4. Temporary Disciple (1)
Oliver stayed up all night awake.
After leaving the inn, I spent several days and nights with open eyes.
However, it was not that there was a problem with the body or that there were worries. Rather, it was close to the opposite.
In the orphanage and in the mine, every day was just the same, and I was not interested in anything other than survival, so I could fall asleep at any time, but now I couldn’t fall asleep easily because every day was a series of pleasures.
I thought of it a few times a day, maybe dozens, hundreds of times.
That was the time when he extracted the emotions of the rushing employees and shot the ‘Hat Bullet’. That mysterious and familiar sensation was like having wings and flying in the sky.
Whenever Oliver recalled that time, he looked back on the sensations and lingering feelings he felt at the time.
But it was also sad at the same time. If I had focused a little more then, I would have been able to extract more emotions faster and more.
If I had restrained my joy and paid a little more attention, I would have been able to fire multiple shots at once instead of just one.
Taken from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
No, before that, he could have done more advanced black magic instead of just imitating it!Oliver pondered over each of the sad parts one by one. And to appease that disappointment even a little, I did image training in my head.
Just a little faster, extract more emotions, fire more hated bullets, increase speed, accuracy, and power. Eventually, it also gave a unique change that was hard to simply call it a hat bullet.
Although, it was just an imagination in my head, it didn’t matter. Oliver had the confidence to put it into practice right away.
If it hadn’t been for the words of the owner and teacher, Joseph, he would have been experimenting with extracting his emotions right now.
‘From now on, do not practice black magic until my permission.’
‘why····. Are you sure?’
‘It’s okay to use emotions to create shapes that others can’t see, but true black magic can be seen by everyone. We will soon arrive at our destination. It hurts a little to see people using black magic, even by chance… Above all else, using one’s own emotions to use black magic is only doing the trick among the minions.’
‘Why?’
‘A true warlock has to use the emotions of others, not his own. Emotions are a limited resource. If you use it haphazardly, your soul will be empty, so you should save your feelings unless it is really unavoidable.’
‘Then, can I extract emotions and practice when meeting other people?’
‘Well·····. No, only with my permission to extract emotions and practice black magic. You said at the inn. Will you obey me? So, don’t follow and obey. Then I will teach you.’
Because of that, Oliver had no choice but to practice black magic in his own head. It was frustrating, but there was nothing I could do.
Joseph demanded obedience, and in order to receive his teachings, he had to be as obedient as possible. At least on the surface.
Suddenly, the dark sky turned gray and gradually turned blue. The sun rose again, and Joseph rose accordingly.
“Shut up…! Homelessness is always bad. huh? has it happened already? No, I haven’t slept.”
Said Joseph, looking at Oliver’s pale complexion and his eyes widened. He would go to a nearby creek to wash his face and rinse his mouth with mouthwash as usual.
Garrrrr, Whoa!
After spitting out the thick sputum-like cleaner, Joseph said.
“Are you really sleepless? Are you not sleeping on purpose? Even if you get tired in the middle, I have no intention of picking you up.”
Oliver looked at Joseph and answered.
“sorry. master····. I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited that I was going to arrive at my destination soon.”
It wasn’t quite a lie. Oliver wanted to go to a place where he could learn black magic. It was almost the first time I felt it in my life, so I could hardly control it.
Joseph said in a soft voice, as if he didn’t really like seeing such a drive.
“Well, it’s not that I don’t understand. All the other kids did.”
“Any other kid?”
“why? Do you think I’ve never met a talented child except you? Besides you, there are many other talented children.”
Oliver saw the light of Joseph. The light staggered subtly. That is, half true and half false.
“Of course, not all of them are talented… Anyway, there are many other kids besides you. Do you know what to do if you are from an orphanage?”
“·····. I will keep you quiet.”
“Yeah, you’re the youngest who just came in. As the youngest, you have to be quiet. Especially in our society, order is important. As our family custom, we start from the bottom when we first come in.”
Oliver nodded. It was not much different from an orphanage or a mine.
Taken from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
Newcomers who were weak or newcomers had to do the most difficult work and sleep in the worst place. The only way to get out of that kind of treatment is to become stronger than the other children, or to become close with a stronger child.Up until now, he had no interest in Oliver except for being quiet, but now, well…? Then Joseph said as a warning.
“What did I say last time?”
“… he said he would obey his master and follow the rules of the family.”
“That’s right. If you want to learn, follow my rules. Rules are order.”
Oliver nodded. After a while, with a light loaf of bread, Joseph and Oliver started walking again.
As we approached our destination, the trees gradually decreased and there was an artificial smell peculiar to the city, and after a while, a small town appeared down the hill.
“That’s Wineham.”
said his teacher, Joseph. Oliver’s eyes widened at the considerable size of the city. Precisely because of the multitude of people in the city and the passionate emotions they exude.
“It’s not a big city, but it’s not a small city either. How do you look?”
“·····. You look active.”
Seeing the light churning with irritation, anger and resentment, Oliver answered.
“Well, maybe. It is said that several large factories that supported the city will be relocated to ‘Landa’. Everyone must be emotionally active. It’s never a good thing.”
Oliver didn’t quite understand what it meant, but he did understand that leaving the factory was the cause of the shimmering light.
Again Joseph began to walk. Oliver followed him, and it wasn’t long before he reached a shabby factory on the outskirts of the city.
The building with the ceiling leaning to one side had a smiling pig and a sausage hanging as a signboard.
“Are you here…?”
“Officially a small, unsightly sausage factory. Unofficially, supportive of our family.”
With that said, Joseph went inside, and Oliver followed.
Shortly after entering through the entrance, I saw the inside of the factory, showing chunks of slightly spoiled meat, a huge grinder, a cart carrying ground meat, and young workers working there.
Although young, he looked older than Oliver, all of whom appeared to be in their mid to late teens or early twenties.
As soon as Joseph appeared, they stopped what they were doing, approached, and bowed their heads.
“Are you here, master?”
“welcome. master.”
“hello? master.”
They both smelled of spoiled meat and disgusting sweat, and whether they knew it or not, they flattered just to look good. As if familiar with the sight, Joseph slapped Oliver on the back once and opened his mouth.
“This is a new baby. I will be staying with you from today, so please teach me this and that.”
At those words, the children’s faces brightly smiled. He looked happy as if he had a new brother. At least outwardly.
“””Yes, I understand. master.”””
As soon as he heard the answer, Joseph calmly left Oliver and left.
I couldn’t understand what had happened, so Oliver was left alone in an instant… Oh, I’ll fix it. He wasn’t left alone. Because there were workers all around, staring fiercely.
They frowned like angry dogs.
“·····. what? Can’t you understand the situation? I’m not ready to go to work!”
Thus, Oliver’s new life began.
***
Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!
In the morning, there was the sound of knocking on a crushed frying pan.
The children, who were sleeping in the damp matrix to the painful metallic sound, woke up one by one with difficulty. Then, if one of them was lazy, the children who were acting as supervisors screamed fiercely and threatened.
“what are you doing! Don’t be lazy, you can’t get up quickly!”
Knowing that the shouting was followed by punches and kicks, the children hurriedly got up, but Oliver was the first to get up.
It’s been a week since I’ve been here, and Oliver is quickly adjusting to life here. It was his talent to adapt quickly wherever he went.
In the morning, I got out of the warehouse called the dormitory and cleaned the inside of the factory.
It was hard bread that had been made for a long time, but it was quite a good meal compared to the thin porridge I ate at the mine.
To be honest, it wasn’t hard because the only job was to make sausages from the meat that came in that day.
Although the smell of spoiled meat was disgusting, it wasn’t much of a problem for Oliver, who had a dull sense of taste and smell, and it was just pleasant play compared to the hard work in a mine where there was no sunlight.
Although the workload fluctuated from day to day, it was basically small and there was nothing to complain about.
Rather, it was the mind, not the body, if it was difficult.
Obviously, I expected to learn black magic by coming here, but contrary to my expectations, Joseph just left Oliver here.
Oliver wanted to ask how this was, but because of his experiences in orphanages and mines, and Joseph’s desire for obedience, he couldn’t ask, and he just held on.
Working wasn’t a problem at all, but I wanted to know when I could learn black magic. If he couldn’t learn black magic and had to continue working in this factory, Oliver couldn’t bear the disappointment.
That was then.
squash-!
A burning pain rushed down Oliver’s face, which was engulfed in worry, and he stumbled backwards. When his vision, shaken by the shock, was corrected, he saw a man.
A ferocious young man with thick bones, he said as he trampled Oliver’s chest.
“This damn bastard… You asked if you moved all the meat?!”
It was the supervisor who managed the men’s workers.
“all····. moved.”
Oliver answered in a slurred tone from the pain. Dissatisfied with the look, the Overseer trampled on Oliver once more.
“The cub is frustrated…. Hey, educate this bastard properly! Even though I’m leaving soon, I can’t stand having such a frustrating person in the place where I used to be. It’s not that the damn bastard isn’t short enough…”
At the overseer’s words, the workers around him, as well as other fellow overseers, nodded their heads. Everyone seemed to be watching the overseer who hit Oliver.
The overseer, who had grown even stronger, grabbed Oliver by the collar and lifted him up.
“Hey, Mojiri. I warn you, if you want to work here at least, keep your mind straight. It’s no use pretending to be stupid. If it catches my eye only once, I put it in a grinder over there and grind it. hem?!”
Oliver nodded as he had been living. When someone is angry, succumb to submissiveness. The supervisor’s face contorted even more with contempt.
“huh! stupid bastard… As a punishment, you do all the cleaning up here today!”
Oliver nodded again. Then I let go of the collar, and then a supervisor intervened.
It was a woman with pale skin and foreign purple hair short.
“Hey, you shouldn’t hand over your work to someone else. You guys are cleaning the workplace today.”
Everyone’s attention was focused. The supervisor who beat Oliver frowned, and the female supervisor folded her arms without losing. They all swallowed and held their breath, while Oliver had only one thought in his mind.
When the hell are you going to teach me black magic?