Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 238

Neighbor (1)

‘At the Sinclair Magic Tower, you say?’

‘Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to do this either, but…’

‘No. It can’t be helped.’

Lenox answered calmly, holding his phone.

‘Considering Aris’s current situation, it’s better to settle things now.’

‘……So you knew?’

‘Watching her closely once a week, it was hard to pretend I didn’t know.’

‘……..’

Aris, perhaps embarrassed, didn’t reply for a moment.

It wasn’t surprising. The fact that she was truly on the verge of completing her self-modification wasn’t that unusual.

Rather than being hindered by the Magic Tower just before reaching the end of the hierarchy and ascending to the Saint-level, it made sense that she would deal with troublesome issues now.

In fact, once she reached the Saint-level, the Magic Tower wouldn’t be able to interfere with her much anymore.

Even in the Magic Towers with long traditions and histories, the existence of a pure-blooded mage who had completed the hierarchy was extremely rare, so it wouldn’t be strange for her to be treated as an equal to the Tower’s elders.

‘Don’t worry and go.’

Lenox replied.

‘I think I’ll have a lot to do for a while too.’

As always, they asked about each other’s well-being, and as soon as he hung up the phone, a heavy roar erupted from behind Lenox.

Clang! Clang!

Thump! Bang! Bang!

Unceasing noise.

However, Lenox’s face showed not annoyance but an unknown sense of satisfaction.

‘Finally, I have time to move.’

Days when he barely had time to sleep at home, let alone move.

The data from alchemy and various magical studies kept piling up day by day.

It was only when the makeshift laboratory he had created by remodeling a room was about to burst that he was given the opportunity to move his nest. Whether that was good luck or bad luck was hard to say.

In any case, after such a long period of endurance, Lenox was finally able to move to a new officetel [a studio apartment often used for both living and working] in the 30s district.

It wasn’t too far from the area where his previous apartment was, but it was a place that guaranteed a large area and personal space.

Because of that, it was more expensive than before, but it wasn’t a big problem for Lenox anymore.

[Now you can finally provide me with my own home.]

When Davi, who was perched on his shoulder, spoke with a proud look, Lenox let out a hollow laugh.

‘Sorry, but I can’t make a toad house for a digital spirit anywhere. If you cut off the power here again, you won’t see the outside world for a month.’

It was an absurd fact even as Lenox said it himself, but Davi often took advantage of Lenox’s sleep to go into the breaker box and steal the house’s electricity.

[If Master puts in a little effort, it’s not impossible, is it? While you’re building the lab, it would be nice if you could get a useful power source.]

Feeling uneasy at Davi’s words, Lenox immediately asked.

‘……You’re not planning to steal my mana core, are you?’

[……]

Davi turned her head slightly instead of answering.

Lenox nodded.

‘Okay. You won’t even get to see the compassion of the archangel for a while.’

[……!!!]

It seemed like this had happened before, but Lenox had no intention of feeding Davi the artifacts he needed to use.

He would rather give her control and use her for combat support. Was it reasonable to endure the loss of an item in exchange for an unassured growth?

Lenox, who had shoved the frantically struggling Davi into his arms, greeted the moving company employees with a smile.

‘Thank you for your hard work.’

‘Hoo… All the items that have been moved are now transported, so the rest is up to the homeowner to organize.’

The employee said, handing over a tablet.

‘Just make the payment here and it’s done.’

‘Okay.’

After roughly writing Evan’s name and seeing off the employees, he heard the employees in the truck muttering from afar.

‘Why does he carry so many papers?’

‘Is he an archaeologist or something? Those people like analog storage more than data.’

‘His taste is so old-fashioned.’

‘……’

The furniture was roughly in place, so it was time to organize the luggage.

When he first came to this street, he only had a pistol and shabby clothes, but now he had accumulated so much luggage that he had to hire a moving company.

Even in Lenox’s time, which didn’t feel like it had any room to spare, daily life had unknowingly taken root.

The strange feeling he hadn’t felt when he was buying things online was not a delusion, but something he felt after moving.

He tore off the wrapping paper attached to the furniture and organized the tape.

After closing the ventilated window and organizing the outlets and wires, Lenox’s body was covered in sweat.

‘Hoo, hoo……’

Davi was looking up at Lenox, who was taking out a cigarette with a complicated expression, with an unknown look.

With this terrible stamina, even organizing and cleaning the house was a chore.

After finishing the work that could be done by hand, Lenox used magic to neatly clean up the remaining dust and debris.

After finishing the tedious cleaning work, he was finally about to enter the new shower room with a towel in hand.

Suddenly, a loud noise began to echo from the ceiling.

Thump! Thump! Thump!!

‘……?’

Lenox tilted his head and was about to enter the shower room again when he heard the noise again.

Thump! Thump!

‘……It can’t be.’

He never thought he would suffer from noise between floors from the day he moved in, but Lenox shrugged and immediately entered the shower room.

In about a day, he could complete the barrier and defense spells that were essential for this house.

Adding a noise barrier to block the noise was nothing for Lenox.

It seemed like there was a somewhat rude neighbor living upstairs, but he didn’t care when he thought about setting up a much larger laboratory.

Until the next morning, when Lenox opened his eyes and the loud noise from the ceiling was still there.

‘……’

Lenox, who was scratching his messy hair with a dazed expression, asked Davi.

‘Was it like that all night?’

[Probably.]

‘Hmm, that’s not a good sign……’

Lenox crossed his arms and pondered.

If it was just occasional noise, Lenox could just put up a noise barrier and ignore it, but if it was making noise all night like that, it meant they were not a normal person.

Lenox could ignore it, but it was highly likely that other neighbors wouldn’t be able to.

It was only natural for disputes caused by noise between floors to lead to trouble.

For Lenox, who needed to spend his time quietly and without a trace in his residence, it was not something he could just ignore.

‘Should I have looked into it more carefully before buying the house……’

There was no such thing in the previous apartment, and in the previous studio, he didn’t care what happened, so he hadn’t considered it much.

At that time, he just used force to solve it, but it was hard to do that here.

Lenox, who was worried, got up.

[Isn’t there anything you can do about it?]

‘It’s not like we have to solve it with force.’

Once he confirmed whether the other party was really a shameless psychopath, there were many things he could do.

‘Once I show them what a haunted house is like, they might move out on their own.’

[……That’s a really terrifying idea.]

‘Let’s go up first.’

Just as Lenox said that and was about to grab the front door, a cheerful doorbell suddenly rang.

Ding-dong.

‘Excuse me. I’m the person from upstairs.’

‘Huh?’

Lenox and Davi exchanged glances.

[……They weren’t completely shameless, I guess.]

‘If they’re coming to apologize first, then…’

[Maybe they didn’t come to apologize?]

‘I wanted to apologize for what happened last night.’

Davi replied with a sullen expression, as if she was listening from beyond the door.

[……That’s a relief.]

‘Let’s just accept the apology and send them back. We can just put up a noise barrier anyway.’

The important thing was to avoid drawing attention to Lenox’s residence due to trouble between neighbors.

For Lenox, who was planning to remodel this space into a laboratory, safety was a very important factor.

Just as he was about to open the front door, the person standing outside the door muttered once more.

‘Is there no one inside?’

Lenox’s face hardened.

‘Wait, this voice is……!’

It was the voice of a familiar acquaintance, so familiar that he wondered why he hadn’t noticed it until now.

His mind instantly identified who was on the other side of the door, but absurdly, his body didn’t stop.

The doorknob he had already grabbed naturally turned, the lock was released, and the moment the door was about to open.

[Face Off]

Lenox dramatically succeeded in changing his face and mana pattern.

‘Ah, you were here. Nice to meet you. I’m the person who lives upstairs.’

Neat black hair that was cut off near the shoulders. Green eyes that were quite unusual in this area.

It had been a long time since they had met face to face, but her neat appearance was still the same.

The leader of the agents. A high-ranking archer called Hyungung [a title for a high-ranking archer].

Evelyn Marcia was looking up at Lenox with a blank face.

‘……’

How could such a coincidence happen?

That the neighbor right above the officetel he had so carefully moved into was, of all people, Evelyn.

Should he have investigated the identities of the neighbors nearby when he moved?

Lenox unconsciously raised a hand to check if the disguise magic was working properly.

It was something he had forgotten for a while because it was so long ago, but she had the ability to see not only the other person’s mana but also their pattern.

If he was going to disguise his identity in front of her, he couldn’t let his guard down for even a moment.

‘N-Nice to meet you.’

‘I think I was rude last night, so I came to apologize. This is a gift.’

Evelyn said, handing over a bunch of vegetables she had hidden behind her back to Lenox.

‘……’

While Lenox, who couldn’t say anything, was nodding with all sorts of vegetables in his arms, she spoke again.

‘I’m planning to move soon, and I was organizing my luggage, but I was so focused on my work at night that I didn’t pay attention to the noise between floors. I’m sorry.’

‘No… It’s okay. It can happen.’

‘But are you perhaps a mage?’

‘……’

While Lenox swallowed hard, Evelyn made a slightly embarrassed expression.

‘No, it’s nothing, I just felt like I’d seen you somewhere… It’s nothing.’

She must have still remembered the mana pattern Lenox had shown just before opening the door.

It had been almost two years since Lenox had met her in the vegetable market with his original face, but she still remembered that mana pattern.

She was a truly meticulous person. He had no choice but to play dumb here.

‘I don’t know. Maybe you’re mistaking me for someone else… Is that why you came down here?’

Did she come to apologize because she thought he was someone she knew?

When he gently turned the question around with a smile, Evelyn also took a step back with a slightly embarrassed expression.

‘…….No. That’s really not it, I’m really sorry. I probably won’t do that again until I move.’

‘Okay.’

‘Yes, thank you for understanding. Then…’

Click.

Whoosh!!

As soon as the door closed, he put up a noise magic and even installed a barrier to block his presence.

Only after confirming that Evelyn’s presence had disappeared up the stairs did Lenox let out a sigh of relief.

‘Hoo……’

[That was dangerous.]

‘I completely let my guard down. No, I didn’t even notice until right before I opened the door.’

[Did Evelyn Marcia manage to avoid Master’s mana detection?]

‘No, rather… Her mana pattern is hard to read. This is no different from before.’

Lenox’s eyes, who was squatting against the wall, shone sharply.

If he could see her face and confirm the moment she used mana, he could distinguish her, but if he didn’t recognize her properly, he couldn’t see her well.

If Lenox felt this way, other people wouldn’t even be able to recognize her mana pattern.

‘She can read other people’s mana patterns, but she has the ability to hide her own mana pattern… That’s very interesting.’

Lenox got up from his seat, slightly grinding his teeth.

‘For now, I’ll stop full-scale research until Evelyn moves. If someone so sensitive to mana is living above me, there’s a chance they’ll sense something suspicious, no matter how meticulously I remodel the lab.’

[You’re running away.]

‘……’

Lenox silently grabbed Davi’s tail and lifted her up.

[I’m sorry.]

Davi struggled with her front paws, but Lenox didn’t let her go.

‘I should have asked when she was planning to move, I made a mistake. Out of all the agents, why her……’

He had interacted with Evelyn frequently because of the recent cartel incident, but Lenox had never forgotten what kind of monster she was.

She had the skill and courage to stop that Kraken Asillas for a moment.

In addition, she was a skilled person with an amazing archery skill that could snipe a target from a distance of several kilometers and capture them alive along with the building.

It was impossible to know exactly how much she had achieved, but she must also have something similar to the ‘small universe’ that Antares had mentioned.

Even just looking at the skills she had shown so far, she was a monster who was by no means inferior to Lenox.

He had no intention of giving a careless opening to such a skilled person as his upstairs neighbor.

If Evelyn hadn’t said that she was moving soon, Lenox would have started looking for a new house first.

[How are you going to do research without a lab?]

At Davi’s words, who was dangling by her tail, Lenox flipped through a research book with his other hand.

‘I’ve recorded the mana flow of the Stasis Eye that Iola gave me as collateral. I’ll interpret this and modify it in a way that doesn’t put a strain on my body. It won’t be easy for Evelyn to notice this.’

[Ohh.]

‘If I can modify it to project onto the retina instead of directly engraving the mana flow into the eyes, I can greatly reduce the side effects of mana poisoning. I’ll be able to use the magic eye during battle without having to endure the side effects.’

[Shouldn’t you let me down now?]

In addition, he should renew his Pilates membership that he had canceled before going to the Autonomous Territory.

He didn’t know if Rancia, the owner of the studio, still remembered Lenox, but Lenox was satisfied with her skills.

Even if it didn’t help much in solving the fundamental problem, it was quite helpful in regulating Lenox’s fluctuating condition.

It was only about engraving the method of using muscles into his body and training his core muscles to help him gain a little bit of balance, but even that was a significant improvement for Lenox’s weak body.

‘There’s a lot to do. I’ll remodel the lab and take care of the things I’ve been putting off until Evelyn moves. And I’ll find a good opportunity to find out when she’s moving.’

[Was that something you had to plan out like this?]

‘Davi.’

Lenox grabbed Davi’s tail tightly.

‘You really don’t need a breaker box, do you?’

[I’m analyzing Evelyn Marcia’s behavior patterns. I’ll be able to draw a good predicted path in about three days.]

‘Okay.’

He would keep his distance, erase his traces, and carefully grasp the schedule.

This was not a place for half-living, but a home where Lenox had to sleep and focus on his research.

No matter how long he had known the other party, he had to be more careful in his movements.

However, it didn’t even take a day for Lenox and Davi’s efforts to come to naught.

The very next morning, Evelyn Marcia visited Jenny’s bar.