Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 477

The moment the masked eccentric stepped towards Lenok, he instantly closed the distance of several tens of meters.

*Whoosh!*

The talisman mask was right in front of him, staring intently into Lenok’s eyes.

Lapis’s eyes widened at Gapseon’s sudden, bizarre behavior.

“D, Dreyfus-nim…?”

“……”

Lenok frowned slightly, but he wasn’t greatly flustered.

From the time he met Gapseon as Victor in Kaius, he knew that Gapseon was aware of Evan’s existence and was paying attention to him.

He didn’t expect him to try to observe him so openly as soon as they met, but he already understood what Gapseon wanted.

The talisman magic that Gapseon Dreyfus O’Gnil wields is used to determine whether human time cycles every 45 years.

Having learned through this that Victor was not even forty years old, he was trying to conduct the same investigation on Evan.

After staring at Lenok for a while, Gapseon quietly took a step back and shook his head.

[As it is said, rumors tend to be exaggerated… This is more than I expected.]

“What do you mean?”

[It means that there is more room to reconsider the cause and possibilities that remain in this continent.]

Gapseon said that and took out a talisman from his pocket and held it out.

[It is an object that uses the mysteries of astrology to divine the path a person has taken. If you are interested, would you accept it?]

“……”

Lenok looked at it for a moment and then quietly picked it up.

At that moment, a bright blue magical light spread out from the paper of the talisman Lenok was holding, and began to draw intricate patterns on the talisman.

*Whoong!*

The pattern that had spread to the end of the talisman seemed to be complete, but the line didn’t stop and continued to cover the pattern and draw a new pattern.

Soon, the number of patterns drawn on the talisman exceeded the power of the paper, and the talisman paper was torn apart.

*Zzzzt…!!*

Even though the talisman he had given was destroyed in an instant, Gapseon seemed to be endlessly intrigued by that fact.

[Yes, that’s right… So that’s how it is…]

Gapseon, who was constantly stroking his talisman mask with a somewhat satisfied look, turned his head towards Lenok.

[Thank you. That was a sufficient answer. I will surely reward you for this.]

Gapseon said that, and then quickly stepped away from Lenok with his hands behind his back.

“……”

A series of actions that were surprisingly concise compared to the interest he had shown in Evan.

His words and actions were so bizarre that it was difficult to know what he intended or wanted.

He seemed even more like the eccentric from the Western Continent than he had been back in Kaius.

However, before Lenok could say anything about it, the watchers who had been waiting behind Gapseon were approaching.

Lapis, perhaps interpreting Lenok’s reaction differently, moved closer to Lenok and whispered in a small voice.

“They are the watchers who mainly work in the Western Continent branch.”

“…Western Continent branch?”

“They prefer to act alone, so I didn’t have a chance to introduce them to Evan-nim, but it’s a good thing. It seems you are acquainted with Dreyfus-nim, so I will introduce the others…”

“Lapis-nim!!”

At that moment, a tall woman approached Lapis from behind like lightning, grabbed the girl’s arms, and lifted her up.

A female warrior with tanned skin and an impressive physique of almost 2 meters [about 6’7″].

With a greatsword on her back that was even taller than her, she lifted Lapis as if she were a feather and shouted loudly.

“I’m back!! How have you been!!”

“L, Lyza…!!”

Lapis, who was held in the hands of the woman called Lyza, struggled desperately.

“I get it, so please put me down quickly!!”

“Eek… It seems you’re not very happy to see me… I guess it can’t be helped.”

At Lyza’s words, who immediately became dejected, Lapis urgently tapped her shoulder.

“Of course I’m happy… It feels like it’s been almost a month since I last saw you…! So please put me down now, or I’ll use my spirit magic!!”

“Oh, Lapis-nim’s spirit magic full-power punch!!”

Lyza laughed heartily.

“I want to try getting hit by it, but I think it would hurt my heart more than my body, so I’ll stop.”

The female warrior, who was talking nonsense, gently lowered Lapis, in contrast to when she had lifted her up with great force.

It was as if she was handling a delicate glasswork that would break if handled even slightly wrong.

“Haa, haa…”

Lapis, who was relieved and hugged the dolphin spirit, asked.

“As far as I remember, Lyza was also mobilized for the mission to explore the uncharted region, what happened?”

“Ah, well…”

The moment Lyza trailed off with a slightly troubled expression, someone else’s voice was heard right next to her.

“There was a bit of a problem, Lapis.”

“We did find a candidate for the uncharted region, but the opponent is unusual.”

The same voices echoed one after another as if they were having a conversation.

Two young men with the same face, physique, height, voice, and even expression were standing next to Lyza, shrugging their shoulders.

“We couldn’t stay long after crossing the Sea of Understanding.”

“It seems difficult to continue the mission as it is.”

“…Twins?”

Identical twins. Moreover, both twins were level 7 Saint-level ability users.

It was the first time for Lenok, who had met and fought many superhumans, to encounter twin physical ability users, so he muttered.

However, as if they had somehow heard his mutterings, the two twins immediately turned their heads towards Lenok.

“Oh, are you the magician named Evan?”

“We’ve heard a lot about you. You weren’t waiting for us, were you?”

“Ah, if you’ve already heard about us, there’s nothing we can do.”

“I thought it would be a good opportunity to compare our abilities, but it’s a shame.”

“……”

They were talking nonsense, so it was impossible to understand what they wanted to say.

Lapis quickly intervened.

“Evan-nim, these are Pio and Gio. And Lyza. All three of them are watchers who work in the Western Continent.”

“Pio.”

“Gio.”

“And if you multiply our combined weight by two, it’s about the same as Lyza here…”

*Thwack!!*

With a fist as big as a pot lid, he struck the chin of the young man called Pio, and Pio’s head was buried in the front yard of the lighthouse.

A chaotic conversation that was enough to make one’s mind dizzy.

As if representing Lenok’s feelings, a dog-headed giant who appeared behind them approached and sighed.

“I wish you would be more moderate. Are you going to keep making puns all day in front of Lapis?”

“Rafford.”

“Evan, it’s been a while.”

A dog-headed giant, a monk who executes force through his own primitive faith and incarnation.

Lenok remembered that he had worked with him several times in the Hanghasa Labyrinth and that he had shown his competence in many ways.

Rafford also seemed to have a good impression of Lenok, as he held out his paw, no, his hand, with a friendly air.

“I haven’t seen you for a while, so I thought something had happened. You’re alive and well.”

“A lot of things happened.”

“I heard you were living in a giant city under a different name.”

Lenok smiled wryly, and Rafford shook his head.

“It’s a method that I can’t understand, but… there must be a reason for a decision made by a magician like you.”

“…You’ve become surprisingly gentle compared to before. I didn’t know you could say such things?”

“There are things that you come to realize the value of as time passes.”

The dog-headed giant said that and quietly bared his teeth and smiled.

“I just realized why Lapis is not trying to make you a watcher by force.”

“What?”

“In the process of attacking the Valley of the Breaking Wave, I realized how fragile magicians are.”

“……”

“No matter how valuable fire support is in a siege, I don’t know why so many of them are so affected by their condition…”

Only after hearing Rafford’s grumbling did Lenok guess what had happened and chuckle.

It seemed that he had accumulated a lot of dissatisfaction while carrying out the mission of the Blue Eye with other magicians.

If he was comparing them to Lenok, it would be impossible to be satisfied with any other magician.

“Most sorcerers are unfamiliar with the idea of continuing to fight while deploying spells. It would be better to lower your expectations.”

“Yeah. So you’re saying that I’m the only one who’s good?”

Rafford lightly puffed out his nose with his moist nose.

“It’s even more annoying because I can’t deny it.”

“…How do you manage to take everything so negatively?”

While shaking his head, thinking that his eccentric nature was not going anywhere, Lapis, who had come down from Lyza’s arms, looked at the other four people and asked.

“By the way, I didn’t expect the four of you to come back together. As far as I remember, you all left for different parts of the Eastern Continent to find uncharted regions…”

“Lapis-nim, it’s been almost a month, and you still remember? That’s so admirable!!”

“Not twice!!”

When Lyza subtly tried to lift Lapis up again, this time the dolphin spirit floated in front of her and emitted ultrasonic waves.

Leaving Lyza, who was licking her lips, behind, Pio and Gio glanced around.

The front yard of the lighthouse, where the eyes of other watchers were focused.

“Shall we go inside and talk?”

Pio gestured towards the inside of the spire and smiled.

“That strange old man seems to have something to say too.”

[……]

Lapis looked at Gapseon and nodded.

“…Let’s talk inside the lighthouse first. It seems like something bigger than I thought has happened.”

Lyza, the Pio and Gio brothers, Rafford, and Gapseon Dreyfus.

All five of them were level 7 or higher powerhouses who had completed their ranks.

If the strong people who were at the top of the watchers who acted as force had gathered in one place after exploring the uncharted regions, there must be a reason for it.

This was not a story to be told where there were many listeners.

Lenok followed Lapis into the spire, and as he did, he realized that the gazes of the other watchers looking at him had become slightly strange.

Unlike when they were making friendly jokes to Lenok, who was setting up the barrier, they were now somewhat awkward and wary.

Lenok quietly nodded as he realized that it was directed not at him but at the other superhumans, including Gapseon, who had just appeared.

‘They haven’t fully integrated with the Western Continent branch yet.’

While securing a bridgehead to the central front, it seemed that the powerhouses that Lapis had recruited from the Western Continent had also begun to move to the Eastern Continent.

Even so, if different watchers suddenly appeared in droves and joined the operation, it would be inevitable that they would feel a sense of alienation.

Moreover, if the watchers from the Western Continent were all strong powerhouses with difficult personalities,

It was natural that the watchers who had been dedicated to the lighthouse in the Eastern Continent would feel a sense of incongruity.

It was not strange that such an atmosphere had not been properly resolved yet.

Lenok felt a tense atmosphere that he had never felt in the Blue Eye before, but he was not too worried.

Internal factional fights exist in any organization, and Lapis would not be unaware of this fact.

Rather, it might not be bad to use this opportunity to inject new blood and renew the organization’s internal power and atmosphere.

As they entered the spire and headed to the hallway where the conference room was located, someone who had been waiting with their arms crossed outside the conference room stood up as if they had been waiting.

“Lapis.”

“Grisha-nim!”

A Saint-level sorceress with tanned skin and an old shirt.

Her complexion looked a little haggard, but the way she stroked Lapis’s head was no different from what Lenok remembered.

She rubbed her shoulders with a tired expression and smiled as she asked Lapis.

“I was working on stabilizing the lighthouse’s power output, but suddenly the efficiency increased dramatically and the work finished quickly. Was it something you did?”

“Evan-nim helped me. Thanks to him greatly increasing the power efficiency margin with his barrier construction.”

“I thought so. It seems like we’re always in your debt.”

Grisha smiled and waved her hand, and Lenok quietly shook his head.

“I didn’t see you next to Lapis, so I thought you hadn’t finished your work yet.”

“What’s the point of letting the remaining main force go to waste? I should use it for something like this.”

Grisha, who had stretched, opened the door to the empty conference room behind her and winked at the other watchers who were standing there.

“I heard about the situation. It’s about the Sea of Understanding?”

At that moment, Gapseon, who had been silent without saying a word, opened his mouth for the first time.

[It is an honor to meet the successor of the great secret law.]

“……”

Grisha’s movement, who was opening the door to the conference room, stopped abruptly.

The mask made of talismans was definitely facing Grisha.

[I offer my deepest condolences for what happened recently. You truly have nowhere left to return to now.]

“…What are you talking about from so long ago?”

Grisha, who had been slightly bowing her head, chuckled and opened the door.

Gapseon stared at Grisha for a moment, then slipped past her and muttered.

[If there is something to be returned, it would be wise to prepare without delay. That powerful main force is evidence of a distorted imbalance… If it does not have its origin, it will soon collapse.]

Gapseon, who was sitting at the end of the conference room, crossed his arms and lowered his head.

*Chwararak!!*

The talismans that fell from his body fluttered and naturally began to stick to the walls of the conference room.

At the same time, the flow of powerful security magic circles spread throughout the room.

The other watchers admired quietly and moved into the conference room.

“Wow, to be able to do this just by sticking a few pieces of paper.”

“As expected, that old man hasn’t been alive for nothing.”

“Well, if you put together all the bizarre things he’s done, he should have been caught and beheaded a long time ago… Hup.”

The twins and Lyza, who were watching Gapseon, closed their mouths.

While they were lost in thought, the meeting began immediately, centered around the eight people who had taken their seats.

“Shall we put this out and start?”

The first to speak was Lyza.

At the same time as she infused magic into a small box she had taken out of her pocket, a blurry hologram appeared and began to play.

“What is this?”

“An artifact that stores memories and plays them back. I’m not very good at using it because I’m not smart, but it’s quite useful in situations like this.”

As if her words were correct, the hologram box placed on the table in the conference room began to show a blurry landscape.

The coastline located at the outermost edge of the continent.

The magnificent horizon that stretched out endlessly below the steep cliffs was quite clear in Lyza’s memory.

“I finished the mission I was in charge of, and on my way back, I stopped by the floating island cluster.”

Lyza smiled.

“It’s a famous tourist spot, right? I wanted to ride that paper airplane-like thing once.”

“……”

“So I rented a plane from the autonomous territory and was happily flying over the Sea of Understanding, but I went too far, and the airship wouldn’t fly anymore.”

“You flew all the way to the end of the Sea of Understanding’s territorial waters?”

Grisha asked with a dumbfounded expression.

“So I had no choice but to carry the broken plane and swim to land… Wait a minute, why do you all have that expression?”

Lyza continued her explanation triumphantly, but tilted her head when she saw the people around her shaking their heads.

The Pio and Gio brothers replied with an absurd expression.

“No, are we supposed to manage our expressions while listening to you say that you swam while carrying a plane with your bare body?”

“Even if you take it at the lowest, it would be thousands of meters, and considering the currents of that sea… Ugh, never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“I didn’t know you would discover an island and contact us in that way…”

Even Rafford added a word with a dumbfounded expression, and Lyza pouted.

“Whether someone flies or walks across the sea… I don’t think it’s something that weaklings should be talking about.”

“It’s not that we’re weak, it’s that you’re…”

As the story seemed to be going off track again as they bickered among themselves, Lenok tapped the table.

“An island?”

“Well, anyway, that’s how Lyza contacted us and we decided to check the island. The Western Continent branch often has trouble contacting each other, so they carry quite powerful terminals.”

Pio quickly summarized the situation.

“The problem is that the island is very large and vast, and it was isolated from the outside.”

“The security was very strict, and they were thoroughly detecting the use of magic, so we had no choice but to break into the island with our bare bodies.”

*Clatter!!*

At that moment, a talisman that had extended from Gapseon’s fingertips surrounded Lyza’s artifact and made the hologram even clearer.

The landscape of the hologram, which had swept along the continental coastline, unfolded as if looking down from the sky at the landscape of a huge island.

A magnificent hemispherical barrier surrounding the island. Even the faint image of a magnificent temple inside. And in the center of the temple, the gruesome shape of an altar made by piling up living humans.

The moment Lapis’s face hardened, Gapseon, who had been silent, spread his voice.

[It is the Cult.]

“……”

Everyone closed their mouths at the unexpected words.

The scenery, with Gapseon’s memories added to the artifact, was as precise and vivid as reality.

Even Grisha opened her mouth slightly, as if she couldn’t believe it.

“…I can’t believe it. The Cult has approached the vicinity of the Sea of Understanding and set up a base?”

The Sea of Understanding is one of the core uncharted regions where the Philemon Autonomous Territory is located.

The core that supports the floating island cluster created by the phenomenon of the surrounding magic power rising upwards due to the heterogeneous updraft.

Naturally, the coastal area of the Sea of Understanding is the area that the autonomous territory’s security forces are most concerned about and vigilant about.

The fact that an island existed at the outermost edge of such territorial waters, and that even the Cult’s forces were located there, was information that was difficult to believe.

The Blue Eye is walking a path that is the opposite of what Pandemonium desires, but it does not even consider the existence of the Cult.

This is not because Lapis acknowledges the existence of the Cult, but rather because she dismisses them as incomprehensible beings.

They, who worship the end of the outer sea as a god, were an object that she, who was inheriting the mission, could never sympathize with.

As if knowing the questions of those people, Gapseon continued.

[To be precise, it is not an island. And it was not something that existed there and was hidden from the past.]

“That’s…”

“It’s unlikely that the autonomous territory’s navy has been so incompetent that they haven’t known about the existence of that island for decades.”

Lenok naturally opened his mouth.

[……]

“Moreover, they haven’t discovered an island where the Cult’s temple is located until now? Rather than that…”

From Lenok’s point of view, who had seen an apostle directly in the jungle, he was able to think in a completely different way from ordinary people and find the answer.

It was possible because Lenok had directly looked at the outer sea and expanded his horizon of thought to an immeasurable extent.

“The island must have moved over the sea and arrived in the territorial waters.”

When Lenok turned his gaze towards Gapseon, Gapseon, who had been staring at him with a curious look, spoke again.

[Among the forces of the Cult of the Returning Path, there is a branch that is known for its unusually hidden location compared to its power and reputation.]

“……”

[The magician is right. The island that is now located beyond the Sea of Understanding is the Far East branch of the Cult itself, which has never directly revealed its appearance in the long history of the Cult.]