Drug-Eating Genius Mage - Chapter 256

Remnants of Fanaticism (3)

Lennok immediately told me about the fact that two people were expelled from the necromancy department for performing a Guido cult ritual, and that one of them had discovered that Priscilla was acquainted with him.

After hearing the whole story, Priscilla put on a complicated expression.

“Penia… … .”

“Our lab is looking for traces of the Guido Church for some reason. I would like you to tell me what you know about a student named Fenia.”

“… … We were roommates when we were temporarily assigned a dormitory after admission to Rabatenon was confirmed.”

Priscilla said with a thoughtful look on her face.

“I heard that he was from Machine City Makina, but his life was clean and his personality was not angular, so we became close.”

“okay.”

“But Fenia must have been a member of the Machine Church, not Guido… … . I have no idea why Guido is being talked about.”

“… … .”

Lennok was also lost in thought at the slightly different story than expected.

Mechanic Cult.

Unlike Guido, who worships the monster of the open sea as a god, they are an android-type religious group that prioritizes machine reason and logic over humanity.

As you can guess from its name, it is strong in the machine city of Makina, and its actions are quite radical, even though it cannot be compared to Guido.

“It’s quite often that necromancers depend on a particular faith.”

Mila intervened from the side with a plaintive expression.

“They said it was because the beings summoned to use the spell felt so great. Doesn’t that sound like a rare thing?”

“The problem is that it is far outside the realm of guidos, machines, and ordinary beliefs.”

Guido, who worships the monster of the open sea as a god, and the Machine Church, who worships the logic and reason of machines.

“There’s no way the university administration could have expelled the two of them based solely on suspicious circumstances, so there’s a very high probability that they were caught trying to do something.”

said Lennok.

“It is highly likely that it will not be an ordinary incident if the object of worship is that two members of different religious groups gathered and committed an act.”

“… … I haven’t been able to contact Penny for almost two months.”

Priscilla said with a slightly distressed face.

“I thought he would be absorbed in his undergraduate assignments and studying for exams, but I didn’t expect this to happen… … .”

In the end, Priscilla also doesn’t know why Fenia did such a thing.

Lennox nodded lightly and opened his mouth again.

“Priscilla. Do you know where Penia lives?”

At least we have to find out where her residence is.

* * *

District 37.

A shabby apartment complex located near an industrial complex.

An area that falls short of the average security of a megalopolis, but doesn’t have serious violent crime either.

Seeing that Penia lived alone here, it seems that her life was not as difficult as it was.

Priscilla followed Lennok and looked around with a dark expression.

“It must have been around here… … . The road is so complicated that I can’t remember the specifics.”

It’s not easy to properly remember a street you’ve only been to once eight months ago.

Even here, the streets were as complicated as they were cramped, so it seemed easy to get lost.

“Do you remember what floor it was on?”

Priscilla was lost in thought at the words of Mila, who secretly followed Priscilla, saying that it was a holiday.

“I don’t think it was that high. About 3rd floor… … ?”

Lennok and Milla looked at each other in silence.

Isn’t the height of the floor very vague even to specify a place?

In the end, you have no choice but to find out by yourself.

“ha… … .”

Pajijiji!!

Lennox sighed and wordlessly took Darby out of his arms.

“Dabi!!”

Priscilla’s face brightened at the sight of the wiggling fox, and Mila tilted her head.

“What is this little animal?”

“Assistant Professor Evan is a very good elementalist. Darby is a spirit summoned by assistant professor.”

Priscilla hugged Darby who turned her head slightly and said with a slight smile.

“How popular they are in our department.”

“okay? Why do I think I’ve seen it somewhere… … .”

Mila frowned slightly in thought, and Lennok turned his head slightly.

When I was in class, I thought I had never taken Dabi out in the form of a fox cub, but it was because there was a corner where I could guess from her reaction.

‘That’s when we first met.’

The magic Lennok used when he discovered her presence hiding in the undeveloped district using a druid’s amulet.

The encirclement of the three foxes running and drawing a huge net of lightning had not yet been forgotten in Mila’s mind.

Although Lennok’s magic had changed a lot since then, it was unavoidable that the image was associated with Darby as the spirit whose motif was taken from that shape.

‘I can’t not take out the Dabi as much as I’m disguised as a spiritist… … .’

There was no reason to stop Mila from following, so it was preferable to cut off Mila’s memories in an appropriate way.

[…] … .]

He was wagging his tail while looking at the faces of Mila and Priscilla again.

“Dabi.”

Pajijiji!!

Darby, who emitted electricity from her body in time with the words, released a huge wave of magic power from Lennok’s arms.

Whoa!!

The energy of magic search was so intense that even Mila, who was standing crookedly, flinched.

In reality, it was Lennok’s power, but since he was disguised as an elementalist, this level of sincerity was essential.

In an instant, Lennok awoke in the sensory sphere that covered the nearby area for several kilometers.

After awakening to magic, Magical Sensing was used only for detecting presence and searching for danger.

However, Lennok focused on what he could accomplish within that range, rather than simply expanding the range of sensory spheres while raising his level.

The important thing is not how many things you put in your eyes, but how accurately you put them in your eyes.

Ignoring the enormous amount of information pouring into his head and choosing what he wanted cleanly was a matter of survival, not preference, for Lennok.

In a corner of this vast apartment complex, they chase only the reverberation of magic, passing rotting corpses, stolen blood, and various living spaces.

Filter out the mundane magic mixed in artifacts and items, and look for traces of liveliness.

Dabi opened her mouth.

[As a result of detection, there are seven magic users residing in this apartment complex.]

“Oh… … Do you know how to do that?”

Mila’s small admiration, but Darby neatly ignored it and continued.

[Three life reactions among them are staying on the 10th floor or higher, and two are underground. The remaining two live on the 4th and 7th floors, respectively, and are all out now.]

“… … .”

Both sisters shut their mouths at the ability to search beyond their imagination.

Of course, both Milla and Priscilla were capable of detecting high-level magical powers, but they did not have the ability to accurately distinguish only the users of magic within such a wide range, even the traces of those who were away.

Mila muttered with an embarrassed expression.

“He was a very sensitive friend. I will have to be more careful in the future.”

“First of all, it would be nice to find a place on the 4th and 7th floor elevations.”

“I heard that two people are underground. What is that?”

Darby answered Priscilla’s words.

[Detected under a cement floor in a newly completed complex near here. It seems that the life reaction will be cut off sooner or later.]

“… … .”

Darby must have no emotion, but the content of the remark was terrifying.

“… … I don’t want to get entangled.”

Mila muttered with an awkward laugh.

If a living human being was buried under cement, it would be an undercover party. It’s also a way of dealing with a lot of gossip even on this floor.

There was a possibility that I got tangled up with that side and things would become a nuisance.

Following Darby’s detection, the party headed straight to the magic user’s residence on the 4th floor.

Lennok asked, standing in front of the front door with the number 402 written on it among the long hallway doors.

“how is it?”

“… … I don’t think so.”

Silas, who was worried, shook his head and the party immediately headed for the 7th floor residence in another apartment.

In front of the front door with the number 704 written on it, Silas clapped her hands.

“Oh, here it is. I remember Fenia saying she was uncomfortable with the doorbell paint peeling off.”

“good. So what do we do now?”

Milla asked.

“You don’t intend to wait here until that friend comes home, Mage, do you?”

“… … I don’t think that’s necessary.”

As Lennok said that, he naturally grabbed the doorknob.

I didn’t even have to use Dabi to unlock the lock.

At the same time as he turned the doorknob, the door opened gently, and a thick bloody smell wafted out from within.

It took an instant for the two sisters’ faces to harden.

“This… … !!”

Naturally, Mila took the lead, followed by Lennok with Darby floating.

Complex 704 with three rooms.

It is an excessively large space for living alone, but it is less like that because of the clutter in the house.

Bone fragments of unknown names and worn leathers of unknown origin.

Even the artifacts that emit the faint scent of magical power and the faded ore.

But first of all, the first thing that catches your eye is the mysterious characters written on one side of the wall.

The letters written in bright red blood gave off a thick fishy smell.

The scene in this room, which has turned into a mess, points to only one fact.

It was clear something was wrong.

“Penia!!”

Priscilla, who had a pale complexion, started searching the house, calling Fenia by name.

Lennok looked at her like that, then dipped his finger in the blood dripping from the wall and touched it.

“It is too greasy. It’s not normal blood.”

[As a result of component analysis, it was confirmed that the existing blood components contained 4% of Tenzier oil.]

Tenzier oil. Searching for the word with Darby’s help, it seems that it is mainly used as a lubricant by androids or those who have attached machines to their bodies.

It is an oil that does not burden the human body, so there is no major health problem even if a certain amount is mixed with the blood.

Darby continued.

[As a result of invading the blood research institute’s network, entering the component structure and detecting the sample data, it was concluded that it was a woman of the same age as Priscilla with a 71% probability.] “Then I’m sure

. The owner of this blood is Fenia. Considering the ingredient called Tenzier Oil… … She must be a member of the Machine Church.”

Mila opened her mouth at the fast-paced conversation between the wizard and the spirit.

“No wait… … . This is completely different from the spirit magic love I thought of. Are you really a wizard right?”

It is not strange to say that a spirit hacks into the laboratory’s network and uses the system to detect blood components, even from Mila’s point of view, seeing it for the first time in her life.

But Lennok put the iron plate on his face and laughed nonchalantly.

“Because this is the field I am researching as my major. Involuntarily, they are beholden to various places.”

Now that it’s all like this, putting Darby in front and Lennok providing sneaky support would be much more helpful in preventing Ban and his image from overlapping.

it was better There was a high possibility that the constantly pouring checks around him would become much less after he had firmly established his status as an elementalist under Aris.

There were not one or two annoying things because of the thesis, but if you show that your skills are also in a similar position, there will be fewer flying flies.

“Hey, I knew there were many eccentrics in this city, but… … . I never thought there would be a wizard who could use spirits like this… … ”

Mila muttered, dumbfounded, while Darby continued, wagging her tail.

[The mysterious characters engraved on the wall were also identified through image matching on the network. There are not enough samples to guess the specific meaning, but it is certain that it is a character used by the Guido Order.]

“Good job.”

It was impossible to borrow her power in the Mage Tower or the Dominion, where there was no special network, but in the megalopolis, Darby could do it infinitely.

The fact that Lennok quickly gathered together the information he had to scramble to find out the clues and summarized them in an instant was enough to be called a brain spirit.

“These are the letters of the Guido Church written in the blood of members of the Mechanic Church. There are many possibilities I can think of, but… … .”

Wouldn’t someone other than Fenia hold the key to all the correct answers?

“So Fenia was taken advantage of.”

Priscilla walked out of the room and said with a stiff face.

It is not difficult to guess what it means to see the scene of a messy house somewhere and the landlord’s bloody writings.

Lennok stared blankly at the mysterious character and murmured.

“This letter… … . I can’t make out the specific meaning, but it’s cut off in the upper right corner of the living room wall.”

“… … .”

“It’s as if the remaining blank spaces were filled with letters.”

“Did you mean to conduct a ritual?”

“It seems very likely. Maybe for some reason, I was trying to work at Fenia’s house, but I gave up and moved.”

If there were no circumstances to proceed with the work, where would the culprit in this case find a new place?

It was not difficult to draw conclusions.

“I should go back to school.”

muttered Lennok as he adjusted his spectacles.

“Perhaps the consciousness itself has never been interrupted in the first place.”

Did you say that the bottom of the lamp is dark?

If the necessary preparations for the ceremony had been made inside the school, the culprit was highly likely to reappear on the scene.

* * *

Knock Knock… …

The sound of dripping water echoes slowly.

Fenia stared at it while feeling the sensation of her limbs becoming stiff.

Hanging in the air, she turned her back and called the name of the person standing there in a dry voice.

“Lanpei… … .”

“why.”

“Let’s stop here.”

The first time I helped her was out of curiosity.

Suggestion that it would be nice to borrow the laboratory of the Necromatics Department to assist in the process of carrying out the ritual.

It is true that Fenia was interested in the fact that she would prepare a ritual with a precious catalyst she had never seen before and a considerable cost.

However, after knowing the identity of the necromancy, it became irreversible.

“A lot of people will die.”

It’s really insane to build a huge altar for the Guido Church in the basement of the Necromantics Department.

Although Fenia was a member of the Machine Church, she was baptized a couple of times due to her childhood environment and was never influenced by that ideology.

However, Lanfei was already a faithful member of the Guido Church who followed the doctrine to the core.

Hearing that, Lanfei slowly turned his head.

“I am really sad too. My undergraduate life in Rabatenon was more fun than I thought.”

“… … .”

“I wouldn’t have gone this far if you hadn’t interrupted me back then.”

“that… … .”

“As a result, both of us were expelled from school because the ritual was uncovered… … Of course someone has to take responsibility.”

Lanfei looked up at Fenia, who was hanging in the air, and said.

“I don’t want to die.”

“… … So do i.”

“Then you shouldn’t have interfered with my work!!”

Patter!!

The sound of water dripping accelerated as Lanpei roughly grabbed Fenia by the collar.

The water droplets that continued to fall down the knot tying Fenia were bright red.

“Even if the interruption didn’t blow up the ritual preparations, there was no reason to go this far.”

Ranpei, who was breathing heavily, murmured.

“After filtering out all the nasty oils from your blood, we will begin the ritual. If even that is not enough, I must fulfill this duty even by borrowing someone else’s blood.”

“… … .”

“It’s thanks to you, Penny. Because of you, I also made up my mind.”

He let go of his collar and stepped back.

“I thought that a believer of the same type, though different in form, would understand my feelings… … Still, this city is full of uncivilized people.”

Ranpei slowly turned his back and started washing his hands at the sink.

The moment Penia was about to give up everything and helplessly close her eyes.

[Complete control of the powerhouse system.]

With a unique and disparate tone somewhere

[Starting the operation.]

The surroundings were plunged into darkness one step ahead.

Genius Magician Who Takes Medicine Chapter 262