Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 256

The surrounding air grew heavy and oppressive.

Lenox’s expression hardened as he realized that Agneta wasn’t just relaying words.

‘This is… it’s almost like she’s completely recreating the memories and sensations from that time.’

Was she recording the sensations he had experienced and then manipulating the surrounding environment to recreate them exactly as he remembered?

A meticulously crafted manipulation technique that was hard to believe he was witnessing firsthand.

The reason she was chosen as a herald of Pandemonium.

The air trembled slowly, then a hazy voice emerged.

[I heard you refused Myung’s offer.]

“…”

[I think it’s a waste of time to even say this, but… I believe you’re worth it.]

A voice that was both male and female, old and young. The tone conveyed nothing but a conviction bordering on madness.

[This world is absurd, isn’t it?]

The voice continued.

[But that doesn’t mean this world deserves to disappear. To live and breathe is more precious and valuable than anything else. It’s like a journey across the great river of fate itself.]

The voice of one of the world’s leading international criminal organizations was much softer than he had expected.

[At the end of the journey, I was certain. A person’s journey must have an end, but the world’s time must continue…]

“…”

[Even if this world doesn’t want it.]

A chilling silence fell.

His words were spoken from such a vast height, from such a distant perspective, that even Lenox couldn’t fully grasp their meaning.

He had many questions, but Lenox ultimately kept his mouth shut.

At this moment, Agneta was merely recording and relaying the words of the head of the Underworld.

[I heard you’re looking for a way to manipulate space-time. If someone with your talent is trying to obtain it, there must be a reason.]

While he was pondering, the voice continued.

[You might find a good answer in the secret chamber of the Order.]

“… !”

[I don’t know if you’ll truly agree with our intentions… but it doesn’t matter.]

The voice chuckled, as if seeing right through Lenox’s emotions.

[Let’s consider this a gift in advance, as we await that day.]

Whoooosh!

At that moment, a fierce wind swept through, and the pressure that had been bearing down on all sides vanished in an instant.

When Lenox looked up, Agneta was already far away, adjusting her blindfold.

“Haa…”

The cigarette he had been holding in his mouth had burned down to the filter. As Lenox spat out the cigarette with a wry smile, he heard footsteps behind him.

Thump!

Evelyn, having thrown down Turan’s massive corpse as if to show it off, stood behind them.

“Is that it?”

Agneta, without a word, pulled a long string from the giant body and wrapped it around Turan’s corpse.

With her ten legs, she easily lifted his corpse, and with a flick of her finger, dozens of cocoons hanging from the trees fell to the ground.

At the same time, Agneta gently placed Mauzer on the ground and said,

“Don’t trust the Balkan City Council too much. I’m telling you this because I like you, Evelyn.”

“…”

“Those senile old men are, in some ways, even dirtier and more vile than we are.”

Evelyn remained silent with a stiff expression.

She was probably all too aware of that fact.

She also knew that the order and security of the great city she had worked so hard to maintain might be nothing more than a fleeting illusion that could vanish in an instant.

But even so, her life’s journey, guided by her inner goodness, was proof of who Evelyn Marcia was.

Agneta, as if she didn’t need to say more, gave a faint smile beneath her blindfold.

“I hope that when I see you again, you won’t be a puppet of those old men.”

With those words, she shouldered Turan’s corpse and vanished from the spot, as if fading away.

“…”

Evelyn stared silently at the spot where she had disappeared for a long time.

Lenox, too, with a complex expression, could only ponder the words she had left behind.

Until the mages inside the cocoons regained consciousness and began to struggle, only silence lingered in the dead forest.

* * *

The man was walking above the clouds.

Whishhhhh!

The endless wind slapped his cheeks, but the sky was refreshing.

No matter how bad the weather was, when he came up above the clouds, the world felt incredibly peaceful.

It was the same.

No matter what hardships and adversities he faced, once he crossed a certain threshold, they could no longer affect his mind and body.

As he whistled with his hands behind his back, a strange voice came from his chest.

[Doctor.]

A voice that felt somewhat vacant, yet the emotions within its tone were unreadable.

[The furnace theft failed. Gionis and Turan are dead.]

“Hmm.”

[As you said, I managed to recover Turan’s corpse… but as promised, you’ll tell me the results when your research is done, right?]

“Of course, Agneta.”

The man replied with a cheerful expression.

“Turan is a very talented warrior, enough to respect your taste for human flesh. Don’t you realize that his twisted appetite was actually diminishing his potential? If his direction had been just slightly different, he could have reached much higher places.”

[What are you planning to do?]

“I’m going to give him a new head.”

The doctor smiled.

“If it’s just a matter of a severed head, it’s easy to analyze the biological information in the surrounding tissue and create a replica. But even if I did that, it wouldn’t match the original body’s performance, so I’ll cut off the replica’s head and attach it to the original body.”

“…”

“Of course, I’ll need to tweak the brain a bit to my liking in the process. I can’t have him craving human flesh again after I’ve gone to the trouble of reviving him. Aren’t you curious?”

Thwack!

He stopped at a point above the clouds and lightly tapped his foot, causing a massive ripple that split the clouds and revealed the landscape below.

The scene of a small to medium-sized city in the rain.

The expressions of the people in the streets looking up at the sky were all visible to the man.

“I wonder if the talent contained within the body can be interpreted using theories and principles that humans can understand.”

[Not really.]

Agneta said indifferently.

[I don’t think Turan could beat the Crocodile Elder even if he died and came back to life fifty times.]

“That’s right. That’s why this troublesome research is necessary, to catch up with that man.”

The man rummaged through his chest and pulled out a small flask.

“Even under one great goal, the paths to reach it can vary. I’m just playing the role of preparing while waiting for the day I face that fork in the road.”

[Do you want to kill the Crocodile Elder?]

“Hahahaha!”

The man burst into a refreshing laugh.

He didn’t expect her to sympathize.

As a descendant of an ancient race that traversed the hyperspace, her perception was very different from others, as she was aware of the discontinuity of space from the moment she was born.

Rather, it was because she could see things from such a different perspective that she had not lost her innate and precious talent.

He even felt a slight pity for her circumstances… but instead of telling Agneta such trivial thoughts, the man casually changed the subject.

“Well, that’s not what we should be talking about now. I have things to do too.”

The man, who was looking at something swirling endlessly inside the flask with satisfaction, glanced down at his feet.

Unlike the megacities with populations of ten million, cities with populations of a few hundred thousand to a few million often entrust their governance to a small number of superhumans.

The deal to entrust their safety to monsters who have surpassed their limits and to protect the city as their asset has a surprisingly long history.

And the middle-aged man, standing with his arms crossed in the middle of that rain-soaked city, glaring up at him, was also part of that history.

“The old tyrant who rules Humbelt…”

The man, looking down at the middle-aged man, chuckled.

“Just a crazy old man locked up in his own castle. Today’s quota will be over quickly.”

* * *

After handing over Turan’s corpse and rescuing Mauzer, along with the mages of the Magic Tower.

It didn’t take long to resolve the situation.

To be precise, it didn’t take long for the Magic Tower to understand the situation and dispatch a person in charge.

This was thanks to Evelyn’s reputation as the ‘Mystic Bow’ and the active testimony of her godfather, Aintz, who had a vague idea of the situation.

The remaining mages of the Magic Tower were skeptical, but they quickly understood after seeing the bodies of the council members recovered from the secret chamber and the surviving members.

The fact that Lenox and Evelyn were the ones who prevented the furnace explosion that almost destroyed the entire Magic Tower also played a big role.

Decisively, the person in charge from the Blaver Magic Tower headquarters who came to resolve the situation was an acquaintance of Evelyn.

“I am truly ashamed of this incident.”

Mauzer said weakly, rubbing his eyes.

What must have been the shock of learning that not only had all the other envoys from the Mechanical City died, but that he had been taken hostage and forced to trade Turan’s corpse?

The look on his face, visible above his thick beard, was haggard, as if he had aged at least ten years.

“I should be personally checking if the Magic Tower in the Western Continent branch is functioning properly, but instead, I’m just barely managing to clean up the mess with your help…”

“It’s not your fault, Master Mauzer.”

Evelyn replied in a gentle tone.

“It’s hard to imagine that the direct disciple of the Tower Master would not only join hands with the Underworld but also offer other people as food for that murderer. I, too, suspected the circumstances, but I never imagined they would be so bold.”

The number of people sacrificed as food for the man-eating lion Turan in this incident alone exceeded fifty.

The members of the council who had become prey while unconscious. The faces of the missing people inside the Magic Tower who had been rapidly increasing, and even the members of the Mechanical City envoy who had gone missing near the volcanic zone.

The cave where the Mechanical City envoy had gone missing was, according to the investigation, the result of Gionis manipulating the heat to steal the furnace’s fire, causing the outlet to break and extend into the volcanic zone.

Heat beyond the limit had melted and burned the underground bedrock, forming new minerals.

“I suppose so. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that I became a burden in this incident. I should have been able to see that Gionis had tampered with the furnace…”

His body trembled, and on his back were heavy loads that were twice as tall as Mauzer.

Even though he couldn’t immediately transport the bodies of his sacrificed colleagues, it was Mauzer’s stubbornness to carry their belongings directly to the city.

Just as the two were about to say goodbye to Mauzer and turn away.

“Ah, I forgot to give you this.”

Mauzer, rummaging inside his beard, pulled out two long objects.

“…”

At the moment when Lenox’s mouth slightly opened at the unrealistic spatial storage ability, Mauzer handed one of the objects to Lenox and Evelyn.

“These are some of the products that our envoy brought as trade goods for visiting the Magic Tower.”

Two shotguns with impressive cylinders that shimmered with blue magic.

“The basic power is no different from other shotguns, but it is a special product that can temporarily amplify the power and range through the charging of magic. It is the result of a project promoted by the workshop to encourage the use of firearms by magic users.”

“I don’t use guns, though…”

Evelyn said with a wry smile, trying to return it, but Mauzer firmly refused.

“Please accept this for now.”

“…”

“Although I have nothing to offer as a great reward, I will surely repay you if you ever visit the Mechanical City. This is proof of that.”

Mauzer said that and silently carried his luggage and left for the Mechanical City.

As if atoning for his actions of not being able to ensure the safety of his other colleagues, and for focusing on repairing the furnace at the Magic Tower, not even knowing their fate.

His steps seemed endlessly heavy.

As the two silently watched his retreating figure, a listless voice suddenly came from behind.

“Did that old man already leave? I heard the furnace inspection wasn’t finished yet.”

“…The basic stabilization of the power source is complete, and he said that’s all he can do. He told us to contact the Mechanical City if that’s not enough.”

“Damn it, I don’t know many people in this area…”

The voice yawned and then muttered in a bored tone.

“If you say so, it’s probably right, I guess.”

“Is it okay to talk like that?”

“I don’t know. Won’t it work out somehow?”

A woman with a striking mane of red hair and sharp eyes scratched her head.

In her mouth was a cigar much thicker than the ones Lenox smoked.

One of the five Flame Pillars who protect the Blaver Magic Tower, and a mage well-known as the most flamboyant and violent artillery mage.

The Witch of Firepower, Tatiana Chiglet.

Lenox had heard her name in the newspapers, a well-known celebrity and one of the most active mages on the central front.

Her eyes met Lenox’s as she scratched her messy hair.

Tatiana grinned and said,

“I heard the story from the kids. You’re the mage who humiliated that dead priest, right?”

“I didn’t humiliate him.”

Even at Lenox’s words, she didn’t care and said while picking her ear.

“Anyway, I keep telling them not to ignore people who aren’t from the Magic Tower, but those idiots just don’t listen. They only pretend to realize it after someone dies.”

She was a person whose tone was not only rough but also fierce.

Tatiana’s red eyes flashed sharply at Lenox.

“That book that Gionis had. You ate it, right?”

“…”

“That’s actually our teacher’s. I’ll pretend I don’t know, so please do me a favor.”

“What is it?”

“That cigarette you’re smoking. It’s not a commercial product, is it?”

She flicked the cigar in her mouth and raised her hand.

“It looks damn delicious, so tell me the recipe.”

“…”

Both Lenox and Evelyn were speechless at her brazen and shameless request.

The Blaver Magic Tower. One of the five Flame Pillars who uphold the old traditions and rules.