1. The Chosen Child (1)
The 19th century is called the Age of Magic and Industry.
Humanity has made remarkable progress.
The forest was cleared and railroads were laid, and airships flew in the sky and cars roamed the streets.
Where is that? The economy developed, the population exploded, and many colonies were established. Some said This is the golden age of mankind.
Taken from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
Nevertheless, there are places where it is neglected.The mine village right here was like that.
This village, without even a proper name, is a rare place where minerals come out, and the bottom of society with various stories gathered, and the bottom of them was, of course, children.
Most of the children were orphans, and they came from similar backgrounds.
He did not know who his father and mother were, and he was placed in an orphanage, raised until the age of 14 to receive government subsidies, and sold to a mining village here under the pretext of finding a job and independence.
It was illegal in every way, but no one cared. Because this was so common.
Because of that, the appearance of the children was not so much the same.
A face turned black from mining, lifeless eyes, and a skinny body. It may be too much to say, but they were more like cogs or screws in the form of a human rather than a human being.
It is squeezed to the limit, and if it breaks, it is replaced…. But as there are corner stones everywhere, there was a strange child here.
The boy’s name is Oliver.
Perhaps, he might have tilted his head just looking at his appearance. There was nothing special about it to be called bizarre.
Taken from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
No, it was more than that. Smaller than the other children, and skinny, Oliver was pale to the point of being a living corpse, and even if he died tomorrow, no one would find it strange.However, it was ironic that such a point was disproved that Oliver was eccentric.
It was three years and four months ago when Oliver was first sold to this mine, and at that time he hated the manager, so he couldn’t eat properly, so it was much more miserable than now.
Seeing the soggy child, the mine’s supervisors, workers, and children all predicted that they would die in less than three months, with some betting on when.
In fact, Oliver fell ill less than a week after he first arrived. It was so serious that he couldn’t breathe properly and his body boiled like a kettle, but surprisingly, he miraculously recovered as soon as he dug a place to bury it.
Rather, the other children, who had been okay until yesterday, fell ill after getting sick.
And that wasn’t the end.
It’s hard to explain, but Oliver had other oddities too.
He was strangely quick to notice a dull subject, and he was able to avoid an angry supervisor, and even if he was targeted by a mischievous child, he soon fell ill and the child died of an illness.
Also, the ferocious guard dog that watches over the children was terrified in front of Oliver, and mice disappeared one by one wherever Oliver worked or slept.
These bizarre phenomena overlapped and overlapped, and Oliver was treated like an ominous object by everyone and rejected.
But Oliver didn’t care. His interest wasn’t to make friends with anyone or to be loved.
Currently, Oliver wants only one thing: to survive as long as possible in this mine.
It didn’t have any clear purpose. It’s just an obsession with pure life. It was like an ant or a tick struggling to survive.
Raised in an orphanage and raised in the mines, Oliver had no choice but to survive. However, it was changed by a guest who suddenly came one day.
***
Puu——-!!!
time at work. There was a sound of steam that should not have been sounded.
The children working in the coal mines who were stuffy and not getting any sunlight raised their heads with difficulty, but only Oliver, who was hoeing in the corner, was working, not paying attention.
Moments later, a fat man came down a rusty ladder. He was a supervisor overseeing the children.
“fist. Attention everyone! Gather outside now!”
The child with black soot on his face asked, frightened.
“Uh, supervisor? What’s going on…?”
“What happened? A visitor has been coming for a long time. I’m looking for a sincere worker, so come out and say hello! Move quickly! hurry!”
A faint smile crossed the faces of the children who had a dead expression at that word. Why not? You can get out of this hell if you choose.
It was a kind of irregular event. The only hope in this hopeless mine.
The corpse children stopped what you were doing and climbed the rusty ladder to the ground.
The two-kang-tu-kang ladder rang, and there was a small commotion as each of them pushed and hoisted each other in order to climb first. Only Oliver got away from the commotion and watched.
There was no particular reason. Whether his emotions are dead or his soul is broken, Oliver hasn’t really felt any emotions, such as joy, anticipation, or hope, since he was born.
That’s why it’s so calm, I didn’t know maybe it was thanks to this that I still survived. vain hope was poison
Most of the strong children climbed the ladder first, and then the rest of the little children climbed the ladder and climbed to the ground. Of course, it was Oliver who made the last move, so the worst spot in the back was his.
“Ugh, it’s dazzling…”
“I think I’m going to live a little now.”
“Collock. Cole.”
The children who had not seen the sun in a long time were arguing with God. Even sunlight was a luxury in a coal mine. Then a muscular man appeared in front of the children. He was the tyrant site manager at this mine.
He opened his mouth arrogantly, with a cigarette in his mouth, accompanied by his ferocious guard dog.
“Ahh. all quiet. Don’t be embarrassed and make a fuss in front of your guests.”
It’s like the guard dog of the on-site manager puts in a chord! Kung! barked fiercely. The children, frightened, banded together, but only Oliver stood still. Then a man appeared quietly.
“Attention everyone! This is the guest who came to visit us today. We need sincere and good workers, so be polite to everyone.”
The children shut their mouths as if they had made a promise, and rolled their eyes to look at the man called the customer.
The man was a middle-aged man, with a benevolent expression and a well-groomed mustache, and his neat coat and fedora hat seemed to be a fairly wealthy man.
This could be a good sign. He looks good and is a wealthy man… It must have been someone who would take me to a better place than here. It looked a little different in Oliver’s eyes.
The site manager said to the customer.
“Can I recommend the kids?”
The workers, who usually looked good to the supervisor, smiled faintly. The customer shook his head.
“No, I’d like to pick one if possible.”
The customer then took something out of his coat. Surprisingly, it was chocolate. Chocolate!
It was chocolate packaging all their lives, but the children who watched it were excited.
“What does this look like?”
The guest spoke first. All the children tilted their heads. What is that? By any chance, do you know that children who work in a mine don’t even know what chocolate is? I wondered what the hell he was asking.
Then, one quick boy raised his hand first.
“Chocolate!”
At the same time as the answer, the child smiled cunningly. He was convinced to himself. This is a test to find an enterprising child who acts first. However, the prediction turned out to be unexpectedly wrong.
“Any other opinions?”
The child who was the first to answer the cold customer’s answer had a disappointed expression on his face. But no one sympathized. Rather, he just raised his hand like an angler in order not to miss the opportunity.
“Me!”
“I know!”
“Me! I!”
“I will answer you! Old man!”
“Please tell me…!”
The children shouted and raised their hands like a flock of pigeons gathering around the crumbs. Except for Oliver.
Instead of raising his hand, Oliver fell into doubt. Is it chocolate? What does that mean? Oliver looked at the customer’s hand holding the chocolate. There was obviously chocolate in his hand, but there was something that stood out more than that.
That’s right, it was black. The round black light on the tip of the finger.
The customer was making a circle by gathering the black light in his body with his fingertips.
This was quite a shock to Oliver.
Each person has a black color in their body, but this is the first time I’ve seen it handled like that.
So while Oliver was shocked by the new facts, the other children answered questions as they were pointed out by customers.
“Okay, you answer.”
“Yes! It is an opportunity.”
Ding! The customer pointed to the other child.
“This is the future. A future where we can live a better life!”
Ding! The customer again pointed to the other child.
“It is hope. The old man gives us-”
Ding! The customer again pointed to the other child. Then he pointed to the other child again.
The children who were nominated each came up with novel answers, but none of them satisfied the customers.
All of a sudden, all their hands were gone, and the children whose hopes were trampled on were only crying. It was so unfair that I even shed tears.
“Well·····. Isn’t it here?”
Then, someone quietly raised a hand. Everyone’s eyes were focused.
“yes? oh yes… What do you see this as?”
A question with no expectations. Oliver, the most inconspicuous behind, answered.
“It’s a circle.”
“·······. huh? what?”
“It’s a circle. old man.”
“·····. circle? Isn’t it square?”
“Yes, old man. How the hell did you do that?”
The man called the customer smiled without saying a word.
***
The transaction was made quickly.
The customer handed a seemingly heavy bundle of money to the site manager, and the site manager handed Oliver over to the customer, omitting even the questions he should have as a guardian.
The children all returned to the coal mine with an unjust expression on their faces, but Oliver was a guest, no… I left the mine with my new master.
Ordinary children greeted each other with the utmost courtesy and humility in order to look good at this time, but Oliver did not. Rather, he asked boldly.
“there····. master? How did you do that?”
“What?”
“This is it. Is it right to do this…?”
With those words, Oliver raised a finger. Invisible to ordinary people, but visible to customers. A lump of black light is formed at the tip of your finger!
Yes. Oliver imitated the tricks of his guests just by looking at it. It’s not that difficult either.
The corners of the customer’s lips rose slowly. That’s very creepy.
“Since when have you been able to do that?”
“·······. Just. I’ve only seen it since I was a kid.”
At Oliver’s reply, the customer suddenly stopped and looked at Oliver and said,
“My name is Joseph. A great warlock, and from now on, your teacher. Serve me from now on.”