Genius Prismatic Mage Chapter 5

#005. A man floating down the river (2)

“They were talking about rainbows.”

Viola.

In Sector 50, he was the person with the most traces of time on his face and body.

Rumor has it that he is over 100 years old.

There was no doubt that she was the oldest person in the slums, although not quite to that extent.

That’s why she was respected by the slum dwellers.

The average life expectancy in the slums was around 40, and longevity was itself evidence of experience and wisdom.

Even the gang members didn’t collect rent from her or pick any trouble with her.

“I see you asked me to tell you the rainbow story again.”

“Yeah. That’s the story you like the most. No matter how many times you hear it, you never get tired of it.”

Viola said, laughing.

She told mysterious stories to passers-by and received coins based on their level of satisfaction.

The main customer base was young children.

A coin in a can.

It was definitely Josephine who put it in.

It was a one shilling coin, the lowest denomination, but it was probably the most satisfaction a small child could give.

“A rainbow story? The one floating in the sky?”

“Hehe. Right. How many times do I have to hear the same story again?”

Ray remembered what Josephine had once said to him while making a fuss.

“Brother! Brother! There’s a rainbow somewhere in the sky!”

“What is a rainbow?”

The little boy explained the rainbow using gestures.

Personal weather after the rain stopped.

There are times when a long, colorful ribbon called a rainbow hangs across the sky.

“I’ve never seen it before.”

“Even if the rain stops, clouds gather quickly. We couldn’t find it.”

Colorful half donuts with someone taking a bite out of them.

That was the impression Ray had of the rainbow after hearing Josephine’s explanation.

“Isn’t it so pretty? If you find the end of the rainbow stuck in the ground, you can make a wish! Any wish will come true!”

“The Kruter gang was already looking at my donuts today. From afar, with greedy eyes. This won’t do. I’ll go beat them up tomorrow.”

“Ah! Listen! Seriously!”

Ray snapped out of his thoughts.

He spoke in a flat voice.

“Don’t tell our children stories. If they keep fantasizing about it, they’ll have a hard time adjusting to the streets.”

fancy.

Imagine an event that cannot happen in reality or an object that cannot be possessed.

Ray had never fantasized.

Because he had no emotions, the boy was not allowed to imagine anything and feel happy or excited.

I just knew that.

The more you fantasize, the harder it is to survive on the streets.

There was not a single exception.

Children who were unable to put down roots in reality and floated through a world of fantasy usually died before they became adults.

Just like a balloon that rises high into the sky cannot withstand the air pressure and bursts.

Viola smiled brightly.

“If children don’t fantasize, who will?”

“First of all, adults don’t do it. And children shouldn’t do it.”

“I don’t think so. Children have the privilege of drawing whatever comes to their minds.”

“… … .”

Ray’s gaze turned to Viola’s closed eyes.

She was blind.

There were many related stories.

Or maybe you were on an adventure and got your eyes eaten out by a crow.

They say they are reluctant to show it because they have machine eyes.

Anyway, I thought that she wasn’t someone with an ordinary past, given the years she had lived.

… above all else.

Because there was always a deep purple mana in Viola’s chest.

‘He must be someone from outside Sector 50.’

The purple mana never flowed into people’s vessels.

Just one person.

Except for Viola.

That was the reason why Ray couldn’t take his eyes off the bowl on Viola’s chest when he met her.

‘What emotion does purple represent?’

It wasn’t difficult to figure out the corresponding emotions for different colored mana.

There were many specimens that held mana, and people usually showed their emotions through actions right away.

Years of observation.

In the end, most colored mana could be paired with related emotions.

But purple mana was different.

The specimen was only viola.

And you couldn’t tell what she was thinking or feeling just by looking at her.

Ray, who had been staring blankly at Viola, turned around and left.

“You’d better move to a different street. There might be a war going on.”

Leaving behind one dry word.

The can gleamed in the faint sunlight.

There was never a single Ray coin in it.

*

Cloudy weather as usual.

Afternoon on 17th Street.

Squeak- squeak-

Ray crossed the street pushing a grocery store delivery cart.

It was a job I found as a day laborer.

Hector’s food store was out of service for the time being, and the scrapyard had already been swept in its entirety during the morning.

If you don’t work, you starve.

That was a natural rule in the slums.

“Hee, eek.”

One of Ron’s gang looked this way from the alley, and when our eyes met, he ran away in a hurry.

In the fight that took place in the garbage dump a few days ago, there was a clear winner and loser.

‘I don’t think I’ll be able to attack you for a while.’

If he had lost the fight, the situation would have been reversed.

First of all, I probably wouldn’t have been able to find a job today.

Not only would there be a risk of having the bridge taken over, but they would also have to retreat from their main area of activity, 17th Street.

Squeak- squeak-

Ray pushed the cart silently, sweating.

I don’t feel any pain or suffering, but objectively speaking, nothing was gained easily.

The culvert was finally ready to be used as a hideout after a long period of clearing away the garbage that had piled up underneath.

The freedom of movement on 17th Street was won through dozens of clashes with other groups.

This was the reason why Ray could not leave 17th Street and Guldari to escape the war.

It is extremely inefficient to throw away what you have accomplished.

Squeak- squeak-

In the empty shopping street, only the sound of carts being pulled could be heard.

Or put up a closed sign.

Or just remove the store itself.

There were quite a few places like that.

They sensed the war was coming and quickly fled to a different numbered street.

Squeak – bang.

The cart stopped in front of a shabby cafe.

When Ray knocked on the door, a man with a tired look appeared.

“The delivery has arrived. It’s 4 boxes of milk and 6 boxes of beer, right?”

“What? Is that you? Ron. He was yelling that he was going to deliver next time.”

Ron can’t come out.

Because both my legs were broken.

Ray swallowed his words.

I asked the store owner, who was organizing his belongings.

“Aren’t you going to evacuate, sir?”

“My store is here, but where should I go?”

“Ordering this many items. Isn’t it inefficient? We won’t be able to receive any customers for a while.”

“Why can’t I accept it? There’s still one table being turned over. And there’s a chance that war won’t break out.”

Ray tilted his head.

I thought that it took a lot of courage to enjoy a drink at a cafe during such a scary time.

“Guests from other sectors?”

“No. There are people here.”

“What do you mean, war might not break out?”

“If things go well, then that’s possible.”

Then the shop owner looked inside the door and said.

“Ah. I guess the conversation is over.”

The shop owner stepped aside, pushing a cart next to the door.

Soon a group of men came out of the cafe.

“Brother. The fire is here.”

“okay.”

Chick-

The moment I saw one of their faces.

Ray instinctively put on his hood to cover his face and head.

A man with a scarred face and a sinister, sinister expression.

It was Hector who occupied half of Sector 50 with Niles.

He was also the owner of a warehouse from which Ray periodically stole food.

“huh?”

Hector narrowed his eyes as he noticed Ray.

It was a gaze that examined and observed carefully.

Surely they wouldn’t have caught him.

Because in Hector’s area, I’ve never shown my face or done anything that would make my name known.

But you never know.

If necessary, I would turn my feet slightly towards the street to escape.

“Brother. Why are you doing that?”

“No. I just think it’s admirable that a child is working in a place where everyone else has run away.”

Hector, his mouth wide open, approached Ray and handed him something.

“Yeah. You have to live that hard. Hard. With all your might. That’s how you’ll get something. Use this to buy some candy.”

It was a coin. 1000 shillings.

This amount would buy you about 10 bags of cheap candy.

“Let’s go.”

“yes.”

Hector’s group headed towards a car parked nearby.

Then the man following Hector glanced at Ray.

“…hmm.”

A skinhead who is 190 centimeters tall.

Humphrey, the silent leader of the Hector organization.

His gaze was focused squarely on Ray’s earlobe inside the hood.

The day when black rain fell.

It was the place where he was injured during a fight in the warehouse.

“… … .”

Ray could tell intuitively as he watched Humphrey’s eyes narrowing.

This got caught.

There is no room left to deceive the opponent.

Ray’s whole body tense up, he put his hands in his pockets and gripped the handle of his folding knife tightly.

How many seconds passed like that?

“Humphrey. Aren’t you coming?”

“Yes, I will go.”

Humphrey glanced at Ray’s face, then turned and headed toward the vehicle.

Boooo …

The car disappeared down the street.

Why on earth is that?

Why did you just pretend not to notice and pass by?

It was clear that Humphrey’s feelings were curiosity and anticipation.

However, it was still difficult for Ray to understand intentions based on emotions.

Then another voice was heard from behind.

“What happened?”

“I wrote it.”

I turned my head and saw Niles talking to the store owner.

“They want too much from you.”

Niles took out his cigarette and lit it with a bitter look on his face.

I wanted to avoid war if possible.

Because once it happens, the damage to people and things is bound to be severe.

The use of a gun on Hector gang members who invaded 17th Street was also a warning of sorts.

A warning and a threat that we will never back down from war.

But Hector did not back down one bit in negotiations today.

The boundary of the newly established area.

The rate of protection fee imposed on each management area.

There was a lot of back and forth conversation, but it was not substantial.

Hector demanded unreasonable conditions that were no different from ‘organization absorption’, and Niles was left with no choice but war.

The café owner shook his head, understanding Niles’ meaning.

“They say the negotiations have broken down.”

“It ended up in the worst possible way.”

“That’s too bad. If you have to pay protection fees anyway, it would be better to pay them to your organization.”

In sector 50, taking and being taken is the natural law.

Anyway, you can’t do business without someone’s protection.

Since Niles’s operating policy was one of coexistence rather than domination, what the cafe owner had just said was also a common thought in the 17th Street shopping district.

Niles, who was lost in thought, caught sight of Ray fiddling with a coin.

He said with a hollow laugh as he looked at the delivery cart next to him.

“Are you still in good health? You went through all that trouble a few days ago and are now back to work?”

“Is war confirmed?”

“That’s what happened. Don’t come out of the hideout for a while. You might get shot and die for no reason.”

Ray nodded.

It was a well-known fact.

There are things in this world that are bound to happen no matter how hard you struggle.

*

Swaaa …

It was a night with black rain falling.

Even if it weren’t for the warning that had been in effect across 17th Street, the weather was such that it was impossible to go outside.

“The war. It needs to end quickly.”

“But won’t it be over within a week?”

Pale and Ray talked while watching the raindrops falling outside the tent.

The brothers were sleeping inside the tent, huddled together, hugging each other.

17th Street and 18th Street.

It was the second day that Niles and Hector had been in a standoff across the street.

The gunpowder is ready to be pulled.

At any moment when one side shows an opening, shots will ring out.

“Ray. Which side do you think will win?”

“I don’t know.”

The power of the two organizations was so equal that it was difficult to predict a victory for either side.

“Which side do you want to win?”

If the question had been like that, it would have been easy to answer.

Before his friendship with Hector, Niles was a man of minimal morality compared to Hector.

Kill or not your subordinates depending on your mood.

Or catch orphans from the streets and sell them.

At least he wasn’t the type of person to do something like that.

“I just wish it would pass quickly.”

“I wish I could do that too.”

This rain is falling heavily.

Even on this night when the sticky air flows.

This war will only end when one side is wiped out from the streets.

All of them, without exception.

Then I can go out and find food again.

“Wait a minute. Did you just hear that?”

“I heard.”

That’s when I heard a strange sound.

The two boys stopped talking and listened.

Goo-ung

It wasn’t the screams, gunshots, or rain that the boys were used to hearing.

It was a strange sound.

It also sounded like the air inside an empty machine.

It also sounded like the creepy howl of some unknown beast.

It was a sound coming from the street.