"Hmm…"
Arriving at the 30th street in District T, Oliver expressed his admiration. Or rather, it was the 27th street of District T. The newly acquired restaurant of Forrest was larger and more impressive than he had expected.
While the old restaurant on the 27th street used only a part of the building, the newly opened one on the 30th street used the entire building.
Even considering the relatively low real estate prices in District T, it was easy to predict that a significant amount of money had been spent considering the murderous real estate prices of Landa.
"It seems a bit excessive… Ah, no."
Oliver muttered, looking at the crowded store through the restaurant window.
Inside the restaurant, several people were dining.
It was quite surprising that such a restaurant was doing well in District T, where the main population was low-inco workers.
However, his admiration was short-lived. Oliver followed the other custors into the restaurant.
Tak- Tak- Tak-
Each ti Oliver walked, his quarterstaff hit the floor, making a regular sound, and the neat yet atmospheric interior of the restaurant caught his eye.
Just like the restaurant at the 27th street, the new restaurant on the 30th street was more focused on a neat interior than on being flashy.
At least on the first floor.
‘But why do they all seem to be looking at ?’
Although they didn't show it externally, Oliver felt sharp eyes on him as soon as he entered.
A man and woman who looked like Solvers sitting by the window, an old man with glasses sitting in a corner, a young man in relatively casual attire that didn't fit the restaurant atmosphere, and so on.
Everyone was looking at Oliver in their own way.
So were staring at him and murmuring, others were pretending not to be interested and glanced at him, and so looked at him with subtle interest.
He had received such attention occasionally after completing big tasks, but this ti it was much more intense.
‘Why are they doing this? I haven't done anything recently… Well, as long as there are no malicious people, it doesn't matter, right?'
With that thought, Oliver looked for the staff, ignoring the surrounding gazes.
Sohow, there seed to be many new faces among the staff as well.
"Mr. Dave?"
An familiar voice interrupted his observation.
Turning his head, he saw Al, an employee of Forrest Restaurant.
"Ah… Mr. Al. Hello, how are you?"
"Yes, Mr. Dave. Hello. It's been a long ti. Thank you for visiting."
Al greeted Oliver sincerely, as his words suggested.
The uniforms of the staff had also changed slightly like the restaurant, and the current ones looked a bit better.
"The new restaurant looks great. It seems to be doing well too. Impressive."
"Don't ntion it. It's all thanks to you, Mr. Dave."
Oliver shook his head at Al's words. Al's words were not re flattery, but sincere.
"?"
"Yes, I would like to explain… But, are you here to see the boss?"
"Ah, yes. That's right. I ca to see Mr. Forrest. Is it possible?"
"Of course, it's more than possible. If you don't mind, could you follow ?"
Oliver nodded, and Al guided him with his characteristic polite and refined gestures.
The place he led him to was the second-floor hall above the first-floor hall. Although it was the sa restaurant, the second floor was a bit more luxurious than the first floor, and the nature of the custors was slightly different.
They appeared to be wealthy person, not Solvers, information rchants, or brokers.
Tak Tak Tak Tak.
As Oliver went up, tapping the ground with his quarterstaff, just as when he first entered the restaurant, the people gathered in the second floor hall fixed their gaze on him.
There was no one with ill intentions, but just as much, interest, observation, greed, and various emotions shone briefly but intensely.
"Please wait a mont.”
Al spoke to Oliver, then went over to Forrest, who was chatting with a group of old n in the corner.
Only Forrest seed unchanged.
‘It feels like it's been a long ti since I've seen him……'
Oliver thought as he looked at Forrest.
It was understandable, as this was the first ti he had seen him since finalizing the contract between the Cri Firm and the Fighter Crew.
It seed like he had spent more ti on the Magic Tower job than he thought.
‘I don't regret it, and I've gained a lot of interesting things.'
Forrest, who heard a whisper from Al.
He politely excused himself from the old n he was chatting with and rose from his seat.
From the emotional states and appearances of the old n, there was no sign of discomfort.
Rather, they seed to be considerate of Forrest.
"It's really been a long ti.”
Forrest, who approached, Oliver answered.
"Yes, I thought the sa. It feels like it's been a long ti since we've t.”
"It's strange that we have a day when we understand each other. If it's okay with you, can we talk in the office?”
When Oliver nodded, Forrest was pleased and led Oliver.
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
“The office is similar to when it was on 27th street,” said Oliver, who entered the back office of the store guided by Forrest.
Except for being a bit wider, the atmosphere, interior, and even the furniture were the sa.
It was an old desk with fingerprints, an old cabinet, and a pile of docunts.
"I like the office to be familiar. I have a separate eting room for welcoming guests, so there's no problem."
"If you're talking about guests, are you referring to the guests who were sitting in the hall on the second floor?”
At Oliver's question, Forrest smiled slightly.
"You seem to be quite familiar with this field now. Right. They are the clients of the shadows and lights of this city. The directors or executives of Cri Firm, brokers, corporate executives or factory owners, and capitalists, etc.”
They were all the mainstream class that moved Landa. Oliver looked at the office door he had entered and recalled the people who had gathered in the second-floor hall.
There seed to be quite a number of them.
"That's impressive. Your business seems to be thriving."
"Normally, I should be modest and deny it at this point, but honestly, you're right. The Cri Firm keeps requesting the Fighter Crew. Thanks to that, I keep earning commissions."
Forrest spoke as if he was getting passive inco, but Oliver knew that was not the case.
Every ti a Solver took on a mission, the broker had to collect a lot of information from behind the scenes to find out the details of the mission, its risks, and the inside story, and calculate the appropriate people and compensation.
In a way, brokers also wage their own war, just in a different form.
Of course, there were exceptions, but at least Forrest did not seem to be one of them.
"Are the Fighter Crew doing their jobs well?”
"Of course. Didn't you teach them?”
Forrest radiated emotions such as admiration, joy, faith, and pride.
"Most of them are successfully carrying out their assigned tasks. More than I thought. So the Cri Firm is very satisfied, and they're raising their stock in the underworld again. Those backstreet thugs who used to fight a bit have beco real warlocks… Thanks to that, custors are flocking to trade with , and skilled Solvers are also coming to trade with . It's kind of a virtuous cycle."
"That's impressive."
"Thank you. From your reaction, it seems like you haven't heard the news at all, have you been out of town?”
“Um…”
Oliver was amazed. He was indeed sharp. He could tell that Oliver had left Landa and returned with just a few words.
"Ah, I'm sorry. If I've asked a difficult question, I apologize. I'm just happy to see you after a long ti."
"No, I'm sorry for not telling you. However, it's a personal matter, so it's difficult for to tell you the details. I ask for your understanding.”
Forrest said nothing and just nodded.
He was curious about what Oliver had been doing, but he was restraining himself for the sake of a proper distance between a Solver and a broker.
Instead, he asked another question.
"So, I suppose I should ask why you ca. Did you co to work?”
Oliver didn't answer imdiately, but thought for a mont.
Working as a Solver might not be a bad idea…
Living expenses were sufficient with the salary from the Magic Tower, but considering research and work costs, it seed like a good idea to slowly resu his work as a Solver.
Especially since his savings had significantly diminished after taking a break from work since being hired by Pinkman.
‘But I should do the urgent things first. I don't have ti.'
Oliver shook his head, reminding himself of the priority of the work.
"Not now. I ca today because I have sothing to ask.”
"I had a feeling it would be sothing like that… Still, it's a sha. I had prepared a few fun things for you."
"Fun things?"
"Yes, do you want to hear about them?"
Oliver was interested, but he shook his head imdiately.
Sohow, he felt that the conversation would veer off track if he listened.
"I would like to hear, but can I ask my question first?"
"Smart choice. Go ahead."
"Do you happen to know where Mr. Ewan is?"
Ewan, the master of Smith, and the one who made the at Hamr used by the disciples of Human-at Chef.
They had parted ways at the Angels' house, and Forrest had said he would take care of him.
"Um… He's probably in District X. He's like a rubber ball, always moving around, so it's hard to pin down his exact location."
Forrest, who usually did not show any signs of struggle, sighed.
"However, if you want to know if he is in District X, I can check for you."
"Then, can I ask you to do that?"
"Of course. After all, I promised to do so. But can I ask why you're looking for him?"
Upon hearing the question, Oliver imdiately stood up from his seat and took out Bigmouth from the leather case behind his waist.
Bigmouth materialized, swelling like bread dough and sprouting limbs.
"Gruuuu?"
"That's… your Bigmouth.”
Forrest looked at Bigmouth with a mix of surprise and admiration.
"I'm sorry. I thought it would be faster to show you directly.”
Forrest gestured for him to continue, and Oliver asked Bigmouth to take out the object he ntioned earlier.
Upon hearing Oliver's request, Bigmouth's mouth around its head wriggled, and it threw up sothing.
It was the at Hamr.
The at Hamr that had consud a large amount of Bathori's blood.
"It seems to have changed from what I saw before. The feeling too…"
Despite the bandage, the at Hamr, yearning for blood, could not hide its altered appearance and atmosphere.
"I had so issues. I wanted to ask Mr. Ewan about this and ask him for a favor.”
"Hmm… I'm not an expert in this field, but I have a feeling he might be interested. I'll try to find him as soon as possible.”
"Thank you."
"Thank you is always my part."
"Pardon?"
Oliver asked back. Even earlier Al said sothing similar. It seed like everyone was talking in a way that was hard to understand.
"I'll explain in detail later… Do you have any other questions? It doesn't seem like you ca just for this."
"Ah… Yes, I do. Could you perhaps help et Mr. Edith?”
“Edith?"
Forrest furrowed his brow, asking back as if the na was unexpected. Well, Oliver sowhat agreed with that too.
"I'm sorry, just to clarify, are you referring to Edith Rock who owns a large amount of real estate in District R and beca a big shot by investing in Protheus Corp? The one with the nice figure?"
A nice figure ant that he was plump.
"Yes, that's right, Mr. Edith Rock. Miss Jane's Father.”
Even though Forrest got the correct answer, he didn't relax his brow. Instead, he furrowed it even more.
"I don't know what to say, it's so sudden. Why do you want to et him?"
"I have so business with him?"
Oliver answered vaguely, but Forrest didn't pry further. He was indeed a very considerate person.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I can't help you right away. I've never had any dealings with him, and as far as I know, he has recently been unwell again and is not active. …Oh, you don't know? After his request last ti, he suddenly got better, but now he's unwell again."
"I expected that."
"You expected?"
Forrest looked suspicious again, but shook his head. It wasn't the first ti Oliver had been like this.
Even though he seed to know nothing, he sotis knew a lot and succeeded in surprising things.
"Well, anyway, I can't help you et Edith right away. I don't have a direct line to him. If you want, I can try to find out, but it might take so ti."
Oliver recalled Edith’s na that was written in Bathory’s notebook.
It was a bit tricky. There wasn't much ti left.
"Is it urgent?"
"Probably?"
"How about asking her? I don't know the details, but among the people I know, she seems to have the highest possibility."
"Who are you talking about?"
"Who else? Jane."
(To be Continued)
OR
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