Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 184

Design (1)

I wanted to bite into it right away to check, but in reality, it was something used in drug manufacturing. It wouldn’t be strange if I suddenly bit into it and fainted from the stimulation. I suppressed my eagerness and took out the sack I had brought from my pocket. I lined the inside of the sack with soil from the warehouse, placed all the Malabes [a rare medicinal herb] on top, and sealed it with magic. A portable transport sack made for transporting medicinal herbs, obtained with Jenny’s help. A valuable item that also serves as an artifact.

While Lenok was gathering the Malabes, Grisha, having found something as well, approached him. “Look at this.” What Grisha held out was a roughly made notebook, bound together with dozens of sheets of paper. “It’s a record of medicinal herb withdrawals. I looked for other ledgers, but this was the only one.” “So, they weren’t just storing the herbs in the warehouse.” “The number of names listed here is just over twenty. I guess the number of the Drug Lord’s underlings is about that many.” “It’s likely more than that. It probably means that’s the number of people who actually contribute to managing the warehouse and controlling the territory… But getting the manager’s name is good news…” Lenok trailed off, and Grisha turned her head. “Is there a problem?” “…No. It’s just that the name and location I remember don’t match. This is probably… not a coincidence. Let’s get out of here.”

As Lenok said that and stood up, Grisha immediately took care of the remaining tasks. She put all the herbs that had been in the warehouse into a strange gourd she was holding. It was something that had been agreed upon beforehand, so Lenok didn’t say anything. After all, raiding the Drug Lord’s vault was entirely something that was decided to help Lenok. Those herbs would all end up in Lenok’s pocket after everything was over. Lenok didn’t think Lapis would break her promise in this regard, so he didn’t pay attention to Grisha’s actions. Rather, he was more concerned about the fact that her gourd had a space-type preservation spell on it. Perhaps because she was a long-lived sorcerer, she seemed to possess a string of all sorts of rare artifacts. In fact, the reason why Lenok hadn’t shown his full strength in front of skilled sorcerers was partly focused on that. Even guys like Weizen carried around various artifacts with the Magic Tower as their strong background. Then, what kind of power would the treasures carried by sorcerers and warriors who were more skilled and experienced than them possess? For high-ranking sorcerers like Grisha, it wouldn’t be strange to carry around a bunch of relics. There would be plenty of artifacts that could assist even a skilled person like her in battle. And that would also apply to the Drug Lord and the skilled members of the Pandemonium.

“Let’s go back. It’s clear that the Drug Lord is stalling for time, so we shouldn’t delay our actions either.” “Did you notice?” Grisha retorted indifferently at Lenok’s words. “A guy who immediately sent a message just for approaching the government building is now keeping his mouth shut even when his vault is being raided. There’s only one reason…” That’s right. It was absurd that the Drug Lord, with his tenacious personality, wouldn’t know that two high-ranking sorcerers above level 6 were ransacking his warehouse. If all the heteromorphic species and homunculi guarding the warehouse were subdued, and the contents were completely looted, and there was still no signal, then. “He’s not in a position to care about the warehouse set up at the exhibition hall right now. Or he’s in a situation where he can’t show that he cares.” And the reason for that would be, as he said, that he was focused on finding a way to break through the barrier that was set up throughout the territory and enter this place. Grisha glanced at Lenok and immediately stood up. “I don’t have any idea what’s going on with this guy, but Evan, you must have figured something out, right?” “…Yes. I think there’s been some progress.” “Okay. Then let’s go back to the lighthouse and talk.” If we share information about the spells the Drug Lord uses, we can roughly guess how he’s trying to exert influence over the entire territory. Knowing is the same as being able to respond. Lenok was lost in thought as he watched Grisha, carrying the gourd and the body of the unconscious homunculus, walk out. ‘This is a difficult problem…’ The more he delved into the alchemy used by the Juice Master and his intentions. He came to the conclusion that dealing with him here was the cleanest way to resolve the situation. Dominic Cabaro would definitely arrive in the territory in some way. Even if he couldn’t care about the vault being raided right now, his tenacious nature would make him try to track down and retaliate against Lenok in some way. He had changed his face once to hide his tracks to the territory, but the Eyes of Azure knew that Lenok was working at Lavatenon University under the identity of Evan. If the Eyes of Azure were to lose to the Drug Lord here, the probability of Lenok’s disguise being exposed would greatly increase. He had planned to secretly steal only the Malabes to prevent this situation, but the Drug Lord realized the existence of the lighthouse and preemptively attacked the territory, disrupting the plan. Rather than hiding and trying to escape until the barrier’s duration ended, what if he inflicted fatal damage on the Drug Lord here, so that he wouldn’t even think of revenge? Most of the Pandemonium members didn’t have any attachment to the organization, and they didn’t care about each other’s safety. The probability of being retaliated against for stealing the Drug Lord’s property versus the probability of being retaliated against for killing a member of the Pandemonium. It was a no-brainer which was the right choice to avoid future trouble. ‘If the alchemy he uses is really the same as the one from WORLD 1.0 that I knew… there’s a way.’ In WORLD 1.0, alchemy was remembered as an unfortunate skill that saw the light just before the service ended, but it wasn’t without its compatibility and drawbacks. As a skill specialized in combining and transmuting existing things, it was just as vulnerable in completely different fields. And it wasn’t like Lenok didn’t have the means to do so. “…” And if Lenok could get his hands on that alchemy from the 1st world… ‘It might become possible to make medicine directly.’ Lenok stopped thinking there for now. Now was the time to move. Two wingboats were waiting for the two sorcerers at the deserted pier.

* * *

Pleasure is one of the most powerful motivators for humans. Something that can be tasted with the tongue, smelled with the nose, heard with the ears, and seen with the eyes. The moment he first tasted a sensation that stimulated the human brain in a completely different way. He had a hunch that this could become a means to dominate the world. “Is everything ready?” A calm female voice answered from the darkness. “All the necessary power sources have been secured. The biggest problem, spell resistance, was also solved quickly with good materials.” “…Good.” Excessive stimulation is more like pain, so even if you can’t get used to it at first and don’t know what to do, you tend to become numb over time. That’s why the important thing when giving it to others is not strong stimulation, but leaving a sense of regret. A faint regret left at the end of the satisfaction tasted when you take a sip. People blindly wander in pursuit of pleasure to fill that void. Dominic Cabaro’s life was destined to give such regret to the world. “We have confirmed the damage to the warehouse prepared on the 2nd floating island. Shall we take action?” “Leave it be. From the moment we completed the hiding place using the territory’s relic department, I expected that much of the hidden tail would be revealed.” The basics of business are expenses and investments. A businessman shouldn’t be afraid of losses, and there’s no reason to focus on immediate losses. The value of the herbs piled up in the warehouse was considerable, but it would be even better if the observers thought they had grasped a clue to the truth with this. It’s always advisable to hide a shred of truth within another truth. “There’s not much time left. If we can find out the location of the lighthouse, even if we have to use all the foundations we’ve invested in the territory, that’s enough…” Dominic said that and slowly took off his clothes, revealing his muscular body. A hand reaching out from the darkness naturally accepted his clothes. He slowly walked into the darkness and immersed his whole body in the cold ice water below. In the freezing cold, he let out a soft sigh and slowly lay down. “Hoo… No matter how many times I do it, I can’t get used to it. This materialization…” “It’s better to think of it as fortunate. The fact that the materialization process can be reduced this much to reduce the caster’s pain was a truly groundbreaking discovery at the time.” A calm female voice continued to echo. “Of course, there are advantages to minimizing the body’s convulsions and maximizing assimilation through this process, but the important thing is the recognition that one is ‘fixed’… It’s a great masterpiece that acknowledges the stark reality that the mind cannot escape the shackles of the body.” “Hehehe… I have no interest in the achievements of the forgotten world’s scraps. Shut your mouth and start already.” There was no reply. In the bone-chilling ice water, the Drug Lord closed his eyes and fell into thought. Others were busy praising him as one of the top tycoons in the underworld, but they didn’t know what was important. The more wealth he accumulated, the more desperately he realized the last deficiency that remained for him. The world is ultimately ruled by the logic of power. And as long as there are transcendents who have escaped the human realm, money can never stand above it, a simple fact. That’s why Dominic had been searching for one thing for a long time. Something that could fill the void of power with his overflowing money. And Pandemonium had perfectly fulfilled his wish. Using the alchemy, a spell from a forgotten world, it taught him that life was nothing more than a game. Now it was time to start a new game. Right in the home of the great ascendant, the Philemon Territory. “Preparation is complete. Power transmission extracted from 80 bodies, including the new body. Reconstruction preparation complete. 30 seconds until the start of the materialization transfer process.” Woo woo woo!! At that moment, the ice water that the Drug Lord was submerged in glowed with a frosty light as if it would freeze, and slowly began to freeze his body. Dominic opened his mouth as he stared at his limbs freezing. “Come to think of it, the magic that guy used was somehow familiar… Surely he’s not thinking of changing his mind now.” “Huh?” “I have something to tell Soryu when I get back.” With those words, Dominic’s consciousness sank as if it had been turned off.

* * *

Lenok and Grisha returned to the lighthouse. She was about to throw the gourd and the unconscious man in front of the lighthouse, but she picked up the baggage again with a sullen face. “…It doesn’t seem like it’s time to borrow someone else’s hands.” Lenok quietly looked up at the sky and muttered. Before they had left, the sky above the quiet lighthouse was now filled with hundreds of wingboats flying in all directions. They were able to hear the whole story from Lapis, who was directing the situation in the conference room. There were more than a dozen observers assisting her in the current situation, but only one of them was a magic user. It was proof that the observers who could provide military support had all headed out of the lighthouse. “Heteromorphic species resembling bizarre flesh are rampaging throughout the territory.” She said in a rapid voice with a pale face. “There were no casualties on the 2nd and 3rd floating islands where the residents were evacuated, but on the contrary…” “It means that the damage is increasing on the other floating islands. Gathering people in one place has backfired.” “If they are launching such a full-scale preemptive attack, there is only one reason.” An observer standing next to Lapis said with a stiff face. “The Drug Lord seems to have completed all preparations in just one day.”