62. Count (1)
Retrieval of former Associate Professor Herbert Matthews.
As soon as Oliver accepted the mission, he took a taxi to the entrance to Area X.
The good thing about Landa Taxi is that it doesn’t talk more than necessary to customers going to Area X.
They seem to know empirically that they are doing or at least involved in something dangerous.
With such a taxi driver’s consideration, Oliver skimmed through the information he had received from Forrest and recalled his explanation.
As soon as he accepted the mission, he gave more detailed explanations than brief explanations.
‘Okay, I officially accepted it, so I’ll explain the details in detail. First of all, the target, Herbert, shouldn’t be too careful. Although he came from Matop, he specializes in alchemy and herbal medicine, and his magic skills are extremely low. For nothing, I’m not an associate professor.’
magic trick.
It is a term that encompasses the actual skills of a wizard, such as the number and proficiency of magic that can actually be used, the capacity of magical hearts, etc. It cannot be said ‘mustly’, but he said that it is correct to regard him as a powerful wizard if he has excellent magic skills.
Conversely, it was also said that Herbert, which had low magic skills, had low combat power and did not need to pay much attention.
‘And so are the gangs. About twenty to thirty people… Rather than a real security guard, it’s more like a menacing scarecrow that has been erected to deter shoplifters and prevent fools from approaching. If we fight properly, he’ll probably run away right away.’
‘Is that so?’
‘Yeah, they have neither proper skills nor are they ready to die. Like a fly that only wants the sweet fruit of violence… Well, knowing nothing but that also plays a part.’
It sounded like a word with a deep meaning.
‘But the problem is these.’
said Forrest, pulling out three black-and-white photos from the drawer.
‘From the left… No, left from my side. yes there… From left to right, they are Knuckle Joe, Nico, and a big chin. These guys are the problem.’
Oliver said, scanning the picture once.
‘····This person looks a little special.’
third photo. He said, pointing to his big chin.
As the name suggests, it is because his chin was very large, but his forehead was protruding, and his eyes were more black than white.
It may be a bit harsh, but it looked more like a dog than a human.
‘I saw it right. It’s bound to be special… It’s a mutation.’
mutation. This, too, was known from Cant.
A warped human born as a result of environmental pollution caused by factories or the aftermath of a magic experiment.
Most of them looked different from humans, and because of that, most people also said that they were treated as cursed humans or a subspecies similar to humans.
Legally, we are in the midst of a fight over how to deal with them…
It is said that they were born in the slums or workers’ quarters near the Sem River, where they mostly throw away factory wastewater.
Most of them lack intelligence, but some have amazing physical abilities, he said.
‘They all belong to the Fighter Crew.’
‘A fighter crew?’
‘Yes, this is a new warlock organization that has recently emerged, and it has a relatively horizontal relationship, not a vertical relationship made up of master and apprentice like the existing warlock organization, Family. Of course, it’s not like there’s no order at all.’
‘Oh I see.’
Oliver answered, storing the new information in his head.
‘Anyway, this fighter crew is a relatively new warlock organization, and instead of making medicines, their job is as a mercenary. Anything to do with violence. Raids, destruction, assassinations, guards, guards, etc. Because of that, they are steadily increasing their strength without competing with the existing warlock families. Were you aiming for some kind of niche market? Of course, it’s closer to being caught by accident rather than being targeted.’
‘That’s great. Forrest. How do you know all that?’
‘Because I’m an intermediary. This is pretty basic. Anyway, thank you for the compliment.’
After organizing the story once, Forrest moved on to the main topic again.
‘These three are all members of the Fight Crew. Needless to say, combat is his specialty. Like his nickname, Knuckle Joe specializes in close combat, and naturally deals with diseases.’
Oliver looked at his quarterstaff. Close combat…
‘Nico is a fire type and a disease type. He said he can shoot twenty bullets at the same time. That’s a pretty terrifying firepower. Be careful.’
‘·······.’
‘As you can see, the third big jaw bites everything with its mouth. One bite is the end, so be especially careful with this guy… Do you have any questions?’
‘Well····. Rather than asking a question, may I ask you a favor? It’s okay if you don’t listen.’
‘···Something?’
‘Can you tell me how you gather that information? Rather than asking you to tell me how, I’m just curious about the system.’
‘Why is there something you want to investigate separately?’
‘no. I’m just asking because I’m really curious. It’s like… magic. Knowing so much information.’
‘It won’t be that great. This is why I get a 5% commission more than other brokers.’
‘Still, it’s amazing.’
Forrest looked at Oliver for a moment, then opened his mouth.
‘········Well, fine. There’s nothing I can’t tell you about taking care of things that don’t fit the bill. How about this? I will teach you when you return from work safely.’
‘Oh, that’s good. Really good. Well then, I’ll get back to work as soon as possible.’
With those words, Oliver got up and left the restaurant and took a taxi. and·····.
profit-
The car stopped and returned to reality.
“You have arrived at the entrance of Guest X area. I’m sorry, but I can’t go any further than this.”
Oliver put the papers back in and took the money out of his pocket.
“no. Thank you for riding me this far.”
“No, nothing to say. huh? Do you have a lot of money?”
“I added a little more to thank you for taking me to a dangerous place. If it’s okay with you, can I ask you something?”
“Request? what···?”
“Can you come over here tomorrow morning around 9:00? Then, I’ll give you twice as much on the way.”
“Double?”
“Yes, it is not easy to get a car here. Oh, of course, you can refuse if you are in trouble.”
Oliver said softly.
***
When he got out of the car after talking to the taxi driver, Oliver could feel his hidden gaze and emotions as usual.
It was a little scary at first, but by the second or third time, I got used to it to some extent. Rather, it made me happy.
Oliver walked forward, pretending nothing was wrong, naturally extracting the emotions he had kept in his arms.
Then, as he passed through a shaded area, he set an erase exit on himself.
Stealth black magic based on shame.
It was just a vague black magic that kills the spirit, but it has had a significant effect in the past.
In fact, to some extent even now, he started to draw attention to Oliver one by one as he wandered around using this black magic.
It was a good story. The mission hasn’t even started yet, so there’s nothing good about being noticed.
After judging that he had shaken his gaze to some extent, Oliver rechecked the materials that Forrest had given him, and headed to the magician’s workshop with Associate Professor Herberton.
It’s not very deep, 20th Street in Zone X, but it’s still pretty deep for where Oliver has been.
Oliver managed to get there after wandering through the maze a few times.
Probably because there were a lot of unauthorized buildings, the actual area X was different from the map.
“Well·····.”
Oliver exclaimed as he looked into Herberton’s enchanter’s studio from afar.
White smoke came out of the square brick-like houses, and it seemed that there was a workshop for producing magic wine.
As evidence of that, several gangs were roaming around the area, or sitting and watching.
Oliver observed the gangs.
As Forrest said, they seemed to have been brought in as threats rather than those with professional training, but at best they were better than the beggars.
Their appearance and emotions were all droopy, and their armaments were also of low quality and lacked unity.
Perhaps, if Oliver wanted to, he would be able to throw in a bunch of minions fed Ras Boom and shake them all at once.
Of course, doing so could injure the target, so it’s inappropriate.
It wasn’t that difficult though.
Other than that, there are infinitely many ways.
For example, instead of Ras Boom, which has strong firepower, if a large amount of minions fed with creepy scrims that break the opponent’s will are put in, and then fire a threatening shot with a Hat Bullet and detonate them at the same time, as in the case of moles in the past, the gangs will show their will. It could have been beaten at once.
Alternatively, there is a way to inject a large amount of minions fed with Hat Bullet and kill them one by one with certainty…
It’s a new feeling, but black magic was really interesting.
Just by combining a few basic black magic, you can create endless ways to use it.
Its infinite mechanism, not just power, was amazing.
Suddenly, I remembered the contents of a book I had read in Joseph’s library.
Unlike magic that uses firepower to hit the enemy and subdue it, the main weapon of black magic is the ability to see through the enemy and cunning to pierce the enemy’s target.
Therefore, in a way, it was said that it was a more detailed and higher-order science than magic.
Oliver, who did not know what the actual magic was, could not easily judge it, but somehow it seemed.
The Lightning Wizard had a corner like that. No, isn’t it inappropriate to make such a judgment based on just one Blitz Wizard?
“Ahhhh…. I think differently.”
Oliver, who woke up late, exhorted himself and returned to reality.
Once the duties were assigned, it was the order. Mission success and credibility are important, Cant emphasized.
Oliver decided to focus on the task at hand right away.
Having changed his mind, Oliver sat down and pondered how to enter the mission.
It’s like thinking about how to solve a problem in the most effective and fun way.
First, I reviewed my goals again.
The goal is to safely take Herbert, a mage maker, to none other than that.
Then, using black magic with strong firepower should be avoided as much as possible.
If you ever get caught up in it, you can’t get hurt or die.
If I made a fuss, I could have run away.
It could be quite difficult to miss him now, where there is no trace to track him.
‘···No. If I remember all the emotions there now, will it be less difficult to find them later?’
Oliver immediately focused his attention on his eyes, memorizing the emotions around the wizard’s workshop, just in case.
The total number of people is 60. It included not only gangsters, but also workers inside the workshop.
It seemed a bit exaggerated, but since Cant was also very careful, he said there was nothing wrong with it, so I thought it would be okay.
Oliver etched the light of emotions into his eyes one by one. Whenever I see it again, I can think of it.
After checking all the emotions, I fell into thoughts again.
How to subdue them and take them to their target.
As I said before, there were countless ways, but I wanted to try something different if possible.
It’s a different way than shooting with firepower.
It wasn’t that he was suddenly intoxicated with power and wanted to be arrogant.
It wasn’t arrogant, it was just Cant’s advice.
He advised that if possible, perform the task in as many ways as possible to increase your talents.
He insisted on the method he was familiar with due to lack of talent, but he said it would be good to familiarize himself with various types of work to get to where Oliver is aiming.
There will be times when you have to work in a different way than usual. For example, the moment when the use of powerful firepower is limited.
Then he said that he needed a means to replace it. Something like close combat.
That’s why I told him to try working in various ways, even if it’s hard work, when he can afford it.
To be honest, it didn’t sound like a bad story.
Cant’s words were logical, and the emotions he spoke were sincere without lies.
In the meantime, did you meet a warlock who used disease-based black magic just in time?
It was as if someone was giving me a chance to give it a try.
In the end, Oliver, following Cant’s advice, decided to take on the mission this time in an unfamiliar way.
It needed darkness, and Oliver waited for night to come.