"Um… Okay, here I go."
Immediately following Oliver's response, his shadow expanded and soared.
A shadow stake brushed past Joe's right side of his face.
Joe's eyes grew bigger as red blood and sticky sweat scattered over the floor.
"You…"
Joe quickly stepped back while concentrating the black magic on his legs.
Oliver's shadow followed him and moved faster than before.
Joe was pursued by the shadow stake, which soared as if mole hunting.
Despite Joe's best efforts to avoid it, he was caught by shadow tentacles that were aiming at his ankles.
CLUTCH
"Ugh…"
At that moment, Oliver cast two black magic spells simultaneously, one in each hand.
One was [Creepy scream] which causes mental damage to the other person with a terrible scream, while the other was [Thrust] which turns negative emotions such as hatred and anger into shock waves.
Oliver combined the two black magic into one and shot at Joe, who was caught by the ankle.
[Outcry]
The wave of black emotions tangled up in front of Joe and turned into numerous faces.
It was similar to Creepy Scream, but unlike Creepy Scream, which had a tearful face, it had an angry face — a very angry face.
-Ahwhhwhhhwhhhwhhhwhhhwhhhwhhhwhhwhhhwhhhwhhhwhhhwhwhhwhhwhhwwwww
The roar of anger wounded people's ears and minds as much as the creepy scream, and it also had a physical shock, which directly hit Joe.
Joe, who was tied up, could not avoid it and took a direct hit.
"Keuk…"
The entire area was swept away by the shock wave
Windows nearby were smashed and there were many cracks on the walls, indicating the tremendous amount of power in the spell.
It was a pretty good combination and Oliver thought maybe he should use it a few more times later.
"Hmm… Are you okay?"
Oliver asked, looking at Joe staggering.
His condition was not very good. He instinctively blocked his ears to reduce the damage, but nevertheless, blood leaked slightly from the eyes and mouth as if he had not completely escaped the impact.
Usually, when it reached this point, most of them would fall down, or lose their will to fight, but Joe tried to get up and fight somehow.
His emotions shone with a persistent sense of struggle, and Oliver found the light quite pretty.
"Um, not yet…"
TADADAK
Oliver ran, remembering Joe's words for a proper attack.
He imitated Joe by increasing the black magic output to his leg, which raised his speed tremendously.
Then Oliver jumped and stretched his knee forward.
Despite his blurred vision, Staggering Joe lifted his arms to defend himself.
BANG
A loud sound echoed through the ruins.
As before, the sound was similar to that of a metal bump ringing, but this time one side made the sound of breaking metal.
"Cough…! Ugh… Ugh…."
Joe, exhausted, released his defense and collapsed, and Oliver, who had turned Joe to this state, lifted his quarterstaff in the air and struck.
BANG!
Immediately next to Joe's face, the quarterstaff made contact with the ground.
Joe gasped at the quarterstaff which had penetrated the ground right next to him.
Shock, fear, and then the emotion of recognition shone.
"…do you want to continue?”
"Haa… No, that's fine. I lost."
Joe answered with his eyes closed.
Something was off, but Oliver helped Joe first instead of asking.
"Well, that's a relief. You’re not seriously hurt. You have a very strong body as well as strong vitality."
Joe looked at Oliver, who was comforting him, in a very strange way beyond the oddity.
It was like looking at a creature that does not belong to this world.
Even though he said it himself, Oliver attacked him as if he were going to kill him without a second thought, and yet he was helping him in this way again.
In fact, it was far from the common sense he had acquired in his life, and the bigger problem was he was slowly accepting it as normal.
"Whoa…"
Joe forced his throbbing body and leaned his back against the wall.
In spite of the fact that his stylish suit had been torn here and there by the fight and dust, he did not care about it.
On the contrary, he looked relieved – Like a person who quenched his curiosity.
"…You said you were curious about the reason why I asked you to fight, right?"
"Yes."
"I wanted to check….. What is the difference between you and me? It may sound strange, but do you remember the first time you met me?"
Oliver recalled.
It was during his first official job as a Solver that he met Joe, capturing Herbert, an ex-assistant professor of Magic Tower who had broken his contract with Murphy.
It was a 3-to-1 fight, but even without that, Joe's close combat style was quite tricky.
Unlike other disease-based Warlocks Oliver had seen, Joe did not strengthen his body excessively, so he moved more quickly
When necessary, he focused on black magic on a particular part of the body and fought very efficiently.
It was more difficult to deal with than general disease-based Warlocks.
Well, thanks to that, Oliver was able to upgrade his black suit spell.
"I remember."
"I think it was definitely worth fighting with you at the time, but how did the difference in skills widen this much?”
Oliver answered after remaining silent for a moment.
"…Joe is pretty strong, too."
"Compared to you, I’ve not improved an inch. Even when we met in the contaminated zone, you were stronger than before, but now I can't hurt you even in close combat….. Damn it."
There was a lot of emotion when Joe uttered the last word – Jealousy, anger, irritation, admiration, longing.
Even though there were a lot of emotions, Oliver was not happy seeing those.
It was much prettier to see Joe's emotions when he struggled to rise and somehow attempted to fight.
Suddenly, Oliver’s interest in Joe went down sharply.
"…is that all?"
"Ha… No, I'll offer you a deal."
"Deal?"
"Yes, teach me black magic, that black suit thing.”
"……."
Oliver raised his eyebrows slightly.
Teach black magic…..
It was something he never did after leaving the Joseph family.
Moreover, Joe didn't just ask Oliver to teach him on a whim.
Despite the fear of rejection and the humiliation of asking, shame, jealousy, and anger, he overcame it and asked for it.
With a desire to get better, a willingness to grow somehow, and the strength to face rejection and ridicule.
Oliver found it interesting, very interesting.
Joe cautiously opened his mouth as if he interpreted Oliver's silence in a different sense.
"Of course, I'm not just asking you to teach me. I'm…."
– GROWL.
Joe’s stomach growled in the middle of the ruins.
In an effort to hide his embarrassment, Joe closed his eyes tightly.
"Oh, fu*k… It's normal after a fight."
Oliver looked at the watch. Having spent the whole day buying things at the black market and fighting Joe, it was already dinner time.
"Um, would you like to have dinner with me?"
"What?"
"Meal. I was told to eat meals regularly. I'll buy it, so would you like to join me?"
Joe looked at Oliver like he was looking at something really weird.
"…O..K."
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
Leaving the ruins behind, Oliver and Joe went to a pub/restaurant nearby.
Throughout the store, there was a rough atmosphere, and customers appeared to be shouting and roaring.
Some people fought with bottles of alcohol while playing card games, and the people around them weren't surprised either, they were doing their jobs or laughing in amazement.
Oliver didn't hate their emotional state.
And at that moment, a skinny man who got pushed in a fight, came flying toward Oliver.
Just before the collision, Joe stopped him instead.
"Who is it? Who dares…Mr. Joe?"
When the word Joe rang through the pub, those fighting and those watching stopped what they were doing and turned to Joe.
Their emotions shone with tension and fear in unison.
"I'm not here for work. Do what you were doing. But don't make a fuss around me."
said Joe, with bruises all over his face.
It looked somewhat out of place and awkward, but no one thought it was strange.
People who fought like killing each other just a while ago stopped doing what they were doing and began to clean up the messy store.
Oliver asked as he sat at a corner table.
"Do you know them?"
"Well, relatively recently… I was having a drink here after work, and I broke the arm of one because he was noisy."
"Um…"
"Hey, long time no see."
A woman approached Oliver and Joe's table while they were talking. She wore a sleeved shirt and jeans as a store waitress, and her hair was short black.
"How come you don't look so good today? Who did that to you?"
"Don't talk nonsense and just serve the food."
"Wow… You’re taking it out on a woman. I like it, it's very manly. So, what food would you like to have?"
When asked by the sly woman, Joe looked at Oliver for a moment and replied.
"The biggest steak and beer. You…?
"Um… Can I have the same thing?”
Oliver, who had never ordered food, ordered the same food as Joe.
The woman nodded and headed for the kitchen.
"Are you okay with that? The steak here tastes good, but the size is really big….”
"Um, but I've never ordered food before.”
When Oliver stayed at the inn, he just ate what was given, and right after he moved to the warehouse, all he ate was bread, apples, and milk he bought at the market.
Joe looked at Oliver once again with a strange expression – as if he wanted to get used to it but couldn't.
In the meantime, the steak came out.
On a large plate, a piece of meat as big as a human head came out half-cooked.
In line with that, beer was served in a huge glass.
Joe, who was hungry, cut the meat into large pieces and took a bite, and swallowed it with beer, and Oliver followed him.
CLATTER CLATTER
As they ate in silence, Joe suddenly began to speak.
"Do you happen to know about the Fighter Crew?”
Oliver, who was cutting the meat and putting it in his mouth, nodded.
It's been a while, but he had heard about it from Forrest.
It was a relatively recent organization filled with new Warlocks
Unlike the existing Warlock families, the command system was horizontal, not vertical, and it was said that it was rapidly increasing their presence centered on mercenary work.
And from what Oliver heard, most of the members are combat enthusiasts.
Joe grinned when Oliver talked about this fact.
"I don't know why there was such a rumor about us. Well, people tend to change the narrative as they please."
"Isn't that right?"
"Of course, we're not battle maniacs. It's just that we’re stuck in this business to make ends meet.”
Joe said in an indifferent voice, and he meant what he said.
"And it’s not that everyone in the fighter crew has equal status. Well, we don’t treat other members as higher or lower in rank, but there is an exception. Our captain."
"Captain. Who is that?"
"I don't know exactly. He just showed up one day and made the fighter crew.”
The man who made the Fighter Crew. Oliver got interested.
"What's his name?"
"No one knows his name. At least among the people I know… We call him Captain, but outsiders call him [Cook]."
"Cook? Does he cook anything?"
"Yeh, he runs a restaurant in District Y."
"In District Y?"
Oliver asked back.
According to what he'd heard, District X was somewhat under Landa's control, but Districts Y and Z were lawless regions and were not under Landa's control.
It was a hideout for dangerous criminals who cannot be controlled by the forces of the day and the night.
And to run a restaurant in such a place….. Cook seemed to be a pretty unusual person.
"He showed up one day and went around the X, Y, and Z districts and taught black magic to gangsters."
"How did he do that?"
"I don't know. Everyone thinks it's just a basic task to make a fighter crew, but the Captain never said anything about it."
Joe cut a big bite of the steak again and gulped it over with beer.
"I don't know why, but thanks to that, a lot of people gathered next to him, including me. There's no reason not to gather around a person from whom you can learn black magic. We have to learn something to live in this fu*ked up world."
Joe went on to explain how the gang leaders who were already living in Districts X, Y, and Z had a quarrel with Cook because of his way of doing things, and how Cook instantly killed all of those who opposed him with a kitchen knife to prove his power.
Thanks to this, more people gathered, and before they knew it, Cook was able to lay the foundation for the fighter crew.
"Fighter crew had changed a lot since then. Captain then started teaching stronger black magic to those who did something for the Fighter Crew. Anything is fine. Bringing money, increasing fame. That's why our members are running wild like crazy. This is probably the reason why we’re called combat maniacs."
"Um… that's why you were looking for books in the contamination zone.”
"Yes, in the end, I failed, but still, I gained a little fame and won a little prize."
Unlike his words, he didn't seem very satisfied. On the contrary, he was anxious.
"Is it hard to be there?"
"It's not to that extent yet. However, there is a limit to my growth under the current system. It's too slow. Slow growth in this line of work means that your life is at stake."
Oliver nodded.
It was a place where you die if you lose even once.
"So you want to learn black magic from me?”
"Yeah, it's too much to rely on my organization alone….. The black suit doesn't seem to be a burden on the body unlike the general disease-based black magic, so, can you teach me?”
Oliver silently admired Joe’s emotion.
He didn't expect to meet someone who would ask him to teach something once again.
Joe said urgently as if he interpreted Oliver's silence differently.
"Of course, I’m not asking you to teach you for free…"
"… I'll teach you."
"…What?"
"I'll teach you.”
Oliver answered, cutting a bite of the steak and putting it in his mouth.
For some reason, Joe looked at Oliver silently as if he was surprised.
His emotions shone with confusion as if he didn't understand the situation.
"…really?"
"Yes, of course, I can't keep up with you and teach you every day, but I can teach you two or three times a week regularly."
Oliver said as if it was nothing.
However, this was a huge thing for Joe, considering how often he had to bow his head and the amount of money he had to bring to learn a little black magic.
"…it's not a question for me to ask, but… why did you accept it?”
After finishing the meal, Oliver took out a handkerchief, wiped his mouth, and replied. The big steak had disappeared clean.
Oliver pointed to Joe.
"You want to learn."
Oliver pointed at himself.
"I can teach… Do I need any more reasons?”
"………"
In silence, Joe watched Oliver as if he were watching a being that does not belong to this world.
(To be Continued)
