Genius Wizard who sees Rainbows- Chapter 94

# 094. The Weeping Woman (4)

 

 

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Ray opened his eyes slightly to confirm his current location.

A dimly lit hallway.

A view that swayed slightly up and down.

Tap─ Tap─ Tap─

And the sound of four pairs of footsteps coming from directly below him.

At the moment, he was being carried somewhere by the children.

‘…Where are they taking me?’

Ray memorized the path, observing the surrounding objects.

After passing through a considerable number of hallways and corners—

Thud.

The children’s footsteps stopped.

In front of a room at the end of the hallway, they opened the door, carefully laid Ray on a bed, and then exited.

Creak─ Click.

“……”

Ray quietly opened his eyes and sat up, first confirming the locations of Philip and Veronica.

Through the binding magic, he could sense the presence of both of them in different rooms, not far away.

Judging by their slight movements within a certain radius, they seemed to be examining their respective rooms.

Swish.

Ray also sat up halfway and looked around the room.

A desk, a bed, a table, a wardrobe…

The room had an elegant atmosphere, furnished with a variety of furniture.

However, all the furniture was slightly smaller than standard sizes, giving the impression that it was designed for children.

And another peculiar detail—

‘Dranine.’

The missing leader of the group was sitting in a chair in front of the desk.

Only his back was visible, but the faint sound of his breathing suggested that he was asleep.

Click, click—

Just as Ray was about to get up, footsteps sounded from beyond the door.

He quickly lay back down and half-closed his eyes.

Creeeak— Click.

Even though the room was dim due to the small window, he could still make out who had entered.

It was Madame Lenia.

She glanced at him briefly before turning to Dranine, where she created a small cluster of light in her palm.

—No matter… 16 years old… No… Rather… My age….

Her voice carried faint traces of confusion and contemplation.

Her murmurs were too quiet for Ray to make out the full content.

She then extinguished the light and clasped the red gemstone of her necklace between her thumb and index finger.

Then—

Vwoom—

The gemstone began emitting a faint red glow.

‘A mana-charging stone. I can clearly feel the stored mana within it.’

This added another piece of evidence to support the suspicion that Madame Lenia was a member of Murcred’s organization.

But the gemstone didn’t just emit light.

The emotions pooled within Dranine’s vessel began to be drawn toward it.

His vessel soon dried up, like a pond in the middle of a drought.

Vwoom—

After its feast, the gemstone emitted an even stronger light, and the red glow seeped into Dranine’s body before disappearing.

Darkness returned.

Click, click—

At the sound of approaching footsteps, Ray quickly shut his eyes.

Soon, his closed vision brightened, and he heard murmurs.

“I’ve been waiting, my son. This time, I will protect you.”

Her voice was tinged with tears.

Madame Lenia activated her necklace in the same way as before, but soon encountered an unexpected situation.

“……?”

No matter how much time passed, the gemstone’s glow did not intensify.

The red light didn’t pour into the boy named Ray.

It was only natural.

Ray’s vessel contained no emotions that could be absorbed in the first place.

‘Why? This never happened when I used it on the other children….’

But since she was unaware of this fact, the woman could only be deeply perplexed.

“……!”

At that moment, a chilling sensation swept over her entire body.

Following her instincts, she immediately activated teleportation magic, disappearing from her spot and reappearing several steps away.

Swish!

By a hair’s breadth, a claw-like hand sliced through the empty space where her necklace had been.

“Did you use that to turn the children into puppets?”

Ray, now fully upright on the bed, conjured several fireballs around him as he spoke.

If she was indeed a member of Murcred’s organization, his priority was to take the mana-charging stone, which could be a critical factor in battle.

Unfortunately, his attempt failed.

‘I didn’t expect her to react fast enough to dodge that.’

Such reaction speed was impossible without significant combat experience.

His previous suspicions solidified even further.

Fwoosh!

The scarlet flames illuminated the faces of both the boy and the woman.

“H-How did you w-wake up?”

“What is that necklace?”

“I-I never meant to…”

“What were you planning to do with the children?”

“I, I did nothing wrong… I only did it for the children….”

Ray tilted his head slightly.

‘It was said that all members of Murcred’s organization exhibit high aggression….’

But Madame Lenia did not attack him.

She only retreated like someone caught committing a crime, and even within her vessel, there was no sign of hostility toward him.

Rather, she was growing increasingly unstable.

Emotions of anger, sorrow, and regret churned within her vessel, becoming more violent.

Completely unstable.

As if she were on the verge of exploding at any moment.

The question he had from the moment he first saw her resurfaced.

‘Why aren’t all those emotions erupting… Ah.’

Ray soon realized the reason.

It was because of the gemstone.

The red light from the gemstone was surrounding her vessel, suppressing the explosion of emotions.

If this continued, Ray could predict what would happen to Madame Lenia’s vessel.

‘It will shatter into pieces. Just like Walter’s.’

In Walter’s case, his emotions accumulated faster than they could be released, leading to his vessel’s destruction.

Although the circumstances differed, the result would likely be the same.

‘To get answers, I need to deal with her emotions first….’

Whether she was a member of Murcred’s organization or not.

Tap. Click.

At that moment, Madame Lenia’s back touched the wall switch as she stepped backward.

**Zzt—**

When Ray looked up, he saw the ceiling light flickering.

**Zzt— Zzt—**

A light that had not been used for an incredibly long time, with circuits haphazardly damaged.

At first, the flickering seemed unstable, as if it would go out at any moment.

But then, the light fully regained its function and flared up aggressively.

**Zzt—! Zzt—! Zzzzt—!**

A madness of alternating light and darkness.

A vision constantly blinking in and out.

Light and shadow, thrashing about the room in a vicious struggle to devour each other.

And then—

**Flash!**

His vision was engulfed in light.

Squinting through the brightness, the first thing Ray saw was Madame Lenia’s face, drained of all color.

“A… Aaah….”

Her gaze was locked onto the harsh white glow of the ceiling light.

The gentle warmth that once filled her eyes had been replaced by sheer terror.

Her elegant lips trembled violently, overwhelmed by an uncontrollable fear.

“Aah… A-Aah….”

And reflected within her wide eyes—

The enemies who had broken through the windows that night, seeking out rooms with lights on.

The image of her young child, mercilessly slain beneath their blades.

**“Kyaaaaaaaah──!!!”**

Madame Lenia clutched her head and collapsed onto the floor.

**Crash! Clang!**

Her piercing scream shattered the window, and picture frames, vases, and other objects in the room shook and fell violently.

Ray instinctively took a step back.

**“Aaaaaah! D-Don’t come near me, you demon! D-Don’t you dare lay a hand on my son!”**

**Crack!**

The protective barrier Ray had instinctively cast cracked under the force of her voice.

Her screams grew sharper, and even the mansion itself seemed to tremble.

“……”

No, it wasn’t an illusion.

**Creeeak!**

The walls started to crack, and debris began to fall from the ceiling.

If he wasn’t mistaken about what he was seeing—

‘…This is magic. A magic that uses her voice.’

Every time Madame Lenia screamed, the mana within her core surged through her entire body, radiating outward.

And the emotions within her vessel, resonating with her screams, became even more violent and frenzied.

Yet still, they didn’t erupt.

Because the red gemstone was suppressing them.

**“Aaaah──!! Aaaaaah──!!”**

The entire mansion began shaking as if an earthquake had struck.

He needed to stop her magic first.

That thought drove Ray forward—

**“D-Don’t come near me! Stay away!”**

Madame Lenia’s fear-stricken figure wavered—

And then, in the spot where she had stood, only the lingering ripples of mana remained.

Shortly after, Ray sensed an identical mana fluctuation on the fourth floor, the highest level of the mansion.

‘Teleportation magic. She ran away.’

Should he have used a different approach to calm her down?

Ray wasn’t particularly experienced in dealing with other people’s emotions.

Lifting his head, he stared in the direction where her mana had reappeared on the fourth floor.

The color and activation method of the teleportation magic—he had memorized them with a single glance.

‘Should I go after her?’

The mana within his core alone wasn’t enough to replicate the spell’s exact composition, but if he drew mana from the surrounding air, he might be able to manage it.

But then, a voice echoed in his mind—

**「Never use the ambient mana! If you keep doing that, you’ll get mana poisoning! Always use the purified mana from your core!」**

…It wasn’t a bad idea, actually.

Telling Veronica later that he had used ambient mana.

Because then, he could watch her vessel glow with that breathtakingly beautiful white sun—something that always appeared whenever she worried about him.

“……”

But he didn’t want to do that.

…Why?

He was someone who had always assigned clear reasons and logic to every action and thought.

So having a desire he couldn’t logically explain left him deeply unsettled.

“……”

After thinking it over, he convinced himself.

It was simply a rejection of the possible risk of mana poisoning.

And since he didn’t know how to calm Madame Lenia’s emotions, chasing after her alone wouldn’t accomplish much.

‘Breaking the necklace would release her emotions….’

But the necklace was an item he wanted to examine in detail.

Destroying it should be a last resort.

**“Aaaaaah──! Aaaaaah──!”**

**Rumble!**

Her screams still echoed, and the mansion continued to shake violently.

He needed to find the reason behind Madame Lenia’s breakdown.

Ray quickly scanned the room.

**Clink.**

Amidst the shattered glass, he picked up a picture frame.

It held a small photograph, about the size of his palm.

In it, a younger Madame Lenia smiled warmly, standing beside a boy who looked about six or seven years old.

Ray focused his mind and memorized the boy’s face.

And his impression was—

‘He looks like me.’

Through Nero’s eyes, he had seen his own face.

The child in the picture didn’t look identical to him, but there was a strong resemblance.

Was this why Madame Lenia had kept staring at him?

**Slide—**

“This is….”

His gaze shifted to something else—a worn diary inside a desk drawer.

He opened it and slowly flipped through the pages.

**Rustle. Rustle.**

The diary contained an uneven, childlike script, detailing the happy moments shared between a boy named Joshua and his mother.

Studying together.

Learning magic together.

Eating meals together.

Sleeping together.

**Rustle.**

Then, abruptly, the diary stopped.

No warning. No indication of an ending.

Checking the dates, Ray found that the last entry had been written ten years ago.

‘The boy in the photo is likely the diary’s owner. If he was six back then….’

He would be around sixteen now.

But there was no sign of Joshua anywhere in the mansion.

Was he in another room?

As he flipped through the remaining pages—

**Rustle. Rustle.**

He found a single, haunting sentence.

**「I’m sorry, my dear.」**

**「For not being able to protect you.」**

Tear stains had dried all over the page.

Ray tucked the diary and the photograph into his coat—just as he threw himself to the side.

**Swish—! Boom—!**

He steadied himself and turned his head.

At the shattered desk, gripping a broken chair leg in both hands, was Dranine.

Panting, his eyes burned with rage.

**“You—! How dare you threaten Madame! I’ll kill you—!”**

Dranine.

Ray had almost forgotten about him.

At first glance, he appeared normal.

His pupils were focused, and his speech was coherent.

But—

‘He has no emotions.’

His vessel was completely devoid of feelings.

Yet despite that, he was behaving as if he had emotions.

A chilling realization gripped Ray.

An unanswered question stirred inside him.

**Who… what exactly are you?**

 

 

 

 

 

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