129. Fatigue (1)
“Well·····. Would you like some coffee?”
asked the old man at the bookstore.
Sitting at the table in front of the store, Oliver politely declined.
“No, thanks.”
“I’m not okay, so just eat.”
The old man brought a kettle with the horse and poured black coffee into an old cup. Then I poured some whiskey over it.
“Ouch…. Why did you ask such a question all of a sudden?”
The old man at the bookstore asked, sitting across from him.
“Then why are you asking why I am a wizard now? Haven’t you asked before?”
“Until now, there was no particular reason to ask, but now I have something I want to ask. Sorry for the sudden.”
“like····. I’m curious because I have a question. I’m genuinely curious what the Warlock might be wondering about this old wizard.”
“···!”
“What are you so surprised about? The only things that increase with age are wrinkles and eyes.”
The old man drank the coffee as if nothing special.
He was not surprised or embarrassed by this situation, just calm.
“under····. Okay, what do you want to know? He’s not a great person, but he’s been living for a long time in his own way. I will answer to the best of my knowledge.”
I’m not a great person. Those words raised a little question for Oliver.
Although it was fleeting, the magic that the old man felt was impressive.
Including the Lightning Wizard, the Student of Magic Tower, and Duncan with Hypertrophy of Magic.
His magic was vaster than anyone else, and at the same time he was pure and calm. Still, he controlled his magic so well that he couldn’t see anything now.
So he’s not that great. I couldn’t read the emotions properly, so it was hard to tell if it was a lie or true.
Taken from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
Normally I would have looked into it, but Oliver has a more urgent matter, so I skipped this part.“…do you know about Mattel?”
“Martel? It’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. Why?”
“Someone I know is there now.”
“Who do you know?”
“Do you remember when I bought a book to teach you to write?”
“Remember…. inn worker. It was an impressive memory. It was interesting to see who the warlock helped. By any chance, what kind of experiment was that?”
“·····no. It really just helped.”
“Right. What’s the child’s name?”
“This is Rothburn. And now he went to Mattel. I am sponsoring as a student. Do you really have such a policy on Mattel?”
Instead of answering, the old man took another sip of coffee.
“Well····. Conversely, I ask What would you like to hear? A comfortable lie, an uncomfortable truth. What would you like to hear?”
“? . . . Of course, I want to hear the truth.”
“Hey, right? just surprising. Most people want a comfortable lie.”
Oliver frowned, not understanding. Who in the world wants a lie more than the truth?
“Are you serious?”
“exactly. young friends. The truth is inconvenient and cruel, too much for most people to bear. Never, no bluff. It’s contradictory, just like people yearn for a brilliant empire but hate to be an aggressor. So you feel uncomfortable with the truth. Like a thorn in your neck.”
“I don’t quite understand what you mean.”
“You thought so… I’ll ask you one last time. Do you really want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Then I will teach you. He was probably taken as a test subject.”
“A test subject?”
“exactly. test subject… By any chance, do you know about Mattel?”
“I barely heard it. It is a laboratory under the School of Life, which is influential in the medical and military sectors.”
“I’m not saying it’s wrong, but that’s just the surface of the onion. The onion core is doing research on eternal life.”
“Eternal life?”
“exactly. eternal life. Literally to live forever.”
For a moment, Puppet’s words came to mind.
The wizards here also study demons and even trade.
“Why study eternal life?”
“? Conversely, I ask Why are you asking me to study eternal life? Those with money and power are naturally interested in it.”
“Is that so?”
“Very well. Eternal life and youth are what anyone who can achieve in the human realm wants… I think it’s a bit embarrassing. No one has ever asked such a question.”
“okay·····. But, what does that have to do with studying immortality and taking Rothburn?”
Tok-tock- The old man at the bookstore tapped his temple.
“To exchange this.”
“…the head?”
“Exactly the brain. More precisely, it changes information in the brain.”
“Information in the brain?”
“exactly. chamberlain····.”
The old man at the bookstore took Oliver’s hand.
“I am transferring information from my head to yours. As you can see, my body is old, but aren’t you young? If my memories and knowledge are transferred to you and take possession of the body, then I will be able to enjoy the blessings of youth and life.”
“Is it possible?”
“It is still impossible. The brain is a more complex and delicate object than the magic that humans have built up for thousands of years and even change the weather. However, it is true that we have reached the experimental stage.”
The old man let go of Oliver’s hand and continued.
“It is currently the most intensive field of study in the School of Life. I tried to strengthen the human body itself, but that turned out to be impossible. So, I chose to change the body as a shortcut. I also think that is more likely.”
Oliver was in trouble for a moment.
“Do the children who are tested die?”
“Well, I’m stupid, I don’t know. I wonder if it’s worse than dying. Death is returning to God’s arms, but that’s… Neither dying nor living.”
That was correct. Transferring the wizard’s brain information to the children did not kill the spirit of the original owner.
It becomes a state of being neither dead nor alive. What the hell is that?
And what was even more questionable was how these experiments were being conducted in the middle of the city.
… No, honestly, it wasn’t a question.
I already knew that wizards were experimenting with humans, because I had heard of them everywhere.
open secret.
But just what… Well·····. Yeah, it was a little strange to hear that Rothburn went to such a place.
It’s hard to explain, but it felt a little different to have someone I knew there.
Why was Rothburn taken away?
asked the old man at the bookstore.
“What are you going to do?”
“Yes?”
“I asked what you were going to do…. It’s just that you’re concerned that you’ve come all the way here and asked me. Are you thinking of going to the rescue? A friend named Rothburn.”
Oliver pondered the sudden question.
“Well····. I do not know. Wouldn’t that be a bit difficult? There is no reason for me to go to the rescue in the first place.”
“Well, it is not. It’s safe to say that the mato tower is above the authority of this city. There’s no way a young friend can do what neither the police nor the National Guard can’t do. There is no loyalty to saving them in the first place.”
Oliver nodded. That was correct.
Although it was not possible to know exactly what kind of place the School of Magic was, Oliver could only vaguely guess its size and power.
If a human experiment was conducted in the middle of the city, they would have had a great influence, and there was a high possibility that they had many powerful ones.
Even a strong man like Duncan was eventually pushed out of the mafia tower competition.
This wasn’t Oliver’s domain. Oliver said.
“Thank you for answering the question. I didn’t buy anything, but I’ll repay you later. In that sense, can I get up first?”
“Of course. Are you going home?”
“Yeah, I’d like to hear one more place before that.”
“Where?”
“Cathedral.”
***
Inside the dark church.
Oliver rubbed his sleepy eyes and yawned.
I’ve been sleeping for a few days and writing several times. Eventually, fatigue set in.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been this tired.
Is this your first time out of the mine?
Well, I didn’t know it was fatigue back then. I was always tired, so I thought it was normal.
that was just a year ago. But now it just felt so far away.
Kiyyee
There was the sound of the church door opening. When I turned my head, a priest with a candle and a woman who covered her body came in.
The priest backed away as if to leave his seat, and the woman approached him step by step.
She looked a little angry.
“It’s shocking.”
Oliver bowed his head and apologized at the low voice of the woman.
“sorry. Paladin.”
“I still told you because you were a serious person. By the way, it’s been less than a day since we broke up, so you’re calling me again? Do you think it will be easy for me to get out? What the hell do you think of me?”
Oliver apologized again.
“I apologize for calling you so late. Holy Knight. However, it was never called a paladin lightly. Of course, I didn’t sing it just for my personal curiosity. Could you please listen to me for a moment?”
At Oliver’s request, Joanna pondered for a moment before taking a seat in the front seat.
“What did you call me for?”
“I called because I had to ask the Paladin for help. To be precise, it’s a report.”
“help? …are you reporting it?”
“Yes. A magic lab took a person for an experiment. It’s a human experiment.”
“·················ogue.”
“Paladin?”
“Yes?”
“Ah, you are listening. A wizard took a person for a living experiment. About a fifteen-year-old boy… We need the help of the paladin.”
“Where are you?”
“The Mattel Lab of the School of Life.”
“…are you sure?”
“? ····Yes, I asked the wizard just in case. And it seems certain.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s not… Do you have any evidence?”
“Yes····. There is no evidence. Because it’s beyond my ability. But it is almost certain.”
“You can’t do an investigation with just those words.”
“? I don’t quite understand. Why can’t I investigate? Isn’t it ok to find out once in a while?”
“…it’s not that simple.”
“····It is not simple, is it? Weinham didn’t investigate well, did you?”
Oliver never meant to be sarcastic. I was just really curious.
I really didn’t understand.
What Oliver asked for was just an investigation for unforeseen circumstances.
When I was investigating Pilgaret, I was more zealous than anyone else.
Could it be that selling pilgarets is a bigger sin than living experiments? …No, it wasn’t.
Despite Oliver’s lack of common sense, he knew that biotesting was a bigger crime than selling pilgarets.
ethically or whatever.
If so, isn’t that what the Paladin should do?
They are the shield that protects mankind and the weak.
The elusive answer fueled Oliver’s curiosity.
“Paladin?”
“…… Landa has rules that must be followed by each other according to the city agreement.”
“Paladin. I’m talking about the child being subjected to a living experiment. It’s not a city pact.”
“Listen. It’s not a simple story.”
“········.”
“It is a paladin’s job to prevent mages from deviating, but it’s not Randa. According to the agreement between the Order and Landa, our paladin only cracks down on demons and warlocks, but has no authority to investigate wizards.”
Oliver scratched his cheek.
“Why?”
“It’s a complex political issue. It’s not something I can explain.”
“Isn’t the denomination a religious group? But what politics?”
Joanna groaned at those words and shook her head.
Intentionally or unintentionally, Oliver was a disgrace to the Order, and it was a natural reaction for her.
But when Joanna saw Oliver’s expression, she froze.
It was because he had a dull expression as usual, but for some reason he had an atmosphere that overwhelms people.
It was enough to make even the faithful Joanna cringe.
“········.”
“········.”
“········.”
“········.”
Inside the church where a lead-heavy silence had arrived.
Oliver, who looked at Joanna without saying a word, let out a sigh.
“Well·····. Paladin?”
“·····Yes.”
“I’m just asking, if you can’t get help from the church, can’t you do it alone?”
“Are you alone?”
“Literally alone. I think you can recognize the status of a paladin and the power of a paladin. If it doesn’t work… I will help too.”
Joanna pondered for a moment, then closed her eyes tightly.
“…it’s impossible.”
“It is not impossible. The paladin only needs to make up his mind.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“If you do something like that, you will be caught by the denomination, and if you do it wrong, you may lose your paladin.”
“I don’t understand. In the first place, a paladin is a shield that protects humanity and the weak. How am I being punished for doing my part? What’s the point of not doing your job even if you’re being punished? I don’t really understand-“
“-It’s noisy!!”
Joanna jumped up and shouted.
It was so loud that her voice echoed in the empty church.
“If I don’t work as a paladin, my younger brothers and sisters will have the same miserable life as they did in the past! Or they are scattered! . . . Don’t talk about it without knowing it well!”
Joanna was so excited that the mask of faith she had been showing all along was removed.
She gasped with excitement, her face flashed, and tears welled up in her eyes for no apparent reason.
A look that any man would sympathize with. But Oliver didn’t. Rather, it was the opposite.
He had the same grim expression as usual, but it was much more dry.
“By the way, did you say that the orphanage can only be supported after the paladin-sama becomes a paladin?”
“····okay.”
“If the paladin-sama is doing his job, the younger brothers may be hungry, dressed in shabby clothes, and maybe sold to the mines. But he won’t die… But the child in Mattel could die.”
Joanna kept her mouth shut and was silent.
“I have read the scriptures.”
“········.”
“I don’t understand, but there was an interesting story. Have you read the story of the shepherd and the sheep?”
“·····Please stop it.”
“The shepherd prayed to God and received a flock of sheep.”
“·····stop.”
“Then one day the shepherd lost a sheep. A small, skinny, unsightly sheep.”
“········.”
“One day God asked where the sheep was, and the shepherd replied that he had lost it. If you try to find it, you’ll lose the other good sheep… Do you know what God said?”
Joanna closed her eyes tightly as if guilty of sinning. It was very painful, but she was still silent.
silence.
“under·····. hahaha.”
The sound of laughter echoed slowly inside the church, where there were only two people.
A very low, gloomy laugh.
At the sound of an ordinary but far-fetched laugh, Joanna looked at Oliver without realizing it, and he was smiling.
Morality, ethics, law, belief, courage and humanity all laugh and ridicule.
Although she looked ordinary on the outside, Joanna, who was standing right in front of her, could see that she was not an ordinary smile.
It was creepy just looking at it, and it was so terrifying that a cold sweat broke out.
For a moment, I even forgot to breathe.
Oliver stood up and said.
“Still, save me.”
“····Yes?”
“God said so. to the shepherd. Save it though… I don’t understand, but I thought it was a beautiful word.”
“········.”
“I thought God was great. It may sound strange, but seriously. The gang, the merchant, the priest, the paladin, the rich, the poor, the child, the adult, the woman, the man all looked for him in difficult situations… He seemed to be a very equal person. But, I guess it wasn’t.”
With those words, Oliver pulled a book out of his arms. It was a scripture that Joanna gave as a gift.
“I will give it back. I don’t need it anymore.”
Unable to refuse, Joanna received the scriptures Oliver had offered her.
Immediately, Oliver turned right back and walked out of the church.
She didn’t say anything, but somehow Joanna had a feeling that she would never see Oliver again.
Then Joanna summoned him.
“Where are you going now?”
“…I’m thinking of going home and going to sleep. I am very tired today.”