78. Cleaning Season (2)
cleaning season.
It was said to be an informal event that regularly came to Landa.
As the name suggests, it is cleaning, of course, not with a broom and a mop.
“Where specifically are you cleaning?”
“This is a contaminated area in Area F.”
“A polluted area?”
“Yes, it’s a closed area within Landa’s F zone, but it’s blocked off by the city. Hordes of dangerous contaminants and zombies appear regularly.”
In the case of Zone F, it was the Hub where many of Landa’s research laboratories were gathered, and from Zone F and the dense G zone, it was a residential area for the upper class.
I was just curious as to how such a dangerous place could be called a polluted area.
“Cleaning means entering a contaminated area once whenever the danger level increases and dealing with rampaging zombies, polluting creatures and mutants.
Oliver nodded.
Then I looked around the solvers.
Everyone’s expressions weren’t very good, but Oliver asked a question.
“Are you sure that cleaning is a personal choice?”
Al closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.
“Not this time.”
***
Miss Coco came out, and after a few other solvers got in and out, it was finally Oliver’s turn.
When I entered the president’s office inside the restaurant, I saw Forrest untied and untied his collar.
As soon as he saw Oliver, he straightened out his clothes and returned to his usual form.
“hello? Forrest.”
“Long time no see, Dave. Nice to meet you.”
His words were half sincere, but half lie.
For some reason, he had a bit of trouble as if it was difficult to tell Oliver something.
“Have you ever heard of anything outside?”
“yes. I asked what was going on, and Mr. Al told me. About polluted areas and cleaning season. Can I hear more details?”
“Sure. Sit down.”
Oliver sat down at Forrest’s suggestion.
Forrest gave me a glass of wine as usual.
“Yeah, you heard about the polluted area and the cleaning season?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard it’s infested with zombies and polluting creatures.”
“And it’s also a hiding place for criminals and dangerous warlocks who run away from society.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, besides that, it’s also a garbage dump where hard-to-dispose of dead bodies… Why do swarms of zombies appear regularly?”
“But Mr. Al said it was closed by the city?”
“On earth it may be, but not below it.”
Forrest pointed to the ground.
It reminded me of Cant’s words that beneath Landa there was another city of sewers and tunnels.
“Even if diarrhea is blocked by the city, any organization with the strength and power can use the back door by giving pocket money to the city defense force that regularly guards the contaminated area.”
“How could such a dangerous place be in Area F?”
“Good question. There are a lot of rumors about the aftermath of a magic experiment and the traces of a catastrophe that could not be removed during the catastrophe, but in fact, no one knows the exact reason.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. That’s Landa’s normal physiology. Even when a huge and terrible thing happens, it spreads a lot of lies and crumbles like a dough. Most people are too busy to make a living and turn their attention away, so the truth is more valuable and dangerous in this city.”
“…you were kind as usual, but today you are even more kind.”
Forrest smiled bitterly.
“I have something to ask of you.”
“Are you talking about cleaning the contaminated area?”
“Yeah, I don’t know why, but the city said they would appoint a manpower for this cleaning. The last time we were cleaning, we sent only incompetent people to say that the cleaning was not done properly.”
Oliver asked the question calmly, as if he were talking to someone else.
“Really?”
“About half? It’s true that most talented friends don’t want to let go. You can’t send a good friend to a job that’s not worth the money, even dangerous… But, it’s half a lie.”
“Is that a lie?”
“Yeah, I cherish my talented friends, but I do the cleaning right. minimum level. Otherwise, you will have to suffer from city officials for a while. Last time I cleaned it as usual. But all of a sudden, I’ve been making this kind of request with all sorts of coercion. We have no choice but to accept it.”
A slight sense of resentment and helplessness was felt in Forrest’s emotions.
Apparently, in the relationship between the city and the broker’s union, the broker’s union seemed to be behind a lot.
Forrest spoke again.
“And the city officials asked me for you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, I think I heard rumors that you defeated the wizard. It’s close to a rumor, but that alone is enough to stand out… Originally, I didn’t intend to let you go for this kind of thing, but now that the situation has worked out, please. Let me go to some cleaning this time… I’m sorry.”
Forrest’s words were sincere.
He felt sorry for Oliver and feeling guilty.
It was strange.
I don’t think the rules are like this, so it’s not something that Forrest can’t say.
Oliver had no complaints either. Because everyone does it.
Above all, I was interested in the fact that it was a polluted area.
‘The Warlocks live in hiding….’
But that’s it, and what I’m curious about. I asked in case
“What if I say no? It’s called cleaning.”
“For violating a secret pact with the city, I will be fined to the point of bankruptcy, or I will lose my brokerage status. You’re going to be a criminal. To set an example, the police department will deliberately try to kick you.”
“Oh, then I should.”
“Thank you for your wise judgment. Then, knowing that I accepted it, can I explain the work?”
Forrest asked, pulling out a file folder. He didn’t seem to want to just let Oliver go.
“of course. Please.”
“Okay, let’s nail one thing first. There are a lot of suspicious corners this cleaning season.”
“A suspicious corner?”
“Yeah, it’s strange to ask for the number of participants directly, but the timing is too early. It was originally supposed to be 4 months later, but they suddenly notified me that I would be cleaning it. I mean, there’s a lot of rampage in the polluted area.”
“Is it true?”
“Yeah, that’s true. As well as Coco Yang, I’ve also tried Heimdall, and in just one month, the rampaging zombie swarms have grown exponentially.”
“Is there a World Tree in the polluted area?”
“Of course there is…. Did I tell you about the world tree?”
“I studied.”
“What?”
“I studied…. Is there any problem?”
“No, it’s not, how…? no, don’t give up. Anyway, the World Tree is also in the polluted area. It’s true that the number of zombies in the polluted area has increased. So, I can guess three reasons.”
“Three reasons?”
“Yeah, there were a lot of people who died in the first year this year, so a lot of bodies were dumped in the polluted area. Surprisingly, this is an uncommon disaster. The second is that the Black Plague spread and infected a lot of people living hiding in the contaminated area.”
black plague.
I read it once in a book by the Dominic family.
It is a natural infectious disease caused by a mixture of a large number of corpses, germs, and black magic, which turns people into zombies.
It is said that it is more heinous than a common disease, and is fatal, causing uncontrollable catastrophic damage in severe cases.
“The third one?”
“In case a dangerous warlock suddenly made a nest.”
“A warlock?”
“Yeah, I don’t mean to belittle you, but there’s no better place than the Contaminated Area for a warlock who doesn’t even have the slightest legal scrutiny. In fact, one of the many reasons for not reclaiming the Contaminated Zone is the dangerous warlock family that nests there.”
oh·····. Oliver nodded. I understood.
Contaminated areas are closed areas. In other words, it was a kind of free zone where no laws or city rules worked.
Are there many corpses? It could have been a comfortable place for a warlock if his power allowed him.
Even Oliver sympathized with it now, and wondered if there was a way to benefit from it.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes? Oh yes. it’s okay.”
“······· Anyway, my current guess is that the number of zombies increased due to this factor. Not dangerous. It’s as dangerous as Zone Y and Z.”
It’s as dangerous as Y and Z, which are virtually lawless places…
“····Forrest-sama. If it’s okay with you, can I ask you a question?”
“Something?”
“If it’s such a dangerous place, how do we deal with it, even if it’s overkill? Y and Z areas are okay because they are in a corner, but the contaminated areas are in the core area of Landa… Isn’t it dangerous?”
“That’s a good thing. Conceptually, that’s right. However, common sense is sometimes useless. It was noisy in the early days of the contaminated area, but now the atmosphere is not that bad.”
“…?”
“First of all, it’s well-controlled, and the lab can get decent samples from there…. Above all else, it’s good to throw away the illegal laboratory specimens.”
Oliver understood Forrest.
The contaminated area was not simply a contaminated area at present.
It was a kind of field to secure the specimen samples in Area F, and at the same time, it was a convenient garbage dump to hide illegality.
Because of its convenience, the polluted area was left alone.
“…and there are rumors that, although this is purely a realm of rumors, there is an unspoken agreement between the Contaminated Area and the F Area. As long as you don’t go too deep, you’ll never do any damage.”
“Who made such an agreement?”
Forrest replied with a grin.
“No one knows. So it’s a rumor. Oh, look at my mind. Will you get this?”
Forrest handed over a dozen documents.
“It is the minimum amount of work that one person has to do when cleaning the contaminated area and the corresponding compensation. It’s a dog’s price, but it’s better to get it.”
That was true.
On the first page of the document that Forrest gave me, there was written the minimum amount that one solver would have to hold.
It was classified in detail, such as catching only zombies, catching zombies and polluting creatures, and he said that he could only receive additional remuneration other than the basic salary if the quota was met.
He said that he had to bring his head as proof in order to receive the bonus, and he said he would provide a magic bag for that.
For reference, the magic bag is written with a warning to be careful as the default is tens of millions of randa.
It should be fetched when lost or damaged, and there are looters looking for the magic bag.
“yes? What is the item that says capture here?”
“Literally. If you catch them and catch them alive, they will give you money.”
“You don’t understand? It’s cleaning, so why capture it?”
“I want to use it as a magic lab sample. It’s an indirect request from Mato through poetry. So the price is four or five times higher.”
oh·····. Oliver nodded.
There was always a sense of that, but it certainly seemed that the status of the wizards here in Landa was unusual.
To the extent of indirectly commissioning through poetry.
Oliver continued to turn the papers over.
On the back was a document with an unknown map and black-and-white photos added.
“This····?”
“A brief map of the contaminated area and dangerous places and groups within the contaminated area are marked.”
“Does the city offer anything like this?”
“No, it was created by me and a few intermediaries. They do ridiculous things, and I think I have to do that.”
“…you are amazing.”
“Thanks for noticing…. Can you see the skull sign on the map?”
Oliver confirmed.
“Yes.”
“This is where the most zombie haunts and the dangerous warlocks and looters are. It’s the most dangerous place in the dangerously polluted area. Be sure to take note and avoid it.”
Oliver checked the number on the skull-marked part against other documents.
As Forrest said, there were the phrase “Zombie Haunted Area” and the word “Black Magic Family” and “Ravenger”.
I thought there would be no people at all because it was a polluted area, but there were also people living in this poor environment.
Whether it pierced his heart, Forrest said.
“Isn’t it great to be human? There are people who live in places like that. But they are not the only ones at risk.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, in addition to the solvers, a large number of mercenaries with weaknesses in the city are also participating this time. Be careful with them too.”
“Are you a mercenary?”
“Even the fixers be careful. It’s not common, but sometimes there are bad guys.”
A faint worry shone in Forrest’s emotions. The probability was low, but it could be dangerous.
Oliver nodded and asked.
“How many solvers participate?”
“I’ll send nine people from my side, including you, as well as fixers from areas B, H, and N. Almost a hundred people.”
“So, when do we start cleaning?”
“Five days from today.”