Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 42

“Shit, I’m late!!” Only after Maoren had run far away did the mercenaries, who had resisted the mana interference and climbed out of the pit, gasp for breath. They were so used to physical enhancement through mana that they couldn’t easily adapt to the sudden loss. If he could exploit this point well, he could use it effectively in battle. As Lenok was devising various tactics with a satisfied smile, a rough shout reached his ears. “Hey, Ban!” Eriksen, his face flushed red, strode towards Lenok. With a distorted face, he glared at Lenok and began to huff. “Why were you just watching? You could have helped!” “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lenok retorted nonchalantly. “The only person I need to help is that woman over there with the shotgun.” “What, you little shit?” “We’re not that close, are we? It’s a bit awkward for me if you suddenly act like we’re comrades.” Just three words. It was enough to peel off the mask of Eriksen, who had been pretending to be polite. It was only natural. Eriksen wasn’t trying to demand legitimate help from Lenok or protest about it. He just wanted to vent his anger on someone who seemed easy to pick on. The other mercenaries’ gazes weren’t much different. Eriksen, emboldened by the surrounding atmosphere, acted without hesitation. A fist full of mana flew straight for Lenok’s jaw. Lenok didn’t hold back at that simple, ignorant, and absurd preemptive attack. Of course, he knew that even if he stood still, the shield would block it and wouldn’t even touch a hair on Lenok’s head, but there was no reason to wait until then. He shot a light impact magic at Eriksen’s abdomen. It was a degraded magic that he had studied and put into practical use after seeing Grime’s impact magic, but it was powerful enough to take down a person. Thud! His stomach, which hadn’t even reacted, was strangely crushed, and his back bent forward. Sticky saliva dripped from his gaping mouth. “Shit…! What the… Ugh, ugh, ugh…!!” Eriksen, unable to cope with the single counterattack, was retching like crazy. Lenok slowly approached him and placed his hand on the back of Eriksen’s head, who was bent over. Eriksen, in pain from having his organs directly pummeled, didn’t even notice what Lenok was doing. Blue currents of electricity sparked between Lenok’s five fingers. [Bolt] Zzzzzap!! Eriksen, who had received an electric massage on the back of his head, foamed at the mouth and collapsed on the spot. He had adjusted the power appropriately, so he wouldn’t die. The other mercenaries, who had witnessed the scene firsthand, stopped in their tracks. They didn’t know exactly what method Lenok had used, but they recognized that his skill was very proficient. ‘They’re mercenaries, so they’re much quicker to catch on than that mage.’ Lenok, recalling a certain mage who had mistaken his chain lightning for the power of an artifact, slowly walked towards them. Thud, thud. “………” With each step Lenok took, the mercenaries backed away little by little, and the formation split like the Red Sea. No one was looking at Mila, who was still playing with the Infected. Claria, with a meaningful gaze, and Miguel, biting his lip, were looking at him. Complex gazes were exchanged, and just before Lenok passed him, he opened his mouth with difficulty. “…If you had such skills, you should have told us in advance.” “………” “If you had, we wouldn’t have treated you like this.” “Treated?” Lenok chuckled at the words that even contained a hint of resentment. “I didn’t come all the way to the undeveloped district to catch Infected just to receive that kind of treatment.” There was no point in receiving better treatment from mercenaries like Miguel. Both Lenok and they were living lives worse than mayflies, living day by day. If you were to compare them simply by their circumstances, they might even be better off than Lenok. Lenok, his face hardening as he thought about the 120 million cell fortune that would be withdrawn from his account, turned his back resolutely. “It looks like that side is finishing up too.” “………” Mila, who had already almost crushed more than ten Infected, and Maoren, who was trying to somehow get involved by blocking her and pulling up his mana. Miguel had no stake in the matter between the two of them. As he watched him lower his head powerlessly, Lenok finished his words quietly. “As I said before, it’s okay if we settle the accounts separately, right?” “W-wait a minute…!!” It was Claria who interjected with an urgent voice, looking at the two with a nervous expression, biting her lip. She looked at Miguel with wavering eyes, then quickly changed her expression and smiled at Lenok. “I never agreed to that, even if Miguel did.” “………” “Eriksen and Miguel forced their opinions on me, so I had no choice. If you give me a chance now…!!” “Who is this woman?” It was Mila who cut off Claria’s words, suddenly appearing from behind Lenok. She was covered in sand and unknown bodily fluids, as if she had been rampaging quite a bit against the Infected. Lenok frowned and distanced himself from her. How could she just smear that stuff on her skin without knowing what the Infected were made of? She was definitely a very careless person. Mila looked at Claria, who had her mouth shut, and gave a strange smile. “Hey, keep talking.” “……” Lenok understood Claria’s silence. Not many people would be able to say what they wanted to say after seeing someone with Infected fluids smeared all over them, their eyes gleaming. “I understand what’s going on, but is it okay to abandon your comrades now to try and get in on the action?” “I, I’m not like that…” “I know, I know. It’s a good deal if you can become friends with our mage even if you abandon those friends.” Claria hadn’t abandoned her comrades just to claim ownership of a few Infected that Mila had defeated. She knew very well how valuable it was to befriend a proper mage in this business. A mage who could fully complete their own magic and put it into practical use was a rare and precious talent. Unlike Maoren, she seemed to have realized that Lenok was the one who had started this whole thing just by using her intuition… Apart from her personal abilities, her insight was quite good. Mila brought her face close enough to Claria that she could feel her breath. Lenok didn’t know what Claria saw in her eyes. “You know what I want to say, right?” “……..Yes.” “Good, that’s a good girl.” She then smiled contentedly and patted Claria on the shoulder. Lenok could easily guess why she was showing such a murderous look to someone she had never met before. She was trying to gain his favor by openly cutting off the flies that were trying to stick to Lenok. Just from the two spells he had used to bind the mercenaries and stiffen the Infected, she must have already sensed what kind of skills he possessed. Whether it was a calculated action or an instinctual response, it was clear that her actions to cut off Claria were not for her own sake. Thud. Lenok stared blankly at Mila as she approached, then turned his head at the presence he felt from behind. Maoren, also covered in Infected fluids like Mila, was walking over powerlessly. While it was understandable for Mila, who seemed to have no thoughts, to be covered in fluids, seeing even Maoren walking around with fluids on him made it seem like the Infected’s fluids themselves didn’t have a significant negative impact on humans. He looked up at Lenok for a moment, then gave a faint smile. “I’ve lost.” “………” “When you’re defeated so completely, you don’t even get that angry. Today’s events were very impressive.” Maoren was saying that with a nonchalant smile, but Lenok remembered the strong gaze of anger he had sent him right after he had climbed out of the pit. The annoyance he had felt at that moment must have been enormous, but seeing him completely calm down and smile meant that Maoren had also finished his cost-benefit analysis. As expected, he shook the fluid-soaked hand a few times and took out a business card from his pocket. “Here, this is all I can give you, but would you accept it?” A business card from the Platon Mercenary Office. Lenok, who had received the business card with the office phone number and Maoren’s personal contact information, put it in his pocket without saying anything. Maoren nodded at that. “Thank you. Then…” From the moment he was convinced of Lenok’s abilities, Maoren no longer lingered or acted dirty. He handed over the business card cleanly and stepped back, as if he should have been like this from the beginning, which felt completely different from the person who had forcefully claimed ownership by using numbers earlier. A world where the weak are treated poorly and the strong are treated well. Maoren didn’t even care about revealing those two faces so blatantly. And he seemed to know that Lenok would be the same. Considering that fact, he was not an ordinary mercenary either. Mila, who had been staring blankly at the moment from the side, suddenly spoke. “I have a business card too, should I give it to you?” “…I don’t need it.” He had already received a business card from Dylan’s office, so there was no need to take her business card as well. However, she didn’t want to feel like she was losing to Maoren for no reason, so she took out a business card soaked in fluids from her pocket and shoved it into Lenok’s sleeve. “………” Lenok sighed, suppressing his annoyance. “Let’s get out of here first.” “Okay. I need to wash up too.” As he followed Mila towards the forklift parked inside the ruins, Lenok glanced back. Maoren was gathering Miguel and the other mercenaries and talking to them. “………” Forgotten in the series of disturbances, Lenok had not forgotten the suspicious expression Maoren had shown when multiple Infected had appeared at once. If the smile he had shown at that time and Maoren’s unusually compliant attitude were related, would that be too much of a guess? If there was a way to artificially control the Infected. If the population of the vagrants living in the undeveloped district was being controlled in a very secretive and dangerous way— Lenok thought that far and chuckled. To be honest, it wasn’t an impossible story, but it wasn’t a problem that Lenok could do anything about right now. Of course, it would be a lie to say that he had no interest in the safety of this city… but to be honest, wasn’t Lenok in a situation where his own nose was running? The only thing occupying his mind right now was the Stemmonia that was still up for auction. He started the forklift and followed Mila, who was gesturing, and moved his steps. A brief encounter. A moment of intersection. But it wasn’t a meaningless moment. It was enough to remind him that the mercenaries weren’t always clean in their work either. He got on the forklift, passed by the mercenaries, and returned to the Vulcan. It was time to settle the payment for the subjugation. Stemmonia “…Is this the right number?” “It’s correct if you calculate the one you blew away. Don’t argue.”