Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 953

The Duris Workshop was located in the heart of the Huddersfield Forest.

It was an arcane workshop that produced and sold artifacts, a prestigious establishment that had been granted the title and rank of Atelier [a high-ranking workshop].

Lenok walked through the vast lobby hall, guided by an attendant.

“……”

Lances and shields. Rings and necklaces, badges and cloaks. All sorts of ornaments and equipment hung on the walls of the workshop, emitting brilliant light.

Various colors of magic flickered and rotated on the artifacts, showcasing their useful and powerful abilities.

Whoosh…!!

In the fountain at the center of the lobby, a living water spirit held a jar, pouring out water.

A steel warhorse made of flames breathed out as if it were alive in the corner of the workshop.

A huge dinosaur fossil was displayed hanging from the ceiling of the workshop, moving slowly.

Even Lenok, who had acquired countless treasures and had been involved in their creation and repair, was surrounded by unfamiliar sights.

Even Lenok was momentarily distracted by the sight of the workshop, so how much more would others be?

“Ring of the Flame Phantom Engraving. 580 million Cell [currency].”

“Shadow Cloak. 307.75 million Cell. VAT is separate.”

“Elizain’s Immortality. 4.8 billion Cell. Please note that only cash transactions are possible.”

The attendant, who had been waiting nervously, immediately explained the abilities and prices whenever Lenok’s gaze landed on something.

However, Lenok’s expression as he listened to the attendant’s explanations showed no interest.

“……”

A VIP whom Meister Elbato Duris had personally asked to escort.

It was clear that he was a customer who was receiving very important treatment within the workshop.

Surely, the artifacts displayed here were not up to par for a collector with such high standards.

While the attendant, thinking this, continued to explain the artifacts made in the workshop with more enthusiasm.

Whoosh!

Customers who arrived at the workshop later than Lenok passed through the lobby hall at regular intervals and disappeared.

Some stared at Lenok with meaningful glances, while others ignored him and talked to traders.

“The protective lenses you ordered have been completed, so we contacted you.”

“Not bad. Is it okay to trade in kind this time as well?”

“Yes. As before, we made them in the form of glasses, so please try them on first…”

They continued their conversation quietly, but Lenok knew that these people were the core customers of the workshop.

There were countless famous artifacts and items in this world.

But the special thing about an arcane workshop was that you could order artifacts with the abilities you wanted.

Powerful artifacts were useful in many ways, but conversely, their abilities were also well known.

However, artifacts ordered from the workshop were treasures whose abilities only the Meister [master craftsman] and the customer themselves knew and could keep hidden.

That was why the prestigious royals and superhumans of the continent visited the workshop to have the items they wanted made and then left.

“……”

He stopped the flustered attendant and watched the secret transactions taking place around the workshop.

Because there was one last step left to verify the facts he had seen and heard through the ledger.

“I apologize for the long wait.”

Soon after, Elbato appeared before Lenok, holding dozens of blueprints.

He looked as if he had been rushing around for a long time.

He put down the bundle of blueprints he was holding, wiped his sweat, and said.

“It took a little longer than I thought. There weren’t many intact blueprints among the ones my father left behind…”

“You can take your time, don’t worry.”

Lenok replied.

“I don’t plan on leaving without confirming it here.”

The memory of Oshto Duris trading his son’s life with the Order’s priestess.

After going through the Duris Workshop’s ledger, Lenok confirmed that the person who had pushed for the deal was Kaise Bajur.

However, the ledger at the time did not specify exactly what equipment was made and handed over.

That was why Elbato had gone alone into the warehouse where the equipment blueprints were stored, and found the blueprints for the equipment that Oshto had made at the time.

“First, I’ve brought all the blueprints that match the serial numbers in the ledger, but…”

Elbato said, flipping through the blueprints.

“The blueprint serial numbers are different depending on the year of manufacture, so I think we need to find the right blueprint among these.”

“Is it to prevent the blueprints from being identified just by looking at the ledger?”

“Many of the items we make in our workshop are made of valuable parts…”

Elbato nodded, looking apologetic, and explained as he flipped through the blueprints.

“But since the number of parts and materials used is fixed, it won’t be difficult to find the blueprint itself.”

“I see.”

“I’ll check it soon, so please wait a little… By the way, did you happen to see any artifacts you liked?”

Elbato asked, gesturing to the attendant to leave.

“If it’s an artifact made in our workshop, we are willing to provide it to you first.”

“Do you need a sponsorship or something?”

“It’s a personal favor.”

Elbato shook his head.

“How could I try to take personal gain from someone who helped my father?”

“It would be better to discuss it later.”

Lenok crossed his arms and nodded.

“I’m watching.”

“……”

As he said, other customers who recognized Elbato were looking at them with surprised expressions.

It was probably not because they heard the conversation between the two, but because they were curious about who the VIP was that the Meister had personally come to greet.

People stared at Lenok intently for a moment, but soon pretended not to notice and turned their gaze away.

If they were customers who had come to order artifacts, they were aware that they had to be sensitive about keeping secrets from each other.

Only then did Elbato smile awkwardly and nod.

“I understand. Then, please come this way.”

Lenok followed Elbato to the side of a workbench in the corner of the lobby.

Right next to the customer who was getting his glasses fitted, whom Lenok had seen as he passed by earlier.

He glanced to the side, but the man seemed too busy talking to his trader to notice him.

“……”

“Magician. I found it.”

While Lenok was lost in thought with a blank expression, Elbato immediately picked up a blueprint.

“Since the number of parts used is small, I was able to identify the blueprint quickly.”

“The number of parts is small?”

“Yes. Take a look. Surprisingly…”

Elbato hesitated slightly and muttered.

“…It’s a very simple part.”

At Elbato’s somewhat puzzled words, Lenok also immediately turned his gaze to the blueprint.

The record of the day when the Ear Order and Oshto Duris traded artifacts.

A single section with the date, the trading partner, the reward, and the blueprint of the artifact that was traded.

The item that Kaise Bajur had commissioned and entrusted to the Order.

And Lenok, the moment he checked the blueprint, felt a strange emotion and closed his mouth.

“…What is this?”

A spiral concentric circle was drawn alone in the blueprint.

A bizarre shape that looked like a long steel wire bent into a circle and flattened.

Complex ancient characters were engraved on the surface of the thin steel wire, but the shape itself was quite simple.

It was too small to be an artifact, and relatively large to be a part of any device.

“It’s not a commonly used part. It’s something that would only be used in very precise equipment…”

Even Lenok, who had worked as a craftsman in the mechanical city of Machina and had handled many artifacts, had never seen a part of this shape before.

However, Elbato seemed to have recognized the identity of the part as soon as he saw the blueprint.

“It’s a spring used in clocks.”

“…A clock spring?”

“It’s used to attach a thin steel wire, flattened and wound, to the clock wheel.”

Elbato nodded.

As if he was about to pour out the knowledge he had, Elbato coughed lightly and began to explain again.

“It’s one of the parts mainly used in mechanical clocks. It vibrates the wheel at regular intervals when the clock is running, the specific principle is clearly-”

“Please summarize it in one sentence.”

“Yes. It’s a part that controls the movement of the clock’s second hand.”

Lenok, who had cut off Elbato’s words that were about to get long, stopped at the unexpected conclusion.

“…The movement of the second hand?”

Was the artifact that was handed over through a deal with the Order not a kind of weapon or war machine, but a simple clock part?

It was surprising that Oshto Duris had made such a thing, but it was also unexpected that the item used in the deal with the priestess was just a part.

“Yes. There aren’t many cases where the part is called by its name, but the exact name is clearly-”

And, Lenok’s thoughts were swept away by the next word that Elbato mentioned.

“Hairspring… I believe.”

“……”

Silence fell.

Lenok, who had stopped as if frozen, and Elbato, who was flustered as if he had made a mistake.

“I may be mistaken…”

“A part that moves the second hand of a clock…”

Lenok muttered, staring at the part.

“So that’s what it was.”

“…Magician?”

With that one word, Lenok could now understand why Kaise Bajur’s name was written here.

The magic particle exposure incident that occurred in the restricted area. The memory of the past he had faced at the center of it.

The last moment of someone who had passed on their heart to Lenok and disappeared.

At the end of the Tae-Yeok-Swae-Geop-Yeop [a specific event or phenomenon], Kaise, who had chosen to disappear by riding on the second hand of a clock….

Hairspring. A part that moves the second hand of a clock.

Lenok already knew about the man who had lived a life like that of a clock part.

In addition, he also knew how the word ‘hairspring’ was being used by those who were left behind.

“The Lunar Eclipse of the Hairspring…”

“……”

The moment when coincidence and inevitability met in the memory of ascension.

Lenok still remembered what they had talked about at that time.

The moment when the concept of the bottom was turned upside down. When the Shrinkage Formula was approaching.

The Lunar Eclipse of the Hairspring that the Commander and the Head Priest had mentioned.

If the word ‘hairspring’ itself referred to Kaise Bajur.

Then, the Lunar Eclipse of the Hairspring was clearly.

Kaise Bajur’s ascen-

“Oh dear.”

A calm voice echoed from next to Lenok.

“Is it okay to reveal such important secrets so carelessly?”

Thud!

At that moment, the employees and customers who were walking around the workshop’s lobby began to lose consciousness and collapse.

Like puppets with broken strings, they collapsed as if they had lost the power to support their bodies in that spot.

“Huh…?”

Elbato, who was sitting across from Lenok, slowly closed his eyes and gently laid his head on the workbench.

He lost even the strength to resist, as if he could not overcome the drowsiness, and bowed his head.

The workers who were busily moving around, the craftsmen who had been working on the workbench.

All the spirits and mechanical equipment that were guarding the workshop also lost consciousness like living beings.

In the middle of the workshop, where everything had become quiet, only Lenok remained.

“You have to be careful.”

The young man sitting next to him smiled as he looked at Lenok, resting his chin on his hand.

He swept the frame of the glasses he had just fitted and raised his gaze.

“In a place like this, it’s not strange for someone to be secretly listening.”

“……”

A miracle that had paralyzed the entire arcane workshop run by the Meister in an instant.

It was not the use of a spell or authority.

Simply by revealing his thoughts in this space-time, by showing his true form.

Everyone, regardless of whether they were human or superhuman, could not overcome the pressure and collapsed.

It was closer to a defense mechanism that closed the sensory organs and consciousness, overwhelmed by the immeasurable amount of information.

A coincidence that such an absurd thing could be done with just one word, and that a monster was sitting right next to him.

That was why it was not a coincidence.

“I should be the one asking.”

Lenok, who calmly turned his gaze, asked the young man wearing glasses.

His face, his presence, his physique. They were different from what he remembered.

But he was already certain that he was here.

“Why are you here?”

The ultimate power that symbolized the strength of the Ear Order.

A master craftsman who was praised as the most perfect incarnation among them and stood at the forefront of the Order.

The monster who had infiltrated the mechanical city of Machina alone and massacred the Supreme Council.

The 2nd Apostle was sitting next to Lenok.