Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 292

The Meaning of the Message (3)

“So, you turned the entire Eight Directions Fortress upside down during your vacation?” Jenny asked, resting her chin on her hand at the bar, a dumbfounded expression on her face.

“And the result is those two?”

“You could say that,” Renok replied, subtly shifting his gaze.

A female lancer with navy blue hair and a timid-looking young man stood nearby. Oren, who had opened the previously closed-off channels of the Eight Directions Fortress and declared communication with the outside world, had sent these two as the fortress’s first messengers.

It was obvious where these two, who had no connection to the dark side of Vulcan, would find a place to rely on.

“They’re here for training. Please take care of them.”

“Ah, I’m Asui.”

“……”

“Both of them are experts in their respective fields. They’ll be helpful in some way.” Suryeon’s skills would directly contribute to the company’s strength, and Asui’s shadow techniques were also quite useful. In particular, his area-type ability, the Shadow Veil, which manifested from his reluctance to fight, was as efficient as Renok’s in blocking or concealing vision.

The two, who now held a significant amount of power within the fortress, which had changed its name to the Six Directions Fortress, had come out for a simple reason. Rather than being cooped up inside the fortress and focusing on increasing their strength, they had decided to actively communicate with the outside world and seek other negotiation options.

It was clear that the Six Directions Fortress was no match for the other three leaders in terms of military power after the sudden death of the previous fortress lord, who was close to level 8, and the self-destruction of Ilwon and Ibon. It was Oren’s decision to quickly accept reality and change, rather than trying to maintain their size by force. Despite his somewhat prickly demeanor and stern nature, he possessed the qualities of a good leader.

As Renok briefly explained the two’s backgrounds and abilities, Jenny finally smiled brightly. “If they’re from a high-ranking clan of the fortress, then they’re more than welcome. I was giving up on opening a distribution channel to the Eight Directions Fortress, but if we have these two, it’ll be a great help.”

“……Is that so?” Jenny nodded quickly at Renok’s lukewarm response.

“Of course. The population density of the fortress is very high compared to its area. They’re all potential customers.”

“……”

“I was thinking that our distribution network’s growth had recently reached a plateau, but where did you find such wonderful connections… Hehehe.” She let out a sinister laugh and rose from her seat like a ghost, extending her hand to the two first. “Both of you are welcome to join the company. Let’s work together until our bones rot.”

“Well, I didn’t expect to work in this gloomy basement, but it’s not bad. Please take care of me,” Suryeon said, his face filled with excitement, perhaps because he had always longed for life outside.

“……” Jenny stared at Suryeon’s face with a crooked look, then gripped his hand tightly. Suryeon looked at Jenny with a puzzled expression and nodded. “Why is that? Ah, is this the way you shake hands outside?”

Squeeze!

“Kyaaak!! No, no!! I made a mistake, just a moment!!” Jenny’s sharp scream erupted, and at the same time, the bar quickly became noisy.

“Jenny, what are you doing!”

“A broker shouldn’t fail to take the lead with a client!”

“Quit your business and go work out!” From behind the bar of the laughing pub, Jenny rubbed her hand with a tearful face. Renok, who poured a potion on Jenny’s swollen hand, sighed. He never thought she would try to test her grip strength against a level 6 military ability user.

“Both of them have only lived inside the fortress, so there’s a lot they don’t know. It would be better to assign someone to them.”

“Y-yes, I guess so. I thought she was suddenly picking a fight…”

“……” Could it be that she snapped because she heard her carefully maintained bar was gloomy? Jenny had been a broker in this field for years, but unlike her thorough work processing skills, she had a quick temper.

Jenny, who nodded with a sullen expression, rubbed her hand and tapped on her laptop. “If the fortress is opening up, we need to drastically increase the cycle and scope of updating their information. Until now, we’ve only collected rough information about the fortress lord and his three close families, but we need to completely revise our scope.”

She said that and turned her gaze to Suryeon and Asui. “Suryeon, I’ll ask you to take charge of the training of the employees for now. We’re forming a special materials transport unit that will operate under Drey’s command, and Manson is helping with the combat training of those members. You can join them there.”

“I’m confident in handling a spear. I don’t know what I can do with that psycho… but I hope I can be of help.”

“Asui, wait for now. I don’t have a good grasp of your shadow techniques yet. I think I need to compare the efficiency by gradually deploying you in low-risk tasks. You seem to be about the same age as Wei An, so it would be good to group the two of you together.”

“M-me with that guy?” Wei An, who had just finished training and was wiping away the sweat with a towel, asked with a sullen expression.

“It’s a perfect balance with a front and rear guard, and if we have you skilled people working in teams, the company can do more.”

“Y-yes, but… hmm… he’s a guy Ban brought, a sorcerer and a genius… he’s completely the opposite of me…” Could it be that he felt a sense of competition because he was the same age as Renok? Wei An tried to resist a little, but he had no choice but to agree with Jenny, who was pushing him with the pretext of work instructions.

Renok chuckled as he watched Wei An, who had a bitter expression, lead Asui away, and Suryeon, who had started a spear demonstration at the training ground in the company’s basement, introduced by Drey. “You’re processing things too quickly. Did you finish all the work while I was gone?” The instructions Jenny had just given and the actions of the employees that followed were impossible unless the company had clearly defined each person’s area of expertise and work.

It felt like just yesterday that he had said he would start a material distribution business under the names of the two, but while Renok was out handling various matters, the company was steadily growing in size. Jenny answered while casually tapping on her laptop. “It’s thanks to the former special forces members who joined with Drey that things have fallen into place. Once there’s a group that serves as a standard within the company, I can get a sense of how much we can expand and maintain the scale of the business.”

“I see…”

“And since I’m still working as a broker, it’s very efficient to designate high-risk tasks as requests and pass them on to freelancers…” She said that and turned her head towards Renok. “Decisively, our boss keeps making a name for himself and building connections outside.”

“……”

“The decline in the fortress’s status is a big problem for the entire megacity, but the fact that you, Ban, directly traded with the fortress lord is a huge gain for us. Before the Six Directions Fortress falls from the position of the three leaders, we’re going to suck up as much of its prestige as possible. Hehehe…” Renok silently turned his gaze away at Jenny’s sinister laughter as she furiously tapped on her laptop.

Jorden, who was silently wiping glasses in the corner of the bar, gave Renok a faint smile. It felt like many of the major obstacles in company management had disappeared after dealing with the cartel and the Eight Directions Fortress in succession. At this rate, the possibility of Jenny’s underground material distribution business, which she directly manages, self-destructing was low.

“The bidding for the ownership of the commercial district in this area is already over. It won’t be long before we get permission to expand our business and rebuild the company building. Considering that the commercial zoning of District 49 is ambiguous, we might be able to bribe someone and increase the floor area ratio…” Renok listened to Jenny’s stories about the company’s internal administration for a while, then left his seat. He knew that there was no reason to interfere since the company’s prospects were bright and its management was in good condition.

Rather, Renok was so busy focusing on organizing the knowledge and gains he had obtained from the fortress that he didn’t have time for anything else. Even though he was aware of that, the reason he took the time to find Jenny was because he knew that securing the future was as important as his own growth. It wouldn’t be strange if problems or trials that he couldn’t solve alone arose someday. And no one knew how the arrangements that Renok had sown in the shadows of this megacity with Jenny would grow and help him.

Like Oliviera and Antares, who were already beyond the limits of the human race even on their own, Renok also understood why they formed groups and gathered talent. [Are you not going straight home?] Davie asked, noticing that Renok’s steps were heading outside the district rather than inside District 49.

“The experiment I’m going to try now is too dangerous to do in the lab I made at home.”

[Toad house… I miss home…] “That’s not your home.” Renok stroked Davie’s tail as she muttered in a sulky voice, and immediately moved on.

* * *

The place he arrived at was an abandoned building on a quiet street. In the middle of a cold street where no one even came close. The sight of concrete debris and steel bars scattered here and there clearly revealed the unfinished state of this construction. It was a remote place where it wouldn’t be strange if all sorts of thugs and gangsters used it as a hideout, but surprisingly, it was kept clean and dust-free.

An abandoned street in the 50s district that had been continuously managed under the permission of the cartel. The high-rise building where he had fought the battle with the renegade monk Parden McQueen using the self-magnetic field was not far from here. After obtaining a position as an outside director, he had become relatively free to use the cartel’s commercial districts and territories. Renok had no intention of letting the director’s authority he had obtained rot.

“I’ve already given the cartel headquarters a heads-up, so it’s unlikely that many people will enter this street.” With that, and by using Nix’s emblem and shadow techniques to block the surrounding gazes and senses, a temporary training ground for Renok was completed. After setting up a simple barrier and security magic to further enhance the defense, and neutralizing the surrounding radio waves through Davie, Renok once again raised his magic power. Davie, who had slipped out of Renok’s arms, sat on top of a container and looked down at him.

Renok, who had instantly focused his mind, began to rapidly change the magic power array within his body. Charrarararak!! Renok’s eyes, watching the flow of magic power rapidly assembling on his palm, turned cold. ‘The first attempt since leaving the fortress.’ The distorted space, the Bicheo. In the ruins of the old world, Renok had succeeded in fully observing the cross-section of this world. That meant that he had explicitly understood the two pillars that supported the world, the concepts of time and space, and had visually determined their operating principles.

It was no different from recognizing a concrete approach to the two concepts that he had only vaguely felt. ‘It was impossible to touch time right now, but the understanding of space is different.’ He had searched for the magic of time, followed the traces of the cult, and chased after the ruins, but there was no progress beyond obtaining concrete data. It was absurd for Renok, who couldn’t even manipulate his own time, to be able to touch the time of the world. But the story was different when it came to the spatial system.

Unlike now, when he had not grasped both the two concepts of time, personal time and the time of the world, he was different when it came to space. Personal coordinates centered on Renok himself. Central coordinates centered on the world. The various spatial artifacts he had obtained had thoroughly embodied these two spatial concepts in Renok. The artifact that enabled spatial movement as a consumable concept, Enakphil’s five fingers. The relic that activated spatial transfer limited to matter, the Compassion of the Archangel. And the existence of the Dharma tool [a Buddhist ritual implement], the Pure Land Mantra, which designated a target and bound it in space, with the condition of constant warm-up and magic power consumption.

The variations and applications of space that he had seen and felt with his eyes while using items, but had not been able to touch directly. The experience and sense of handling it, which he had steadily remembered and recognized, and the sense of space that he had vaguely felt, had finally crossed the standard through his experience in the fortress. “Hoo…!!” Weeeeeeeng!!! A fierce noise like an engine echoed from within Renok’s body as he bit his lip while sweating. The consumption of magic power increased like crazy as much as the range of space he was manipulating, but Renok didn’t care.

The important thing was to recognize the concept of space beyond the five senses through intuition by burning magic power. A vague recognition and prediction that could not be explained simply by the word sense, and a concrete concept established beyond the unconscious, moved little by little in his head. He manipulated the clear concept engraved in the sorcerer’s mind and projected it with magic power. The most basic manipulation method for handling the miracle of magic. But what he was handling through that manipulation was an area that no other magician dared to approach. Reality moved according to the will projected into the space in front of him.

Kkiiiiiik…!! A bizarre noise like a thick lump of iron twisting. At the same time, the scenery reflected beyond Renok’s hand began to twist little by little, and began to crumple as if it were paper. Davie, who was looking down at the scene, also jumped up from her seat. [Beyond recognition, even interference…] She, who freely accessed the megacity’s database, also clearly understood what it meant for a mere human to touch space.

Renok was now, without anyone’s help or guidance. Only by using his own talent and enlightenment as a stepping stone. He was creating the order of handling space. It was as distant and difficult as walking in the dark, following only a faint light, and drawing the constellations in the night sky. In a situation where he couldn’t even clearly face the concept in front of him, he was estimating the principles of the world through intuition and touching its principles. “Hoo…!!” Renok’s whole body was soaked in sweat as he burned his magic power with all his might.

The aftereffects of the high that he had raised by concentrating all his mind without taking any medicine covered his body. But Renok’s face was filled with a strong sense of accomplishment, so much so that his pale complexion was not noticeable. “Like this…!!” The shimmering of the twisted space in his hand was riding on his palm like a living creature, shaking faintly. Time and space. He had begun to touch one of the two concepts that supported the world’s spacetime. Proof that Renok’s efforts and struggles had not been in vain.

The answer that the time he had spent enduring such difficult trials and hardships and moving forward was not meaningless was in his hand. Renok, who raised his trembling hand, said to Davie. “It’s still… impossible to manipulate properly, but I succeeded.”

[Yes. It certainly looks like it.]

“Even if teleportation and freezing are difficult, it might be possible to push space away briefly. That’s…” A step that gave hope for new mobility to Renok, who could not use any movement magic. It meant that he might be able to obtain a true spatial movement technique.