Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 12

Now, the dimly lit lobby of this bar was starting to feel familiar.

Lenok, sipping the whiskey Jorden had given him, replayed Jenny’s words in his mind.

“Right. I doubt you keep coming here just to chase bounties, do you? To be honest, if you want to be a bounty hunter, there are plenty of places with better opportunities than here.”

“Hmm…”

“I know you like this job a lot, but to be blunt, the reward is fixed unless you capture a high-risk criminal with a kill order. Or do you really want to chase after those kinds of psychos?”

“That’s not really it.”

The Balkan government itself offered huge bounties of hundreds of millions of cells [currency] on the worst criminals they were directly tracking, but that wasn’t Lenok’s goal.

If they were powerful enough to commit crimes while evading city-wide tracking, they likely possessed abilities that were difficult for Lenok to predict, making them formidable opponents.

There was nothing to gain from confronting such monsters head-on at this point.

Seeing that Lenok was showing some interest, Jenny seized the moment and continued.

“Of course, I’m not so unreasonable as to force you to stop doing what you want. But if what you said last time is true, you’ll need quite a lot of money to forge a new identity, right?”

“……..”

“With your magic, there are plenty of jobs where you can easily make a fortune. Surely you’re not still hung up on my nonsense about testing your abilities, are you?”

Lenok, who had been listening to Jenny quietly, chuckled unintentionally.

Her way of talking was quite something.

It was obvious that she was subtly trying to steer Lenok toward a higher-paying job, but he didn’t mind her words, which were a mix of praise and provocation.

From her perspective, she would want to handle jobs that would bring her more commission.

Eventually, Lenok, after some thought, nodded.

“Okay. What kind of job would you recommend?”

In fact, as she said, he needed more money not only for the 20 million cells required to create an identity but also to expand his activities into various areas.

He couldn’t stay in his current cramped hotel forever, and he would also need to find a place to live, and various efforts to improve his health would also cost money.

It was just that, until now, he had been spending time working in District 49 to get a feel for the atmosphere and avoid drawing attention to himself.

He had to be careful.

Even if Lenok was just a little careless or made a mistake, his talent would immediately stand out, and he would inevitably attract attention.

Of course, it was good to have his abilities recognized by others, but that was something for after Lenok had gained enough power and preparation to protect himself.

Lenok still couldn’t guarantee his own safety in this District 40, where all sorts of criminals roamed.

At Lenok’s words, Jenny’s face lit up with a bright smile.

“You’ve thought it through well. Do you know how many jobs there are in this industry that need a mage? You can just pick and choose, Van.”

With that, she immediately led Lenok to the back of the bar.

It meant that it wasn’t a conversation to have in an open space.

The huge space behind the bar where they had found Taylor Evans’ body.

After sitting down at a table in the corner, Jenny immediately brought out a file and slid it in front of Lenok.

It was a report of some kind, filled with small print, completely different from the bounty posters.

Lenok picked it up and quickly read through it.

While his eyes rapidly scanned the document, Jenny spoke from across the table.

“This is about the new cosmetics factory of Charlotte Corporation that was recently completed in District 42. There was a controversy over the fact that 80% of the construction costs were covered by city government subsidies, and there have been many rumors, especially about the skin lotion that was supposed to be produced at the factory, undergoing mass human testing.”

“Human testing?”

“Yes. If you look at page 8, you’ll see that in order to create the perfect environment for regenerating dead skin, they peeled off human facial skin entirely during the fourth review stage.”

Lenok’s brow furrowed unconsciously as he looked at the page Jenny had mentioned.

The report contained not only simple text but also very graphic photographic evidence.

“Isn’t the truth already revealed at this point? I don’t see what more needs to be done.”

“What are you talking about?”

Jenny frowned at Lenok’s words.

“Truth or not, Charlotte Corporation won’t give up the factory just because of photos like these. It’s a project that has received government subsidies, do you think they’d care about some shady rumors?”

“……..”

“The one who planned this was not the city government but Baritz Corporation. They recently started expanding into the cosmetics business and don’t want Charlotte to gain any more ground.”

Baritz.

Even Lenok, who hadn’t been in Balkan for long, had heard of that company.

Just going to the mart or market, there were countless products with the Baritz brand, and the familiar winged logo was on the front and back of cars driving around the streets.

It was probably one of the most prominent octopus-like corporations [a large, powerful corporation with many subsidiaries] in this megacity.

“Baritz offered two conditions when they put out a request to agencies like ours. One is to destroy the manufacturing plant to the point of no return. The second is to secure the production process algorithm data for the lotion they produce. They offered 50 million cells for the first condition and 300 million cells for the second.”

350 million cells if the success bonus was included. It was an enormous amount of money.

It was hard to imagine that this was the reward for handling just one job.

However, Lenok had no trouble understanding the hidden meaning behind the words.

“Does that mean you can get paid even if you only succeed in one of the two?”

“That’s right.”

“…It’s safe to assume that the second condition is practically impossible to achieve.”

“You’re right. You’re quick on the uptake, as expected of a mage.”

The difference in reward between the two success conditions for one request was too great.

Judging by the gap in the reward offered by the client and the difficulty of the task, breaking through Charlotte Corporation’s security was probably dozens of times more difficult than destroying the factory.

Jenny shrugged as she took the file back from Lenok.

“Actually, it’s nonsense to ask for the algorithm data. It means infiltrating the factory system management server, breaking through Charlotte Corporation’s firewall, and retrieving the data. To hire a hacker or engineer with that kind of skill, you’d need more than 500 million cells. This is just a trick by Baritz to try and use a hacker for cheap.”

“Do hackers get paid that much?”

Even if they were highly skilled, it was a fresh shock for Lenok to hear that the labor costs for those working in cyberspace exceeded 500 million cells per job.

“It varies greatly depending on skill, but for a company like Charlotte, they would have used top-notch engineers to build their firewall. If you have the skills to break through such a solid security network and extract data without damage, it’s natural to receive hundreds of millions of cells.”

“I see…”

Lenok nodded with a serious expression.

As he seemed to have understood the explanation, Jenny waited for his decision in a relaxed posture.

Lenok didn’t know that the questions he was asking her were very basic and common sense, but Jenny patiently explained them in detail.

It was because she was mistaken that Lenok was a mage who had come from training in a place far removed from the secular world.

Mages who practiced very old traditional magic often secluded themselves in remote areas for training rather than relying on the help of modern civilization, and Jenny thought Lenok was one of those mages.

Especially in the case of elemental mages, they often didn’t even appear in the school until they reached a certain level, so it wasn’t strange that Jenny and Jorden were mistaken.

After much deliberation, Lenok slowly nodded.

“Okay. I think I can manage to destroy the factory.”

He had been mistaken while catching the wanted criminals, but what he was doing was not being a righteous hero who eradicated immoral criminals.

It was just about taking his share in the world of corporations and criminals where profits and grudges were exchanged.

Whether he could maintain his morality and values in the process was entirely up to Lenok’s choice.

At Lenok’s words, Jenny smiled and said,

“Then, since we’ve roughly agreed, let me introduce you to a colleague who will be working with you on this job.”

“What?”

“Come in!”

With those words, the side door at the back of the space opened, and someone came in.

It was a man with a well-trained body, so muscular that it was obvious even though he was wrapped in a thick leather jacket.

He wore a mysterious mask that resembled a professional wrestler’s on his face, and he had all sorts of metal pieces dangling from his back.

Jenny introduced the man to Lenok with a nonchalant expression.

“This is Dylan O’Casey. He’s a mercenary from the Antares Office. He’s a very cheap man who gets called around to work here and there.”

“Jenny, if you talk like that to a partner you’re meeting for the first time, what will he think of me?”

“Well, a psycho wearing a pro wrestler mask?”

“Hahahaha!!”

Despite Jenny’s cold words, Dylan burst out laughing and approached him, offering a handshake.

“Dylan O’Casey. Mercenary. I’m your partner for this job. So, you’re a mage?”

Lenok shook his hand with a reluctant expression and replied.

“…Van. I handle electric magic. But what do you mean by partner?”

“It’s just as it sounds. It seemed like a job that would be too much to handle alone, so I was looking for another person.”

“This annoying woman said it couldn’t be done alone. She said she might be able to reel one in today, so I was waiting.”

“……..”

The atmosphere turned cold for a moment at Dylan’s unpretentious words, but Lenok calmly brushed it off.

“Next time, I’d appreciate it if you told me what kind of partner is waiting for me.”

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

Although he had an unexpected partner, Lenok wasn’t particularly dissatisfied.

What he was doing now was, in a way, no different from looking for work at a manpower agency.

It wasn’t surprising that he didn’t know what kind of work he would be doing each day or who he would be working with on the job.

If it seemed like a hindrance, he could just cut it off cleanly.

It wouldn’t be strange if Dylan was thinking the same thing.

“Then, is the 50 million cell success bonus split 50/50 between the two of us?”

At Lenok’s words, Dylan scratched his mask.

“You’ll have to pay a commission to this woman, won’t you?”

At those words, Jenny quickly replied.

“I won’t take a commission this time since I didn’t tell Van that he had a partner. There aren’t many jobs directly ordered by Baritz, so I was a bit hasty. I apologize.”

Dylan whistled silently.

Even though a 10% commission was not a small amount, Lenok narrowed his eyes at her willingness to give it up so cleanly.

She made a mistake and quickly rectified it on the spot.

It was a desirable way to handle things, but Lenok didn’t believe that she had made a mistake by chance.

She was probably testing Lenok’s reactions little by little to see how far she could go.

If Lenok had gotten upset here and raised his magic power, she might never have mentioned the word ‘partner’ again in such a situation.

In a way, he had let Jenny maintain her current attitude, but it wasn’t a bad thing.

It wouldn’t be a loss in the long run to show some goodwill and maintain a proper relationship.

This was especially true for Lenok, who was planning to solve his financial needs in this way for the time being.

If she really crossed the line, it wouldn’t be too late to deal with it then. The initiative in this relationship was already gradually shifting to Lenok.

Whether she knew Lenok’s inner thoughts or not, Jenny clapped her hands once and changed the subject.

“Then, let’s take a look at the factory blueprints in District 42.”

#

Unlike the undeveloped areas of District 50, which were full of only shabby slums despite the many development plans, the facilities in District 40, especially the early numbered districts, were not significantly inferior to those in the higher numbered districts.

District 42, where Charlotte’s manufacturing plant was located, was somewhat desolate, but it had a reasonably clean and organized street.

“Jenny seems to think highly of you.”

“What?”

“She’s not usually a woman who gives up her money so easily. She must have thought it was better to maintain a good relationship than to take a commission right away.”

Dylan’s tone was light, but he had accurately grasped the context of the conversation that had taken place in the bar.

“So, what’s your point?”

“Whoa, I didn’t mean anything. What I want to say is…”

Seeing Dylan suddenly reach into his chest, Lenok took a step back and put a cigarette in his mouth.

If a gun came out from inside, he would have to immediately increase the strength of his barrier and respond.

However, what was between his thick leather gloves was not hard metal but a business card.

“It’s not necessary to look for jobs in only one place.”

[Antares Office]

Lenok stared at the business card and let out a hollow laugh.

“Are you trying to recruit me now?”

He hadn’t even shown his magic yet, but he was being so proactive as soon as they left the bar.

However, Dylan replied nonchalantly.

“You can never have too many mages in your network. It’s the same in this industry. Even if there are dozens or hundreds of people, they all have different fields of expertise, combat power, and personalities. The more connections you have, the more opportunities you get.”

He shrugged.

“It wouldn’t be a bad thing for you either. Our office is a bit… rough, but we have a lot of friends who are good at physical work. Like me.”

“…”

“Having a variety of options isn’t necessarily a bad thing, is it? Unless you have a reason to stick with that woman.”

Lenok chuckled.

“You’re good with words. Let’s see if your skills are as good.”

“Look forward to it.”