"You ca to see .”
Inside the illegal fighting arena building, Joe ordered two drinks at the bar that was set up there.
"I asked where Joe was, and Instructor told you were here. And he asked if I was interested, and I said yes."
"Haa…" Joe let out a sigh.
The bartender, with a scar running down one side of his face, poured a drink for Joe and struck up a conversation.
"I heard today's match was hot," the bartender said.
"It was noisy," Joe replied flatly, handing Oliver a drink with a displeased expression.
"I didn't know you were interested in martial arts match," Joe remarked, taking a sip of his drink.
"Pardon?" Oliver looked at him quizzically.
"You said you ca to watch the fight, didn't you?"
"Um…it's not entirely wrong. However, I ca here because I wanted to see this place rather than fight," Oliver answered, glancing inside the building.
"Why?"
"‘Cos I'm curious?"
Joe fixed his eyes on Oliver, perplexed by the latter's deanor. It was as if he was observing sothing inexplicable.
But it wasn't entirely unexpected. Oliver's conduct was unlike any other character Joe had encountered in the treacherous underworld. He was remarkably rcurial, yet there was no hint of malevolence, no sign of malice.
Joe was left struggling to comprehend Oliver's motives, or lack thereof. The way he carried himself, it was as if he didn't have any plans, any ulterior motives. Oliver's peculiar behavior was so bewildering that Joe felt like he was looking at a different species altogether.
“…So, have you satisfied your curiosity then?”
"To so extent. Instructor taught about the community and everything there is to know about this place. I've learned a lot,"
“Instructor? Where is he?”
"Ah, that's… It's a long story, but he said he had sothing to talk to a warlock I know. He went sowhere… Do you think we should try to find him?"
"Hmm… No, this is the Instructor's turf, so there should be no problem. He's the type to take care of himself, we don't need to find him. By the way, how was my fight earlier?"
Joe inquired about his fight earlier.
Despite not appearing to enjoy the fight itself, he wished to hear Oliver's assessnt.
He wanted to know if his efforts were headed in the correct direction.
“Yes, that was great," replied Oliver, honestly recalling the fight.
Joe utilized black magic in the most suitable form for his current use, maximizing its efficiency while also utilizing his unique close combat skills and senses.
During the first charge, Joe could have easily knocked down his opponent with brute force, but instead, he avoided it with a unique step for a more efficient attack. He then targeted the opponent's legs to suppress their mobility before landing an accurate blow to finish the match.
Joe crushed his opponent's head without feeling any pain, which could be seen as an appropriate asure given the amount of black magic used.
It was a terrible amount which would have made the opponent fight until he was out of breath.
‘It wouldn't have been strange if the opponent died soon anyway….'
After hearing the answer, Joe asked, "Really?"
"Yes, you used the optimal thod that suits you best by studying on your own. That was truly remarkable. I never thought of using that kind of approach myself," replied Oliver.
Perhaps Joe appreciated Oliver's praise, as he drank without saying anything.
anwhile, a large person passed by and spoke to Joe, "Joe! I saw the match earlier. It was amazing! Where did you learn that?!"
"Get lost."
"huh!"
After dismissing the large figure with a cold response, a woman approached Joe and suggested they have a drink together. Joe replied without even looking at her, telling her to leave him alone.
Although everyone seed to like Joe, he did not like anyone and preferred to drink alone.
Oliver looked at Joe and asked, "Can I ask you sothing?"
“What is it?”
"I understand that participants receive sothing called ‘fight money' when they compete in a fight. How much do you receive?"
Joe narrowed his eyes and asked, "Why are you curious about that?"
"Just curious," responded Oliver.
Joe remained silent for a mont before answering, "It varies from match to match. Usually, we receive a percentage of the betting amount, and even though it's not much, it can add up if the betting amount is high. Especially here."
"I see. So, how much do you get, Joe?"
"I get a decent amount, like when I do other jobs. But why do you ask? Are you planning to participate too?"
"No, I'm just curious. It seems like you're treated well here and the pay is good, but you seem to dislike this place."
"That's why you're curious? Don't just say you're curious without a reason," said Joe, with a hint of caution.
In order to receive a satisfactory answer, Oliver needed to let his guard down a bit. He struggled with how to approach the subject and wondered if there was a good reason for his curiosity.
But he knew that in order to get the answer he was looking for, he needed to co up with a convincing reason for asking. Being genuine and forthcoming was the key to hearing a good response.
Oliver gathered his thoughts and began to speak, "Um… I grew up in an orphanage."
Joe looked at him quizzically, "What?"
"I said I grew up in an orphanage. No matter how much I try to rember, that's my first mory."
"……."
"And then I got a job at a mine."
"A job?"
"Yes, the director of the orphanage said that. Since I am no longer a child, I have to earn my living with my own hands."
"……."
"After that, I worked in the mine for a while. It was pretty tough looking back, but thanks to it, I was able to et my master. He taught black magic… It was really interesting."
"……."
“I think that was the first ti I felt that sothing was fun. So I learned how to read and write, which was necessary for learning black magic. After experiencing various things over ti, I wanted to learn more about the world and ended up coming to Landa."
"Why are you telling this?"
"Um? Oh… it's my answer to your question about why I'm curious. I can't explain it exactly, but curiosity is my biggest driving force and joy… It's a great pleasure to satisfy my curiosity or to learn about sothing I don't know."
“What are you so curious about?”
"Initially, I was only interested in black magic and emotions, but my curiosity extended to other things. Why do the Districts in Landa have such a significant difference between the front and back of the alphabet? What is the reason for the existence of the rich and poor? What is the fundantal difference between magic and black magic? What is faith? Who is the demon? Who is God? I'm curious about everything, including things related to District X."
"You're really weird. I can barely understand you."
"People naturally have difficulty understanding each other. That's why we talk, like we're doing now."
Although not very convincing, Oliver's words had a vague power of persuasion.
Joe, lost in thought, spoke up, "I just don't like it."
"Pardon?"
"I don't like being treated like a spectacle. We have to fight to survive, but there should be so dignity even in that. Personally, I don't like fighting like a zoo monkey. I'm participating now because I have a promise with the Instructor, but I'll be leaving soon."
‘Ah,’ Now that he thought about it, he rembered the promise Joe made with Dean Cleary to use the gym basent.
It was clear that Joe didn't like this place, although his emotions weren't extre hatred.
"Because there's a certain way to make money here. There are a lot of people who are forcibly brought in."
“Like the guy who fought with Joe earlier?”
"Yes, since the debris falling here is big. So guys use drugs or black magic to participate in the ga using slave players. The stadium managers don't care if they get money… I don't like that. It's okay to beat soone who voluntarily wants to fight, but it's a little uncomfortable to fight against those who are not willing."
Oliver could see why Joe really hated this place.
Joe had his own rules, although he had no particular resistance to fighting or killing.
It was interesting.
Oliver opened his mouth involuntarily out of curiosity, “Then, do you have any plans to leave this place?”
“What do you an?”
"No, it's nothing. I just thought you must have made quite a bit of money catching the Kell Liberation Army people with and I also heard that you played a part in catching the fugitives who escaped prison. With your skills, you could easily beco a Solver and make a living without worrying about survival. Is there a special reason why you're not leaving this place?"
At that mont, Joe showed extre vigilance, but then he relaxed again and looked at Oliver intently before opening his mouth.
"Well, there are mouths to feed here."
“Mouths?”
"Nico, Bigjaw’s family…"
It had been a long ti, but Oliver knew those nas.
“Isn’t Nico and Bigjaw the people who fought with along with Joe?”
“Yes, and died.”
At Murphy's request, Oliver fought Joe, Nico, and Big Jaw to retrieve the forr associate professor Herbert, and in the process, Oliver killed the two of them.
At the ti, they were not an opponent that could be adequately dealt with.
It had been about a year since then, but Oliver rembered them.
“Um… I’m sorry?”
"It's okay. Everyone who ca to this side made their resolve to risk their lives. There is no end if we start resenting each other. We just did what we had to do for work. Like you say, it’s part of the job."
Oliver nodded in agreent. It might seem a bit shaless for the killer to agree with his words, but Oliver really did not have anything against them.
He was just doing his job, and while they were trying to kill each other, Oliver killed them first.
"But why their family? Are they… Oh! Do you an the community?"
“Yes, they are from the sa community as , so I have to take care of them to so extent.”
"I see."
Certainly, leaving the area was a completely different matter if there were a lot of family mbers. Even if Joe had saved up money, it was still going to be tight.
Oliver had also seen his reputation and inco increase significantly compared to the past, but it was still difficult to move to a better District.
Money is also an issue, but there is also a thing about not being scamd.
However, apart from that, he thought it was truly remarkable. He knew what a community was, and to try to protect it to the end was sothing else. At the mont when he wanted to tell Joe how impressive it was, Joe spoke first.
“Then, may I ask a question this ti?”
“Um….. Yes. Please tell .”
"I heard that you've been doing a lot of Solver work recently. Is there sothing big going on? I know you don't work like that."
"It's not a big thing, I just had so personal reasons and had to handle them all at once."
"What is it?"
"Um, I can't go into detail because of certain circumstances… but it seems like you have sothing else you want to say, feel free to speak your mind."
Joe said without hesitation, "By any chance, do you want to join our Fighter Crew?"
"Pardon?"
"Our Captain is interested in you."
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
Oliver politely declined the unexpected offer, as being a mber of an organization was not his thing.
Luckily, Joe didn't seem to take it too seriously and they chatted a bit before parting ways.
Later on, Oliver asked Coco, Angel House people, and Forrest to help him find a good real estate agent to search for a new ho.
In his free ti, he worked on creating a corpse doll- Rags 2, using the materials he had collected from the basent.
Rags 2 had to maintain its existing performance but had to appear as an ordinary person during normal tis, so instead of imdiately starting production, he worked on designing the blueprint from scratch.
This, too, was a difficult task, but not entirely without a solution.
He found a solution in the book he obtained from the Auction House mission that suggested building the body in a modular way with a chanism to switch the inside and outside. Although it required a lot of work, it was a reliable thod.
In addition, he also had to consider how to use the body of the wizard from the School of Pure Magic who had been torn in half and killed.
It seed like it would be difficult to fully utilize him as a corpse doll due to the severe damage.
"Anyway, where do I go from here?" Oliver muttered as he looked around the Magic Tower, after taking the ID rlin had given him and the magic bag he had purchased.
The Magic Tower was expected to be massive, but seeing it in person was a completely different experience. After passing through high walls without bars or gates, another city ca into view. Or, to be more precise, it was more like a giant machine than a city.
Large and small buildings were constructed geotrically like parts around the tower, and the buildings were connected by bridges resembling chains of gears. Additionally, the self-contained magical power generator and the huge gears continued to move, providing power to the entire magic tower.
Overwheld by its colossal size, Oliver was at a loss as to where to go. If he had known it would be like this, he would have specifically asked for directions to the School of Elental Magic building.
He tried to ask for directions, but the people here were too busy to respond easily, and they showed caution and indifference when he spoke to them.
Nevertheless, Oliver persevered, continually asking people passing by for directions.
Finally, after asking nearly ten people, soone answered his question.
"Are you looking for the Elental School building?" asked a girl with silver curly hair tied back and thick glasses.
"Yes. Can you tell where it is?" Oliver replied.
(To be Continued)
OR
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