Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 54

“Why are you curious about that?”

“Your magic pattern is very clean for a level 4 mage. Usually, those with a solid foundation like you rise quickly.”

She said, smiling faintly.

“Well, we might see each other again somewhere. It’s good to know your name, right?”

The smile on her usually expressionless face was surprisingly refreshing.

Of course, it didn’t work on Lenok, who knew what her real job was.

How could Lenok know if her saying ‘see you later’ meant as a fellow colleague or as an agent’s prey?

When Lenok’s reaction was lukewarm, Evelyn crossed her arms and looked thoughtful.

“Hmm… this is actually information I shouldn’t be sharing, but I’ll tell you in advance.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“There will be a major crackdown on the lawless areas outside soon. Especially in the 40s districts, they plan to focus on taking down the mages who are setting up shop and freeloading without paying taxes.”

“……..”

It was an absurd statement, but Lenok couldn’t laugh at the joke-like topic.

From Lenok’s perspective, knowing where Evelyn worked, it was no joke at all.

Oblivious to Lenok’s thoughts, Evelyn smiled faintly.

“If you have connections there, you should lay low for a while. Unless your name is on the deep web… but you’re not doing anything like that, are you?”

“What do you mean by the deep web?”

Lenok pretended not to know, and Evelyn casually brushed it off.

“I’m telling you because I like you. It would be awkward if we ran into each other there, right?”

Of course, if he were caught in a crackdown led by an agent, it wouldn’t end with just awkwardness… but there was no need to say that here.

Evelyn, thinking this was enough, smoothly changed the subject.

“I’m Evelyn. Evelyn Marcia.”

“I’m Add James.”

Lenok also lied without batting an eye.

Knowing that the other person was an agent of the city government, there was no need to give the name Evan Bailen here.

He certainly didn’t want her to track down Evan Bailen’s name and discover the flaws in his flimsy forged identity.

Evelyn smiled more deeply at the name Lenok gave.

“Add James? Okay, I’ll remember it.”

“I’ll try not to forget either.”

“If you can’t give me the same name when we meet next time, you’ll have to be prepared. Got it?”

“……..”

Did she realize it was a fake name the moment he gave it?

But Evelyn, who was spouting such words even though she knew it was a fake name, was also no ordinary person.

Lenok nodded awkwardly and left the market.

He felt her gaze sticking to his back, but pretending to be calm was one of the easiest things for him.

Only after leaving the market did Lenok let out a small sigh and turn towards his one-room apartment.

“Should I look for another market…”

He had already moved markets once, yet he ran into her again here.

At this point, he was starting to suspect that she was going around various markets in the city, opening vegetable stores.

‘I don’t need to be close to someone who knows I’m a mage.’

Even though it was only their second meeting, she still sent chills down his spine.

Whether she was an ally or an enemy, he had no intention of getting involved with her in the future.

He didn’t know how skilled she was, and he didn’t want to know.

He had to prepare for the worst, but he could only hope that the city government agent would live up to her reputation and chase after the big-time criminals of Pandemonium.

Lenok answered Jenny’s call that popped up on his phone screen as he walked.

#

Beep—beep—beep—

As soon as he saw the call from an unknown number again, Lenok hung up without hesitation.

The phone had rung dozens of times. All of them were calls from Dyke Corporation.

They were getting impatient because Lenok hadn’t responded to the compensation they had offered.

They had already deposited more than double the previously agreed-upon success fee into his account, but he had no intention of being satisfied with just that.

If they couldn’t establish trust from the beginning of the operation, how could he be sure they wouldn’t do this again in the future?

It wouldn’t be worth it unless he got much more than what Panoa had promised.

If Dyke was thinking of washing their hands of it with just this, Lenok was ready to give up on collaborating with them without hesitation.

In the end, it was Panoa who raised the white flag first.

[Dyke contacted me. They want you to come to their headquarters in a week. In the meantime, I’m trying to set the bottom line for what we should get from them, so come see me if you have time.]

He had thought it would take some time to determine the incentive for Lenok, but he didn’t expect them to ask for a week’s grace period.

Panoa was well aware that time wasn’t the issue.

By now, she must have realized that she needed to give Lenok something more than just money.

If that was certain, waiting a week wasn’t a big deal.

Thinking that, the moment he opened the door to the bar, Lenok realized that the atmosphere inside was very strange.

“……..”

Jenny’s bar wasn’t always that noisy, but it was different from the time when the noise of the drunks was constant.

In the middle of the eerily quiet bar, someone was sitting with their back to the door, quietly sipping a drink.

Sebastian.

Next to him, Jenny was watching him with an annoyed expression, and Jordan with a blank face.

But more noteworthy than that was the attitude of the other customers in the bar.

The customers, who had never cared who visited, were now subtly wary of the person sitting at the bar.

A thin, tall figure with legs sticking out from the bar space.

He was wearing a suit, but there were quite a few wrinkles on his arms and legs, and a strong perfume smell emanated from him.

The man, noticing Lenok’s approach, slowly turned his head.

“Oh, you’ve finally come. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“……”

A bleak and blunt impression. His neck, visible below his shirt, was covered in all sorts of unknown tattoos.

The tall man, whose hands were so big that the glass he was holding looked small, smiled at Lenok.

“Do you know who I am?”

“No.”

“I see. But you’ll have to know from now on.”

Whoosh!

At the same time as the man finished speaking, an intense force enveloped Lenok.

A sharp, piercing energy, imbued with a clear will.

It was a fierce force that would have made an ordinary person unable to breathe, but it failed to even penetrate Lenok’s shield and dissipated into the air.

The man, looking down at Lenok, who hadn’t changed his expression, smiled with an interested look.

“I’m someone who lost quite a bit because of what you did this time.”

Thump, thump.

Lenok, who brushed off the force as if dusting off his shoulders, replied.

“Are you someone who worked with Paul Ackerman?”

“I was a businessman who received investment from that friend.”

“You mean a weapons dealer.”

“……..”

The man narrowed his eyes and glared at Lenok.

Now, only a deathly silence flowed in the bar.

“So, did you come to retaliate for that?”

It was faster than he had expected, but he hadn’t failed to consider this situation.

The moment he touched the close-knit profit relationship formed in the 40s district, it was inevitable that he would make enemies.

Until now, he had tried to avoid unnecessary conflicts, but Lenok had given up on pretending to be clean in this dirty back alley.

He had to take what they had to climb higher.

Conflict was unavoidable.

Perhaps he read something in Lenok’s expression.

The man stared at his face for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

“…At least not today.”

As he slowly rose from the bar, his head almost touched the ceiling of the bar.

A giant who easily looked over 2 meters tall. He had felt it when he was sitting, but he was a really strangely elongated person.

“I just came to give you a warning.”

“……..”

“Kid. We don’t go easy on people just because they’re kids. We can let it slide the first time because you didn’t know your place, but if you try to interfere with our business again, you’ll have to be prepared.”

Whooong!!

Once again, the magic power emanating from the man violently tried to crush Lenok’s shoulders.

It seemed that he was the type of person who couldn’t be satisfied unless he intimidated his opponent.

Lenok had no intention of just putting up with it either.

Bang!!

He fired a shock magic, reduced to the size of a fist, directly at the man’s abdomen.

A single blow that had instantly broken Ericson’s waist in the undeveloped district.

But surprisingly, the man only flinched, then recovered his complexion and looked down at him with a surprised look.

Lenok met his gaze and calmly replied.

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m telling you in advance.”

“…What?”

“If you try to solve problems in such a dirty way, my client won’t stand still either. You don’t think Paul Ackerman was so stupid that he couldn’t even leave a proper corpse, do you?”

The man’s eyebrows twitched greatly at Lenok’s words, which were hard to ignore.

He had guessed that he had a backer, but he hadn’t expected Lenok to turn the tables on him like this.

Lenok, for his part, calmly stared back at the man.

Even now, his mind was busy calculating.

He was prepared to take the risk, but that didn’t mean he had to foolishly bear all the burden alone.

If necessary, he was willing to sell Dyke’s name to divert the attention focused on Lenok.

Perhaps realizing the meaning of his words, a dirty murderous intent seemed to flow from his eyes for a brief moment, but he quickly calmed his emotions.

He realized that he was not in a position to cause trouble at this place.

“…Okay. Let’s pretend this never happened. Understand?”

He then glanced at Jenny and didn’t forget to threaten her as well.

“Jenny. It’s the same for you. You should know that the reason I’m not touching your bar is because of Kaise’s name. If you do anything foolish like protecting this guy…”

“Beck. You talk too much.”

“……”

“Get out of my bar right now.”

Beck, the man called, didn’t say anything more to Jenny’s sharp reply.

He glared at Lenok one last time and then left the bar.

Only after his long shadow had completely disappeared did the tension that had been flowing so tightly disappear.

“Haa…”

Lenok let out a small sigh and perched on the bar.

Jenny silently poured him a glass of whiskey and handed it to him.

“So, who is he?”

“A member of the Cigar Bang. Beck Clinton.”

Jenny replied nonchalantly.

“They’re the most active gang in the 48th district recently.”

“So that’s why.”

A gang that directly traded with Paul Ackerman and operated in the 48th district.

It was only natural that they would be furious since he had died at the port in their territory.

He never imagined that they would be waiting for him until he came to the bar.

“Their organization has almost a thousand members, and the scale of their business is not small, so they are among the top gangs in terms of financial power.”

“……..”