Genius Warlock-Episode 456
456. ghost story (1)
After finishing the meal, Oliver entered the guest room that Edith had given him..
I wanted to eat more, but after setting the table about five times, Edith told me to stop eating at this point, so I had no choice..
‘Damn it, you're going to bankrupt me on food?’
Well, it wasn't bad. Just in time, there was something I wanted to check..
click.
Oliver closed the door and locked it..
Then, he gathered the magic power stored in his body and the emotions in the test tube into his hands and activated security magic and black magic at the same time..
Starting with soundproofing magic that prevents sound from escaping, intrusion prevention magic that prevents intrusion, defensive magic that blocks most attacks, and detection magic that alerts of approach..
Doors, windows, walls, ceilings, floors, etc. It was installed without any gaps, like stacking bricks..
It felt a bit excessive, but in fact it wasn't at all..
Because Oliver was going to read the devil's book from now on, so no matter how careful he was, it wasn't too much at all..
widely.
Oliver set up the quarter staff on the wall next to the bed, placed the magic bag on the desk, took off his top, and even took off the leather case attached to his back and took out the Big Mouse inside..
When Big Mouse was put down on the ground, the gluttonous bag made of human skin, eyeballs, and teeth swelled up like bread dough, and soon grew as big as a person and stood up..
‘The size hasn't changed much, but it's gotten heavier..’
“Gurgling?”
Big Mouse looked in all directions with its many protruding eyeballs and made a characteristic toad sound..
Oliver answered.
“No, Big Mouth. I didn't call you to fight another glutton..”
“Sigh?”
“No, it doesn't mean we won't fight in the future. I don't know that either. I might do it again later if necessary. Three to one..”
“······.”
“hmm······. Last time I saw you fighting, you could probably fight three to one..”
Oliver sincerely cheered for Big Mouth, who was showing resentment. holding both of his hands tightly.
In the last fight, Big Mouth achieved a miraculous victory using the fighting skills he learned from Child, so it was quite possible..
However, Big Mouth did not sympathize with Oliver's sincere words at all. It was really sad..
The air became awkward due to Big Mouth's resentful gaze. Oliver wanted to change the story and got straight to the point..
“hmm······. Could you please take out the book I received from an elderly person??”
Big Mouth was still glaring at Oliver with resentment in his eyes, but silently vomited out the briefcase containing the book as requested..
Kuehhh!
A briefcase fell to the floor. Oliver took two bills out of his wallet and held them out to Big Mouth..
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Slurp...? Sigh. Slurp!! Sigh!!!”
Big Mouse, seeing two bills, suddenly became angry, waving his arms around..
To roughly summarize, the reason he was helping Oliver wasn't because of money, so why should he solve all his problems with money?.
Big Mouth pointed out that what he was truly angry about was Oliver's snobbish attitude of not valuing him, treating him carelessly, and trying to solve everything with money..
I would never be such a greedy and selfish glutton.-
“-Can I give you ten??”
“Sigh!”
When Oliver takes out more money from the bill and holds it out, Big Mouth is immediately satisfied. He took the bills and slowly put them in his mouth, as if savoring each one..
Oliver felt a small sense of accomplishment that he had succeeded in appeasing Big Mouse, so he took his briefcase and placed it on the bed..
The briefcase opened with a clang sound, and Oliver could see the devil's books stuffed inside..
I looked through it once after receiving it from Merlin, but it was a new experience to take it out again..
Well, although it was secondary, it was one of the reasons I left the Joseph family..
Then Oliver suddenly felt strange..
As I said before, the Devil's Book was a secondary reason, but it was also the reason why Oliver left the Joseph Family, and compared to that, it felt like it was something he gained with great difficulty over a long period of time..
I got one from Edith, but that was about it..
Even considering that it was a difficult item to obtain, it was a bit strange. As if someone had interrupted me.
“Was that a bit too much?······?”
Oliver decided that he was thinking too much, so he took out the devil's books one by one from his bag and stacked them next to him..
Each time he took out a book, Oliver checked the title written on it..
[What is Demon Summoning??]
[Summon the devil. Hey, you can do it too.]
[Tools needed to summon demons and their meaning]
[-79824. collection of records]
[+100. qnvofhdlsgkstotleo]
[Visit to the ruined city]
[A father's diary]
[The meaning and principle theory of demon summoning written by a madman]
etc.
The titles of the books varied, from those with a distinct personality to those with stiff titles and sentences that were incomprehensible..
According to Merlin, there wouldn't be anything that would really grab Oliver's attention, but that might be a good idea..
When I read the devil's book, I used to feel burdened, such as eye pain or dizziness, but if the content was trivial, I wouldn't feel burdened even if I read it..
While sorting through the books with that thought in mind, Oliver finally found the book he wanted..
[devil. Summons. city. observe. record.]
Oliver opened the book, recalling the New World ghost story he had heard from Edith during dinner earlier..
***
Edith said that there are many ghost stories from the New World, and each has its own unique characteristics..
In the case of Grandfather Mangtaegi mentioned earlier, it was actually a fairly common story about a ghost who took away a bad child who did not listen to his parents..
‘It's common?’
‘Well, it's a story that happens in every neighborhood where there are human traffickers. Human traffickers exist everywhere. But here in the New World, Grandpa Mangtaegi is at a different level..’
‘How are you different??’
‘There is no discrimination. They take children from poor families as well as children from rich families without discrimination. I usually can't do that... Of course it's just a ghost story.’
‘Does this mean the children never disappeared??’
‘That's not it. Kids disappear periodically every year. It's so common that it can't even be used as a joke. Especially for me. but······.’
‘but?’
‘I heard that in the early days here at First Step, a large number of children actually disappeared at once. Of course, it's not a sure thing. I don't give a fuck if they disappear or not.’
Edith spoke as if it was no big deal, as she said, and then immediately told another ghost story..
A fish person who helps you catch a lot of fish in exchange for a child or a pretty girl.,
A clown who makes children laugh and adults kill with his amazing tricks.,
Siren, who sinks ships with her beautiful song),
Bisque Doll wandering around looking for mom and dad),
A fairy who helps people fly,
The boogeyman lives under the bed or in the closet and preys on children.,
A nutcracker that kills by biting an adult who is violent towards a child.,
The golden shaman who turns people into gold,
A prince who takes you to a land of adventure and dreams,
A sea monster that is said to have eaten ships traveling between the New World and the Old World in one bite decades ago..
Even if we only roughly talked about it, there were enough of ten. All interesting stories.
However, the most interesting thing about New World ghost stories was that not only children but even adults pretended to believe something they were not..
Evidence of this was adults who did not go to the beach at night, sailors who lit candles and prayed every time they sailed, and wealthy people who hired bodyguards to guard not only their homes but also their children..
Edith laughed and said that the first step was fun, but Oliver felt a strong academic interest beyond simple fun..
Although the texture was very different, the devil's book [The Devil. Summons. city. observe. It gives off a similar vibe to what was written in [Record.].
“······It is said that even a village 100 kilometers away from the city where the devil was presumed to have been summoned was haunted by an unidentified twisted entity. The being whose entire body was covered in pitch-black tar had a shape similar to a human, but...······.”
Oliver wrote down interesting parts of the book in his notebook..
‘About a being presumed to be a ‘devil’..
‘It has a shape similar to a human being.······.’
Oliver was intrigued and wanted to meet the being. However, it wasn't that I was desperate, it was just interest..
Although it is an interesting entity if you just look at what is described in the book, it was quite boring compared to the 'demons' I encountered when dealing with Joseph and the human meat cook..
Rather, what aroused interest was the strange phenomenon observed later as we approached the inside..
Circumstances were discovered in which numerous people committed mass suicide near the city where the devil was summoned, and the scale was beyond imagination..
Even though mass suicides usually involve no more than ten or twenty people, the book states that an average village of people committed mass suicide..
It's so huge that it's hard to believe. However, the realistic illustrations in the book added credibility to the content..
In the illustration below, it was assumed that people committed suicide due to the fear of the devil appearing, but Oliver somehow thought that was not the case..
The reason was difficult for even Oliver to explain. What is the picture in the illustration? ······Sadness rather than fear? Sad? crime······? Anyway, it felt different..
‘From what I feel, the chances are very low.’
Oliver calmly faced his own level of empathy and wrote down the interesting parts of what he read in a notebook. Not only the content but also the illustrations.
Then, just as I was about to look further into the city, I spotted Edith approaching..
Oliver didn't sleep and thought he was doing something, but he soon realized that he had stayed up all night..
Even though it's the devil's trick, it doesn't hurt my eyes or cause dizziness, so I watched it without any hesitation, but I never thought it would be like this..
Oliver took the notebook he was writing in and the devil's book [The Devil. Summons. city. observe. Record.] After quickly putting it into his magic bag, he immediately disarmed the security spell and black magic..
bang! bang! bang!
As soon as the security spell and dark magic were lifted, Edith slammed on the door. A strong knock like Edith.
Oliver opened the door as soon as he heard a knock..
“I didn't sleep?”
Edith immediately said as soon as she saw Oliver..
“hmm······. I slept well.”
“Garage?”
“yes.”
Oliver quickly admitted to lying. Edith had already sensed that Oliver had lied with her keen observation skills typical of a speculator..
“You have keen observation skills, just by looking at it, you've been up all night. The clothes are still the same.”
“ah······.”
Oliver exclaimed, looking at his clothes. Come to think of it, he was so absorbed in his book that he even forgot to change his clothes..
“We will make sure there is no hindrance to your work..”
“That's natural. If you're hired, you should trust me..”
Serious criticism. Oliver also nodded immediately..
That was correct. It was natural to do the job properly, and you also had to give psychological trust to the client..
In this case especially.
Oliver immediately admitted his mistake..
“sorry. Edith... I will avoid making this mistake in the future..”
“······What on earth were you doing up all night??”
“······I read a book.”
Oliver looked around. What's wrong with saying that he stayed up all night reading the devil's book??
Fortunately, Edith did not press questions..
“Well, okay. First of all, because work is urgent. Make sure you can go out right after eating and washing..”
Edith said and went back the way she came. Oliver looked at Edith's back and opened his mouth..
“Yes, I understand······. By the way, can I ask what the schedule is??”
“Aristocrats, traditional capitalists, rich people. I plan to meet other shareholders who are not affiliated with any group. Look at the board closely. More than anything-”
Edith paused and took a note out of her pocket..
“I heard that a major shareholder who has never personally attended a shareholders' meeting is here..”
He is a major shareholder who has never attended a general shareholders' meeting.······.
“Did that note tell you??”
“No, it was told to me by Heimdall, who sent me this note..”
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