Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 28

An ordinary person would have long since lost their grip and fallen, but ironically, the fire resistance innate to a pyrokinetic was what kept him hanging on all this time. Lenok clicked his tongue briefly and slowly released his hand. It wasn’t because he felt sorry for the man, but because his grip was weakening so much that it was hard to keep him from struggling. In any case, he was truly feeble. As soon as Lenok let go, the man took off his leather jacket and began rolling around on the floor like crazy. “Put out the fire!!” “If it spreads to the warehouse, we’re done for!!” The others, startled, came to their senses and began fetching water from the faucet inside the warehouse, pouring it over him. Sizzle!! “It hurts! It hurts!!” “Get a grip, you bastard!!” While people were gathering and making a fuss, Lenok opened the driver’s side door and said to Sage. “It won’t do if you’re here. You can go now.” “Ah, okay….” Watching Sage’s car quickly disappear as if he had been waiting for those words, Lenok checked the time. 7 PM. From now, he had to hold out for a day and a half. The time he had to endure was roughly until dawn the day after tomorrow. Assuming the patent office opened at 8 AM, he had to protect the samples from the gang’s attack until at least then. Considering the vast warehouse site, it seemed like a very difficult task, but Lenok calmly organized his thoughts without being shaken. ‘All I have to do is protect the new drug samples and take them to the patent office.’ Lenok’s position was completely different from the others who were hired to guard the warehouse. The only condition the pharmaceutical company had given him was to recover and submit the samples before the patent office opened. Even though clashing with the gang in the process was now unavoidable, it was true that he was relatively free from other constraints. The warehouse where the samples were stored was none of his concern. In the worst case, he could give up the entire warehouse as long as he protected the samples. While he was at it, Lenok immediately headed inside the warehouse to check the existence of the samples. The people around him flinched and backed away as he passed, but he didn’t pay any attention. They were people who couldn’t even be a proper fighting force anyway. It was better to treat them as if they weren’t there and do what Lenok had to do. Opening the dusty door and entering the warehouse, he saw the pharmaceutical samples, packed in white boxes, piled up high. They seemed to be covered in transparent plastic so the samples weren’t damaged, but it wasn’t an environment that seemed good for storing and managing anything. Since Amnak Pharmaceutical was also under pressure from the councilman, they had no choice but to hide the samples in this poorly managed warehouse. As Sage had told him the name in advance, Lenok had no trouble finding the new drug samples they had mentioned. A blue liquid in a small test tube-like vial. Three liquid samples. It seemed they had left only the minimum reserves, considering they had to hide them in the warehouse. Lenok held them for a moment, pondered, and then put all three test tubes into his pocket. Rather than trusting the others who were still making a fuss about pouring water outside, it seemed better to just keep them himself. He could roughly guess what kind of people they were. People who didn’t want to do dangerous work for an organization, but couldn’t give up the temptation of money that circulated in this world. The pharmaceutical company seemed to have hired them to make up the numbers, squeezing out their meager funds, but they were completely wrong. Except for the pyrokinetic he had just dealt with, it was obvious that none of them would be of much help. “I’m not good at commanding people….” What kind of eloquence or leadership would Lenok, who had lived as a gamer, have? He had become much more rational and reasonable in his judgment thanks to his talent as a mage, but leading people he had never seen before and dealing with an organization was a completely different story. ‘It would be better to run away with the samples….’ If he hid like this and waited until the patent office opened, no one would be able to find Lenok, but that wasn’t the ending Amnak Pharmaceutical wanted. Besides, Lenok had agreed to tolerate the clash with the gang and had gotten more advance payment, hadn’t he? Even if the place and time weren’t fixed, he eventually needed to clash with the gang at least once and break their power. Lenok, who had been pondering while holding the new drug samples, finally made a decision. “I’ll just wipe them all out here.” In the end, the gang was likely aiming for the new drug samples, and as long as the samples were here, they would come to this warehouse instead of going the long way around. If he could handle them, it would be much easier to bring them here instead of running away. Through bounty hunting, the battle with Kraken, and the consecutive fights with the Scavenger branch manager, Lenok was able to be confident in his own combat abilities. His mobility was ridiculously lacking due to his weak stamina, but his firepower was second to none. It felt much more comfortable mentally to just wipe out the gang that came to this place and not leave any trace of pursuit, and then take the samples to the patent office. “I should move right away.” He had an idea in mind since he heard about the warehouse from Sage. If he did it well, he might see a rather interesting sight. Night Visitors The people who saw Lenok walking out with a slightly excited look suddenly hesitated but approached him. No one was ignoring Lenok anymore. They were all trying to hide the faint fear in their eyes as they forced themselves to move. “What’s going on?” “Um… what should we do?” As expected, they had no plan or solution. They were just hired by Amnak, lured by the tempting reward, and had come running with weapons to protect themselves, not knowing anything. And it was only natural that such people would cling to Lenok, who seemed the strongest here. ‘I see why Jenny said that.’ They had made him protect an important item like the new drug samples and hadn’t explained any other circumstances. Unlike the urgent internal situation, their work was sloppy. Jenny had realized this just from the stakes she had offered Lenok. Working with such a client more than once was a loss. Lenok sighed and replied. “How many people are there?” “Um, including that guy who just came to his senses, there are about fifteen.” “Block the entrance to the warehouse and patrol. It’ll take longer than you think. Divide the people into three shifts, watch the movements outside the warehouse, and let me know immediately if anything happens.” “Okay. Then what about you, mage…?” “I have something else to do.” When Lenok said that definitively, the people readily agreed and stepped back. Watching from behind, they divided themselves into groups, assigned roles to guard the entrance, patrol, and rest. They seemed to have some sense, as they were working in this field. Lenok passed them and headed to the outside of the warehouse. A desolate industrial area. A secluded site that was not easily noticeable, hidden by the traces of a dirty old construction site. The walls around the warehouse were covered with all sorts of low-grade graffiti, including spray paint, and there were occasional spots of filth. They must have hidden the samples in such a place so they wouldn’t be discovered until now. He walked around the warehouse once, checking if there was anything particularly unusual. The walls themselves were quite high, so it didn’t seem easy to jump over, but there were several places where they were cracked or had holes, as it was a facility that had been built a long time ago. Lenok sat down in front of the wall that had become vulnerable and placed his hand on the ground, drawing up his magic power. Whoosh! ‘The principle itself is the same.’ The ignition magic he used to explode the factory. He drew the know-how he had learned while reverse-engineering the magic incantation and setting up the magic circle there. [Claymore]. Like its name, it was a landmine magic that was designed to explode on the spot when certain conditions were met. It was a common trap-type magic that was generally used by hunters, and its area power was weak, but its firepower against individuals was considerable. This was the only trap-type magic that Lenok remembered, so it couldn’t be helped, but it wasn’t a very good magic in the current situation of dealing with a gang. But there was no problem. If he only knew one magic, he could just modify the whole magic. ‘I’ll change the conditions.’ Projecting his magic power onto the ground, he erased the concept of the existing [Claymore] and rewrote it. He modified it from being triggered by approach to being triggered by pressure, and instead of reducing the single firepower, he widened the range to inflict damage in as many places as possible. He put aside theory, knowledge, and experience, and proceeded with the work relying solely on intuition and talent. Lenok went around the warehouse site several times, focusing on installing and modifying claymore magic in areas that seemed relatively vulnerable. In a way, it was like ‘enchanting’ magic on places like the ground or walls. How efficient and powerful would it be if this kind of enchantment magic could be used not only on places but also on things you carry around? If he could mass-produce magical tools beyond simply enchanting magic for a short time, it wouldn’t be a dream to make a fortune in the blink of an eye. Lenok knew this fact very well, so he had been trying to enchant magic on objects while researching, but the problem was that the difficulty was transcendentally difficult. Beyond the level that the area to enchant magic changed every time, it was incredibly difficult to enchant magic even for a short time on an object whose location information changed every time it moved. To solve this, it seemed that there was no answer so far other than having a powerful concept close to madness and a precise design ability at the particle level, or calculating the location information that changed in real time and enchanting magic anew every moment. “M-Mage….” “…..What is it?” By the time the work was coming to an end, the sun had already set. As he straightened his back, put another cigarette in his mouth, and turned around, a person was waiting for him, trembling. It was the pyrokinetic who had picked a fight with Lenok earlier, only to have the flames turned back on him and rolled on the floor. His clothes were almost gone and covered in ashes and dust because he had been engulfed in flames and rolled on the floor, but surprisingly, his body was fine. The fire resistance he was born with didn’t completely block the pain, but it seemed to be highly resistant to its harm. Just looking at Lenok seemed to bring back the memories of earlier, and he slowly bowed his head while sweating profusely. “I’m really sorry about earlier. I was out of my mind for a moment….” “You don’t need to apologize.” “T-Then, what do I have to do for you to forgive me?” “Forgive?” Why would Lenok need to forgive him? It was annoying that he didn’t understand and made the first move, but Lenok knew very well that he wouldn’t do that again after getting a taste of the bitter end. He didn’t have high expectations, he just wanted him to stall for time against the gang. But he completely misunderstood Lenok’s words and knelt down and began to beg. “I’m sorry. I’ll never speak carelessly to mages again. Please, if you spare me….” “…….” Only then did Lenok realize what the man was worried about and why he had come to him. He was afraid that Lenok would kill him after this was over. In fact, it wasn’t a wrong conclusion considering the nature of this world. A society that operates on a very strict logic of power. In this place where misjudging the other person’s capabilities directly leads to a life-threatening situation, being looked down upon is fatal. The man had openly insulted several mages, including Lenok, in front of people, so he must have thought it was natural to pay the price. But Lenok wasn’t interested in such things. There was nothing to gain from stomping on the man’s head here and beating him until he died. The only thing he could do for Lenok was to burn his flames against the gang that would come in the future. But there was no need to tell the man that fact as it was. And there was no reason to say it nicely. Lenok approached the man who was kneeling and bowing his head and said. “You came quickly. Didn’t you?” “…….” “But it seems you still had some pride left. You didn’t want to show this side of yourself in front of people? It’s pathetic.” “I’m sorry…!! I’m sorry!!” When he pressed down on the man’s shoulder, he could clearly feel him trembling. He must be remembering the same memories as before. He leaned down and whispered in his ear. “I’ll give you a chance.” “A, a chance….” “Maybe tonight. Guests will come to this place.” If Lenok’s guess was correct, the gang would definitely make a move, maybe as early as today, or by tomorrow morning at the latest. Considering the pharmaceutical company’s explanation that information was leaking out, the information that they had applied for a patent would have gone straight to the councilman’s ears. They wouldn’t want the patent, which could be a huge amount of money, to go to the pharmaceutical company. “Your job is simple. Just set those guests’ shoulders on fire.” Lenok grinned with a cigarette in his mouth.