87. Puppet (3)
Falling Oliver.
Before falling, Oliver glanced around.
Joe, Arthur and Sam approached to help, but suddenly the basement wall shattered and a horde of zombies came out and grabbed their ankles.
Thoroughly calculated movements.
Oliver stopped himself by targeting his hands and walls.
Then, as a quarter-staff, he stabbed and caught the puppet that was falling with him.
Whoops!
One side of the torso was blown away by the rasp boom, and the puppet, whose body was pierced by the quarter staff, said with a smile.
“It’s a bit difficult… I prepared it ambitiously in my own way, but I don’t know how to respond like this… Even a little embarrassed.”
“Are you lying?”
“yes? what?”
“Didn’t you say that you would release me if I win?”
“Ahh····. It did. But, you didn’t win, did you? Surely, just because you beat this body doesn’t mean you won’t tell me that you won?”
Puppet shook his head.
“Ah, please… Please, don’t. I met a funny friend after a long time, please don’t be like other fools. To knock me down with this is to say I won because I injured my finger.”
Puppet spoke sincerely.
He didn’t care too much about winning or losing a fight, but he didn’t think he lost either.
It was a little lighter than that. As if this wasn’t even a fight.
It wasn’t bluff, it was sincerity, but it was a fairly rare type. That’s how curious it is.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Let’s call it curiosity. The best way to get to know people is to put them into a crisis a little bit. At least in my experience… I’m sorry, but can I ask you a favor? Can’t you just come down thinking you’ve been hit? I want to have a serious conversation with you. Please.”
Oliver looked up.
“How’s that stomach?”
“You are doing what the solvers do. fighting fiercely. It resists well in its own way, but you will be able to subdue it soon.”
Indeed it was Joe, Sam, and Arthur were resisting, but the number of zombies was endless.
Due to the nature of the narrow space, it seemed to be suppressed soon.
“Are you going to kill me?”
“Well·····. not right now Why would you kill me?”
“No, I hope you don’t kill me if possible.”
Puppet looked overly surprised.
“Ho-oh…. Were you like that?”
“I was taught to take care of my co-workers.”
“A co-worker? Cluckle…. You speak like a ten-year-old child. Who taught you? Well, okay, how about this? I’d rather not kill your party up there. Instead, you too, just come downstairs. Don’t worry, there are no traps underneath. I just want to talk.”
“I’m glad to hear that, too, but what are you curious about?”
“Oh, well? I’ll answer you when you come down.”
Oliver thought for a second and then nodded.
Then he released the targeting and fell straight down.
Although it was a basement, it was quite tall, but fortunately there was no shock when it landed.
There was also a black suit duck, but it was because there was a cushion underneath.
something squishy.
It was dark and he couldn’t see the details, but Oliver lit up his surroundings with a little bit of emotion.
At Oliver’s feet, a mass of severely decomposed flesh could be seen.
“················ogue.”
“Do you have a good stomach? Colin and David vomited as soon as they saw them. In particular, Colin vomited even though he was a member of the Mjolnir School. Tears as if frightened. Cluckle.”
Oliver didn’t cry or vomit, but he could understand his feelings.
It was because this mass of flesh was more than just rotten, it was so terrible that it could not be described.
How should I explain it? It looked like a mixture of people like dough.
The pain and despair were evident in the twisted and mixed face.
While observing the rotten flesh, Oliver noticed something interesting on the wall.
It was a pattern, but I have seen similar patterns in the past.
At Joseph’s Secret Altar.
“circle. Two crescent moons, X-shaped, candlestick and cross. A place where demons were worshiped?”
“Wrong. Still, it’s half the answer.”
“The flesh here…. Maybe it’s Puppet’s work?”
“Well····. No, I am old and shameless, but as a scholar, I have no intention of intercepting other people’s balls. It is the work of the original owners.”
original owner?
“Are you talking about wizards?”
“That’s right. Are you surprisingly quick? It’s very frustrating to talk about.”
Oliver accepted Puppet’s words without question.
Although he was sincere, it was because he was expected to have a good reason in his own way.
“Do wizards do business with demons?”
“Yes, I do research and sometimes trade. Demons are terrifying beings who want to sicken and destroy the human world, but at the same time, they have wisdom that humans cannot fathom. It cannot be denied that it is a convenient and useful existence.”
Oliver wasn’t particularly surprised.
It seemed a bit discriminatory to think that only warlocks could use demons.
Wizards would also be able to use demons if necessary.
‘I don’t know how.’
Oliver nodded as if convinced, and seeing Oliver, Puppet laughed under the quarter staff.
“Cluck. Wonderful…. Most people don’t believe that wizards have anything to do with demons, even warlocks.”
“is that so?”
“Sure. Common sense is so scary. It prevents free ideas and rational guesses. Whether it’s magic or black magic, the root is the same.”
Oliver looked at the flesh again and the numerous patterns painted on the wall.
I have no idea what the experiment was.
It seems to have something to do with life.
When asked about this, Puppet said.
“Well, I can tell you, but here it is. Can you come as I tell you? I want to talk face to face.”
Without thinking about it, Oliver left the room and started walking down the hallway as Puppet told him.
Oliver concentrated his eyes and looked around, but saw nothing.
I couldn’t sense anything like when I first went down to the basement and met the puppet.
“Can’t you see anything?”
“I have a lot of love for the lab, so I care about security. I put on some protection.”
“Is this a lab too?”
“Most of the basements in Area F are laboratories. It’s usually an illegal experiment. As I always feel, the land beneath Landa is useful to both the poor and the rich. The difference is that the former is used as a refuge, and the latter is used as a hiding place for one’s wealth.”
Oliver listened quietly.
The way he was talking seemed to know a lot.
After all, it was said that he lived a very long time, so it might be natural.
“Can I ask what you are doing here?”
Oliver asked as he passed a laboratory.
Taken from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
Numerous bodies were found in the laboratory.There were traces of surgery rather than a simple corpse, among them a corpse that was cleverly woven from a human body and mixed like a dough.
Just like where you first fell.
The only difference, however, was that he had a much more human-like appearance.
“Of course I was experimenting.”
“Experiment?”
“Yeah, otherwise, why am I here as a scholar, wasting my precious time?”
Scholar… It didn’t seem wrong.
A scholar is a person who is proficient in learning. Or a person who studies science.
Mages or warlocks were broadly scholars.
“Of course, people call me some high-risk criminal, a giant in the back world, and a great warlock, but this is a huge misconception. I just want to do research. In the process, it just caused a little fuss as needed. It’s a bit embarrassing.”
It was sincere.
Puppet didn’t really care about his reputation.
That’s why the fight wasn’t so risky.
But at the same time, he showed great obsession with the research.
Oliver wondered what kind of research it was.
“What is that study?”
“Cluckle……. Well, it’s not fun to answer right away. Conversely, ask Why are you working as a solver? From my point of view, I don’t think he’s a person who wants to easily make money with his crude black magic skills, right?”
Oliver thought for a moment. Why are you acting as a solver?
I thought it was pretty complicated.
Following the advice of the paladin Joanna, I decided to go out of the world as a starting point, and then I met Cant and decided to become a solver.
To use the black market without belonging to any organization.
After talking briefly about this, Puppet asked as if he didn’t understand.
“Why don’t you want to join the organization? If you want to use the black market, you’d be better off being part of an organization.”
“I do not know? When you belong to an organization, are there times when you have to force yourself to do something you don’t want to do?”
Oliver said, remembering Glyph, the puppeteer, who tried to give a beggar child and a woman to black hands.
Thinking about it now, it was kind of like that.
“Or, another way is to attack a decent family and eat it. After that, I only have my subordinates suck on the sweet water.”
“I do not know? It’s kind of like that too.”
“…what is that?”
“I have been in a similar situation in the past. My colleagues are working hard, but as time goes on, their work is behind the scenes and I only try to do what I want.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“It’s convenient, but what? It’s kinda like that though. Everyone had their own pretty light, but it just disappeared.”
“light····?”
“Yes, light. Don’t you know that Puppet is also a warlock? A pretty and beautiful light that some of the people hold. I’m leaving the organization to work as a solver to explore it. Well, it seemed like a good choice for me to leave now.”
Oliver said sincerely.
I didn’t really know anything about the beautiful light after leaving the organization, but it was still quite enjoyable.
I met Cant and met many other people.
In the process, I was able to learn some, if not all, of the world.
For example, a broker, a solver, an afterlife, or a veteran.
I found that even a boy working in the chores at an inn had the courage to learn to write.
It was such a pretty fun thing.
Puppet asked if he was interested too.
“I’m not feeling well. What is that beautiful light?”
The first question I’ve ever heard.
Oliver didn’t know how to respond.
How can you describe the beautiful light?
“A beautiful light . . . is a beautiful light.”
It was difficult to understand even when I said it myself, but that was all.
In the past, I had the opportunity to hear from Joanna about this, but unfortunately I didn’t.
Because the story fell into three thousandpo along the way.
What did she say? ah! Oliver said it was broken.
Suddenly, Oliver wondered what she was doing.
I heard that the pharmacist returned safely to the Seland branch of the Pater Church through negotiations.
Then Puppet said.
“You look like a moth.”
“Yes?”
“When there is light, a moth that flies towards it. The funny thing is that he doesn’t even know why he’s doing it. It’s just like instinct… But I don’t like that attitude. It’s a necessary skill for a scholar.”
“That’s fortunate. So, can Puppet speak now? What are you researching here?”
It wasn’t really what I was expecting, but to my surprise, Puppet responded more docilely than I expected.
“…we’re studying how to make humans.”
“Human?”
“okay·····. It’s to be resurrected to be exact, but after researching it, it turns out that there’s no difference between resurrecting it or making it. Neither is the realm of human beings.”
Oliver asked with interest.
“Isn’t that human realm?”
“okay. Oh, go back to the left here… According to my personal research, yes. I’ll imitate the shell, but the inside is well… The priests’ nonsense that the soul is the realm of the gods is true to some extent.”
Oliver turned to the left as the puppet told him to move.
There was a door at the end, similar to going to the Secret Altar of Sector X with Joseph in the past.
“Thanks for your kind explanation. By the way, it is strange to ask such a question after asking, but can I ask why you are answering so kindly?”
“Are you being polite? Living for hundreds of years is very boring. That’s why I want to do good things to my young friends who give me even a little bit of joy.”
The puppet rested one beat.
“……But at the same time, I want to check it out.”
“Yes, what?”
The puppet didn’t answer, and suddenly fell limp like a marionette with a broken thread.
Oliver opened the door, not particularly surprised, and there was a man there.
I was drooping in my chair, and he lifted his head slightly and said:
“I will hand over you, or I will use it.”
A black light was lit in the room with him.