Genius Warlock - Episode 205
A group of vehicles arrived at the Forest Restaurant on Street 27, Area T, Landa..
The vehicle was Landa's most widely distributed F-series, but it was a high-end vehicle in its own way, and various options such as bulletproofing were added..
When not one, not two, but five such vehicles arrived, everyone's attention was focused..
That's because it's rare to see this kind of ritual phenomenon in the T area..
"I thought he would come quietly since he is retired, but this was unexpected..”
Forrest muttered as he checked the outside through the restaurant window..
After asking for the customers' understanding and closing the store early, he emptied the entire hall and created a huge negotiation table..
"Is it good??”
asked Oliver, who was sitting at the negotiating table to Forrest's right..
Behind Oliver stood Joe and others who had a say in the fighter crew..
They clearly looked uncomfortable in this position..
"Well, it's my first time experiencing something like this, so I'm not sure. If I had known this would happen, I would have at least taken out insurance for the store..”
Forest answers half jokingly and half seriously..
After a while, a one-eyed woman who appeared to be a bodyguard came in alone and looked around with one sharp eye..
A large amount of magical power was stored in that one eye..
"......."
After checking, the one-eyed woman went out without a word and immediately came in with an old gentleman..
It was Gordon Goodhart..
Gordon Goodhart, director of the Landa Culture and Arts Association and former director of Crime Firm..
Four huge figures followed behind him..
They were all high-level magical users, and the dozen people waiting outside the store were no exception..
'Some of them are wizards... . Judging by the flow and amount of magical power, he is not an ordinary person of skill..’
I realized what Forrest and Jonathan said when they said that the Crime Firm's repeated attacks on the human meat chefs were not simply due to lack of power..
It was just that it was difficult to actively respond to most external risks due to the business mindset of maximizing profits and the political structure that kept each other in check..
‘not bad..… . If you do it well, it might work.’
Oliver was somewhat confident in his plan..
"dave.”
Forrest stood up and called Oliver as he saw Gordon Goodhart, former director of the Crime Firm, come in..
Oliver stood up politely..
"hello? Director.”
"hello.”
"hello? Mr. Forrest. Mr. Dave… . Please feel free to call me Gordon..”
"Thank you for your consideration. If it's okay, could you please sit down??”
Forrest pointed to the chair to his left and asked politely..
Gordon sat down following Forrest's instructions without saying anything..
When the old man sat down, Forrest and Oliver also sat down, and soon the conversation began..
The first person to speak was Forest, who was the arranger and mediator..
"First of all, I would like to thank you for responding to my sudden request..”
"It was nothing. It's because I have a personal debt, so don't worry. Personally, I’m curious as to why it’s called this.."
The personal debt was none other than the attack on the auction house at the Suburaptor Museum..
A situation in which VIP customers were injured in a sudden attack by a warlock and suffered great losses..
That's where Oliver stepped in and minimized the damage to Crime Firm..
Using the debt I made back then like this, life seemed really fun..
"So you don't have to thank me for being here. I paid a fair price..”
Polite and humble tone of voice. However, when I spoke with the businesslike expression on my face while working at the black market, it took on a different meaning..
Since he has paid the price, he is free to reject any story that comes afterward..
Well, it wasn't really wrong. Above all, I had no intention of letting something like this settle a matter that was at stake with the organization's interests..
At that moment, Oliver found himself getting used to this floor breathing..
I was surprised and happy. This means that the years you spent here are not meaningless..
"Mr. Dave.”
Gordon speaks. Oliver answered.
"Yes, Mr. Gordon..”
"Here it is, as requested. So please explain. What I'm saying is that the fighter crew didn't attack us and steal our stuff. Because I don't really understand.”
Oliver told the story he heard from Joe, the fight in Area X, and his own guesses..
Originally, the chef did the work alone, but Jonathan's excellent handling of the work led to a twist, and as a result, in order to attract the attention of the Crime Firm, he deliberately revealed himself as the mastermind and brought in the fighter crew..
In fact, it was all just speculation, but Gordon did not blame it..
No, on the contrary, I agreed to some extent..
"Ho... . That sounds like a plausible story..”
"Really?”
"What if you are surprised??”
Forrest muttered quietly to Oliver..
Gordon spoke again.
"It's not the same, but it's not like I haven't seen such a case. As you can see, I am quite old..”
Gordon said, placing his hand on his chest. In fact, he was the oldest person here..
"The cook died... . I'm glad the dirty thief is dead, but do you have any proof??”
Oliver took out a membrane box from his pocket and held it out. Inside the box was a piece of collapsed flesh..
"This is part of the cook's body. I wanted to bring it back as intact as possible, but the body collapsed, just like the auction house raiders..
Gordon brought the box towards him, examined it, then held it out towards Oliver..
"To be honest, I'm not sure if he's a chef because he's an old man who used to do business, but I believe him. I have a way to find out..”
"thank you for your trust.”
"No, no. Gratitude is mine. I heard how active Dave is... … . However, this cannot be evidence that the fighter crew is irrelevant..”
The conversation, which was going smoothly, took a turn for the worse..
Forrest was silent as if he expected it, and Oliver wasn't really surprised either..
I didn't know the exact reason, but I kind of expected it to happen like this..
The only people who were agitated were the fighter crew members standing behind Oliver..
Some of them tried to say something, but Joe stopped them. Showing feelings of trust to Oliver.
A restaurant filled with silence. Only the sound of coffee being drank was low..
“..…If you don't mind, could I ask why you don't believe me??”
"As I said before, there is no proof that he is innocent. I'll ask at the risk of being somewhat rude. Can you say for certain that there is no possibility of lying on the other side??”
"It's a lie?”
"That's right, for example, if you participate in a chef's job and things go wrong, you might want to pretend to be innocent and get away with it. You may not know this, Dave, but it's pretty common around here..”
"Probably not. I looked at the emotions of Joe and others, but they were all in an emotional state of being unfairly caught up in it. Don't you know what kind of person Joe is, Mr. Gordon??”
It was like that. Joe had a side job as a security guard at a black market, and by coincidence his place of employment overlapped with Gordon's..
"I know. What a great friend. Competent, quiet, and trustworthy. However, this is not an issue that can be overlooked just by looking at Dave's eyes and that friend alone. Even if I make a hundred concessions and believe in it, I can’t convince the other directors with that..”
It was indeed true..
If it were a one-person affair, there might be no problem in handling it that way, but this is a problem for the organization..
One side even suffered not only material damage but also humiliation..
But now it was all a misunderstanding so it made no sense to just move on..
Especially against crime firms..
"If we just listen to what they say and do nothing, people around us will start to look at us funny..”
"When you say people around you, who specifically are you talking about??”
"In addition to other Crime Firm branches, Randa's non-affiliated gangs, and many of our business partners, there are also foreign gangs growing in power around port cities... .. Crime Firm is known to the public as the ruler of the underworld, but in fact, we also face many challenges both internally and externally..”
Not a formal complaint, but sincere. Oliver immediately asked the next question..
"In other words, for the sake of the organization, you can't just move on??”
"To get to the point, yes. Please don't feel sorry.”
"I don't feel sorry about it. Because everyone has their own position..”
"I'm glad we can understand each other..”
"In that sense, I am saying that the fighter crew members know where the rest of the attackers are. How about helping us catch them? It is said that before the cook dies, he orders some of his subordinates to do related work to roughly guess where he is..”
"It's not a bad offer, but it's not enough as a deal. I and the other directors would not agree to such conditions.."
"So how about adding one more condition??”
"one more? What are you?”
"What if Crime Firm hired an entire crew of fighters??”
***
A calm yet unconventional proposal resonated quietly in the restaurant..
Everyone present was in shock. Gordon and his men, as well as Forrest and Joe, who had been informed in advance, could see their emotions fluctuating..
The only calm person is Oliver, the speaker..
“..…Mr. Forrest.”
"yes. Please tell me.”
"Can I smoke a cigarette??”
"of course. Sometimes I feel like drinking too..”
Gordon immediately took a cigarette from the one-eyed woman and lit it, and Forrest took a drink from Al and drank it..
After some time, Gordon extinguished his cigarette by stubbing it in the ashtray..
"What does it mean?”
"what do you mean?”
"Hire a fighter crew..”
"That's literally it. As far as I know, Crime Firm has also been paying attention to strengthening its power recently, so I would like to suggest that you consider hiring a fighter crew..”
"Let me be honest with you. What Dave said is not wrong. This city is becoming more and more difficult to live in due to the battle for leadership between the Magic Tower and the city. Because of that, we often fight over that issue. Force is a sensitive issue..”
“yes."
"But that doesn’t mean you have to hire a fighter crew… .. I feel a bit embarrassed and hesitant. A lot..”
"Can you tell me what's causing your hesitation???”
"The first is force. I know that Fighter Crew is a well-known organization, but it is at best a back alley level. I don't know what's better than a properly trained mercenary unit or a highly skilled troubleshooter..”
it was true.
It's true that the fighter crew's reputation is high, but that only applies to outstanding individuals like Joe or to some teams that boast excellent teamwork..
In reality, not all of the slightly less than 300 members were outstanding..
At most, it is a gang with particularly high combat power.?
It wasn't that strange, since the chef's training method was far from systematic to begin with..
"What if you could solve that problem??”
"Is there a specific way to do this? Persuasion requires specific methods.”
"I will teach black magic to my fighter crew..”
After hearing the answer, Gordon smoked again..
"Phew… Are you serious??”
"yes."
"By any chance, have you become the leader of a fighter crew??”
"yes? no. no.”
"But why do you want to teach? I know that warlocks and wizards are stingy when it comes to teaching their knowledge..”
"I know that too, but I don’t see any reason to follow along… . I promised to help with this problem. I don't think it's anything that can't be done to solve the problem..”
Gordon smoked a cigarette, stared at Oliver, and then opened his mouth..
"I don't think you're just saying this.."
"yes. It's not something I can brag about, but I've taught others a few times, and I'm confident I can achieve some level of success..”
"no. I'm not doubting Dave's skills..”
"Thank you for your words. Anyway, what I want to say is that if you promise me the safety of the fighter crew and pay them a fair price, I will try my best to teach them... .. Then, wouldn’t Crime Firm also gain a lot of power??”
"I agree. I would like to ask you honestly. However, there is one problem that has not been resolved..”
“what….?”
"It's a credit problem.”
“Credit??”
"yes. credit… .. This floor also needs credit. No, because it's a floor like this, even more trust is needed. Is there any evidence that the fighter crew members are faithfully cooperating with our crime firm??”
"Can I tell you something about that??”
Forest, who had remained silent, naturally intervened. Gordon nodded..
"Actually, this problem is quite complex. The Crime Firm cannot completely trust the Fighter Crew, and the Fighter Crew does not want to be completely dominated by the Crime Firm..”
No one said anything, but Forrest pointed out the most important part. Gordon also nodded as if he was aware of it..
"This is because most of the fighter crew are from Area X and Area Y. That's why it's hard to completely trust each other..”
"The point is?”
"I wonder if I could take charge of the link between them..”
“…Please be specific.”
"I am signing a contract as a fixer with an organization called Fighter Crew. An exclusive contract to supply manpower only to crime firms..”
"Then, Crime Firm can sign a separate contract with Mr. Forrest to supply fighter crew members. Instead of paying regular basic salary, Forest manages the risk..”
"That's it. It's a kind of subcontract. Since I am in charge of management, the crime firm's risk is reduced, and it can actually strengthen its power using fighter crew personnel... Above all, force is not concentrated on one of the crime firm directors, so unnecessary tension does not arise..”
Forrest pointed out the most important part. Concentration of power and its checks were very important issues in crime firms..
If Forrest, the middleman, took charge of this part, it could have been a safety measure of its own..
“Phew..…."
Gordon exhaled smoke and put out his second cigarette in the ashtray..
"Let me be honest. It's a very fascinating story. Since the fighter crew is signing a subcontract with us, it won't look bad and will reduce unnecessary political strife..”
"Thank you for your understanding.”
"Well, I'd like to ask you one last question. Mr. Forrest, what confidence do you have that you will take on the subcontract between Crime Firm and Fighter Crew? If you do it wrong, you could get caught in the middle and be crushed to death..”
That was true. If an accident occurred in the fighter crew, Forrest had to bear all the resulting damages. In some cases, life could have been lost..
"I decided to take charge of that part..”
"Mr. Dave?”
“Yes, this is because I did something on my own..”
"It's nice to see someone taking responsibility, but how??”
"I have decided to kill Forest if he breaks his contract with the Crime Firm..”
"......."
"As long as we keep our promises to each other, there will be no problems, right??”
Oliver asked, “What’s the problem?” everyone was silent.
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