Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 879

The Eye That Sees Fate (16)

Those who inherit the lighthouse keeper’s mission are passed down the ability of farsight, seeing further than anyone else.

It wasn’t just about having good eyesight; it was a power given to those who could foresee crises before others, predicting danger.

Perhaps this talent began with a particularly sharp-eyed watchman long ago, in an age before civilization itself.

However, as vast time passed, the positions of seas and continents shifted, and billions of lives bloomed and withered, this power, miraculously unbroken, had been passed down, carrying the weight of time and life, transforming into a concept of authority.

The talent that was once just about seeing far had, before anyone knew it, transcended the present, peering into the past and future, beyond this world into the endless sea of darkness.

When did they start calling the owner of this power a lighthouse keeper, and when did they assign such a grand mission?

Perhaps the beginning itself wasn’t that long ago.

But Lapis had never once doubted what she had to do, the essence of this inherited power.

Life, memories, the past, fate. If she wanted to see, she could see anything.

Sometimes, she even thought of this power as a curse, as it showed her things even when she didn’t want to see them.

But now, the man sitting before Lapis was the first person she couldn’t see anything about.

“……”

A cool, emotionless face. Dark black hair, roughly swept back.

His outward appearance seemed quite young, but if the rumors were true, his actual age would be several times that.

He leaned back slightly, eyes closed, silently smoking a cigarette.

“Hoo…”

His posture, relaxed as he leaned back in the chair, was tinged with an undeniable weariness.

That was all Lapis Falshier, the lighthouse keeper and wielder of farsight, could see from this man.

Not his magic, not the flow of his mana [magical energy], not his fundamental essence, not even the slightest fragment of his thoughts.

It was a strange sense of incongruity, as if she were looking into a void in the shape of a human.

This man was the great mage, said to be the most insane in the great city.

And he was the one who had blown away Evan, who had been protecting Lapis, and kidnapped her here.

“My vision… it doesn’t quite reach you.”

Nowhere in this vast obsidian chamber could Lapis’s own thoughts reach outward.

The entire space seemed to absorb her thoughts, as if sucking them in and extinguishing them, a bizarre phenomenon.

Kyonroe spoke casually.

“It must be difficult to use your power with your vision impaired.”

“……”

Did he even know that Lapis was suffering from the backlash of overusing her power?

Perhaps he had known all along, and that was why he was sitting so brazenly in front of her.

Lapis raised her gaze slightly and asked quietly.

“Where is this place?”

“The underground chamber of the tower.”

Kyonroe replied with his eyes closed.

“Inside the depths of the domain [a mage’s personal space].”

“……”

The domain declared by a great mage who had reached the 8th level.

Was that why even the thoughts of a mission holder like Lapis could not leak out, sinking heavily and becoming submerged?

Lapis waited for Kyonroe to speak, but he said nothing more.

Was he just going to keep her locked up in this space, with no intention of revealing his intentions?

Apart from binding her hands so she couldn’t form hand seals [used for casting magic], there were no other restraints on Lapis.

She could even get up from the chair she was sitting on and wander freely around this chamber.

But Lapis abandoned the foolish idea of running away from Kyonroe and spoke to him directly.

“I’ve heard stories about you. You’re quite famous even in the Central [the main governing body].”

“……”

“You killed Madrich Onion, turned the machine city upside down single-handedly, and broke through the walls of Dead Rise.”

Kyonroe still said nothing.

“They say you’re a mage who has killed more transcendents [powerful beings] than anyone else…”

He only opened his eyes and stared at Lapis with a murky gaze.

Even though they were making eye contact and talking, she couldn’t read any emotion or intention in his eyes.

“There shouldn’t be any connection between you and me, so why are you doing this?”

But Lapis desperately maintained her composure and continued to speak with difficulty.

After what happened to Evan, who had been protecting her, there was no chance of defeating this man by force.

But even so, she had to find a way to buy time and contact someone.

Not to save herself, but for the successor who would inherit her mission as a lighthouse keeper.

Even if she died here, she had to pass on the power of farsight to someone who had received the duty of the watcher.

Repeating that one fact in her mind, Lapis said.

“With this incident, the Central will know that I visited Vulcan, and even this atrocity. Do you want a new war to break out around this city?”

“……”

“If you’re planning to destroy my soul and steal my authority, it will take a lot of time. At least, not with such a violent method-”

“I was asked to kill you.”

Lapis felt her breath catch at Kyonroe’s indifferent reply.

She had accepted the words the young man had thrown at her as an undeniable reality.

Yes, perhaps she had asked the question first because she wanted to hear those words rather than tremble in endless anxiety.

Instead of hoping for a miracle that Evan and Patisha would come to save Lapis again, she wanted to talk about the reality that would never change.

But Kyonroe’s words didn’t end there.

“I was also asked to use your abilities.”

Kyonroe, who had vaporized the finished cigarette with a flick of his hand, leaned back in his chair with a languid air.

He took out a new cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and muttered.

“So, I just decided not to choose either side.”

“…What did you say?”

How could such a conclusion be drawn from that explanation?

Kyonroe got up from his seat, leaving Lapis blinking in bewilderment at the great mage’s arbitrary answer.

Leaning on his staff, Kyonroe turned and looked into Lapis’s sky-blue eyes with a cool gaze.

“If I keep you here, I can easily deal with that mage and other troublesome things.”

“…!!”

Lapis’s expression changed drastically as she immediately understood those words.

Lapis also immediately understood who the mage Kyonroe was talking about.

Could it be that this mage, said to be mad with blood, was aiming for-

“Evan…!!”

Lapis shouted unintentionally, then gritted her teeth and lowered her voice.

“He has nothing to do with this. He was only helping me because I asked him to.”

“……”

But Kyonroe looked down at Lapis and shook his head.

“You’re agitated. But what you said isn’t wrong.”

“…Huh?”

“The possibility you speak of, if necessary, I’ll have to take action at the very end.”

Kyonroe, leaving Lapis struggling to understand, turned his head as he walked past her.

“I’m not interested in the watchers’ circumstances. I know enough about that duty.”

“W-where are you going?”

Kyonroe looked as if he was about to leave the tower right away.

But Lapis, having heard about Evan from him, had no choice but to ask.

If Kyonroe changed his mind and tried to kill Evan right away-

Kyonroe, about to leave the underground chamber, turned back to Lapis and said.

“I allow you free movement within the tower. You can do whatever you want as long as you don’t use your power.”

“What does that…”

Kyonroe didn’t seem to have any intention of killing Lapis right away, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of letting her go either.

Lapis had no right to expect anything at this point, but neither outcome looked good.

Clearly, she was missing one important fact.

Something important about Evan that Kyonroe knew, but Lapis had not yet realized.

There was a secret that Lapis clearly knew, but had not yet connected to the current situation.

But before Lapis’s worries could properly take shape, Kyonroe slowly closed his eyes.

“It’s very noisy outside.”

The only thing Lapis could feel from this man, who she couldn’t read any sign or intention from, was an immense fatigue.

It was a fatigue close to mental wear and tear that exceeded physical burden, and Lapis realized that.

“Are they the people involved in the meeting… They’re so confident, not changing even after a warning.”

A cold sneer appeared on Kyonroe’s lips.

“Then I’ll have to go and greet them myself.”

“…!!”

A voice that felt so chilling that it sent shivers down her spine.

The notoriety and madness of that mage, which had only been vaguely felt until now, seemed to be immediately realized with that one word.

The reason why that man, who seemed to be able to communicate at first glance, was called the most insane in this city.

Lapis finally understood it, and as she raised her head, Kyonroe’s figure had disappeared from the tower.

“……”

Whiooo!

A gentle breeze blew from the far side of the vast obsidian chamber.

The width of the tower’s underground area was so vast that the end of the chamber was not clearly visible from the chair where Lapis was sitting.

Lapis silently stared at the opposite side of the chair where Kyonroe had disappeared, then gritted her teeth and stood up.

“…I have to let Evan know.”

Kyonroe had told her that she was free to move around inside the tower.

That was probably because he was sure that Lapis alone could not escape his domain.

If she tried to go against the direct words that madman had thrown at her, she would probably have to pay the price.

But Lapis had no intention of stopping her actions now because she was afraid of losing her life.

She was not afraid of failing or even dying because of her own wrong judgment, her foolish choice of not seeing reality.

But she could never allow the mage who had tried to protect her until the end in this city to be harmed because of her request.

‘If I get out of the underground chamber and go to a place where I can see the sky, I might be able to use my power-‘

“Ah, are you Lapis Falshier?”

As Lapis looked around the chamber, trying to calm her fear, a listless female voice came from behind her.

“…!!”

“It’s her. She looks just like the picture.”

Lapis, startled, turned her head sharply, and a woman with a strangely sharp impression was looking at her with her arms crossed.

She was twisting her curly hair that fell to her shoulders with one hand, tilting her gaze with a languid air.

“It’s an honor to meet a celebrity from the Central Front. Since we’re connected like this, shall we shake hands?”

“…Who are you?”

“Jenisia. Call me Jenny.”

Jenny replied.

Jenny, walking towards Lapis with a somewhat delinquent gait, casually extended her hand.

“I’m the one who’s in charge of handling all the colorful and troublesome aftermath on behalf of the outlaw who kidnapped you.”

“……”

“I still don’t know what Ban was thinking when he kidnapped the lighthouse keeper-”

Jenny’s expression as she said that looked as if she still couldn’t believe the situation.

Was it that Kyonroe’s choice to detain Lapis was made without informing anyone in the tower in the first place?

As Lapis quickly turned her head, Jenny shrugged with a resigned expression.

“Well, it’s Ban’s doing, so I guess I won’t know until the end. I gave up on understanding a long time ago.”

“……”

“So, you should relax and wait. It’s a good thing if they even tell you the progress after everything is over.”

“Kyonroe forcibly detained me and locked me up here.”

Lapis said, shrinking slightly and speaking cautiously.

“Do you think I can trust your words when I don’t know when I’m going to die?”

“Well. I don’t think Ban will kill you now.”

Jenny replied in a languid voice.

“Ban isn’t the type to watch someone he’s decided to kill for a long time. Do you think a mage of that caliber would spend time and effort on the act of killing?”

“…That’s.”

Certainly, if he had that much patience, Kyonroe wouldn’t have the reputation of being a mage mad with blood.

The explanation was so plausible that Lapis was momentarily convinced and shook her head in surprise.

Jenny smiled mischievously for a moment at that expression.

“Oh, you’re not falling for it. Usually, they’re almost all relieved when they hear this.”

“……”

Indeed, this woman seemed to have a dangerous personality, just like Kyonroe who had just left.