Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 85

“Take this.”

“This is….”

“I think I gave you one when we first met.”

She smiled faintly, brushing back her golden hair.

It was the business card of Aris Richelieu, a professor at Lavatenon University.

“I’ve been thinking a lot, and after seeing you today, I’m certain.”

Her blue eyes shone quietly as she continued.

“Your passion for knowledge, your thirst for inquiry, your keen eye and understanding. Your reasoning and intuition are all flawless by my standards. Frankly, I’m a bit surprised.”

“……..”

“If you had enough magical power, you might have been a mage on par with me. You have that much talent for theoretical research.”

“Talent, you say….”

“Join my lab. I want to conduct research on magical theory with you.”

Lennox closed his mouth, his thoughts scattering.

Only then did he realize he had been too excited.

He had been so engrossed in researching his own magic, which had begun to develop independently from the framework of common magic over the past month, that he had inadvertently revealed it to Aris.

Or perhaps, Lennox had known all along.

He had been so caught up in the idea of them being comrades in magic research that he had been mistaken.

Seeing Lennox’s troubled expression, Aris quickly added, realizing that something was wrong as he had suddenly become a completely different person.

“Of course, I’m not saying I’ll just use you in my lab without any position. You’ll be formally hired as an assistant professor, give lectures, and have the right to audit university courses. Not only will you receive a salary, but also many benefits in terms of welfare….”

Lennox got up from his seat without listening any further.

His face now wore the same kind smile as before.

“Could I think about it and contact you?”

Aris was not a fool.

She knew that if she missed this opportunity, she would never be able to bring up the topic again.

Growing desperate, she pushed off the table with both hands and spoke to Lennox, who was turning away.

“…I can create an identity for you.”

“……..”

Lennox stopped in his tracks, realizing that this relationship had reached a point of no return.

“How did you know?”

She spoke with such conviction that Lennox was not foolish enough to deny it.

And he didn’t want to deceive her like that.

Aris replied in a calmer voice to Lennox’s calm admission.

“It’s not uncommon for people to be nameless in this city….”

“……..”

Was it possible that she had inferred it from the fact that he hadn’t revealed his name?

Because he hadn’t paid much attention to the public side of things, he had allowed Aris to make such a guess.

“If you become an assistant professor at Lavatenon University, that itself can be a recognized position. Even if your identity is unstable right now, if we take action through this connection, it might not be impossible to get a proper ID.”

“Haa….”

Lennox let out a small sigh.

It was absurd, but he realized that he didn’t find Aris’s words entirely unpleasant.

The high-end forged ID that Jenny’s hacker had mentioned cost over 400 million cell [currency].

Then how much would it cost to create a formal ID?

How much would it cost to establish a proper job and position in the public eye?

…It was a problem that was hard to estimate.

Being able to cut out the middleman and save costs was a great advantage for Lennox.

And the merit of being able to participate in proper magic research under Aris far exceeded mere monetary gain.

Perhaps sensing Lennox’s wavering, Aris hesitated before blurting out the small, true intention she had pushed behind a good cause.

“…I want to help you. You might think it’s presumptuous.”

“……….”

“You’re in a difficult situation, aren’t you?”

Only after hearing those words could Lennox fully believe what Aris was saying.

Considering her character and actions so far, he knew that her words were sincere.

She was a rare person.

Especially in this cold and rigid city.

The only question was whether Lennox was ready to accept her offer.

In the end, the only thing he could say was the same as before.

“I need time to think.”

The words were no different from before.

But perhaps she saw something beyond Lennox’s gaze.

Aris’s expression had changed to be much softer than before.

“It should be around here.”

Lennox, who had visited a place other than the library for the first time in a long while, looked around.

The weather was getting colder day by day.

The air that had been sharply brushing against his skin had become a chilly cold that was now digging into the inside of his collar.

Lennox stopped walking, checking his own reflection in the opaque glass of an empty store.

“……..”

The image of the disheveled young man wearing a single rag and looking at the mirror with bloodshot eyes was now slowly fading.

Lennox, who used to wear just a shirt or at most a blazer, now had a thick trench coat on his shoulders, and his worn-out sneakers had been replaced with thin dress shoes.

When he put on the gloves from the Black Palace workshop that Panoa had given him, there was no part of his skin visible except for his face.

If he even covered his face with a mask, he would be no different from Dylan.

‘The surroundings are quite desolate. It’s different from what I heard.’

Information about black mages that Jorden had given him.

He had found the street where the most moderate faction was said to do business, but it was hard to find even a single person walking down the street.

It had been a full month since the inspection had started, so he thought that the atmosphere would slowly return to normal, but he was mistaken.

Not a single building had its doors open, and even the windows were tightly sealed with unknown plugs, refusing access from the outside.

Only shuttered shops and nameless exhibition halls, and clothing stores with rows of shabby mannequins greeted Lennox’s gaze.

It seemed that the city government was tightening the noose around the underworld more strongly than he had thought.

With no other choice, he used his magic to scan the surroundings.

He quickly read the visual information of the entire street and checked for life signs.

Footsteps. Soft breaths. And a group of people approaching quickly from afar.

It seemed that those people could answer Lennox’s questions.

As he waited with his arms crossed, a group of people appeared from the darkened alley.

People wearing suits and silver badges near their collarbones.

They were officials from the Balkan City government.

And Lennox’s brow furrowed slightly when he found a short, hunched old man at the center.

It was a face he knew, and he never expected to encounter him in such a place.

The other party seemed to recognize Lennox as well, and his eyes widened.

The old man, Mayor Meyer, who had stopped within earshot, spoke with difficulty.

“I never thought I would see you again in this place.”

“The same goes for me, Councilor. I hope you’ve been well.”

Meyer’s lips twitched at Lennox’s calm reply.

“…You still have an unnecessarily good way with words. I’ve been hearing stories about you as well.”

“………”

“They say you’re the hottest rising star in this street lately? They say you even annihilated an entire gang. Even my friends who work under me are telling me to be careful of mages.”

“The rumors are exaggerated.”

He made an uncharacteristic show of humility, but Meyer didn’t even pretend to listen.

“I knew my judgment was right. I should have held on to you properly back then.”

His eyes, overflowing with greed, seemed no different from back then.

With no other choice, Lennox changed the subject first.

“So, what brings you here?”

“I still remember what you said back then. It was the most impressive piece of advice I’ve ever received from someone younger than my son.”

“………”

Was he not going to listen at all?

Seeing Lennox’s troubled face, Meyer finally began to continue the conversation.

“I’m late with the explanation. I’m holding a position on the committee that’s in charge of this inspection. I’m here now because of the follow-up process after the inspection.”

“…The committee, you say?”

That was quite unexpected.

Was this greedy old man now in a position to hold a seat in a city government-led event?

He said it was luck, but even such luck doesn’t just roll into the political arena.

He didn’t know what method he used, but it seemed that he had begun to solidify a fairly solid political position in that short period of time.

“Yes. If I’m going to have talented young people like you under me, I need a more plausible title, don’t I? But it seems you’ve raised your value quite a bit in the meantime.”

“You’ll have to try harder.”

Meyer chuckled at Lennox’s nonchalance.

He was thinking of such jokes without any problem because he had a good impression of him from the start.

Lennox narrowed his eyes, gauging that distance in his mind.

‘Maybe we really could end up working together.’

It was impossible for Lennox to connect with key figures in the city government right now, but at least he could prepare for the future, couldn’t he?

Meyer was not young, but he had still proven that he could carve out a piece of that narrow pie of power for himself.

He didn’t know what ambition he had and what challenge he had thrown at the power, but there was no reason to keep him as an enemy.

That was why Lennox honestly told him the purpose of his visit.

“I came here because I have business with the black mages. I knew that there were people who gathered here to do business, but it seems they couldn’t avoid the inspection.”

“You probably won’t be able to find other mages here for a while.”

Was he saying that even though he had participated in the inspection himself?

Meyer didn’t care about Lennox’s gaze and muttered as if he were talking about someone else’s business.

“The will of the higher-ups is stronger than I thought. There must be a more important reason than what’s visible on the surface.”

“Is the goal to prevent the mages from making profits?”

“Well, there could be various reasons. They don’t pay any taxes on the money they earn, or they might be trying to bring the mages hidden in the shadows into the city government’s fold.”

“………”

“But it’s none of my business.”

Meyer laughed in a low voice.

The greed that was shining in his eyes again. Lennox let out a light sigh at that blatant emotion.

He was acting like a fool who was only interested in immediate success, but he knew that it was actually a wise attitude in the current situation.

He didn’t seek information and knowledge that exceeded his authority.

He didn’t reveal it even if he was interested.

Even if he dismissed all the other officials waiting behind him, it would be difficult to get a good answer.

Lennox, who had neatly given up on the idea, nodded.

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

“Are you going to look for those friends?”

“Even if they left to avoid the inspection, they wouldn’t have left the city.”