Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1179

The order and rules of magic often vary depending on the will and capabilities of the mage.

Magic easily changes not only with wishes, yearnings, and desires, but also with subtle perceptions like biases or delusions.

The concepts of ‘perception’ and ‘understanding’ are the most important core of magic and an aptitude that requires a high degree of intuition.

Therefore, mages are required to constantly analyze and reflect on their own magic, correcting their standards.

It’s a profound path that doesn’t end once you’ve learned magic, and you must constantly strive even just to maintain your current level.

It goes without saying how important research is for a mage walking the path of magic.

Lenok, too, considered whether he could set up a lab nearby as the first thing when moving for the fourth time.

The lab, created by completely remodeling a mid-sized new building next to the mansion, was the result of such effort and investigation.

Whirr-

As the automatic door opens, a neatly organized hallway comes into view.

The interior of countless labs is revealed through transparent tempered glass.

Various pieces of equipment moved incessantly, experimenting and measuring something.

Whoosh!! Boom……!!

Fwoosh!!

Clank, clank!!

Automated processes constantly repeated, mixing elixirs and testing the strength of firearms.

Next to it, a mechanical arm holding a magic-infused brush moved at a constant speed, drawing magic circles.

A metal hand hanging from the ceiling repeated the incantation optimization process on its own.

Lightning, flames, ice, and darkness swirled and floated in glass columns.

Whoooosh!!!

“Wow.”

The sight was so amazing that Aris, who was walking behind Lenok, slightly opened her mouth.

Young magical beasts frolicking on a meadow artificially created in the common area opposite the research building.

Power generation equipment constantly producing energy by repeating the particle fission and fusion of magic.

Even dozens of artifacts undergoing performance tests in real-time all around.

Lenok, feeling Aris’s gaze intensify from behind, explained.

“I’m often away for personal reasons, so I’ve been devising various methods. What you see now is mostly the result of that.”

“You’ve automated all the research equipment and designed it to operate without Lenok’s direct manipulation?”

“I’ve tried various methods, but this is the most efficient.”

Lenok nodded.

“I usually set the research direction myself, but the experiment and measurement processes are automated, and I just record them. If different values than expected come out, I watch the recording and modify the process.”

“That’s… easier said than done. It’s not something a mage like us can easily attempt.”

Aris asked back with a surprised expression.

Her blue eyes turned to the mechanical equipment busily moving beyond the glass wall.

“Not only do you have to find the right experimental equipment for a specific task, but you also have to specify the automation algorithm according to the research direction. No one else can do that for you, so the researcher has to be involved in writing the algorithm.”

“You know it well.”

“The ability to handle so many different studies simultaneously is amazing, but the ability to write algorithms to run hundreds of automated processes is unbelievable.”

Aris muttered, unable to hide her admiration.

“It seems like a really great programmer is helping Lenok with his research.”

[Ahem.]

It sounded like the nose of the electronic spirit curled up in his arms was reaching for the sky.

Aris, being an excellent researcher herself, knew how important the infrastructure was, which is why she was able to notice these details.

However, the next question Aris asked completely missed Lenok’s expectations.

“Is this programming perhaps the ability of the fox spirit that’s with Lenok?”

“……Yes?”

[Hmph.]

Lenok momentarily questioned, and Davi immediately shut her mouth.

“I’ve been steadily gathering news about Lenok even when I was at the Sinclair Magic Tower.”

Aris said with a smile, as if she hadn’t noticed the change in his expression.

“I know Professor Bailon. I could guess that there was a technician who implemented the technology in Lenok’s published papers.”

“……”

“Given Lenok’s personality, I don’t think he would entrust such an important task to someone he doesn’t trust.”

Aris’s smiling gaze momentarily turned towards Lenok’s arms.

“Just like my teacher isn’t human, I thought maybe his collaborator could be the same.”

“It doesn’t seem meaningful to apply the case of Clarice Ritchellen to other cases…”

After a moment of thought, Lenok naturally turned his gaze away.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that question.”

“Can I ask why?”

“I haven’t asked my collaborator yet if I’m allowed to answer that.”

Lenok smiled, meeting Aris’s gaze.

“It’s unavoidable sometimes, but I try to respect their wishes as much as possible.”

[……]

Davi was very active and talkative when she was with Lenok, but conversely, she was an infinitely indifferent spirit to other humans.

She had little interest in humans other than Lenok, and it seemed as if she only thought of them as objects to praise or worship.

As time passed, Lenok stopped trying to forcibly correct Davi’s actions or thoughts.

She was an electronic spirit that Lenok had created himself, raised, and worked with on many things.

Sometimes, Lenok was comforted and gained the strength to move forward from Davi, who was more active and talkative than himself.

She was someone to teach and train, but also a friend who worked with Lenok on an equal footing in everything.

Even if Davi felt negative emotions towards humans beyond curiosity, Lenok-

“I’m sorry, Lenok.”

Aris bowed her head slightly with a calmer expression.

“I got a little carried away and was rude. May I apologize to your collaborator on this occasion?”

“I think it’ll be okay.”

Lenok, who had paused for a moment, smiled gently.

“She likes compliments much more than apologies.”

[……It’s not okay at all if you say it like that.]

Davi grumbled in a small voice, but Lenok felt the spirit’s tail gently wagging.

After that, Lenok walked down the lab hallway, chatting with Aris appropriately.

“If you’ve been receiving news from the Sinclair Magic Tower, I don’t need to explain the other papers.”

“Yes. I’ve read all of Lenok’s papers dozens of times. However, the news I saw about Lenok at the Magic Tower wasn’t about that… Ah.”

Aris was about to answer something, but she turned her gaze to the view of another lab she saw while passing through the hallway.

Aris, who had approached the glass window and placed her hand on it, looked inside the lab with sparkling eyes.

“That’s…”

Lenok, following Aris’s gaze, tilted his head, seeing the night raven being repaired inside.

It was something he had used on the way back from the Balkans, but was there something about it that Aris would find interesting?

However, the moment he heard Aris’s words, Lenok’s body stiffened slightly.

“That’s the thing Lenok made when he worked as a blacksmith in the Machine City.”

“……Excuse me?”

“I heard that he disguised himself and traveled around while working as a craftsman in Machina [a city known for its advanced technology and machinery].”

Aris asked with a slightly excited expression at Lenok’s words.

“If I remember correctly, he used the name Lyman in Machina…”

“No, it’s not wrong, but…”

Lenok asked back with a bewildered expression.

“Could it be that the news you saw while you were at the Sinclair Magic Tower… was about that?”

“…Ahem. Well, I can guess how Lenok lived at the university.”

Aris regained her composure and coughed, looking into the distance.

“Of course, I looked at the papers a lot, but the news I mainly heard was about that, wasn’t it…”

“……”

While Aris was at the Sinclair Magic Tower, what kind of work did Lenok do under the identity of Kyunroe?

Considering what Lenok had done, it would be faster to count the things he did under a different identity rather than Kyunroe.

It wasn’t strange. As much as he had noticed, it was natural for Aris to be interested in Kyunroe’s actions.

However, most of the things Lenok had done under the name of Kyunroe were…

“I didn’t know you were interested in that, Professor.”

Lenok turned his gaze away with a wry smile.

“In many ways, there wouldn’t have been much good news to hear, enough for you to look it up yourself.”

“I remember when Lenok started learning magic.”

Aris replied quietly.

“I know that Lenok didn’t have many options. I also know that he needed a lot of resources to live as a mage.”

“……”

“I’m not shameless enough to criticize what Lenok did as a freelancer. I’m not good enough to judge morality either.”

Aris looked at Lenok with calm eyes.

“Rather, I always feel sorry. If I had suggested that Lenok work at the university a little earlier, maybe-”

“No. It wouldn’t have been like that.”

Lenok shook his head and turned to walk.

“I don’t want to justify my choices like that. In the end, I would have been here no matter what.”

“……”

“Fighting to get what I want, risking my life to protect myself… I was good at both. Sometimes, it was even enjoyable.”

Lenok spoke slowly, leaving the silent Aris behind.

“The rumors about me might not have been entirely wrong. I even thought it wouldn’t be bad if I could use my notoriety.”

“Lenok. I’m not foolish enough to think that someone who says that is crazy or bloodthirsty.”

Aris shook her head and matched her pace with Lenok.

“I made a decision before returning to the Balkans. I came here not to question what Lenok did, but to help Lenok.”

“……”

“I didn’t come back to talk about things I’m not qualified to talk about, or to hear Lenok’s answer. I wanted to say that.”

“……I see.”

As always, she was someone who always tried to be considerate and caring of others.

Aris said that she wasn’t such a good person, but Lenok still didn’t agree.

But that’s why, even after so much time had passed, Lenok might have remembered and longed for Aris.

They walked down the endless lab hallway.

The strange silence between the two ended in a slightly absurd way.

“Oh, isn’t that a part of the mobile fortress that Lenok smashed during the Defense Force rebellion?”

“I think so…”

“Surely, that’s not the remains of the Anathema [a powerful, monstrous being] that Lenok personally defeated and earned the name of the Apostle Slayer, is it?”

“How do you know about that?”

“A long-lived species’ egg…!! Is that something Lenok went all the way to Kundara to get this time?”

“……”

Now that he thought about it, it wasn’t just that she had heard about Kyunroe’s actions, but that she had investigated them herself.

Going all the way to the Sinclair Magic Tower to do research wasn’t Lenok’s secret, but rather, she had been researching Lenok.

While Lenok was looking at Aris, who had become so knowledgeable about his actions while he hadn’t seen her, with a strange expression, Aris, who felt his gaze, coughed and stepped back.

“Ahem, I’ve only heard rumors about it. It’s quite moving to see the evidence of that side of things.”

“There are many things that lack relevance to be considered evidence of what I did in the past.”

“Alright, let’s move quickly. We have to work hard to help Lenok with his paper!”

“……”

He thought that she hadn’t changed much from before, but was this part of her the same too?

Aris, who had grabbed Lenok, who was tilting his head, took a step forward, but stopped before she had even taken five steps.

“By the way, is that metal wing something you bought separately for research?”

“Ah, that’s…”

Lenok trailed off, looking at the heavy armored wings being oiled in the maintenance room.

The magic particle collapse incident in the 25th restricted area. The past Kaise Bajur he had encountered in the restricted area.

Those armored wings were the equipment of Gilleon Mylos, a member of the Dead Rise who followed the past Kaise.

Since he was using the wings that were abandoned in the restricted area as he pleased, it was natural that Aris wouldn’t recognize them.

Lenok thought so and subtly avoided answering.

“I don’t exactly remember where I got it. There are so many things stored in the lab…”

“The movement of the metal feathers that make up the wings is very organic. It doesn’t look like a decoration, but something designed for actual flight.”

Aris’s eyes changed strangely as she looked at the movement of the armored wings.

“It looks like a very difficult piece of equipment to manage. Is that why you’re oiling it like this?”

“Yes. As Aris said, it’s very sensitive to the surrounding environment and conditions.”

Lenok nodded.

“I’ve tried to make similar equipment, but it doesn’t work properly unless it’s the original. So I’m using it by maintaining it regularly like this.”

“I see. Since it’s equipment related to flight, I thought it might be related to Lenok’s new paper…”

“The lab for the research for the fourth paper is this way.”

Lenok opened the door to the lab next door and stepped inside.

Squeak!

A huge common area that was at least five times larger than the other labs.

Inside, there were labs and various research equipment prepared in advance.

Various catalysts and samples were placed on the shelves, and automatic transport devices moved back and forth, repeating the task of carrying them.

Aris, who immediately noticed the flow, asked.

“Is it a catalyst experiment?”

“If you know about what I’ve been doing, it’ll be easier to explain.”

Lenok said as he walked into the lab.

“While traveling in Kundara, I happened to get my hands on the true blood of a long-lived species. They said it’s a very rare, top-grade catalyst.”

“…At least, it’s definitely not something you can get as easily as Lenok just said.”

Aris smiled wryly.

“The Sinclair Magic Tower doesn’t even have a single drop of true blood. Even that is not enough for research or experimentation, so they’re just scraping the dried bloodstains from the bottles and focusing on component analysis.”

“Then I should show you this first.”

Clank!!

At the same time as pulling the lever next to the lab shelf, dozens of test tubes appeared from all directions.

Inside the test tubes, a drop of blue-tinged blood was preserved, emitting a faint light.

Aris slightly opened her mouth.

“Wait a minute. Could it be that all of those are…?”

“It’s true blood directly drawn from the body of a living, top-tier long-lived species.”

Lenok said, looking at the test tubes.

“When I actually experimented using true blood as a catalyst, the magic power yield jumped to an abnormal level. It wasn’t that magic power was being consumed during the experiment, but rather, it was being supplied. This means that when true blood is used as a catalyst, magic power efficiency jumps to over 100%.”

“Even long-lived species can’t recover their true blood once they lose it. It’s a ‘consumable’ that can’t be recovered by any means in this world.”

Aris, unable to hide her surprised expression, hesitated and stepped back.

“I didn’t think it would be this much… What kind of experiment are you preparing for in this paper?”

“You don’t have to feel pressured. Even if the research fails, we won’t be able to use all the true blood stored here.”

“Catalyst consumption is unavoidable in catalyst experiments. What if you don’t get any results…”

“We’re not trying to do research using true blood.”

Lenok smiled, seeing Aris hesitating unlike her usual self.

“If the research for the fourth paper succeeds, we will rather ‘create’ true blood.”

“……Yes?”

“In the third paper, we worked on giving form to formless knowledge, which is the common magic system.”

Lenok said, approaching the shelf full of catalysts.

“So this time, I’m going to try the opposite.”

“If it’s the opposite…”

In the first paper, he worked on transposing and connecting different concepts.

The second paper was about reversing existing concepts and canceling each other out.

The third paper was about giving order and structure to formless concepts and trying to establish rules.

Coincidence, necessity, and fate.

Then, the fourth paper is-

“The fourth paper will be an experiment to defy the laws of the universe.”

Lenok muttered, staring at the true blood stored on the shelf.

“There will be a lot of trial and error and failures in the process.”

“……”

“It’s not like we have to complete the paper or get results right away. It might be after the war ends that we start to see real results. But…”

If they can do it, they will reach it someday. If they know they will reach it someday, they can do it now.

But is it right to involve Aris in something that Lenok has never succeeded in before?

The answer is unknown. Lenok has never been sure of success since he started writing his papers.

Nevertheless, the reason why Lenok is trying to complete the paper with Aris at this point is-

“We really don’t have much time left.”

Lenok muttered, taking out his phone.

“I need to decide on a clear direction for myself before the military parade begins.”

“……Lenok.”

“And, it seems like they’re starting to get ready too.”

Beep.

A light vibration and a phone message notification popped up.

Lenok’s gaze lowered as he checked the message through Davi.

[Ban. Peisha Grisburn says she has something to say about the deal you mentioned.]

A message sent by Felix, who was focusing on training with Peisha.

If Lenok mentioned the deal he had with Peisha at this point, its meaning was clear.

The previous deal he had proposed to take Peisha Grisburn to the military parade-

The next sentence that followed pointed out more accurately what Lenok had to do.

[She says she’ll let you meet Ethan Bajur. What are you going to do?]