Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 736

The giant’s citadel. In Jillian’s audience chamber, Lenox faced the clown of Pandemonium.

Seeing that bizarre face, painted stark white, was practically the first time since the incident at the Well of the Compendium.

However, instead of getting lost in reminiscence over this unexpected encounter, Lenox immediately began to gather his magical power.

Thin threads of magic, dozens of them, shot down from the air, intersecting around the clown from different directions.

Fwip! Fwip! Fwip!!

“……?”

The clown tilted his head the moment the dozens of magical threads tightly bound his limbs.

His body slumped forward, scraping along the floor and being dragged to Lenox’s feet.

“Ugh!!”

The clown, sprawled out like a frog, looked up at Lenox with a smile.

“……Could you please be a little gentler? I know you’re happy to see me after all this time, but my body isn’t in the best condition.”

“You keep saying what I’m about to say.”

Lenox said, pressing his foot firmly on the back of the clown’s neck.

“Khehehe.”

Lenox shook his head at the strange laughter coming from the clown, whose neck was being pressed down.

“Why are you here? Are you involved in this matter as well?”

Lenox’s eyes gleamed coldly from behind his obsidian mask.

“If Sabrina secretly lined her own pockets, there’s no reason to let it slide.”

His light and frivolous attitude, his unpredictable words and actions, could easily lead one to misunderstand, but Lenox knew well what kind of being the clown was.

He wasn’t just mad in a strange way; he was a transcendent illusionist whose level even Lenox couldn’t fathom.

A monster who could control even the madness that inevitably came to illusionists by messing with his own hierarchy [a system of magical power and influence].

His abilities were undoubtedly widely recognized within Pandemonium, as he had practically led the operation at the Well of the Compendium single-handedly.

If such a significant figure, who held enough influence in Pandemonium to oversee an entire continent, was here, it certainly wasn’t for a trivial reason.

Lenox instinctively understood that he needed to confirm this immediately.

[Um…]

Agneta whispered, sounding troubled, but just as Lenox was about to press down harder on the clown with his foot, ignoring her.

The clown stuck out his tongue and tilted his head, as if he had no idea what was going on.

“Huh? Was Sabrina also interested in the Kabahim royalty? That’s news to me.”

“What?”

“Was there some discussion in that strange VR [Virtual Reality] they made recently? If I knew I’d be left out like this, I would have tried it out.”

[Victor. The clown isn’t someone who moves based on orders or plans. The Baekgye case was very unusual.]

Agneta explained.

[I’m finding out that the clown is near Kabahim for the first time now.]

“…….”

“Rather, why are you here? Judging by your behavior, I didn’t think you were from the Northern Continent. And Agneta too.”

“I’ll ask first.”

“Yes?”

“Why were you searching the audience chamber?”

As Lenox said this and tilted his head, the clown rolled his eyes around before speaking.

“I need the Kabahim royal family’s biometric data. So, I was hastily searching this citadel.”

“The royal family’s biometric data?”

Lenox tilted his head and asked, pulling on the magical threads binding the clown.

“I don’t understand. If it’s that, you could just ask Soryu?”

“That friend was pushed out of the line of succession when he was exiled from Kabahim. What era are you talking about?”

The clown wriggled his body and answered casually.

“The Grand Duke is the current king’s younger brother, so he’s high in the line of succession, but he’s relatively lax and difficult to approach. It’s much easier than trying to get to the princes, wouldn’t you say?”

“…….”

“Now, then, wouldn’t you explain why you’re here at the citadel?”

The clown asked with a smirk.

Even though his limbs were tightly bound by magical threads, his expression was full of undisguised joy.

“If we play our cards right, we might be able to cooperate.”

* * *

Lenox released the magical threads binding the clown and briefly explained his business.

He needed the key to open the Gyro’s Ark, and he was looking for the Grand Duke, who knew its location.

“I see…….”

The clown, picking up and eating the refreshments he had spat out without a second thought, fell into thought.

No, he was just pretending to be in thought; he looked like he was itching to speak, as if he already had something he wanted to say.

Lenox sat on the sofa in the audience chamber, watching the clown’s filthy antics with a disgusted look.

“Victor, you’ve probably already noticed, but there’s a solution that will satisfy all of us.”

“I have no idea.”

Despite Lenox’s cold retort, the clown stubbornly continued.

“Let’s cooperate to kill the Grand Duke. Then I’ll help you find the key!!”

“No.”

“Alright! Then let’s immediately and energetically……! Huh?”

The clown, who had jumped up from his seat and raised his fist, turned his head with a bewildered expression.

Lenox looked at the clown and said coldly.

“It’s not worth it. Why would I go through the trouble of killing the Grand Duke here?”

The Grand Duke of Kabahim, Jillian, was known to be a powerful warrior from a war mercenary background.

He was also a strongman who was presumed to have completed and surpassed his own hierarchy.

Lenox’s job here wasn’t to fight and kill Jillian, but to steal the key to the Ark.

As a manipulator, there was no reason to participate in a troublesome battle here.

“No, that…….”

The clown, at a loss for words, scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“Let’s try to relive the good memories from the Well of the Compendium. How about it?”

“I’m leaving first.”

“Wait, wait, wait!!”

The clown fell flat on his face and grabbed Lenox’s leg as he stood up without hesitation.

“Then, how about the Grand Duke’s blood!! It doesn’t have to be killing him; even a hair would be fine. If necessary, even the Grand Duke’s leg hair!!”

“……Were you crawling around on the floor of the audience chamber to find hair?”

Lenox was dumbfounded by his senseless actions and judgment, but he quickly regained his composure and shook his head.

“It’s meaningless. In some cases, that would be more troublesome and difficult.”

“That, that key. I think I know where it is.”

“I’ll find out on my own.”

It was enough to know that the clown didn’t know about the Ark and was more interested in the royal family’s blood than the citadel.

Just as Lenox was about to leave the audience chamber, thinking there was no need to get involved with the clown any further.

“The ruins of the ancient giant soldier corps hidden in the deepest part of the giant’s citadel.”

The clown, slowly rising from his seat, said.

“I heard that it’s full of historically and archaeologically valuable artifacts and ruins. If it’s the key to the Ark you’re looking for, it’s probably there, wouldn’t you say?”

“…….”

“Let’s make a deal. I’ll show you the way.”

The clown smiled.

“You just need to draw attention while I do my thing. I’ll take care of the rest.”

It wasn’t about killing Jillian or collecting his blood; it was just about buying some time.

It felt like the clown’s unreasonable demands had finally come down to an acceptable level.

Rather than trying to gain an advantage by bargaining with Lenox, the clown probably just wanted to get something for nothing.

“If you’re an illusionist of your caliber, there’s no reason to borrow a hand. Why are you trying to make a deal for no reason?”

“Don’t you feel anything after slamming this poor body onto the floor?”

The clown made a pitiful face and wiggled his arms and legs.

“As you can see, my condition isn’t very good. I can only use a few low-level illusions. I’m not a clown, I’m a scarecrow.”

“…….”

Could it be that he hadn’t recovered from the aftermath of the price he paid during the Well operation?

No, a considerable amount of time had passed since then.

It was more likely that he was overusing his illusions and dealing with the side effects while doing other things.

As Agneta had said, the clown was a special force that moved as he pleased, even within Pandemonium.

It wasn’t strange that it wasn’t known to the public where he was or what he wanted.

“If I had my eternal heart shuttle… ahem, my excellent partner, Glenn, things would be a little better. But he can’t always accompany me, can he?”

“…….”

Now, Lenox didn’t even feel like scolding the clown for his rotten personality.

However, it was clear that the clown often increased the output of his illusions by sacrificing Glenn.

It was also certain that he couldn’t produce that much output and power now that he was saying he wasn’t in good condition.

It was still difficult to understand his way of thinking and audacity in openly admitting his condition and weakness in front of Lenox, but it wasn’t an immediate problem to worry about.

“So, where is the ruin?”

Lenox asked, quickly scanning the audience chamber, which had been turned into a mess by the clown.

“I searched the entire basement of the citadel, but there were no particular traces. Should I look for a hidden space?”

“Ah, about that.”

The clown picked up an ashtray that was on the table and grinned.

“I’m going to start figuring it out step by step from now on.”

“What?”

“First, shall we put that friend down and talk again?”

Bang!

At that moment, the door to the audience chamber opened, and someone stepped in from outside.

At the same time, the clown swung the ashtray he was holding with all his might, as if throwing a baseball.

The heavy ashtray flew at high speed and hit the face of the person who had just entered, right on target.

Crack!!

With a grotesque sound as if the facial bones were collapsing, the person fell backward with a thud, unable to even scream.

The knights who followed him in drew their swords as soon as they saw this.

“There’s a thief in the audience chamber!”

“Some strange clown bastard……!!”

“Uryap!!”

Before anyone could respond, the clown dashed out of the audience chamber and drop-kicked a knight in the face.

The knight’s blade, swung precisely to match the clown’s movement, instead cut through the air pitifully.

Thud!!

“Kuh!!”

The clown, landing in front of the unbalanced knight, openly held out one hand in front of the knight’s eyes.

At that moment, the knight stopped his sword swing blankly, as if caught in an invisible restraint.

“Gotcha~”

Crunch!!

As he ruthlessly kicked the knight in the groin with his shin, the knight collapsed with an indescribable sound.

While Lenox frowned and turned his gaze, the clown had quickly knocked down another unharmed knight.

The clown, kicking the fallen knight’s helmet like a ball to knock him out, winked at Lenox.

“Bullseye! Could you close the audience chamber door?”

“…….”

The clown’s sudden attack, striking the person who had suddenly entered the audience chamber.

Even though he said he wasn’t in good condition, he was able to play around with two Kabahim knights using only simple illusions.

Lenox pulled the audience chamber door closed again with his magic threads and asked.

“What would you have done if there were more guards outside?”

“Ah, I put a simple illusion on the entire citadel.”

The clown answered, picking up the blood-stained ashtray from the other person’s face.

“It’s a spell that suppresses people’s basic vigilance, so by now, everyone should be quite insensitive to any kind of commotion.”

“…….”

No wonder it was strangely easy to enter the citadel and find the way to the audience chamber; it was the result of the clown’s handiwork.

The fact that he used a high-level illusion that interfered with cognitive abilities on the entire citadel, even though he wasn’t in good condition.

However, instead of questioning the clown’s skills, Lenox focused on the person who was lying on the floor, trembling.

A thin, tall man with red cloth wrapped around his body.

The 6th Prince of Kabahim, who had come as an envoy of the Order Alliance, was lying there.

His face was smashed by the ashtray, his nose was broken, and his jawbone was cracked and crushed.

His skin was already covered in bruises, and sticky blood was dripping from his crushed nostrils.

“This trash isn’t even royalty anymore, and he’s been pushed out of the line of succession, so he’s not very useful, but there’s one thing I need to confirm.”

As the clown said this, he opened the mouth of the fallen 6th Prince and spat his saliva into it.

Lenox shook his head in disgust at the sight.

“You only do disgusting things. What have you been doing all this time?”

“This friend here, he touched the refreshments here earlier.”

The clown said, flipping up the 6th Prince’s eyelids.

“I mixed the bodily fluids left on the leftover refreshments with my magic and created a new illusion that uses it as a catalyst.”

“Instead of giving a pointless meaning to the act of picking up and eating the chewed-up refreshments?”

From the point when he said he would make a deal with Lenox about the location of the ruins, he didn’t know the way; he was planning to interrogate the 6th Prince who was approaching the audience chamber and get the conditions right now.

That bargain and idea without collateral was absurd, but it wasn’t something that couldn’t be understood, given who he was dealing with.

“The 6th Prince is a mage of the Order Alliance. He should have considerable resistance to spells that force confessions, especially those that make him spill information.”

Lenox asked.

“Can you extract information before his mind collapses?”

If he used his magic eye, Lenox could also extract information by crushing memories or the mind, but if the other person had some resistance, more preparation was needed.

If he made a mistake, the mage’s mind could be crushed before he could extract the desired information, so it was something that had to be used carefully, judging the chances of success.

Even Lenox usually tried to corner the target’s mind as much as possible and break their will before attempting this kind of interrogation.

Most of the time, it would be a complete failure to try to extract information right after smashing the prince’s face, like now.

“There aren’t many people who can withstand pleasure rather than pain. Especially those who have grown up in strict environments like the royal family.”

However, the clown answered Lenox’s words with ease.

“If you gently release the suppressed parts and give them a sense of stability that they are getting what they want, they will believe it, even if it’s fake, for a very short time.”

The clown, holding the prince’s head up with one hand, smiled.

“Illusion is a tranquilizer born from such desires.”

“…….”

“The location of the giant soldier corps ruins. The way to get there. Please explain very kindly, as if you were guiding your father~”

As soon as he finished speaking, the 6th Prince’s mouth slowly opened.

“Walk along the outer wall…… seven steps…… fifth block…… eye…… according to what I heard from my uncle, usually…….”

His words were broken and fragmented, but it was enough to understand the context to some extent.

Lenox, comparing the structure of the giant’s citadel he had memorized with the information coming from the prince’s mouth, nodded.

“That’s enough.”

“Then, can we consider that we’ve joined hands?”

“I’ll play along with your ridiculous antics for a bit.”

Whack!!

He tied the neck of the unconscious 6th Prince and threw him out the audience chamber window, hanging him there.

This should be enough to draw attention while causing a commotion.

While the clown whistled, Lenox, who had quickly finished his preparations, turned away.

Kicking open the audience chamber door and stepping out into the empty hallway, Lenox asked.

“So, what are you planning to do now?”

“As I said before, we’re going.”

The clown, who had followed him out, slowly stretched his body and lightly scanned his waist.

Two gently curved daggers, a deck of cards, and a few charms of unknown purpose.

“I’ll start, so please just respond appropriately. If you’re done, you can leave first.”

“I’ll decide that on my own without you telling me. The important thing is the starting point.”

Lenox retorted.

“It’s hard to know if we’re moving without a clear signal. Especially if you’re in a position where it’s difficult to respond flexibly, as you said?”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. The preparations are already complete.”

The clown smiled.

“It wouldn’t be fun if the members from the Well incident got together and acted boring, would it?”

“I don’t think fun is important in this matter.”

Despite Lenox’s cold reaction, the clown didn’t care and raised one hand.

A small panel with a thin switch protruding from it. The red color of that button was particularly ominous.

The moment Lenox realized that it felt similar to a detonator for a bomb.

The clown pressed the switch hard, and the audience chamber they had just walked out of exploded.

KABOOM!!!

A tremendous flash and roar. The hot heat soared into the sky, creating a mushroom cloud.

Hot gusts of wind swept through the hallway, melting everything around it.

The clown, who had blown away the audience chamber on the top floor of the giant’s citadel, the key location where the lord was seated, smirked.

“So, I’ll make it a little more fun for you.”

“…….”

While Lenox silently looked down at the chaotic citadel courtyard, Agneta quietly muttered.

[Maybe I shouldn’t have come along…….]