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#022. Bookstore Veronica (3)
Virtually infinite mana.
Who would have thought that dull emotions would actually turn into strengths when it comes to using magic.
Recently, the mental power consumed when using magic has also decreased significantly.
Raw mana while waiting.
Mana that is refined and exists in a ring.
‘I said the former was of lower quality than the latter.’
But wouldn’t it be a different story if you were to overwhelm it with the amount of mana you use?
The boy’s eyes lit up.
I felt like I was one step closer to my goal of revenge.
Tick. Tick. Tick!
In the game that followed, they fought head on without any tricks.
Woof─!
“her.”
The old man was victorious, but he had a look of shock on his face.
Because the speed Ray was seen was dozens of times faster than before.
‘That’s ridiculous. The element of maintenance is considered one of the most difficult to handle.’
This meant that he had mastered the art of identifying and manipulating the characteristics of elements in real time.
Genius, no, that wasn’t enough.
Didn’t you just distinguish between the elements of maintenance and continuation that ordinary magicians can’t distinguish even if they go through their entire lives?
I got goosebumps.
Perhaps what he was seeing right before his eyes was the raw gemstone that would shine the most brilliant light in the world.
At the same time, I could be sure.
If I don’t give it my all now, I won’t win a single game from now on.
The old man asked a question.
“I said you would have died if you had stayed still in Sector 50. I want to know who put your life at risk.”
“He was a wizard.”
“Hmm. A wizard.”
I was curious, but I didn’t ask any further questions.
The boy seemed very wary, so I wanted to approach him cautiously.
Moreover, older people have a wealth of life experience that allows them to fill in most information gaps through guesswork.
Tick. Tick. Tick!
The winner is the old man.
This time it was really close.
“Do you have a dream?”
“A dream? Do you dream when you sleep?”
“What you want to be. What you want to do. What you hope for.”
“ah.”
Ray paused briefly for thought.
For a moment, the action stopped.
I’ve never been asked this question before.
What I want to be.
What you want to do. What you hope for.
‘I’ve never seriously thought about this.’
He was the type of person who lived only in the present, not the type who imagined the future.
… I don’t know about my dream, but I did have a goal.
The moment Niles and the children died.
A goal engraved deep in your head and heart.
But can we say that this is an answer that fits the old man’s question?
Is that what I want to do?
Or is it something that must be done?
Or maybe it’s a mix of both.
It was a matter as unclear and ambiguous as two gray manas separated by a faint boundary.
Ray gathered his thoughts.
“There are things I want to do.”
“What is that?”
“There are people I want to kill. There are also people I want to save.”
The old man was lost in thought.
Boom. Boom──
While the silence flows.
Raindrops knocked on the window.
It’s only been a few hours since the clear rain stopped.
The sky was now preparing to pour down heavy black rain.
“I’ve heard many stories from other people about people wanting to kill someone. But this is the first time I’ve heard of the opposite.”
“… … .”
Thud. Thud──
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The window shook.
It was getting dark even though it was morning, as the sky outside seemed to be getting cloudier.
The game continued.
Tick. Tick. Tick!
This time the winner was also an old man.
I barely managed to defeat the boy with all my might.
“Do you want to learn magic from me?”
“… … .”
Ray paused for a moment.
I tried to answer any question quickly and move on to the next game.
It was a completely unexpected question.
No, but before that, should I view this as a question?
A wizard with three rings.
If a person like that taught me magic, there was no reason to refuse.
But I don’t understand.
Why are you suddenly trying to teach magic to a street orphan?
“Is there something you want from me?”
“There is no such thing. You just need to learn all the knowledge I teach with sincerity.”
The confusion deepened.
To the boy, the world was a series of transactions.
There was no such thing as just doing something.
There must have been a reward or underlying emotion for the action.
But the old man’s words were completely out of context, and it was difficult to discern his emotions.
After much thought, the boy answered.
“great.”
“Yes. First of all, I want to see more of your skills. I’m sure you have more questions to ask as well.”
Tick. Tick. Tick!
The boy won the next game.
The old man wasn’t particularly surprised because it was an expected result.
What was more surprising was the next moment.
“I want to hear about rainbows.”
I never thought the boy would ask about the existence of a rainbow.
An old, faded memory that had been stuck in the unconscious study fell to the floor in response to the boy’s voice.
Tak─
And then the memories unfolded.
Brief memories of my youth, not even a few pages long.
But that was enough for the vagueness and excitement that could not be suppressed to bloom busily like dust.
The old man reached out of the bed.
Druk─
A chest of drawers opened by itself in the distance.
The object inside was sucked into the old man’s hand.
It was a thick cigarette and a lighter.
Chick.
“Please understand. I am an old man who will die soon, so I am not very patient.”
“are you okay.”
“Thank you.”
Knock knock─
The window was opened by a salt shaker.
As the old man put a cigarette in his mouth, smoke rose as gloomy as the street outside the window.
Hooo──
The boy did not stop the smoke.
He just stood there, not using any magic or waving his hands.
A smell all too familiar to street life.
Also, it was because Niles came to mind unconsciously, even though I didn’t realize it myself.
The old man, after smoking a few cigarettes, spoke in a much more stable voice.
“A rainbow? I’ve heard that somewhere.”
“I heard it’s a band made up of seven colors.”
The rainbow wasn’t really that secret.
It is a topic that few people are interested in, but if you put your mind to it and research it, you can find a lot of information.
However, the downside was that all of that information was based on guesses and hypotheses, and nothing was certain.
That was also the reason why the old man had to give up his research on rainbows in his youth.
“The seven-colored belt. There was definitely a story like that. Do you know of any others?”
“They said that if I find a rainbow, my wish will come true.”
“You know very well.”
The old man stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and blew the smoke out the window with a gust of wind.
And he said to the door.
“Veronica. Come inside.”
For a moment, I felt a noise, then the door opened and Veronica appeared.
The girl said with a look of embarrassment on her face as if she had been caught doing something wrong.
“I never eavesdropped. I just sat down on the chair and waited for the conversation to end.”
“I know. I know what kind of child you are. Sit down.”
“yes.”
A girl, who seemed happy to be able to join the conversation, came over and sat down next to the boy.
“… … .”
Ray examined Veronica’s bowl.
Pure white mana.
Dark blue mana.
Two colored manas were dancing haphazardly in the bowl.
Concerns about sick elderly people.
Anxiety about the future that will be left behind with my younger siblings.
These were quite heavy emotions for a young girl to bear.
“Veronica. Do you remember why I took you, Malta, and Yulpin from the orphanage?”
“To leave behind knowledge. He said that he would leave behind as much knowledge as possible to the world through me and my siblings.”
The old man nodded in satisfaction at Veronica’s straightforward answer.
“Yes, that’s correct. I think you should listen to the story about the rainbow. It’s also part of my knowledge.”
Transfer of knowledge.
That was the wizard’s instinct.
A wizard is a being who spends his entire life exploring his inner self and pursuing the truth.
Inevitably, they end up with a much stronger and more inflated ego than others.
Their desire to leave their mark on the world is also incomparable to that of ordinary people.
But at the same time, a unique sense of isolation and competition is expressed.
May my knowledge be eternal.
But I hope it remains undisclosed to the world.
That’s why the method most often chosen was discipleship.
The transmission of knowledge through a minority satisfies both needs.
Or, you could seal the magic book containing the knowledge and hide it in a place where no one can find it.
The old man took a deep breath and began to tell the story.
“There is no subject more talked about among wizards than the rainbow. Some consider it a far-fetched joke, while others consider it a story with a definite substance.”
The body was here, but the gaze seemed to be looking at a different time zone.
“The most plausible theory is: Have you ever seen a clear sky in your life?”
The boy and the girl were lost in thought.
The answer followed almost immediately.
“Almost none.”
“I think so too. Even if it rains and the sky clears, it quickly becomes covered with clouds. In the first place, there aren’t many opportunities to see the sky.”
The old man nodded.
“Yes. If you add up the time you’ve seen a clear sky in your lives, it won’t even amount to five minutes. The time without clouds is just a moment. Even I can’t even fill 30 minutes.”
Boom─! Boom thump──!
The raindrops began to fall harder.
The old man’s gaze turned out the window.
“The most popular theory is that a rainbow is a colorful band that appears in a clear sky. There are many other theories. Some say it is an object with special powers, while others say it refers to a transcendent being. If you just add up these various theories, there are probably over a hundred.”
The story continued.
“But not all arguments are completely contradictory. In any conjecture or hypothesis, there is a point where opinions converge.”
The boy leaned forward.
Before I knew it, I was deeply immersed in the old man’s story.
“There are seven colors that make up a rainbow. Also, anyone who finds a rainbow can gain the power to make anything come true. No one can deny these two facts.”
The boy asked back.
“Anything?”
“Yes. They say that if you put your mind to it, you can become a god-like being.”
“…Can I ask what God is?”
It was a question I asked because I genuinely didn’t know.
Because there wasn’t even one of those common little cathedrals in Sector 50.
I could guess it from the context, but I wanted to know for sure and move on.
“… Yes. You may not know. God is the one who created this world, is present everywhere in the world, and possesses omnipotent power. This may vary from person to person, but this is the minimum common denominator.”
A rather unfamiliar concept.
The boy tilted his head.
“It’s located everywhere?”
“It’s not visible, but it definitely exists there. Think of it as being similar to mana.”
It wasn’t a very helpful explanation.
In the boy’s case, mana was clearly a visible substance.
A few more explanations followed.
Although it still feels unfamiliar, I am beginning to understand the concept of God.
Even though you can’t see it, you’re watching from everywhere.
God must have been a very dark being.
“Anyway, the rainbow is a story that has been passed down for a very long time. Even now, there must be quite a few wizards wandering the world in search of rainbows. I was like that when I was young.”
The boy searched his memories.
“The wizard said he came here to find something. A rainbow… I think he said that.”
That’s what Humphrey said about the wizard of the one-eyed glasses.
‘Did you feel like you lacked strength? Even with so many rings.’
It felt a little more real.
Even those with such power desire this power, so the power that the rainbow gives must not be something ordinary.
“Then, what about the materials that your grandfather researched─”
That was when.
Boom───!
A large rock flew in, breaking the half-open window.