Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 729

The Magic Tower and the Mage (7)

“The manager of the Blood Writing… I see.”

Lenox turned away from the screen displaying the access logs and spoke.

“I didn’t know the Secretary-General of the Council was one for such dramatic encounters.”

Lenox chuckled, glancing up at the server room as he muttered,

“Or is it because you were involved in the project?”

Lenox understood with that one sentence why Lucifos had immediately read his movements and contacted him.

The Blood Writing Jaible [a magical notebook] that Madam had gifted to Lenox.

It was said to be originally used to communicate with those who managed Kaise’s corpse, but it seemed its true purpose lay elsewhere.

This notebook was a recording device with a self-awareness that stored and managed matters related to blood and living species.

Was Lucifos able to read Lenox’s movements in advance due to his experience managing this Blood Writing?

‘If he could read the Blood Writing’s search history, he would have contacted me sooner.’

It had been months since Lenox learned of the rendezvous schedule in District 6 through the Blood Writing.

If Lucifos had been aware of that, he should have moved to contact Lenox long ago.

But why did he appear at this point and ask Lenox about the circumstances of that time?

‘He recognized the activation itself, but he can’t find out the specific search history or user. That’s the extent of the authority given to a former manager.’

Lucifos knew that the Blood Writing had been accessed multiple times, but he didn’t know the specific search history or the user.

Therefore, it was understandable that he had been periodically watching District 6 after the rendezvous, trying to find the owner of the Blood Writing.

To deduce movements just by recognizing the activation of the writing, the other party was also not an ordinary person with experience and insight.

But more than that, something else was grabbing Lenox’s attention.

“Frankly, I’m not very curious about your origins or background.”

Lenox took a step forward, slowly touching the table as he spoke.

As his long fingers, peeking out from his coat sleeves, caressed the edge of the table, the Secretary-General’s gaze naturally followed.

A Great Mage of Level 8. An extreme-level ability user who transcended ranks with his own power, without any learning or mathematics.

Even a single gesture from a mage who had gone through countless battles could not be ignored.

Lenox tilted his head, looking at Lucifos’s face, which seemed to be filled with resolve.

“I’ve heard that there are those in the Council who hold emergency powers granted in the early days of the city. You must be one of those who hold such authority.”

Back when he met Kaise in District 25, which was designated as a closed area, he had met one of the Council members.

Lucinder the Key Keeper. A survivor of the giant race, thought to be extinct, and a member of the Giant Soldier Corps that had existed for over 200 years.

A peculiar individual who kept the access codes for all areas of Balkan in his body as a biometric code. Lenox had acquired the authority to enter District 25 from him.

The Council was not simply a small gathering of old power holders, nor a group that guaranteed the status of old monsters who had already lost their power and retired.

They were the ones who kept and managed special knowledge or authority that had not been handed down within the city’s order. The legacy of the old era that could no longer be passed on.

A group that nominally coexisted with the powerful Central Council, while not interfering with each other.

“The other contact I met in this district. Where is he?”

Lenox asked, slowly tapping the table.

“If you play games like this and can’t give me a proper answer, I’ll be very disappointed.”

“You…”

Lucifos shook his head as if he was dumbfounded.

“I’ve heard that you don’t know the rules and don’t care about procedures, but I didn’t know you were such a reckless person.”

The Secretary-General said, looking at Lenox with piercing eyes.

“The Deputy Director of the Agency gave you access authority as a decision to protect the peace and order of the city. Aren’t you ashamed to abuse that consideration in this way?”

“…”

The other party knew that Lenox had come without hiding his identity as a Guardian.

Lenox’s eyes changed at the Secretary-General’s words, who unhesitatingly mentioned the secret history of that time.

“I thought I had already paid enough for that consideration, but it seems the Council didn’t think so.”

“What?”

“The magic particle exposure incident in District 25. Wasn’t that something I was assigned to because I had a history of entering a closed area?”

“…”

“I paid the price by keeping the secret history of that time under wraps, and I don’t want to be criticized for it now.”

Seeing Lucifos frown, Lenox crossed his arms and asked,

“I understand that you don’t want to share information about the other contact. Then why did you bother to show up in person and tell me of your existence?”

“…It seems you’re not very interested in what kind of evaluation you receive from the outside.”

Lucifos gave a wry smile.

“I was just trying to avoid the worst-case scenario of innocent managers dying.”

“Well. If you really prioritized people’s safety, you would have called me aside to talk the moment you recognized my movements.”

Lenox immediately cut off the Secretary-General’s words with a sneer.

A plausible answer at first glance, that he had come forward to prevent a disturbance in District 6 due to the Guardian’s notoriety.

But Lenox knew that those words were a lie without a shred of sincerity.

“But you watched the situation and appeared late, even watching me search for data in this server room. That must have been to confirm whether I actually have the ability to extract data from the closed area, and what method I used to get here.”

Lenox laughed.

“You just want to know how I got my hands on the Blood Writing, and how I dug into the project this far. Isn’t that right?”

“…”

Lucifos didn’t answer.

He just stared at him silently, neither affirming nor denying.

As if quietly thinking about something, the Secretary-General’s mouth slowly opened after a long silence.

“We had to bury the tragedy that happened back then. Even at that moment when everything reached its breaking point, everyone agreed on that one decision.”

Lucifos murmured quietly.

“The only ban that was agreed upon at the end of the failed project. We use that contradiction as our strength to bind our mouths more strongly than anything else.”

The Secretary-General, who had been staring at Lenox, slowly began to walk.

“But after you fought and defeated Madrich Onion, you started digging into the project. The facts that could be known through him were obvious.”

Lucifos whispered, scanning Lenox’s entire body with his aged gaze.

“That Onion broke the ban and told you the truth. Oliviera must have helped with that.”

“…”

“I can understand that far. Onion was a fair man, but he was secretly hoping for someone to take his place. It’s not strange that he felt something in a mage like you. But-”

In the quiet server room, only the old man’s self-questioning echoed.

“But how you got your hands on the Blood Writing is a completely different story.”

“…”

“That is a journal written by the Blood-Feeding Lord for the long-lived species, and a contract that records the genealogy of the True Blood… For them, all of this is just a promise.”

“What do you want?”

“Shall we make a deal?”

The Secretary-General said.

He shrugged, looking at Lenox with a blurry gaze that couldn’t read his emotions.

“I have questions for you, and you also have questions for me. If we exchange one secret each, wouldn’t that be a reasonable deal?”

“…”

Was he suggesting that they exchange questions and answers like writing a diary?

He had guessed it when he revealed himself as the former manager of the Blood Writing, but it seemed that Lucifos wanted to use the Blood Writing again.

Whether he knew Lenox’s thoughts or not, Lucifos calmly continued his explanation.

“I don’t know how you’ve been handling the Blood Writing, but I’ll teach you how to use it, drawing on my experience as a manager.”

“Teach me?”

“If handled well, it’s an object that can easily break free from the shackles of the mortal world.”

Lucifos gave a strange smile.

“If you’re clever enough, you can avoid the ban placed on us and convey relatively accurate facts.”

“…”

A question-and-answer session where the project’s stakeholders directly exchange one secret each.

Of course, he wouldn’t expect to get a straightforward answer just by asking a question.

Considering the power of the ban, it was highly likely that he would speak in circles that Lenox wouldn’t understand, or openly use metaphors.

But even so, there was a way to break the Secretary-General’s confidence in this deal.

Lenox nodded.

“Okay. But I’ll ask the question first.”

“Of course. Then, would you show me the Blood Writing first?”

As Lenox took out a small notebook from his pocket, Lucifos’s eyes shone brightly.

“Yes. It looks like that this time…”

Leaving the Secretary-General, who couldn’t take his eyes off the notebook with a complex expression, Lenox immediately opened the page.

“Shall we start right away? What did you talk about at the rendezvous?”

“…”

“If you can bypass the ban through the power of the Blood Writing, answer this question first.”

Lenox’s words implied that the existence of the Blood Writing Jaible itself was the answer.

Lucifos, understanding the meaning, silently bit his finger.

With his bloodied hand, he calmly wrote a blood letter.

[One of the project’s stakeholders was murdered in another region. This rendezvous was about that matter.]

“…”

At that moment, the letters Lucifos had written disappeared, and new characters appeared below.

[New information input confirmed.]

New information that did not contradict the Blood Writing’s search history.

The fact that it was being recorded was proof that the information Lucifos had given was true.

If they used the Blood Writing’s recording ability in this way, they could at least determine whether each other’s words were false or true.

Content that didn’t directly mention the project, but was still within the relevant scope.

It was probably right to think that this was the best he could do to avoid the ban.

“It’s my turn.”

Lucifos said, pointing at the notebook again.

“How were you able to access the Blood Writing?”

Lucifos asked.

“This is just a simple means of communication for those who don’t have the qualifications. If you can’t awaken the self-awareness of the recording device, you can only use it to send simple signals.”

“…”

“Even I am barely using this with the authority of the Secretary-General that I obtained in the early days of Balkan’s founding, it’s a cursed object that has become a nuisance even for vampires.”

“The level of your question is below expectations.”

Lenox sneered.

“Are you more curious about that than how I found out the secrets of the project?”

“As I said, this is one of the very rare means of bypassing the ban.”

Lucifos said, carefully stroking the page of the notebook.

“Show me how you’re using the Blood Writing. Right in front of me.”

“What if I refuse?”

Lucifos’s eyes shone coldly.

“Then I’ll have to directly command the Blood Writing to prevent you from accessing any more secrets. Knowledge given to those who are not qualified is nothing more than a curse.”

“Knowledge given to those who are not qualified is a curse…”

Lenox chuckled as soon as he heard those words.

Because he could feel the strong pride in those words, and what kind of life Lucifos had lived as the Secretary-General.

Lenox, drawing blood on his finger and placing it on the Blood Writing, said,

“I was going to show some respect since you’re a project stakeholder, but I don’t think I need to anymore.”

[Jaible. Leave out the unnecessary modifiers and just answer my question.]

The Blood Writing was treating Lenox as an Ascended One. There was no need to share that fact with Lucifos.

Lenox added a simple command to prevent the Blood Writing from mentioning the Ascended One, and then wrote another message.

[Information on the past managers of the Blood Writing. How much access is required?]

Immediately, blood-stained letters appeared on the paper of the notebook.

[Information on the managers, including the Blood-Feeding Lord, the author of the Blood Writing, is inaccessible.]

“Good.”

Lenox immediately wrote a new message.

The blood letter written down the page was not a question, but a command.

[Bring all personal information and search history of the former manager of the Blood Writing, Lucifos Philion.]

“…You’re doing something unnecessary.”

Lucifos shook his head with a wry smile.

“If you want to pretend to be good at handling the Blood Writing, even now-”

[Confirmed.]

“…!!!”

The moment Lucifos, who had stiffened, widened his eyes.

Blood-stained letters began to appear rapidly on the page of the old notebook.