Genius Warlock-Episode 1
Genius Warlock Yellow Coffee
1. chosen child (1)
The 19th century, known as the age of magic and industry.
Humanity has made rapid progress.
Forests were cleared and railroads were laid, airships flew in the sky, and cars roamed the streets..
Is that all there is? The economy developed, the population exploded, and numerous colonies were established. Some said This is the golden age of humanity.
Nevertheless, there are bound to be places that are left out..
This was the mining village right here..
This village, which does not even have a proper name, is an unremarkable place where minerals are found, and people from the bottom of society with various stories gather, and the bottom of them are, of course, children..
Most of the children were orphans and had similar backgrounds..
Not knowing who his father and mother were, he was placed in an orphanage, raised until the age of 14 to receive government subsidies, and then sold to a mining village here under the pretext of employment and independence..
To be specific, it was illegal, but no one cared. Because this was so common.
Maybe that's why the children looked so similar..
A face stained with soot from mining work, lifeless eyes, and a skinny body. It may be too much to say, but rather than being people, they were more like cogs or screws in the shape of humans..
If it is stretched to its limit and breaks, it will be replaced... But just as there are angular stones everywhere, there was also a strange child here..
The child's name is Oliver.
Perhaps, if you only looked at the outside, you might have tilted your head. There was nothing particularly unusual about it that could be called strange..
No, it was more than that. Oliver was smaller and thinner than the other children, and even his skin was pale, making him look like a living corpse. He was an unsightly child that no one would think strange even if he died tomorrow..
However, ironically, this was proof that Oliver was strange..
It was 3 years and 4 months ago when Oliver was first sold to this mine, and he was much more miserable than he is now because he couldn't eat properly because he was disliked by the director at the time..
Seeing the child in bed, the mine's supervisors, workers, and children all predicted that he would die in less than three months. Some even made bets on when he would die..
In fact, Oliver fell ill less than a week after he first arrived. He was so serious that he could not breathe properly and his body boiled like a kettle, but surprisingly, he miraculously recovered the moment he dug a place to bury him..
On the contrary, other children who were fine until the day before yesterday became anxious and collapsed..
And that wasn't the end.
It's hard to explain, but Oliver had many other strange quirks..
He was stupid and strangely quick-witted, so he went to great lengths to avoid angry supervisors, and even when he became the target of bullying from mischievous children, the child who persecuted him died of illness soon after..
Also, the fierce guard dog that watches over the children was especially scared in front of Oliver, while the rats disappeared one by one from where Oliver worked or slept..
These strange phenomena overlapped and before we knew it, Oliver was treated like an ominous object and ostracized by everyone..
However, Oliver, the person involved, did not care about this at all. His interest was not in becoming friends or being loved..
Right now, Oliver only wants one thing: to survive in this mine as long as possible..
There was no clear purpose. It's just an obsession with pure life. It was similar to an ant or a tick struggling to survive..
Raised in an orphanage and raised in a mine, Oliver had no choice but to survive. However, that changed one day when a guest suddenly arrived..
***
Pooh―――――――!!!
The time when you are in the middle of working. I heard a steam noise that shouldn't have been made..
The children who were working in the stuffy coal mine without any sunlight raised their heads with difficulty, but only Oliver, who was hoeing in the corner, continued to work without paying attention..
After a while, a fat man came down a rusty ladder. He was a supervisor who supervised the children..
“fist. Attention everyone! Gather outside right now!”
A child with soot on his face asked in fear..
“Uh, Director? what's going on······?”
“What happened? It’s been a while since a guest came. They say they are looking for sincere workers, so come out and say hello! Move quickly! hurry!”
At that one word, a faint smile passed across the faces of the children who had dead expressions. Why not? If you choose, you can escape this hell..
This was some kind of irregular event. It's the only hope we have in this hopeless mine..
The children who looked like corpses stopped what they were doing and climbed the rusty ladder to the ground..
The ladder rang, and there was a small commotion as everyone pushed and grabbed each other to climb up first. Oliver was the only one watching, away from the commotion..
There was no particular reason. Was Oliver emotionally dead, or was his soul damaged? Since he was born, Oliver has not been able to properly feel emotions such as joy, anticipation, or hope..
That's why he was so calm, and I didn't know that maybe it was because of this that he was still alive. Vain hope was poison.
The stronger children climbed the ladder first, and then the rest of the weaker children climbed the ladder to the ground. Of course, Oliver was the last to go up, so the worst seat at the back was his..
“Wow, it's dazzling·····.”
“I think I'll buy it now.”
“Collock. call.”
The children, who had seen the sun for the first time in a long time, were excited and chattering. Even sunlight was a luxury in the coal mine. Then, a muscular man appeared in front of the children. He was the tyrant site manager at this mine..
He opened his mouth arrogantly with a cigarette in his mouth, accompanied by his fierce guard dog..
“iced coffee. Everyone is quiet. Don't be embarrassed and make a fuss in front of guests..”
The site manager's guard dog sounds like a chord! Wow! It barked fiercely. The children were scared and gathered together, but only Oliver stood calmly. Then a man quietly appeared..
“Attention everyone! This is the guest who came today. We need sincere and good workers, so everyone be polite..”
The children kept their mouths shut, as if they had made a promise, and rolled their eyes as they looked at the man called the customer..
The man was middle-aged, had a benevolent expression and a stylishly grown moustache. Judging by his neat coat and fedora, he seemed to be quite wealthy..
This could be said to be a good sign. He looks nice and is a wealthy man... It was clear that he would be the one to take me to a better place than here. It looked a little different to Oliver's eyes..
The site manager said to the customer.
“Would you recommend it for kids??”
The workers who were usually seen by the supervisor smiled faintly. The customer shook his head..
“No, if possible, I would like to pick it..”
The customer then took out something from inside his coat. Surprisingly, it was chocolate. Chocolate!
The children, who had only seen chocolate packaging their whole lives, were excited..
“What does this look like??”
The customer suddenly said. The children all tilted their heads. What does that mean? Do you think that these kids working in the mines don’t even know what chocolate is? I wondered what the purpose of this question was..
Then, a boy who was one step faster raised his hand first..
“It's chocolate!”
As he answered, the child smiled slyly. He was confident in himself. This is a test to find the enterprising child who takes action first. However, expectations were spectacularly wrong..
“Are there any other opinions??”
The child who was the first to respond to the customer's cold answer looked disappointed. But no one sympathized. Instead, he just raised his hand like an anglerfish so as not to miss the opportunity..
“Me!”
“I know!”
“Me! I!”
“Let me answer! Elderly!”
“please tell me·····!”
The children shouted and raised their hands like a flock of pigeons gathering around bread crumbs. Except Oliver..
Instead of raising his hand, Oliver fell into doubt. Chocolate? What does that mean? Oliver looked at the customer's hand holding the chocolate. There was definitely chocolate in his hand, but there was something more noticeable than that..
That’s right, it was black. A round black light formed on the tip of my finger.
The customer was gathering the black light inside his body with his fingertips and forming a circle..
This was quite a shock to Oliver..
Each person had black light inside their body, but this was the first time I had seen it handled like that..
While Oliver was shocked by the new facts, the other children answered questions while being pointed out by customers..
“Okay, you answer..”
“yes! that's an opportunity.”
Ding! The customer pointed to another child..
“It's the future. A future where you can live a better life!”
Ding! The customer again pointed to another child..
“It's hope. The elders give us-”
Ding! The customer again pointed to another child. And again he pointed to another child..
Each of the nominated children came up with an original answer, but none of them satisfied the guests..
Before we knew it, all the hands were gone, and the children, whose hopes had been trampled, were left crying. It was so unfair that I even shed tears, but regardless, the customer just muttered as if he was disappointed..
“hmm·····. Is it not here either??”
At that time, someone quietly raised their hand. Everyone's eyes were focused.
“huh? Uh, okay... What do you see in this??”
A question without any expectations. Oliver, who was the last to be seen, answered..
“It's a circle.”
“·····. huh? what?”
“A circle. Elderly.”
“····. circle? It's not square?”
“Yes, old man. How on earth did you do that??”
The man who was the customer smiled without saying a word..
***
The deal was done quickly..
The customer handed a wad of money that looked heavy at first glance to the site manager, and the site manager handed Oliver over to the guest, even skipping the questions he should have asked as a guardian..
The children all returned to the mine with aggrieved expressions, but Oliver was a customer, no... I left the mine with my new master..
Normally, children would bow as politely and condescendingly as possible to impress themselves, but Oliver did not do that. He rather boldly asked the question.
“excuse me····. master? How did you do that??”
“what?”
“This. Is this how you do it?····?”
With those words, Oliver raised his finger. It was invisible to ordinary people, but visible to guests. A lump of black light forms at the tip of your finger.!
Yes. Oliver imitated the guest's tricks just by seeing them. It's not that difficult either.
The corners of the customer’s mouth slowly rose. very creepy.
“Since when could that happen??”
“·····. Just now. I've been watching it since I was young..”
At Oliver's answer, the customer suddenly stopped, looked at Oliver, and said:.
“My name is Joseph. He is a great warlock, and from now on, your teacher. Serve me from now on.”
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