Genius Prismatic Mage Chapter 298

#298. Exchange (1)

Ray didn't just have vague plans for spreading imagination throughout the city.

I was aware that simply explaining the picture in my head was not enough.

'We need a more systematic theory.'

I searched through the ancient books preserved in the Acrasium and also talked with Rael, Veronica, and Grine.

“In the early days of the olden days, we could create phenomena by simply imagining the mana that would move according to our will. However, war broke out, the environment was destroyed, and at some point, the mana no longer responded to our calls. From then on, we needed a ring to refine and contain the polluted mana, and a systematized formula to handle it.”

Rael testified as much.

“Well, it seems that not only the primordial mana responds to imagination. Currently, Raynima can use not only the mana of rings or jewels, but also the mana in the air as material for imagination.”

Greene did the analysis.

“When you take care of patients who come to the church? Well, do you use magic while imagining people getting better? While strongly hoping and wishing. If I were to express it in Ray’s terms, I would say you use magic while feeling intense emotions.”

Veronica gave me a vague sense of knowing something.

And it was on the streets that Ray got a crucial clue.

“I said it’s real! It’s real!”

“Liar! How could there be such a thing!”

Ray stopped walking when he heard the conversation of children coming from one side of the busy street.

“I saw a shadow down there on the Elton River! It was just that big! It was bigger than several streets combined!”

“Hey, where in the world can you find such a big turtle!”

“Right, and the Elton River is so dirty that no fish can live in it?”

It sounded like the story about the unidentified monster under the Elton River that Veronica often mentions.

I think it was a sector-sized turtle that spewed out rainbow-colored streams of water.

‘…There’s no way something like that exists in this world.’

Although he thought it was a pointless story, Ray couldn't leave the place as if he was possessed by something.

Little kids, about 7 or 8 years old.

It was because the emotions contained in the bowl were emitting colors that were brighter and purer than anyone else's.

Most of the kids Ray has encountered so far have been like that.

Let's say that it hasn't been stained by the times of life yet.

This was also related to the reason why the doctor fixed the mental age of the executives at childhood.

“Hey! I really saw it!”

“Ujjujju, yeah, yeah, you saw it.”

“Hmm! But if it really existed, it would be really cool. Just imagine it.”

“I'm trying!”

“Wow, this isn’t a joke?”

The mana in the air resonated with the children's pure emotions.

It was sucked more strongly into the bowl, forming a deeper and brighter color.

It was at that moment that a sudden realization came to Ray.

“… … !”

Perhaps the condition for the flowering of imagination is pure emotion.

If you think about it that way, you can roughly explain every situation.

'Rael said that as the war raged, imagination began to deteriorate.'

The cause of the war was that the emotions of the old races were entangled and confused.

In other words, it could be said that the purity of emotions could no longer be maintained.

'And the people who are currently known to deal with imagination, or have dealt with it, are me, Veronica, and Vicious, an executive of Murcred, a total of three people.'

What they have in common is that they are all capable of pure emotions.

Also, they are all boys and girls who have not yet reached adulthood.

Ray approached the children and spoke to them to test his hypothesis.

“Can you try using magic? Not by following the formulas like you usually do, but by imagining the magic in your head.”

“Brother, are you stupid? Even my butterfly knows that you have to combine the elements properly to create magic.”

Kids these days are pretty sarcastic.

When I silently took out a large coin and showed it to them, the children's eyes widened.

“Excuse me, sir! What do you want us to do?”

“Magic! He told me to use magic in a strange way!”

The children followed Ray's instructions, imagining themselves living a life of luxury and pleasure with sweets and candies.

I closed my eyes and groaned, but nothing happened.

“Brother, this isn’t working?”

“My head just hurts!”

“Is it true that magic can be used this way?”

On the surface it looked like there was no harvest, but that was not the case.

At the moment, Ray's eyes were reflecting the mana contained in the children's rings wriggling.

*

The outskirts of sector 23.

The eight-story pagoda of the Stone School.

Early in the morning, in one of the rooms there, Joshua, a trainee clerk, was packing his bags with a look of relief on his face.

“Whew, I never thought I’d suddenly get this lucky.”

Originally, it wasn't my intention to go to the Imaginary School as an exchange student.

Even though Stonea was a small and weak school with few members, he was still just a trainee who had only recently become an official member of the school.

The person originally scheduled to be an exchange student was the head of the Karun Research Lab, the real power behind Stonea.

But a sudden message from the association changed the whole situation.

"Regarding the qualifications of exchange students from each school to be dispatched to the Imaginary Tower."

The telegram, which began with that title, contained a provision limiting the qualifications of exchange workers to those who had not yet become adults or had only recently become adults.

─Is this a reasonable request?

─Suddenly like this…!

All schools of thought raised voices of discontent, but they had no choice but to follow.

Because the Imaginary School is currently the talk of the town and holds the highest position.

In the end, it was they who suffered losses if they did not send exchange workers.

'That's why I went in place of Director Karun.'

Although he seemed to have taken notice of the opportunity, he had no intention of turning it down.

Joshua, who had packed all his luggage, was seen off by the school members at the entrance.

Joy, excitement, surprise.

Envy, jealousy, envy.

Although feelings and reactions varied, there was one common comment that all members of the school had in common.

“I hope we can find a clue to solving the difficult problem our school is facing.”

This wasn't something that only applied to the Stone school.

Except for a few special cases, schools of thought tended to develop around a single core theory, and as such, they inevitably encountered theoretical difficulties.

I don't know for sure, but most schools would want to get some clues to their respective difficult problems from this exchange.

Clank, clank, pushii──

Joshua arrived at Sector 11 by train, exited the clock tower, and walked through the streets with a nervous mind.

The Imaginary Tower appeared before our eyes before long.

Exchange students from other schools who had already arrived were passing through the main gate and entering the grassy grounds.

'From early to late teens… The age range is really diverse. Most of them seem to be trainees.'

Is it because it's an age where it's not easy to hide your emotions?

There was a somewhat overt competitive air in the air.

Unlike himself, who came without an attendant to keep an eye on the mood of other schools, most of them were accompanied by an escort.

Joshua looked up.

'One, two… a total of 22 floors.'

This is the number of floors that a mid-sized school with a certain amount of experience can build up.

It was unprecedented in the history of the city for a school that had been established less than a month to reach such heights.

Joshua's heart pounded.

'Is Ray really the master of the Imaginary School?'

The white-haired boy I ran into at the bus stop who said he was going to the association to register his school.

Rumor has it that it's close to a hundred percent, but I haven't seen it with my own eyes yet.

And at the same time.

“… … .”

Ray was looking down from the upper floors at the people entering the tower site.

Veronica often followed Ray as he walked by the window, adjusting his clothes.

“Oh, wait a minute! But since you’re going to be standing in front of a lot of people, shouldn’t you dress up as neatly and cool as possible?”

“Just the bare minimum of neatness in your attire─.”

“Look, when you wear it like this, the character looks so alive! Yummy! Yummy!”

“… … .”

It appears that her time off as a saint has been quite long, and Veronica has been staying in the tower for the past few days.

The pros and cons were clear.

The good thing was that I could be with Veronica almost all day.

The downside was that I would be stuck with Veronica almost all day.

'Veronica isn't going home.'

It's good, but I think I need some time alone.

“If I leave the podium for too long, won’t Solitaire worry?”

“It’s okay, it’s completely under maintenance right now.”

“The people of the sector must be missing the face of the saint.”

“Well, there’s no place my picture hasn’t been posted already, so you won’t miss my face, right?”

The boy realized that he was trapped in a huge vortex of fate beyond his control.

Resignation and compliance followed.

In any case, looking at it objectively, it was thanks to Veronica that the servants of the Magic Tower began to receive appropriate assignments and begin to work, and that Ray began to behave like a human being.

“Lay, but didn’t you say the doctor would definitely react?”

“Almost certainly. If it is as I expected.”

After a fire broke out in the workshop, the doctor's whereabouts became unknown.

But there were clues.

First, according to the residents' testimonies, they asked where there were many children.

Also, according to Nila's information, two days ago, there was an incident where young practitioners from several schools went missing.

“Ray is reporting that the missing person’s case is related to the Doctor?”

Ray nodded and answered.

“I think it’s almost certain. I don’t know the specific method, but it’s probably for the purpose of passing through the Land of Disaster.”

Today again, a large number of young trainees have gathered.

Ray figured the Doctor would react in some way.

Then the servant who entered the room nodded in greeting and said.

“The exchange students and their attendants from all schools have arrived.”

“Where is the room?”

“That too has come to an end.”

Ray went down to the reception room with Veronica to conduct the networking meeting.

The plan was simple.

Conducting one-on-one interviews to identify those who have the potential to spark their imagination.

Additionally, they planned to help solve difficult problems in return for a portion of the points accumulated by each school.

The exchange students entered the reception room in a randomly assigned order.

“It is an honor to meet you!”

“Ba, ba, nice to meet you. My, my name is….”

The reactions varied, but they all shared a high level of emotional purity.

Ray first asked them what their greatest dreams were.

A dream is aspiration itself.

It was judged that imagination was likely to respond to such pure emotions.

For example, Veronica's imagination sprouted from her desire to heal the sick.

“Yes…? A dream…?”

“I’ve never thought about it….”

Few people had clear dreams.

But anyway, each of them tried to use their imagination to think of what they wanted, and Ray observed and recorded the changes that occurred in their circle.

How much time has passed like that?

Squeak─ bang.

“Veronica, which one are you?”

“Um, that’s the 37th one just now.”

37th.

The possibility has only vaguely appeared, but no one has yet been able to immediately spark their imagination.

“Um, Ray, should we take a quick break?”

“… No, I think it would be better to go straight away.”

So the interview resumed.

The next exchange partner is Velen of the Flaya School, famous for fire magic.

A boy on the borderline between adolescence and adulthood sat down with a nervous look on his face.

“Do you have a dream?”

Veronica, hearing Ray's question from the side, felt momentarily puzzled.

It was because the tone felt strangely different from before.

“Dream… I wish I could live in a world where all the fundamental causes of fights and conflicts have disappeared.”

Belen seemed unfazed as he answered, wondering if the story of the dream had already spread outside.

However, judging from the confident tone of his voice, it seemed like it wasn't something he had planned out, but something he had always wanted.

'What is the root cause of fights and conflicts? What is it?'

When Veronica tilted her head at the somewhat abstract content.

Ray said after asking a few more questions.

“So, where did you leave the real Belen?”

It was a voice that was so cold that it felt like everything would freeze.