Genius Warlock-Episode 233
“Oh my, welcome. I'm glad you came here.”
The first village through which trucks carrying supplies to the study area must pass..
The village chief welcomed me and Willes despite the late hour..
Of course, the village chief was not welcoming from the beginning..
Because it is a village with relatively frequent exchanges with the outside world, there is little exclusivity for a rural area, but it does not mean it is non-existent..
Nevertheless, the reason they were greeted so kindly was because of the sign Willes took out..
As soon as I handed over the sign, the village maintenance engineer who was filling up the truck with fuel and repairing minor problems was startled and happily called the village chief as if he had seen a rescue army..
Thanks to this, Oliver was now able to receive excellent treatment in his own way as Willis' sidekick..
"But that person......"
The village chief, perhaps curious, asked Willes as he watched Oliver quietly eating bean soup in the corner of the village hall..
Willes looked at Oliver and gave him a proper look. The position was completely different from that of the train..
“A group of people I met on the way. I brought you here because I thought it would help me with my work..”
"What kind of help are you talking about?….?”
"Well, more than that, tell me what has been happening here. Because there isn't enough time.”
The village chief was taken aback by Willes's uniquely stiff and authoritative tone and cautiously opened his mouth..
“Oh, sorry. You came this far….."
"It's natural for you to come here, so don't worry too much about it. Aren't we of the same Kel tribe?.”
"Yes, thank you… .. Where should I start talking? First of all, as you know, there are missing people in all the villages around here, including our village. Mainly children, young women, and young men. pretty serious.”
The old man was sincere and desperate at the same time..
That's because young people's labor was truly valuable in such a small living community..
People who appeared to be family members of the missing person stood next to the village chief and shed tears..
However, instead of sympathizing and grieving together, Willes asked questions without emotion. The will to solve the problem was stronger..
"I did a search?”
"Of course I tried it. Don't try it!”
the village chief shouted.
“Everyone in this village, including me, slept here. I'm not bragging, but this whole area is like our backyard. However, it disappeared without a trace. Without a trace….!”
"It was done by a ghost. Are you a ghost?!”
A fat middle-aged woman shouted. She shed tears with sad emotions, perhaps because she was a family member of the missing person..
The village chief got angry and shouted at the woman who intervened..
"Uh-huh! I told you not to talk nonsense! Why confuse me by saying things that are not clear??!”
“Ha, but….”
Villagers fighting. It was none other than Willes who mediated them..
Willes would have been a stranger, except that he was of the same Kel tribe, and he calmed down the villagers with a dignified voice, like a lord ruling over a permanent population..
"Everyone, please calm down a little… . What do you mean by ghost? I'm not just saying this..”
The middle-aged woman who had been scolded by the village chief hesitated, but soon opened her mouth when Willes coaxed her to tell him that it was okay..
“I hear strange crying sounds every night.”
"Isn't that the sound of an animal roaring? Doesn't everyone know that there are a lot of animals here??”
"But, this is different. It's really bizarre. It's not a normal sound. Plus, I have a general idea of the animals that live around here. Wolves, bears, deer… But it was my first time seeing that beast. It's closer to a monster than an animal..”
"Yes, that's right! I also saw it by chance. From afar... that was no ordinary beast. Something gave me goosebumps..”
"Plus, it felt like they were watching us..”
The herbalist with the scent of earth and the hunter wearing fur each added a word..
Thanks to this, the village hall became noisy like Dottegi Market again, and it was only when the village chief raised his voice that everyone quieted down..
As silence came, the village chief spoke again..
“....Some of the stories are absurd, but most of them are true. In particular, this is not only true in our village, but also in three other villages with which we frequently interact. It's like everything around here is cursed..”
“This may be a stupid question, but can't you get help from the police or military? It's a bit far, but there are police and military forces in Holland down the mountain..”
Even though he knew it was not Oliver's time to step forward, he couldn't hold back his curiosity and jumped in to ask a question..
I heard from a cafe owner that the police and military don't help poor villages, but I wanted to hear it directly from the people involved..
You might hear a new story?
But unfortunately, what was expected did not happen. She instead received a stinging glare..
“I don't know who it is, but don't say things you don't know anything about. Do you think we were fools for not helping the police? They are the kind of people who don't care what happens to us..”
"Well, especially since the magic tower guys came into this area at will, it was treated like a village that didn't exist... .. Damn, does this make sense? This was originally where we lived..”
"But thanks to you, life has gotten a little better, right? Buy our stuff at a decent price. As a side note, we can also load some of our goods onto the transport truck and receive it.?”
"I like the old days better. Because of those unlucky bastards, my relative went down to the city below... ! And you always talk unluckily, right? As if I were the owner, we were the original owners of this place.!”
"Ah, still-”
Surprisingly, opinions on the Magic Tower research facility differed even among the same villagers, and voices grew louder..
Just as the argument was about to escalate into an argument, Willes gently stopped the fight by tapping on the table..
Delicate yet dignified behavior. he asked again.
"Then, tell me specifically who disappeared from this village, when and how. I will take responsibility and find out.”
***
The villagers, who seemed strong and rough in their own way, were surprisingly obedient to Willes' demands and explained the missing people..
Numbers, times, places, other notable rumors or news, etc..
Willes calmly took notes on the information he heard and tried to understand the situation, and after sufficiently exchanging stories, he was able to rest..
The village people showed great respect as they showed Willes to a bed in the village hall, and Oliver and the truck driver were given mats and blankets to lie down on..
It was so late in the morning, just as he was about to fall asleep, Willes, who should have been on the bed, came to Oliver's side..
"Is your bed comfortable? If you are uncomfortable, you can give up your bed.?”
"yes? no. it's okay. I'm already being treated undeservedly. This is enough for me to sleep in..”
I meant it. Although her standard of living has improved, she has not forgotten her orphanage and mine days..
“For someone from the Magic Tower, you're brave. These days, there must be a lot of people who say they can't sleep without a feather bed..”
Oliver wanted to say that he knew a lot about the Magic Tower, but he said something else to continue the conversation..
"Strictly speaking, I am just an employee, so it would be absurd to say that I am from Magic Tower..”
"At the Magic Tower, they don’t even pick employees carelessly. This is especially true if it is a professor's personal employee. You have to be a child of a family with enough money to pay for it, or you have to be talented enough to be interested in a professor, but I think you are the latter... .. Have you ever met me??”
"yes.”
“okay?”
"Yes, didn't we meet on the train?.”
"......."
"Hey, if you don't mind, can I ask you a question??”
"what?”
“Can I ask why you received this request? He said I wouldn't know even if he told me in the car, but I still wanted to hear the reason. Is there some special reason??”
"why do you want to hear it?”
"You have to listen to have a chance to understand..”
At those words, Willes looked at Oliver. As if trying to see through Oliver's mind..
After a while, he opened his mouth..
“..…As you may have heard earlier, it is difficult for us Kell people to receive protection from the kingdom. Maybe it's a city, but it's hard to expect security in a remote place like this..”
"understand.”
"And as it is difficult to expect public safety, countless incidents and accidents occur in cities and beyond. Thieves, warlocks, violent criminals, vicious landowners, etc. They need help more than anyone else, but as I said before, they don't help us. So we Kel people created a community to help each other..”
“Community?”
"Well, it's not that great. People who interact frequently exchange greetings and help each other when needed. I'm just one of them."
As a community, I thought it was similar to the District X community I heard about from Dinklage in the past. A group of people banded together to protect each other due to the lack of security..
"then… .. There was a request from the community for help, and Will accepted it..”
"okay. I know a guy from here across the street. We can refuse, but we have to help each other in times of trouble..”
Sincerity.
“oh… . I don't really understand what you said, but it seems like something great. By the way, Mr. Will seems like an excellent problem solver, but is there a need to worry about such things??”
Regardless of whether one's skills are outstanding or not, people cannot live alone. In particular, the Kel tribe in the United Kingdom. We need people who can help each other.
Don't look at it the same way as Landa..
"Oh, I see. sorry.”
"....Anyway, I want to get this resolved. And that goes for you too. The suspicious disappearance that occurred at the Magic Tower Research Institute must be somehow related to the disappearance in this town..”
“yes."
Oliver did not deny it. It was highly likely that there was some connection between the disappearances that occurred in villages and the Magic Tower Research Institute, centered around the study area, Mountain Face..
Willes suggested.
"That's why I'm saying this, why don't we help each other??”
“He said he would help.?”
"Yes, I have easy access to every village around here, but you have a hard time doing so. People around here are exclusive to outsiders..”
"yes."
"On the contrary, I can't even get information, let alone enter the Magic Tower research facility. Like on the train, how about you say you're my employee and then take me with you and share some information? Well, you don’t know what traces you can find, right? I'm not bragging, but I have some expertise in the search, so it will be helpful. If you came here as a professor's representative, there must be some kind of situation, so shouldn't you resolve the matter as best as possible??”
It wasn't entirely wrong. Although Oliver came instead of Kevin to get out of the awkward situation, it was best to solve the problem if possible..
To put it bluntly, if Oliver went away empty-handed without any results, he might send Kevin again..
Oliver wanted to help Kevin if possible. First of all, he was his employee, and although the exact details are unknown, Kevin's goals and will radiated a pretty light..
There was nothing I could do if it failed, but as Willes said, I wanted to resolve it as much as possible..
"If you think I'm playing tricks, I promise I won't..”
“Yes, then let's work together..”
".....what?”
"I said let's work together. As Will said, we have the same goals and there are areas where we can help. I think I'm fine."
Willes reacted a little surprised at Oliver's attitude of readily accepting. She seemed surprised that she accepted it much easier than expected..
To Willes' reaction, Oliver had to add:.
“Well, Mr. Will promised that he had no ulterior motives..”
“Thank you for trusting me so much..”
"I think Will is a good person. He could be in trouble, but he even saved the hostage.?”
Oliver said, recalling the train attack..
Although he deliberately tried to remain unnoticed by blending in with the passengers, he took the risk and went out when the hostage became dangerous..
Willes didn't say anything, as if he had nothing to say, and Oliver looked at him and suddenly spoke..
"As a token of cooperation, may I ask you something??”
"what?”
"While you're at it, can you tell us about the Kell or Northland? I suddenly became interested.."
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