Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 473

The Observer of the World (1)

Does the fact that the examination record left in Ars Nova already exist in the central city’s examination records mean…?

Of course, Lenok couldn’t readily answer that question.

The possibilities and secrets that came to mind were endless, yet he couldn’t easily be certain of any of them.

Murphy stared at Lenok for a moment, then turned his head sharply.

“Once the data transmission is complete, there will be additional examinations. I’ll make you a life support device that’s much better than what you’re using now.”

“……”

“Considering the examination results, you won’t be able to live a normal life even with that kind of device. You’d better listen to me.”

He wasn’t wrong.

After all, the staff Lenok was holding was a device made from the Penteract gifted by Myung.

Since it was unknown how long the Penteract’s power would last, a new life support device would be necessary to maintain the current rumors.

Lenok also sensed that his meeting with Murphy wouldn’t end with just one encounter, so he nodded appropriately.

After that, Lenok received all the examination data through Davi, completed the additional examinations, paid the necessary costs for the custom order, and went out into the street.

“Ars Nova, huh…”

Murphy didn’t ask any further after seeing Lenok’s reaction, but he wouldn’t have known how complicated Lenok’s thoughts had become the moment he heard those words.

His friendly attitude, as if he thought they were from the same hometown, was pleasing, but the words he had just heard were so shocking that it was difficult to take it lightly.

A being with the same spiritual power and existence projection rate as Lenok, who had been examined in the central city.

Was that Lenok himself before he opened his eyes in this world, or someone else entirely?

Where exactly was this body, which had worked in a factory under the name of Lenok, before that?

Where was Lenok himself, who didn’t exist beyond the kaleidoscope of the branching point that contained the possibility of the outer sea [a metaphor for the infinite possibilities of alternate realities]?

There were so many possibilities, worst-case scenarios, and uncertain futures that it was difficult to make any easy conclusions.

The meaning of the message he had encountered just before he opened his eyes in this world for the first time.

Coincidence and necessity, and fate.

Where was Lenok standing now, and where were the other two left?

Perhaps, among the countless people and monsters he had encountered already-

“Damn it…”

Sighing, Lenok naturally took out a cigarette from his pocket.

He snapped his fingers to light it, then slowly inhaled and exhaled the smoke.

The complex emotions curled up with the cigarette smoke, rising above his head before disappearing into the cold air.

Lenok, who had come out of Murphy’s hideout, stood there for a long time, then shook his head and started walking.

He had received the examination data through Davi, and there were many things he needed to do since he had returned to the city after a long time.

He could think while moving.

* * *

The fourth move.

From a cramped and old hotel room to a shabby dormitory, from an apartment in the 30s district to a spacious mansion.

Lenok had even purchased a two-story private mansion in the 20s district under the name of Evan Bailen.

As the royalties from the papers he had written at Lavatenon University began to be deposited, the amount of money he could legally use had increased significantly.

Most of the expenses coming in under Ban’s name were being spent on purchasing elixirs, artifacts, or research books and materials, so it wasn’t a difficult task.

He pasted magic insulation materials, skillfully drew security magic and barrier arrays all over the mansion, and fixed them using top-grade catalysts.

As the funds available had increased, the strength and durability of the barrier arrays and the quality of the catalysts had also increased dramatically.

By utilizing the barrier magic of Jintun to the extreme and surrounding the entire mansion as if building a fortress, a barrier that even Lenok would have difficulty breaking without a password was completed.

Now, there was no need to take a room and remodel it into a laboratory.

He brought all sorts of materials into the huge basement located under the mansion and, with Davi’s help, built it into a laboratory.

Barrier magic practice materials, research books, papers, and artifacts that had been piled up haphazardly due to lack of space.

Catalysts and alchemical materials used to research and apply magic circles and spell formations.

Potions, extracts, and medicinal herbs needed to make elixirs and cigarettes through alchemy.

“Hmm…”

Lenok, who had been looking at the thousands of items that filled the walls of the huge basement, nodded in satisfaction.

“Now it feels more like a mage’s laboratory.”

After visiting Oliviera’s magnificent laboratory several times, he had many thoughts.

Even with the obvious fact that he should not spare investment in his own achievements and magical research, he had been putting off the expansion of his laboratory due to a lack of time and circumstances.

It might be difficult to fold and unfold space like she did right now, but at least he should avoid being troubled by a lack of space any longer.

Next to Lenok, who was making a proud expression, the dusty electronic spirit grumbled.

[To my eyes, it just looks like a messy material warehouse.]

“Are you going to keep being so grumpy?”

Lenok laughed as he grabbed Davi’s tail and lifted him upside down.

“I made you three breaker boxes as you asked.”

[Hmph, you increased the power supply to bring in magic adjustment equipment to the lab, didn’t you?]

“……”

The electronic spirit’s clear protest.

Lenok quietly shut his mouth because that wasn’t wrong.

The reason he had expanded the space of the laboratory itself. It was because he was planning to buy and cram in various equipment to supplement Lenok’s abilities and assist in his research.

He hadn’t even explained anything to Davi yet, but the spirit had already noticed Lenok’s intentions like a ghost.

[Master is strangely transparent when it comes to magic research.]

“……Is that so?”

[Anyway, you’ve learned strange things from the Eye Magician… With that time and effort, invest in a capable spirit like me.]

Davi, who had climbed onto Lenok’s head and was shaking his body wildly, grumbled.

The dust that had accumulated on the spirit’s body fell onto Lenok’s shoulders, but it didn’t matter much since Lenok was already covered in dust.

“Hmm, I thought you wouldn’t know since I traded with an equipment manufacturer that deals directly with the Carlyle Research Institute. I guess I was showing off for nothing.”

When Lenok visited the Carlyle Research Institute through Byla, who was an adjunct professor at Lavatenon University, he didn’t just research the partial deployment of the magnetic field within the institute.

Various top-grade equipment that existed in the research institute directly under the city government.

Ultra-expensive magic adjustment devices that boasted performance surpassing that of military mages in certain areas, such as rotating or accelerating magic power.

He had succeeded in hacking into the research institute’s system and obtaining the contact information of the manufacturers of such equipment.

Since he had placed an order with the equipment manufacturer under the name of Evan, an assistant professor at Lavatenon University, they probably thought it was for use at the university.

In fact, the equipment manufacturer had accepted the order without any suspicion and had contacted him to inform him that they had started production.

Once all the ordered equipment arrived, it would be difficult to build a scale comparable to the Carlyle Research Institute, but it would be enough to achieve that level of quality.

“Once I reduce the resources consumed in repetitive tasks, I’ll be able to enter into more delicate spell adjustment work.”

[Are you planning to customize spells with the power of machines?]

“To be precise, I’m borrowing your power.”

Lenok stroked Davi’s head.

“I’ll delegate all control over the arrived equipment to you. I’ll entrust you with the control of all work devices to assist in the spell during the research process. Can you do it?”

The achievement that Lenok had newly obtained, transcending hierarchy, did not simply end with the magic he possessed becoming stronger and faster.

It was about embodying the causality that he naturally recognized as concepts and ideas reached a new horizon in the form of spells.

Through that process, new high-level magic was born in all the spell systems that Lenok possessed, filling the gaps and shedding old ideas.

It was the process of Lenok creating and discarding countless magic spells that he had done so far, but this time, he was implementing it from a point of view that transcended hierarchy.

It was natural that the process required a huge amount of time, effort, resources, and magic power.

It was also the fundamental reason why Lenok had never let go of his research while juggling freelance work and various battles.

Therefore, within the limits of time and capital, Lenok had decided to minimize the series of processes of developing and mastering new magic with Davi’s help.

[Hmm… I’ll only help when Master is researching spirit magic. I don’t know about other times.]

Hugging the grumbling Davi, he lay down in the dusty laboratory.

“It’ll take about three days for the equipment to arrive… It’ll take a while to adjust based on the examination data I got from Murphy this time. There’s so much to do.”

The magic adjustment devices that Lenok had ordered now were solely for the purpose of improving and researching spells.

Naturally, he had to find and prepare new devices to maintain the human body.

He wanted to immerse himself in research all day, but there were too many things to do.

“Since my vacation is over, I have to show my face at school and listen to the calls from the agent. I also have to prepare my second paper for the exhibition…”

[The unpacking isn’t even finished yet. What are you talking about?]

Davi, who had climbed onto Lenok’s stomach, pressed his side with his front paw.

[Oh, this is surprisingly fun… ?]

Lenok stared blankly at Davi, who seemed to have found the pressing surprisingly fun and suddenly became engrossed in it.

“……”

When he first sneaked into this city, he couldn’t bear it because he was in a hurry.

He worked tirelessly to maintain a precarious balance that seemed like it would collapse at any moment, and he was afraid and worried about surviving.

If he didn’t immerse himself in something, if he didn’t struggle to create a better situation, he felt like he would be discovered and killed immediately.

Even now that he had come this far, running as if he were being chased, that thought hadn’t changed.

However, he had to be careful that all the achievements Lenok had made so far did not eat away at his time.

Lenok thought that far and then jumped up from his seat.

“Okay. Shall we start then?”

[What?]

“We need to isolate the laboratory’s power supply from the mansion and modify it so that it can be converted and supplied by its own power.”

Lenok smiled as he grabbed Davi’s body, who had naturally climbed onto his head, and placed him on the workbench.

There was no time to be frustrated or sad about the fact that there was a lot to do.

Wasn’t it all a problem that Lenok himself had wanted, wished for, and brought about?

Even if it was impossible to enjoy and savor every moment, there was no need to sink into depression.

“Let’s start with what we can do before the adjustment devices arrive. Are you ready?”

Fzzzzzz…!!

A cluster of bright blue current burst from Lenok’s fingertips, illuminating the laboratory.

* * *

In the silence that seemed to deafen, footsteps echoed like thunder.

A cloud bridge floating over a huge underground cavity with a diameter of several thousand meters.

A man who had climbed onto the railing of the bridge without hesitation looked down.

A dizzying height where, if he fell, his limbs would be crushed the moment he fell.

The cavity was so deep and rugged that the hazy fog and dust obscured the view.

However, the face of the man walking on the bridge, the 2nd Apostle, was slightly excited with curiosity and interest.

The man, who had stopped walking in the middle of the bridge, quietly looked down and asked.

“It’s been a while since we’ve talked like this, hasn’t it?”

“……It was you.”

Among the majestic stone pillars, tens of meters high, that supported the huge underground cavity, a boy was seen sitting weakly.

The size of the underground cavity was so large and vast that it was strange for a single boy to live in.

But what was even more surprising was the boy’s appearance itself, bound between the pillars.

The boy’s arms, full of wounds and scars, were bound by chains thicker and larger than his torso, and were held high in the air.

A huge prison that seemed to have been made to capture a huge monster, not such a small boy.

“I was quite surprised to hear that you had regained your sanity.”

The man looked at the boy and smiled in the middle of the prison.

“Even if someone were to regain their reason, I didn’t think it would be you.”

“……”

“Even before you went completely mad, you secretly welcomed that madness. Rather, you were indifferent to following the teachings… The other apostles knew that fact, but they turned a blind eye. How could He not have known?”

The smile on the man’s lips, who had pushed up his glasses, looked somehow cold.

“What does it matter if you are an excellent vessel to hold God? With a weak mind that cannot bear the responsibility, you will not be able to stand by His side after all.”

As the man, who had been precariously perched on the bridge railing, took a step forward without hesitation.

His body lightly descended hundreds of meters below the cavity and stood in front of the boy.

“Honestly, I still don’t like you.”

The man whispered softly.

“It’s too pathetic that the 3rd Apostle, who should have become the third pillar of the Order, didn’t even try to resist the madness and gave himself over to it.”

Just by uttering words with a hint of killing intent, the air in the cavity instantly contracted and began to strangle the boy’s neck.

Not just a light sense of intimidation, but a real grip that crushed and shattered the boy’s neck and joints.

Crack!!!

The boy’s neck, bound by chains, broke and blood and bone fragments scattered everywhere.

But before the blood that had fallen could soak into the floor and stick, the boy’s body began to recover as if time were going backwards.

Torn muscles were reattached, flesh was sewn together, and blood flowed backwards.

A bizarre sight that made one doubt whether he was a living human being.

But even in the midst of that, the expressions of the two people facing each other were calm.

The man also smiled and took a step back.

“Well, let’s stop with the personal feelings. Today, I’m here to listen to your confession as a fellow believer.”

“……”

The 2nd Apostle hadn’t taken the time out of his busy schedule to visit him for no reason.