Genius Warlock-Episode 212
The road to the Paladin Seland branch was more complicated than expected, and it was far from Landa's unique efficient building structure..
Structure focused on defense and security rather than convenience.
I went down the stairs to the basement, turned around, and ended up in front of a door..
"It's here.”
The servant who gave directions said. A completely closed place with no windows..
"Go in.”
The servant who gave directions urged..
"Yes, I understand. Thank you for leading the way.”
The servant snorted at Oliver's polite greeting. What can I say, the people here seemed really angry..
Squeak..….
Opening the thick iron door and going inside, Oliver could see a space filled with only crude tables and chairs..
There was a man sitting in that space..
It was a familiar face.
"hello. Sir Elton. Long time no see.”
Oliver greeted the paladin with a full beard and hair like a lion..
The middle-aged man had a sturdy physique and sharp eyes, making him look like a two-legged lion..
In the past, when he miraculously survived the Puppet in the contaminated area and was captured and interrogated by city official Paul Carver, he came with Joanna and interrogated Oliver again..
It was less than a year ago at most, but it felt like a long time ago..
'Well, a lot happened.’
The paladin slowly opened his mouth..
“..…do you remember me?”
"yes.… . But I can't see my colleague who came with me..”
That companion was none other than Joanna, and she was nowhere to be seen..
As if he didn't like the question, Elton showed a hint of displeasure. He was helped to hide his emotions by magic items and other powers, but they were faintly visible in Oliver's eyes..
"why do you care?”
"It's not that I'm interested, it's different from before... .. I'm sorry if you were offended..”
Oliver said, immediately taking his mind off it. Elton still seemed displeased, but he didn't bother to ask questions. He wasn't particularly curious.
"sit down."
"yes."
Oliver sat at the table directly across from Elton..
It reminded me of the time I was interrogated in the past..
"May I ask why you are calling the warlock to investigate??”
The paladin said as he indifferently organized his documents..
"Here are the rules. I ask the questions, and you just answer. Do you understand??”
"Yes, I understand.”
"Okay, what's your name??”
The same pattern as when we first met.
Oliver answered Dave. He next asked the broker in charge, and then how the contract came about..
A question that has already been answered in the past. Of course I wasn't asking out of curiosity..
Just like during the first interrogation, I was asking if there was anything to complain about..
Oliver answered. He gave the same obvious and boring answers he gave in the past..
As the questions and answers continued, Oliver's boredom got worse, and at the same time, the desire to ask again why he was doing this arose..
Then I suddenly realized what a blessing it is to be able to ask questions..
If a world came where no questions could be asked, it would be very painful for Oliver..
How long can you last there??
"Last time we met, you said you had nothing to do with puppets.?”
"Yes that's right.”
"But how do you use a corpse doll??”
Elton asked, his emotions shining sharply..
"A report has been received that a warlock who uses a human-sized glutton bag has used a corpse doll. As far as we know, you are the only troubleshooter in this city who uses such a glutton... ..deny it?”
ah..… . Oliver once again realized that there was nothing left in Forrest's advice to throw away..
I was told to refrain from using the big mouse or the corpse doll in front of people, but as soon as I broke those words, this problem started happening..
“I think I'm right. As far as I know, I'm the only one who uses a glutton bag that size..”
"Then please explain. How did you come to be able to use the invoice doll? Are you saying you could have used it from the beginning??”
"No, I wasn't able to use the corpse doll from the beginning. However, I was able to learn by picking up books related to corpse dolls in the contaminated area. The only materials used were the remnants of discarded corpse dolls that were picked up and refurbished..”
"Are you asking me to believe that now??”
"but that's true.”
Oliver lied blatantly. Well, it wasn't 100% a lie..
Oliver was able to use the corpse doll thanks to the books he picked up in the contaminated area. The corpse doll was also recycled at first..
"Whatever the reason, I can arrest you just for using the corpse doll..”
Those words were sincere. But, it just can't be done..
I didn't know the exact reason, but it seemed like they couldn't easily arrest Oliver..
Oliver took that into account and defended himself. He had no reason to cause trouble with the paladin..
"Sorry for using a corpse doll. However, I would appreciate it if you could consider reusing what was already a corpse doll..”
As expected, no more paladins came in. Instead, I found something else to read..
"I have one more question to ask..”
"Yes, you say it..”
"You said you met a puppet and lost?”
"yes."
"But later, I went to the place where the puppet appeared. There are traces of a huge battle. Do you know anything about it? It wasn't a trace of a battle that resulted from a one-sided defeat..”
Elton throwing a fishing rod.
Judging by his emotional state, it was clear that he would find fault, whether he knew it or not..
So Oliver said something else that had nothing to do with the topic. He was also personally curious.
"If you've been there, have you seen it? There are traces of wizards experimenting on humans..”
thud!
There was nothing, but the sound of something heavy falling into Elton's ears was heard..
Obviously, it was just an auditory hallucination, but the space became quiet as if cold water had been sprinkled on it..
Deep silence. Paladin Elton opened his mouth..
"......I would have said it was up to me to ask the question.?”
"sorry. I'm really, really curious. Have you seen it? Or are you just pretending not to see it?.”
Kuuk……!
Paladin Elton gritted his teeth. His appearance, stained with anger, embarrassment, regret, and anguish, was as intimidating as a real lion..
Silence fell like lead again. The warlock and the paladin faced each other across the table..
for a very, very long time.
“..…If you're asking a difficult question, you don't have to tell me. To be honest, it wasn't a question I was expecting..”
A remark that is absolutely blasphemous. But Oliver had no malice. Therefore, he was more malicious than any mockery..
Elton opened his mouth..
"Don't talk nonsense if you don't know anything. warlock.”
"Paladin. A shield that protects the human world on behalf of God and a protector of humanity. A being who carries out his father's teachings and protects order... . I know that.”
"How dare a warlock discuss God??”
"No, I don't know Him enough to argue. I've read the scriptures, but it's hard to understand them all. However, I yearn for it. It's hard to understand, but he seems like a great person..”
It was truly a strange sight..
There was a hint of admiration and respect in Oliver's voice, but it was a far cry from how people usually speak of God..
For humans, God is something that can never be approached. Therefore, even though we admired and worshiped each other, there was an absolute distance that could never be narrowed..
But for Oliver, that distance didn't exist. She was extremely friendly, as if she was treating someone she had promised to meet someday..
A look that could be considered blasphemous. But funny enough, the sight was so natural that even the Holy Knight had no thought of stopping it for a moment..
The paladin belatedly came to his senses and said:.
“..…Watch your mouth. Don't mention God carelessly.”
"sorry. I was just answering your question, I'm sorry if it offended you..”
The paladin frowned as he looked at the warlock in front of him. Completely lost control of the conversation.
I remembered him because he was somehow impressive, and although he didn't seem to have changed much from a year ago, he had changed greatly..
Is that why they met in secret??
There was silence again and Oliver waited for the question..
Tick-tick-
I heard the unexpected sound of a clock, and meaningless time continued to pass by. When time was starting to run out, Oliver cautiously opened his mouth..
"Sir, sir. Do you have any questions?-”
“-It may sound like an excuse, but…..”
A paladin suddenly opened his mouth. Oliver frowned slightly..
The paladin stopped talking and then spoke again..
He exercised his tongue with amazing patience and will..
"......It may sound like an excuse, but the world is complicated. Warlock. And the Pater Church is a very old and huge organization.."
"......."
"That's why sometimes we too have to compromise with the world.”
"Oh, I see. what… .. I understand.”
For the first time in his life, Oliver said 'I understand' without any sincerity. He didn't even know why. He didn't want to think deeply, it was annoying..
I just hope this moment passes quickly. Then the paladin spoke again.
"Those who don't compromise are often broken.”
"hmm.… . Driver over there? There is no need to say that to me, a mere warlock.-”
"-Like Joanna.”
"......."
"We are not without eyes and ears. Not unaware of the ugly side of this city. However, we belong to a denomination. You can't move with your own petty definition. If you do that, you will end up moving away from the incident and even the chance to solve it will disappear..”
"......."
“Joanna. The child claimed that the wizard was conducting terrible human experiments, and after several months of insisting to higher-ups that this needed to be investigated, he was transferred elsewhere. Ever since I met you.”
“….How did you know??”
Oliver did not deny it. He saw the paladin's emotional state and knew that he was someone he couldn't lie to..
More than anything, I was curious about Joanna’s story..
"I told you, right? It's not like I don't have eyes and ears. I don't know the details, but I knew you and I met at the temple..”
"Could you please allow me to ask you a question? Please, please..”
“speak."
"Why did you leave it alone? I'm a warlock.”
"Because I trusted that guy. He believed there must be a good reason.”
Elton said with sincerity. He truly believed in Joanna..
"However, since the day I last saw you, I have been suffering and agonizing, and as I said before, I continued to insist on my gratitude for the Landa wizards, but ended up being pushed out somewhere else... I ask too. What did you talk about??”
"Why are you curious??”
"He's a good kid. Because you were my partner.”
Oliver thought for a moment and then opened his mouth..
***
"Thank you for leading the way."
After the interrogation, Oliver came out from the basement to the surface and spoke..
The servant giving directions looked at Oliver with a strange expression..
Either way, Oliver bowed his head politely and said hello..
"Glad you got out. It came out faster than I expected. Was there any problem??”
Forest, who was waiting in the hallway, welcomed Oliver and said, He was truly relieved and happy about Oliver's safe return..
Judging by his emotional state, he seemed to be worried about what might happen..
"Yes, nothing special happened. Did you wait in the hallway??”
"That's right.”
"Why didn't you wait in the car??”
"I can't show that I was worried about you by waiting in the hallway like this, right? ..… What's going on? Your face is strange.”
Oliver smoothed his face..
"Is my face weird??”
"No, that's not it, just a little bit... .. I guess it was my mistake. But what happened??”
"no.… . There wasn't. Let's go out first..”
"Ah, I wasn't considerate enough..”
Forrest immediately took Oliver out of the building..
Forrest asked on the way to the car..
“It takes quite some time to get from Area A to Area T. Is there a schedule??”
Oliver checked his watch. It seemed like it would be around 4 or 4:30 PM when I arrived at Area T..
I had to go to Area X around 6pm and teach them black magic..
"The time seems vague. Are you trying to talk about work??”
"I'm sorry. What do you think of me? I don't think I have enough conscience to pass the work on to someone who worked hard today. Above all, you are the person in charge of the fighter crew. At least until I finish this, I plan to keep her ashes like my grandmother's urn. When she's done, she plans to roll again... . Yes, look at me with those eyes. That's nice to see.”
“....Then why are you doing this??”
"If it's okay, let's have a meal together. Don't get me wrong, I like young friends, but I have no hobbies with men. I just want to say something."
"What do you want to say? What is it?”
"What’s the point of talking here? Let’s have a meal. Read the mood.”
Oliver thought for a moment and nodded. It might not be a bad idea for him to have dinner with someone now. Because I felt like that.
"Well, do you want to eat something??”
“……Ice cream.”
"ice cream?"
"Yeah, it's a little tight..”
"Right… . Okay, there's a hotel that makes good ice cream, so let's go there... . What are you doing??”
Forrest asked, looking at Oliver who suddenly stopped and looked into the distance..
Unless Forrest's eyes were wrong, Oliver's poker face, which was almost motionless, wavered slightly. As if I saw something surprised.
Oliver said.
"Forrest."
"why but?”
"I'll be at the restaurant by the appointed time, so can we leave here for a moment? I'm really, really sorry..“
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