Genius Wizard who sees Rainbows- Chapter 43

#043. The Old Tale and the Circle (5)

 

 

 

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The clothes prepared outside the door fit perfectly.

They appeared to be new, likely purchased recently. Veronica’s sharp eye for detail was evident.

Ray used magic to summon a breeze, drying his hair, and descended the stairs.

“Ah, you’re done─”

Veronica, rising from her seat at the table, froze mid-sentence when she saw him.

A nobleman seemed to have appeared before her.

She had always thought Ray’s features were elegant, but she hadn’t expected them to be this striking.

But the sensation he gave off couldn’t simply be described as “handsome.”

*There was a word for this feeling.*

A term she had seen in books but never truly encountered in real life.

As the word hovered just out of reach, it suddenly struck her.

*Grace.*

The refined and dignified atmosphere exuded by a person or object.

It wasn’t because of his outfit.

The clothes Ray wore were nothing more than simple, everyday attire commonly seen in the streets.

The reason for this grace lay in the aura of the boy named Ray, now freed from the dirt and grime that had concealed it.

Veronica snapped out of her daze as Ray approached the table, as though released from a spell.

“You look like a completely different person! Your hair is naturally white?”

“Apparently so.”

“Amazing! If you told someone you were the same person as earlier, no one would believe it.”

Veronica marveled, her eyes catching sight of the bundle of clothes Ray held in one hand.

“Ah, and those clothes—hand them over so I can wash─”

The clothes were beyond repair, with over half of them burned or torn, rendering them nearly useless as garments.

The clothes seemed to beg, *Just let me die… please.*

“─Actually, washing them might be impossible. Maybe it’s better to let them go.”

Ray glanced down at the bundle, walked outside, and returned empty-handed.

“You threw them out?”

“I burned them.”

“…You’re decisive, I’ll give you that.”

“It’s better to move on to the next thing. So, can we start the lesson now?”

“Yes, take a seat.”

The girl and boy sat side by side.

Veronica opened a book and began explaining.

“This part here, first…”

Although slightly nervous since it was her first time teaching, her explanations were smooth and clear, hitting all the key points.

“…That’s why the subject and predicate connect in this order.”

It didn’t take long for Ray to become engrossed in the lesson.

Though he had learned basic writing from Niles, he had never received such structured explanations before.

What he didn’t know, he now understood, and what he did know, he solidified.

“This part is tricky. Should I explain it again?”

“No, I got it. Let’s move on.”

Having a foundation in place and an excellent ability to understand, Ray progressed through the material effortlessly.

About an hour later.

*Thud!*

Veronica closed the last page of the first textbook and handed Ray a notebook with several practice questions.

*Scratch, scratch.*

The answers came back in less than a minute.

“You only got one wrong! At this rate, you’ll finish all the textbooks in less than a month!”

“That’s good. What’s next?”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t there more to study?”

“Oh… more?”

Veronica faltered.

Finishing a week’s worth of material in just an hour, showing no signs of fatigue, and asking for more?

A strong feeling arose.

No matter how much more challenging the material became, Ray’s thirst for knowledge and pace wouldn’t waver.

*…Can I keep up with him?*

She began to understand how her grandfather must have felt, often overwhelmed by Ray’s relentless pursuit of learning.

And a realization struck her.

Teaching required twice the energy of learning.

Her exhaustion from building the magic circle hadn’t fully subsided, and she felt on the brink of collapse.

Yet, at the same time, a sense of competitiveness ignited.

*Teaching is actually… fun.*

The act of teaching brought Veronica a surprising amount of satisfaction and joy.

She felt a desire to make her lessons more systematic and professional.

She had already started planning how to prepare for the next session as soon as this one ended.

The small red-haired teacher made a decision after some thought.

*Bring it on, Ray!*

“For today, can we stop here?”

But not just yet!

“In return, I’ll prepare multiple textbooks for tomorrow’s lesson.”

“Alright.”

Ray agreed more easily than she expected, as he felt he could now manage to read books, albeit slowly, on his own.

“Oh, and Ray, can I ask for a favor too?”

“What is it?”

“Could you watch me when I create the magic circle? Maybe offer advice if anything comes to mind?”

Ray thought for a moment before replying.

“I don’t think I’d be much help. I’m not good at explaining, and I just created a circle based on my instinct.”

“That’s okay. Just having you watch is enough. If you notice something, you can point it out.”

It wasn’t a difficult request. Ray thought of it as partial repayment for the lesson.

“Sure, I’ll do that.”

“Thank you!”

While Veronica tidied the table, Ray quickly reviewed the material.

He then stood and scanned the nearby bookshelves.

“Can I read these books?”

“Huh? Sure! Just don’t crease or scribble on them. But can you read on your own?”

“I’ll try.”

“Then start with the dictionary over there!”

“A dictionary?”

“Yeah, it’s a book that defines almost every word. It’ll help when you come across ones you don’t know.”

Almost every word in the world.

Ray immediately thought of one particular word.

“Does it include the meaning of ‘rainbow’?”

“Uh… I’ve never checked, but since it’s related to magic, it might not be in there.”

Ray nodded slightly.

Regardless, a book that explained word meanings seemed immensely useful.

He walked toward the bookshelf Veronica indicated, thinking, *First, find the dictionary. Then, the next book to look for will be…*

A manual on car maintenance.

Thinking about how the rest of the journey would be spent entirely on the road, acquiring knowledge about vehicle maintenance was an absolute necessity.

If the car were to break down suddenly in the wasteland, it would spell big trouble, leaving them stranded with nowhere to go.

“It’s a relief nothing happened to the car on the way here,” Ray thought.

The wasteland he had traveled through to reach Sector 49 was neither a short distance nor an easy terrain. Objectively, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the vehicle had broken down somewhere along the way.

It had been sheer luck.

Back then, with the urgency of the situation, he had no choice but to set out without any preparation. But now, with time on his side, the story was different.

Before moving on to the next sector, Ray planned to prepare thoroughly in various areas.

“Chrom…well…dictionary… This must be what Veronica mentioned.”

Stopping in front of the bookshelf, Ray spotted a book that seemed to be a dictionary.

The cover was brown leather, and the thickness was nearly the width of his palm.

At a glance, it exuded an extraordinary aura. And sure enough, the moment he picked it up, he felt an overwhelming weight.

It seemed like it would be very effective if used to hit someone on the head.

“A book really is a versatile item,” he mused.

Just then, he sensed a gaze on him.

Flipping through the pages of the dictionary, Ray continued to think calmly.

“It’s coming from the stairs. Not Veronica—she’s still seated at the table.”

Since there were only four residents in this place, the owner of the gaze was easily deduced.

Turning his head slowly, he saw Veronica’s two younger brothers, Malta and yulfin, staring at him from halfway down the stairs.

The moment their eyes met, the two boys flinched in surprise and quickly disappeared upstairs.

For a brief moment, their wary expressions were evident.

But Ray was more focused on something else than their guarded demeanor.

“…Their faces look familiar. Have I seen them somewhere before?”

Ray wasn’t particularly good at remembering faces.

It wasn’t an issue with his memory itself—he was far better than most people at recalling other types of information.

But when it came to faces, no matter how distinctive the features, they all seemed similar to him.

It sometimes felt like living in a world where everyone’s face was a blank slate.

As a result, Ray usually relied on more intuitive markers like hair color or height to remember and distinguish people.

If he spent enough time with someone, he could eventually visualize their face clearly in his mind.

…However, even a brief period of not seeing them would cause their faces to fade quickly from his memory.

It had been that way since birth.

It was a condition beyond his control, akin to an unchangeable innate trait.

“I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

He frowned slightly and pondered but couldn’t come up with anything.

Deciding it was a waste of time, he pushed the thought aside and focused on his task.

**Flip, flip.**

The words seemed to be arranged alphabetically.

Finding the desired page, Ray meticulously traced his finger over each word until he found what he was looking for.

As expected, there was no mention of a rainbow. Just as Veronica had said.

Unbothered, Ray resumed flipping through the pages.

Soon, he arrived at another section, his finger skimming over various words until it came to a sudden stop.

His finger landed on the word *sacrifice*.

> “Sacrifice – An offering presented during rituals, often in the form of animals or humans.”

The other definitions following it were all along the same lines.

The meaning of *sacrifice* didn’t stray far from what Ray had anticipated.

The contents of the man’s letter, which he had read in the basement, vividly came to mind.

> “The red bloodstone I was given… I can grow even stronger…. Stray children in the streets… used as sacrifices…. No one cares if they disappear…. Sixty-six of them… This proves my boldness and decisiveness….”

The man’s reason for approaching Kedrick.

The situation was becoming clearer.

**Thud.**

Ray closed the dictionary and tucked it under his arm.

He continued to browse the bookstore, picking up any books that seemed necessary or piqued his interest.

Before he knew it, his arms were overflowing with books.

> **“Small Vehicle Construction Manual”**

> **“Automotive Maintenance Textbook”**

> **“Wasteland Geography for Travelers”**

> **“The Interpretation of Dreams”**

> **“What It Means to Be Human”**

All of them were as thick and substantial as the dictionary.

It was a pity there weren’t any books on magic, but the selection still promised plenty of useful knowledge.

And they could serve other purposes in emergencies.

“I’d like to read this one too, *78 Survival Tips for Various Environments*.”

But his arms were already full, and adding more wasn’t an option.

After a moment of deliberation, Ray drew mana from his circle.

**Whirrr—**

Streams of mana, glowing in several colors, flowed through his arms and into his palms.

The mana slipped into the narrow spaces between the books and his hands, weaving together in a fluid yet quick motion.

The mana, now a translucent sky-blue, enveloped the pile of books, lifting them effortlessly into the air.

Within moments, Ray’s hands were free.

“Normally, I’d barely manage to lift a single book.”

Telekinesis was a high-difficulty magic that drained a lot of mental energy, so he rarely used it.

…But using the circle’s mana made it absurdly easy.

“I’ll need to test out other spells properly once I’m back at the car. And as for the mana in the circle—it seems like the red, pinkish, and white ones are the most abundant, in that order.”

Each of these colors corresponded to significant emotions—anger, sorrow, and concern—that had left deep impressions.

A question crossed his mind.

Would the mana composition in the ring change if he experienced a wider range of emotions?

And what kind of magic could be performed using the pink mana?

Pink mana had always felt stiff and unyielding, much like white mana, so he hadn’t experimented much with it.

“But not anymore.”

The pink mana in the ring was far from stiff now.

Through diligent experimentation, he might uncover new spells.

But for some reason, he didn’t feel like trying.

The reason was clear, even if Ray himself didn’t realize it.

The emotion associated with the pink mana was none other than sorrow.

**Ssssshhh—**

The sound of rain echoed in his memory. A stormy night, by the side of a collapsed tent, holding Niles’ lifeless body and crying out in despair.

That was when Ray first encountered sorrow.

The face of sorrow he saw that day was so horrifying that it left a deep-seated fear in his heart.

“I never want to feel that emotion again.”

It was a form of self-defense.

A warning planted deep in his subconscious to protect his mind.

Since then, anything that reminded him of sorrow filled him with an aversion.

“It’s inefficient to let such a large amount of mana go unused.”

Though he didn’t realize it.

“Still, for now, red and white mana will suffice.”

The aversion had grown strong, deeply ingrained.

With that thought, Ray began to walk again.

The heavy books, floating behind him, followed as silently as the unhealed wound buried deep in his heart.

 

 

 

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