sorrow.

Ray understood the emotion as well.

It was impossible not to recognize it.

Sadness, alongside anger, was the emotion that had left the deepest mark on his heart.

When he faced the deaths of Niles and the kids under the bridge,
the boy confronted the greatest loss and sorrow of his life.

“I can understand.”

Why Philip and Cedric were crying.

Because he, too, had once shed tears, unable to contain his own sorrow.

The shock of that time left countless traces of emotions on the boy’s heart, beyond just sadness and anger.

At other times, he would have revisited those traces, aligning them with the emotions before him to recall the feelings and memories of that moment.

But this time, he didn’t.

“Sadness doesn’t help.”

Sadness was an emotion that left people sitting in despair and dejection.

The moment he dwelled on the feeling of sadness, he felt like his resolve might weaken.

For someone like him, who had to achieve the goal of revenge, that was absolutely unacceptable.

That’s what the boy believed.

Until he achieved his goal, he thought he had no right to feel sadness.

Because of this, Ray understood Philip and Kedrick’s sorrow intellectually but didn’t empathize with it emotionally.

How much time had passed like this?

Eventually, Philip and Kedrick pulled away from each other’s embrace.

Philip’s eyes were swollen from crying, and Kedrick had a somewhat dazed but relieved expression.

Kedrick began to speak slowly, his voice weary.

“I hated myself. I was too weak. Why was I so small? Why was I so weak? Why was I born like this? Not a single day passed without those thoughts.”

He couldn’t stand being a complete weakling on the streets.

Even after the hotel was established and life improved significantly, the festering resentment in his chest didn’t diminish in the slightest.

“Being part of the hotel meant I could work freely in other gangs’ territories? I just thought it was a humiliating life where we paid off the stronger guys.”

Even then, he couldn’t entirely escape exposure to violence.

In relationships with other gangs, the hotel was thoroughly subordinate.

During the early days of the contract, when the system hadn’t fully stabilized, conflicts occurred far more frequently than now.

Ultimately, the dissatisfaction Kedrick harbored could only be resolved by becoming stronger himself.

“I worked out every day. I built muscle. My strength increased. I envisioned countless times in my head scenes where I’d fight other gangs.”

He finally thought he was ready.

*”Feels nice, doesn’t it? Being able to work in our territory. Why don’t we have a little chat over there?”*

It happened while he was returning to the hotel after finishing a job.

He was caught by the Zephyr gang.

Normally, he would’ve run away immediately, but this time, he couldn’t suppress the thrill that rose within him.

It was his chance to test the results of all his hard work.

*”Sure, let’s talk.”*

He confidently followed the gang into an alley.

And then, he was mercilessly beaten and had all the money he earned that day taken from him.

*”Made a lot, huh? Thanks! We’ll be counting on you next time too!”*

Neither the muscles nor the strength he built,
nor the countless mental rehearsals,
meant anything against the disparity in size and numbers.

Kedrick returned to the hotel in the dead of night, his face bloody and swollen, sobbing uncontrollably.

“…….”

The hotel was silent.

Moonlight filtered through the shattered windows.

Between the endlessly stretching rows of beds, the sound of soft, even breaths could be heard.

Kedrick clenched his fists tightly.

He gritted his teeth hard enough to break them.

How could they sleep so peacefully?

Didn’t it bother them, this life of being beaten and robbed over and over?

He couldn’t suppress the disgust.

The children gathered at the hotel were powerless weaklings from the streets, all sharing similar traits.

Small bodies at best.

Weak strength. Thin frames. Timid personalities.

Kedrick knew he wasn’t an exception to this categorization.

It felt like mirrors reflecting his own weakness surrounded him on all sides.

He wanted to shatter those mirrors.

*”Ah.”*

As Cedric stared at the children with a bitter, venomous gaze, he suddenly came to a realization.

“I…”

Kedrick’s lips moved slightly, then parted.

Ray listened intently.

Understanding the emotions of others might be the key to expanding the depth of his own feelings.