Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 947

“I think it would be wise not to trust Slane too much.”

On the way back after the meeting, leaving the collapsed satellite city behind, they headed to Vulcan.

Slane and Rage, along with Ivelin, had left for the undeveloped area near Etanok.

Other transcendents were also leaving the city in their own ways, returning to the desert area.

“In the civil war centered around Lord Bajur, he was one of the most unpredictable figures,” Claude Azlan said quietly, walking through the desert with Lenok.

“He certainly possessed great power, but he was obsessed with balancing everything he was involved in.”

“What does that mean?” Kyulbaek turned his gaze towards Lenok. His eyes were heavier than ever before.

“It means that Slane switched sides during the war, constantly trying to balance the power.”

“……” Frowning at the desert heat that was gradually intensifying as morning broke, Kyulbaek muttered, “It would be ridiculous to say he has changed now. He may be trying to oppose the Order, but he is a man who could change his position at any time.”

“Change his position, you say…” Lenok’s eyes gleamed. “Everyone who participated in the civil war must know that fact.”

“That’s why he was able to lead this meeting.” Kyulbaek nodded. “He was neither an ally nor an enemy during the civil war. It would be a lie to say that it’s not awkward for him to lead the opposition against the Order.”

Why was he suddenly talking about Slane? It seemed he was bothered by Slane handing over all the achievements of the meeting to Lenok.

“Ahem, anyway, I’m glad to see that the Tower Lord has safely defeated Anathema, so it seems his efforts were not in vain,” Claude, who had been glancing sideways at Lenok, who was lost in thought, cleared his throat and spoke. “There’s no way the corruption of a figure like Anathema wouldn’t become known, so the Tower Lord will now receive the title of ‘Apostle Slayer’.”

“……”

“Wouldn’t Chunbun hear about that somewhere as well?”

“…What?” Lenok chuckled at Kyulbaek’s unexpected words. “You’re worrying about strange things. What does Chunbun have to do with this?”

“Well, I can’t help but be concerned, can I?” Kyulbaek gave an awkward smile. “The existence of a mage with talent comparable to the Tower Lord is not something you’d find easily, even if you searched the entire continent.”

“……”

“The fact that he briefly contended with you, and ultimately achieved his goal against the Tower Lord, was a remarkable feat.” Perhaps noticing that Lenok’s reaction was more of interest than anger, Kyulbaek’s voice became more relaxed. “I just thought that if the Tower Lord remembers Chunbun’s existence, the title of ‘Apostle Slayer’ might be quite satisfying.”

“Apostle Slayer… I don’t want to put much meaning into such things,” Lenok shook his head. “Even among the Apostles, the difference in power is too great, and from a macro perspective, they are closer to biological weapons that move according to the Order’s needs. I don’t even know why such a title is considered meaningful among transcendents in the first place.”

“It’s understandable since the Tower Lord wasn’t born during the Holy War,” Claude smiled. It was a natural smile, as if he had belatedly remembered the age difference between Lenok and himself.

“But the Order of the old days was an existence like an empire, boasting immeasurable power and strength. Especially the Apostles they put forward in the Holy War were not just simple monsters.”

“……”

“The miracle of transcendents who had surpassed the limits of their species, becoming the embodiment of the end and reigning as rulers of the battlefield… Now, there are many who know about the end of the Apostles, but back then, there was a truly despairing atmosphere,” Claude spoke slowly, as if recalling distant memories. “If the leader of the Order hadn’t suddenly stopped all activities and gone into seclusion, the state of the continent now would be completely different.”

“Are you saying that the Order almost conquered this world once?”

“I’m not sure. Back then, I certainly believed there was a greater secret… but I was also killing people in another war,” Kyulbaek replied, absentmindedly adjusting his spear. “Even knowing that there was a greater will and concept, I seemed to be engrossed and enjoying killing the enemies in front of me. Would it have been different if I had changed my mind back then?”

“……”

“Yes, talking like this, I remember a little,” Claude, who had quietly closed his eyes, muttered. “Certainly, it seems like a very large path was visible in front of me…”

“That’s a path that a senile old man like you wouldn’t be allowed to walk, even if you were to die and come back to life,” At that moment, Peisha’s sharp voice echoed from behind the two men. Lenok, who had turned his gaze, saw Peisha with a twisted smile.

“Among the transcendents who have made martial arts their profession, only a very few blessed ones can walk that path. It’s too much for a guardian of the Turyeon Gate [a gate or passage for training],”

“……” Even at Peisha’s blatant mockery of Claude, Lenok and Claude did not react. They simply stared down at Peisha with a strangely uncomfortable expression. Noticing the unpleasant emotion in their gaze, Peisha spat. “Damn it, what are you looking at?”

“No…” Lenok chuckled. “I was just wondering how you could say that while being dragged around like that.”

“……” Her whole body was tightly bound with old chains, and she was being dragged across the sand in a sack held by Claude. Only then did Peisha belatedly realize what state she was in, and her face turned bright red. “You, you bastards…!!!”

“Ah, you didn’t know yet?”

“She fainted right after the priestess left. It must have been a tough fight for her too.”

“Untie this right now?!!!!” Peisha’s tantrum as she desperately struggled to get out of the sack while still bound by chains. However, neither Lenok nor Claude paid any attention to Peisha’s fierce threats.

“It’s terribly noisy. If I had known it would be like this, I should have just left her to die.”

“You don’t mean that. Even if you say that, didn’t you feel her usefulness in this battle?” Claude smiled at Lenok’s indifferent words. “Lord Grisburn had to fight well against Anathema. If it weren’t for her struggle, we wouldn’t have been able to draw out Anathema’s power so quickly.”

“……”

“Apart from martial arts, her killing intent is a rare talent. If it’s a fight to the death, she has the aptitude to do her part in any situation.” Claude, holding his spear and with the chain binding Peisha slung over his shoulder, said leisurely. “That’s why Deadrise also noticed her talent and made Lord Grisburn the vanguard for the attack on Vulcan, wouldn’t you say?”

“Interesting. Are you, Azlan, trying to evaluate my talent?” Peisha, who had been struggling, gave a bitter smile. “Then I’ll add a word too. Your talent is only half-baked compared to the generals of the legion.”

“……”

“You, who participated in the civil war, should know. Lord Bajur only deals with the best talent and aptitude. You are just a whetstone for distinguishing real gems.”

“You could think that way,” Claude nodded obediently. “Compared to Lord Mylos or Lord Songha, anyone would look shabby in front of them.”

“Well, still, you’ve seen the beginning of the pilgrimage, so I’ll admit you have talent. Without prior knowledge, you wouldn’t even know such a thing exists.” The smile on Peisha’s lips seemed to turn self-deprecating for a moment. Perhaps it was because she realized that her situation was not much different from Claude’s.

Lenok, who had been watching Peisha, retorted in an indifferent tone. “Talent isn’t everything in a fight, so what does it matter?”

“……”

“What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

“I was just thinking, ‘What nonsense is a guy who stands in that position relying on his innate talent spouting?’” Claude gave an awkward smile, and Peisha chuckled. “Mage. Isn’t that too much for you to say? Aren’t you ashamed?”

“If everything in the world was determined by the order of innate talent and aptitude, Kaise Bajur would have saved this world a long time ago.”

“…What?” Lenok replied calmly, ignoring Peisha’s serious expression. “What you can do and what you can’t reach are ultimately determined. No matter how hard you try, if you grasp one thing, you have to let go of another.”

“……”

“What Kaise was trying to do was an attempt to not leave even such efforts meaningless.” Lenok closed his eyes. “Now I think I understand a little of what he was trying to achieve through the project…”

“You speak as if you’ve met Lord Bajur in person,” Claude said with a strange expression. “Did you perhaps have a personal connection before the Tower Lord came to Vulcan?”

“Maybe,” Lenok replied, turning his gaze towards Peisha. “I think we’ve talked enough nonsense. It seems like you’re running out of strength to rampage.”

“Ah, damn it!! That’s right!! Untie this right now, you bastard!!” Peisha started shouting and thrashing wildly.

“I don’t plan to keep you tied up for long, so bear with it. I’m just taking you because there’s a place I need to stop by,” Lenok chuckled as he watched her struggle, bound tightly by chains. “After I’m done with my business, I’ll take you back to Oliviera.”

“Screw you, you bastard!! Do you think I’ll be quiet if you tie me up like this?!!” Peisha shouted shrilly. “No matter where you take me, I’m going to yell and cause a ruckus, so try me-!!!”

[Silence]

The moment Lenok snapped his fingers, her shouting disappeared as if it were a lie. Even though she was yelling at the top of her lungs, it was as silent as if she were trapped in an invisible barrier. While Kyulbaek was looking at Lenok’s fingertips with a curious expression, Lenok opened his mouth. “Claude is right. Now that I think about it, I don’t know if I really need to kill you.”

Lenok, who had turned completely towards Peisha, smiled as he looked down at her disheveled form. “Wouldn’t you like to see how far that tenacious life of yours goes?”

“……” It was an incomprehensible question, as if he were speaking to someone he had once trampled and defeated. At that strange sense of intimidation, Peisha closed her mouth with a twisted expression, and Claude let out a soft sigh.

“We’ve arrived near the outer area of Vulcan. It seems to be the outer district of Sector 58.” Old factory areas where acrid smoke spread like fog. The workers who were carrying materials between the factories noticed Lenok and his group and pretended not to see them. Anyone would react that way if they saw humans who had walked barefoot through the middle of the desert to reach Vulcan. Feeling the gazes that were gradually increasing, Claude straightened his clothes.

“Well, I’ll say my goodbyes here first,” Claude, holding his spear and bowing respectfully with his hands together, said. “It would be difficult for good things to come out if the three of us were together. I will visit the Magic Tower again soon to see the Tower Lord.”

“Is it okay not to stop by the Turyeon Gate?” Lenok asked, receiving the chain that bound Peisha. “Your granddaughter will be waiting.”

“……” Was Lenok’s question unexpected? Kyulbaek hesitated for a moment before giving a bitter smile. “The Tower Lord is more considerate than he appears.”

“You’re blind. What consideration is there in this crazy killer-” While blocking Peisha’s mouth, who was babbling as soon as the magic was released, Claude had a relieved expression. “It’s okay. Now, even that child knows that I have committed a great wrong.”

“……”

“I intend to keep my distance from the main family as I don’t know when my condition might worsen again. That would be better for both of us.”

“You’ve already made up your mind.”

“Because I know my place well,” Claude smiled. “I’ve gained a brief reprieve with a miracle that was beyond my abilities. It would be too greedy to wait for a second miracle here, so I should do what I can in my place.”

“So you’re going to come to my Magic Tower?”

“Well, now that it’s come to this, you wouldn’t think of not accepting this poor old man, would you?” Lenok and Claude chuckled at each other. They had met at the meeting and had been thinking the same thing since fighting Anathema. Claude Azlan was a level 8 spearman with a relatively normal personality, although his mind was unstable. Even if he suffered from symptoms of going crazy and losing his memory, he would be a great asset to the tower when he was sane.

After a brief greeting, Claude left first, and Lenok gestured lightly towards Peisha. Swoosh!! The bottom of the chain was cut off, creating enough space for Peisha to stand on her own two feet.

“Dragging a sack around in the middle of the city will only increase unnecessary notoriety. Walk on your own.”

“How considerate of you. Why don’t you just untie the chains binding my arms while you’re at it?” Peisha sneered as she got up. “I don’t know where you’re planning to go, that you’ve been making such a fuss since earlier.”

“As I said, I plan to stop by the tower for a while and then go to Oliviera,” Lenok said, turning his back. “There’s something I need to take, and it would be easier if I borrowed your hands.”

“What am I supposed to carry with my hands tied up? If you’re going to ask like that, at least restore my magic first.” The reason why Peisha couldn’t untie the chains binding her body was because she had no magic left in her body. After the fight with Lenok, she was captured by Oliviera and hadn’t even received proper nutrition. It was a miracle that she had done her part in the battle against Anathema in her emaciated condition and was still alive.

“I’m tired. I’m sleepy. I’m going crazy from hunger,” Peisha kept grumbling as she followed behind Lenok. “If you want my cooperation, bring me a cream puff from that downtown area right now.”

“You’re in a position where you should be eating sand quietly, yet you’re being so picky. Bear with it.”

“Bear with it? What am I supposed to bear with? Are you planning to bring me dog food or something-”

“We’ve arrived.” Peisha’s endless grumbling stopped abruptly as soon as she saw the Magic Tower towering high in the distance. The shape of a huge tower, tens of meters high. Along with the newly reorganized downtown area centered around the Magic Tower, and the sight of numerous people walking around.

“You, you son of a bitch…” Peisha’s expression twisted greatly as she looked at Lenok’s face. She also knew that Lenok had built the tower with the spoils he had taken from her. From Peisha’s perspective, Lenok’s act of showing her the Magic Tower was nothing more than a display of his victory, reminding her of her defeat. However, Lenok ignored Peisha’s reaction and headed straight for the Magic Tower.

“As I said, the situation is different from before. There’s more use for you now than killing you,” Lenok turned to look at Peisha as he walked along the slope. “I know you’re not at the level of a beast that can’t understand, so there might be more information I can dig out about Deadrise.”

“You’re having a foolish dream. Even if you rummage through my head, you won’t get any information from me,” Peisha scoffed as if she had been waiting for this. “I withstood Oliviera’s magic eye, do you think I’ll fall for your interrogation? I was fooled by Lord Bajur’s name back then…!!”

“Fooled by Bajur’s name, you say,” Lenok raised his gaze. “That’s exactly why I’m taking you to the tower now.”

“…What?” The moment they entered the tower’s domain, he activated space teleportation. He grabbed Peisha’s body and moved straight to the office on the upper floor of the tower. Whoosh!! Peisha, who had staggered from the space teleportation but quickly regained her balance, and Lenok, who had staggered and sat on the sofa, were in view. At the seemingly reversed reaction, Peisha was about to say something with a sneering face when.

“Ban, what on earth is going on?!” The office door burst open, and a woman’s voice, sounding bewildered, echoed. “The Order attacked the meeting, and you killed an Apostle. Did I hear that right?” She had dozens of payment documents tucked under her arm, and her hands were rapidly tapping on her phone’s keyboard. Even the gesture of brushing away her falling curly hair, as if it were a nuisance, was hectic. “Because of that, the city council and the council of elders’ lines are overlapping, and the tower can’t respond properly. You need to give clear instructions so we can take proper action-”

“……” However, instead of answering Jenny’s words, Lenok leaned back on the sofa and stared at Peisha. It was because Peisha, with her arms bound, had been staring intently at Jenny’s face from the moment she appeared. The fierce attitude of constantly scattering killing intent and repeating curses and threats at Lenok was nowhere to be seen. She stood there blankly, as if recalling someone from her memory, silently looking at Jenny’s face. The black curly hair falling over her shoulders. The familiar sharp jawline. The pale complexion, worn out from fatigue. The familiar impression and memories did not disappear even after decades. As if she were seeing the face of someone she had forgotten for a long time, overlapping with Jenny.

Jenny, who belatedly noticed Peisha, who had frozen in the middle of the office, changed her expression strangely. “…Peisha Grisburn?”

“Jennysia…” Peisha, who had been hesitating, answered naturally at those words. “…Lord Bajur.”