Two days after successfully completing the job from the Grimgald Mercenary Office.

Dray handed over the blood extracted from the man’s corpse to Lenoch through Jenny.

Jenny, handing over the styrofoam box, made a face of disgust at the smell of blood, but Lenoch wasn’t fooled by her poor acting and accepted the box calmly.

The idea that a woman bold enough to open a bar in the heart of Zone 49 would be squeamish about the smell of blood was laughable.

He had to buy an extra small refrigerator to store the blood separately, but it wasn’t a major expense.

Although he couldn’t analyze the blood mixed with dark mana immediately, he might be able to uncover the principle behind its strange doping ability once he matured magically.

“The consulting company that was in that building has moved elsewhere.”

Lenoch quietly listened to Jenny recount the aftermath of the incident while sipping the drink Jordan had handed him.

At some point, the two stopped charging Lenoch for drinks. The commission he had brought them so far had easily exceeded ten million Cel, making it possible.

“In a way, it was inevitable. No matter how much you want to save on rent and taxes, there’s a limit. Not many would stick around after experiencing something like that.”

Bang! Bang!

Despite the faint sound of gunfire outside the bar, Jenny’s words lacked conviction, as her expression remained unchanged.

Such incidents were not uncommon in Zone 49, so the three of them didn’t even think of moving and simply continued to sip their drinks.

The only notable event was a customer who grumbled about the noise, stormed out, and returned covered in blood.

“Van, what did you think of working with the Grimgald Office this time?”

In response to Jenny’s question, Lenoch replied nonchalantly.

“Nothing special. Compared to my encounter with Crocken, it was uneventful. I did face a Scavenger executive, but it wasn’t too difficult.”

“Wasn’t he a retired soldier? If he was an executive in Zone 51, you can guess his level.”

She chuckled and mumbled with a long cigarette in her mouth.

“But not all Scavenger guys are weak or pathetic. Just a heads-up, many who got involved with them a few times and let their guard down ended up gone.”

“Are you saying the core leaders are different?”

“Not just the executives, but there’s a significant variance among the branch managers too. If you get entangled with the Scavenger branch managers in the 20s zones, you’d better be careful. There’s a reason they managed to gather all sorts of scum and form such a large organization.”

Lenoch didn’t respond but made a mental note of her words.

The Scavengers he had encountered so far were nothing more than thugs or robbers, but if she said so, it was reasonable to assume they had more strength than met the eye.

She exhaled smoke and grinned at Lenoch’s indifferent expression.

“Did you know this incident is quite well-known in the underworld? It’s been a while since the Scavengers made such a deliberate move, so everyone was interested.”

“So?”

“More and more clients are looking for the wizard who calls down lightning from the sky. It’s exciting news for freelancers like us.”

“Hmm…”

That’s indeed good news. Jobs that specifically request him are more prestigious and pay better than those handed out to just anyone.

“So, I went through some trouble for our wizard.”

Jenny said, pulling out a file folder from behind the bar and handing it to Lenoch.

“I’ve compiled the requests that specifically named you over the past week. Take it, read through it, and pick one you like.”

“Just the named requests alone are this many?”

The stack of papers in his hand seemed to easily exceed a dozen sheets.

“It’s proof that there are many people thirsty for a skilled wizard. Honestly, I’m surprised too. Not many of my clients receive this many named requests.”

Jenny eyed Lenoch greedily and said, “So let’s keep working well together. I’ll only take a small commission.”

“Haha.”

Lenoch laughed dryly but didn’t respond, and Jenny didn’t press further.

He stood up with the file folder, and as he nodded, she remembered something.

“Oh, and about those requests. Since their deadlines overlap, if you pick one, we’ll have to reject the others. You need to respond quickly so the clients can find someone else. It’s only considerate.”

“Got it.”

Lenoch returned home, tossed the file folder and the box of blood into a corner, and headed to the bathroom.

He vomited all the alcohol he had consumed at Jenny’s bar. He had discovered that doing this could mitigate the side effects when he used his medicine, so he did it occasionally.

Though it was unpleasant, it was better than being bedridden for an entire day.

After flushing and washing up, he stood in front of the kitchen.

He cut and grilled the meat he had thawed in advance, washed some vegetables, and stir-fried them with store-bought sauce.

Sizzle!

He took out the leftover rice from yesterday and completed his meal with some simple side dishes.

The key was not to eat a lot but to ensure a diverse intake of nutrients.

Slowly and consciously, he chewed the food thoroughly to aid digestion and sent it down to his stomach.

His cursedly weak body had a terrible digestive system, so Lenoch always paid close attention to what he consumed.

After finishing his meal, he quickly did the dishes and stretched.

It was important to manage himself before falling into the bad habit of a single person doing dishes just to eat.

Having taken his vitamins, which arrived two weeks after ordering, Lenoch finally relaxed and sat against a corner of the living room.

The walls of his studio were covered with torn notes and memos he had stuck up, leaving little space to lean against, but it couldn’t be helped.

They were inspirations or methods he had thought of while researching the application of common magic, which he had written down and stuck on the wall.

The common magic Lenoch used was developed entirely from his memory and talent.

Unless he learned unique magic, the only way to elevate his common magic to a higher level was to make small but consistent efforts himself.

Fortunately, the magical talent he had painstakingly honed with numerous penalties wasn’t wasted, so Lenoch had been able to continuously advance his magic with even the slightest inspiration and insight.

He didn’t just use predetermined magic for its intended purpose; he redefined and reconstructed the mana consumption, range, power, and limits to create new magic.

Adjusting the range of [Thunder Calling] against the Scavengers was part of such research.

Lenoch placed the styrofoam box containing the blood into the small refrigerator he had bought. Since it was blood touched by dark mana, it was only natural to take precautions with a small-scale barrier magic.

Sitting upright in a corner of the room, he finally picked up the file folder Jenny had given him and began to go through the documents one by one.

There were requests from mercenary offices like Grimgald, or from individuals seeking protection.

There were also unique requests for cooperation in laboratory experiments, and many from corporations like before.

As he flipped through the documents, Lenoch paused and let out a chuckle.

“Heh… these guys are really something.”

There was even a request from the Scavengers wanting to hire him.

To be precise, it seemed the branch manager of Zone 38 had taken note of his performance.

The request blatantly showed they didn’t care that he had openly disrupted their operation, which surprised Lenoch.

Jenny must have known about this, but she probably didn’t tell him on purpose.

Having worked with her, he knew she had quite the playful side.

“Let’s see. I’ll exclude this one, and this one too…”

He filtered out requests with tight deadlines. He also put on hold those from mercenary offices.

Requests from unknown individuals were all excluded.

The cleanest ones were mostly from corporations.

Lenoch didn’t have a negative view of working with gangs, but trust was an issue. Until he had the strength to earn trust through power, he planned to avoid working with dangerous organizations.

After sifting through with strict criteria, only one request caught Lenoch’s interest.

Among the requests, it had the longest deadline and wasn’t too demanding. The pay wasn’t exceptionally high, but a keyword stood out to Lenoch.

“A pharmaceutical company…”

A stranger

Pharmaceutical company.

It was a word that strongly piqued the interest of Lenoch, who had recently become very interested in medicine.

Lenoch, acting on his thoughts, immediately turned on his phone and connected to the internet network.

There was a site he had been visiting more frequently lately, despite previously only checking the news occasionally.

The official online auction site run by the city government, Auction.

This city’s largest network market, where counting the items not for sale would be faster, often featured rare treasures or artifacts of unknown origin.

Even consumables like elixirs that maintain the user’s energy or health occasionally appeared here.

Among them, what Lenoch had his eye on was the first-grade manufactured elixir ‘Stemonia’ from Stania Pharmaceutical Group, priced around 100 million Cel.

It was said to achieve the most efficient enhancement of human vitality by combining regenerative magic, martial arts, and primitive shamanism in a diverse manner.

Though among elixirs, it was relatively close to a manufactured product, and its actual efficacy focused on boosting stamina and preventing energy dissipation, it was a rare item that rarely appeared even on such a popular auction.

Lenoch was in no position to be picky now.

He needed to earn money not just to improve his living standards but to strive for a better life.

The money he had saved by cutting back on spending here and there was for this moment.

“At least one more job… no, at least two.”

To ensure he could bid on Stemonia at the auction, just 100 million Cel wouldn’t be enough.

Lenoch planned to use a significant portion of his savings to confirm one crucial fact.

Could this frail body be improved solely through the effects of an elixir?

If this question remained unanswered, Lenoch couldn’t move forward.

He needed hope.

Even if it wasn’t a time-related unique magic, he needed hope that consuming such elixirs could alleviate the penalties plaguing his body.

Unique magic, artifacts, elixirs.

Among these, the most accessible and potentially obtainable with capital for Lenoch were the elixirs.

Even if he couldn’t see immediate effects, confirming whether similar elixirs could have positive effects on him was crucial.

Even if it meant spending some of the money he had painstakingly saved.

Suppressing his rising excitement, Lenoch calmly turned the page.

“Amnac Pharmaceutical Company…”

It wasn’t a well-known giant like Stania but more of a venture company founded in the 30s zones. Still, the fact that they manufactured medicine was important.

While taking on a request wouldn’t yield anything special, learning about the industry could be beneficial.

Even if it wasn’t an elixir, he might find hints to solve the issue of his sleeping pills losing effectiveness.

“Switching to stronger pills recklessly is a bit concerning…”

Yet, taking more than the recommended dose of cheap sleeping pills could mean never waking up again, so for now, he had no choice but to endure.

He made his decision.

The next client’s request would be from Amnac Pharmaceutical Company.

Having made up his mind, Lenoch skimmed through the request summary, which mainly contained the pharmaceutical company’s secrets related to new drug development.

It seemed they had clashed with the political sphere of that zone over the anticipated profits from this new drug development, but the specifics weren’t detailed, making it hard to understand.

He could contact Jenny and meet the client later. It was getting late.

After taking a sleeping pill with a glass of water, Lenoch turned off the lights and lay down immediately. Though he hadn’t been keeping it lately due to his focus on magical research, Lenoch tried to maintain regular sleep hours whenever possible.

To pass the time before the cheap sleeping pill took effect, he picked up his phone.

Lying there, staring at the display, he sometimes felt as if nothing had changed.

Just like back then, when he would crawl under the covers without a care and giggle while looking at his phone.

The difference now was that he no longer sought out sports or entertainment news.

Scandals of athletes and singers he didn’t know no longer interested him.

Browsing the internet, Lenoch clicked on the [Breaking News] section at the top, accompanied by a photo.

[Delegation from the Filenom Autonomous Region confirmed to visit Balkan. Scheduled date is two months later… A response team to be assembled for detailed schedule discussions.]

[City government. Despite maintaining a stance of no compromise, could this occasion change their attitude?]

[Contrary to corporate promises, still no progress in Aronite production process.]

Autonomous region… A familiar yet awkward term. It’s not something you hear often on Earth, is it?

Though it was hard to grasp the details, the news headlines suggested a significant meeting would take place in Balkan two months later.

Would it be significant enough for Lenoch to pay attention to? He wanted to ponder it a bit, but sleepiness came over him quickly.

He put down his phone and fell asleep as if passing out.