The next morning.
After having breakfast with Joseph, Oliver went out of the hotel, changing into his plain and inconspicuous clothes.
Oh, of course, he also brought the money bag along.
Landa was full of people in the morning, and there were as many cars as people.
“There are a lot of people here.”
"Yes. That's both an advantage and a disadvantage. Come on, follow me."
Joseph took Oliver to the road.
Joseph raised his hand, and within a few seconds, a yellow car that looked like a giant beetle stopped.
There was a triangular marker on the top of the car, and on it was the phrase saying Dobb Taxi Association.
“Get in.”
Joseph opened the door and said.
Oliver got into the car as directed, and Joseph closed the car door afterward.
“Where can I take you, Sir?”
The driver, dressed in a neat uniform, raised his hat slightly and asked.
"District X… just go to the entrance."
“Are you talking about District X…? Yes, I understand.”
A Darkness passed over the taxi driver's face for a moment, but soon he started driving the car without asking.
As the car started moving and the landscape changed rapidly outside, Oliver looked outside for a moment and then asked Joseph.
“Master. I’m sorry to ask, but where are we going?”
“We are going to meet Andrew. It’s a pretty interesting place.”
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
What Joseph said was not a lie.
They rode in the car for a while, and as time passed the tall and long buildings started disappearing, and instead outdated streets appeared one after another.
They had traveled farther from the place Oliver had entered the car, and the interesting thing is, the number of people Oliver saw kept increasing rather than decreasing as they moved farther.
The car soon stopped.
The driver in the uniform turned his head toward Joseph and spoke politely.
"Sir, this is the entrance to District X. I'm sorry, but I can't go any further than this."
"I know. It's hard to get here. This is the taxi fare, and this is for your tips."
In addition to the taxi fare, Joseph gave him a decent bundle of money.
The taxi driver raised his hat saying thanks and went away as soon as Oliver and Joseph got off.
Oliver vaguely seemed aware of the reason.
Although the street looked lonely, there were people everywhere, and they all showed cunning and venomous emotions as if they were waiting for prey.
Oliver knew, if he showed any weakness, he'd become their next prey.
"Master?"
“What’s wrong?”
“Is this place also in Landa?”
“Yes. The high-ranking people in Landa don’t even care about this place, but indeed, it’s a part of Landa. They don’t… Why did you ask?”
“..I asked because I was curious.”
Joseph smiled mischievously.
“What are you curious about?”
“It is the same city, but the emotions of people here and there are very different.”
“It’s not that strange. After all, This is District X.”
“….District…..X?”
“I will tell you on the way. First, let’s get going.”
After saying that, Joseph began to walk and Oliver followed him.
The street, where clumsy cement buildings and shanty houses are mixed together, was as complicated as a maze, with profanity and graffiti painted everywhere.
A perfect place for rogues.
Going deeper, Oliver saw more than simple graffiti, blood-drawn blasphemous graffiti, and there was also a totem made of animal bones and skins.
“Master…what is that?”
Oliver asked while looking at the totem that had been erected in the middle of the street.
It was made by weaving the skulls of a bird and a mouse.
“Well… It’s also my first time seeing it, and it was probably made by a shaman or warlock who doesn’t have much to do. Or the beggars could have made it as a threat.”
“…do you know this place, Master?”
“Of course. I have visited here a few times due to business reasons. Above all, this is the place where I was born.”
"ah…"
Oliver groaned and nodded at the story he heard for the first time.
“There are 26 Districts in Landa. And for convenience, they have divided them into A, B, C,…etc. Now, say Oliver. Which District do you think is more prestigious?”
"…I don’t know, Master?"
"It’s all right. It's a problem that can be answered right away if you had known about Landa. Of course, the more prestigious District is A. The higher the District in alphabetical order the better security of the District. Of course, not all of them are like that, but overall it’s the same."
Oliver nodded without saying a word.
“So in other words, Districts like Z, Y, X, W, which are at the bottom of the alphabetical order, don't have proper security. What do you think?”
Oliver looked around.
As they went deeper, the streets seemed more and more outdated and dangerous. However, what bothered Oliver more was the dangerous emotions that he felt as he went deeper.
“It’s kind of a little… Ominous.”
“Haha! Do you think so?"
"…Then did you meet your master here, Master?"
"What?"
Joseph's emotions twitched.
It seemed like an unexpected question.
“Um, well, yes. He used to be a warlock here.”
“Are there any warlocks in Landa?”
“Are there any warlocks in Landa? That’s a stupid question. This place has more warlocks than Wineham. Wineham has a single digit of warlocks even if you include everyone from the small warlock organization, but here, there will be a three-digit when you add up the warlocks that belong to the big organizations and the small organizations. No one knows how many warlock organizations are there in Landa. They are scattered all over the place.”
“Whoa…"
Oliver was intrigued by the new facts.
If he thought about it, it wouldn't have been that strange.
This land has far surpassed Wineham in every aspect, such as the size and development of the city, and the number of people.
Rather, it would be strange if there were few warlocks.
Oliver realized that the world was wide, and he was just a frog in a well.
This simple fact gave Oliver great joy.
He had a lot to learn and a lot to explore, so how could it not be enjoyable?
Oliver asked for more information.
“Then why did Master come to Wineham?”
“Why…? It's honestly embarrassing to say this, but the competition here became too fierce.”
"Competition?"
“As I said before, there are a lot of warlocks in Landa, and that’s why they fight with each other every day. A lot of warlock organizations form and disappear every day. It was that intense. So I was worried and I left to build up my own strength?”
"I see."
“Do you think I’m a coward?”
“No, I think you are smart.”
“That’s right…thank you. Let’s stop, we’re here.”
Joseph stopped abruptly and said.
The place Joseph stopped was in front of a fenced building, which looked like a building that used to be a hospital.
“Andrew is here.”
“……it looks like a closed hospital, is it still in operation, Master?”
"Half right, half wrong. The building being closed is right, but someone else is running it. Come on, follow me."
Oliver followed Joseph through the side door behind the fence.
“It’s not that way, it’s this way.”
Joseph called Oliver, who was on the way to the hospital.
“But the hospital is over there…?”
“The hospital is closed. The actual operating place is the warehouse over here.”
Joseph pointed to the large warehouse at the back of the hospital.
Oliver followed Joseph there, and next to the warehouse was a large door leading to the basement.
“Is Sir. Andrew treated here?”
“Yeah, It’s a little funny, right? A warlock treating people in a hospital.”
“Yes…….”
CREAAAK———
As Joseph opened the heavy basement door, the sound of echoes could be heard from everywhere.
Oliver went in first, then Joseph followed him, and there was no light, it was dark everywhere.
At that moment, Joseph snapped his hand and the torch hanging on the wall got lit up.
“…Isn’t it fascinating.…. Master”
"….what?"
“You said you were going to heal Sir. Andrew with black magic. I thought it would be impossible to heal with black magic because Master said that it would be difficult.”
“Ha…was that fascinating.?”
"Yes. I thought that all Warlock organizations were similar to us.”
“Well, it is true that there are many who are similar to us. However, the realm of Warlock is wide and deep, and the warlock shows different professions depending on their inclinations and talents.”
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
Oliver and Joseph continued to talk as they walked down the hall.
“Actually, in terms of economic efficiency, it is best to make pilgarets or nutritional supplements using Life-force. The profit is high and the risk is surprisingly low.”
“Is there a risk?”
“Yes, there are risks. From the government's point of view, we are people who shouldn't be left alone since we use other people’s emotions and Life-force to make products. First of all, what we do is illegal. To them, we're subjects that are to be tracked down and eradicated… But, they don’t try to corner us completely."
“Why?”
“There are many reasons, but if I were to pick the main one, they are consumers. Because the aftereffects and addiction of Pilgarets are incomparable to that of cigarettes. Even though the nutritional supplements are made from other people’s Life-force, they are life-saving drugs for the Rich… So, on the surface, they do formal monitoring, but they have no intention of eradicating us.”
“I see…”
Oliver was intrigued by the unexpected remark.
Initially, he didn't think pilgerets or nutritional supplements would be illegal, and he was surprised to know that the surveillance was done only in name despite knowing it’s illegal.
The history of the world was as interesting as black magic.
As Oliver walked, hearing the story from Joseph, he saw skeletons scattered across the hallway.
It was rotten and had dark red flesh on the outside.
"And wherever you go, there are people with unique personalities. There are people who are far from efficiency, safety, and rationality. They don't just make drugs or nutritional supplements, they also work in other industries."
“ Can you tell me more about it, Master?”
Oliver asked as he looked at the growing number of skeletons.
“Well, first of all, there are people who were able to heal people like the warlocks here. There are also people who use Life-force for manipulation and creating diseases based on black magic. Surprisingly, there are also many high-ranking customers for these types of people. That makes them more profitable, and in some cases safer than us.”
“Is there any other type of Warlocks, Master?”
Beyond a pile of skulls came a pile of half-corrupted corpses. It seemed that some time had passed, and the corpses were infested with maggots.
“There are people who like fighting and live as mercenaries and solvers. If you have the skills, you can have a good income and safety, and you can also develop your skills quickly. No matter what, practical classes will always be the best.”
"I see…."
“Come on, turn right here.”
At Joseph's words, Oliver went to the right of the hallway.
As he went further, he found a large room.
There were quite a few corpses piled up around the room, the brown and dry blood was scattered all over the walls, floors, and ceilings proving that they were all murdered here.
But the most striking thing was the altar opposite to the door.
Three rectangles and nine circles were carved on the altar that was stained with red blood.
“Is there any other type, Master?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are there any warlocks who have taken a different profession other than medicine or mercenary?”
“…there are some who make religions.”
“Religion?”
"Yes."
Oliver asked as he approached the altar.
“I’m sorry, Master. Can you explain it more in detail?”
“Creating a religion for a Demon, worshiping that demon and offering tribute to that Demon… Unlike the previous examples, it is a very difficult and also a very dangerous profession.”
“If it is difficult and dangerous, why are they doing that, Master?”
Oliver asked, checking the body lying on the altar.
The body was horribly dismembered.
"The more dangerous a fruit is, the sweeter it is. The Demons are evil but at the same time they also give great blessings."
Oliver looked at the body lying on the Altar…
No, Oliver looked at the corpse of Andrew lying on the Altar and asked.
“Is that why you killed him, Master?”
