Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 135

“Keep talking.”

Fwoooosh…!!

Lenok shook his head with a faint smile.

“I still have some experiments I want to try.”

“N-no, please… please!!!”

Crack!!

The Academy (2)

“Ugh, grrr…”

Lenok, looking down at the unconscious Archwood who was shedding tears, stood up.

Although the flow had become a mess, the magic power remaining in Archwood’s body had not disappeared.

Instead, the movement of that magic power had simply been reduced by half.

Although he had spoken harshly, Lenok was, after all, just an ordinary researcher here.

Apart from experimenting with the domain, he needed to be a little mindful of the aftermath.

‘Even if I were to completely eliminate this guy’s magic power here, it would be a problem.’

If he had a network thick enough to participate in such an academy, it would be difficult if he lost his magical power.

If Archwood had thought a little more deeply, he would have realized that Lenok’s assertion was not very realistic…

But anyone would find it difficult to think deeply when gripped by the fear of losing their magic power.

As he withdrew the domain, he shook the unconscious Archwood to wake him up.

Even if he suppressed him with fear, he had to make sure he kept his mouth shut.

What should he do…? Lenok pondered for a moment, then smiled as he came up with a good idea.

“Archwood.”

“…M-magic power…”

He tapped Archwood on the shoulder, who still hadn’t grasped the reality of what had happened to him, and said,

“I’ve left about half of your magic power. Do you understand what this means?”

“…What?”

“You never know. If you keep your mouth shut, the other half of your magic power that disappeared might return to your body someday.”

“………”

Even if he was out of his mind, he wouldn’t fail to understand these words.

Of course, Lenok didn’t know any way to restore his twisted magic power to its original state, but if he could silence him forever with a single lie, wouldn’t that be a good deal?

Leaving Archwood, who had slumped down with a miserable expression, Lenok left the dead forest without any regrets.

Lenok decided to be satisfied with having removed one annoying obstacle from his university life in advance.

More importantly, it was more important to organize the facts he had learned from activating the domain in his mind.

‘The magic power required to use the magnetic domain is considerable.’

Despite the considerable increase in magic power from this operation, the amount of magic power consumed was not small.

Regardless of the effectiveness of the domain, it was too burdensome to use in direct combat.

Unless it was a dramatic situation where a single spell decided the outcome, like in the battle with Craig, it was a power that was too burdensome to use from the start.

He needed to talk to a skilled magician like Aris about this, but how could he bring it up naturally?

As he was walking towards the tent, thinking of some plausible excuse, Davi suddenly spoke up from his chest.

[Master.]

“Hmm?”

[Someone is approaching.]

“Someone…?”

What could it mean that Davi, who had never reacted this way to anyone else’s approach, was suddenly speaking up?

Either someone approaching Lenok now had something special.

Or it was highly likely that the ‘someone’ was a being similar to Davi.

The answer was the latter.

Whoosh!

A gentle warm breeze blew.

For a moment, he mistook it for Archwood’s magic, but the wind, embracing a warm green energy, began to take a concrete form.

The shape of a sharp hawk.

The spirit, with its piercing eyes, slowly looked around before fixing its gaze on Lenok and opening its mouth.

[I’m glad I can convey the message even in this way.]

A dry, female voice that didn’t seem to convey any emotion.

Lenok intuitively knew that these words were not the hawk’s own, but were instead conveying someone else’s voice.

“…Do you have business with me?”

[On the surface, you are just an ordinary university researcher. But your extraordinary talent cannot be completely hidden. Thanks to that, I was able to identify you.]

“Identify?”

Lenok crossed his arms as he asked.

The opponent had a knack for speaking ambiguously.

Whether they knew that Lenok was working as a freelancer under the guise of a student or not, they had succeeded in eliciting Lenok’s reaction without mentioning the most important part.

There was no reason to agree right away.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just a researcher who came to the academy with my professor. Talent is something that’s too far removed from me.”

It was right to play dumb and observe the opponent’s reaction one more time.

In the worst case, he might have to capture the spirit in front of him and trace its location.

While Lenok was calmly thinking of various countermeasures, the hawk lightly shook its beak and shook its head.

What came out of its mouth was completely different from what Lenok had expected.

[No. It has to be you. You are the only one who heard the last words of the Sky Gazer, Madrea Falsier.]

“………”

At that moment, Lenok’s eyes turned colder than ever.

#

A desolate plateau.

It was a long distance away from the forest where Archwood had fainted.

A completely empty landscape where he could immediately notice anyone approaching.

Here, it would be enough to make a suitable excuse later, even after Lenok returned to his lodgings.

Instead of looking at the hawk perched on his shoulder, flapping its wings, Lenok took out another cigarette and said,

“So, you’re saying that the next generation ‘lighthouse keeper’ is you.”

The lighthouse keeper of Philemon.

There should be no one who knows that an Ascended being who had been carrying out the mission of observing the outer sea had left a will to Lenok.

If anyone could eavesdrop on the transmission of a transcendent being like her, it wouldn’t be strange if they came to kill Lenok from the beginning when they learned this fact.

But if someone appeared who knew this fact, defying all expectations, what would be the reason?

[She was my grandmother.]

A calm answer. Lenok raised an eyebrow, realizing that there was no emotion in her voice.

“…It’s pointless to deny it now that you’ve come this far. So, what’s your business? Do you want to know what she left for me?”

Unfortunately, that was impossible.

The words Madrea left for Lenok were too sharp and fatal, accurately piercing through his talent and penalties.

That was probably possible because she was the one with the title of ‘Sky Gazer’.

Conversely, it meant that even other Ascended beings would find it difficult to know this fact at the time of the Sky Gazer’s death.

He couldn’t easily reveal this fact to her granddaughter.

[…My grandmother always decided her own fate. If her will reached only one person, then I have no right to know its contents.]

“………”

[The business is something else. To be precise, it’s closer to a discussion about the situation where the ‘observation’ collapsed after the death of the Ascended, and the monsters of the outer sea are approaching.]

“Why should I listen to that? There are plenty of more powerful and noble magicians than me.”

[I don’t have the right to hear my grandmother’s will, but I thought you had the right to know the secrets of this world.]

Lenok closed his mouth at her calm response.

The cold wilderness spread out before his eyes.

At this moment, it seemed as if this landscape was the whole world, but Lenok had never forgotten it for a moment.

The vast dark sea called the outer sea (外海) [a metaphorical term for the unknown and dangerous realm beyond the known world] that existed outside this world.

And the existence of monsters watching this place from beyond.

A closed world. Alcaide [a term referring to a specific type of world or realm]. Ascended [beings who have transcended normal limitations]. The secrets of the end and the third world.

He had been waiting for the moment when these scattered words would be organically connected.

Perhaps this moment was the first step he had been waiting for so long.

[If you are the magician my grandmother chose last, you must have something more than what you show on the surface… We desperately need the help of such people right now.]

Flap…!!

The hawk, sharing the same scenery as Lenok, flapped its wings and flew up.

[There’s no need for long words.]

As the spirit’s form soared higher and higher into the sky and disappeared, her last message landed softly on the plateau.

[If you have made a decision, please visit the lighthouse of Philemon. I will be waiting.]

“……”

Lenok, who had been watching the spirit’s form disappear into the air, belatedly realized something and nodded.

“Philemon Autonomous Territory… I see.”

The plateau where the academy was being held was one of the countless plains located between the great city of Balkan and the Philemon Autonomous Territory.

The reason why the next lighthouse keeper had contacted him now must be somewhat related to this situation.

She had been planning from the beginning to summon the spirit to leave a message that if he wanted to hear all the truth, he should come to the Autonomous Territory.

“Haa…”

The problem was that the atmosphere between the great city of Balkan and the Autonomous Territory was extremely tense right now.

Considering that they were anticipating war in the back alleys where Lenok worked, it didn’t seem like the relationship between the two regions would improve in the future.

He would have to listen to her words, so he would have to visit the Autonomous Territory someday… If he didn’t find the right situation and timing, his freelance life as a student might be in danger.

He had even recently carried out an operation with an agent, so if he didn’t want to be noticed, he had to be careful not to offend the city government.

In the end, it meant that it would be difficult to move to the Autonomous Territory without a suitable excuse…

‘I need to ask Jenny for help.’

Lenok stubbed out his cigarette with his foot, dusted off his coat, and started walking.

Aris knew that Lenok smoked, but that didn’t mean she liked the smell.

He had to go back soon, even to make an excuse for leaving his seat.

Before returning to his lodgings, Lenok glanced back at the place where the spirit had disappeared for the last time.

In the place where the green wind had passed, the dry air of the plateau had long since erased its traces.

#

The next day, after greeting Aris, who had returned from the first day of the academy exhausted, he was greeted by the next day.

Unlike the first day, which mainly consisted of theoretical discussions, today was the day when practical verification would be carried out directly.

Naturally, Lenok also followed Aris to the demonstration site.

“Watch carefully.”

She whispered softly so that others wouldn’t hear.

“The topic of discussion at this academy is related to the application of quite high-level magic, so there will be parts that you can learn theoretically.”

“I have also heard what the theme of the academy is.”

The demonstration and verification of techniques to maximize battlefield control.

That was the theme put forward at this academy.

When he first heard it, he didn’t think anything of it, but after meeting the new lighthouse keeper of Philemon yesterday, Lenok’s view of this academy had changed slightly.

The place where the academy was being held was also between Balkan and the Autonomous Territory.

And if the theme was the implementation of techniques based on battlefield control.

Wouldn’t it be right to think that this was a kind of signal that Balkan and its allied forces were sending to the Autonomous Territory?

“By the way, Professor Richelren is also having a hard time.”

While he was lost in thought, a magician walking next to Lenok and Aris spoke.

A middle-aged woman with a sharp impression. The magic power emanating from her body was also extraordinary.

A magician of at least level 5 or higher. She was more than qualified to be called an expert in one field.

She looked at Lenok, who was walking silently behind Aris, with a sharp gaze and said,

“To bring a young friend who seems to have just awakened their magic power to this academy… Do you have any other intentions?”

“…Director Byla of the Research Institute. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I understand Professor Richelren’s feelings, but I think you should stop giving useless hope to a hopeless friend.”

Aris’s eyes turned cold at the other party’s blunt words.