Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1180

“Ban. It’s this way.”

At the outermost edge of the undeveloped district of the megacity, Balkan. A deserted, ruined street where people rarely pass through.

Felix, who had been standing with his arms crossed and eyes closed, immediately led Lenok into a back alley.

“Sorry for contacting you so suddenly. Is the timing alright for you?”

“I’ve finished almost everything I needed to do right away. It’s fine.”

After finishing the discussion with Aris about the fourth paper and briefly discussing what to do next, Lenok immediately prepared to leave and headed to the place Felix had called him to.

Among the Tower’s companions, Felix was the one in charge of this matter, probably because he had been training steadily with Peisha.

As he walked along the empty street following Felix, Lenok asked,

“What’s the situation?”

“Peisha Grisburn says she has something to say about the proposal you made.”

Felix, with a stern expression, explained the situation as he walked.

“She said she would let you meet Ethan Bajur, but there’s no need to explain what that means.”

“……”

“Thanks to you, the Magic Tower is very busy right now. If there’s even a chance of a hostage/information exchange with the Legion, there are a lot of procedures to prepare for.”

Lenok’s proposal to Peisha, whom he had found beating up Wayan outside the Balkan undeveloped district, was to take Peisha Grisburn to the military parade and meet Ethan Bajur in exchange for handing her over.

However, Peisha did not immediately accept the proposal, even though she had the opportunity to return to the Legion.

Instead, she just trailed off, saying she needed time to think, which was unlike her.

Could it be that the military parade is so important to the Legion that it made even her, who doesn’t usually think deeply about things, hesitate?

Or was there a more complex issue that made Peisha deliberate?

Either way, Lenok had given Peisha time to think for a few days, and the conclusion was near.

It seemed that Felix, who was caught in the middle, was much more nervous than Lenok himself.

“You look tired. Is it because of the training you’re doing with Peisha?”

“Don’t worry about me. You should be more concerned about the current situation.”

Felix rubbed his eyes with one hand as he walked.

“Gwihee is treated as a true noble among the nobles in the Legion. If the deal goes through, the Legion command might step in to recover her this time.”

“……”

“It’s unlikely, but the commanders might move directly. Then, a state of emergency will be declared throughout Balkan.”

“Does that mean the entire Balkan region will react just because the Legion’s commanders are moving?”

“Not just Balkan, their prestige is the same anywhere on the continent.”

Felix’s eyes sank heavily.

“They were among the most talented people in this city decades ago. They are also transcendents who conquered part of the central front and created the largest warlord in the continent.”

“……”

“They are one of the few existing individual forces and the main entities that make the Legion function as a Legion in the absence of a marshal. Their power is the order and rules of the Legion itself.”

Felix looked back at Lenok and trailed off.

“There’s only one commander active in the field, but the treatment he receives on the central front is enormous. The same goes for the other commanders.”

Lenok had a vague idea of how the Legion’s commanders were treated on the continent.

The fact that their names were not on the East Continent power rankings was also simply because they were extremely inactive.

But even Felix was momentarily tense just by mentioning their names like this.

Does that mean that negotiating Peisha’s custody with the Legion feels that dangerous?

However, the other commanders Lenok knew were definitely……

Felix, who had been looking down at Lenok’s face as he was lost in thought, soon gave a wry smile.

“I’ve been talking too much. Maybe it was unnecessary to worry about you, of all people.”

“……”

“The important thing is up to Gwihee’s own will. What we need to do will change depending on how she accepts the proposal.”

Felix nodded to Lenok, who was silent.

“Go on. I’ll be waiting here.”

* * *

The dark ruins of an empty, old abandoned building.

An old office where dust has piled up without any trace of human habitation.

Peisha Grisburn sat on a worn leather chair, lost in thought.

“……”

How did things turn out like this?

Even when she returned to this city, she didn’t think things would turn out this way.

As a soldier loyal to the Legion, and as someone who followed Kaise Bajur, she only thought about regaining everything she had left behind in Balkan.

However, the mage she had clashed with in the process of regaining ownership of the Balkan underworld had ruined everything.

The miserable defeat she had faced in the decisive battle, even sacrificing her own rank.

Even though she had given up everything and was prepared to die, she was still alive.

Why couldn’t she die back then?

Why is she still alive and following that guy’s words?

Things she didn’t think about when she was beating up that guy’s companions at the Magic Tower, come back to her as regrets when she’s alone.

Yes, now she could understand why the Legion never gave her the position of Legion Commander.

It was more comfortable for Peisha to move her body without thinking, fight, and scream.

In the moment of anger and burning emotions, she could be completely true to herself.

It was uncomfortable to worry, think, and hesitate.

But-

Bang!!

The sound of the door opening and footsteps echoing from afar.

At the same time, a cool and eerie thought filled the space.

That guy has come.

Through experience, Peisha had now internalized it to a level close to instinct.

A heavy pressure that seemed to crush her mind and body just by facing it.

A blood-soaked heart and talent hidden beneath a cold and sharp face.

Even before meeting that guy, she had always tried to brace herself and forcibly deny it, but she knew.

That mage was the most- among all the humans Peisha had ever met in her life.

“You’re surprisingly cautious about these things.”

As the cold voice was heard, Peisha’s fingertips slightly stiffened.

As always, she didn’t show it outwardly, but that guy seemed to be in a bad mood.

Rather than annoyance or anger, it was a calm depression and bleak emotion.

Peisha was vaguely feeling it with her unique sensitive intuition.

“I thought you couldn’t think at all when you were swinging your spear. So you do know how to distinguish between public and private matters.”

“……It’s just that your way of speaking has always been so fucked up.”

Peisha, who turned around with a sneer, grabbed the long spear leaning against the chair.

Clang!!

“If I didn’t want to think, I could do it right now. Do you want to check?”

“I’m not particularly interested.”

The murderous intent she had raised as if she would swing it at the person in front of her right away.

But the mage didn’t even look at her and sat down opposite her, putting a cigarette in his mouth.

“But there isn’t much time left until the military parade. If we’re going to prepare, I need to confirm your intentions in advance.”

“……That’s.”

“To be honest, I don’t want to kill you ‘again’ now.”

Lenok, ignoring Peisha who flinched, held the cigarette and turned his gaze out the window.

“I prefer not to leave any loose ends, but your existence, bound by Oliviera’s restriction, will no longer be a significant threat.”

“This bastard, with that mouth of yours……”

“But that doesn’t mean I can just let you go. Of course, I acknowledge your spear skills and your unexpected talent for teaching others……”

Lenok stared at Peisha with an indifferent gaze.

“You’re still a Legion person after all. And someone who was loyal to Ethan Bajur to the point of risking your life.”

“……”

“So, I intend to settle your affairs in a reasonable way before the military parade. Of course, it’s possible to do it without taking you to the military parade.”

Lenok paused for a moment, exhaled smoke, and turned his head.

“I basically don’t enjoy killing people. You know that by now, don’t you?”

“What nonsense is a crazy murderer spouting?”

“……Anyway, I think it’s a good deal if I can meet Ethan Bajur in exchange for returning your custody.”

Lenok smiled wryly and asked with his arms crossed.

“I think I’ve given you enough time to think. So, will you accept?”

A proposal to participate in the military parade with Peisha as a prisoner.

But instead of ordering Peisha to accompany him, Lenok had given her time to think and was waiting for an answer.

If he were to contact the Legion command in exchange for returning Peisha before the military parade, her cooperation would be indispensable.

Of course, it might not have been necessary to seek Peisha’s consent or cooperation in the process.

However, Lenok, while not pitying Peisha Grisburn, was also acknowledging her in a way.

To this spearwoman who has remained loyal even now, decades after Kaise’s death.

To this brave general who, no matter how difficult and arduous the battle, would curse and throw herself into it without hesitation.

A character close to being an absolute villain. A harsh way of speaking and an impulsive personality. But that’s why she’s someone who doesn’t shy away from hard work anywhere.

A madman who could only be satisfied by standing at the forefront of the most dangerous, arduous, and hellish battlefields.

Surely, even in Dead Rise, she must have received the recognition and affection of many commanders.

The fact that she remained a major general instead of becoming a Legion Commander might have been a kind of consideration.

Just like Myung, she might have been a much more three-dimensional person than Lenok knew.

Before deciding on a clear direction, Lenok wanted to ask Peisha’s opinion one last time.

To the warrior who had fought Lenok to the death and still hadn’t lost her fighting spirit.

“I……”

Perhaps she vaguely understood what Lenok meant by these words, Peisha’s expression slightly wavered.

It must be because she realized that he was not trying to torment her, but was purely making a proposal that would benefit both sides.

If things went well, Peisha would return to the Legion, and Lenok might be able to meet Ethan Bajur in advance in exchange for her custody.

The time when she was being manipulated and used by Lenok at will, rolling around without receiving any proper compensation, would all be over.

She would return to the Legion as a major general and sweep through the central front, doing whatever she wanted.

But-

“No.”

Peisha shook her head.

“I refuse your proposal. I will not go to the military parade.”

“……Is that so?”

Lenok asked back with a blank face.

“Can I hear the reason?”

“I hate this city.”

Peisha said quietly in a hoarse voice.

“I hate the people of Balkan who let Bajur-nim die, and all the people involved who wanted his failure.”

“……”

“Just staying here reminds me of that time. I thought it would be great if I could erase this regret. I still feel the same way, but……”

Peisha raised her gaze with a complex expression.

“After meeting his granddaughter, I don’t know what I’m thinking anymore.”

“……”

“I believed that blood ties meant nothing. That my reason for loyalty wasn’t about such things……”

Peisha muttered, leaving Lenok silent.

“Zenicia Bajur looked happy in your Magic Tower. The image that Bajur-nim so desperately wanted was there.”

“……”

“I think I might be okay with that, even if only for a moment.”

Peisha closed her eyes.

“It’s soft. It’s pathetic. Even if I return to the Legion with this kind of heart, I’ll only be a hindrance to my comrades. Even if a hostage exchange takes place, you’ll be the only one who benefits.”

“……I see.”

“So, I won’t let you have all the fun.”

Peisha looked at Lenok and smiled sharply.

“A defeated soldier doesn’t need a second chance. I’ll stay here and watch the Legion’s war.”

“……”

The plan to hand over Peisha’s custody to the Legion’s upper echelons and create an opportunity to talk to Ethan Bajur.

But Peisha refused to return to the Legion herself and resolved to stay here.

It was absurd, but Lenok, on the other hand, found himself not surprised by Peisha’s answer.

Because he still remembered how Peisha reacted when she first met Jenny.

Feeling longing for her appearance, which resembled Kaise Bajur, and then regretting that fact again.

In the end, she even broke the restriction and tried to kill herself to answer Jenny’s question.

How much of a change in heart did Peisha feel when she chose the place where she had to die for Jenny?

What was the reason why Peisha had been cooperating with various tasks of the Magic Tower without complaint since then?

Knowing all of that, wasn’t that why Lenok had accepted her as a member of the Tower?

That’s why he was surprised by Peisha’s answer, but on the other hand, he could accept it.

Because he knew that among all the causes and effects that made up the human being Peisha Grisburn, her loyalty to Bajur was the most genuine.

“Understood.”

Lenok nodded and turned around.

“I’ll stop taking you to the military parade. From now on, focus on staying in the training grounds and teaching others.”

“Bullshit, do I look like a babysitter who takes care of kids?”

Lenok chuckled as he saw Peisha raising her middle finger and started walking.

It was a shame that the proposal he had made to Peisha had not yielded any results, but if that conclusion was based on Jenny’s existence, it had meaning.

At least she wouldn’t let Jenny get hurt or harmed no matter what.

Loyalty that even death cannot stop, passed down through generations.

In the chaotic era of war, Lenok seemed to vaguely understand why Kaise cherished Peisha.

At that moment, as Lenok thought that and was about to return to the Tower without hesitation.

“You idiot, where are you going? We’re not done talking yet.”

Peisha stopped Lenok with a sullen expression.

“Do you think I called you to this old, dilapidated building for no reason? Wait, because I have something to show you.”

“I don’t know what you want to say. Do you have something you want to show off in this dirty building?”

“Damn it, with that way of speaking…… Can’t you shut your mouth?”

Peisha’s forehead bulged with veins for a moment, and then she grabbed the spear shaft and walked forward.

It was about time to step on it again. At that moment, as Lenok thought that and calmly raised his magic power.

Peisha, who was standing in the center of the old abandoned office, plunged the spearhead she was holding into the floor.

Crack!!

Behind Peisha, who had raised her magic power, a ghostly figure emerged.

Peisha Grisburn’s signature technique, and the ancestral spirit that elevates her power to a transcendent level.

Woo-oong!!!

At the same time as the ancestral spirit appeared, the entire office space began to resonate.

Lenok, recognizing the unusual reaction, glanced up.

“This is……”

“This building is one of the communication bases that Dead Rise used in the past.”

Peisha muttered.

“To be precise, we built an emergency contact network using feng shui [a Chinese system of geomancy believed to harmonize individuals with their environment], utilizing the layout of the building and the street.”

“……”

“It lost its meaning as redevelopment progressed nearby, but if I adjust the yin and yang [complementary opposites] of feng shui with my ancestral spirit, I can somehow make it work.”

Woo-ooong……!!!

A group of lights that had bloomed from under Peisha’s feet rose and rotated like a giant mirror.

Looking at that, Peisha tilted her head towards Lenok.

“If the Legion command is still maintaining this line, we’ll be able to reach them.”

“……Could it be.”

“You’re the mage who’s supporting his granddaughter from the side.”

Peisha muttered, slightly turning her gaze.

“I’ll let you meet Bajur-nim at least once.”

Even though she refused to return to the Legion, she was thinking of giving Lenok a chance to meet Ethan Bajur.

It was because of Jenny’s existence, but it was surprising that Peisha would be so cooperative in this matter.

At the moment Lenok turned his gaze with a surprised expression, a different landscape began to appear slowly in the mirror.

Faaaat!!

As the path connected in the mirror, it revealed a landscape of a completely different space-time.

Waves surging in the distorted radiance. Melodies overflowing in the vast waves of light.

A strong and warm warmth that could be vaguely felt even through the mirror that only connected the vision.

The figure of someone vaguely turning back in that light.

At the moment Lenok paused at the unfamiliar landscape and sense of incongruity.

[……No.]

Crack!!

A voice mixed with strange mechanical sounds cut in from beyond the mirror.

[……I’ll take the lead here……]

Chijijik……!!!

In the mirror of light that had turned pure white, an endlessly ominous noise was mixed in.

A strange phenomenon as if someone had forcibly changed the channel, completely reversing the landscape they had been facing just a moment ago.

As if someone had forcibly changed the channel, the landscape beyond the mirror completely changed.

A dark room that was so dark that not even a single point of light could enter, and was unrecognizable.

Someone was sitting at the end of the dark room on a huge chair with their head bowed.

[There are less than ten people in the Legion command who know about this communication network……]

A small tone that was faint as if it would break, and stammering as if whispering.

Someone who was having difficulty opening their mouth while breathing heavily as if they were wearing a respirator.

[It’s ironic that it reached me after going through the lines of the absent generals……]

“……You’re not Ethan Bajur.”

Lenok opened his mouth with a stern expression.

“Did you forcibly intervene in the communication network that Peisha connected and change the channel…… Who are you?”

[……]

The shadow sitting in the dark room was silent.

He, who was breathing heavily, answered quietly.

[Unfortunately…… Ethan hasn’t arrived yet. He needs a little more time……]

“……”

The person who received the call from beyond the mirror was not Ethan Bajur.

At the moment Lenok paused, immediately understanding that fact from the other person’s answer.

[……Even so, the reason I received this line is because I judged that I owe you a debt……]

The shadow in the dark room raised its gaze.

[I thought that I should meet you like this…… someday.]

Long hair faintly swaying beyond the shadow. A handsome face that vaguely revealed its outline.

The presence of tubes densely inserted between the face and neck, and the respirator filling the mouth.

A face that was so different from what was in Lenok’s memory.

But it was definitely a face he had seen somewhere before.

“……Gileon Milrose.”

Lenok muttered with a stern expression.

“Did the commander of Dead Rise himself come out to greet me?”

The largest legion on the continent, encompassing the entire central front.

The three commanders who reigned at the pinnacle of Dead Rise.

The best talents and aptitudes that were directly selected and chosen by Bajur’s name.

The leader of Dead Rise who was loyal to Kaise. The traitor who abandoned him with the failure of the project.

The best commander of the Legion who followed Ethan Bajur had come forward himself to face Lenok.