Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 75

Lennox skillfully placed a handful of pills on his palm and swallowed them all at once with water.

“Hoo…”

He didn’t believe that something as simple as this could improve his inherently weak body. It wasn’t a lack of nutrients that made him short of breath and unable to even jog; it was something more fundamental.

The miraculous medicine, Stemonia, which he had invested 100 million cells in, had only temporarily alleviated some of his penalties and removed toxins from the beginning of the year. He knew better than anyone that the price needed to break free from the shackles that came with his absurd, heaven-defying talent was not something as simple as nutritional supplements.

“……..”

However, he believed that doing something was better than doing nothing, and that such an attitude could steadily improve his quality of life. If he didn’t make meticulous efforts every moment, he would fall off this precarious tightrope at any time. He must not forget. Risk and return. The balance between them, and the ability to continue this precarious walk, was due to his strong will to live more than anything else. And Lennox could not tolerate any laziness or bothersome thoughts that would dilute that desire.

‘It’s ironic.’

Could it be just a coincidence that the stronger his reason as a mage became, the more he felt the talent inherent in his soul, the more his thirst for life intensified? Because he was more rational than anyone else, he might also desire life more desperately than anyone else.

Forcing himself to shake off the flood of thoughts, Lennox took out a celery stalk from the refrigerator and crunched on it. It was a vegetable famous as a diet food rather than a health food, but it contained fiber that helped with calorie consumption and improved digestive function, so he had stocked it in the refrigerator and took one out whenever he was bored.

Lennox, who had sat down next to the refrigerator and was rummaging through something, slowly raised his magic power. With the now familiar warm heat, the magic power rotating in his hand began to flow into the bullet he was holding and settle there. Scribble, scribble. Letters and shapes that Lennox didn’t even recognize were engraved in a line on the surface of the bullet, drawing a spiral. The moment the head and tail of the letters that started on one side met after going around once.

Flash!

A bright light bloomed from the bullet he was holding, then was completely sucked inside.

“……….”

Lennox looked down at the bullet without a word, but he couldn’t hide the smile that appeared on his lips. The magic he had just imbued into the bullet was the common magic [Ignite], which created a flame the size of a campfire. The fact that nothing happened even though he used magic on the bullet meant only one thing. After finding a clue from the request of Amnach Pharmaceutical Company, Lennox was now able to properly cast an enchantment on a moving object.

‘I should thank Alice.’

The basic knowledge he had accumulated while researching the enchantment on Enacfil’s five fingers. By combining it with the principle of unique magic he had realized through sparring with Alice, he was finally able to obtain a proper enchantment. The key was not to draw the magic circle on the object while maintaining its original shape, but to make sure that the structure of the object itself could be included in a magic circle. It was important to finely divide the structure of magic power and draw a magic circle that was intentionally incomplete. Once he realized that if he wasn’t bound by the shape of a circle, there was no reason to worry about the change in coordinates, there was rapid progress. Of course, the duration of the enchantment he had imbued in this way was very short, but the fact that he had grasped the feeling was important. Once he had set the right direction, all that was left was to increase his skills.

‘If I can properly apply this to weapons like guns….’

He could minimize the burden of using magic continuously while also having the ability to deal with various situations. He squeezed the bullet tightly in his hand and leaned his head against the wall.

‘I’ll have a lot to do after this is over.’

Training in enchantment, training in movement magic using Enacfil’s five fingers, and clues about the Torben School’s lightning-based unique magic. It was an opportunity to drastically improve his combat ability, which had been moving sideways all this time. His body was tired, but his mind was clear with anticipation for the abilities he would gain in the future. Lennox, who had groped next to the refrigerator and picked up a sleeping pill bottle, smiled faintly. Tonight, he felt like he could sleep more comfortably than other nights.

#

“Okay.”

Panoa, who had put down the smartphone in his hand, said with a bright face. Manya replied as if she had been waiting.

“Did the permission finally come from the council?”

“They said it’s okay as long as we can clean up before the inspection. That much time is enough.”

“It wasn’t a waste of time to lobby the old men of the council for a whole month.”

As Manya said, rubbing her eyes tiredly, most of the work of the project team led by Panoa recently had been focused on lobbying the city council. Even if everything went perfectly, they couldn’t finish without the permission of the city government. Conversely, if the city council could turn a blind eye, it was the same as saying that Panoa could pour all his power into Cigar Bang without filtering it.

“We wouldn’t have been able to get this result if it weren’t for the agreement with the autonomous territory. The city government doesn’t have the luxury to look elsewhere right now. We need to wrap things up quickly before the old men wipe their mouths clean.”

“I should let the Anti-Mage know about this.”

“Yes. Before they make a move, we should strike first─”

Kwaaaang!!

Before Panoa could finish speaking, a loud explosion was heard from outside the window, and the building shook faintly. Panoa, who was holding the armrest of the chair tightly with wide eyes, and Manya, whose mouth was set, looked out the window at the same time. The revolving door in front of Dyke’s headquarters was completely broken, and a corpse was sprawled in a large hole that had been dug in the middle. Manya, who had confirmed the bomb vest wrapped around the body and the exposed back, sighed.

“It seems they know they don’t have much time either.”

“……Is it a gang?”

“Yes.”

Manya replied. “It seems to be an invitation sent directly by the boss.”

A large letter written in blood on the exposed back. It was a message from Eden, the boss of Cigar Bang.

[Let’s meet face to face.]

#

Feeling the sharp gaze that stung his face, Lennox slowly walked into the bar. He felt that the number of people who recognized him had increased considerably recently. He had solved quite a few requests, but the decisive moment when he felt that the gaze had changed was after the railway station operation. To be precise, it was after the rumor that he had directly killed Beck Clinton began to spread. Since a mage had faced and killed a spearman head-on, it was inevitable that speculation about his abilities would be rampant. A strange sense of caution where favor and hostility coexisted. A strange anxiety that he might meet them as an opponent somewhere in the future was conveyed through the languid air of the bar.

“……..”

It was a little annoying, but Lennox didn’t find this gaze to be burdensome. It was to quickly build up this kind of reputation that he had decided to join hands with Dyke. The process of reaping the rewards was not as Lennox had intended, but he had gained a lot from dealing with a gang that had a tight grip on an area like Cigar Bang. So much so that he could feel it just by Jenny’s reaction.

“The number of profile views on the deep web has exceeded four digits.”

“What?”

“It’s proof that your potential clients have started to increase tremendously. If you add Beck Clinton’s name to your accumulated career, it will soon become a task to choose requests.”

“…..Weren’t you acquainted with Beck? You seem more calm than I thought.”

“He was just a stubborn old man who was obsessed with useless names. How much did he try to extort protection money in the 49th district? It’s a relief that such an old thug is gone.”

Jenny’s reply was clear and without a hint of cloudiness.

“Did you see the message Panoa sent?”

“Yeah. I heard the gang boss sent a message directly.”

Lennox frowned as he said that. Suicide bombing, even though they sent a message with the nuance of wanting to talk, the method was extremely violent. Or was the message just a pretext, and they just wanted to vent their anger?

“It’s an ambiguous timing. It’s too late to fix things, but it’s a little too early to surrender.”

Lennox reacted to Jenny’s muttering.

“It’s right to see it as an intentional move.”

“I think so too. Especially since they didn’t move immediately after Beck Clinton died.”

The movement of the gang boss, who had sent support troops to the Scavenger 48th branch but had not made any statement until now. From Lennox’s point of view, it was a flow that he couldn’t help but be concerned about. Especially considering that the opponent was a madman who committed terrorism even at the headquarters of a company.

“Is it a coincidence that the attack was carried out right after Panoa received tacit permission from the city government? He broke the unwritten rules of this world, but considering the circumstances, he might have thought that he had to break the flow even if he had to break the rules.”

Jenny seemed more interested in inferring the gang boss’s thoughts than the situation itself.

“You seem very interested.”

“Of course. A mage from the Torben Magic Tower who flowed into this city and became a gang boss, that’s a story that’s not easy to find in this world.”

Her eyes shone sharply. “If he’s from those war merchants, it makes sense that he promoted the arms business with the soldiers. Isn’t it natural since that’s all he saw and learned?”

Come to think of it, Jenny had mistaken Lennox for a mage from the Torben Magic Tower when she first met him. Now that she had seen and heard how Lennox fought, she seemed to know that he didn’t just use lightning magic, but in this world, when it came to lightning magic, they thought of Torben. The Torben Magic Tower. The headquarters of lightning-based mages located in a remote desert in the southwest of the continent, they were the most popular and well-known lightning mages and also businessmen who were crazy about money. They went beyond simply working as mercenaries, actively intervened in wars, and extremely preferred to expand their influence externally through such businesses. They judged their status and actions based solely on skill and performance, and ruthlessly discarded any talent that fell behind, so being from the Torben School generally meant those who had failed to overcome the fierce competition of the Magic Tower.

“I used to work with those guys before.”

“……….”

Lennox and Jenny turned their heads silently at the voice coming from the side. Dylan, who was sitting in the corner of the bar and munching on a sandwich, waved his hand lightly.

“…..I’m going crazy. When did he sneak in again?”

Jenny said with a disgusted expression, but Dylan didn’t even blink an eye and winked at Lennox.

“Partner, long time no see?”

“Who’s your partner?”

At Lennox’s lukewarm reply, Dylan shook his shoulders with an exaggerated gesture.

“I’m disappointed that you’ve already erased me from your memory. Where did the strong bond we forged when we faced the alligator elder go?”

“…….The person who had his waist folded by the Kraken has a lot to say.”

In fact, wasn’t it all Lennox’s job to somehow buy time against the Kraken back then? If Evelyn had been a little late in finding them, it wouldn’t have been strange if the two of them had been found as cold corpses. Dylan wriggled his lips inside his mask as if he was wronged.

“No, that was a problem that couldn’t have been solved even if our boss had been there. Who the hell can face a monster worth billions of cells?”

“……..”

That was true. It was absurd that they had encountered such a strong person in their first request. After working in this world a few times, Lennox no longer gave it much meaning.

“Anyway, I’m saying I’ve worked with Torben School mages before, too?”

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead and blabber.”

At Jenny’s reply, which sounded like she was fed up, Dylan started to unpack his story with excitement. He had accidentally encountered them on a request to transport supplies to an unknown front line, and they were all incredibly arrogant and proud, and they didn’t treat other people like people. Even in the midst of that, Dylan himself had made the biggest contribution to the request, and Lennox, who was listening to the obvious self-praise, asked.

“So, what are you trying to say?”

Lennox had only worked with Dylan once, but he had talked with him a lot while he was sitting in the bar. He couldn’t say that he knew that much about a man named Dylan O’Casey, but at least Lennox knew roughly how skilled a warrior he was. He wasn’t a reckless man who would just join the conversation by talking about his experiences on a request just because he was bored. He couldn’t help but think that there was some other intention. Only then did Dylan put the remaining sandwich in his mouth and clear his throat.

“Ahem, these days, living expenses are very… insufficient.”

“I’m going crazy.”

Jenny muttered with a blank face.

“Antares will give you at least a basic salary even if you don’t work, what kind of crap are you doing that your living expenses are insufficient, you stupid bastard.”

“I’ve been going to the casino lately… no, what am I saying. Anyway, I need a client who can hire me secretly from the office.”