186. Introduction (1)
Retrieve secret ledgers stolen by thieves.
Recapture of the Shem River loading dock.
Eliminate non-affiliated gangs occupying Area O.
Prisoner chase.
Destroyed Landa’s outermost moonshine factory.
Others, etc….
Over the past few days, Oliver has done quite a bit of work with a number of commissions from crime firms, mercenaries, and entrepreneurs.
It wasn’t a lack of money. It was still pretty relaxed.
Taken from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
Nevertheless, I worked here to get some free time.This is because if you do a lot of work at once, you can take a break in the name of rest.
Oh, of course, it wasn’t by force.
It was just Oliver’s own courtesy to Forrest, who took care of him.
Coco, Arthur, Al, etc. have said that when the solver cooperates in this way, it is easier for the intermediary between the customer and the solver to work.
In fact, Forrest seemed to understand Oliver’s attitude, so when Oliver said he would take a few days off, he readily nodded without asking why.
‘Since you’ve worked like this, no one will complain if you don’t get a job for a while. The timing isn’t bad either… All right, get some rest.’
During this rest period, Oliver temporarily moved to Merlin’s mansion to study.
The class was nothing special.
It is self-directed learning, so you only need to read the textbooks that Merlin has set, and ask questions that you do not understand.
If you can read and have the will to learn, this is much more effective.
After reading the book to the end, I had to evaluate whether I really understood the last thing I learned by giving a lecture to Merlin.
It was an anachronistic and quite burdensome teaching method depending on the point of view, but Oliver was quite satisfied.
It was fun to read the book on my own and understand the contents.
It was fun to share questions and answers to see if I understood correctly.
Because sharing knowledge with others was also quite a fun task.
However, the most enjoyable part was that it guarantees the autonomy of the educated students.
So Oliver could go to the study in the mansion in his spare time and do other studies.
right, just like now.
“Hmm····. History is interesting.”
Oliver murmured as he read a history book about the tower.
The horse tower, which shares its history with Landa, boasts a high prestige and at the same time harbors mysticism.
For example, the original root of the tower was a branch of several magical schools.
“Are you trying to study before entering the tower?”
Merlin, who came closer to me, looked at the contents of the book and asked.
I didn’t feel it coming. It seemed that he had strengthened his magical powers to hide his emotions more thoroughly.
At times he could faintly read his emotions, and as soon as he noticed it, he prepared for it.
It was a little disappointing, but Oliver answered calmly without showing any expression.
“Are you here?”
“The reaction is not funny.”
“Ah, sorry. So shall we do it again?”
“What do you do again? Is that book more interesting than that?”
Oliver looked at the book he was reading and answered.
“Yeah, it’s kind of fun. I learned things I didn’t know.”
“Is it about the roots of the tower?”
Merlin asked, looking the same way Oliver was paying attention.
“Yes. I thought that the horse pagoda was the headquarters of each school.”
Oliver said frankly.
In fact, it was a level of remark that anyone in the wizarding mainstream society would have ridiculed as an idiot, but surprisingly, most ordinary people recognized it this way.
Currently, Seland … . No, the largest magical organization in the chosen nation was Randa’s Magic Tower.
A misunderstanding caused by a kind of information gap and the closedness of the magical society.
Merlin, who knew this, kindly explained it instead of licking his tongue.
“Well, you can be misunderstood. Except for the little things, in terms of scale and capital, the tower is the most prosperous.”
“How did this happen?”
“It’s really natural.”
“Yes?”
“Landa has been closely associated with wizards since birth, so there are almost no restrictions on wizards compared to other places.”
Oliver nodded. The wizards used their power to deal with the aftermath of the Great Disaster. The birth of Landa could not be compared with the wizard.
“It is a city without limits and without checks. Are you curious enough? So, not only in this country, but also schools with their headquarters abroad set up branches here. For the purpose of subcontracting research they are reluctant to do.”
Merlin drew a picture with magic on the desk with those words.
“Are your desks dirty?”
“You know something. I bought it with my own money.”
“ah·····.”
A small circle was drawn on the table and an arrow rushing towards it was drawn.
“Obviously, that was the right start. Each school’s Landa-branch was nothing more than a research subcontract for the school’s headquarters. If not, you can withdraw at any time. However, thanks to the lack of regulations, the research speed and results tend to rise upwards, and then more research is received. Autonomy and subsidies will of course increase.”
The more arrows, the bigger the circle.
“Later, we run our own business based on that autonomy. Technology development partnerships commissioned by companies or production collaborations. So the money flows and the scale grows.”
The circle grew once again.
“As a result of this, the importance of the Landa branch among the schools gradually increased, and from some point it became a venue for vicarious competition between each school. But at this point, another variable arises.”
“What?”
“The wizards who worked in the Landa branch began to put their identities more on Landa than on the School.”
“······?”
“Looking at your face, I don’t think you understand. I understand. But up to that point, it was a huge thing. Usually wizards have their identity in the school they belong to. Because the school was essential to become the mainstream of the wizarding society.”
“…Ah, but Landa is self-reliant.”
“right. The school realized this, but it was too late. The matop branch is about the same size as the school’s headquarters.”
pallang.
Merlin turned to the next page.
“The branches of each school in Randa met secretly and made a pact. In this town where there is so much to eat, what do we need to fight amongst ourselves? Actually, that’s not wrong. There is a corner where the rice bowls overlap, but there is enough food to solve it through conversation. So it was cumbersome and they just merged them together. And that’s the magic tower we have today.”
“Did each school accept it?”
“If not, what will they do? Things have already changed, and even if the school established its own educational institution, they did not oppose it, but rather approved it. Currently, most of the schools have a deformed relationship between the school headquarters and the Matop branch in equal or inverse subordination.”
Oliver read the page Merlin had opened.
It wasn’t as direct as Merlin said, but he was giving the information around.
Oliver talked about his feelings.
“····· It is fun.”
“History is fun. More interesting than any other story… Probability, drama. Nothing is missing.”
Merlin’s words were not just words, but some kind of bone felt.
Just as I was about to ask about it, Merlin was the first to ask.
“So it was a bit odd that you were reading the history book of the tower. Answer me. Do you want to study the tower in advance?”
Merlin’s first question. Oliver shook his head.
“It’s similar, but a little different.”
“like·····. How is it different?”
Oliver looked at the books stacked next to him.
There was a book called [The History of Religion and Belief] as well as a history book about the matoap and each school.
“I was trying to find out about this.”
The book Oliver pulled out was none other than a handwritten journal of magic research.
In fact, the words were a journal of research on magic, and like the diary of a lightning wizard, the author’s personal circumstances were also included.
“Matop student’s research journal. Where did you come from?”
“I got it while I was working.”
“If it’s a job, is it a solver job?”
“Yes.”
Merlin nodded as if he knew what was going on.
He couldn’t figure out what he was thinking by covering his heart with a magical wall, but he didn’t seem to have any special feelings.
“…you are a young man who was eliminated from the horse tower competition.”
Oliver nodded.
The owner of that magic journal was Adri, a former student of the Pure Magic School, and the owner of a moonshine factory in the No-Development Zone, Murphy’s competitor.
At the beginning of the journal, he faithfully described only research on magic and training, but in the middle of the journal, he suddenly started writing personal stories.
It wasn’t a very good story.
“It’s a typical story. A magical talent is revealed by chance and is adopted as if sold to a wizarding family, but eventually, the limits of his talent are pushed.”
“Is that often the case?”
Oliver asked to confirm. When I looked at the contents of the journal, it seemed that there were surprisingly many such cases.
“I can’t say no.”
“Well·····. So, do a lot of behind-the-scenes transactions happen in the horse tower? In fact, to find out about it, I was looking for a book about the tower.”
It was.
Aidry, the owner of the journal, was afraid of the limited expression of her talents, and consequently the separation of the family, and the suspension of support for tuition and living expenses.
He pretended not to be, but fear leaked out of his handwriting and subtle tone.
However, the point to praise him was that he saw the situation as positively as possible and made a plan at the same time.
He said that he would carve out his own destiny there, referring to the ‘back deals’ that are rampant throughout the tower.
He said that there will be times when a magician from the tower will need it anywhere.
In fact, he said that he had good skills, so he contacted a student who was related to that, and somehow soaked his hands and learned about the physiology there.
For reference, there were many types of back transactions than I expected.
Unused experimental tools, unsuccessful low-quality scrolls, and sloppy potions made by students are ‘dumped’ by selling them back.
A ‘part-timer’ who uses magic after receiving a task that requires magic like a solver.
Or, a ‘whisper’ to pass the information of the tower or the movement route of the items handled by the tower.
However, the largest among them was the ‘back process’ that systematically sold illegal potions, scrolls, and medicines and magic wines, even with professors.
According to the contents of Adri’s diary, it was said that the scale was beyond imagination. Landa to the extent that it is responsible for an axis of the economy.
So, Adri had stolen the magic liquor production recipe and set up a moonshine factory as soon as she left the horse tower.
For reference, the scale of the back transaction was also large, but the number of participants also varied.
There were students like Adri who wanted to make a living, there were students from prestigious schools who enjoyed thrills, and there were teaching assistants, staff, and even professors.
Merlin read what Oliver had read, but there was no commotion.
as if you already knew.
Oliver said this.
“You are not surprised.”
“What surprises you? Everything in the world has an expiration date.”
“Expiration date?”
“It means that everything in the world is twisted and corrupted.”
With those words, Merlin drew up magic power in his hand and poured it into the journal.
👌👌👌👌 👌👌👌👌 The magical energy made a mechanical sound, and after a while, the magic hidden in the journal reacted, and it floated into the air.
swish-!
Just as Merlin snatched it with one hand, he grabbed the magical information written in the journal with one hand.
“What is that?”
“It’s just plain security magic. Hiding important information applied to horsepower. He was a well-educated friend, seeing that he took care of security so as not to be found out.”
“May I ask what happened?”
“No, I can’t.”
“Yes?”
Oliver asked an unexpected answer. Merlin’s answer was firm.
“Think of it as a cost. Didn’t you teach me that there is also this kind of security magic?”
oh·····. Having said that, I had nothing more to say.
As Merlin said, I didn’t even know this existed until he showed it to me.
Oliver nodded in agreement.
“You are right.”
“It’s a good attitude to know how to admit it. Let me give you a prize.”
“Is it a prize?”
“Yes, I will introduce you to the person who will take you to the tower and introduce you to your temporary death penalty. come in.”
With those words, the door opened and a man entered.
Oliver was unaware of his presence. But looking at the man’s face, it didn’t matter anymore.
“Nice to meet you.”
A wizard with long black hair and red skin. Kevin Dunbar said.
“Or should I say it’s been a while?”