Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 116

It wouldn’t have been that difficult for them to gather information about those who participated in the operation back then.

Lennox muttered, extinguishing the burning cigarette on the sand.

“The problem is from now on. They must have realized that we’ve tracked down the location of the temporary base somehow.”

It’s not a big deal that Ban’s face or the fact that an agent was involved was exposed.

That was something they had already anticipated in the process of hiding dummy data in the encryption key.

However, the fact that they know location tracking is possible in that way could be a problem for future operations.

[You can leave that part to us.]

Hina replied calmly.

[Considering that they only started doing this after Falchion colluded with the black mages, it’s essentially just a matter of finding the hideout where the black mages are hiding. Just interpreting the data that Ban acquired in this operation should give us a clue.]

It’s only natural since he had to engage in a chase he never wanted to safely extract the data.

“Okay. Then this operation is… over for now.”

Aside from extracting the data from the temporary base, Lennox himself has gained quite a bit.

Parts extracted from Daron’s body, who was like a living robot, and a grimoire [a book of magic spells] of necromantic formulas taken from the tent.

If he appropriately incorporates the knack of necromantic formulas he remembered while fighting the black mages, it wouldn’t be difficult to learn the specific principles of the formulas.

If he does well, he might be able to create a way to break the formulas used by the practical faction of black mages.

The God in the Hard Drive (1)

[You don’t seem to be in a good mood.]

“What…?”

[Was there something you didn’t like about the operation?]

Lennox, who was about to scoff at Hina’s sudden words, realized that he was actually feeling somewhat annoyed and shut his mouth.

He thought the aftermath of the battle hadn’t completely subsided, but this strange feeling that was clouding his mind was clearly different from that kind of excitement.

Lennox soon realized the reason and gave a bitter smile.

“…I see.”

He didn’t like it.

That those who live by sucking the blood of humans from the very bottom of the gutter are humans who can love and grieve for their comrades.

The fact that he, who is trying to terrorize the city, has emotions that even Lennox couldn’t easily possess was extremely irritating.

Perhaps Lennox himself is a more emotionally deficient human than those terrorists.

He was unknowingly asking himself such meaningless questions.

An inverse talent. Constantly rising fame and value. Partners of a different caliber.

But Lennox, standing among them, is still walking alone without a place to lean on.

He tries hard to suppress it, but every time a battle ends and he walks the line between life and death, he can’t help but be self-deprecating.

The coldness and composure given to him now might just be the handle that the human called Lennox was made to wield this blade of talent.

“……..”

The worries are long, but the conclusion still doesn’t come.

Let’s put aside the talk about his own identity or self-realization.

The answer will be beyond the secrets of this world, not in useless thoughts and worries.

That’s why he’s been chasing after its traces, without even being sure if the mainstream exists.

Lennox slowly rose to his feet, watching the truck kicking up sand dust in the distance, beyond the horizon.

The hot heat of the desert was fading, and the sun was setting.

Another day was coming to an end like this.

#

[They say it will take about two days to interpret the data extracted through hacking.]

“I see.”

Lennox was walking down the street, listening to Jenny’s voice over the phone.

His head was still throbbing from the aftereffects of inhaling Feather Fall, but his body was fine, probably because he took another medicine to reduce the damage right after.

[They told me to wait until then. Unlike other freelancers, it seems like we’ll get a separate story, so you can just relax and wait.]

“They’ll give us a separate story?”

[The agents also know that the operation won’t work without you, Ban. Look at how things are going. It was an operation with clear limitations for freelancers alone, especially with Falchion involved, not to mention dealing with black mages.]

“……..”

Lennox was silent.

He somewhat agreed with what Jenny was saying.

Even if they are excellent forces individually, there are bound to be cases where the team doesn’t work well when conducting operations as a group.

It cannot be compared to the cohesion of a systematically trained mercenary office or gang.

To overcome that, either Lennox has to overwhelm the decision-making of other team members with his overwhelming skills, or Chen has to naturally elicit a response based on his innate coordination ability.

How many such talents would there be among freelancers?

It’s only natural in a way.

The more skilled you are, the more scouts you get from all over the place, and by the time you think it’s more advantageous than working alone, you’re already part of an organization.

There were quite a few people working alone with unusual circumstances like Lennox, but it was nothing compared to the size of the organizations spread across this vast city.

However, it was unexpected that Jenny, who is in charge of mediating between freelancers and organizations, mentioned it directly.

“Anyway, I understand. So, I have about two days free.”

[Do you have anything else to do? It seems like they’re going to proceed with the next operation as soon as Falchion’s location information is updated. It would be better to spend time on personal maintenance if possible.]

“Since when have you been so worried about my health?”

[Would you not worry if you were me? Like with Dyke, if you look at the amount of money that’s been deposited into your account while working with the agent this time, anyone would think that way. Have you checked your bank account recently?]

“……..”

Apart from Jenny’s cheerful voice, it is true that the rewards for the operations that the agent is conducting in succession are quite satisfactory.

So far, there have been two full-scale operations. And three times he participated in assistance.

The amount of money deposited into Lennox’s account in the process has already easily exceeded 200 million cells, so Jenny’s commission must be considerable as well.

[Your value will jump again after this is over. If you do well, you might even be able to expect hundreds of millions of cells per case?]

“Is it that much?”

[The more famous you become, the more eyes will be on you. Conversely, that means that the eyes that evaluate you will be much more accurate and sharp.]

[Do you think there will be a level 5 or higher mage working alone in this industry?]

After finishing the call with Jenny, Lennox silently manipulated his phone and looked at his account.

Nine-digit numbers that are now familiar to his eyes.

‘It’s over 500 million cells. Did Dyke start sending the money he stole from Cigar Bank’s vault?’

It’s an amount that makes people excited just by looking at it, but it’s also money that could be spent on buying elixirs or relics at any time.

The underground auction house that was the topic of conversation with Jenny at that time.

If he could get an admission ticket through Evelyn’s connections, he was thinking of spending all the money in his account this time to get something new that could overcome the current situation.

‘Let’s put it out of my mind for now.’

If Jenny is calling directly to dissuade him from acting, it’s proof that things are busy inside the agent, but Lennox didn’t walk all the way here just for entertainment.

Artificial intelligence and necromantic formulas.

He had to find someone to get a clue about the two types of books he found at the temporary base back then.

How can he find an answer by thinking about these two completely different fields?

There’s no reason to suffer for a long time with something that he can’t find an answer to by thinking alone.

Apart from trusting his own way of thinking and intuition, Lennox had never thought negatively about hearing different thoughts from the outside.

There was no reason to hesitate to ask for advice from others.

Especially if they were someone who was willing to solve the problems that Balkan is facing to some extent.

#

“So that’s what happened.”

Raul said with a weak smile.

“I think things have gotten too big to just wipe my mouth with the ring I gave you.”

The ring… Raul only knows that ring as a type of artifact that emits heterogeneous magic, but Lennox had some idea of what was going on.

The shape of a giant tree root that he found through property change. It must be a clue deeply related to an old wizard family.

It is also highly likely that it will be a key that can open up something hidden, not just stop there.

However, instead of telling Raul such things, Lennox just nodded.

“That’s not wrong.”

“I’ll look for something among the things my children made that might be helpful to a mage. I hope you’ll suffer a little more.”

“……..”

Although their combat abilities are relatively low, they are instead specialized in training in the enchantment-type black magic.

Considering that they have been maintaining their business in District 44, they are unlikely to give him anything less than expected.

He didn’t come here to brag about what he had done, but there was no need to refuse what they were giving him.

Meanwhile, Raul said with a troubled expression.

“Necromantic formulas… It’s not a formula that our faction deals with, but I’ve seen and heard a few things.”

“Tell me.”

The core of necromantic formulas is basically to entrust the risks that the caster has to bear to another being.

Preparing the body or equivalent material necessary for incarnation and finishing the incantation.

Unlike summoning formulas that require complex rituals, various materials, and a lot of luck, it can be used as long as the being you are trying to summon agrees.

However, the being that has obtained a body and incarnated in that way is given complete autonomy that even the caster cannot interfere with until their magic power runs out, so it is said that in the very old days, it was common for such incarnated beings to kill the caster.

In modern academia, in order to prevent the serious dangers of these necromantic formulas, research has been conducted with the aim of placing restrictions and prohibitions on the behavior of beings in various ways, but in the end, this method had the problem of being a lower version of summoning formulas while having similar advantages and disadvantages.

In the end, the black mages accepted the necromantic formulas that began to be pushed out of mainstream magic theory, and that is how the current practical faction came to be.

The princes of mixed blood who accept any formula that is helpful.

Before he knew it, the story was flowing from necromantic formulas to the history of the black mage faction.

“The practical faction is different from the black mages who have been digging into only one line so far.”

“It would be more appropriate to see it as an organization that moves according to the strong will and character of the elder, Craid Tillion. Of course, I have always respected Craig’s ability to gather those who were disappointed with their magic and make it this far…”

Raul dropped his shoulders and smiled weakly.

“It has become like this.”

“……..What do you think is the reason why they coveted knowledge related to artificial intelligence?”

“It’s not that I don’t have any guesses… but I’d like to hear what you think first.”

“……..”

“I haven’t seen your face many times, but I can tell just by what I’ve seen so far.”

He said, strongly distorting his wrinkled eyes.

“You are a mage with the most intuitive talent I have ever seen. Words that pierce the core without any hesitation, the realization contained in the sentences you throw out… You are specialized in speaking like a scholar who has lived for decades at such a young age.”

“……..”

“Lord Kroken must have recognized that part as well, which is why he allowed you to contact us. I honestly suspect that you are hiding your age.”

‘This is a bit surprising.’

He hasn’t faced Raul and talked to him even five times.

The number of times they talked about magic among them would be even less.

And yet, Raul is saying that he smelled the scent of intense talent from such fragments of Lennox.

He thought he was just a powerless old man being swept away by the situation, but is it possible that his age and experience are not going anywhere?

And to someone who has honestly told him his own insight, he should give an honest answer.

Instead of adding anything to the story about the talent that Raul mentioned, Lennox honestly revealed what he had been thinking.

“Necromantic formulas and artificial intelligence. It’s easy to mistake them as completely different fields, but surprisingly, there is one very strong commonality between these two fields.”

“What is it?”

Lennox answered, rubbing out the cigarette he was smoking.

“The desire to have someone do what you can’t do…”

“……..”

“The root that lies at the foundation, different from the principles of formulas or the understanding of engineering.”

ㅡThe root of a giant tree.

Lennox paused for a moment at the image that flashed through his mind, but fortunately, Raul immediately understood what he was trying to say.

“A desire… I see. You have a talent for seeing beyond the simple formulas.”

The God in the Hard Drive (2)

Raul, who smiled bitterly, continued.

“Try not to lose that intuition. The power to see the essence is something that can never be given simply through effort or practice. It seems so simple, but it’s a power that you can never know until you see it, like the back of a piece of paper.”

“…Let’s continue the story we were having.”

He had heard enough about the musings on talent.

Isn’t that why he’s running so hard, so that he doesn’t just remain a handle for wielding a blade?

“Okay. What I want to talk about is a story on a much more secular level than what you said. In other words, it’s the story of how the enchantment faction of black mages came to cooperate with the Palmer’s Artificial Intelligence Research Institute.”

Raul said that and immediately began to explain.

A key executive who greatly contributed to Palmer’s rise to its current position.