Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 674

A think tank without Evan, Evan Bailen, huh?

Lenok had to suppress a chuckle the moment he heard those words.

“An interesting conclusion. A think tank?”

“After being reviewed by the Technical Advisory Committee and having their qualifications verified, they will be officially put into research work,” Armand said, nodding.

“Of course, it would be best to make contact with Evan himself, who presented at the expo, but securing a member of the think tank who worked with him would be sufficient.”

“…….”

“Since the Senate is also very interested, if we’re lucky, we might be able to meet them today.”

Come to think of it, there had been a big commotion about Evan Bailen’s existence before.

Wasn’t it Lenok himself who took action and pursued the criminals who were thought to have kidnapped Evan Bailen?

At that time, he managed to settle things with the help of Antares, but it was clear that Evan’s value was not to be taken lightly.

Moreover, the news from Armand, who was assisting the Senate, that they had secured a candidate presumed to be Evan Bailen was extremely interesting to Lenok.

Now, he even wanted to see the face of the person who called themselves the think tank.

“I have expectations. They’d better be someone who meets my standards.”

“I think this is an opportunity to confirm the secrets about Assistant Professor Bailen that have not been revealed to the public.”

Did Armand become interested in Evan while investigating his identity and abilities?

Despite his talkative nature, Lenok was not surprised that Armand had become interested in Evan.

If they knew what Lenok had been doing under Evan’s identity, which Saiolus was hiding, it was enough to spark curiosity.

‘I tried to hide it, but there were some parts that unintentionally stood out.’

Originally, when Lenok came to the university as an assistant professor under Evan’s identity, his plan was to continue his research discreetly, using Aris’s reputation as a shield.

However, that plan lost its meaning after Aris returned to the Magic Tower under the pretext of a sabbatical.

Moreover, Aris’s stay at the Magic Tower was longer than expected, and the gap had not been filled yet.

That’s why Lenok also changed his mind and decided to announce his research results and raise Evan’s reputation in the public eye.

But that was precisely why there were gaps in Evan’s identity, as Armand had pointed out.

‘I need to take care of the integrated master’s and doctoral program as well…….’

The terrorist incident at the Strange God Palace had disrupted administrative work, with even the dean getting caught up in it, and Lenok had prioritized the Machine City for the time being.

Before dealing with other matters, it seemed necessary to return to the school under Evan’s identity soon to check on the recent trends.

While Lenok was lost in thought, Armand subtly stopped talking and began to read his expression.

Perhaps Armand realized that he had been talking too much by himself.

But instead, he slightly tilted his head towards Lenok and muttered quietly.

“You seem more interested in Professor Bailen than I thought. Is it because great mages like Master Ban recognize other geniuses?”

“…….”

“Like Professor Bailen’s case, if Master Ban also has good communication with the Central Council, you could definitely form a good relationship-”

“C-Counselor……!!”

In a way, it was a statement that seemed to assume that Lenok should naturally come under the Central Council.

For those who knew the rumors about Kyunroe, it was an unimaginable statement.

The soldiers around them held their breaths, their faces turning pale, and the pilot secretly fiddled with the emergency escape button.

But instead of answering Armand’s question, Lenok stared at him up and down.

Lenok was not so insensitive as to not understand the intention behind Armand’s question.

A small skill he had learned while working as a craftsman in Machina. Through it, Lenok could see beyond what was visible.

“There’s a ring mark left. Judging by the bloodstains, you take it off about once every two days.”

“……Yes?”

Lenok tilted his head at Armand’s blank expression, which had nothing to do with the current topic.

“Your tie is stiff, but your shirt is wrinkled. There used to be someone who took care of you, but it’s been quite a while since they’ve been gone.”

“…….”

“The calluses on your fingertips are faint, but the scars remain. Did you get hurt in a fight? No. It’s the mark of practicing a stringed instrument by hand. It’s quite old.”

Lenok smiled as he saw Armand’s expression gradually changing.

“You still miss your deceased fiancée. The traces are everywhere. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

“I don’t quite understand what you’re saying…….”

Lenok’s eyes flashed sharply as he looked at the counselor.

“You talk nonsense like a clueless idiot, but you’re definitely not that kind of guy. Rather, you’re so sensitive and meticulous that you still practice the instrument your lover liked and even take off the ring you wear while working and keep it separately.”

At the calm explanation, the soldiers sitting in the airship nodded blankly, as if they were mesmerized, and Armand lowered his head.

“I understand that you’re risking your life to test my reaction and check my intentions towards the City Council. This is also one of your roles as a messenger who came to find me, but-”

“…….”

Lenok sneered, looking at the top of his head, where his expression was not visible.

“You should do it moderately.”

“……I understand.”

Armand’s expression, when he raised his head, was stiff, unlike before.

“Master Ban. I’m really sorry for overstepping my bounds.”

The tone of his voice, which was quite different from the beginning, was cautious, but sometimes reckless and indifferent.

He had been rambling about the anti-gravity engine, and mentioning Evan to change the subject was not because he was clueless.

Rather, it was a calculated action to ask rude questions as if he were clueless, to see where Lenok would react…….

Was it that even the lives of the soldiers on the airship were not even considered?

Armand’s attitude of trying so hard to check Lenok’s nature, interests, and reactions was very interesting.

It was like assuming a monster that could not be understood, rather than a human, and trying to record its behavior patterns again.

His initial statement that they did not follow the rules for special forces.

It was certain.

The Central Council of the Vulcan City Government knew that Lenok had reached level 8.

Lenok turned his gaze to the window and muttered.

“I see. The Central Council already knew…….”

At his muttered words, the counselor’s neck twitched.

Armand’s expression, unable to hide his dismay.

He had also intuitively realized that their purpose and intentions had been read.

But Armand didn’t say anything more and just silently stared out the window.

With a suffocating silence flowing in the cockpit, the airship soon arrived at its destination.

A huge semi-circular building with the ceiling and walls made entirely of glass.

But unlike its transparent appearance, the shape of the interior was not visible from the outside at all.

All the walls of the building looked like doors and windows, but there was not a single entrance, which was a strange sight.

Armand explained to Lenok, who had landed in front of the glass dome that shone dazzlingly, reflecting the sunlight.

“This is one of the meeting halls used by the Central Council Senate.”

“One of the meeting halls?”

“When it’s not a formal plenary session held by the council, they change the meeting hall to gather.”

Armand replied, taking out a blade from his pocket.

“To avoid the risk of terrorism or sniping, they have prepared several of these meeting halls and notify the time and place on the day.”

He put the blade to his finger and cut it, and drops of blood dripped from his fingertip.

Armand rubbed the blood on the dazzling glass dome wall of the meeting hall.

Whoosh!!

At that moment, the entire wall of the glass dome was stained with crimson blood, then turned pitch black.

Armand wrote a few letters on the blackened wall with quick hand gestures.

Kugugugung……!!

Following his gestures, the blackened building twisted greatly and turned into a wide passage.

Only then did Armand step back and let out a sigh of relief.

“This was the designated passage for today. I’m glad we’re not late. Please come in.”

* * *

The soldiers were left outside, and Lenok walked through the dark passage with Armand.

A dark passage where not a single ray of light could be seen with the naked eye.

It was hard to believe that this building had been a huge glass structure just a moment ago.

Armand was just walking quietly in front of Lenok, as if guiding him, without saying anything.

But Lenok was keenly aware of the countless gazes and presences watching this passage.

“Let’s have a smoke.”

Lenok, who put a cigarette in his mouth without asking for permission, lit it as it was.

Armand hesitated slightly and looked back, but Lenok ignored him and moved forward with the cigarette in his mouth.

Lenok watched the rising smoke of the cigarette, leaving Armand, who was glancing at him and then moving again.

The cigarette Lenok had been smoking recently was the Quadruple Custom No. 58.

It was a product he made himself using his alchemy knowledge, and it was a product with four times the filler compressed and filled.

Among them, it was a new product that had undergone 57 modifications.

Various pain relief and awakening effects that pursued maximum efficiency within a harmless range.

It was a product specialized in enhancing the body’s condition and awakening the senses, maintaining a precarious level without side effects.

As it was a product made by reflecting Lenok’s constitution and senses as much as possible, the moment he put one in his mouth, he felt as if all the senses in his body were awakened.

The compression was so strong that even a faint amount of concentrated magic power leaked out through the cigarette smoke.

“…….”

And that, in other words, meant that the smoke mixed with Lenok’s magic power began to linger around the passage without him intending it.

Lenok’s gaze deepened as he confirmed that the cigarette smoke was hovering above his head instead of flowing away and disappearing.

‘It’s a method of directly intervening in the spatial arrangement to construct a passage. Does the Central Council Senate have people who can do similar things…….’

Lenok’s magic power never stays in one place for long and scatters without leaving a trace unless Lenok intends it.

Nevertheless, if the cigarette smoke was staying in one place instead of scattering and disappearing, it was because the space itself that constructed the passage was bent and formed an isolated zone.

It was proof that this building, which the senators used as a meeting hall, was made by someone who could directly manipulate space.

‘This level of precise sub-spatial structure. Moreover, it’s at a level that doesn’t waste any remaining space through parallel design. The structure must be that solid.’

To escape from here, it would be impossible unless Lenok himself jumped through space to get out.

Without the blink technique or Enakphil’s five fingers, he might be trapped in this space.

While Lenok was lost in thought, Armand, who had been walking ahead, stopped abruptly in his place.

“I’ll stop here.”

He stepped aside in front of Lenok with a precise movement, then bowed slightly and spread his hand to the side.

“The council members will be waiting for you.”

Did that mean that there was no door, but he just had to walk forward?

Lenok, who understood roughly, nodded and was about to walk past Armand when Armand spoke with his head bowed.

“Actually, I stopped practicing the instrument a while ago.”

“…….”

“I should also stop taking out the ring. These days, I’m ironing my clothes by myself again.”

Armand muttered with an unreadable expression.

“I should…… learn to do it myself again. Thank you for pointing it out.”

“I see.”

There was no need to add any more comments to that.

The moment he walked one step further out of the dark space, past Armand.

Whoosh!!

The darkness around him was washed away, and a pure white and transparent space unfolded before his eyes.

The dazzling sunlight pouring down from above.

The light was reflected off the surrounding glass walls and was all converging towards the spot where Lenok was standing.

The shapes of huge thrones that rose high around the spot where Lenok was standing.

At the ends of those thrones, people whose faces could not be seen were leaning back and silently looking down at Lenok.

“…….”

Lenok frowned silently and looked around at the huge thrones that had risen around him.

Not all the seats were filled. Rather, if he counted, there were more empty seats.

Only about ten council members had shown up in this vast space, dragging their old bodies.

But someone was already sitting in the chairman’s seat, which was the highest and most elevated seat, managing the entire Senate.

An old man with striking black hair.

Despite his advanced age, his hair and eyes were a clear black.

“Sit down.”

When the old man in black opened his mouth, a deep, sonorous voice echoed through the space.

“We don’t have much time. Since you’ve attended, let’s start right away. However…….”

The chairman’s heavy black eyes were fixed on Lenok’s face.

“Smoking is officially prohibited in the meeting hall, Ban.”

“…….”

“It may seem trivial, but there are countless rules and laws that you must abide by. That law applies not only to this meeting hall but also to the entire city.”

The chairman’s tone was as if he knew Ban, calling his name naturally.

There was not a trace of agitation or wavering in his firm voice and tone.

“But there is only one way for you to have immunity from all the rules and restrictions of the city.”

The chairman asked in a blunt voice.

“Ban, do you have any intention of building a Magic Tower?”