When Oliver returned, the Beggars Union was in the midst of a party.
Dozens of beggars fought over small clothes, watches, and valuables.
However, that too only for a moment. As soon as Oliver appeared, the commotion subsided as if it had never happened, and everyone shut their mouths and bowed their heads.
“Ah… Sir. Warlock.”
Some beggars took off their hats and opened the way to show their respects.
Oliver bowed slightly and went forward.
When he reached the end of the passage, he could see Kent and other beggars union heads.
They seemed to have found Freckle's secret safe and were sharing quite a few bundles of money.
“All right. Everyone is okay, right?”
"Yes."
"Me too."
"Well then… Huh? Sir Warlock!"
Whether it was the sloppy-looking one or the small and cunning-looking one, or the good-looking one, everyone got up and greeted Oliver.
Everyone trembled in fear looking at Oliver.
Even with headcount and weapons, they were pushed back by Freckle, and it was only thanks to Oliver's existence that they were able to win this war overwhelmingly.
If Oliver had not been there, they would have been hit by olddog and gunmen at the entrance to the den, and they would have been badly injured.
Then, the next day, they would have been counterattacked by Freckle, and everything would have been over.
Thanks to Oliver, they were able to make it through without much damage.
Kent stood up from his seat and said.
“Have you dealt with the warlock who supported Freckle?”
"Yes."
Oliver nodded and showed the gluttonous pouch that he had taken from the Warlock as evidence.
It was a black magic item made with teeth, and emotions of greed.
Everyone nodded their heads in relief after seeing the evidence.
Meanwhile, Kent looked behind Oliver and asked.
“Great job. But… what’s with the people behind you…?”
Oliver looked back.
“Um…these are the people captured by the Warlock.”
“Captured?”
“Yes, they said they were sold to him from somewhere.”
“I see, but….”
"You're amazing, Sir. Warlock! You took down the warlock who was behind Freckle… Oh! Here you go."
Someone interrupted.
It was Pigibib, head of beggars from 2nd street of District W.
He gestured cheerfully to the stack of money stacked to one side.
“It’s Sir Warlock’s share.”
His share…
For a moment, Oliver didn't understand the meaning behind his words.
In the first place, he helped only because Kent asked for it, so he didn’t understand why he was giving him money.
However, Oliver did not refuse the money. Because he indeed needed some money.
"Thank you."
"No, no, we should be thanking you… And, there is something I want to ask Sir. Warlock…?"
Pigibib immediately brought up his real intention.
“We have a pimp who fights with us over a gang issue. If it’s okay with you, can you show your face? Sir Warlock’s appearance alone is just enough …”
Oliver, who was not interested, answered with silence.
Then, the quick-witted Pigibib hurriedly shut his mouth.
Everyone was very nervous about Oliver's strangely changed attitude.
"Excuse me, if you don't mind, can I talk with Mr. Kent?"
"What? Oh, yeah! Yeah! Hey, hey. Let's all go outside."
All the nervous beggar heads nodded and happily left.
Thanks to this, only Oliver and Kent were present in the room.
“Mr. Kent.”
“Yeah, what?”
“Can you take these guys in?”
"What?"
“These people were captured by the Warlock, and they said they had nowhere to go. Is it okay for you to take them into your beggars union?”
Kent's expression darkened slightly.
Including women and children, there were almost 20 people.
It was quite a big number.
It will be a burden even if there was the money taken after knocking down Freckle.
"Ha… May I ask why you brought them here?"
“They were locked up in an iron cage, and I thought they would starve to death if I left them there. I heard that the Warlock was trying to hand them over to Black Hand… If there was anyone who might help them, I thought it would be Mr. Kent. Or do you want me to send them back?
Kent felt anguish at Oliver's remarks and tightly closed his eyes.
"Ugh, well.., it'll work out somehow. I'll take them in."
Upon hearing the answer, the beggars who had followed Oliver sighed in relief.
If they were rejected by Kent, they would have been driven to the streets and starved to death.
Oliver asked them to go out and wait for a while, then called out Kent again.
“Mr. Kent.”
“All right, do you still have anything to ask?”
“Yes, I have a question. Can you spare me a moment?"
"Sure…tell me."
"Thank you."
Oliver took off his hood and thanked him.
Knowing it was something unusual, Kent asked nervously.
“Okay, what do you want to say?”
“Could you tell me what you know about the organization Black Hand?”
“Black Hand?”
“Yeah, I’m suddenly curious. I wanted to know a little more about them.”
“… As I said before, it’s an organization from the underworld, dominated by warlocks. It forms one of the pillars of power."
"Yeah, I remember that. I heard that it’s an organization with a lot of forbidden knowledge, and I've also heard that it's the dream place of every warlock… Do you know any more details?"
Kent couldn’t understand the reason behind Oliver's question. However, unlike before, there was a sense of pressure.
"… I don't know the details. I've only heard a few rumors about them. Is that okay?"
“Yes, of course.”
"…as far as I know, they are a group of powerful warlocks. And half of what I heard was like legends talked on the streets."
"Legends?"
“Yes. People who make Pilgaret, life-saving elixirs, people who are mercenaries, people who run illegal operations, sponsor a criminal syndicate, and worship the Demons. They are active in a wide range of fields, but their true nature has never been revealed. Still, everyone is afraid of them.”
“Why?”
“It’s a rumor, but it’s said that the Black Hand has a lot of high-risk criminals as members.”
“High-risk criminals?”
"The worst criminals in the world that are defined as evil. Those guys are pure evil, there are no other words to describe them. They can be killed without any trial and has huge bounties on them. Many think of them as the enemies of the world."
“Um… Do you know anyone?”
"Immortal Puppet, Kidnapper Pied Piper, Eternal-child Fuan, Human Meat Chef… By the way, they are like legendary beings in the underworld."
"Um, I see."
"I'm sorry, but can I ask why you're interested in that? It's a little scary."
"Ah, sorry…it's nothing, The Warlock who was behind Freckle gave me a proposal."
“What proposal?”
“He asked me to join hands with him and join the Black Hand. If I did that, he said he will give me what I want.”
Kent's expression remained calm, but not his heart. He was confused and scared inwardly at the same time.
“… your answer?”
“I declined.”
"Haha… I'm sorry for asking such a rude question."
“No. It’s okay. I was actually going to accept it. I am someone who has a lot of questions, so I thought it would be easy for me to get answers if I were to enter the organization. They seemed to have a lot of knowledge, and they would also let me have access to the black market.”
“… Then why did you refuse?”
“Um… that’s… It’s kind of like an organization, and I don’t like being a part of an organization….. And, can you tell me more about the black market?”
Kent answered amicably this time as well.
“Black Market…. It’s a semi-legendary organization similar to the Black Hand.”
"Is that so?
“At least to me, it’s a place where you can get everything including books, drugs, animals, plants, magic stones, information, people, manpower, etc. that you can’t find anywhere else.”
“How can I get access to that place?”
"I'm sorry, but it's not available to the public. Even if you try to find it, you wouldn’t be able to find even its shadow, and in the worst case scenario you might even end up dead."
"Ah…really? I don’t like dying. Do you know any ways to get access to it without dying?"
"… I'm not sure, but I do know a way to get into it."
“Oh, can you tell me what it is?”
“Before that, tell me why you want to use the black market.”
“Um… there is something that I want to know?”
“What do you want to know?”
“It’s about black magic and demons. And about the beautiful emotions.”
“Beautiful emotion?”
Kent’s emotion fluctuated again with the light of confusion.
He felt fear creeping up on him, but he still tried to keep up his composure with great effort. He tried to find Oliver’s true objective as much as possible.
"Ha… You are a warlock, so it’s understandable for you to be interested in black magic, but why are you interested in the demons? Do you know what a demon is?"
“I don’t know. I’ve heard that it’s a being who trades with a warlock?”
“Yeah… but it also asks for more in return. It asks to do things that threaten the human world, it demands sacrifices, it incites crimes, and even worse, it orders you to summon them.”
"Oh, I see. But why do demons threaten the human world?”
"…? Because that's what the demons do. A being who is against God and hates humans."
"… Is that so? Did they do that just because they are demons"
“Should there be more?”
"I… I just don't understand. Because they are demons, they threaten the human world. How could that be a reason?"
"It's like rain falling from the sky and fire burning everything. What else do you need?"
“I want to know the reason behind that, so I want to use the black market.”
“…why do you want to know that?”
“Because I’m curious? So I want to know.”
Kent looked at Oliver with a blank expression.
He looked similar to the others. He doesn't understand Oliver and sees him as someone alien.
However, his curiosity was greater than disgust or fear.
“…can I ask you one more question?”
“Yes, of course.”
"It has been long since I retired as Solver, but I haven't seen a Warlock as good as you."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I'm not just saying this to appease you, it's the truth… Why did you follow me? No, why didn’t you fight the people who were arguing with you? You could have ended their lives in an instant…"
“…… I particularly don’t like killing people. I would kill if I needed to, but I’m really not interested in killing…”
“… Then why did you follow me?”
"I was curious. You helped me for no reason… I wanted to know the reason, so I followed you. Even though it's not perfect, I've solved it to some extent."
"…you're really weird."
“Is that so? Well, that person also said that I’m broken.”
“That person?”
"Joanna, the one I met in the past. She said she'd help me, but somehow I turned her down. She said that I was broken. She told me to meet people and get along, that’s why I came here."
When Oliver said that, to his surprise, a sense of guilt rose from Kent's emotions. Oliver didn't know why.
"…I apologize. I got your help and I have mistaken you."
“Yes? What…?”
"You're not weird. I don't think you are broken. It's just you’re different ."
"It’s okay…… I don't care about being called weird or broken."
"I care… I'm sorry."
"…it's all right."
“Well… The answer to your previous question is, you have to become a solver.”
"What?"
“To use the black market, you have to be a solver, a great solver.”
“Why a great solver?
“It’s not enough to be a Solver in the back alley, but a Solver whom the capitalists, factory owners, politicians, and the heads of crime syndicates seek for. Those people try to find a great Solver. Then, you can use your personal connections and reputations to gain access to the black market, but I’m not certain about that because I didn't get to that level."
"Um… that's enough. So, how should I become a Solver?"
"Let me introduce you to a broker. The place where I used to work, and it won't be a bad start. And that person is a good guy."
"Oh, thank you."
“But there are conditions.”
“Conditions?”
“Yeah, get some knowledge from me for a few weeks.”
“Knowledge?”
“If you are going to step into the world, you need to know at least some common sense. If you don’t, you’re likely to be used or betrayed and end up dead. I know your skills are the real deal, but… the world is a place where you can’t be safe just because you are skilled enough. I will teach you everything I can… including the quarterstaff. The more tricks you possess the better it would be for your survival. What do you think?"
Oliver thought for a moment. It didn't sound like a bad idea. He thought it wouldn't be bad to learn how to use quarterstaff, considering that he had a hard time in the physical battle with Puppeteer Glyph's corpse dolls for a while.
"…… Yes, I’ll be in your care. Thank you."
“No, I should be the one thanking you. You took care of Freckle and the warlock.”
“Um… Then, can you teach me right away?”
“Can you wait a minute? I want to help you right away, but I have a lot to do. I have to think about the kind of treatment I should give to the people you bought.”
“Oh, that’s right. Mr. Kent.”
Oliver called Kent and handed him a glutinous bag.
“Huh? What is this?”
“It was the money from the Warlock’s Vault.”
"Money?”
“Yeah. It’s quite a big amount, but Mr. Kent can have it.”
Kent spoke with a surprised expression.
“Ugh, why…?”
"I've got enough money. So, I don't think I need this money."
Oliver pointed towards the bundle of money he had received from the beggars.
An amount that could last for several months. However, compared to the money stolen from the puppeteer, it was not worth a penny.
“Why are you giving it to me?”
“I don’t need it.”
"… but, this is your money, isn't it? The money you earned by yourself.”
"I don't need it right now. You can use it."
Kent looked at Oliver as if he couldn't understand.
"Why are you doing this? I knew you weren't interested in money, but… it's still your money."
“I want to see what you would do.”
"What?"
“I want to see what Mr. Kent would do with this money. So just accept it.”
(To be Continued)
