Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1069

The unprecedented situation where the Blood Thought Record itself refused to transfer ownership to the Blood Fear Duke was baffling.

The Blood Fear Duke, clutching the notebook’s pages, mumbled in disbelief.

‘N-no, it doesn’t like… it doesn’t like me?’

Could she have ever imagined being outright rejected by an artifact she created?

The girl, seemingly quite shocked, stammered, repeating the Blood Thought Record’s answer.

Staggering backward, the Blood Fear Duke belatedly regained her senses and sharply turned her gaze.

‘It’s, it’s because of you!’

‘……’

The Blood Fear Duke’s eyes, as she looked at Lenok, gleamed intensely like rubies.

‘Explain immediately what happened. What did you do to the record device I made?’

‘Even if you ask me that, there’s nothing I can say in response.’

Lenok shrugged and replied.

‘I’ve only used it a few times after receiving it from another caretaker. I haven’t tampered with the Blood Thought Record in any way.’

‘……’

‘As I’m not well-versed in blood magic, I don’t know the operating principles of this artifact either. Aren’t you just guessing?’

While he was well aware of the capabilities and power of blood magic, Lenok had never deeply studied it.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to study it, but the fact that it ultimately required the caster’s blood as a material was a problem.

It was a difficult technique to master unless one was a demi-human like a vampire, who was born with the ability to interchange blood and mana.

There was a reason why blood mages were particularly expensive during his time as a freelancer in Vulcan.

‘The rule of blood I placed on the Blood Thought Record is one of the regulations created to distinguish the hierarchy among vampires.’

However, the Blood Fear Duke seemed unconvinced by Lenok’s words and asked.

‘I wouldn’t believe it even if another vampire did this, but you’re saying you have a higher blood dominance than me, who possesses True Blood?’

‘That part is extremely personal information, so it’s difficult to tell you.’

Lenok, with his arms crossed, looked down at the Blood Fear Duke.

‘Anyway, I understand that the transfer of ownership didn’t go through properly. What happens now?’

‘……If the ownership of the Blood Thought Record isn’t transferred, I can’t use it.’

The Blood Fear Duke pouted and replied.

‘Even if I have the notebook, it’ll quickly return to you if we’re far apart.’

‘Are you saying that the act of handing over the Blood Thought Record to you has become impossible?’

‘Yes. But… I don’t like it.’

The Blood Fear Duke glared at the old notebook and Lenok with her red eyes, baring her teeth.

‘You’re going to get all the information you wanted and take the notebook too? That’s different from the deal you and I made.’

‘I’ll accept it if you offer another acceptable price.’

Lenok nodded.

‘Given the value of the information I received from you, I have no intention of wiping my mouth clean like this [breaking a promise].’

‘……’

The fact that Kaise’s body was hidden in the Sanctuary of the Old Aeon, and that only Ascended beings could enter the Old Aeon.

The information the Blood Fear Duke gave in exchange for the return of the Blood Thought Record was of immense value to Lenok.

It was as if he had immediately learned the secret that he would have had to search for throughout Kundara, thanks to the Blood Fear Duke.

Of course, this wasn’t the end, and now he had to find a way to enter the Old Aeon.

Now, it was too much to just wipe his mouth clean and pretend not to know, given the price he had received from the Blood Fear Duke.

Since the Blood Fear Duke was a long-lived being with considerable influence in Kundara, breaking the deal like this wouldn’t be good for Lenok either.

‘Ummm……’

The Blood Fear Duke, perhaps feeling that Lenok’s response was somewhat cooperative, withdrew the anger she had momentarily shown and fell into thought.

She must have also remembered that Lenok had been quite cooperative in this deal.

The black-haired girl clutched her head with both hands and groaned.

‘What should I do… there was something I wanted to try using the Blood Thought Record…’

‘Wouldn’t it be resolved if I cooperated with that matter?’

‘No.’

The Blood Fear Duke glared at Lenok with her red eyes.

‘It’s not something to be disclosed to outsiders. Especially not to a dangerous person trying to find Kaise’s body.’

‘It’s not something the person who willingly told me the location of the body should be saying.’

Even though the Blood Fear Duke herself had decided where to hide Kaise’s body, she had told Lenok the location more willingly than expected.

Perhaps she thought there was no longer a need to hide Kaise’s body, or perhaps her thoughts had changed since then.

However, the Blood Fear Duke surprisingly couldn’t answer that and frowned.

‘That’s, anyway…’

A subtle reaction as if such a topic itself was no longer of great significance.

The girl, who had been standing in the middle of the Blood Shadow Palace, lost in thought, sighed and shook her head.

‘No, never mind. I’ve got a headache, so get out for now.’

‘……Get out?’

‘I’ll think about what price to demand from you, including an explanation for that part.’

The Blood Fear Duke, who had trudged to the throne and sat down, waved her hand, and one side of the Blood Shadow Palace’s wall cracked open, revealing the scenery outside.

Not the foggy bridge where Lenok had been standing just now, but a hill overlooking the city in the distance.

‘I’ll let you into the outer calamity city for now, so take care of the rest yourself.’

The Blood Fear Duke waved her hand at Lenok.

‘I’ll call you again when I’ve sorted things out.’

‘This Blood Shadow Palace. It’s a space where the exit and entrance can be freely changed according to the owner’s will.’

Lenok said with his arms crossed.

‘It seems useful for entering and exiting Kundara. If it’s okay, can I stay in this palace?’

‘[……]’

Oliviera turned her head as if looking at a crazy person.

The Blood Fear Duke, who was sitting on the throne and pondering, glared at Lenok with a sharp gaze.

‘Do you want to die? Do you want your blood sucked?’

‘……’

‘Get out quickly.’

*Koo-oong!!*

The palace closed roughly, and Lenok, who had been chased outside, turned to Oliviera and shrugged.

‘It didn’t work well. What a shame.’

‘[I don’t know what you’re thinking.]’

Oliviera said, crossing her arms inside her robe sleeves.

‘[The Blood Fear Duke was a vampire known for her extremely cruel methods since the Holy War. There were even rumors that her title itself meant the way she handled blood.]’

‘……’

‘[To my eyes, it seemed like you were deliberately provoking and stimulating her.]’

‘That’s right. The reaction to the words I threw out was very lukewarm.’

Lenok’s eyes shone sharply as he looked back at the place where the Palace of Blood had disappeared.

‘The Blood Fear Duke didn’t come to us because of the Blood Thought Record. She’s hiding something more important.’

‘[……]’

‘Don’t you think it’s strange that she willingly told us the location where Kaise’s body was hidden?’

Lenok asked.

‘If the Blood Fear Duke herself was the one who hid Kaise’s body, there’s no reason for her to reveal the location so easily. No matter how important the Blood Thought Record is, she would have been more cautious in weighing her options.’

‘[……So?]’

‘However, from the point of mentioning Yorta’s Mugan, the possibility of the Blood Fear Duke lying is low. Assuming the information is true, there are two possibilities.’

Lenok spread his fingers.

‘She deliberately leaked the location because she wanted us to find Kaise’s body. Or she revealed it first because she thought it was information we would find out anyway.’

‘[……]’

‘Either way, it’s suspicious. With just this, I can’t tell what the Blood Fear Duke wants. So, I tried to provoke her to see her reaction…’

Lenok turned around with a chuckle and shrugged.

‘She’s acting very cautiously for someone who looks like a child. In this aspect, I should say she’s definitely like a long-lived being.’

‘[There’s something she’s planning with Kaise’s body hidden in the Old Aeon…]’

Oliviera tilted her head as if pondering.

‘[Indeed, it seems like there’s not enough information with just this. At this point, we can only make vague guesses.]’

‘Right. So, from now on, I plan to wander around Kundara and gather related information.’

Lenok said, looking down at the city scenery spread out outside the palace.

‘What method should we use to enter the Old Aeon? In the end, we won’t know unless we investigate directly.’

*Whoosh!!*

Thousands of magnificent tiled houses were built on the foggy plains.

Arched bridges spanning deep rivers. Dozens of pavilions built high enough to pierce the sky in all directions.

Huge cranes flew through the clouds as if swimming, and giant turtles carried people on the ground.

If one were to fall into the middle of a celestial realm where immortals reside, would it be like this?

‘The method to enter the Old Aeon, and the major event scheduled in Kundara that Alogon mentioned.’

Lenok nodded towards the road leading to the city center and said.

‘Let’s prioritize these two pieces of information and move. Do you have anything to say?’

‘[……No.]’

Oliviera replied.

‘[From now on, let’s move separately.]’

‘What?’

‘[If gathering information in Kundara is a priority, as you said, it would be more efficient to conduct investigations separately.]’

Oliviera, raising her head, said.

‘[I have a few acquaintances I know personally in this city. I’ll go find them first.]’

‘……’

Lenok knew that Oliviera had a wide network of contacts, which was unusual for her personality, but he never imagined she would have acquaintances in Kundara as well.

If she was going to find information on her own, they must be on quite friendly terms.

‘If it’s information about Kaise’s body or the Old Aeon, it would be quite sensitive information for the long-lived beings of Kundara.’

Lenok crossed his arms.

‘Can you extract information without provoking those parts?’

‘[I’ll take care of that part, so you don’t need to worry.]’

Oliviera smiled and turned around.

‘[You, on the other hand, should try to suppress your temper in this city for a while. You know that if you act recklessly, everything we’ve done so far will be for naught, right?]’

‘……’

‘[I’ll come find you when I find the necessary information.]’

Oliviera’s figure quickly disappeared into the distance, leaving only those words behind.

Lenok, who had been staring blankly at her retreating figure, turned the other way with a wry smile.

He had forgotten that the magic eye user was originally like that, as she had been strangely cooperative lately.

In the first place, Oliviera’s accompaniment was due to Lenok’s request, so her being so proactive wasn’t a bad thing.

‘Well, then…’

Lenok muttered and stepped towards the streets of the outer calamity city, Kundara.

A bustling downtown area with complex and varied traditional tiled houses and pavilions.

Walls built with talismans attached, and lanterns made by capturing fairies emitted beautiful light.

People of all kinds wearing robes, and all sorts of beasts that far exceeded ordinary sizes.

Were all the residents walking the streets long-lived beings with different lifespans than humans or demi-humans?

‘It’s difficult to distinguish the differences from humans by appearance.’

Lenok, standing in the middle of the street and looking at the people passing by, tilted his head.

‘As Claris said, do the long-lived beings of Kundara avoid revealing their true forms?’

While teaching Lenok celestial techniques, Claris had said that the ritual expansion ability of the model garden could forcibly draw out the true forms of long-lived beings.

And she had added that this ability might be helpful considering the atmosphere of Kundara.

He had just listened and brushed it off, but did that mean that all the residents of Kundara had mastered humanization?

Lenok thought so and slowly moved his feet.

‘There are many old items. Talismans. Souvenirs. Dharma treasures… Most of the items, except for food, are old items that are decades old.’

As befitting a city of long-lived beings, most of the items sold in the bustling downtown area had unusual histories.

Cursed loneliness jars that had been sealed for decades.

Shells of crustaceans with strange ancient characters densely engraved on them.

Necklaces made by weaving animal teeth. Capes made by tearing off colorful feathers.

Indeed, as a city untouched by humans, there were strange items that even Lenok was unfamiliar with, scattered everywhere.

Even if he picked up a seashell on a stall, there would be a bizarre fossil he had never seen before.

Lenok, who had been thinking about gathering information, was also lost in sightseeing while looking around the streets, when suddenly.

‘……Ah.’

Lenok stopped walking, having spotted a shop emitting a mysterious glow in the distance.

A large workshop, unusually large in scale near the city center, yet not many people were going in and out.

The energy flowing from the vast yet quiet workshop was very familiar to Lenok.

‘It feels similar to the wish-fulfilling orb… could it be?’

The wish-fulfilling orb he had obtained through a bet with Alogon.

It seemed to emit an energy similar to it, yet subtly different, overlapping dozens to hundreds of times.

Could it be a workshop that processes wish-fulfilling orbs or orbs themselves to create artifacts?

Thinking that far, Lenok immediately opened the door of the workshop and entered.

‘Hoo…’

The various artifacts and armors hanging on the workshop’s display immediately caught Lenok’s attention.

A greatsword made by weaving bumpy thorns. A glaive made by extracting huge fangs. A staff made by carving sacred wood.

The fact that equipment that could easily cost hundreds of millions was openly displayed in the middle of the street made him realize the status of Kundara.

It was the first time Lenok had seen such a sight of powerful and diverse artifacts piled up since visiting Duris’s workshop.

However, what Lenok noticed as soon as he entered the workshop was not the flashy appearance of the artifacts.

‘It’s not just a workshop that makes powerful or useful artifacts.’

Lenok’s eyes narrowed as he checked the names and descriptions written below the artifacts on display.

‘All the artifacts in the workshop were equipment made using the body parts of long-lived beings as materials.’

The Thorned Hedgehog Sword, which splits its blade into thorns upon striking a target.

The Horn of Sacred Resonance, which increases mana resonance efficiency by nearly three times when blown into.

The Black Chain Dragon Scale Armor, which covers the wearer’s skin and protects them upon being attacked.

‘Each was made by taking parts of the bodies of the Thorned Hedgehog Clan, the Celestial Horn Clan, and the Chain Dragon Clan.’

Below the artifacts, the body parts of the long-lived beings used to make the artifacts were written.

Among them, what caught Lenok’s attention was the scale armor located at the top of the display case, the Black Chain Dragon Scale Armor.

This armor, made from the scales of the Chain Dragon Clan, was usually hidden in a form that protected vital points, but would deploy upon impact.

It was a specialized relic-grade defensive gear for mages, designed to protect the body by covering the skin with scales as soon as the wearer took damage.

‘If it doesn’t restrict movement or actions and can be used for defense only when needed, it would definitely be valuable…’

Perhaps it was because it was made from the scales of the Chain Dragon Clan, which were as hard as alloy and linked like locks.

Even Lenok, who usually didn’t pay attention to most armors, was intrigued.

‘The descriptions of the equipment are quite detailed, but the prices aren’t written. Is it a method where you have to negotiate directly with the workshop?’

It wasn’t an incomprehensible sales method for those who had lived long lives and done business like long-lived beings.

There was no money or currency currently used in Kundara, but Lenok had the wish-fulfilling orb.

He could check how much of a price was needed to purchase equipment from this workshop.

‘Excuse me.’

At Lenok’s question, a young man who was busily moving next to the display case turned his head with a tired expression.

Lenok, who had skillfully refined his voice, asked in a polite tone.

‘I would like to purchase the Black Chain Dragon Scale Armor sold in this workshop.’

‘……’

The young man didn’t answer Lenok’s words, but instead silently raised his head.

A blatant attitude as if receiving such a question was a tiring thing.

‘Are you, a dragonkin?’

‘Excuse me?’

‘You’re not a dragonkin. I can tell just by the way you talk.’

The young man said that and waved his hand at Lenok.

‘Dragonkin equipment can only be purchased by the same dragonkin in the first place, don’t you know that? What are you doing, coveting such a treasure without knowing your place?’

‘……Is that so?’

‘Just by looking at you, you seem like a beast who gained intelligence by chance after rolling around outside, but we don’t accept customers like you, so go away. Do I really have to say this?’

‘……’

Even during his time as a freelancer, he had never received such treatment, so it was quite a novel experience.

The way he mixed honorifics and casual speech while putting him down was so blatant that it was hard to get angry.

Thinking of Oliviera’s advice to suppress his temper, Lenok put his hand inside his pocket, at that moment.

‘Snook.’

An old man with a sturdy build walked out from the back of the workshop and called the young man in a heavy voice.

‘I’ve told you repeatedly not to chase away customers who come to the workshop without permission.’

‘M-Master…’

‘Step aside. I’ll handle it.’

The old man nodded at the young man, who had turned pale.

‘I’ll question you after we finish business for today.’

‘……’

The young man, who had bowed his head, stepped back, and the old man finally turned his head towards Lenok.

A physique with shoulders that were broad for his age, a body made of muscles all over.

The outward appearance itself was as intense as that of the Torben Magic Tower Lord.

‘It’s been quite a while since a customer looking for the Chain Dragon Clan’s equipment has come to my workshop.’

The old man, who was staring intently at Lenok with a nonchalant gaze, said.

‘First, I’d like to see the orb.’

‘The orb, you say?’

‘All the equipment made in our workshop are artifacts that use the wish-fulfilling orb as their power source.’

The old man said with his arms crossed.

‘In order to perfectly reproduce the abilities and characteristics of the long-lived beings used as materials, the power of the orb is essential.’

‘……’

‘In other words, the items I can sell to you are determined by what kind of orb you have.’

The old man’s expression, as he looked down at Lenok, changed slightly sharply.

‘Of course, if you’re a customer who came to my workshop without even knowing this fact, I don’t think I can give you a good answer either.’

‘……’

The power of the wish-fulfilling orb was needed to operate the equipment made from the body parts of long-lived beings.

Was that why a similar energy was constantly flowing out, even though there wasn’t a single wish-fulfilling orb visible inside the workshop?

Lenok took out the wish-fulfilling orb from his pocket and placed it on the display case.

‘Here it is.’

‘This is…’

The old man’s expression changed slightly as he saw the wish-fulfilling orb emitting a brilliant light on the display case.

A divine orb that contained the life force of at least 100 years, which he had won in a bet with Alogon for 500 ro [a unit of currency].

Since it was filled with the life force of the Eight Dragon Kings, it was natural for its divinity to flow out.

The old man, who had unconsciously admired it, picked up the wish-fulfilling orb and said.

‘You have a remarkable item. It’s hard to find something like this even in the Seven Calamities [a term for the seven major regions of the world].’

‘……’

‘In the case of long-lived beings residing in the Sixth or Seventh Calamity, there are quite a few races that can create and possess wish-fulfilling orbs.’

The old man said, stroking the wish-fulfilling orb.

‘That’s why my shop makes equipment that can stably manifest the power of the orb, but… um?’

The old man’s expression, who had been caressing the orb surrounded by a mysterious glow with one hand, suddenly hardened.

The old man’s reaction was as if he had felt an energy that he shouldn’t have felt inside the wish-fulfilling orb.

The old man, who had turned to look at Lenok with a stiff expression as if he couldn’t believe it, asked in a trembling voice.

‘Y-you, the Eight Dragon Kings of the Water God Clan, what brings you to my workshop…?’