As soon as Oliver accepted the mission of retrieving Herbert, an ex Assistant professor from the Magic Tower, he took a taxi straight to the entrance to District X.
The good thing about Landa Taxi was that the drivers don't talk more than necessary to customers who are going to District X.
The driver seemed to know from experience that Oliver was doing something dangerous, or at least getting involved in something like that.
With such consideration from the taxi driver, Oliver skimmed through the information he had received from Forrest and recalled the explanation he gave.
As soon as he accepted the job, Forrest gave him more detailed explanations different from the brief explanation he gave before.
“All right, you have officially accepted the mission, so I’ll explain the details of the job. First of all, you don’t have to worry too much about the guy Herbert. Although he was from Magic Tower, his field of specialization is alchemy and herbal medicine, and his Magic skills are very poor. They are so poor that it’s hard to believe that he was an Assistant professor at the Magic Tower."
Magic skill.
It was a word that encompasses a wizard's practical skills, such as the number of magic spells that can be used, skill level, and magic heart capacity, and it can be said that it was necessary to have excellent magic skills to be a strong wizard.
Conversely, Herbert, who had low magic skills was deemed to have low combat powers, so Forrest said it was not necessary to be very careful against him.
“And the same goes for the gangsters gathered by him. There were about twenty to thirty people… Rather than being security guards, they are more like scarecrows that prevent the thieves and idiots from approaching the place. If there was a fight, they would probably run right away.”
“Um??”
“Yeah, they have no proper skills, and they won’t stake their life. They are just flies that gather to enjoy the sweet taste of violence and don’t know what’s happening around them…. Well, sometimes it’s a gift that you don’t know too many things.”
Forrest’s words seemed like one with a deep meaning.
“But the problem is these people.”
Forrest said after taking three black and white photos from the drawer.
“From the left… No, from my left. Yeah, there… From the left – Knuckle Joe, Nico, and Bigjaw. These guys are the problem.”
Oliver looked at the pictures one at a time and asked.
“… This guy looks a bit odd.”
Oliver asked pointing at Bigjaw in the third photo.
As the name suggested, he had a big jaw, and in addition to that, his forehead was protruding, and his eyes were more black than white.
It may be a bit too harsh, but he looked more like a blind dog than a human.
“That’s right. That guy is a little unique…because he's a mutant.”
Mutants.
Oliver also has heard about them from Kent.
They are corrupted human beings who were born as a result of environmental pollution caused by factories or the aftermath of a magic experiment.
Most of them look different from humans, and because of that, most people treat them as cursed humans or like a different species.
Kent told that mutants were born in the poor or worker's residential area near the Dames River, where the factories mostly dump the wastewater.
Most of them have poor intelligence, but some show amazing physical abilities.
Kent also added that legally, they are arguing over how to deal with them.
“All of them belong to the Fighter Crew.”
“Fighter Crew?"
“Yeah, it’s a new warlock organization that has emerged recently, with the structure where the members relatively have a horizontal relationship, contrary to the traditional vertical relationship composed of owners and disciples. Of course, it doesn’t mean they don’t have a hierarchy.”
“Um… I see.”
Oliver answered, storing the new information in his head.
“Anyway, this fighter crew is a relatively new warlock organization, and instead of making drugs, they do mercenary jobs. Uh, anything to do with violence – Raids, destruction, assassinations, bodyguards, guards, etc. Because of that, they are steadily increasing their power without competing with the existing warlock families. I guess they are aiming for some kind of niche market.”
“Amazing. Mr. Forrest, how do you know all that?”
“Because I’m a broker. This is pretty basic. Anyway, thank you for the compliment.”
After summarizing the information, Forrest moved back to the main topic again.
“All three of them are members of the Fighter Crew. Needless to say, they specialize in close combat. Knuckle Joe, just like his nickname, specializes in close combat as well as disease-based black magic."
Oliver looked at his quarterstaff.
‘Close combat….’
“Nico can use firearms-based and disease-based black magic at the same time. He has pretty threatening firepower. Be careful”
“…….”
“As you can see, the third Bigjaw, he bites everything with that jaw and it will be destroyed. One bite means the end, so be careful, especially against this guy…. Do you have any other questions?’
“Um…… Can I ask you a question that has nothing to do with the job? It’s okay if you don’t want to answer.”
“… What is it?”
“Can you tell me how you gathered this information? I'm just curious about the system."
“Why? Is there something you want to investigate?”
“No. I'm just asking because I'm really curious. It’s like magic, knowing a lot of information.”
“It’s not that great. That’s why I am getting a 5% commission more than other brokers.”
“Still, It's amazing.”
Forrest looked at Oliver for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“…..Okay, fine. I’ll tell you since you are taking a job that doesn’t fit your bill. But, there is a condition, I’ll tell you when you come back from the job safely.”
“Um, that’s great. Very good. Then, I'll be back as soon as possible after finishing the job.”
With that, Oliver got up from his seat, left the restaurant, and caught a taxi.
And…
The time had stopped and Oliver returned to reality.
“Sir, we have arrived at the entrance of District X. I'm sorry, but I can't go any further than this.”
Oliver put the documents back and took the money out of his pocket.
“No. Thank you for driving me all the way here.”
“No, it’s…. Huh? You gave me a lot of money, Sir.”
"I added a little more to thank you for taking me to this dangerous place. If it's okay with you, can I ask you something?"
“Please? What is it…?”
"Can you come here around 9 a.m. tomorrow? Then, I'll give double this amount on the return trip."
“Double?”
"Yes, it's not easy to get a taxi here. Oh, of course, if it’s troublesome then you can refuse."
Oliver said softly.
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
When Oliver got out of the taxi after talking to the taxi driver, Oliver looked around as he took out the test tube filled with emotions.
He was a little afraid the first time, but now he was somewhat used to the place by the second and third time.
On the contrary, he was glad to see it again.
Oliver walked forward pretending nothing was wrong while extracting the emotions he had contained in his arms.
Then, as he passed through a shaded area, he casted the stealth magic [Erase Exit] on him.
It was a stealth magic based on shame – magic that erases one’s presence, and since it had a significant effect in the past, Oliver kept using it.
In fact, to some extent, it still worked.
As Oliver wandered around using this black magic, no one was able to spot him.
That was a good thing, he hadn't even started his mission yet, and there was nothing good that could come from being noticed.
After judging that he came inside the district safely without getting followed, Oliver checked the data given by Forrest again and headed to the magic workshop where Assistant professor Herbert was.
It was 20th Street in District X which was not very deep, but it was quite deep for Oliver.
Oliver managed to get there after wandering through the maze several times.
Probably because of a lot of unauthorized buildings, District X appeared to be different from the map.
“Um….”
Oliver murmured while looking at Herbert's magic workshop from afar.
White smoke came out from the chimney of the square brick-like house, and it seemed like it was the workshop for producing magic wine.
As evidence, several gangsters could be seen roaming around the place.
Oliver observed the gangsters.
As Forrest said, they seemed to be far from being a threat, at best they were better than the beggars.
They were equipped with low-tier equipment and there was no unity among them.
Oliver thought of creating many minions and then feeding them with Las bomb to shake the whole place all at once.
But, that had chances of hurting the target, so it didn’t seem like the right approach.
Other than that, Oliver thought of many other ways. Such as the one, where instead of a powerful Las bomb, he thought of feeding minions with Creepy scream that could break the opponent's will and then fire at the same time with [Hate bullet], this way the gangster's will to fight could be broken all at once.
He also thought of a much simpler way of just injecting a lot of minions with [Hate bullets] and killing every single gangster with certainty.
All these thoughts once again reaffirmed to Oliver that black magic was very interesting.
Just by combining a few basic black magic, he thought he could create endless combinations.
It was not the mere firepower that made it interesting, it was the infinite possibilities based on those combinations.
Suddenly, Oliver remembered the contents of a book he had read in Joseph's library.
Unlike wizard magic, which uses firepower to crush and subdue the enemy, the main weapon of black magic is the ability to see through the enemy and the craftiness that pierces the enemy's will
Therefore, it said that black magic was a more detailed and high-level study than Wizard magic.
Oliver, who didn't know what real magic was, couldn't judge it easily.
“Oops… Once again, I started thinking of something else.”
Oliver, who came to his senses belatedly, comforted himself and returned to reality.
Once assigned, it was important to complete the mission. As Kent emphasized that the mission’s success and credibility were important.
Oliver decided to focus on the task ahead of him.
So he changed his mind, Oliver sat down and contemplated how he should complete the mission. As if trying to figure out how to solve a problem in the most effective and fun way.
The goal was none other than to capture the magic winemaker Herbert safely.
Then, the use of black magic with strong firepower should be avoided as much as possible.
The target shouldn’t get hurt or killed by any chance.
If Oliver made a lot of noise, there are chances of him just running away.
The client would be quite upset if Oliver missed him now since they seemed to have gone through a lot to track him down.
‘… Um. If I remembered all the emotions out there, maybe it would be a lot easier to find the target later, right?'
Oliver focused his attention right away on the Wizard's workshop and looked at the emotions of everyone around the place.
The total number of people was 60.
Oliver tried to remember the emotions of not only the gangsters but also the workers who were working inside the workshop.
It seemed a bit exaggerated, but since Kent asked him to be very careful, Oliver thought there was nothing wrong with it.
Oliver carved the light of emotions into his eyes one by one.
After checking all the emotions, he fell into thought again.
‘How should I take them out?’
As Oliver thought before, there were countless ways, but he wanted to try a different method if possible.
He wanted it to be a different way from shooting with firepower.
It wasn't because he was suddenly intoxicated with his powers and was trying to do something for fun.
It was because of Kent's advice.
He advised performing the tasks in as many ways as possible to increase his adaptability.
He said it would be good to make him get to adapt to various types of situation, since there will be times when one have to work in a different way than usual in certain situations, for example, when the use of powerful firepower is limited.
That's why he told Oliver to try working in various ways, at times, when he can afford it.
To Oliver, it didn't sound like a wrong thing. Kent's words were logical, and the emotions when he spoke showed that his words were sincere without lies.
The situation felt as if someone was giving him a chance to give it a try.
In the end, on Kent's advice, Oliver decided to approach the mission in a different way.
Oliver came up with a new plan.
His new plan needed darkness, so Oliver decided to wait for the night to come.
(To be Continued on Sep26{MON})
