Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 107

As Lennox spoke, he naturally bent down and successfully touched the equipment. Using his magic, he lightly tapped the empty space inside, and a massive vibration echoed as if it had been waiting.

Woo-oong…!!

“Ugh!”

“Why is it making that sound…”

“I-Isn’t this a big problem?”

Ignoring the students who were clearly bewildered by the strange noise, Lennox extended his magic directly into the equipment.

“The core operating principle is to artificially implement elemental magic. If that part isn’t damaged, then other problems can be easily resolved by making adjustments from the outside like this.”

At the same time, he shared a theory he had in mind to divert the students’ attention.

“The most basic principle of transporting magic that has escaped a mage’s control is artificial propulsion. After that, the goal is to alternate between expansion and contraction, taking the initial force without losing as much as possible.”

He sent strands of magic, manipulated by control magic, throughout the equipment, attaching them and slowly starting adjustments by very subtly pulling and pushing. He released the tangled parts by sending magic through the circuit and widened the usable area by grinding the worn-out parts around the injection port.

“If there’s a problem with the circuit that transmits magic, it might not withstand the expansion and contraction that occurs during the transport process and could be damaged.”

There was nothing he could do about the already worn-out parts, but if he could improve the injection port components, there wouldn’t be any problems with the product’s performance. The moment Lennox, having reached that conclusion, took his hand off the inside of the equipment, the noisy, rattling machine stabilized as if by magic and began to emit a pleasant whirring sound.

Whiiirrrrr…!

“So, it would be best if students didn’t carelessly touch the supplies needed for class.”

Lennox said this as he brushed off his knees and stood up.

“……..”

The students could only stare at Lennox with surprised expressions, unable to say anything. It wasn’t just fixing a simple piece of equipment; it was touching a magical engineering device that Aris herself had designed. It was a complex piece of equipment that even the university students, who were said to have talent in magic, couldn’t touch. Everyone there knew that noticing the problem with just a glance and fixing it on the spot was impossible without in-depth knowledge of magic theory and magical engineering.

Lennox felt the way they looked at him change in an instant, but he didn’t stop there. Rather, he wiped away the businesslike expression he had been wearing and grinned.

“I don’t know who did it, but I’ll keep it a secret from the professor. Be careful in the future.”

“T-Thank you!”

Laughter erupted here and there along with the slightly clumsy greeting of the young man.

“You idiot, that’s why I told you not to mess around!”

“Seriously, he’ll do anything to get on the professor’s good side.”

“Just focus on your studies, you fool!!”

Would just this one incident change the way they looked at Lennox? Lennox didn’t think so. Beira’s expression, who was hiding behind the students and looking at him, was a mix of surprise and displeasure rather than satisfaction. However, it was enough to leave a positive impression on most of the students who had no particular feelings for him in the first place. Thinking that, Lennox took a step back and slowly scanned the lecture hall. He needed to see how the other students were reacting to this minor incident that had just occurred. Sheila, who turned her head away as if it didn’t matter, and the young male student who had fallen asleep without a care. Even the burly, buzz-cut student in the distance, who was sneering with the group surrounding him. There were all sorts of students mixed in, but what Lennox wanted was simple. The preparations to cut off the buds of those who would interfere with his research life were progressing little by little, but surely. Looking forward to the future.

Fzzzzzz…!!

Thud!!

“Hmm…..”

Late at night. Lennox’s house. A separate, sealed laboratory. The open window had been fitted with a sturdy iron grate, and the walls, which had been covered with old wallpaper, were now lined with thick iron plates. The more time Lennox spent in the lab for his magic research, the more he invested in the lab’s equipment and environment. It was very important to feel a sense of accomplishment each time he invested time. It made him sure that what he was doing was not wrong, that the time he was sweating now was not in vain, not later, but right now. Lennox’s effort, investment, and belief in his talent for magic had already far surpassed a simple sense of duty. But even so, creating new magic was never easy.

“It doesn’t work as I thought it would…”

Lennox said, looking down at a small motorcycle model on the floor. The model was wobbling unsteadily from side to side with its two wheels on the floor. The only reason the motorcycle model was balancing on its own without any physical force was one thing: riding assistance magic. Lennox was developing the magic that would be essential for him to directly handle transportation, including bikes, in the future. The practical know-how about unique magic that he had learned from studying Eden’s research journal, and the theoretical knowledge that had been improved through constant discussions with Aris, had greatly helped Lennox to take his magic to the next level, but it was only the application of existing laws to his magic system. Creating a field he had never handled, or a completely new unique magic, was something he could only roughly estimate the possibility of. With Lennox’s current magic and assets, it was an inefficient task. However, he thought he might be able to create new assistance magic by modifying the relatively limited, low-magic-consuming, and simple-principle assistance magic. He had been trying it out, but…

‘It’s too impractical.’

He had succeeded in dismantling and reorganizing the magic principles used in shooting assistance magic. Considering that most mages barely manage to understand the principles of magic, it was no exaggeration to say that Lennox had already gone beyond a simple magic user and reached the level of truly exploring magic. However, the problem was that the two fields of shooting and riding were not actually compatible. Basically, shooting assistance magic was focused on enhancing the act of shooting, and the parts that Lennox had been improving had also been done in a way that took advantage of that aspect. However, riding assistance magic required attention to basic balancing, safety control, and speed adjustment, which could assist Lennox’s clumsy body. The problem was that if he delved into this part, he would eventually go beyond the scope of assistance magic. In short, it was not cost-effective. If he poured in magic, it would somehow work, but what was the point if he used up all his magic while riding a bike? To put it bluntly, it was like driving around with magic leaking out of the exhaust pipe instead of oil. Regardless of the need for transportation, it would be much more profitable to just take a taxi if the fuel efficiency was so bad.

“…..You can’t be full with the first spoonful.”

Apart from his transcendent talent and amazing intuition for unraveling magic, the magic and assets that Lennox could use were limited. The fact that no suitable answer came to mind no matter how much he thought about it was proof that the limit of the functions allowed by Lennox’s knowledge and assets was up to this point for now. It would be great if he could find the perfect answer in this place, but even if he didn’t, Lennox wouldn’t be disappointed or give up. The infinite desire to explore magic and the endless patience were also one of the talents he possessed as a mage. With that regret, Lennox organized the notes that were piled up on his desk. His magic research, which had been only three pages of notes when he first escaped the factory, had now grown to the point where it could no longer fit in one notebook.

#

“Please, have a seat.”

“Okay.”

At Dray’s words, who offered him a seat, Lennox obediently sat on the sofa opposite him. A woman wearing glasses quickly handed two cups of coffee to the two men and stepped back. Lennox recognized that the woman was the one who had participated in the operation to subdue the Scavengers. She had definitely been providing long-range support with a rifle… Her name was Kidel, wasn’t it? Well, that wasn’t important right now.

“Thank you so much for your help this time.”

Dray, who bowed his head, looked haggard, as if he hadn’t fully recovered from the curse. Judging by his appearance, he must have been on the verge of death before being saved, which somewhat explained why Wayan had been so frantic when he came to find Lennox. However, there was a faint glimmer of life in his eyes, so there was no need to worry about his health any further.

“Ah, Kidel. This isn’t coffee. What kind of strange medicine did you brew?”

“Shut up and drink it. I’m going to ban all caffeine until you recover.”

Considering his colleagues who were worried about Dray’s health next to him, it wouldn’t be long before he recovered. Lennox stared at the commotion between the two for a moment before answering.

“It’s not a problem since I did it for a proper price.”

“…..I heard that you took care of it first, even though you had a backlog of work. From my perspective, who actually benefited from it, I can’t just let it go.”

Dray said, taking a small wooden box from his pocket and handing it to Lennox.

“Please, accept this.”

“……..”

Inside the wooden box, five small pills were neatly wrapped in a small piece of paper.

“It’s a panacea called Headlock. It’s a medicine refined through a regeneration-type technique, and it has the effect of recovering various damages, both inside and outside the body.”

In short, it meant it was a more advanced version of the red medicine [a common healing potion].

“It was a medicine that the team members had obtained, hoping it would help with the curse, but since the Anti-Mage has solved the problem, I think giving it to you is the way to repay your kindness.”

At Dray’s firm words, Lennox accepted the wooden box without refusing. If he was saying it with such confidence, the Headlock medicine must also be worth a considerable price. Of course, if all of this was done purely out of goodwill, it would be right not to accept it, even if it meant incurring an unnecessary debt…

‘Dray Creamgal must have his own calculations.’

Even if he had arranged a meeting, the fact that he had called him and given him a separate reward like this was not in line with the norms of this world that Lennox had experienced. Considering that Wayan had paid Lennox’s fee in advance, Dray’s actions now were a gesture of wanting to continue his relationship with him. That’s why Lennox didn’t refuse the wooden box he was handing over. He thought of Dray Creamgal as a decent mercenary, and there was something he needed to find out from him.

“The request about the pillar. Could you tell me who the client was?”

“It’s a rule of thumb to keep quiet about finished jobs if you want to survive long in this business, but…”

He said with a grin.

“I can’t do that to the Anti-Mage. I’ll tell you.”

The whole story of how the Creamgal Mercenary Office was ambushed in the underground waterway was like this. Requests to find a pillar in the underground waterway had come in simultaneously from similar mercenary offices. The reward was quite high compared to how easy the request seemed, so there was competition between the offices.

“The client who made the request was an ordinary office worker. He didn’t even seem to know what he was saying, and he just handed over a dummy bank account and left. It seemed like he had deliberately gone through several people to avoid being exposed.”

“……..”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of much help.”

“No.”

Lennox interrupted him and stood up. With just that short clue, he was sure who had made the request to Dray. The meticulous actions of using a dummy bank account and going through several people. There was no need to say which force, between the black mages and Leysen, had the infrastructure to use such a sophisticated method while making a request in a short period of time.

‘Leysen asked about the pillar first.’

And they tried to secretly confirm it through mercenaries.

‘After figuring out that Dray was actually cursed, he realized that the pillar was the work of a black mage and tried to recover it through Mad Manson.’

Considering that Manson had arrived in the underground waterway about half a day before Lennox, it was probably after Wayan had moved that he realized that Dray was cursed.

‘The problem is how important the pillar is to the black mages…’

If they didn’t place much importance on finding the pillar, it might be more profitable to hire freelancers and throw them in to draw Leysen’s attention. While Leysen’s attention was diverted to the slush fund, they could get a much bigger harvest by using the encryption key to track the location and raid the temporary base.

‘Considering the possibility that the pillar installed on the outskirts of Vulcan is a bait, it might be more efficient not to pay attention to it.’

Lennox, having quickly finished his thoughts, greeted Dray and left his office. Wayan, who had been loitering near the hallway, made eye contact with him and greeted him with a stiff expression.

“Ah, hello.”

He looked haggard, probably because he hadn’t slept properly while running around everywhere, but there was a glimmer of life in his eyes. One way or another, Dray had come to his senses, so his efforts had been rewarded. Lennox didn’t value feelings like camaraderie very much, but he thought that he could at least trust such people much more.

“…..Thank you so much for this time.”

He was about to pass him with a smirk, but Wayan hesitated and said, looking at his back.

“If it weren’t for you, the captain might have died without being able to break the curse in time.”