"Could you please let me know if you have any information on ‘The Chosen Ones' and why the Parter Church decided to eliminate them? Please be as detailed as possible."
Oliver made the request, and to his surprise, Edith appeared prepared for it. He produced two files and placed them in front of Oliver.
With a solid thud, both files contained extensive details about ‘The Chosen Ones' and the official as well as unofficial motives behind the Parter Church's actions in eliminating them.
Oliver carefully perused the contents of the files, finding them to contain rather intriguing narratives.
"Quite… interesting."
"I would say it's disgusting. Well, tastes vary, so I'll give you that."
"Thank you… If it's okay, may I take these files?"
"Do I look like a sucker for information? And my stuff is quite expensive. Can you handle it?"
"Um… While I may not be as wealthy as you, Mr. Edith, I do have some money. Could you sell it to me?"
Edith chuckled knowingly.
"Heh heh heh. You say you have some money. Maybe that's a lot for a solver, but unfortunately, your offer isn't compelling. Even all your assets combined can't match the loose change in my pocket."
He wasn't boasting; he meant it.
"Um… Then how can I get hold of these files?"
"Simple. You owe me a favor, and you can repay that debt later. Easy, right?"
"Yes, understood."
Without hesitation, Oliver accepted, despite the vague nature of the debt and the uncertain method of repayment.
A rather audacious choice, but for some reason, Edith didn't dislike this side of Oliver. Normally, he detested fools.
"The deal is set. Now it's yours."
With these words, Edith rose from his seat and extended his hand towards Oliver.
Instinctively, Oliver shook his hand.
He hadn't expected Edith to offer a handshake.
"Mr. Edith, if it's alright, may I take my leave?"
"Well, we're done eating, so why not. What are you going to do now?"
Filled with curiosity and interest, Edith inquired. Oliver replied,
"First, I'm going to finish writing my paper."
That wasn't a lie.
After parting ways with Edith, Oliver promptly returned to his residence. He reviewed the incomplete paper and the information he had gathered thus far, then began rewriting the paper from scratch.
And he did so rapidly.
His writing flowed effortlessly. Before meeting Edith, he had struggled, but now Oliver was swiftly putting his thoughts onto paper.
Not merely filling space with words, but crafting each word and sentence with satisfaction.
Perhaps it was because the jumbled thoughts in his mind had been neatly organized.
"The end."
Several hours after he had sat down, Oliver declared the paper's completion.
The finished work was nearly the length of a book. An ordinary person might have felt a mixture of great satisfaction and exhaustion, but Oliver, instead, felt more invigorated.
First, he took a refreshing shower, dressed in fresh, neatly arranged clothes, grabbed his paper, and retrieved a sheet of paper from his bag.
It was paper infused with portal magic.
Whee…!!
When Oliver activated the stored spell by channeling his magic into the paper, a soft, distinct sound, reminiscent of fluttering insect wings, resonated, and a purple portal materialized in midair.
Oliver gazed at the portal, finding it truly fascinating.
He had prepared it recently, just in case it might come in handy, and now it was proving its worth.
Oliver stepped through the portal, marveling at his good fortune, and adjusted his attire.
As he entered the portal, he beheld the interior landscape of Merlin's mansion and a gathering of wooden doll golems surrounding him.
Remarkably, each of these wooden doll golems possessed master-level mana.
"May I meet the elder?"
Oliver inquired in his usual manner.
***
Merlin was within the mansion.
It was indeed fortunate; otherwise, a considerable amount of time would have been wasted.
Merlin spoke as he saw Oliver, who had been escorted in by the wooden doll golems.
"When I was a young fella, I used to give the adults a surprise or two, but I never went trespassing… When did you stick a portal magic paper in my house?"
Oliver, who had been bound and forcibly escorted by the wooden doll golems, replied,
"I planted it the last time I was gathering research material. I did it in case I urgently needed to meet you. I apologize for doing it without asking for permission… and also, thank you."
"What are you thankful for?"
"For pretending not to know when I secretly planted it."
Merlin raised a single eyebrow slightly.
"So now you can read my emotions?"
"No. But I thought it's unlikely you didn't notice. So, you must have pretended not to know."
"Hmm… You've become quite clever. Untie him."
At Merlin's gesture and command, the wooden doll golems magically untied Oliver and exited the room.
Left alone, Merlin and Oliver shared a moment of silence, during which Merlin swiftly skimmed through the paper Oliver had brought.
After turning the final page, Oliver inquired, "What do you think, Elder?"
"Excellent," Merlin replied succinctly but with a gravity that carried more weight than extensive praise.
To be acknowledged by the Archive carried significant meaning.
"To be fair, it's exceeded expectations. When you first said you'd write a paper on the topic, I was a bit worried. The topic you chose requires not only a heap of medical know-how but decades of studying life magic… But it seems my concerns were unfounded."
"When Mr. Theodore tried to absorb my body, I happened to get a glimpse of some of his knowledge… I can say I was lucky."
"Lucky, you say…" Merlin scoffed.
Although it might sound like pure luck, it was far from it.
Surviving Theodore's absorption and partially absorbing his knowledge was a noteworthy accomplishment.
However, Merlin chose not to vocalize this observation.
"Your paper is good enough to be accepted in the Magic Tower, with a red carpet, no less."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. People might have become complacent, but that doesn’t mean they have become fools."
"That's a relief, then."
"But I've got a question for you. You didn't come all this way just to hand me a paper, did you?"
In response to Merlin's keen question, Oliver nodded.
"Yes, actually, I have a favor to ask… no, something to tell you."
"So you're going to tell me, without asking for my permission."
"Exactly. I mean no disrespect, but… I have a situation where I might need to leave Landa for a while."
"Landa ? For how long?"
"I’m not sure. If things go well, I could be back in a few days. If not, it might take longer."
"Mind if I ask why? Sounds like it's a pretty serious matter."
At Merlin's query, Oliver didn't immediately respond. Instead, he unfastened a few buttons on his shirt and removed the leather mask he had been wearing, revealing his true face.
A young man, not even twenty years old.
"You're not surprised."
"I saw your face when you fainted in the ice land."
"But you said nothing."
"I thought it's polite to wait until you bring it up yourself."
In response, Oliver genuinely expressed his gratitude.
"Thank you for your consideration."
"In Landa, it's no surprise to have a secret or two… But I wasn't expectin' you to spill the beans now. What's the story?"
"Before I answer, may I formally introduce myself? It seems like the proper sequence of events."
Merlin gestured his approval.
"Thank you for allowing me. Elder… My name is not Dave, it's Oliver. I am an orphan from an orphanage, and until a few years ago, I was a laborer working in a mine."
"You don't look like one."
Merlin commented, taking in Oliver's dignified appearance. Even his demeanor exuded refinement.
"I had people who helped me."
Oliver proceeded to share the story of his life.
He spoke of being taken in by Joseph, learning to read with Marie's guidance, meeting Paladin Joanna and embarking on adventures in the world, encountering a being named Kent, and becoming acquainted with Forrest. He recounted these events without embellishment, just as they had unfolded.
It felt like the first time he had spoken about himself as Oliver, not Dave, in Landa.
"…And then, I met you, Elder."
"An interesting story. Especially the part about a demon greeting you and a cult that worships you as a god is most interesting."
"I think so too."
"And based on my guess, your itch to leave Landa now is connected to that, right?"
"That's correct."
Oliver readily confirmed and explained to Merlin the details he had learned from Edith.
That the church founded by Marie and Marie herself were facing a crisis.
Despite the almost bewildering narrative, Merlin received the information with more composure than expected.
"So, you plan to go and save them?"
"No, not to save them… That's too grandiose. I'm just going to give a little help."
"Playin' with words, eh? Anyway, good on ya. So why do you wanna help?"
"May I speak honestly?"
"Please do. I'm genuinely curious."
"There's no special reason, to be honest. If I had to say, it's because I care and want to help."
"Sorry, but I'm not quite followin'."
"You don't have to be. I don't fully understand it myself. Why I want to help them… It feels similar to the time with Rosbane."
"Rosbane?"
"Yes… Ah, you know that letter from Rosbane and the kids last time? I had some work so I read it beforehand. I forgot to tell you until now. I'm sorry."
"You read it 'cause you couldn't wait, eh?"
"Yes, I had some work to do, if I didn't read it…"
Oliver raised his hand into the air as if searching for an explanation.
It was a gesture akin to that of a child unable to articulate their true emotions.
Merlin detected both the immaturity and apprehension in Oliver's actions.
"Well, it's fine. You promised."
"Thank you… Anyway, it's similar to the time with Rosbane. To be honest, I had no concrete reason to go help Rosbane, did I?"
Merlin didn't refute it.
Mattel was a colossal organization under the banner of Life School. Its power and influence were incomparable to that of an individual.
Even if people knew that an innocent child had been unjustly taken and had perished as a result of a wretched experiment, most would simply turn a blind eye. Who dared to challenge it?
Ignoring it was the norm and the accepted wisdom, particularly in Landa.
"But you still went to help?"
"I felt that if I just ignored it, it would keep haunting me. While eating, before sleep, sometimes when I'm researching or studying. It would be… annoying."
"So you're sayin' you'll go help those who worship you against your will?"
"Yes."
Merlin gazed intently at Oliver and began to speak.
"Honestly, I'm tempted to argue. The situation now's different from Rosbane. What Parter Church is doin' is technically right, legally and morally."
"According to the data I received, there weren't any significant illegal activities among ‘The Chosen Ones'."
"That doesn't matter. Parter Church is the shield that protects humanity. Crushing suspicious cults is both a duty and a right."
"I have thought about a negotiation plan regarding that."
"I don't know what your negotiation plan is, but it won't work. The moment you help, it will be hard for you to be unscathed. Although the Parter Church has lost some of its influence, it is the shield that protects humanity. The moment you confront them, you'll be branded as evil. Do you know what that means?"
"Maybe?"
"Means you'll lose everything you've built in Landa, all the perks you had. Your reputation, trust, connections, and heaps of chances to learn magic… Sounds like a shame, don't it?"
"What's there to pity? I built all these thanks to the talent I was lucky to have."
"Oliver-"
"-No, Elder. I'm not being humble, nor am I saying this without thinking. I'm really just a mediocre person who was lucky to receive the blessing of talent."
Oliver's voice carried a gravity that even Merlin couldn't ignore.
"On what grounds do you say that?"
"Uh… When I was working in the mines, a child starved to death. His eyes and cheeks were sunken, his face pale, ribs showing, and his wrists and arms were thin like sticks. He was about my age then."
"What's the reason?"
"Nothing much. He got injured and couldn't work."
"……"
"He couldn't work, so he couldn't eat, and without eating, he couldn't recover, so he couldn't work and eventually starved to death… No one shared their food with him. The potato soup we were given was too watery to even be enough for oneself. And I was the same. I saw him starving beside me because our beds were near, but I didn't share a spoonful. I was hungry and wanted to live."
Merlin focused intently on Oliver's narrative.
Indeed, Oliver maintained his trademark stoicism, but there was a subtle change, something very, very…
"I had forgotten about that child who starved to death. I was powerless and hungry back then, and I wanted to live. But the words from the director of the Ark orphanage made me remember recently."
"What did you hear?"
"She said that I exude a sense of disappointment in myself, and I can't forgive myself… I'm not sure, but was it a sin that I didn't share my soup?"
"Callin' that a sin, isn't that a bit harsh?"
"I think so too. But it keeps bothering me. The feeling is strange."
Oliver once again made a gesture as if he were a child struggling to convey his true emotions.
He looked vulnerable.
"So I'm trying to help. Because it seems like it will continue to bother me if I don't help now."
"I wish you wouldn't go, though."
"Why is that?"
"As I told ya last time, there's a reason I took you in and I'm lookin' out for you. It's also connected to the entities beyond this world, it's about controllin' variables for the impending apocalypse."
"I understand."
"But what you're doin' now is shakin' that choice of mine. You're tryin' to become a variable."
"Don't worry about that. I'm just me, after all."
"…? What do you mean by that?"
"I was bothered too. That I am an entity beyond this world, and that I initiated the first chapter of the apocalypse… To be honest, I was dumbfounded. The idea that I am such a special existence didn't feel real, and it was hard to grasp. I was confused… I even struggled with my paper."
"You wrote it faster and better than expected, though?"
"That's because I scrapped what I had been struggling with for days and rewrote it in a few hours. Thanks to my thoughts being neatly sorted out."
"How did you sort 'em out?"
"I am just me. An orphan who became a mine worker, ate potato soup alone, learned black magic, and later became a solver… Of course, it's hard to admit that I can't make jokes, but anyway, I am just me. I am not an entity beyond this outside this world, or the one who initiated the first chapter of the apocalypse. I am just Oliver, Dave, and Zenon. That's me."
Oliver's voice exuded a refreshing aura, as if he were thoroughly content.
"And wanting to help Marie is also me."
"…You really wanna go and help, it seems."
"Yes."
"So, what will you do if I say I'll stop ya? The Archiver is there to stop the apocalypse too. If you're intent on bein' a variable, I won't have a choice."
"First, I would respectfully ask you to let me go. I assure you, there will be no cause for concern."
Merlin conjured a book out of thin air and held it firmly in one hand. Simultaneously, an immense surge of mana gripped the space where Merlin and Oliver were located.
A perfect combat stance.
"What if I still say no?"
Reading Merlin's intentions through the state of mana, Oliver responded, as he typically did.
"Then we have to fight."
"You reckon you can beat me?"
"No, winning or losing is the second issue."
"What's the first issue?"
"My choice."
