Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 697

As Lenox had said, the Cartel’s efficiency was remarkable. Less than half a day after handing over the list of executives, they had been summoned and delivered to Jenny’s bar in Sector 49.

“Wow~ Mr. Ban. It’s been a while.”

A lean young man with tanned skin and white hair bowed his head.

His casual attire of a thin shirt and jeans made him look more like a college student than a Cartel executive.

Lenox slid a glass of liquor in front of the young man and replied,

“It’s been since the agent incident.”

“Yes, yes. I was in your debt back then.”

The young man respectfully shook Lenox’s hand with both of his. His overly polite demeanor made the others standing nearby look at him with curiosity.

“…He’s quite polite for a Cartel executive.”

“Yeah~ I am.”

The young man scratched his head sheepishly at Killian’s words.

“I’m just an outsider who was scouted. I don’t really know about the authority of an executive~”

Jenny tilted her head at his strangely deflated tone.

“Oliviera wouldn’t like that kind of personality… Did she completely hand over the authority for talent acquisition to Virgil?”

“Eek, I’m a little hurt if you say that.”

Even as he said that, the young man bowed his head again.

“My name is Angel. Everyone. I’m in charge of the Cartel’s telecommunications division. Please take care of me.”

“……”

Angel, the 4th executive of the Cartel.

A new talent recruited after a vacancy in the executive board, he was also a cryokinetic esper [a person with psychic abilities related to ice] specializing in freezing bodily fluids and moisture.

He was the one who appeared late during the agent director Greta Witherhill’s attack on the Cartel headquarters and protected the underground vault.

Lenox vividly remembered his wide-area frost mist attack that covered a vast area.

“You seem motivated. Are you interested in this matter?”

“Of course. If Dead Rise succeeds in launching a satellite, it will attract enormous capital in the telecommunications sector.”

Angel nodded quickly.

“Then the performance of the telecommunications division I’m in charge of will plummet, and I might get kicked out of my executive position.”

Lenox laughed at his nonchalant answer.

“You seem to like your executive position quite a bit.”

“It’s true that I have to diligently approve all the bothersome documents, but where else can you find such a comfortable position?”

Angel replied cheerfully.

“Well, I can’t stay here forever, but I’ll cling on as hard as I can like a leech until I can’t-”

“Why are you always spouting nonsense?”

At that moment, a small girl who appeared from behind Angel smacked him hard on the back of his head.

Thwack!!

The force was so strong that Angel’s head folded in half and slammed into the bar floor.

A young girl with striking fluorescent hair.

“The chairman gave you permission to go out, and what are you saying to a partner company?”

However, her eyes, as she looked at Angel convulsing on the floor, were filled with contempt that did not match her appearance.

“If you keep dragging the headquarters’ prestige through the mud, I’ll crush your head too, so keep that in mind.”

“Ugh, Merilda… you didn’t have to say it like that.”

Angel muttered, coughing up bluish frost instead of blood.

“I just want to get along with the outside director.”

“…Well, that’s true.”

The girl called Merilda seemed to ponder at those words, then turned her gaze sharply towards Lenox.

After rummaging through her pocket, she took something out and tossed it to Lenox.

“Hey, you rockhead. The thing you asked the chairman for. I got it.”

“Good work.”

A worn-out document rolled up in a scroll.

On the paper, a seal melted like candle wax was stamped with an antique pattern.

While Lenox immediately opened it to check the contents, the girl crossed her arms and nodded.

“Now that that’s done, let’s do well this time. I didn’t think you’d call me.”

Merilda, the 3rd executive of the Cartel.

Unlike Angel, she had been a member of the executive board since the early days of the Cartel. Her true form was a giant wolf with pure white fur.

A beastkin [a human with animalistic features] who had inherited a strong lineage of a phantasmal species rather than a human one. Her immense strength and way of speaking, which did not match her appearance, were likely the result of her true form.

However, despite having known each other for a long time, Lenox had rarely interacted with her directly.

But after checking all the contents of the scroll, Lenox shook his head at Merilda’s words.

“No. I’m sorry, but I don’t remember calling you.”

“…What?”

Merilda’s expression crumpled.

Lenox ignored her reaction and explained.

“I did call Angel, but I asked for another executive who was skilled in martial arts. It seems there was a mistake.”

Since both Lenox and Tatiana were mages, it was enough to fill the support with a strong vanguard [a soldier at the front of a battle].

However, the reason for calling Angel was because his large-scale cryokinetic ability was useful in many ways.

That’s why he wanted another executive to be a solid vanguard, but he didn’t expect Merilda to show up.

“I think the power and abilities of a phantasmal species are impeccable, but they are unsuitable as a vanguard.”

“No, then I was called correctly.”

“Why?”

Merilda crossed her arms and puffed out her chest confidently.

“Because I’m the most skilled in martial arts among the executives!!”

“……”

“I’m the one who trains the execution squad in weapon techniques.”

“But I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wield a weapon.”

Lenox’s eyes narrowed.

“I only remember you rampaging in wolf form and chewing on humans. Am I mistaken?”

“T-that’s just because it’s easier against small fry!”

Merilda said, flinching as if she had been stabbed.

She glanced around and quickly protested.

“And I don’t eat humans. That’s just something I say to scare the weak.”

“Hmm……”

“It’s the same humans who betray and offer each other up. Stronger beings don’t do that in the first place.”

Merilda spoke again, flaring up at Lenox’s distrustful look.

“There’s not much to eat because there’s not much fat or meat, just bones!! Haven’t you heard that sharks don’t like humans as prey?”

“……”

“Oh, really?”

Even Jenny, as if hearing it for the first time, searched on her laptop and muttered in surprise.

“It’s true. There’s a post on the deep web written by a shark ancient species hybrid. It seems they don’t prefer them as prey in the first place.”

Jenny nodded.

“That’s good. Even now, our tuna catch is a bit cramped because it’s blocked by shark habitats, so we can expand the area if this is the case.”

“……”

She suddenly became interested, but it was because there was an issue that was hindering the tuna catch.

In the awkward atmosphere, Lenox cleared his throat slightly.

“Okay. So you haven’t been eating humans lately. I understand.”

“I don’t eat them at all!”

Merilda stomped her feet in the bar in annoyance, and the impact shook the display case.

While Jorden was startled and tidied up the shelves, Lenox nodded.

“Okay. Then can I test you?”

“Test? Te-e-est?”

Merilda asked, dragging out her words.

“You’re going to test me!”

“The reason I wanted a superhuman skilled in martial arts wasn’t just to find a vanguard for the operation.”

Lenox said, tilting his head.

“To capture Peisha Grisburn, I want to test something against a warrior who is good at handling weapons. Will you cooperate?”

* * *

The training ground located behind the distribution company building.

A place where mercenaries and soldiers belonging to the company occasionally come to focus on personal training.

The training ground, with various exercise equipment, weapons, and targets for shooting practice, was unusually deserted.

The reason why the training ground, which would normally be bustling with dozens of people, was quiet for the first time in a while.

It was because the rest of the security personnel, except for those deployed for duty, had gone out to sea according to Jenny’s ambition.

Looking at the scroll Merilda had given him, Lenox pointed to the wall of the training ground.

“Here.”

Lenox, who had wrapped a spear hanging on the wall of the training ground with mana, tossed the spear to Merilda, who had followed him.

“First, a polearm [a weapon with a blade or point on the end of a long shaft]. If you don’t like it, you can use any weapon you want.”

“So, you want me to attack you with this?”

Merilda asked, holding the spear with a nonchalant expression.

The girl holding a spear much taller than her looked awkward, but conversely, Merilda’s center of gravity did not waver at all.

It was proof that she was very skilled at balancing with such a weapon.

Lenox nodded without taking his eyes off the scroll.

“Time limit is 2 minutes. You can start whenever you want. The location is limited to this training ground. Oh, and…”

Lenox looked at Tatiana, Jenny, Angel, and Killian, who were looking down at the two of them from the other side of the training ground, and said,

“Make sure not to cause any damage to the surroundings. It’s just training. Understood?”

“Hey, you keep looking at me like I’m some kind of mindless beast…”

Merilda grumbled, and the moment she stood diagonally with the spear, her eyes turned cold.

“I’ve lived a hundred years longer than you, you brat. Just because you have some talent, you don’t see the Aein [a term for a specific group or race] as humans?”

“……”

“I don’t know what kind of confidence you have to try an experiment in close combat… Well, fine.”

The moment Merilda lowered her stance while holding the long spear, a pressure that had been suppressed around her body burst out.

“Now that it’s come to this, I won’t hold back, so make sure you do that experiment properly.”

Clang!!

The spear in the girl’s hand seemed to bend for a moment, then it was planted on the training ground floor and bounced back up.

Using the elasticity that had pushed the ground and the spear’s durability to their limits, Merilda’s body shot out like a bullet.

Whoosh!!

The moment he visually confirmed the spear bending, her eyes flashed right in front of him.

Her fluorescent hair fluttered as she drew a sinister crescent moon below her feet.

She slashed upwards diagonally under Lenox’s chin, and a circular shockwave spread out above his head like an angel’s halo.

Boom!!

The expressions of the others watching changed drastically at that perfect preemptive strike.

“It seems like it hit directly.”

“He didn’t even use a shield. What is he thinking…”

“No, isn’t the fight already over?”

A strike that crawled like a snake under the ground, passed through the abdomen, side, and chest in an instant, then shot up the chin and exploded all that power at the top of the head.

If hit properly, the internal organs of the entire body would burst, and the blood vessels in the brain would rupture.

It wouldn’t be strange if black blood was dripping from Lenox’s five orifices in this state.

However, Lenox’s eyes, which had been lifted up by the chin, were neither rolled back nor bloodshot.

They only focused accurately on Merilda, who was rushing through the air, with an unknown golden glow.

Merilda’s brow twitched as she looked at Lenox with a blank expression.

“…You withstood it? No, did you deflect it?”

If Lenox had deflected Merilda’s attack, the shockwave that had been detonated by the spear would not have bloomed from the top of Lenox’s head.

But on the other hand, it was also true that this mage’s body did not look that sturdy to have withstood it head-on.

Even if she wanted to continue the attack as it was, it would be useless if she did not understand the principle of how the opponent was reacting.

In that subtle gap of perception, Merilda carefully observed Lenox’s appearance, then slowly turned her head and said,

“1 minute 40 seconds.”

“What?”

“You used 20 seconds for that one attack. Try again.”

“……”

“If you try to figure out what I’m doing, you’ll keep wasting time on useless worries.”

Lenox smiled wryly as he touched the scroll in his hand.

“I’m not sure if the training I’m doing now will succeed either.”

The expressions of the group watching the training turned blank at that honest confession. Merilda also shook the spear up and down as if she was dumbfounded and asked,

“…Hey, is that something a mage like you should be saying?”

“Isn’t that why we’re facing each other like this?”

“……”

Perhaps she realized that Lenox was desperate for this training.

Merilda’s eyes changed slightly, and she stomped her foot with a smileless face.

“…Okay.”

Thump!!

Immediately after, the floor of the training ground shook greatly, and the polearms hanging on the wall fell down in a flurry.

As if drawing a circle centered on the spot where Merilda was standing, dozens of weapons gathered.

Clack!!

She stepped on the end of a long halberd, raised it up, and grabbed the spear and halberd with both hands.

“I’ll do it with the intention to kill, so try to block it properly!!”

Merilda, who was holding two long spears that did not match her small stature, bounced her body to the side and rotated.

Using the halberd and spear she was holding as supports, she stamped on the ground and sprinted with the recoil.

Clack clack clack!!!

She approached Lenox, unleashing a storm of rotating spears in an instant.

“No.”

But even as he watched Merilda’s sprint approaching right in front of him, Lenox slowly raised one hand.

“I’m not the one who’s going to block it.”

“What?”

The scroll of Oliviera that Merilda herself had delivered to Lenox.

Lenox, who had quickly scanned the contents written in the scroll, began to form elaborate hand seals with both hands.

His fingers and wrists bent at complex angles, and the elaborate incantation was perfectly aligned without a single error.

At the same time, the mana rotating behind Lenox’s back began to bend strangely and emit a bright glow.

Fwoooosh…!!

In an instant, a barrier formation that surrounded Merilda and shone in a huge hemisphere shape began to rotate.

Huge lines of light connected, and each light source became a focal point for constructing the barrier.

A high-level sealing technique that simultaneously confines different areas by overlapping hundreds of focal points existing in the barrier.

Light-type Unique Magic

Great Light Buddha Supreme Seal

[Wheel Fortress Construction]

Merilda, who recognized the identity of the magic, shouted in shock.

“How did you learn the chairman’s magic…!!!”

Thud!!!