Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 79

They were clearly aware that their lives had already been bought and paid for.

To Dylan, Lennox seemed much more suited to this world than to a corporate environment.

He patted Lennox on the shoulder, who had slumped down, exhausted from using all his mana.

“You okay?”

“…Yeah.”

“You were amazing just now. If the boss had seen that, he would have wanted you on our team at any cost.”

Instead of replying, Lennox chuckled and took out a new cigarette from his pocket.

He didn’t show it, but he knew he had gained a considerable amount from the battle with Eden.

The unique magic he had been researching but had difficulty grasping.

Being able to steal and use Eden’s Thorburn School’s lightning-based unique magic meant that Lennox’s own magic was finally ready to advance further.

Using the same magic without properly mastering the unique magic held significant meaning.

It meant that even while focusing on space-time unique magic, it was possible to tap into other unique magics based on common magic.

And it was Lennox’s talent that allowed him to overcome these limitations.

It felt like he had stumbled upon an unexpected stroke of luck, which made the sense of accomplishment even more fulfilling.

Feeling good, he naturally became more generous. He felt like he could extend a favor to his colleague next to him.

Lennox took out a cigarette from his pocket and offered it to Dylan.

Dylan accepted the cigarette with a bewildered look.

“…Thanks. I do miss it sometimes.”

“Let’s go down to the power plant too.”

“It’s funny for me to say this, but are you sure you don’t need more rest? You basically finished everything by yourself.”

“I’m fine.”

He had thought it would be the most difficult battle, but perhaps because it was a duel between mages, the outcome was decided in an instant.

If anything, the battle with Beck was much more intense.

Lennox’s stamina, boosted by drugs, was still going strong.

The two of them immediately followed Killian’s group towards the stairs on the rooftop.

It was strange that they were going down from the rooftop instead of attacking from the bottom of the power plant, but that’s just how things are in this world.

When you think about it, it wasn’t that strange.

“Look at this. That guy really set up traps with a vengeance.”

Dylan clicked his tongue as he saw the corpses of freelancers dying in agony all over the power plant.

Eden’s plan was probably to spread a storm of electricity outside the power plant and draw the power inside to wipe them out.

However, Lennox saw through the complex process with one move using the artifact, and Eden was helpless.

Lennox quickly scanned the inside of the power plant with his mana sense and immediately headed underground.

“Don’t we need to check the other floors?”

“The other team members are all there. We should go there first.”

There seemed to be a few gang members or soldiers alive in the power plant, but it seemed that Killian and the other team members had already taken care of them all.

As they passed through the wide corridor on the first floor and went down to the basement, they could see the other team members searching through various rooms.

Lennox found Killian in an office where papers were flying around and asked.

“Is everything going well?”

“Oh, you’re here. If you’re okay, help us out.”

“I’m not really okay.”

“………”

Killian shrugged without a word and started searching the office again.

It felt more like he was smashing the furniture in the room than looking for something specific.

Lennox, who had been watching him quietly, realized something and said.

“Do you think there’s a hidden space?”

“Yeah.”

Killian replied.

“I have a strange feeling that the mana detection is cut off near the basement. Considering these guys are a gang, it wouldn’t be strange to have a vault in this kind of situation.”

“A vault…”

The key he had obtained from Beck Clinton’s corpse naturally came to mind, but Lennox didn’t naively blurt it out.

Instead, he subtly got up from the old sofa he was leaning against.

“You said you were tired? You can sit down. The others are probably searching the basement too.”

“No, I’ll look somewhere else.”

“Well… suit yourself.”

He left Killian, who was half-destroying the study and scanning the walls, and left the office.

Dylan, who had followed him, asked over Lennox’s shoulder.

“Do you think the vault is in the basement?”

“There must be a lot of places to hide things in the power plant control room. If we look, we’ll probably find something.”

Even as Lennox said that, he was thinking about something else.

Listening to Killian’s story, he realized that there was something he needed to find before the gang’s vault.

Eden was a fairly skilled mage and came from a professional mage organization called the Thorburn Magic Tower.

If such a mage was living an organized life, he would have set up his own laboratory somewhere.

If he could obtain academic information about the Thorburn School’s unique magic there, it would be a great gain.

It was clear that researching magic like [Lightning Human] or [Thunder Spear] would allow him to develop his magic even without fully mastering unique magic.

He pushed Dylan to look for the vault with the other team members, and Lennox went back up the power plant stairs.

Considering he was a gang boss, his office would be the largest one on the top 5th floor.

It was dark and gloomy, covered with thick blackout curtains, but the nameplate on the desk confirmed that this was the room Eden used.

Just in case, he searched all the items around him, but of course, he couldn’t find anything related to magic.

Of course, it wouldn’t be in the basement, but it meant that his laboratory was also hidden somewhere.

He closed his eyes and spread his mana widely.

Even after scanning the room, there was no particular sign. If he really had a laboratory, it was likely to be nearby…

He gradually expanded the range and looked for anomalies.

4th floor, 3rd floor, 2nd floor, 1st floor, and the basement… back up…

“…Ah.”

And he realized.

The ceiling height of the 5th floor was clearly different from the other floors.

An Uninvited Guest

It was certain that there was a hidden space.

To be precise, there was a 6th floor that could never be seen from the outside.

Once he had a clue, it wasn’t difficult to find it.

He left the room and headed to a small storage room across the hallway.

A desolate space with nothing but an old piano and a pile of cigarette butts.

The answer was clear.

He gathered mana towards the piano and used magic.

[Unlock]

Zzzzzzz…!!

At that moment, an invisible spark bounced off the white keys of the piano and repelled Lennox’s magic.

It wasn’t surprising.

It was a very basic unlocking spell among common magics, so it would be strange to break through a skilled mage’s barrier.

But at least it was certain that the key to the laboratory was in this piano.

Then, he could just open it with force instead of magic.

Ignoring the sparks, he poured mana into the piano and completely enveloped it.

He pushed the piano into the sphere of mana and used his senses to analyze the hidden mana structure inside.

He grabbed and released the complex flow of mana twisted along the piano keys one by one with his own mana.

Zzzzzzz!!

With a sound like tearing paper, the piano keys moved on their own as if possessed by a ghost.

At the same time, the ceiling of the room opened wide and a staircase fell down.

Thud!

“……..”

Lennox, realizing he had found the right track, smiled.

Usually, spaces hidden in this way are designed to burn all the contents in response to forced external intrusion.

It was clear that the best way was to manipulate the security device with a direct approach like Lennox just did.

As he climbed the stairs, he saw a low-ceilinged attic where he had to slightly lower his head.

Lennox smiled as he confirmed the existence of piles of books, all sorts of materials of unknown use, and catalysts scattered on the floor.

He picked up a book that had fallen on the floor and checked its contents.

[Advanced Application Research Log on Electric Current Control Vol. 3]

“That’s it.”

Advanced theories that could never be found in a library. And very solid data related to unique magic.

It was also a product of Eden’s efforts to research and develop his own unique magic.

Just by looking at these books and repeating his own research, Lennox’s magic would advance another step.

That was definitely a bigger gain for Lennox in this operation than anything else.

‘So, how should I take these…’

Even by a rough estimate, there were at least a dozen books. Considering the other items like catalysts, it would be too noticeable to carry them around right now.

Since he had confirmed the location, it would be best to close it and come back for them later.

In the end, Lennox reluctantly took only one book and headed back to the basement.

The other team members were all out in the hallway, having swept through the basement.

“Oh, you’re here.”

Killian waved his hand.

“Have you not found it yet?”

If what was hidden in the basement was really the gang’s vault, they wouldn’t have hidden it so thoroughly.

It was absurd to hide a space that they had to use frequently from the eyes of the mana users gathered here.

“No, we found it. But there’s a problem.”

“The security device on the vault is too strong to easily touch.”

Agria said with a wry smile.

“It uses a security device that triggers a super-high-temperature heat wave inside to destroy the contents the moment the password is entered incorrectly more than five times from the outside. If not that, we have to use biometric recognition, but that’s impossible without the boss’s corpse.”

When asked why she was explaining it in such detail, Agria replied with a wry smile.

“…We also develop and supply vaults with similar structures to various places. The most reliable way to maintain security is to destroy the contents the moment an intruder is detected, so they probably thought the same thing.”

“Where is the vault?”

“…It’s in the facility control room. Let’s talk after you see it.”

The group immediately moved with Lennox.

A vast space located underground. A wide control room with a ceiling that seemed to be tens of meters high.

As they passed through the machines that had already stopped working and the control facilities covered in dust, Lennox could see why they had said what they did.

“They’ve completely remodeled an entire room into a vault.”

“Because of the security device Agria mentioned, we can’t easily touch it. Is there a special way?”

At Killian’s words, Lennox turned to him with a dumbfounded expression.

“Are you asking a mage to hack a security device right now?”

If it was a barrier made with a spell like Eden’s laboratory, Lennox could somehow break through it with his own abilities, but things were different with something mixed with magical engineering.

It was more of a product of engineering that used mana as a power source than magic.

Killian had nothing to say to that answer and just smacked his lips with an awkward expression.

‘By the way, this is a bit different from what I expected…’

He thought the key he had taken from Beck Clinton was most likely for the vault, but when he looked at it, there was no need for a key, and there wasn’t even a gap for a needle to enter.

The other team members seemed to have brought him here thinking that Lennox would have a solution, but he didn’t have a suitable solution either.

‘I could go inside using Blink, but…’

There was no reason to waste a precious artifact again in this place.

“…I’ll contact headquarters first to see if there’s a decryption code that’s even remotely similar.”

Agria slipped away, and the other team members were in a lull.

Lennox quietly stared at the security device, then placed his hand on the keypad for entering the password and poured mana into it.

Even if the principles were completely different, he thought he might be able to find something if it was operating with the same mana.