Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 63

“I had circumstances that prevented me from focusing on lessons until now.”

As Lennox spoke, he rose from his seat and approached Aris. Ignoring Aris’s startled flinch, he carefully examined her face.

It would be troublesome if she were to show any displeasure here.

The abundant blonde hair swept to one side.

Her clear, blue eyes, so vivid it was hard to believe even while looking directly at them.

Careful not to be distracted by her refined beauty, Lennox took the book she was holding.

“Explanation of Magic Power Drive Principles. It generally deals with the operational principles of magic power mainly used in casting spells, but personally, there are some points I don’t understand.”

Practical knowledge gained from using magic himself, compared with theory.

For the first time, he asked her about the curiosity of ignorance that arose from that gap.

“The acceleration of magic power using rotation and pumping through continuous pressure. The effectiveness of these two is described very simply in this interpretation. There’s no explanation at all about cases where the two effects of acceleration and pumping completely reverse, making control difficult when the amount of usable magic power exceeds a certain level.”

“W-wait a minute. How do you know that….”

“Other interpretations and papers treat this phenomenon as a very unusual exception and interpret it vaguely, but I think differently.”

Lennox’s calm gaze steadily met Aris’s eyes.

“Isn’t the knowledge about this part a rare theory only allowed to magicians who have reached a certain rank or higher…”

“……..”

Looking at the silent Aris, Lennox once again recalled the iron rule he had established.

‘Completely hide my talent. It’s enough to only reveal my knowledge of the theory and ask for help.’

There were countless magic-related books in the library, but Lennox had realized that the principles of magic power he experienced were gradually diverging from what was written in the books.

Was Lennox’s overflowing talent leading him down a completely different path?

Or was it more likely that the information on magic theory available to the general public was extremely limited?

Lennox had been suspicious of this hypothesis for quite some time, and Aris’s reaction just now confirmed it.

Lennox, now sitting across from her again, began to speak smoothly.

“It’s been more than a few years since I started reading books.”

“……..”

“But the more I learn, the further the gap between my knowledge grows, and what I thought I knew is turning into awkward knowledge.”

From here, acting was necessary.

Lennox slowly continued, slightly avoiding Aris’s gaze as if in thought.

“Do you know why I’m bringing this up now?”

He briefly closed his eyes, then opened them wide again, meeting her gaze.

In her eyes, he would surely look like someone consumed by an unknown thirst for knowledge.

He might even be seen as a student who can’t continue studying due to a lack of talent and resources.

And whether Lennox’s acting was working well or not, Aris’s gaze began to waver significantly.

“…….You deceived me.”

“I’m sorry. But… it was hard to bring it up easily. Who would I dare to tell such a story to?”

A stifled silence flowed.

Before they knew it, only the two of them remained on the 8th floor of the library.

Aris sat blankly for a while, then slowly replied.

“Your guess is correct. There is information that is not unlocked for magicians below the 4th tier who are not certified by the city government, and this applies equally to the citizens of Balkan.”

“……..”

“Unless you find a mentor and become their direct disciple, or belong to a magic tower, it’s extremely rare to have those restrictions lifted. It’s practically an information isolation measure.”

“I see…..”

Just bringing up these words was an implicit expression that Aris couldn’t break those restrictions from her position.

It was only natural. To her, Lennox was just a stranger whose name she didn’t even know properly.

She was only having these irregular meetings out of her personal kindness. The relationship between the two had never held any meaning until now.

‘How should I persuade her…’

What Lennox wanted wasn’t simply a teacher who would teach him theories he wasn’t allowed to know.

He just needed a fellow magician to share some of his concerns about magic theory, talk with, and provide inspiration.

“I don’t mean to ask you to carelessly reveal the knowledge you have.”

It was necessary to carefully phrase it.

“However, how about we change our current lesson style a little?”

“What do you mean…?”

“This time, instead of me looking at theory books and thinking, you listen to what I have to say. Actually, I’ve had a lot to say while studying magic.”

As he met her bewildered gaze, he smiled brightly.

This time, it was a genuine smile.

“Wouldn’t it be fun?”

Test

Several days had passed since the meeting with Aris had taken on a new meaning.

Panoa not only handed over the artifact to Lennox as promised but also gave him a large sum of money for all the allowances due to the failure of the operation.

Lennox’s bank account, which had only 20 million cells, instantly received enough money to buy another Stemmonia [a type of high-tech device].

He wanted to buy another one for backup right away, but it wasn’t up to Lennox.

If there were no listings on the auction, it wouldn’t matter how much money he had.

In the end, to avoid wasting that money, he had to aim for even higher goals than now.

Another week passed, and Lennox visited Dyke’s headquarters again, where the negotiations had taken place.

“Hello. I’m Manya House, and I’ll be assisting the Anti-Magician from this operation onwards.”

A very youthful-looking employee greeted him with a blank expression.

“As Team Leader Panoa explained in advance, there will be a test today to select the team members for this project. You will evaluate and filter out candidates who you deem unqualified.”

She handed Lennox a small shopping bag with both hands. Inside was a plain suit that employees would wear.

“It’s not custom-made, but the size should be fine. It should be enough to blend in naturally with the other employees.”

Manya’s words that there was no need to stand out were not wrong, so Lennox readily changed into the suit.

He loosened the first button of the stuffy shirt and pulled the narrow tie down, but Manya didn’t say anything about it.

“It’s a suit directly distributed by the company, and it’s basically elastic and durable, so there’s some demand for it as self-defense gear. Unless you particularly dislike it, I recommend wearing matching outfits for future operations.”

“Because it doesn’t stand out?”

“Because the other team members selected this time might be able to take your place.”

Manya, who had uttered such a chilling remark without batting an eye, turned her back.

Despite her youthful appearance, she had a ruthless mindset.

Lennox chuckled and immediately followed her.

They took a rapidly sliding elevator down to the basement of the building.

Through the underground parking lot for employees and executives, and further down.

As he stared at the dark abyss visible through the glass window, Manya opened her mouth.

“The funds lobbied to the city government to secure the basement space of the headquarters were not small. We put a lot of effort into preempting the route where the subway was originally supposed to run.”

“Is it okay to tell me that?”

“We have already concluded that your help is essential to the success of the project. If we can gain trust by revealing the company’s flaws, it’s not a bad deal.”

Manya’s demeanor, replying without blinking an eye, was quite similar to that of rational magicians.

Did Panoa notice this aspect of her and deliberately assign her to Lennox?

As his brief thoughts passed, the elevator stopped, and the doors opened.

They walked through a cold, metallic corridor and crossed an arched bridge, and below it, a huge cavity came into view.

It was difficult to call it properly completed, just a rough form of a huge space dug out and with lights attached to it.

Except for the hard cement floor and a platform in one corner, only construction equipment was visible in the empty space.

In between, several people were moving busily, bringing and moving various terrain features.

Structures were being installed one by one according to the colorful paint drawings on the floor.

Lennox’s eyebrows twitched as he saw Killian directing the work at the front.

“What is that?”

“We are setting up temporary facilities to test the candidates. Killian is in charge of procuring the related items himself.”

“Killian?”

He thought he was just a thug who picked fights with anyone, but he could do something like this.

Moreover, the shapes of the structures they were installing looked quite plausible, which was even more surprising.

Noticing the emotion in Lennox’s words, Manya glanced back at him and spoke again.

“Killian is from a high-ranking warrior class among the Lycanthropes [werewolves]. Therefore, he knows well what kind of training can be used to verify warriors physically. This physical test is entirely under his jurisdiction.”

“A warrior class…”

He knew that werewolves lived in tribal societies when they were young, but he didn’t expect to hear that word here.

Lennox looked down at the flamboyant green-haired man with a fresh perspective.

If there was talk of class, Killian’s werewolf blood must be purer than that of Gail, whom he had met before.

While they were talking, the two of them descended the spiral staircase and arrived at the floor of the cavity, heading towards Killian.

He noticed Manya’s presence while moving structures with other employees and turned his head.

“The esteemed magician has arrived. How are you feeling, have you calmed down a bit?”

“As much as you guys messed up.”

Lennox’s cold reply instantly brought silence to the surroundings.

Other employees of Dyke were already aware of Lennox’s identity, and they were busy watching him quietly.

In the end, Killian, who had picked a fight for no reason, couldn’t get anything out of it and gave an awkward laugh.

“…….You really don’t give an inch. I’m also sorry about this operation.”

“……..”

“But isn’t the fact that we’re here to work together? We’re also trying to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“I’ll have to see that for myself.”

“Of course. What we’re preparing here… is, so to speak, the minimum cut-off line. If we’re going to protect our magician, their specs have to be good, right?”

Even the test that was currently underway was the result of reorganizing the project around Lennox.

Lennox deeply felt that Panoa had made a firm decision and placed a bet.

At this point, wasn’t it a way of handling things that completely entrusted the direction of the project to Lennox’s abilities?

It seemed that the power Lennox had shown at the port had made quite an impression on the employees of Dyke.

‘It doesn’t matter. After all, that kind of thinking isn’t important.’

After a brief conversation with Killian, Lennox sat on the platform at the end of the cavity and watched the situation unfold.

Manya stood silently behind him, watching the scene below.

Only after the structures for testing various situational response abilities were in place did Panoa appear in the cavity.

She was holding a cell phone in one hand, talking busily while looking around.

She found Killian and immediately approached him, scolding him, and he scratched his chin with an awkward expression.

Other employees who followed her in moved in unison, setting up tents nearby, building fences, and bringing in all sorts of measuring equipment.

After a while, the elevator doors opened, and a group of people began to enter the cavity, guided by other employees.

These must be the candidates that Panoa had personally selected for this plan.

“……..”

Lennox watched the group of about twenty people with sharp eyes.

The magic power he released, with a thick directionality, stretched out straight and pressed down on the candidates’ shoulders.

Whoosh!!

At the same time, he quickly moved his gaze left and right, observing the people who reacted.

“….!!”

Four people turned their heads in surprise. Five people noticed something.

And three people turned their heads directly towards him.

‘There are at least three who handle magic power well… not bad.’

It seemed that Panoa had picked out decent candidates.

A faint smile spread across Lennox’s lips.

“…….Mr. Ban, did you perhaps already start?”

“Hmm?”

Lennox, slightly surprised by Manya’s belated question, turned his head.

“Did you notice?”

“I could feel that the magician was using magic power.”

Manya shook her head slightly with a troubled expression.

“I would appreciate it if you could refrain from stimulating the candidates as much as possible before the physical test is over. The confidentiality conditions here are quite strict, so they are also quite sensitive.”

“……..”

Lennox nodded roughly at Manya’s words, but the fact that surprised him was not that.