Leo deftly placed the pills in his palm and swallowed them all at once with water.
"Phew..."
I don't believe that a body that was weak from birth can be improved to this extent.
It's not like I've been living a life where I'm out of breath and have difficulty even running or walking because I lack nutrients.
The elixir Stemonia, which cost 100 million cells to take, only temporarily alleviated some of the penalties and removed the toxins from the tobacco plant.
No one knows better than this nutritional supplement that is the price needed to throw off the shackles that befit this ridiculous talent.
"...."
But I believe that it's better than doing nothing, and that such an attitude can steadily improve the quality of life.
If you don't make a delicate effort every moment, you will fall off this tightrope at any time.
You must not forget.
Risk and return. What allows you to strike a balance between them and take dangerous steps is, more than anything, a strong will to live.
And Leo could not afford to let any laziness or bother dilute that desire.
'It's ironic.'
Could it be just a coincidence that as his reason as a wizard grows stronger, his thirst for life grows stronger as he realizes the talent inherent in his soul?
Because they are more rational than anyone else, they may desire life more earnestly than anyone else.
Forcing himself to shake off the thoughts that were creeping in, Leo took out a stick of celery from the refrigerator and chewed it.
It's a vegetable that's famous as a diet food rather than a health food, but it contains Fiber that helps burn calories and improves digestion, so I kept it in the fridge and took it out and ate it whenever I was bored.
Leo sat down next to the refrigerator and took something out one by one, slowly increasing his magic power.
The magical power that was spinning in his hand, along with the hot heat that now felt all too familiar, began to flow into the bullet Leo was holding and infuse it.
Square, square.
Letters and shapes that even Leo did not fully understand were engraved in a spiral pattern on the outside of the bullet.
The moment when the head and tail of the letters that started on one side make a full circle and join hands.
Phew!
A bright light rises from the bullet he was holding, but it is soon all sucked inwards.
"....."
Leo looked down at the bullet in silence, but he couldn't hide the smile that appeared on his lips.
The magic he had just cast on the bullet was [Ignite], a common magic that conjures up flames the size of a bonfire.
The fact that nothing happened when you used magic on a bullet can only mean one thing.
After getting a clue from the request of Amnak Pharmaceuticals, Leo was finally able to properly enchant moving objects.
'I should be grateful to Alice.'
Basic knowledge accumulated while studying the magic that was applied to Enakpil's five fingers.
By incorporating the principles of unique magic that I had learned through my sparring with Alice, I was finally able to obtain proper enchantment magic.
The key is not to draw it onto an object while maintaining the original shape of the magic circle, but to take care to ensure that the structure of the object itself can be included in a single magic circle.
It is important to delicately break down the structure of magic and draw a magic circle that is intentionally incomplete.
There has been rapid progress since the realization that if you are not bound by the shape of a circle, there is no need to worry about changes in coordinates.
Of course, the duration of the magic boost that was created this way was very short, but the fact that you got the feel for it is important.
Once you have the right direction, all that's left is to improve your skills.
'If only we could properly apply this to weapons like guns…'
You can minimize the burden of using magic continuously while still gaining the ability to deal with various situations.
He leaned his head against the wall, clutching the bullet tightly in his fingers.
'I'll have a lot to do after this is over.'
Training in enchantment magic, training in movement magic using Enakpil's five fingers, and even clues to the lightning-type unique magic of the Thorburn School.
This is an opportunity to drastically improve your combat capabilities, which have been lagging behind for so long.
My body was tired, but my mind was clear with anticipation of the abilities I would acquire in the future.
Leo smiled faintly as he groped around next to the refrigerator and picked up a bottle of sleeping pills.
I felt like I would be able to sleep a little more comfortably tonight than usual.
#
"it's okay."
Panoa put down the smartphone he was holding in his hand and spoke with a broad face.
Manya answered as if she had been waiting.
"Has the approval finally been given by the Congress?"
"He said it was okay as long as I could clean it before the inspection. That amount of time would be enough."
"It wasn't all for nothing that I spent a month lobbying the Congress to try to get the old guys to eat me up."
As Manya said, rubbing her eyes as if she was tired, most of the work of the project team led by Panoa recently was focused on lobbying the city council.
Even if everything goes perfectly, you can't finish it without city permission.
In other words, it was as if Panoa could unleash all of his power against Cigar Bang without any filtering, as long as the city council would turn a blind eye.
"If it weren't for the agreement with the autonomous region, we wouldn't have been able to achieve this result. The city government doesn't have the luxury of looking elsewhere right now. We need to wrap things up quickly before the old people wipe their mouths."
"I should let the half-wizard know about this."
"Yeah. Before they do anything, we'll strike first─"
Kwaaaaang!!
Before Panoa could continue speaking, the building shook faintly along with the sound of an explosion coming from outside the window.
Panoa, who was gripping the armrests of her chair tightly, and Manya, whose eyes were wide open, both looked out the window.
The turnstile in front of Dyke's headquarters was completely shattered, and a corpse was lying in a large pit that had formed between them.
Manya sighed as she checked the bomb vest wrapped around her body and her exposed back.
"It seems they know that time is running out on that side too."
"...Are you a gang?"
"Yes."
Manya answered.
"It seems like that was an invitation sent directly by the boss."
Large letters written in blood on the exposed back.
There was a message written on it from Eden, the boss of Cigar Bang.
[Let me see your face.]
joining
Leo walked slowly into the bar, feeling the sharp gaze stinging his face.
I feel like there's been a significant increase in the number of people who recognize him lately.
I've completed quite a few commissions so far, but it was after the railroad station operation that I felt a decisive change in perspective.
To be precise, it was after rumours began to spread that he had personally killed Beck Clinton.
Since the wizard was able to take on a spearman head-on and kill him, it was inevitable that speculation about his abilities would run rampant.
A strange sense of wariness where goodwill and hostility coexist.
A strange sense of anxiety about possibly meeting someone else in the future is transmitted through the languid air of the bar.
"...…"
Although it was a little annoying, Leo did not find this gaze necessarily burdensome.
It wasn't for this very reason that he decided to join hands with Dyke to quickly build up this kind of reputation.
Although the process of bringing about that fruition did not go as Leo had intended, there was no small amount to be gained from dealing with gangs that had a firm hold on one area, such as the Cigar Bang.
So much so that you can feel it just from Jenny's reaction.
"The number of profile views on the deep web has exceeded four digits."
"What?"
"This is proof that your potential clients are starting to increase significantly. With Beck Clinton's name added to your accumulated career, it will soon become a task to choose a commission."
"…. You weren't acquainted with Beck? You seem calmer than I thought."
"He was just an old fart who was obsessed with a useless name. He used to make a lot of noise trying to collect rent for his space in District 49. It's a good thing that that old punk is gone."
There was not a single hint of confusion in Jenny's cool response.
"Did you see the message Panoa sent?"
"Yeah. They said the gang boss sent a direct message."
Leo grimaced as he said that.
Suicide bombing? It seems like they sent the nuance of wanting to talk, but the method they used was extremely violent.
Or maybe the message was just a pretext, and he just wanted to vent his anger.
"It's an ambiguous moment. It's too late to fix things, and it's too early to surrender."
Leo responded to Jenny's muttering.
"I guess it would be right to see it as an intentional move."
"I think so too, especially since Beck Clinton didn't move immediately after his death."
The movements of the gang boss who sent reinforcements to the Scavenger 48th branch but has not made any statement until now.
From Leo's perspective, this is a flow that cannot help but be nerve-wracking.
Even more so when you consider that the other party is a crazy person who would even commit terrorism against a company's headquarters.
"Is it a coincidence that the raid was launched right after Panoa received tacit permission from the city government? He may have broken the unwritten rules of this world, but considering the circumstances, he may have thought that he had to break the flow even if it meant breaking it."
Jenny seemed more interested in guessing the gang boss's thoughts than in the current situation.
"You seem very interested."
"It couldn't be otherwise. A wizard from the Torburn Tower who came to this city and became a gang boss is something you don't easily find even in these parts."
Her eyes sparkled sharply.
"If you're from a military background, it makes sense that you would work with soldiers in the arms business. Isn't that only natural, since that's what you've seen and learned?"
Come to think of it, Jenny said that when she first met Leo, she mistook him for a wizard from the Torburn Tower.
Now that you've seen and heard how Leo fights, you probably know that he doesn't just use lightning magic, but that means that on this floor, when people think of lightning magic, they think of Thorburn.
Torven Tower. The headquarters of the Lightning series of magicians, located in the remote desert of the southwestern part of the continent. They are the most popular and widely known of the Lightning magicians and also money-crazy businessmen.
They go beyond simply working as mercenaries, and they extremely prefer to actively intervene in wars and expand their influence externally through such businesses.
Because they thoroughly judge status based solely on ability and performance, and mercilessly discard talent that falls behind, those from the Thorburn School generally refer to those who were eliminated after failing to win the fierce competition at the Magic Tower.
"I've worked with them before."
"....."
Leo and Jenny turned their heads silently at the voice coming from beside them.
Dylan, who was sitting in the corner of the bar, munching on a sandwich, waved his hand lightly.
"…. This is driving me crazy. When did you crawl in again?"
Jenny said with a look of disgust on her face, but Dylan winked at Leo without batting an eye.
"Partner, long time no, see?"
"Who is your partner?"
Dylan shook his shoulder in an exaggerated gesture at Leo's indifferent response.
"It's a shame that it's already been erased from my memory. Where has the strong camaraderie we developed while dealing with Crocodile Old Man gone?"
".... There are many people who have their backs bent by Croken."
In reality, wasn't it all Leo's fault for somehow stalling for time against Croken at that time?
If Evelyn had discovered them just a little later, it wouldn't have been strange if the two had been found as cold corpses.
Dylan pursed his lips behind his mask as if he was being unfairly treated.
"No, that was a problem that couldn't be solved even if our boss was there. Who on earth would deal with a monster worth billions of cells?"
"...."
That's true. It was just absurd that I would encounter such a strong person on my first mission.
After working on this floor for a few times, Leo no longer attaches much significance to it.
"Anyway, I told you that I have worked with Thorburn School wizards before?"
"Okay, okay, tell me something."
Dylan began to open his bundle of stories excitedly as Jenny answered as if she was tired of it.
I happened to meet them while transporting supplies to an unknown front line, and they were all incredibly arrogant and proud, and didn't even treat other people like human beings.
Leo, who had been listening to Dylan's long speech full of obvious self-praise, such as that the one who contributed the most to carrying out the request was himself, asked,
"So, what are you trying to say?"
Leo may have only worked with Dylan once, but he's had plenty of conversations with him while sitting in bars.
Leo couldn't say he knew all that much about the man Dylan O'Casey, but he had a rough idea of what a seasoned warrior he was.
He was not a man so reckless as to join in on a conversation by talking about his own experience with commissions simply because he was bored.
I can't help but think there's some other intention behind it.
Only then did Dylan stuff the rest of his sandwich into his mouth and cough.
"Um, these days, living expenses are really… lacking."
"This is driving me crazy."
Jenny muttered with a blank expression.
"Even if Antares doesn't work, he'll still get a basic salary. What the hell are you doing that you don't have enough money to live on, you idiot."
"I've been going to casinos lately… No, what am I saying? Anyway, I need a client who can hire me without the office knowing."