Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 438

The Tears of the Archangel (1)

A field where acrid dust blew.

A battered jeep rattled through the desolate wasteland, where one could barely see an inch ahead.

Thud, thud!

With a grating sound like spitting, thick oil dripped from the back of the car.

Lenok, wrapped in a thick robe, looked down at it, lost in thought.

‘The Tears of the Archangel, huh…’

Having realized that Pandemonium’s work of collecting relics from the old world was done in a cell-like structure, she had no intention of being led around by Hairea’s words.

However, regardless of that, it was also true that Lenok could not ignore the efficacy of the Tears of the Archangel.

Was it really a coincidence that the theme of the operation arranged by Hairea was a spatial-temporal elixir that Lenok had been searching for as a freelancer?

Perhaps this entire operation was created under Myung’s design-

“I’m turning back here, so get out now.”

While Lenok was unable to shake off her complicated thoughts, the man sitting in the driver’s seat reached out his hand without looking back.

“1.6 million cells.”

“…….”

When Lenok didn’t answer, the man spoke again.

“1.8 million cells.”

“Why is the price going up by 200,000 cells each time?”

Lenok, dumbfounded, asked, and the man behind the wheel replied nonchalantly.

“Well, if I’m not here, you won’t be able to find your way and you’ll die.”

“…….”

“If I’ve brought a fool who doesn’t even know where Kaius is, I should naturally receive an extra fee, shouldn’t I?”

The friendly attitude he had when calling out the destination and finding the way was nowhere to be seen, and his shameless attitude of picking his teeth and spitting was rather astonishing.

Therefore, Lenok was able to pull out a solid iron bar from her coat without any particular guilt.

“If you talk back one more time, it’ll be 2 million cells…”

Clunk!

He stopped speaking the moment a cold gun barrel touched his temple.

Lenok looked down at the man and said.

“1.5 million cells for dropping me off here right now.”

“W-wait a minute… that’s…”

“1 million cells.”

“A-alright!! I get it! Damn it…!!”

The driver, his face pale, hurriedly unloaded Lenok’s luggage and drove off in a hurry.

Thinking he had put enough distance between them and feeling relieved, he yelled at Lenok.

“You, you bastard, if I see you at the Eastern Terminal later…!!”

Bang!

The jeep’s rear tire exploded, and the car swerved and flipped over.

Lenok watched the man crawl out from under the overturned car and run away in a panic before turning her head.

Davy, who had been purring in her coat, lightly puffed out air from his nose.

[We should have given that grumpy organism a good spanking.]

“Killing him here would only result in unnecessarily disposing of a corpse. This is enough.”

[Even if you don’t, I’m working hard to make a switch to replace Master. Please look forward to it.]

“…Wait a minute, what does that mean?”

The moment Lenok was about to reach into her coat to question Davy’s ominous remark, the raging wind suddenly subsided, and she began to sense someone’s presence.

A raspy voice came from behind the hesitant mage.

“I was waiting for reinforcements, but a much more unpleasant guy than I expected came.”

Gray hair that looked like it had been scattered by the wind. His face was as dirty as if it had been covered in soot.

A gaunt figure, and a reinforced suit that covered his entire body.

The young man, who was staring this way with his arms crossed, slightly tilted his chin.

“The two-faced guy who’s holed up in the cathedral. Name.”

“…Are you talking about Hairea?”

“Confirmation complete. Let’s go.”

The young man, who turned his body around, sneered.

“Everyone’s a little pissed off because the execution time is late.”

“…….”

[The organisms of the Western Continent are all ill-tempered.]

Davy’s muttering from inside the coat only echoed Lenok’s feelings.

* * *

“Rick is back. Now that all the members are here, let’s introduce ourselves briefly and go.”

Gathered in the field with rocks scattered around were about seven people.

All of them were skilled individuals at the military rank or higher, and there were even two strong individuals who had reached the Saint rank.

Lenok, who hadn’t expected this scale even though it was called a team, was also slightly surprised as she stood next to the man who called her.

A sturdy-looking man with an impressive scar covering one eye patted Lenok’s shoulder.

“I’m Victor, who joined this operation on Hairea’s recommendation. Let’s give him a warm round of applause.”

“…….”

As expected, no one applauded for Lenok.

They only stared at Lenok’s masked figure with cold eyes, as if looking at a rolling stone.

This man, who seemed to be the leader of the team, must have said this not for Lenok, but to test their reaction.

Knowing this, Lenok did not respond to his words.

She simply raised her finger towards the man who was patting her shoulder.

Swish!

At that moment, the man’s arm suddenly flipped upwards and bent behind his back.

A bizarre sight as if manipulating a doll. The faces of the others, who realized that Lenok was manipulating a magic user, changed slightly.

“Is he a manipulator…”

“He was a special type of sorcerer.”

“Even if it’s a parachute [a newcomer], a high-performance parachute is good.”

“Good. At this level, he won’t be a hindrance.”

The man whose arm was bent after patting Lenok’s shoulder also adjusted his arm as if nothing had happened and smiled.

Crack!

“Call me Tucker, newbie. I’ll explain the operation now, so listen carefully.”

“…….”

“The goal is the vault on the top floor of the penthouse in the center of Kaius. Steal the Tears of the Archangel from there and return safely.”

Tucker continued.

“We’ll divide into two groups and share the work. One group will watch the movements of the wall [a powerful individual], who is recuperating at the villa on the outskirts, and guard the vicinity, while the other group will break in and seize the elixir.”

“What about the composition?”

A woman chewing gum on the far right asked.

“Rick, Olga, and I will infiltrate the penthouse. The newly arrived Victor and the other three will each take one of the four directions and watch the wall’s movements.”

“Switch my place with Olga.”

A sharp-looking young man sitting in the middle said.

“I’d be better than that stupid woman.”

“I thought you were a kid, so I let it slide, but it seems like you don’t know your place, Filler.”

The woman called Olga said in a cold voice.

She raised her long hair and stepped forward, emitting hot flames from her fingertips.

“Shall we see who’s crawling on the floor?”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

“Stop it!”

Tucker shouted and stopped the two who had jumped up.

“I can’t allow any more of our numbers to be reduced. We absolutely need both of your help to break through the vault’s security.”

“Who can guarantee that those two won’t secretly eat the elixir and run away?”

“Can you even say that?”

Rick said with a chuckle.

“You also want to eat the elixir that the wall has stashed in the vault, don’t you? Let’s be honest.”

“…I’m different from you beggars.”

The sharp-looking young man, Filler, sneered.

“Don’t think that just because we’re working together for a while, we’re on equal footing.”

The atmosphere around them turned cold at Filler’s firm statement.

Lenok stepped back and watched the scene, nodding her head.

‘It’s a mess.’

If you’re a superhuman who has reached level 6 or higher, it’s not unusual for your convictions to be so firm that they’ve hardened to the bone.

They have survived and reached their current positions because they have established their own style and direction and believed that it was absolutely right.

It was only natural that conflicts would arise when a group of unfamiliar superhumans who had just met were gathered together.

While Lenok was nodding her head, the two men and women sitting on the far left stared at him with a sneer.

The other two who were grouped with Lenok along with Filler. They seemed to have no particular complaints about the team composition, perhaps because they were connected to each other.

The two smiled and waved their hands as if they thought Lenok had made eye contact with them.

“Masked guy, let’s do our best. Not me, but you.”

“Parachute, if you become a hindrance, I’ll kill you.”

“…….”

Unlike their friendly gestures, the words they uttered were extremely brutal.

It was a chaotic situation where it wouldn’t be strange if things fell apart right away, let alone start working together.

However, Lenok was feeling a sense of familiarity rather than annoyance in this atmosphere.

When she started her freelance life under the name of the Raven, wasn’t this kind of bickering and conflict a daily occurrence?

Over time, the number of guys who picked fights decreased, but that was because Lenok had become uniquely strong, not because the freelancers had become docile.

It was a brutal atmosphere where it wouldn’t be strange if someone betrayed you or stabbed you in the back at any moment.

But it was precisely because of this situation that Lenok could use them as pawns and throw them away without hesitation.

The only thing she had confirmed with Hairea was that she would get her hands on the Tears of the Archangel, and she didn’t care if Pandemonium’s name was exposed or if the guys gathered here died in the process.

Rather, it would be stranger if the den of evil couldn’t even handle the aftermath of this kind of thing.

“Damn it…”

Tucker, who had cursed, sighed and waved his hand.

“Whether it’s Olga or Filler, you two come to an agreement. There are three hours left until the wall heads to the villa to meet the healer. If you can’t decide within that time, I’ll go with my own judgment, so do what you want.”

There was no answer.

Bang!

Ignoring the two who had drawn their weapons and clashed on the spot, Tucker turned his gaze towards Lenok.

“You, come talk to me for a bit.”

Tucker took Lenok behind a rock and pulled out a cigarette case.

“Do you smoke?”

“I don’t smoke that cheap stuff.”

“…Okay. It seems like you don’t want to talk much, so I’ll get straight to the point.”

With that, Tucker put a thick cigar in his mouth and lit it.

He glanced around, looking around, and then said in a low voice.

“How much do you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if you know which organization arranged this job for us.”

“…You’re asking something strange. Are you trying to test me right now?”

Lenok’s voice, distorted behind the mask, turned cold.

“If it wasn’t for Pandemonium’s work, I wouldn’t even have come looking like this.”

“Pandemonium… phew, good. That’s a relief.”

Tucker, who let out a sigh of relief, continued.

“As you know from Hairea, the guys gathered here don’t know that the main body of this job is Pandemonium.”

“…….”

“Some of them might guess. But officially, it’s a secret that Pandemonium arranged the job.”

“Why is that?”

“Because it’s cleaner that way. We’ve gone through many trials and errors, but this is the most efficient way to collect relics from the old world.”

Tucker replied, puffing out smoke.

“Pandemonium is sending a definite force to collect relics that they absolutely want to recover. Considering the forces put into this operation, the Tears of the Archangel is not a high priority.”

“…….”

“Do you know why I’m telling you this in advance?”

Tucker nodded, stepping on the cigar filter with the remaining embers.

“Let’s take it easy. We might see each other often. If we run into each other somewhere, let’s pretend we don’t know each other… Got it?”

“You’re better at playing it safe than I thought.”

He had the face of a strict soldier, but his words were closer to those of a veteran soldier.

At Lenok’s indifferent reply, Tucker smiled.

“The ones who survive long in this world are the ones who are quick-witted. If you want to become a proper member of Pandemonium beyond that woman who’s holed up in the cathedral, you have to show your face to the higher-ups for a long time, right?”

After saying that, Tucker handed the remaining cigar to Lenok and left.

An act that blatantly showed his favor. Lenok, who had noticed his intentions, chuckled.

She didn’t know that Tucker was aiming for Hairea’s position, but the fact that he was being friendly like this wasn’t a bad situation.

It seemed like he was trying to get acquainted with those who were aware of Pandemonium’s existence in advance, and as long as he maintained that stance, he wouldn’t try to betray her openly.

‘The problem is that the powerful force that Pandemonium deliberately sent could be on this side…’

When she heard about the Tears of the Archangel from Hairea, its importance didn’t seem low at all.

If she had heard the story from Myung, Hairea might have chosen Lenok as a definite ‘means’ to recover the Tears of the Archangel.

Lenok thought that far and then laughed.

What did it matter what Hairea thought?

As long as Lenok was involved in this, there was no chance that the Tears of the Archangel would be safely recovered by Pandemonium, whether the operation succeeded or failed.

She had to pay attention to Pandemonium’s work, but Lenok had not participated in this operation to look good in Hairea’s eyes.

After snapping her fingers to light it, she only smelled the smoke for a moment through the gap in her mask.

“…It’s still tasteless.”

When she returned to the field, the commotion seemed to have settled down, and the surroundings had become quiet with a small crater.

“Damn it, you’re being annoying.”

“…….”

The woman chewing gum, Olga, who was shaking her hands with an annoyed look, and Filler, who was sitting down and suppressing his anger.

It was clear which side had won.

Tucker, who wasn’t surprised either, declared the team composition again with a calm expression.

Perhaps he already knew that Olga’s skills were superior to Filler’s.

“Then, as I said before, the infiltration team will be me, Rick, and Olga, and the other four will each take one direction and watch. If there are no objections, let’s start right away.”

“Wait a minute. There’s one thing I’m curious about.”

The last question was surprisingly not from the others, but from Rick, who had never been interfered with by anyone.

He had a slightly nonchalant attitude, like when he first recognized Lenok and brought her here.

He looked at Tucker and lowered his gaze slightly as he asked.

“Tucker, do you happen to know which organization arranged this job for us?”

“…….”

The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

It wasn’t just because Rick had said something he shouldn’t have, but because everyone wanted to hear the answer to that question.

Lenok was also curious about how Tucker would react, so she watched with interest.

“…Specific inquiries about the higher-ups are prohibited.”

Tucker’s face, with his eyebrows twitching in displeasure. Was he planning to gloss over it by mentioning the rules?

But Rick didn’t back down easily either.

“Hey, Tucker. You know we didn’t gather here to eat a few free elixirs. Are you going to be so stingy when we’re about to start working?”

“…….”

Seeing Tucker’s silence, Rick added as if he had been waiting for it.

“From the idea of gathering these guys and planning an operation, to the atmosphere that doesn’t obsess over success or failure, it’s all impressive. It’s impossible unless it’s a place that’s drawing a pretty big picture.”

“So?”

“I’m curious about what that organization is thinking when they hired us, and if they’re planning to stab us in the back. And didn’t we just get a way to find out?”

Rick’s gaze naturally turned towards Lenok, and at the same time, the other five’s gazes also turned towards Lenok.

“A parachute that came down on the recommendation of the higher-ups. There’s a friend who knows what kind of place the organization is and roughly knows how this will end.”

Rick licked his dry lips and wiggled his fingers, his eyes shining openly at Lenok.

Lenok also didn’t bother to avoid his gaze.

“Let’s ask him. It’s a problem that can be solved with a good conversation.”

The other superhumans retreated as if they were bewitched by Rick’s words as he stepped forward and put his hand on his waist.

Tucker, who realized that the situation was turning serious, hardened his face.

“Put your hand down. There’s less than an hour left until the wall leaves…!”

“I see. It’s been a while since something like this happened, so I made a mistake.”

Lenok interrupted Tucker and stepped forward.

The mage’s eyes, visible inside the mask, shone coldly.

“I should have stepped on them in advance. I need to set the tone.”

“…What?”

A fresh feeling that she hadn’t experienced since she started making a name for herself in the shadows of the Balkans with the alias of Gyeonryoe.

She was hiding in Pandemonium under the name of Victor, but she had to do what she had to do.

It was time to return to her roots.