Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 607

The boundary between the workshop district and the factory district was marked by the ceaseless turning of gears.

A black van was parked in a shabby, secluded alleyway nestled between small waterways.

As Renok approached, the passenger window rolled down, and a man wearing sunglasses leaned out.

He openly scanned Renok from head to toe, then asked in a nonchalant tone, as if tossing the words away, “Lyman. Right?”

“…Lyman?”

The moment Renok tilted his head at the unfamiliar name, Davi whispered from inside his pocket, right on cue.

[That’s the original owner’s name of the workshop the Master borrowed.]

“……”

Was that the name of the artisan who had been dispatched as an envoy inside the Machine City with Mauzer and died? It seemed Isabella had discreetly pulled some strings, likely handling Renok’s identity as a missing person who had returned.

The man reached out his hand through the window.

He roughly grabbed Renok’s wrist and scanned it with a device that looked like a barcode reader.

Beep!!

“There’s a record of the Executors accessing the ticket information. Your identity is confirmed, so get in.”

“……”

If Renok hadn’t deactivated the automatic interception spell in time, the man would have been reduced to ashes by the discharge of electricity on the spot.

However, instead of showing any displeasure, Renok obediently boarded the van through the opened back door.

As soon as he got inside, two men in suits sitting on either side firmly grabbed Renok’s arms, and a blindfold was placed over his head.

The arms of the two men holding him were not just muscular, but felt cold like steel.

Realizing they were cyborgs who had modified parts of their bodies with machines, Renok spoke while still blindfolded.

“Where are you taking me?”

“I thought you were informed separately by the Executors.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Then just wait quietly and don’t say anything.”

The man in the passenger seat said in a cold tone.

“We’ll make sure you can meet the Council Member.”

“……”

As Renok closed his mouth, the van started and he felt it slowly moving forward.

Was this their way of preventing him from knowing the route to meet the Council Member?

However, even without activating his magic sense, Renok could remember every turn, every block the van passed through.

‘It’s the fourth time we’ve circled the same distance.’

That was the conclusion Renok reached inside the van, which was constantly bumping and moving.

They were deliberately changing directions randomly, entering and reversing in various places to confuse his senses.

But in Renok’s mind, who had memorized the entire street map of this area, the van’s location was being tracked in real time.

‘They didn’t intend to go far from the start.’

If they were really trying to hide the route to the Council Member, they wouldn’t have the time to circle one place so persistently.

That meant the Ex Machina Council Member who had called Renok was not far away.

The Ex Machina Council Member had been in the workshop district from the beginning to meet Renok.

Whirr…!!

The van, deliberately taking a roundabout route, entered the underground parking lot of a shabby, secluded abandoned building.

The door opened, and guided by the two men holding his arms, Renok got out and started walking along a corridor that smelled fresh.

Even though they had entered through the underground parking lot of an abandoned building, there was no musty smell, but rather a clean, fresh air.

‘Is this a hidden hideout or a space closer to a villa?’

As Renok thought that, his feet began to step on soft carpets and rugs alternately, and soft lamplight seeped through the blindfold.

At the sound of stopping in front of a door, a man with a sharp voice asked.

“Possessions?”

“None.”

The answer came from the cyborg holding Renok’s left arm.

“Since he’s definitely not a physical ability user, he won’t have any abilities that could be harmful.”

“Good.”

They must have checked Renok’s basic physical abilities while holding his arm and determined that he wouldn’t be a threat.

He chuckled at their misunderstanding, but instead of showing it, Renok waited quietly.

If he was a superhuman of a specialized system who worked as an artisan, he would certainly not be strong in combat.

And if his physical abilities were also lacking, their judgment that he wouldn’t be a danger even if he met the Council Member alone wouldn’t be wrong.

Squeak…!!

As he waited, the restraints on his arms were released, and he felt a hand gently pushing his back.

At the sound of the door opening, he slowly walked forward, and the air touching his skin changed drastically with a warm breeze.

Click!

As the door closed behind him, Renok, now free, took off his blindfold.

Candles illuminated the dark room. An old man sat quietly at a table with a dim lamp, staring at Renok.

Behind the old man, a woman stood silently like a ghost.

Her impression was blurry and hard to see, but her aura was incredibly sharp.

It was an atmosphere so tense that it seemed like she would act immediately at the slightest sign of anything unusual.

However, Renok ignored the woman’s subtle gaze and pulled out a chair across from the old man, sitting down.

The old man stared at Renok for a while, then quietly opened his mouth.

“I don’t recall telling you to take off your blindfold and sit down.”

“My apologies.”

Renok replied without batting an eye.

“I haven’t learned what kind of etiquette to show to a Council Member of Ex Machina.”

“……”

The woman standing behind the old man seemed to have intensified her gaze for a moment.

However, the old man seemed somewhat convinced by Renok’s answer and lightly waved his hand towards the woman.

“I know that artisans don’t like formalities. I want to judge after seeing your abilities first.”

“Judge, you say.”

“As the Executors explained, I’m looking for an artisan skilled enough to participate in the Meister Selection Ceremony.”

The old man’s eyes gleamed coldly.

“To be precise, I need someone to represent the Machine Heads and uphold their honor.”

“……”

Machine Heads, Steel Hearts, War Hammers.

Factions named after the three most important values revered in Machina.

It was quite well-known that Ex Machina had been divided into three factions and had been engaged in political strife for a long time, so Renok wasn’t very surprised.

“Therefore, regardless of origin or background, if an artisan has outstanding skills that can leave a strong impression at the selection ceremony… I, as a Council Member, am willing to allow them to participate in the selection ceremony.”

The old man directly asked Renok, who was quietly keeping his mouth shut.

“According to the Executors’ report, you have the ability to handle work in a unique way that is different from other artisans.”

“……”

“Executor Isabella is a person who is quick-witted and perceptive enough to maintain neutrality amidst the political strife of Ex Machina. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t even have come to this shabby lower workshop district to meet you.”

The old man nodded and tapped the table with his wrinkled fingers.

In response to that gesture, the woman took out an old pistol from her pocket and slid it onto the table in front of Renok.

“Show me your abilities with that pistol using only the items in this room. One chance should be enough, right?”

To represent a faction and achieve good results at the Meister Selection Ceremony.

To show his abilities in order to participate in the selection ceremony.

Both were things he had anticipated from the moment he thought he might meet an Ex Machina Council Member.

However, Renok was currently empty-handed, without any tools necessary for maintenance.

He didn’t have a screwdriver or a hammer, not even a simple knife, so he didn’t know what he was supposed to show, but instead of complaining, Renok picked up the pistol.

As soon as he grabbed it with one hand, Renok opened his mouth.

“It’s heavy.”

“So?”

“Even though the magazine, including the bullets, is completely empty, it’s quite heavy. That’s proof that the metal used in its construction is quite heavy.”

Renok pulled the slide once and looked inside, then nodded.

“Irregular bumps and inconsistent friction sounds. But the finishing and processing of the metal itself are very clean.”

“I’m not asking you to explain the history of the pistol, but how you would maintain this pistol…”

“A pistol made for ceremonial use, not for actual combat.”

Renok turned the pistol upside down and swept away the dust on the back, then said.

“The reason it looks dirty and old is probably because the decorations and paint attached to the pistol have been removed.”

“……”

Leaving the old man, who had an inscrutable expression, Renok got up from his seat.

The old man had said to use the items in the room, so there was no reason to refuse.

An old radio and an old cell phone on the shelf, a safe on one side of the wall.

Even the fire hydrant on one side of the wall and the dusty outlet holes.

Click!!

Without hesitation, he pulled out the metal antenna of the old radio and inserted it into the electrical outlet hole.

The two people frowned at Renok’s action of holding the metal with his bare hands and touching the outlet, but surprisingly, Renok didn’t get electrocuted on the spot.

Instead, he simply inserted the metal antenna, which had become hot from being electrified through the outlet hole, directly into the muzzle of the old pistol.

Chiiik!!

The metal at the end of the heated antenna made a strange sound and emitted faint smoke inside the muzzle.

But Renok, without any hesitation, grabbed the end of the metal with his bare hand and opened his mouth.

“The reason why the decorations of a pistol made for ceremonial use were all removed but not disposed of. And yet, the reason why it was brought here for the purpose of testing for this task.”

Click.

Renok smiled as he slowly pulled the end of the antenna out of the muzzle.

“That’s probably because the gun itself is important evidence, or because there are indelible traces left on it, wouldn’t you say?”

“……”

The end of the antenna, which had been heated and pushed into the muzzle, had a dark red bloodstain on the melted metal tip.

Renok placed the antenna on the table and said.

“Pistols made for ceremonial use are usually designed to use blanks, so they don’t have strong killing power. You can use live ammunition, but to kill someone, you’d have to push it deep into their chest and pull the trigger, and even then, it might barely be possible.”

“……”

“But if you kill someone like that, traces will inevitably remain deep inside the barrel. Even if you remove all the blood-stained decorations and paint and try to erase the traces, if you forcibly melt and rub the deep part of the muzzle like this, the remaining bloodstains will come out.”

Renok turned to the Council Member, who was keeping his mouth shut, and asked.

“In my opinion, there’s a preservation spell on this pistol itself, so I think the military would be contacted immediately if the original form is damaged.”

“That’s…”

“So, I understand that you wanted to borrow the hands of an artisan to modify the pistol and erase the traces, while also testing their skills.”

He inserted the antenna into the outlet again, melted the end, and then placed it on the tightened screw on the pistol.

The melted end of the heated antenna solidified along the screw’s crack, turning into a makeshift screwdriver that could loosen the screw.

Using that, Renok easily began to disassemble the pistol.

Click, click!!

“I found it.”

Deep inside the pistol’s magazine spring.

Renok realized that there were very tiny spell characters engraved on the metal surface of the spring, and he immediately activated his magic to crush the spell characters.

Fwoosh!!

With that impact, the spell characters glowed brightly and tried to send a wave of magic as a signal somewhere,

But as Renok instantly extended his will and grabbed the wave, tearing it apart, it disappeared into a powerless echo.

A strange phenomenon where a strong light flashed in the room and disappeared in an instant.

Renok, who was at the center of that phenomenon, nonchalantly placed the pistol on the table and said.

“Since I’ve erased the preservation spell itself, there will be no traces left even if this pistol is disposed of now.”

“……”

The old man, who had been staring at Renok without saying anything, reached out and slowly grasped the pistol.

The old man stared at it for a while, then handed the pistol to his attendant, who crushed and crumpled the pistol with both hands.

Crackle!!

A monstrous grip that crushed a solid ceremonial pistol with bare hands.

Even at that display of power, which seemed like a show of force, Renok did not react and quietly sat back down across from the old man.

After a long silence, the old man quietly said to Renok.

“Executor Isabella’s reason for recommending you was completely different.”

Renok’s greatest value as an artisan was not his manufacturing or maintenance skills themselves.

A powerful intuition and sensitivity that allowed him to see through the events that had occurred through the condition and history of the equipment.

A sharp reasoning ability that allowed him to see through not just the equipment, but also the user.

The Council Member also immediately realized that he possessed the talent to approach the core of the problem, not just fix the equipment.

The old man stared at Renok, as if lost in thought, and asked.

“Can you also guess who the owner of this pistol was?”

“……”

He had already completely erased the evidence, and now he was asking him to guess who the owner of the pistol was.

However, Renok pondered the memory of touching the pistol and pieced together the clues to reach a conclusion.

“They wouldn’t have been a professionally trained soldier.”

Renok said with a thoughtful expression.

“The preservation state of the magazine, including the internal spring, wasn’t very good. It means that they only carried it for ceremonial purposes and never actually used it.”

“Hmm.”

“A position high enough to always carry a ceremonial pistol, but a status that wouldn’t require any combat training. A position where others would cover up the evidence even if they killed someone.”

Renok nodded.

“It’s not uncommon for the children of the powerful to cause incidents.”

“……”

Not only the old man, but even the attendant who had been standing silently, looked at Renok with slightly widened eyes.