Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 226

Lenok, feeling awkward, scratched his cheek, while Belver shook his head, dumbfounded.

“No, it’s just unbelievable that you can capture and analyze mana manipulation happening at such a fast speed from that distance.”

“We know roughly how mana is manipulated through experience, but you wouldn’t, would you?”

“Right. I thought you weren’t interested in any kind of fighting…”

Even Dray said that, and Lenok couldn’t help but chuckle.

In fact, Lenok had never revealed his poor athletic ability or his weakness in close combat.

Lenok always thoroughly prepared the groundwork and foundation for victory before engaging in battle.

In Lenok’s battles, where he was skilled at maximizing his strengths and hiding his weaknesses, close combat rarely occurred, nor did he appear vulnerable in such situations.

However, despite this, some people had noticed that Lenok didn’t prefer moving around during battles or that he didn’t enjoy physical activity.

Even though he had never shown it directly, they had unconsciously sensed it from the aspects he had subtly revealed while working together.

“Well, it’s not that I’m not interested in that kind of physical fight… but I have more important things to do right now.”

Lenok said, gazing at an object on his desk.

Woo-oo-oo-oong….

A sapphire-blue mana core, where mana converged in a spiral, was emitting a faint heat and glowing on its own.

It was the mana core that Lenok had obtained after having Killian seize it from the Dyke Company’s factory site, which had been attacked by the Cartel’s execution squad.

Since then, Lenok had often been working on stabilizing this unstable mana core.

Although Jenny had temporarily set up this room because the company’s representative couldn’t be without an office, it was helpful for handling these small tasks.

“The stabilization is almost complete.”

It wasn’t for nothing that he had asked Panoa to get the mana core.

Lenok’s mana recovery was overwhelmingly superior to other mages, but his actual mana capacity was not as high as that of other mages of the same level.

It was already absurd that Lenok, who had only awakened to magic a little over two years ago, had caught up with the mana capacity that was most directly proportional to one’s innate talent and accumulated time.

Nevertheless, the basic size of his mana capacity sometimes held Lenok back.

For example, the enormous amount of mana consumed when deploying the magnetic field meant that he needed time to use spells even after deploying the field.

Or he had powerful magic at his disposal but couldn’t use it due to a lack of mana.

Of course, he had been careful when using large amounts of mana, so he had rarely been in a crisis, but Lenok wanted to avoid being held back at such crucial moments in the future.

At least until his mana capacity grew to far surpass that of other mages.

“Considering the speed at which my mana is growing, I might not need to use it for long. But for now, it will be a great help.”

Wee-ee-ee-ing….

Lenok released his mana into the core and carefully circulated it through the internal circuits.

Basically, a mana core uses the powerful heat generated by the decomposition and reassembly of mana particles within the core as its power source.

The reason why mana cores are considered efficient but unstable energy sources is that they are extremely vulnerable to external shocks during the process of decomposing mana particles, and the heat generated can easily go out of control.

Therefore, Lenok drastically reduced the heat conversion process to lower the risk, and he focused on building an external circulation path by replacing the mana particles that were being reassembled in the core with his own mana.

If successful, it would be like having another reserve mana tank just for Lenok.

In other words, it meant that he could temporarily succeed in using even more powerful magic that exceeded his current mana capacity.

As Lenok was thinking that and was about to focus on the mana core, someone banged on the door from outside.

“Come in.”

“Van!!”

Jenny, drenched in sweat, burst through the door, panting.

She was out of breath from just running up to the rooftop of this three-story building; she wasn’t in good shape either.

“What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering, Jenny handed Lenok the laptop she was holding.

“The Cartel has made a move. It’s big.”

“…”

Lenok read the email that appeared on the laptop and let out a hollow laugh.

It was true that he had been speculating about what stance they would take after handing over Girard Ozet, but he never expected them to come out like this….

“An executive meeting convened by the chairman’s authority…”

“It’s not just about convening a meeting; look at the names invited here.”

Below the invitation, where the names of the executives were listed, Van’s name was naturally mixed in.

Considering that there was no way they could mistake or miswrite the list of guests invited to a meeting held at such a time, this was probably—

“It’s an invitation directly from the chairman.”

The sparring was interrupted.

Opinions began to be exchanged among those who had gathered around Lenok’s office in an instant.

“It seems too dangerous.”

Dray said.

“An executive meeting. In other words, the chairman and all the board members will almost certainly be summoned there, along with high-ranking executives, including the board of directors.”

“…”

“There’s no guarantee that Van can escape alone if they deliberately set up a siege.”

“The location of the meeting doesn’t necessarily mean that.”

Belita countered.

“A large convention hall in District 32. It’s a huge facility connected to a sports stadium that can accommodate 80,000 people, and crucially, it has an open-air structure.”

“The meeting is only three days away. It would be too difficult in terms of time and scale to set up a trap in such a wide area…”

Killian said, and Belver nodded in agreement.

“The cost of taking over the entire stadium would be enormous. I don’t think the Cartel would waste money on something pointless… Why are you all looking at me like that?”

Lenok ignored Belver’s words and pondered.

The magic eye that Iola had left behind was still in Lenok’s possession.

She had essentially bet her life on Virgil’s name and received Girard’s custody.

Then, this must be Virgil’s answer to the negotiation that Lenok had proposed….

“Let’s organize the things we need to think about first.”

In the meantime, Jenny took the lead and began to organize the situation.

“Oliviera Ron Maze. Everyone knows this name, but it’s the first time in decades that this name has been directly mentioned in Cartel documents.”

“…”

“Even though we agreed to a smooth negotiation with Virgil in exchange for evidence of a traitor within the Cartel and the handover of Girard, if this is the answer… it’s safe to assume that the chairman’s will is involved.”

The room fell silent.

Everyone was acutely aware of the weight that name carried.

Lenok had also heard of Oliviera Ron Maze, the chairman of the Cartel.

Her official activities dated back 50 years ago.

She was a prominent figure who had continued her activities as a mage at her peak decades ago before going into indefinite seclusion, and even then, she was treated as someone who had transcended the ranks.

The fact that this monster, who had never shown herself in the Cartel’s management activities and had only occasionally hinted at her survival, had suddenly started official activities again was no coincidence.

“It’s the chairman after all…”

It wasn’t that he hadn’t expected this.

If the Cartel’s internal strife had spread to the level of the president, the situation wouldn’t be resolved without the chairman’s direct intervention.

However, he had hoped that Virgil would divert the chairman’s attention from Lenok and Jenny’s business, but it seemed that things wouldn’t go as planned.

In the end, what he had to do was decided.

“If they invited me, I should accept.”

“…Are you sure?”

Lenok chuckled at Dray’s words.

“If they wanted to kill me, they wouldn’t have come out so grandly… As Belita said, if it’s in the middle of District 32, it’s an area where civilians would inevitably get caught up. There’s no way she wouldn’t know that.”

A level 6 military mage. Everyone knew what the factory site where Lenok and Avid Yonsen had fought looked like now.

A blatant and devastating scene of destruction spanning an area of at least several hundred meters.

If that was the extent of a level 6 high-ranking mage’s battle, then what would be the effective range of a mage who had clearly reached a higher level?

“The agents, as well as all sorts of monsters belonging to the city government, will be thoroughly checking it. It’s no exaggeration to say that there’s no chance she’ll show her true self there.”

Lenok said, tilting the laptop slightly.

“If you think about it, this is just a formality to publicly reveal the process of purging the traitor within the Cartel.”

“…”

“Perhaps there was an internal judgment that they couldn’t hide such a big event. But the fact that they called me in the process…”

He was confident that he could get himself out of any situation.

The good fortune he had found after taking the medicinal herbs. The inner changes and the development of the magnetic field that resulted from it.

On top of that, the mana core he had obtained after destroying the Cartel’s execution squad.

If Oliviera really showed up there to kill Lenok, Ivelyn, and even Antares, would lend a hand for Lenok.

It was no exaggeration to say that Lenok, who was not a transcendent, would not fall into a trap.

At Lenok’s resolute words, the others nodded silently.

Everyone gathered here had either worked with Lenok or had directly experienced how outstanding a mage he was from the other side’s perspective.

His abnormally fast growth rate and his unique sharp judgment.

Everyone acknowledged his unique intuition, which had never been wrong as he had passed through countless battle lines.

“If Van says so.”

Jenny shrugged her shoulders without a word.

Her face was calm, as if she had known this would happen from the beginning.

“It’s only been a month since we started working with you… and things have already gotten this big.”

Killian sighed, and Dray nodded.

“If it’s to put a definite end to the conflict with the Cartel, it would be best to convey our intentions directly to them. Understood.”

“Should we just tell the commander?”

Lenok nodded at Belver’s question.

“Yes. I want to ask Antares for a favor. I already got a confirmation from him before, but this might be the last thing to conclude with the Cartel.”

The best thing would be to finish things relatively smoothly without wasting unnecessary power.

Now that he had confirmed that the business Jenny had started had enough potential, there was no reason to settle things with the Cartel right now.

However, what would they have to offer each other in exchange for the blood and sacrifices they had made so far?

Lenok had already done his part by proving the existence of a traitor within the Cartel.

Now it was the Cartel’s leadership’s turn to answer.

* * *

District 32. Elements Stadium.

It was the most popular sports club in the 30s district, and it had recently succeeded in building a new stadium based on the strong support of its fans.

In order to contribute to the local community, they sought ways to utilize the stadium in various ways, and with variable facilities for use as a convention hall as well as a large-scale performance venue, it had become a prominent landmark in the area.

The fact that this stadium, which had become the pride of the residents of District 32, was closed to the public for a day on a weekday was not even news in the world.

There was no reason for civilians to feel the tension and chilling shadow that hung over this place.

However, despite this, all the power factions of the megacity were simultaneously focusing their attention on this stadium for this one day.

The Cartel’s executive meeting.

No one was unaware of the meaning of the large-scale meeting that the chairman of the Cartel, who had hundreds of affiliates but had left its leaders free, had directly convened in her own name for the first time in decades.

-The agreement with the police chiefs of Districts 32, 30, and 35 is complete. From now on, we will be adding variables to all traffic signals near the stadium for half a day. We will drastically reduce the frequency of civilian vehicles within a 3km radius.

“Understood. Our preparations are almost complete as well.”

Hina O’Neil, from the agent’s intelligence department, answered the communication in her ear while quickly tapping on her phone.

Even the agents, whose workload had been increasing drastically recently, could not ignore this matter.

Due to the severe shortage of manpower, even the employees who were working in the office had come out to cooperate in setting up a defense line near the stadium.

“The world is going crazy…”

How many years had it been since the Cartel, which had reigned as one of the three leaders of the underworld, had moved so massively?

No one would have thought that such a huge corporate alliance would rent out an entire stadium to hold a meeting like this.

-A formal document has been sent down from the city council. You know what this means, right? The headquarters believes that there is a low possibility that the chairman will show up in person, but if that really happens, we will have to step in directly.

“…Is it possible to stop her? She’s one of the three leaders.”

-It’s a matter of whether we can buy time. If that woman appears, Team Leader Marcia and other high-ranking mages will cast a binding spell and immediately build a barrier.

“…”

-Let’s hope they end the conversation peacefully.

“I don’t see much chance of that…”

Hina muttered, touching the sword hanging at her waist.

There was another reason why the agents and the city government did not stop the Cartel from renting this stadium, even though they knew it was going to happen.

They had simply judged that it was better to watch the uncontrollable Cartel directly rather than let them plot in an unknown place.

And the Cartel was well aware of this fact.

Was it just her imagination that it felt like they were being played in the palm of their hands from beginning to end?

-It’s starting. Focus.

At the same time as the stiff voice echoed, Hina and the other agents all turned their gaze to the cameras connected to the inside of the stadium.

A sports stadium that could accommodate tens of thousands of people.

In the middle, the grass had been covered with a smooth stone floor using variable facilities, and it had been transformed into a convention hall to welcome the VIPs.

The capacity of 80,000 people was far too small to gather all the members of the Cartel, but on the other hand, it was a fairly large area to accommodate all the executives and their attendants.

All the executives of the partner companies who had been called out for this day, the leaders of each affiliate, the executives and department heads of the headquarters, and the top leaders on the board of directors took their places in the vast hall,

and thousands of attendants guarded the outside of the main hall.

And on the wide platform of that vast hall, four men and women stood in their respective places.

The board of directors, who reigned at the top of the huge organization called the Cartel, had appeared in person.

-I was half-expecting it, but all the board members are here in person. If that’s the case, then maybe… Hina, get ready.

“…”

Hina O’Neil. Are you listening?

Stiff voices continued to be heard over the communication, but Hina did not hear them and stared at the screen with a slightly dazed expression.

The figure of a young man slowly walking up to the hall in the corner of the screen looked all too familiar to her.