When Oliver returned to the sausage factory, everyone welcomed him.
But that's only for a moment.
Everyone was silent when they saw Oliver.
Maybe it's a normal reaction.
Walking from Landa to Wineham didn’t make any sense to anyone.
Oliver’s face and hands were covered with dust and something black, while his clothes were soaked in sweat and dirt and were in a state of rags.
The shoes that were sturdy got eroded slightly due to walking.
Overall, Oliver looked like a beggar.
After a long silence, someone spoke.
"Ugh, Senior Oliver? What the hell happened…”
"I didn't know how to get here from Landa. I just walked. I didn't get lost because it was a single road."
A very natural answer.
But, that is not what everyone wanted to hear.
Everyone wanted to know why Oliver came alone without Joseph and Andrew.
Everyone instinctively felt something unusual, and at that moment, Marie stepped forward and said,
"First, why don't you wash up? Senior Oliver."
“Oh, that would be good."
Oliver said, touching the back of his hand and face.
He was in a bad state as he had been walking day and night for several days.
Oliver, guided by Marie, headed to the shower room, but suddenly stopped on the way and spoke to the disciples who were present.
"Ah, right. Are you all busy?"
The disciples looked at each other and someone answered.
“Oh, no… Not really.”
“Then, I'll go wash up quickly, so could you all gather around? Don't leave anyone out. Is there a good place to gather together?"
"I think the studio would be good enough."
"Then, can you gather in the studio as Marie said? Please,"
With that said, Oliver left.
No one rebuked Oliver’s request.
⏩⏩⏩⏩⏩⏩
As Oliver asked, not only formal disciples but also informal disciples to gather in the studio.
Oliver was the one in charge of the family while Joseph was away.
However, even so, they couldn't get rid of the awkwardness.
Apparently, Oliver came back a long time after he went to see Joseph.
No, it didn't matter that he came.
The real problem was that he returned alone.
No one made a fuss, but the Senior and intermediate disciples gathered together and whispered.
"What the hell is going on? Where the hell is Master?"
"I don't know, I wonder if he went on another trip. It’s always been like that. He leaves all of a sudden, doesn't he?"
"Then, Andrew? Most importantly, even if he went on a trip, he wouldn't have let Oliver return by walk."
"Well, that's…."
They didn't know what happened, but everyone instinctively buzzed, feeling something was wrong.
But all the buzzing lasted only for a while.
When Oliver, who had finished taking a shower in a hurry, came out, everyone shut their mouths.
"Thank you for waiting."
Oliver came back with a bag on his back.
When everyone looked at it closely, they realized that it was the money bag that Oliver took when he went to meet Joseph.
When Oliver opened the bag, there were countless bundles of money bills.
Oliver dragged the table and poured out the bundles in the bag.
"….!!!"
Everyone was astonished at the amount of money they had never seen in their lives.
"Marie, can you organize this for me?"
“Ah…yes, I will.”
Marie who froze for a while nodded awkwardly at Oliver's request.
"I'm sorry, but could you please follow me?"
When Oliver said that, those who were in a frozen state looking at the bundle of bills looked at each other and followed Oliver one by one.
After a while, they brought more banknotes than the ones spilled from the bags.
(……!!!!!!!!!!!)
Everyone was so shocked that they screamed silently, but Marie's hands were arranging the bundles on the table as fast as the bundles of notes kept falling.
This happened several times.
Eventually, the number of bundles of notes piled up overflowed the table because they couldn't fill the table.
Oliver looked at everyone in that condition.
Oliver realized that what Joseph said was true.
It is just as he said when a huge amount of bills were gathered, they give off magical power, and everyone who sees them can't take their eyes off the bills.
Oliver noticed various emotions such as great greed, fear, and anticipation.
A senior student asked in a trembling voice.
“Hey…. what the hell is this…?”
“Uh… it's from the secret safe in the master's room.”
At Oliver’s words, everyone was astonished and they took a deep breath in shock.
There were many rules in the family, but the most important thing was not to touch Master Joseph's possessions.
Especially books, work tools, and money.
In fact, those who violated this disappeared one day without any trace.
"No, no! Are you out of your mind?! Master…! You brought Master’s money from the safe! Are you crazy!?"
The senior disciple who shouted, stepped back as if he had unwittingly been caught up in a crime.
The rest of the people also reacted similarly with only a small difference but Marie was the only one who kept her composure.
Oliver calmly raised his hand.
"Everyone, calm down…"
"Calm down?! Calm down! If the master comes, he'll kill us all?!!!"
"No, I don't think so. He's already dead."
"How on earth are you…? Huh?"
Those who were frightened and surprised suddenly stopped in unison as if someone threw cold water on their faces.
Then they looked at Oliver silently with a silly look.
Oliver stayed silent just to give the people a break until they had completely calmed down, and after a while, a senior disciple who came to his senses asked.
"Wha, what do you mean? I can't believe the Master is dead. By whose hand did he die?
"In my hands… I killed him."
At Oliver’s calm reply, everyone faltered a little.
This time their reaction was different.
Some frowned as if they had heard a bad joke, some were frightened, some did not believe what Oliver said and there were also those who denied it.
Among everyone, only Marie's eyes shone brightly.
Suddenly a senior disciple said.
"Lie….. It's a lie."
"It's not a lie. It's true."
"Then, show me the evidence that you killed Master."
"… Do you need proof?"
"Yes, of course! How can you not bring any evidence with you when you're saying this nonsense!"
"Ah… That's right."
Oliver scratched his head as if he had belatedly realized his mistake.
That reaction made everyone terrified.
In such a ridiculous situation, everyone was out of breath and sweating as if they had reached their mental limit.
Oliver scratched his head and thought, and suddenly opened his mouth.
“….Master was the one who helped me a lot, so wouldn't it be inappropriate if I were to cut off his head just for everyone to see?”
"Then, why did you kill our Master!"
Eventually, the senior disciple, whose mental state reached its limits, asked like a scream.
Everyone stood aside in fear.
It wasn’t weird to think a fight would erupt.
But, Oliver treated everything calmly.
"I'm sorry about that, too. I didn't want to kill him either. I got some help from Master and there were many things I wanted to learn from Master."
The sadness buried in the calmness seemed to be something foreign rather than humane and the listeners who heard this were horrified.
"But believe me. I couldn't help it."
"Why couldn't you help it?" asked Marie, who was watching the situation quietly.
There was faith in Oliver in her eyes.
"He tried to kill me. He was going to offer me as a sacrifice."
“Sacrifice?”
“Yes, I heard that it was a sacrifice for the Demon. Sir. Andrew was already killed as a sacrifice, and I think Master has also given a lot of other people as a sacrifice."
The horrific truth was conveyed with a calm expression and this disparity caused the disciples to turn their faces white with fear that surpassed their shock.
Everyone felt like they had been cattle who thought they were human while looking in the mirror.
In the meantime, someone denied it.
"… Lie, it's a lie. Why would Master do that?"
"I think it's to be strong. The stronger the offering, the stronger the power… and the more the disciples were given."
"This doesn't make any sense! Master bought you only a while ago. No matter how genius you are, how can you beat a man who came to Wineham alone and built a family?"
"As you said, Master was strong and I almost died. I was a bit lucky,"
After thinking for a while, Oliver murmured as if it was the most appropriate answer.
A very consistent attitude, but surprisingly, that attitude made people slowly start to believe it, even though he didn't show proper evidence.
Everyone started to believe that Joseph was dead and in Oliver's hand.
Oliver clapped his hands when everyone was overwhelmed by the overwhelming situation and couldn't take any action.
"Then, may I speak again?"
Oliver resumed as the silence returned.
"I have no intention of leaving here for now. Not yet. I have a lot of things I want to study,"
Oliver said, pointing in the direction of the study.
"So I'm going to stay here and study for a while, and I think you might feel a little uncomfortable. There are people who don't like me."
Some flinched.
Even ordinary consideration and thoughtfulness seemed alien and bizarre when they came out of Oliver’s mouth.
It was rather frightening and horrifying.
"This money is… It's Master’s property, but I don't think he’ll need it anymore. If you don't want to be with me, why don't you take your share and leave? If you want you can even take my share."
"……what?!"
Everyone asked back in shock.
Oliver answered in surprise.
"I don't want to leave yet… There are too many books in the study. Is that too much to ask?"
"No, it's not that. Can we really take this money? Are you serious?"
"Uh… Yes, Master is not here anyway. Can't we share it?"
The focus of the conversation was strangely out of place.
All of the disciples looked startled.
The people here once dreamed of becoming powerful Warlock like Joseph and forming their own families, regardless of what they have ended up doing now.
Everyone’s ultimate goal had been Power and Money.
Only the form was different, but the fundamentals were similar.
Oliver's proposal was a shock to them.
His approach was completely different from their Master Joseph, who only thought of increasing his own wealth and never thought of sharing.
Everyone thought it might be a trick to get rid of impurities.
When everyone was in the midst of confusion, Marie raised her hand.
"Oh, does Marie want her share? Let's see. One, two, three…"
“No, Senior Oliver. I raised my hand to ask you a question."
"Oh, really? What is it?"
"What happens if we stay?"
"… I don't know. Can't we just do what we do?"
"Master… No, Joseph's dead. The family can’t function in Wineham like it used to. In the first place, this peace was maintained by Joseph's power."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Some other family might try to take control of our base when they find out Joseph’s gone. If we resist, a fight might ensue."
“That…will make it difficult for me to read books."
"Yes, it'll be difficult. To avoid such a difficult situation, Senior Oliver, who defeated Joseph, should be the new Master of the family."
"Me?"
"Yes."
Surprised Oliver looked at determined Marie, whose eyes sparkled.
Oliver said, scratching his cheek.
"But… I don't know what to do."
"You can lead the organization and teach us, just like Joseph did. If you want to read a book comfortably in the study, you should become our master."
Oliver approached Marie and stared at her face.
It wasn't a threat, but it was quite intimidating to the party involved and the people watching.
After a while, Oliver replied.
"…. If it's a must, it can't be helped. I’ll be the Master…”
Marie breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with joy.
Oliver didn't know why she was so happy.
At that moment Peter cut into the conversation.
"Then, I think I know what to do…."
"Wait a minute,"
Oliver raised his hand, stopped Peter, and spoke to everyone who kept staring at him.
"What would you do? Do you want to stay here? Or do you want to leave?"
