Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 658

Beneath the machine city’s sky, where black hellfire and platinum rain mingled and scattered, a chaotic scene unfolded.

Koo-oong!!

Agents and soldiers rushed towards the fallen Hermes.

“Commissioner!!!”

“Commissioner Hermes attempted suicide!! Call a healing mage immediately!!!”

“It’s too late. He’s already…!!”

The soldiers who had hastily arrived checked Hermes’s face and fell silent.

The revolver bullet, fired at his temple, had pierced his head, leaving it in a gruesome state.

It was beyond the reach of healing magic or resuscitation techniques.

It was a perfect suicide, as if someone had ensured there was no hope of recovery.

“Th-this…!!”

The side squad agents, trembling in despair, turned their gazes sharply.

They grabbed Lenox, who had fallen next to Hermes, by the collar and pointed a gun at his head.

Click!

“You traitorous bastard!!”

Lenox’s head was pushed back by the gun barrel, and the agent, unable to contain his anger, was about to pull the trigger when a silver blade flashed in front of him, cleanly slicing off the end of the gun barrel.

Clang!!

The side squad agents, recognizing the executioner’s equipment, quickly raised their magical power.

“Leader!!”

“Everyone, hold your positions.”

Swoosh!!

Meister, Narcissa Solmer, appeared with dozens of executioners, her expression cold.

Even though she was leaning on her wheelchair, her complexion pale, her sharp aura made everyone freeze.

“Circumstantial evidence indicates that Hermes is the culprit behind the Meister’s assassination and the city’s subversion.”

“What…!!”

“After collecting and organizing related testimonies and internal circumstances, all those directly or indirectly involved will be arrested and brought to trial. Lay down your weapons and comply with the escort.”

“…….”

The side squad that had been assisting Ex Machina, and the mechanized corps that had obtained the old world’s technology under Hermes, had many reasons to feel guilty.

If they were to be escorted away obediently following Narcissa’s words, they would inevitably have to share some of the responsibility later.

However, with Hermes, the central figure, having committed suicide before their eyes, even the commanders leading the corps couldn’t easily make a decision.

Should they resist to the end, or should they accept the changed situation?

As if reading their minds, Narcissa spoke again.

“Lay down your weapons. I will not repeat myself.”

The air crackled with tension, filled with a suffocating silence.

The deliberation didn’t last long.

Click!!

As the commanders lowered their weapons and calmed their magical power, the others also slowly disarmed and accepted their capture.

“You’ve made a wise choice.”

The commander, with handcuffs on both hands, slowly nodded at the approaching executioner’s words.

“On the way up, I saw the 3rd Corps Commander dead in a miserable state.”

“…….”

“I don’t know what happened that made Commissioner Hermes choose suicide at the end of his plan… but he wasn’t the type to bet on a reckless gamble.”

With Hermes’s crimes exposed and his suicide, everything was ruined.

The ruined workshop tower and the black hellfire burning the sky were proof that everything had gone terribly wrong.

At this point, resisting on Hermes’s side would be pointless.

Everyone knew they had no choice but to adapt to the changed situation.

Even if they were handed over to the court and suffered losses through plea bargains, they wouldn’t be killed for resisting here.

Neither justification nor practical benefit remained on their side.

It was impossible to subvert the machine city and succeed in a rebellion without the power of Hermes and the Ascended [beings who have transcended normal limitations].

The side squad and the mechanized corps, who had been surrounding Hermes’s body, and a few of the executioners who had been won over, were led away one by one.

Following Narcissa’s orders, Hermes’s body was also quickly collected and moved.

Then, Narcissa stared intently at Lenox, who was lying there as if dead.

“Stop playing dead and get up, Lyman.”

A cold tone flowed from Narcissa’s mouth.

“If you don’t wake up, I’m going to have you escorted and locked up in prison as you are. Or should I call you ‘Half’?”

“…You knew.”

Lenox, who had slightly turned his gaze, opened his mouth.

Lenox, who had barely been able to breathe when Hermes had tried to kill him, had recovered enough to have a conversation in a short time.

The platinum rain that Oroknier had scattered as he disappeared, the Ascended’s will, which had even neutralized the black flames, had improved Lenox’s condition to some extent.

Although movement was difficult, he was well enough to regain consciousness and speak.

“Valkan’s Iron Wall. It seems you’ve enjoyed playing the role of a talented artisan in Machina.”

Narcissa said, glaring coldly at Lenox.

“Do you even know what you’ve done?”

“……”

Instead of answering, Lenox slowly got up and leaned against some nearby debris.

Ignoring the executioners guarding Narcissa and aiming their weapons, Lenox took out a cigarette and flicked his hand.

“Mind if I have a smoke?”

“…Who said you could sit there?”

“Hmm?”

Narcissa’s answer was slightly delayed.

Lenox, belatedly realizing he was sitting on a fragment of a pure white throne, chuckled.

The pure white throne where Hermes had sat to open a new Ascension Gate [a portal to a higher plane of existence].

Perhaps it was the way Lenox was leaning against the throne fragment that made her wary.

Lenox ignored Narcissa’s words and weakly lit his cigarette.

“Normally, it would take a very long time for those flames to disappear…”

Lenox, exhaling smoke, muttered to himself in a self-deprecating manner.

“It seems we won’t reach the worst-case scenario. I should be grateful for the great transcendent’s mercy.”

“Arrest him.”

At Narcissa’s words, the executioners slowly began to approach Lenox.

Their aura was so sharp that they wouldn’t hesitate to cut him down if he raised his magical power even slightly.

But Lenox, knowing this well, didn’t run away, instead staring at the approaching executioners.

“Isabella.”

Lenox chuckled as he spotted a familiar face among the executioners.

“Did you finish your reunion with your superior well?”

“Don’t talk nonsense…”

Isabella gritted her teeth, adjusting her tattered uniform.

“Maiya Lenslet already fled the scene. You’re the only one left.”

“…….”

“You’ll have to explain why a Valkan mage is in Machina, what you did to Hermes, and all the other crimes you’ve committed.”

“I see…”

Lenox leaned against the throne fragment, slumped over, and pondered while exhaling smoke.

Every time he finished a big task and looked back, he thought, but this journey in the machine city was particularly long.

That was probably because Machina’s most dangerous secret reached all the way to the other side of a world that had already perished.

Although it had ended with Hermes’s suicide, not everything was over yet.

Lenox had to settle all the consequences he had incurred in the machine city and confirm how far the fragments of the old world extended.

If he had his way, he would disappear from here right now….

“Here.”

At the sight of Lenox holding out his hands while still smoking, the executioners flinched.

“Put the handcuffs on. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“You bastard…”

Lenox chuckled as he saw another executioner gritting his teeth.

“I still have things to do, you see.”

Click!!

Isabella, who had put the magic-blocking metal handcuffs on Lenox’s hands, immediately stood him up.

“Unauthorized entry into the seabed barrier’s core facility, instigating the kidnapping and assassination of the Meister and Ex Machina, damage to the workshop district and tower, and the massacre of the 3rd Mechanized Corps. Congratulations on becoming one of Machina’s worst criminals, Half.”

Isabella said with a stiff face.

“A sentence and detention facility that are incomparable to those of a megacity await you.”

“Do you know that no one in Valkan has ever arrested me?”

Lenox replied with a smile at Isabella’s words.

“I never thought I’d receive that honor in Machina. I should definitely add a line to my resume later.”

“…Take him away. Keep him in a special detention facility until the military trial is held.”

Led by the rough hands of the executioners, he walked out of the collapsing workshop tower.

Flames rose from all sides, and the acrid smell of smoke filled the air.

Even as he walked through the corpses of the mechanized corps and the ruined facilities, dozens of executioners and soldiers surrounded Lenox, wary of his movements.

Everyone was clearly aware that Lenox was the main cause of the tragedy that had occurred in this workshop tower.

The shock of the district shift had subsided, and as he walked weakly through the quiet streets where martial law had been lifted, Lenox flicked his handcuffed hands.

The executioner didn’t miss even that suspicious gesture and snatched Lenox’s arm.

At the same time, the soldiers escorting him immediately pointed their guns at Lenox.

“Don’t do anything foolish. What are you hiding?”

“Nothing.”

When Lenox said that and obediently showed his open hands, the executioner reluctantly stepped back.

As an armored vehicle arrived to transport the prisoner, Lenox slowly boarded the transport compartment.

Around Lenox’s neck, a familiar platinum glow flickered like a necklace.

“…….”

A wisp of will. It was an illusion close to a vanishing delusion, but Oroknier had definitely left something behind for Lenox.

A platinum pendant in the form of a necklace. At first glance, it was light, elongated, and sharp like a feather.

What meaning and answer this held for Oroknier.

That was something Lenox would have to figure out for himself.

For now, it was enough to reflect on the will and questions he had left behind.

“Let’s go. Move at maximum speed.”

Bwaaaang!!

Without realizing that Lenox’s gaze, which was looking down at his neck, had sunk deeply, the transport vehicle departed.

* * *

District 49 of the megacity Valkan.

Behind the alley of the building district where Jenny’s bar was located.

One of the key meeting points in District 49, where various freelancers and mercenaries arrange jobs.

It was also the place where a broker, who now runs a large distribution company that ranks among the top five in the megacity, was located.

“I absolutely can’t work for that price, you bastard!”

“If you don’t like it, go somewhere else. Are you new to business?”

Crash!!

At the same time as the negotiations broke down, a robot and a bug-man kicked over the table and grabbed each other’s collars.

“Hehehe… this curse is a bit more expensive this time…”

“The curse you put on our department head last time didn’t even work, why is that?!”

A curse caster, holding a crystal ball and smiling eerily, and a company employee, protesting as if wronged.

“This is an entry permit to the green belt area designated by the city council. I got it directly from a druid.”

“I heard that government environmental subsidies have been reduced recently, are things already starting to leak out like this?”

“Just because they live secluded in the forest doesn’t mean their greed disappears.”

Even partners secretly trading suspicious items and whispering among themselves.

The constant back-and-forth of conversations, the sound of glasses breaking, and the soft music mixed together into a chaotic noise.

Even in such chaos, a woman sat at the counter, completely unfazed, typing on her laptop with a serious face.

She brushed her curly black hair back as if it were a nuisance, but her gaze never left the monitor screen.

Even when customers, unable to contain their anger, started throwing punches, she didn’t even stand up, simply ignoring them.

Instead, two people who had been sitting at the bar, tilting their glasses, stood up and grabbed the customers’ shoulders.

“Go fight outside, you idiots. What are you doing in a bar?”

“This is our territory, you morons! Get out of here right now.”

A burly man wearing a pro wrestler mask and a woman with a shotgun slung over her shoulder, spewing curses.

“D-Dylan…”

The customers, realizing that the two were members of the Antares Mercenary Corps, became as docile as lambs.

“I didn’t mean to cause trouble for Jenny. It’s just that this bastard keeps trying to scam me…”

“Damn it, then am I supposed to sell it at a loss instead of matching the market price?”

“Enough. It’s noisy enough even without you guys yelling, so let’s get out of here quickly.”

Dylan, who couldn’t stand the wait, grabbed the two people who were about to fight again.

Dylan grabbed the two by their collars and dragged them out, throwing them in front of the bar in an instant, and then returned to his seat.

“Jennyyyyyy… how long are you going to make me manage the bar? I’m a mercenary, not a security guard!!”

“I heard that security guards these days get separate incentives for this kind of work.”

At Mila’s words, Dylan shook his head up and down like crazy.

“Yes!! That’s exactly it! Even though our office has officially partnered with you, this kind of unfair treatment is unacceptable!”

“…….”

Only then did Jenny’s hands, which had been typing on the laptop, stop.

Jenny, who had glanced at Dylan with a cold gaze, opened her mouth after seeing the glass he was holding.

“Mac Chickers, 300,000 cells.”

“…….”

“Blackblood Whiskey, 360,000 cells. Flat Shielder, 530,000 cells…”

“Ahem, ahem.”

“Both of you are drinking only ridiculously expensive drinks while complaining a lot. Right?”

“Hehe.”

Jenny snorted as she saw Dylan glancing away.

“If you’re going to complain even when I let you drink for free, I might as well call other mercenaries from the office. Who was that idiot who was into stocks again?”

“Hehe, I’m just saying, Jenny.”

Dylan, who had instantly bent over and rubbed his hands together, smiled like a fool.

“It’s because Mila said something weird. I didn’t say anything. You know my heart…”

“That traitorous bastard is trying to get out of it alone!!”

Crash!!

Mila, who had become furious, threw the glass she was holding directly at the back of Dylan’s head.

Dylan also jumped up and kicked the leg of the chair where Mila had been sitting.

Next to the bar, which had instantly turned into a mess, Mad Manson shook his head as if he was pathetic.

[You fools. If you change your head to a robot like me, you won’t be controlled by that alcohol.]

“Manson, has it become the norm for a guy who guzzles gasoline instead of alcohol to give advice these days?”

Even at Jenny’s words, which were scolding him with a pathetic look, Manson remained steadfast.

[For me, it’s not a luxury item like alcohol or nicotine, but like drinking water to supply power.]

“Yeah, yeah, you just be a car.”

[…….]

Jenny, who had silenced the crazy freelancer with two words, gestured to the two bickering mercenaries.

“Stop doing useless things and come here. I’m thinking of tweaking your deep web security level.”

“Oh, does that mean I’ll be platinum-ranked now?”

“Plat!!”

Jenny pointed at the screen as she looked at the two mercenaries who had scurried behind the laptop.

“I was going to give you guys some higher-ranked jobs, but it’s hard to get orders because your deep web level is low. Has Felix ever said anything?”

“We usually receive requests directly from the office, so we haven’t had any problems in this area.”

“Our deputy commander usually handles most of the work roughly.”

“Anyway, if you want to take on work from the distribution company, you need to break through this security level as well. From now on, I’ll help you meet the necessary performance requirements. Got it?”

At Jenny’s firm answer, Dylan and Mila grumbled at the same time.

“Jenny, we’re not monsters like Half. The standards are set too high.”

“That’s right. Performance isn’t something you can just get as you please, you know?”

“In the first place, you shouldn’t compare us to that crazy guy who can break through the diamond rank just with his existing performance! Where is that guy doing what again-”

[This is Patrick Media with intercontinental breaking news.]

News began to broadcast on the TV hanging above the heads of the three people who were talking loudly.

[The Machina Metropolitan Police Department has announced that they have arrested the mastermind behind the large-scale explosion that occurred earlier today.]

[The culprit of the incident is a mage from Valkan known by the alias Iron Wall…]

“……!!!”

The moment they heard that name, the three people completely forgot the conversation they had been having just moments before.

Almost simultaneously, the gazes of everyone in the bar turned to the TV screen.