67. World Tree (1)
The old man’s appearance was rather ugly.
Of course, Oliver wasn’t the kind of person who cared about such things, but objectively, it was cool.
At least compared to Forrest, which runs a restaurant.
A worn-out coat, sunken cheeks, scrambled top of the head like an egg, long hair around… Somehow it reminded me of Cant, but he opened his mouth again.
“Did you come to see the book?”
Then Oliver came to his senses and answered.
“Oh, yes…. Do you have any books? old man.”
old man. At that, the old man hahaha! let out a big laugh.
“…?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been called an old man… Even though he’s young, he’s polite… The book has this and that. Collecting books was my hobby when I was young. Where would you like to take a look?”
The old man pointed to the little bookstore behind him.
It was a small space between the store and the store, and it looked dark, cramped, and dusty.
Even though there are many people in the traditional market, I can understand why there are no people here.
Fortunately, however, Oliver didn’t care.
Dark, cramped and dusty places were already a part of my past life.
Rather, I was more interested in the book in it. Books packed tightly inside.
Of course, I was also interested in this old man at the bookstore, who radiated tremendous magical power in an instant.
So Oliver nodded and entered the store.
“Then, can I take a look?”
“Of course. young friends. You can see it.”
At the old man’s kindness, Oliver bowed his head and replied yes. Kindness should be repaid with kindness.
When I entered the narrow bookstore, it was much narrower than it looked from the outside, and it was hard to pass even a single person.
If you’re a physically fit person, you’ll be suffocating as soon as you walk in.
But Oliver didn’t mind, pretended to be reading the book, and focused his attention on the old man.
To be honest, nothing stood out.
His emotional state was as common as other merchants, and he did not see the magical powers he had seen in Lightning Wizards or magic tools.
As if the powerful magic that I felt earlier had been an illusion for a moment.
However, Oliver was able to assert that it was not a simple misunderstanding.
Just as natural disasters such as typhoons cannot be mistakenly felt.
With that much magical power, it didn’t seem like he could win in Oliver’s current state.
“Isn’t there anything fun? young friend.”
The old man at the bookstore suddenly asked.
Oliver replied, startled that he was looking.
“No, it’s the first time I’ve read all of these books, so it’s a bit unfamiliar…. yes?”
One thing caught Oliver’s eyes as he peered through the hardcover books.
Like other books, it was an uninteresting title, standardized in a hard typeface, but one word caught my eye.
“…a world tree?”
“Are you interested?”
Oliver answered the bookstore old man’s question without realizing it.
“A little bit…. I heard it once while I was at work.”
“exactly? That’s great. The general public rarely mentions the world tree. Can I ask what you do?”
Oliver thought.
“…a restaurant employee.”
“Employee?”
“Yes····. I happened to hear what the guests had to say.”
The old man nodded as if he understood.
“Well·····. Right. A restaurant employee who can read. Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore it.”
“No, thanks···. What is it instead of you, but may I ask you a question?”
The old man at the bookstore laughed again.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been asked a question… tell me young friend.”
“You seem well-informed, do you know what the world tree is?”
“World Tree . . . It’s a bit difficult to explain. The concepts are so diverse and the roles are vast.”
“ah····.”
“Well, if I had to explain it, it would be a very extensive encyclopedia.”
“Are you talking about an encyclopedia?”
“exactly. To put it bluntly, I can say that it is the most appropriate.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand it well, so isn’t the world tree a tree?”
“exactly. And the biggest tree in the world.”
The old man at the bookstore said confidently.
His words were sincere, but Oliver couldn’t understand them.
a tree is a book And it’s the biggest tree in the world.
Oliver was imaginative.
A huge tree spreads out and reveals himself in search of information. Maybe the information is written on the leaves?
Still, it was full of things I didn’t understand.
For example, it was said that Forest obtains information indirectly through the world tree, but this was also incorrect.
An encyclopedia is, after all, a document.
I don’t know much about this floor, but it didn’t seem like I could find out the members of the Fighter Crew from that.
All of a sudden, Oliver was feeling intense curiosity and curiosity, forgetting his disappointment with Gray Market.
I wanted to satisfy this curiosity as much as possible, and at that time, the old man at the bookstore gave me appropriate advice.
“I have a lot of questions, so how about buying that book? young friend.”
“This book?”
“exactly. Although, it’s very boring and difficult, I think it’ll be fine if you have the will. After all, knowledge is more valuable to seek out than to hear from others… Of course, it could be an old man’s nonsensical sound.”
He added some humility at the end, but Oliver seemed to have heard the right thing for a long time to clear his head.
The old man was right. Knowledge is a way to explore on your own.
Only then did he become his own.
Oliver scolded himself. Asking a question in front of an easily understandable book…
“no. That’s a great word… May I ask how much is this book? old man.”
The old man at the bookstore looked at Oliver.
Even Oliver, who can see through emotions to some extent, was not easy to read.
“If it’s okay, can I read a book?”
The old man stretched out his hand and asked. Oliver handed him the book.
“Let’s see… Although it is a bit old, it is in good condition, and it is not an easy book to obtain now.
“It’s 200,000?”
“exactly.”
Oliver tilted his head, thinking inside.
In the first place, this was the first time I had officially bought a book.
However, according to Oliver’s personal opinion, 200,000 was nothing.
Although it was four times the price of an existing book, Oliver didn’t know, and even if he knew, 200,000 or 2 million didn’t mean much to Oliver if he could only solve the questions he wanted.
The old man looked at Oliver and asked.
“Is it expensive?”
“no. no. old man. Just cheap.”
“Does the employee make a lot of money these days? That would be enough for a week’s pay.”
“that····. It’s nice to get a lot of tips.”
He said while recalling the story of a man who worked as an employee at a beggar in the past.
“tip? Oh, work in a good restaurant.”
“Yes···. Great place.”
Oliver answered and took the money out of his pocket.
When I tried to give 100,000 randa bills in high-value currency, I changed my mind and took out 20 10,000 randa bills.
“Here it is.”
The old man at the bookstore folded the bundle of banknotes Oliver had handed him over without counting, and crumpled it up and put it in his arms.
“Go here. Now it’s your book.”
“thank you.”
“I am very grateful. It’s been a long time since I’ve been a guest, so it was short but fun. I don’t even know how long it’s been since we talked. Goodbye.”
“Yes, good business.”
Oliver bowed his head politely and left. But I stopped and looked back at the old man at the bookstore.
Perhaps it was an action that would pose an unnecessary risk, but, as always, interest and curiosity overcame caution.
“Old man.”
“yes? Why are you back? Refunds are not accepted according to the store policy.”
“no. That’s not it… If you don’t mind, can I come and ask you if I have any questions after you’ve finished reading the book?”
The old man grinned.
“Do you think it would be difficult for such a shabby old man at a used bookstore to give a good answer?”
“Any answer is worth it.”
The old man grinned.
“If you keep only one condition, I will think about it.”
“What kind of conditions are you talking about?”
“Buy some drinks and snacks, please. That’s why I say it with my bare mouth.”
With those words, the old man laughed again.
***
After returning home, Oliver had a light meal.
If I had been with the Joseph family in the past, I would have skipped meals to get even a little more time to read.
Cant’s advice to eat properly came to mind, and I couldn’t help but skip it.
However, it is an unavoidable fact that time is wasting. So Oliver had a good idea.
“Easy food?”
asked the innkeeper with a good appearance.
“Yes, the hostess. Is there any meal that I can easily eat?”
“why? Isn’t the food I made with care not tasty?”
The hostess asked, putting her arms around her waist. She looked very displeased now.
Oliver continued to speak in accordance with her mood as much as possible.
“no. Thank you for the food you always serve. It tastes great too.”
A stinging discomfort.
“But sometimes, I have to do chores in my room, so I need something to fill up.”
“her! What do you do that doesn’t give you time to eat?”
The innkeeper said again with a strong attitude.
However, Oliver was not offended at all.
He wasn’t the type to react to such things in the first place, and he had to take into account that most of the people staying at this inn were engaged in harsh work.
Emotions are surprisingly contagious, and whether they like it or not, they color the people around them.
There were positive examples like Cant, but there were also negative examples.
In other words, she had to be rough.
“I want to study.”
“study?”
“Yes····. I quit now for some reason, but I want to study again.”
The word of study softened the innkeeper’s heart.
She didn’t know Oliver’s circumstances, but she seemed to understand something when she used her own imagination with the word study.
“What····. It seems that there is a circumstance, but it is still difficult.”
“ah····. is that so?”
“Yeah, you’re not the only one staying here, so you can’t be treated special, right? If you bring food to your room, everyone will ask you to bring it to their room. Then, me and the boy will be treated like maids. I don’t want to be a maid anymore.”
The innkeeper said, pointing to the straw-haired skinny boy. He was roughly the same age as Oliver.
“Ah, that’s right.”
“Yes? So, eat at the restaurant. As a hostess, I can make the food hard, but I don’t do the maid.”
Oliver was silent. Obviously, it was impossible to force someone who didn’t like it.
Still, I was a little apprehensive, so I made a suggestion.
“How about paying more?”
“Are you paying more?”
“Yes.”
When the money was talked about, the innkeeper showed interest. Everyone made money to live, so in a way it was natural.
It was essentially the same with Oliver.
All of a sudden, Oliver was focusing on the conversation itself, not the food he could eat in the room.
It reminded me of merchants and customers bargaining at a traditional market I visited earlier.
The act of eliciting opinions that people want from each other through dialogue.
I wanted to try it, but it was a pity that the opportunity didn’t come, but it seemed that now was the moment.
Tak-!
The innkeeper smashed the table.
“Don’t talk nonsense. Food is eaten at the restaurant! Don’t waste any more time Do you know how difficult and troublesome it is to prepare food?!”
“Oh, yes.”
Contrary to expectations, the bargain ended easily.
Apparently, Oliver didn’t have the talent for bargaining.
After Oliver finished eating, he placed the price of the food on the table and went up.
On the way up, a shop kid who helped the innkeeper came up to me and asked.
“there···. Were you a student?”
“Yes?”
“It’s because you studied…. Did you go to school?”
Oliver thought for a moment and said.
“I didn’t go to school. I just learned a little from a teacher.”
“ah····. Then write… Can you read?”
“Yes, why?”
The boy worker at the inn hesitated.
The feeling of longing shone, and with it the shame and fear.
Then, as soon as I had the courage to open my mouth, I heard a shout from below.
“Rosburn! Where else did you go!”
Rothburn was startled by the ferocious mistress’s voice, bowed his head to Oliver and went down.
A scathing shout could be heard from below, but Oliver quickly turned off his nerves and went into his room.
Then I spilled today’s purchases on the bed.
Low-quality emotions and vitality, poor-quality black magic items, and an unintentional purchase of a book.
Oliver picked up the book, went to his desk, and opened it.
I wonder what the world tree is.