Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 258

The Remnants of Fanaticism (1)

Originally, one of the shotguns was meant for Evelyn, but after some consideration, she ended up giving the other one to Lenox as well.

For her, who could handle both long and short-range combat with her bow and arrows, it was nothing more than a burden.

It wasn’t easy to just hand over such a gift to other agents, so she decided to leave it with Lenox, who was in a similar position.

And of course, Lenox had no intention of just throwing away the gift he had received into storage and forgetting about it.

“Rechargeable, huh… If it’s this method, it’s definitely possible to drastically increase the firepower of firearms.”

Even when Lenox was playing as a magic gunslinger, rechargeable firearms weren’t unheard of.

However, back then, most rechargeable firearms had the drawback of low durability despite their high firepower, so they weren’t very popular among magic gunslingers.

Lenox himself wasn’t particularly drawn to rechargeable weapons back then, but now that he possessed the talent of a mage, it was a completely different story.

Recharging with magic power. Rapidly depleting durability.

All of these were problems that Lenox could easily solve.

Crack!!

Lenox, who had forcefully detached the shotgun’s stock, muttered ambitiously.

“I’m going for a double barrel.”

[…Wouldn’t it be better to just leave it to Palmer?]

“That old man said he’s too lazy to touch any other guns and only carries his revolver. Do you think he’d do it?”

After tightly binding the two barrels with magic threads, he used the heat of the magic power drawn from his fingertips to fuse them together.

Zzzzzzz…

“I’ve already found all the necessary information on the deep web. If I have the manual, it’s not difficult to modify it.”

The heat rising from the fused barrels brightly illuminated Lenox’s face.

“I’ll finish the modification within half a day, and then I’ll focus on organizing and equipping the artifacts and magic books I’ve acquired.”

He had come so far since the day he first arrived in this city after escaping the factory, yet he felt that the road ahead was still long.

Because he knew he could run further, because he realized he still had the strength left.

Because he had yet to reach the endpoint of the talent he had unleashed before even opening his eyes in this world.

Lenox still didn’t stop.

As desperately as he desired, he had no choice but to cling on, strive, and struggle.

The lights in the lab went out the day after he had spent the entire day working.

* * *

“Baaaaan!!”

Lenox slightly averted his gaze at the sight of Dylan waving his hands around haphazardly.

A mask resembling a pro wrestler with flamboyant patterns, a leather jacket.

And all sorts of polearms hanging from his back.

It had been quite a while since they last saw each other, but outwardly, he hadn’t changed much.

“Yoyoyo!! Isn’t it too long, man!”

At Dylan’s boisterous antics, the other customers sitting at the bar all turned to look at them.

Startled by the sight, Jenny slammed the shaker she was holding onto Dylan’s head.

Thud!!

“Be quiet, you idiot. What the hell are you doing in my establishment?”

“No, but… how can you guys be having all the fun while I was away on a business trip, huh??”

Even after being hit on the crown of his head, Dylan got up energetically and began to protest.

“Belver and Belita are going around bragging about how much they made from the cartel’s work, I can’t stand it!!”

“…”

Although the story was quite distorted, it wasn’t entirely wrong in the big picture.

When they borrowed manpower from the Antares Mercenary Agency last time, Lenox and Jenny had given Belver and Belita a considerable amount of compensation.

Since the expenses were within the range of tax deductions, there was no burden, and since the two people’s names were also included in the company, it was a win-win situation.

Since they had officially established a cooperative relationship with the Antares Agency, it wasn’t a difficult task.

“Hoo… It was my mistake. I should have been by Ban’s side to get some of the crumbs that fell off.”

He muttered as he naturally ordered a bottle of whiskey from Jordan and poured it into his glass.

Jenny shook her head and said.

“Is he a mercenary or a parasite?”

“A parasite! Who else has been Ban’s partner for as long as I have? I’m much better than the cunning Belita and the money-grubbing Belver, for sure.”

He said that and began to stroke the sword he was carrying on his back.

“Look closely, Jenny. This is a token of trust that Ban gave me. Do you have anything like this? You don’t, right?”

“Crazy bastard…”

Jenny was so horrified by his bizarre tension that she avoided the conversation.

However, Lenox tilted his head slightly at the shape of the sword Dylan was holding.

“Dylan. The sword looks a bit different.”

If it was the sword that Lenox had given to Dylan as a gift, it would be the blood-red greatsword that Irina Fesfield, the leader of the Arashak Expedition, had been wielding.

It was one of the relics of the Guido Order, characterized by its unusually thick blade and the bulging veins on its surface.

But the sword Dylan was holding now was only the same in that the blade was a bright red color, but it maintained a thin and long blade, and the surface had become smooth.

“Hahahaha!!”

“…”

In the end, Lenox ordered about ten more bottles of whiskey and poured them into his mouth before he could have a proper conversation with Dylan.

“I went to the north.”

Dylan, tilting his head slightly, said while shaking the glass in his hand.

“Well, there’s no point in hiding it now… I’m from the Guido Order. To be precise, I was one of the test subjects they were cultivating there.”

“…”

Silence fell.

He had somewhat guessed it, but he didn’t expect Dylan to reveal his past so casually.

Dylan, who had casually revealed what he had gone through, nodded his head.

“I survived for quite a long time among them, so I was implanted with a bio-code that allows me to use the Order’s items under the authorization of the Order’s officials. That’s why I can use this sword.”

Irina Fesfield had wielded the blood-red greatsword and displayed immense combat power, but she was also supplying a massive amount of blood and pain to the greatsword.

There was a deeper reason why Dylan wasn’t exposed to the sword’s side effects.

“I didn’t know I’d get my hands on something like this while helping you, but since I got it, I have to figure out how to use it, right? So I infiltrated the North Continent Order branch that I knew about, and I went and messed with some of the people there.”

So that was why he had been away on a business trip for so long after Lenox had returned from the Autonomous Territory.

Even though he said it lightly, if he had gone all the way to the North Continent, it was clear that he had really invested a lot of time.

“It seems like you had some results.”

The fact that the shape of the blade had changed so much was proof that Dylan had learned how to handle the sword.

“That’s right. Actually, my body is different from other people, so I had some difficulty understanding the achievements I had made so far. I’d say that I’ve made definite progress in that area while handling this thing.”

Dylan grinned.

“I also beat up some of the priests there, so personally, it wasn’t a bad thing.”

“Do you resent the Order?”

Lenox asked.

Lenox also knew well what kind of place the Guido Order was.

It wasn’t just because he had become familiar with this world.

The Guido Order was a powerful group of fanatics that existed in the game WORLD 2.0 that Lenox had enjoyed.

It was unknown why an organization that was quite infamous and had a bizarre spirituality in the game at the time existed in this world.

However, the fanatics who treated human lives like objects wouldn’t have changed their ways in the meantime.

Dylan, who had been silent, answered.

“Do you know what the Order worships?”

“…”

“They’re lunatics who worship the monsters of the outer sea as gods, believing that they will take them to paradise.”

That was something that was unknown in WORLD 2.0. Did they, who were only known to worship an unknown god, have a specific object of worship?

“Resentment… Resentment? I don’t really know. It would be much more accurate to say it’s hatred.”

“Hatred…”

“I don’t want to get involved, and I don’t plan to get involved, but if I see them, I want to kill them all… that’s about it. I’m not the kind of person who would be obsessed with something grand like revenge…”

Dylan tried to laugh it off, but Lenox could read a different emotion behind his nonchalant reaction.

How much pain and sacrifice had he endured, living as a test subject of the Order and then as a mercenary of Vulcan?

At least, the Dylan that Lenox knew was not someone who would forget the tears and blood he had shed in the process.

“…Well, let’s stop with the useless talk. So, why did you call me after such a long time?”

Dylan’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“Did you get a huge request that requires my help? Tell me quickly where you’re planning to rob next.”

“The Order.”

Lenox replied.

Dylan blinked his eyes through his mask without a word.

“I need information about the Guido Order. I want your help.”

There were still many things to do, but at the same time, Lenox had not forgotten the conversation he had with Agneta.

The message that the leader of Pandemonium had left for Lenox.

If you are looking for the magic of time, follow the traces of the Order.

To gather information about the Order, it would be most accurate to hear about their behavior from Dylan, who was a former member.

That was what Lenox wanted.

* * *

“Assistant Professor Evan?”

Lenox, who had been lost in thought, suddenly raised his head at the voice calling him.

Lavatenon Magic University. Department of Elemental Studies, Lecture Hall 3.

In the sunlit lecture hall, Priscilla, sitting in the front row, was looking at Lenox with a puzzled expression.

“…I’m sorry. Let’s continue the lecture.”

Lenox said that and naturally turned his gaze away.

It was his first day back at work as an assistant professor.

Lenox was still giving lectures on elemental studies to the students in place of Aris, who was still absent.

Normally, someone of the rank of a chair professor shouldn’t be absent for so long, but no one complained about Lenox giving the lectures instead.

Perhaps it was because rumors were spreading within the university that Aris Richelieu had completed her ascension.

No one was unaware of what it meant for Aris, who was considered the best in talent even in the Sinclair Magic Tower, to have reached level 7.

“To explain the compatibility between attributes once again…”

‘It’s difficult.’

Even while projecting magic power onto the blackboard to draw diagrams, Lenox realized that he didn’t have a particularly outstanding talent for teaching.

It wasn’t difficult to inject theory in a way that wouldn’t bore the undergraduates by mixing in the tricks that Lenox knew.

However, it was impossible to cultivate the students’ aptitude as mages in the same way that Aris did.

To be precise, it was difficult to gauge how much the students would understand the theory and apply it in practice with just this one lecture.

In the past, Lenox could apply and adapt the theory to combat as soon as he saw it, but wouldn’t it be a daunting task for other undergraduates?

In the end, it meant that they had to increase their understanding by repeating it several times and diversifying their perspectives, and to some extent, they had to memorize it… Frankly speaking, it was a task that required more patience than interest and enjoyment.

The reason why Aris was able to provide such high-quality lectures to other undergraduates was because she was that interested in education and sincerely cared for the students.

“…”

After the not-so-short lecture ended, Lenox, who was left alone in the empty lecture hall, organized the lecture materials and stood up.

There were many things to do since he had visited the university after a long time.

He had to organize the research materials and papers that Aris had left behind, and he had to give assignments to the undergraduates according to the curriculum she had created.

It was ironic.

Even though Lenox himself had more than one or two things to deal with, he was taking the time to act as an assistant professor.

Even now that the identity of the respectable person that Aris had created for him had lost its significance, why was he still clinging to this identity?

Perhaps it was because Lenox also didn’t want to let go of this accidental connection.

As much as the favor that Aris had shown to Lenox, Lenox also cherished her as a person.

That was why he was trying to stay at the university even by investing time and effort.

“I need to get a lot of incentives…”

He didn’t think she wouldn’t come back.

She valued herself as an educator and researcher more than as a mage of the Magic Tower.

If she had the qualifications to enforce her will, she would eventually try to return to this position someday.

Lenox’s job was just to fill the void while waiting for that time.

“Hmm, hmm…”

At that moment, someone started clearing their throat behind Lenox’s back.

A young man with neatly combed hair was standing at the lecture hall door, looking embarrassed.

“…Archwood?”