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9:25 PM.
Oliver emerged from the magic tower.
He was supposed to finish work at 9 PM, but it took him an additional 25 minutes because he stopped by the library to pick up some books he wanted to read.
By the time he got home, it would be past 10 PM.
‘Hmm… But maybe I’ll get home before 10 since the roads won’t be congested at night.’
He thought that if he arrived home around 10, he'd probably fall asleep around 11:30 or midnight.
He had to do some light exercises, shower, read some books, review his humor books, check on his corpse doll – Shamus, and acclimate Child-Third.
For about two weeks, Oliver had been working hard as Zenon Bright, a personal assistant to the magic tower professor, but that didn't mean he neglected his main job.
He had turned most of the bodies he had collected into Corpse dolls or modified zombies, as appropriate, and was training Child-Third to adjust to Corpse doll – Shamus.
He initially thought about assigning it to First, but he decided to give it to Third, who had just lost its Corpse doll (Rag, Rag2), as it didn't seem fair to have only one without a high-performance corpse doll.
From a strategic point of view, or for research purposes, it seemed better to distribute things in a variety of ways.
By the way, like First, Third was having trouble adjusting to the new Corpse doll.
‘Still, it's adapting little by little.’
In addition, Oliver had been putting a lot of effort into manufacturing blood potions by placing First into Corpse doll – Bathory.
Even when he made it work 18 hours a day, excluding break times, it was just barely able to produce enough for Edith.
‘I need to receive the item I ordered from Mr. Ewan soon to increase efficiency… Or should I come up with another production method?’
He only had a 3-day vacation. Although he was uncertain about what could be accomplished, he thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a try for fun.
He thought it might be a good idea to refer to the book he borrowed earlier, [Introduction to Potion Production Process Beginner Level].
‘Huh?'
Lost in thought, Oliver felt someone approaching and turned his body to avoid them.
One of the group of young men, who almost bumped into him, shouted. His pronunciation was so slurred that it was hard to understand, probably because he was drunk.
"Watch where you're going, you walking log! You could die…!"
Oliver didn't recognize the face, but he knew who he was. He was a student of the magic tower.
Because he was wearing a cloak that proved he was a student of the magic tower.
The student spat out a few more curses at Oliver and then continued on his way with his equally drunk friends.
Everyone seemed drunk, and looking around, it wasn't just them.
The entertainment district surrounding the magic tower, where Oliver was currently standing, was bustling as if a festival was taking place.
It was always a lively street, but now it was several times more energetic than usual. There wasn't a single place where lights weren't on, and no place was quiet.
In the first-floor bars and coffee houses, students were engrossed in alcohol and verbal fights, while luxurious parties were taking place in the second-floor restaurants and clubs, and couples were sharing kisses on the third-floor terraces.
A young male student and a female student were close… Oh, correction. It seemed to be a female professor and a male student. Well, that could happen.
Anyway, the street was quite lively.
"It looks like all the students from the magic tower are out… What's the occasion?"
Just as Oliver was mumbling and trying to quickly leave the noisy street, someone called out to him.
"Excuse me, gentleman."
A voice that was both sticky and seductive. However, Oliver didn't pay it any attention and kept walking.
"Excuse me!"
Her tone became stronger. Only then did Oliver stop.
"Did… you call me?"
"Yes, you, gentleman."
"Ah… I'm not a gentleman, though."
Oliver responded and observed the woman in front of him.
The woman seemed to be in her early twenties and was wearing a striking hat.
Her skin was as white as snow, and she was wearing a dress that exposed her cleavage and a leather corset with a reddish hue over it, which emphasized her figure excessively.
Typical attire designed to steal men's souls.
But Oliver was more concerned about something else.
"……What should I call you if not a gentleman?”
“Hmm… Please call me Zenon. Zenon Bright. That's my name.”
“Oh… Nice to meet you, Mr. Zenon. It's unusual for a guest to reveal their real name to a woman like me.”
“What kind of woman is ‘a woman like you'?”
Oliver asked sincerely. The woman didn't answer, but just chuckled mischievously.
“Hehehe… You’re a tease. Do you enjoy such games?”
"Games? …Ah, I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand what you're saying. Is there something you need from me?”
“Perhaps? ……Business has been slow today, could you keep me company for a while?”
“Hmm… Okay.”
Oliver answered after a moment of thought.
As soon as she heard his answer, the woman grinned, quite contrary to what she was feeling inside, and quickly stood up from her seat.
It was a performance, but it seemed quite natural to the onlooker.
Even most would fall for it.
So, Oliver, though not planned, went off the beaten path and followed the woman.
When they were deep in the back alley and away from prying eyes, Oliver spoke to the woman's retreating figure.
“Shouldn’t we be getting to the point now?”
"My, you seem impatient for someone who looks so calm."
“I apologize. It just seems like you're in a hurry too.”
“Ahaha… You're more perceptive than you look. How did you know what I was thinking!”
As she spoke, the woman pulled a long hatpin from her hat and brandished it at Oliver.
She moved very quickly, but in that brief moment, Oliver saw the black magic [Deep Sleep] imbued in the hatpin.
A mere touch would put one to sleep.
Oliver, with skillful control of his mana, brushed the hatpin aside and aimed a punch at the woman's face.
Shwoosh!
The woman, with astonishing agility, dodged Oliver's punch.
Her speed and movements were familiar.
She was likely a disciple of Bathory.
Bathory, the blood mage who secretly took over a research lab in Mountain Pace.
He was curious why she was here and why she approached him, but before he could delve deeper into thought, the woman not only dodged Oliver's punch, but also cast a spell on the wall.
The magic quickly spread across the wall.
From the enchanted wall, a barrier of bricks and cement sprouted, trapping Oliver from all sides.
Oliver looked like a bird caged in a birdcage.
But one thing was certain. For some unknown reason, the woman in front of him didn't intend to kill Oliver.
At least not at that moment.
As evidence, even when she threw the hatpin, she deliberately avoided vital points.
Watching the flying hatpin, Oliver was hesitant whether to fight back or not.
Conscious of the gaze watching from a distance.
In the end, Oliver chose to trust the Magic Tower student and gave up his defense, and luckily his choice worked well.
[Ice Wall]
With a familiar voice coming from a distance, a beautiful, castle-like ice spread along the ground, and right in front of Oliver, the mana exploded, forming a huge ice wall.
Thanks to that, the slender hatpin the woman threw didn't even touch Oliver.
And that wasn't the end.
Yareli formed ice under her feet and moved swiftly across the icy surface, gathering mana into her hands and touching the ground. She released the vast mana within her, covering the surrounding area in ice.
Shrrrrrrr!
It wasn't easy to freeze the surroundings with her magic alone, but she also showed delicate control, not freezing the area where Oliver was.
She may look blunt, but she was very considerate.
"Hmph!"
The woman, presumed to be Bathory's disciple, conjured flames in her hands and countered Yareli's magic head-on.
Using mana to control the flame, melting Yareli's ice.
A memory of fighting with Willes in Mountain Pace came to Oliver's mind.
‘The situation is reversed though.'
Back then, there were more disciples of Bathory, who used ice magic, but now Oliver had more on his side, and that person also used ice magic.
However, what's more important than that is to focus on the present.
Instinctively, Oliver felt that if the identity of the opponent in front of him was revealed, it would be bothersome in many ways.
He wasn't sure if he'd receive the same scrutiny when he returned from solving the Mountain Pace issue, or if they might re-investigate that issue.
He wanted to avoid that.
So, Oliver decided to conclude the fight before it escalated. He moved faster than Yareli, who was quickly approaching using ice as a medium.
He focused his mana into his fist, shattered the stone pillar, and hit the ice wall as hard as he could.
Crash!!
With a loud noise, the thick ice wall shattered, and some fragments flew towards the woman.
The woman, distracted by Yareli, had no choice but to be hit by the ice fragments, which were harder than any stone.
In the meantime, Oliver approached quickly, stepping hard on the ground, and hit the woman in the abdomen as hard as he could with his fist that he had secretly filled with emotion.
Bang!
With a bright sound, the woman was thrown back, and she realized it was time to back off.
"Back off."
Yareli, who had come close, jumped up into the sky and threw her ice magic.
Looking at the amount of magic and the technique, it wasn't ordinary magic, but luckily, the woman presumed to be a disciple of Bathory wasn't an ordinary practitioner either.
As soon as she saw Yareli's attack, she exploded her mana from her body, releasing flames to neutralize Yareli's ice magic. Then she focused her mana on her hands and cast a major spell on the ground.
[Field Thorns]
Numerous stone spears made of bricks, cement, and dirt sprouted towards Oliver and Yareli.
While marveling at the opponent's ability for a moment, Yareli realized that she was not an ordinary opponent and decided to capture her at all costs.
Instead of directly confronting the opponent's magic, Yareli tried to avoid it. At that moment, she thought of Oliver and looked back.
She wondered whether Oliver could avoid the attack, and when he did not respond accordingly, she changed her mind and activated her ice magic to block the incoming stone spears.
She gathered mana at the tips of her hands, released cold energy explosively around her, and covered the ground with a massive ice wall to silence the rising stone spears.
She was always skillful.
As soon as she confirmed that Oliver was safe, she created an ice pillar through her feet and jumped over the pile of stone spears blocking her way.
However, it was in vain.
The disciple of Bathory had run away while Yareli was defending with ice magic.
No matter how great Yareli's magical skills were, it was impossible to catch up with that speed.
Oliver's prediction was accurate, and Yareli, disappointed at losing her opponent, returned.
She looked at Oliver with a complicated look.
"Thank you for your help, Ms. Yareli."
"What are you doing here?"
"I was following a woman who said she had a brief errand while on my way home after work…. What brings you here, Ms. Yareli?"
Yareli found Oliver's excessive calmness suspicious.
"……I was attending the end-of-semester party."
"Ah……."
Oliver seemed to understand now. After the midterms, students flocked to the entertainment district and partied loudly. It was only natural for them to party even more enthusiastically after the finals.
"But how did you end up here…… Although I'm grateful for avoiding the commotion."
Oliver was puzzled again.
It wasn't strange per se. This back alley wasn't too far from the entertainment district, but it wasn't particularly close either.
At least, it wasn't a place where Yareli, who was in the middle of the end-of-semester party, would casually be and help.
Fortunately, Yareli answered this.
"I saw you."
"Me?"
"Yes, I saw you being led by that woman's hand into the back alley."
Oliver asked just in case, "Did you realize she was a robber?"
"No, she wasn't likely to be a robber."
"Huh?"
"Although there are robbers who target drunk magic tower students at this time, a person of that skill wouldn't be robbing. I rather thought she was your colleague."
Oliver asked back to the question that he hadn't anticipated at all.
"A colleague? ……Why would you think that?"
"…… Of course, because you are suspicious."
Yareli spoke honestly, not hiding her thoughts.
(To be Continued)
OR
$5/month6 chap ahead + 5 chap/week$15/month12 chap ahead + 5 chap/week$30/month19 chap ahead + 5 chap/week$45/monthAll advance chap + 6 chap/week
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