Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 154

His figure, lost in the crowd, vanished in an instant, melting away among the people.

#

Wham!!

The first thing Irina did after cutting off the telepathic link was slam her fist onto the desk, shattering it.

The chilling murderous intent in that single blow silenced the other exploration team members who had been watching her, preventing them from even opening their mouths.

‘That bastard. It’s definitely him.’

Irina raised her gleaming eyes and looked around.

‘His way with words is quite the art. Brook must have been manipulated and killed in the same way.’

‘………’

Irina knew Brook Powell well.

A reliable colleague who had never questioned her ‘exploration activities’ and had faithfully assisted the exploration team until now.

A practical person who understood that sacrifices were inevitable and did not hesitate to take on the difficult tasks in her stead.

The audacity and immersion to play another person in front of everyone without changing his expression.

And the excellent intellect that supported it.

Brook was the perfect person to snatch the items she wanted in the auction house, where chaos of all kinds of desires and interests swirled.

But even so, if things had turned out this way, there must be a valid reason.

The simple fact that Brook could not keep up with the depth of Lenok’s schemes.

His audacity to use teleportation magic instead of manipulation magic, even though he knew she was watching him every moment.

Subtle actions that seemed to mock Irina Pespield, the leader of the exploration team.

He pretended to deny it on the surface, but beyond his ambiguous words, he was blatantly pointing out the actions she had taken.

Moreover, he had already recognized the teleportation ability hidden in the rainbow-colored gem and had the judgment and willpower to use it in battle…

He was not an opponent to be taken lightly, but he was also not an opponent to be left alone for long.

The longer she dragged it out, the more he would realize the value of the ability hidden in the relic and come after her.

She had to settle the score before that happened.

She grabbed her coat, burst through the door, and strode out.

Dozens of exploration team members silently followed her.

‘The identification of the target is complete. Now we will begin ‘preparation’.’

Irina’s cold gaze swept over her colleagues.

‘Contact the sponsors, get funding, and report to me. Take out the necessary items from the mobile vault, and secure our positions.’

Reliable and dependable colleagues.

But unlike Irina’s feelings, not many of them were willing to meet her eyes.

Their unwavering organizational skills and loyalty. But it was not easy to realize that what supported it was not simply the enormous results she was achieving in exploration.

‘We will finish everything within three days and leave Balkan.’

#

After tapping his shoes a few times and adjusting his coat, Lenok immediately started walking.

Feeling the cold touch of the gloves on his palm, he slowly grabbed the glass door and opened it.

He had become accustomed to wearing shoes and shirts instead of jeans, but he didn’t have any major complaints.

Even when working in this blood-soaked street, formal attire was definitely helpful.

The spacious lobby was visible as soon as he opened the door.

The elegant letters were prominently displayed behind the information desk.

[Antares Mercenary Group]

He had heard the name countless times, and had even worked with the mercenaries, but this was his first time visiting in person.

Lenok didn’t know what Irina was thinking, but he also knew that he shouldn’t drag this out for too long.

And the estimate that the excellent magician had come up with after much deliberation was one step ahead of the exploration team leader who had experienced all kinds of hardships.

One day.

Lenok was planning to finish all the preparations today and immediately start the fight.

The preparation time was extremely short. It was impossible for Lenok to do everything alone in one day.

That was the reason he visited the mercenary group today.

Lenok felt a few mercenaries who were chatting idly in the lobby turn to look at him.

Ignoring their gazes, he spoke to the employee sitting at the desk.

‘Can you call someone for me?’

The employee checked Lenok’s face and immediately smiled.

‘Of course. Shall I call Dylan for you?’

‘………’

Without even saying his name, they knew who he wanted to call.

The employee said nonchalantly as he reached for the phone.

‘You can’t say you work at the mercenary group if you don’t know the electric magician of the 49th district. Please wait in the lobby, and we will call him right away.’

Only after hearing those words did Lenok focus his magic and listen to the conversations of the mercenaries around him.

‘That magician. What’s he doing here?’

‘I heard he’s been quite busy lately, he wouldn’t have come here without a purpose.’

‘Hmm… I’d like to work with him once, it would be nice to have a chance to see his skills.’

‘Don’t even think about it. He’s dangerous. I heard he’s quite ruthless… There must be a reason why Mila is shaking her head.’

‘What’s that? As long as he does his job well, that’s all that matters.’

‘Many guys are curious about the magic he uses. If we do it right, we might be able to get some good information.’

Lenok scratched his cheek silently as he heard the conversations about him from here and there.

Gazes mixed with caution and goodwill.

The content of the conversations, which were spoken in almost inaudible voices, were things that could never be said without knowing the magician named Ban well.

If those on the front lines of the mercenary group recognized his face, then the time he had spent working as a freelancer had not been in vain.

He didn’t think becoming famous was all good, but in the end, to get what Lenok wanted, he had to build a little more reputation and climb higher, right?

Not just stopping at being a freelancer who takes on jobs, but like now, coming out to entrust work to the mercenary group.

While he was lost in thought, the door of the elevator on one side of the lobby burst open, and a noisy voice popped out.

‘Ban!!’

A tall figure, wearing a bizarre mask that didn’t reveal any of his face.

He was still covered in blades all over his body.

Lenok chuckled at the sight of Dylan waving his hand excitedly.

Dylan immediately took out two drinks from a nearby vending machine and threw one to Lenok.

Of course, Lenok didn’t catch the drink properly.

Dylan shrugged exaggeratedly as he watched Lenok pick up the can that had fallen on the floor.

‘Long time no see. What’s with you showing your face only after more than a year since I told you to come visit the mercenary group?’

‘I didn’t have any business, so there was no reason to come.’

‘And to think you’d come at this timing… I was going to introduce you to the boss, but how did you manage to come just when he’s on a business trip?’

‘The boss? Hmm, that’s certainly… a shame.’

He wanted to see the face of Antares, who he had only heard rumors about, but it was bad luck that he was away.

‘But Felix is here, do you want to go see him? You met him at the botanical garden with Mila last time, right?’

Lenok frowned at Dylan’s casual answer.

‘Is that woman going around spreading even that story?’

‘Felix told me? He was rambling on at the bar that he wanted to bring you to the boss someday. That guy is very talkative, unlike how he looks.’

‘………’

It was hard to imagine him talking non-stop with that solemn bird beak, but Lenok roughly understood.

Come to think of it, he was quite talkative when he met him at the botanical garden.

‘So, anyway, the fact that you came here means you have business. Tell me about it.’

‘It’s not difficult. I’m looking for about two useful front-liners.’

‘Hoo… You’re looking for front-liners, that’s a bit surprising.’

Dylan’s voice changed to a serious tone after hearing Lenok’s words.

More than anyone else, Dylan knew quite a lot about Lenok.

He had worked with Lenok several times, and he often spent time at Jenny’s bar when he was bored.

Lenok didn’t just want to move alone and work alone.

In their first request together, at the factory where they faced the Kraken Asillas, they fought together, didn’t they?

Contrary to his outward image, he didn’t dislike team play as much as one might think.

It was just that his previous teammates had been eliminated for various reasons, and he had often ended up solving things alone.

But even so, if there was nothing special, Lenok, who preferred to handle things with his own abilities in the given environment, was extremely unusual to be looking for colleagues to work with.

Lenok shrugged at Dylan’s words.

‘Well… can I have a smoke first?’

‘Uh… is indoor smoking allowed?’

Lenok, seeing Dylan suddenly faltering, put away the cigarette he was about to take out and shook his head.

‘Let’s talk while sitting down.’

Lenok said that and naturally led him into a private room near the lobby.

‘Hmm, you’re the guest, right?’

Ignoring Dylan’s nonsense, he snapped his fingers to block out the surrounding noise and interference.

Dylan’s voice changed slightly as he realized what Lenok had done.

‘Seeing you go this far, it must be a really big deal…’

‘………’

Indeed, even though he seemed to get beaten up by Jenny every day, Dylan’s skills were real.

The fact that he could sense the signs of Lenok’s manipulation of magic and notice the atmosphere was enough to guess the extent of his magic sensitivity.

In the past, he didn’t know much, and he was too busy trying to survive on his own, so he didn’t notice properly.

The fact that he survived the fight against that Kraken Asillas was proof of Dylan’s skills.

Rather, compared to his skills, the commission he received seemed ridiculously cheap.

It wasn’t for nothing that Lenok came to him.

Dylan Okaysi was one of the top three most powerful warriors among the countless front-liners Lenok had met.

Clash (1)

In addition, the trust and unwavering actions that had been built up over a considerable amount of time.

And the plausible signboard of the Antares Mercenary Group.

Considering various aspects such as skill, trust, teamwork, personality, and character, it was difficult to find a better force than him.

At best, people like Chen, who had worked with him in the process of suppressing the terrorist organization Falcion, met Lenok’s standards.

But it seemed that he was busy preparing for his business, so Lenok didn’t bother to contact him.

Lenok checked once more that no sound was leaking out and then immediately explained briefly what had happened.

Even if he didn’t need to tell him that he had a part of the Archangel’s Compassion relic, he had to explain the circumstances that led to the conflict with the exploration team, or it would be impossible to ask for cooperation.

As he listened to the story, Dylan’s demeanor gradually became more serious.

‘Hmm…’

Dylan, who was scratching the mask that completely covered his face, shook the canned coffee he was holding and said.

‘In short, you’re planning to have a showdown with the Arashark exploration team.’

‘No, in fact, you can say it’s already started.’

‘They don’t know that you’re the opponent.’

‘That’s what I think… but it wouldn’t be strange if I was discovered at any time.’

Dylan nodded after hearing Lenok’s answer.

‘Then it’s definitely dangerous.’

‘Dangerous?’

‘Not you, but Jenny. You were together at the auction house, right?’

‘………’

Dylan continued, looking at Lenok, who was speechless.

‘There’s no guarantee that the exploration team, which has been active outside of Balkan, won’t touch the broker. After all, from their point of view, they just need to take care of their business in Balkan and get out. Then there’s no need to keep the unwritten rule of not touching the broker.’

‘Hmm…’

That wasn’t wrong.

No, to be precise, it was a problem that Lenok had also known but hadn’t thought much about.

Strictly speaking, the process of resolving the requests that had been made so far was strictly a relationship between the client and the customer, and taking care of oneself was also an area that had to be done on one’s own.

But this time it was different.

The threat from the exploration team was a risk that arose purely in the process of handling Lenok’s personal affairs, and it was not right for Jenny’s bar to bear it entirely.

Dylan, looking at Lenok’s face, which had changed to a complicated expression, smiled and patted him on the shoulder.