71. Assault (1)
Oliver followed Murphy’s guidance into the shabby warehouse.
The outside of the warehouse was stained with dirt and some of the finish was peeled off, and the inside was just as messy as the outside.
Old, dusty wooden boxes were piled up like walls here and there, and black tents were drooping here and there.
Oliver doesn’t know what to say, but it seems that this warehouse hasn’t been maintained for a while. Or was it made like this on purpose?
Murphy said he had read his heart.
“Isn’t it very messy?”
“····little bit?”
“I’m happy.”
“Yes?”
“The goal is to make you think that way. Messy warehouses like this are common and they don’t do much enforcement. Everyone hates getting dust on their clothes.”
“ah····.”
“Murphy. Who is that person?”
A third voice intervened. It was a woman’s voice, but when she turned her head, a middle-aged woman with a file folder in one hand was approaching. Next to her was a teenage boy similar to Oliver.
“Aunt Maggie. This is the Warlock I told you to bring me last time.”
“this person····? More than I thought…. You are young.”
Her expression was a moment of uneasiness, but she quickly regained her composure.
Oliver also observed her, politely greeting her without saying anything.
It looked a little strong, but it could be said that it was a bit similar to Marie in the past. A person who wants to fight the winds and waves of the world.
“Are you so young? Did this person really bring a fat associate professor?”
widely-!
As the boy standing next to Maggie muttered, Murphy immediately swung his arm and slapped the boy in the back.
The boy hit was ‘Mr….’. He groaned and annoyed him, but he couldn’t resist any more, and Murphy apologized when he saw such a boy.
“sorry. Black Mage. He’s the youngest, so he’s a little rude.”
“Oh, it’s fine. But your brother?”
“Yes, my name is Milo, the youngest.”
Unlike the Warlock family, the Kimbell family really seemed to run an organization as a family unit.
This may also be important information, so I engraved it on one side of my head.
“I also apologize for my nephew’s rudeness. Black Mage. Thanks to this, we were able to resume our business sooner than expected. Thank you.”
“no. It’s okay because it’s a paid job.”
“If you don’t mind, can I ask for your name? Still, we’ll have to stay together for a month. I think you should know your name.”
“My name is Dave.”
“Dave?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for telling me. If you need anything during your stay, please let me know. We will do our best to match… I have work, but if it’s not rude, can I just leave?”
Oliver nodded and Maggie pulled away by the ear of her nephew Milo.
“ah! ah! Aunt, Aunt! ear!”
Maggie leaves with Milo.
Oliver looked at her like that and said.
“You seem pretty strong.”
“Yes, that’s right. He’s a strong person… May I guide you again?”
Oliver nodded at Murphy’s words.
“thank you. Then, this way…”
Murphy took Oliver back to the warehouse.
There was a lot of luggage in the warehouse, and the luggage was piled up along the wall.
Looking back, it was at a level where walls and roads were made with luggage.
Then Murphy went through a pile of boxes.
“This is it.”
Oliver went through a box path that looked like it would collapse at any moment.
It was deeper than I thought, but I soon realized that this was an artificially created path.
“I consider it.”
Murphy said as he opened the secret door in the huge wooden box.
“Did you create a workshop in the middle of the warehouse?”
“Yes. Originally, I was going to make it in the basement, but the scale of the workshop never came out.”
As he opened the door and went inside, Oliver saw a workshop similar to the one he had seen in Area X.
It wasn’t finished yet, but several workers had already gathered and were working to complete it.
“Mr. Murphy?”
A worker with grease on his hands took off his hat and greeted Murphy.
“I came here for something else. I don’t mind How about that? work?”
“I looked at the drawings that Mr. Murphy gave me and touched on some parts. There are no major problems with production itself, but changing it is more efficient. Thanks to you, it took a lot of hard work, but I think I will be able to finish it in time if I work hard.”
“I’m glad.”
Murphy was genuinely relieved.
“But who?”
“ah····. He is the one who will protect the studio.”
At those words, everyone’s eyes turned to Oliver.
Each of them mumbled uneasy sounds such as ‘Warlock…’, ‘You’re too young?’, ‘Are you okay?’
The noise was annoying, and the foreman who was talking to Murphy shouted out loud.
“Stop chattering and get to work! I’m not giving you money to talk about it!”
Then the workers started setting up the workshop again. After a bit of silence, the foreman whispered to Murphy.
“Is that the warlock you spoke of?”
“okay.”
“Aren’t you a little young?”
“The skill is certain. Because Mr. Forrest guaranteed it.”
“Well, it’s a gang, even if a real wizard appears-”
“-don’t worry. Because the probability of that happening is very low. I brought a warlock, so it should be lower. Don’t worry about that, just take care of your work. As long as this workshop is operated properly, you will no longer have to work in this factory for dog money. Okay?”
“····Yes, I understand. Boss.”
After one conversation, the foreman returned to work and Murphy came up to Oliver.
“This is where the Warlock is supposed to protect. In order to set up a workroom in the center of the warehouse, I bought this warehouse, gathered and disguised the belongings around it.”
Oliver scanned the sizable studio. It was several times larger than what we saw in Area X, and a ventilation system was installed above it.
Calling it a factory was not an exaggeration.
“Where is the entrance to get in?”
“Including the way we came, there are two entrances to unload luggage. The former is for carrying people and the latter for carrying luggage.”
“okay.”
“And I have one request.”
“Please?”
“Yes. Usually, it’s okay to deal with the little gangs on my own, but while you’re here, I’d like the Warlock to step forward.”
“········.”
“I don’t mean to harass the Warlock. just····.”
“Is this to spread the word?”
“····Yes. I hired a warlock to increase the defense. As the word spreads, there will be fewer tinkerers and it will be a lot easier to work with. Are you okay?”
“Well····. Are you a colleague?”
“Yes?”
“The person you talked to earlier.”
Oliver pointed to the taskmaster.
“Oh, yes. It’s a comrade. I was a mechanic… After I was discharged from the military, I couldn’t find a job, so we are working together.”
“Oh, I see····. Okay. As you said, I will continue to take charge of the intruder.”
Murphy expressed his joy at Oliver’s cool attitude.
“Oh, thank you. If not all, I would appreciate it if you could light your face often and use some black magic a few times.”
“Yeah, but wouldn’t a wizard come to me like this?”
Murphy’s expression darkened when the word wizard came out.
It wasn’t just that he was intimidated by the name of a wizard. There was something more specific than that.
“If you say you have a skilled warlock, you probably won’t come too soon. You wouldn’t want it to cause a lot of fuss for nothing.”
Well····. Oliver was frankly skeptical. I’ve only seen Blitz Wizards as true wizards, but I wondered if they would care much about it.
And that wasn’t all I was concerned about. There was one more thing I was concerned about.
This guy is Murphy. He didn’t seem to expect that he would win a fight with the wizard, considering that he had carefully called Oliver.
Well, I was aware that the warlock was looking down than the wizards because it was a fake wizard, but even so, it was a bit strange to see such a reaction.
“Have you ever seen a wizard in person?”
“Yes?”
“You seem to know something about wizards.”
“I saw it a few times when I was in the military.”
“Then can you explain? About the wizards you saw when you were in the military. I think it will help me a lot in my work.”
“What····. That’s enough.”
***
War Wizard.
Murphy referred to the sorcerer who participated in the battlefield as a soldier.
They said that there are some who are real soldiers, but there are those who have enlisted like themselves, and for convenience, they all call them war wizards.
All of the war wizards do their part as a single wizard, and the range of activities they can do is different due to differences in individual abilities,
Since all magical firepower has a minimum level, it is said that the basic firepower of dozens to hundreds of people is displayed.
He even said that if several wizards work together and prepare properly, they can use an absurd magic that can evaporate thousands of people.
Even as Oliver, who fights with limited emotions, it was quite a surprising story.
I wondered if it was a bluff, but seeing Murphy’s feelings, I stopped thinking about it.
He was only sincere. Maybe that’s why, even if he pretended to be calm on the outside, he had quite a bit of anxiety about the current situation where he might run into a wizard.
After that, Murphy continued.
Wizards who give hope to allies and fear to enemies are also active in resource exploration and other academic fields, and perhaps that’s why, if you’re a soldier other than yourself, you’ve probably seen a wizard at least once.
As soon as Oliver heard that, he asked to call all veterans who had seen the wizard.
Murphy was puzzled and obedient, which allowed Oliver to learn more about the wizard while on guard, from veteran warehouse workers, magicians, guards, and even Murphy’s brothers Martin and Meyer.
All of the people working here are veterans, so I wasn’t bored just hearing about it.
According to them, the main role of a wizard is to inflict heavy blows on the enemy with powerful firepower, thereby breaking their will to fight.
In particular, he said that his activity is outstanding in a new continent where there is no wizard or in an unknown land to the east.
In a legendary anecdote, it was said that there was a time when, with just three wizards, he gave a huge blow to 5,000 troops and defeated them.
I felt it once when I was a Blitz Wizard, but it seemed that a wizard was a very difficult opponent.
Frankly, I was terrified. But it did not stand still.
Once you’ve accepted the job, why not do your best?
As Oliver stood guard, he wandered around the warehouse, familiarizing himself with the terrain in his head, and contemplating an expected entry route.
Even if it had to be expected, it was at the level of thinking about how he would break in if it were him.
After much deliberation, Oliver selected the seven best intrusion routes and planted the emotions he purchased from the gray market accordingly.
They ranged from near the warehouse to the top of a building far away,
He didn’t forget to engrave a black magic circle on the test tube with emotions.
For reference, the Black Magic Circle is an auxiliary device that I saw in the Anthony Family’s books and helps to activate black magic from a distance.
Originally, it was exclusively for the operation series, but Oliver arbitrarily measured it and tried to increase the versatility a little more.
In terms of firepower, black magic may be behind magic, but this unexpectedness was able to fill the gap.
At least when considering past combat experience.
Over the next few days, he defeated the small gangs and prepared to face the wizard, but the people he worked with still seemed to be uneasy about Oliver.
To be precise, he was afraid of an unexpected attack by a wizard.
“Isn’t that warlock bigger than I thought? You kicked out the gangs three times by yourself, didn’t you?”
“I was worried because I was so young, but I was surprised.”
“Your personality isn’t that weird. All of the warlocks I saw on the battlefield were more dangerous than their enemies.”
“Hey, are you okay? It’s a gang and we can stop it, but the problem is the wizard, isn’t it?”
“Ah, it’s been a few days already, and the studio is almost complete. He won’t show up.”
“Well, that’s good, but what if a wizard comes out? If you come this far, you won’t be insane, and you’re saying that you’re confident in your skills.”
“Isn’t it okay to have a warlock?”
“Hey, the basic firepower is different from a black magician and a sorcerer. Why would you call a warlock a fake wizard?”
“Aren’t you here because you are confident?”
“No, I was just calling you as a threat. I have prepared this much, so please don’t come. Above all else, there aren’t many warlocks who can get along well with wizards. If I had that level of skill, I would be doing a more lucrative job rather than a job as a solver.”
“Oh, is that so? If you do well, you’ll be fine.”
Oliver sat down in the room on one side of the warehouse and overheard their story.
It wasn’t what it was originally intended to be.
As a security measure, they had just planted eavesdropping ears throughout the warehouse, but by chance, they only heard stories of people chatting.
Well, it was fun, so I left it alone.
Everyone seemed to have increased their trust in Oliver compared to when they first met, but they were still worried about the unexpected appearance of a wizard.
“Are you okay?”
Murphy, who had not been seen for a while, appeared and spoke to him.
“Oh, Mr. Murphy. hello. long time no see.”
“Yeah, wait a minute, because I’m on my way to a business. Everyone is curious about when the business will start… Have you not had anything special in the meantime?”
“Yeah, there really wasn’t.”
“Then that’s good.”
Murphy said relieved at Oliver’s attitude.
It was a little weird. I saw him fight once when the gangs broke in, and he was no ordinary man either.
He slaughtered the gangs who attacked at night with a single knife with the strength, agility, and reflexes that were only possible with black magic, and it was a little strange that he appeared to Oliver in such a low profile.
Well, that must be why the magician’s workshop is so important.
Then I suddenly became curious.
“Mr. Murphy.”
“Yes, Warlock-sama.”
“Is there any special reason why you are creating a mage workshop?”
Murphy frowned at the random question, but that didn’t mean he ignored the question.
Over the past two weeks, Oliver has done more than Murphy had expected.
“I’m sorry, but may I ask what the intent of the question is?”
“I’m curious.”
“Yes?”
“I’m curious. From what people have said, it seems like a lot of money was spent to build this mage workshop, but wouldn’t it be dangerous if it was destroyed? I’m curious as to why you’re making this place at such a risk. With 5 streets, isn’t that enough money?”
“·················ogue.”
Murphy asked for a cigarette without answering right away. I was contemplating whether to speak or not, but then I opened my mouth, exhaling cigarette smoke.
“…do you know why I joined the military, Warlock?”
“I do not know. Are you a patriot?”
“no. Because there was no waiver.”
“Exemption fee?”
“Yes, if you pay 300 million Randa, you are exempted. I was doing economical military service. But there are very few people in this country who can afford 300 million Randa.”
“is that so?”
“Yeah, for not having 300 million Randa, we were forced into the military, running through the battlefields raining down with bullets and shells, and rolling in the mud. Then, the state gives you the title of patriot. Do you know what happens after that?”
“I do not know?”
“The unlucky person comes back with no limbs, or their head shakes. He said he was a bomb… Even if he comes back, he’s not happy. While in the military, the family gets poorer, and in some cases, the wife lives with someone else. No matter how hard they try to live, they try to cut wages in places like factories, saying that they can live on only potatoes. If you protest for a raise, they send gangs like me to beat you up… In this country, without money, you are not a person.”
Sincerity. There was a sincerity and anger stronger than any other words Oliver had ever seen.
“That’s why I want to do this business. to get rich. greater wealth. Then, I don’t have to send my children to the military, and I can provide a decent job to comrades who don’t have money. Above all else, I don’t have to work for people who haven’t been to the military. That’s why I built this place by overthinking it.”
Oliver nodded as if he understood. I thought money was the reason, but there was a more fundamental problem than I thought.
It was quite interesting. I thought the gangs were only interested in money… Then there was a response from the minions laying around.
“yes?”
“Why?”
Oliver closed one eye and focused his attention on it.
“Someone is coming.”