Tling, Tling.
As the beautiful bell rang, the door of the pharmacy store opened.
An old woman with her back bent and wearing a worn-out scarf came in.
"welcome."
A middle-aged man with a half-bald head and gold-rimmed glasses welcomed the old woman.
The middle-aged man who was the owner of the pharmacy was wearing a white robe over her suit.
“Ah, pharmacist, how are you?”
The wrinkled old woman greeted him very warmly.
The pharmacist also welcomed her kindly.
“Madam, How have you been?”
“Yes, I have always been well.”
The pharmacist went towards the old woman who was uncomfortable because of arthritis and helped her move.
Feeling his kindness, the old woman thanked him.
"God, thank you. Mr. Pharmacist. That… Ah! The chicken dish you sent me a while ago was really delicious and I enjoyed eating it. It was the most delicious food I've ever eaten in my life. Thank you so much."
"No. I'm rather glad that you enjoyed it."
The pharmacist spoke skillfully.
After the greeting was over, the old woman took out a crumpled bill from her pocket.
“… I know it’s a really silly thing to say, but is it even possible to buy a painkiller with this money? Mr. Pharmacist?”
The pharmacist looked at the money.
The old woman who had no clue about this asked again.
“It’s getting harder and harder to move around. After all, this…”
The pharmacist raised his hand.
Then he went inside the store and took out a pain reliever that had just arrived.
It was a painkiller made by John Snow.
“Take this. It is a recently released pain reliever, and it seems to be effective.”
“But it looks pretty expensive….” said the old woman, bewildered.
The pharmacist said kindly without giving up.
“It’s okay. Let’s call it a birthday present.”
“My birthday is still far away…”
“I didn’t give you one last year, right? Just accept it. Give that money as a gift for your grandchild.”
The old woman felt apologetic, but in the end, she decided to accept the pharmacist's consideration.
The old woman continued to say thank you for a while.
The pharmacist smiled kindly and said it was okay again and again.
“By the way, how old is your grandchild, Madam?”
“He.., he’ll be about fifteen now.”
“If you are ok with it then I can arrange a job for him, please let me know if he has any ideas. I also need help in the warehouse and I have some connections in some restaurants and factories in Landa.”
“Thank you. Thank you very much. You will definitely be blessed.”
The old woman was about to leave after saying thanks almost bumped into the people who had just come in.
"Oh, my…"
“Are you okay?”
The black-haired, pale-skinned boy asked, supporting the old woman who nearly fell.
His behavior was kind, but his lifeless skin and dynamics created a sense of rejection rather than friendliness.
As if the old woman was no different, she hurriedly greeted him and ran out of the pharmacy.
“……”
The customer who had just entered and the pharmacist looked at each other without saying a word.
After a while, the pharmacist felt something unusual, so he trudged over, locked the door, and hung a sign that reads <close> in front of the door.
“ I’ll ask you just in case, you came here because you have something to do with me, right? You didn’t come to buy medicine, right?.”
“Yes.” Oliver answered.
"Okay."
The pharmacist led Oliver and his attendants, Marie and Peter, to a small room inside the pharmacy.
“I’m sorry, there are only two chairs. The only thing I can give is water since it wasn’t originally expecting to welcome any guests.”
“It’s okay.”
After pouring the water into the cup, the pharmacist drank and asked.
“Okay, let’s get to the point. No matter how urgent it is, I’m cautious of not closing the door for more than 20 minutes, so what do you want?”
“I came here because I wanted to ask you something.”
"Request?"
"Yes."
“If it’s Joseph’s request, he should come. Why did you come?”
“Because it’s my request?”
“…..”
The pharmacist looked at Oliver without a word.
He tried to guess what he was trying to do, but unfortunately, he couldn't find anything.
When he came to extract the Life-force or even when he captured the attacker, Oliver was the same, as he was now.
There was no hostility, no favorability, no bad intentions.
"…According to the rules, I should kick you guys out without listening, but anyway, since you helped my staff in the last battle with the wizards, I’ll listen… Oh, wait, you must have asked Joseph for permission before that, right? I would not be able to do anything without his permission.”
“If that’s the case then you don’t need to worry. He’s already dead.”
"……..What?"
“He died. At Landa.”
"…Did you see it yourself?"
"Yes."
“How did he die?”
“He got hit by a Las bomb, lost one arm, and died because of excessive bleeding.”
“Did he get attacked by another warlock? Then, why are you still alive….ah, don’t tell me…. Did you kill him yourself?”
The pharmacist asked as if he understood.
Oliver answered calmly.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Although the pharmacist should have been surprised, he wasn't surprised.
For some reason, seeing the boy in front of him seemed like everything was possible.
“……Why did you kill him?”
“He was trying to kill me. To be exact, he tried to sacrifice me to the Demon…. So I had no choice but to do it.”
The pharmacist was not surprised.
He had been dealing with warlocks for several decades.
In particular, it wasn't too strange for a warlock as strong as Joseph to have a deal with a Demon.
There was nothing new about it.
But the boy in front of him was a little different.
A warlock who made sacrifices to the Demon was definitely a terrifying monster.
However, the boy who was about fifteen or sixteen standing in front of him was saying that he had defeated such a monster.
The boy wasn't happy or angry about it at all.
There was no malice, arrogance, cruelty, and other disparities.
“Okay, I understand. Joseph wanted to kill you and you killed him to live, right?”
“Yeah… I hope you understand.”
"…What I don't understand is why you came to me, what's the problem?"
Oliver whispered a few words to Peter and answered.
“I’m sorry. I happened to succeed as the Master and took over the family, and it is said that the other family could attack us when they find out that the Master is dead.”
“Could it be…Did you come to ask me to mediate between the families?”
“Yes. That’s right. Can you help us?”
It was a naive question.
The pharmacist felt something more than simple malice or cunningness.
"No."
“I see… can I ask you why?”
" I've been doing business with Joseph for a long time. Do you think I can help just because the staff under him asks for help? Moreover, what you said can be a lie too, right?”
“Hmm…that’s possible too?”
Oliver said as if agreeing with the pharmacist.
Peter spoke to Oliver again.
“…But I would like your help. If the warlocks fight with each other, wouldn't it be the pharmacist's business that gets disrupted?”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No, absolutely not.”
Oliver spoke while shaking his hands.
The pharmacist sighed and said.
“Hahaha…you are right to some extent, but this kind of mediation isn’t worth anything and it’s a loss, and it will spark an unnecessary misunderstanding, that'll be even more damaging.”
“But I heard you mediated between families in the past?”
“At that time, everyone wanted to stop fighting and it was in everyone's interest.”
“Then, if you can benefit, will you help me?”
The pharmacist wanted to say stop talking nonsense, but as soon as he looked at Oliver’s eyes, he shut his mouth.
His businessman's instinct told him that it wasn't a bluff.
"…even if I can't help, I will arrange a place for you to have a conversation at least once. From there on, it's up to you."
“That’s enough. Thank you.”
"I haven't said I’ll do it yet. So, What can you give me?"
“Ah, that’s…”
Oliver took out a Pilgaret and started talking.
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
Two days after his meeting with the pharmacist, as promised, the pharmacist arranged a meeting for Oliver between Warlocks Anthony and Dominic in the tavern that he owns.
Anthony was a pale, thin-skinned man with brown hair combed to the right, while Dominic boasted his chiseled chin and stout body like a manual laborer.
They both were about the same age as Joseph, so they really didn't like Oliver who looked only around fifteen at most.
Nevertheless, since the pharmacist invited them, they kept quiet and watched the situation.
“…..”
An awkward silence turned the atmosphere a little weird.
At that moment, Oliver stood up and greeted everyone.
“Hello everyone. Thank you for coming.”
No one answered back.
However, it’s not that there was no response, it’s just that they didn’t want to respond.
Their emotions showed active reactions such as questioning, irritability, confusion, guessing, observation, and cunningness respectively.
As Oliver tried to speak again, Anthony raised his hand.
“Yes, what do you want to say…?”
“…There are so many things I want to ask you, but let’s start with the most basic question. Who are you?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s the first time I’ve been in this kind of situation… My name is Oliver.”
“Oliver?”
Dominic, who caressed his hair asked while touching his ragged beard.
“Oh…! You’re Oliver?
"Yes."
“Haha! As I heard, you really look like a weakling! Did you really kill the wizard?”
“I was just lucky.”
“You’re a funny guy…but we came here because Joseph called us, so why are you here?
Dominic suddenly stopped laughing and frowned.
Rather than being really angry, it was intended to intimidate people.
In fact, Marie and Peter, who were following as attendants, suddenly flinched.
Apparently, the man named Dominic was really good at these kinds of threats.
"Pharmacist. You tell me. Surely, you are the one who said Joseph would come? I didn't come here to be teased."
Dominic's arrogant and intimidating attitude made the pharmacist's staff feel the sensitivity of the situation.
Dominic's men roared along with him.
The atmosphere quickly became gloomy.
The pharmacist calmed everyone as he answered.
“I said for sure that the owner of the Joseph family will see you.”
"So. Why Joseph..?… then… huh?"
Instead of speaking, he looked at Oliver as if he had noticed something.
Anthony, who was watching the situation also looked at Oliver with sharp eyes and at that time, Oliver said:
“Hello. My name is Oliver, the new owner of the Joseph family.”
Oliver greeted them politely, but their reaction was cold.
They froze as if they were not able to process the information but Dominic grinned with the corners of his mouth extending from one ear to another.
“I don’t understand what kind of dogsh*t situation is this?”
“I am the Joseph family…”
“No, no, fu*k it… that’s not it, damn it, the family head should be Joseph, so why is a b*stard like you suddenly became the owner of the family?”
"ah…"
Oliver looked at the pharmacist.
Seeing the pharmacist shaking his head, Oliver understood the situation and explained it again.
“Master is dead.”
“What? That person died?”
Anthony was a little surprised as if he couldn't believe it.
"Yes."
“Who killed him? Who has the skills to kill Joseph in Landa?”
“I killed him. Since he was trying to kill me.”
“You killed Joseph?”
"Yes."
Oliver honestly answered, but the situation did not improve.
Dominic's expression grew even worse while Anthony laughed slowly and asked a question.
“How old are you?”
“My Age?”
“Yeah, your age.”
“Hmm… I don’t know. I used to work in a mine and before that, I was in an orphanage, so I don’t know my exact age.”
“Hahaha…All right. You are a friend who worked in the mine and was from an orphanage, then I will ask you again. You killed Joseph?”
"Yes."
“Is there any evidence?”
“No…it didn’t seem appropriate for me to cut off the Master’s head no matter what.”
“This guy completely crazy?”
Dominic shouted hearing the answer.
Oliver didn't understand what he meant by that.
“Pharmacist, did you call us just by believing the words of this madman?”
"It doesn’t sound like it's a lie. Also, he made some interesting suggestions and it may be hard to believe, but it’s a proposition that benefits everyone.”
“Damn it, really now.”
“For now, let's hear it."
Anthony said while calming Dominic who was about to get angry.
"After we've heard everything. It isn’t too late to get angry? Hey, Oliver? I'll listen to you, so tell me what you want to say."
"Thank you."
After Oliver expressed his sincere thanks, he spoke again.
"The reason I'm here is because I want to ask everyone a favor."
"favor?"
"Yeah, even though my master is dead, I want to be in peace as we are right now. I don’t like fighting."
Dominic and Anthony's men burst out laughing.
“If you can agree to this then I will repay you as much as you want.”
“What’s the reward?”
Oliver pulled out a pilgaret from inside his pocket.
“I will share with everyone the recipe to make a pilgaret of a better quality.”
Dominic and Anthony reflexively looked at the pilgaret that Oliver had pulled out.
The light around it was definitely different.
"What is that?"
“This is a pilgaret that I made and it is of better quality than before. The pharmacist also approved it.”
The pharmacist nodded his head as if acknowledging it.
“No, that’s not the case. Why does this pilgaret seem to be a bit strange?”
“Ah, it’s a combination of maternal love and anger. About 8 to 2.”
Everyone looked up at Oliver in silence hearing those words.
“Of course, it is okay to have only one emotion, but its effect gets better instantly when you mix it with the opposite emotion. Also, in the process of mixing emotions, the amount of success rate also increases. So you can make more and it will definitely benefit you.”
Everyone went silent while disregarding Oliver's enthusiasm.
Their reactions were unusual and Anthony suddenly raised his hand and asked.
"I think it's a good idea, but why did you think we didn't think about it?"
"……Indeed? Why?"
"Because it's not as easy as it sounds. Emotions are very delicate energy. Mixing emotions of different tendencies are not easy even for someone who's familiar with it…."
Anthony didn't finish his speech because at that moment Oliver took out two test tubes and synthesized two different emotions in the air.
The two emotions, of different personalities, had a partial-repulsive reaction but they soon regained their composure in Oliver's hands and beautifully blended into one.
“…Is it difficult?”
No one spoke.
Oliver looked at the reaction around him and spoke again.
“Or, you can provide me with emotions and I will synthesize them and deliver them regularly. If we were to make a better pilgaret then everyone here would get a big profit."
“FU*K it!”
Someone cut off Oliver's words.
A muscular man who was Dominic's subordinate started to babble like a ferocious dog.
“Even if you have some talent, you dare try to match our master? Don’t get full of yourself!”
Oliver looked at the man who suddenly stood up.
Outwardly, he seemed angrier than anyone else but on the inside, he was cunning and calculative.
He threatened to see how far he could squeeze Oliver.
The muscular man pulled out a test tube of Life-force potion.
He then added a muscle-up spell to the Life-force and quickly drank it.
As soon as he drank it, the muscles all over his body started to swell greatly.
“Ah, if you drink the Life-force potion and add muscle-up, then side effects will be offset.”
As Oliver thought about it in his head, the muscular man came screaming toward him.
"Don't teach us, you little b*stard!"
Anthony, Dominic, and the pharmacist didn’t intervene and just watched the situation.
As the muscular man approached the only person who responded was Marie.
“When the Master is talking, how dare you intervene!”
The muscular man grabbed Marie's neck as if it was nothing.
His hands were so big that one hand was enough to grab the neck, then he said tauntingly.
“Let me ask you one thing. If you're really the Master of the Joseph family, why did you bring this? huh? Were you scared?”
“Yeah, I was scared, that’s why I told them to just stay.”
“Hahaha! Look at this crazy b*tch.”
“Excuse me. Can you let go of that hand? It looks like she is in a lot of pain.”
Oliver said while looking at Marie, whose complexion started to turn blue.
The muscular man shook Marie and mocked Oliver.
“Why are you asking? You said you knocked down Joseph? So, why don't you just take me down too? hahahaha!!”
“…Okay.”
Oliver responded with a shrug.
Soon black tentacles came out from his shadows on the floor and instantly subdued the muscular man.
His arms, legs, waist, shoulders, and neck were wrapped around tightly, and the muscular man was very confused.
“Huh? Huh?”
Without looking at the muscular man Oliver asked Marie if she was okay.
"Are you okay?"
"Kuk! Kuk-! Yes… But what’s this?"
“I learned this when I was fighting Master.”
It wasn't a lie, both Anthony and Dominic knew it was true because they all have fought against Joseph.
They remembered that when Joseph fights he unconditionally outsmarted his opponents using this Vine Shadow.
“Who, who did this…!”
The muscular man tried to break the shadow tentacles with force, but the tentacles pierced back with greater force.
His muscles were torn apart and his bones broke.
“……Ah! Ahhh!”
The muscular man couldn't even scream.
Oliver apologized as he saw him in pain.
"I'm sorry. But can you please don't push yourself too hard? Then, it’s difficult to control the power…”
The members of each family, who sensed an unusual situation, took out their test tubes at once and took a fighting stance.
Oliver spoke while taking out the test tube.
“Huh, after all that, do we still have to fight?”,
Surprisingly, Anthony and Dominic couldn't answer as easily as before.
After a while, Anthony asked.
“…why? If we said we would fight, would you fight?”
“I don’t like it… but If I was left with no choice then I have to do it.”
“…You don’t like it but can’t help it?
"Yes. Because I don't like killing people. More than anything else, if I were to fight then I would be wasting the time to study… I'm sorry, but is there any peaceful way to end this?"
The situation suddenly changed into a life-or-death battle.
Oliver spoke as if it had nothing to do with his life.
Even more appalling was that this did not stem from stingy self-esteem or false arrogance.
They all looked at Oliver with eyes filled with tension.
The tension builds up over time like a bomb that’s about to go off.
At the moment when it felt like it was about to get out of control, someone hastily spoke up.
“ About the Pilgaret…! Shall we talk again?”
