Genius Warlock-Episode 463
463. a futile reunion (1)
“······Long time no see. Sir.”
Oliver greeted me in the familiar darkness..
Joanna, with holy magic in her eyes, looked at Oliver silently with her two golden eyes. With a surprised expression and emotions shining.
I guess he didn't know he'd meet me here..
The same goes for Oliver. Then a question arose.
Even if it is you, what brings Joanna here??
He wanted to ask why, but for some reason Oliver couldn't open his mouth..
Joanna's emotions go beyond simple surprise and include confusion, guilt, regret, and embarrassment. Because she glowed with many emotions.
It was similar to Nora when she was caught eating poisoned cookies and coffee..
A girl in her early to mid-teens who committed a mistake and was caught..
Strangely, Joanna, who had even received the title of Holy Knight, seemed to overlap with that girl for a moment. She was a girl who looked very fragile and.
Oliver decided to keep quiet until Joanna calmed down on her own. Because she didn't know what to say.
1Seconds, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds... After an unknown amount of time had passed, Joanna opened her mouth..
“What are you doing here??”
Considering it's been a really, really long time since we last met, my first words were business-like and ordinary. However, it wasn't bad.
Oliver isn't the type to talk well either, so I actually enjoyed this conversation..
Oliver answered.
“was working.”
“okay······. You came here because you were hired by the shareholders' meeting.?”
Joanna knew, as if she had heard it beforehand. Well, the paladin I met at the port must have told you about it..
However, Oliver was more concerned about Joanna's strangely lowered eyes than that fact. She looked so different from before..
In the past, I was confident and confident in any situation, but not now..
He cowered as if he were a sinner, and like a person who had lost his way, his confidence disappeared and confusion took over..
The news was somewhat different from what I heard from Landa's Minister of the Interior, Paul Carver, and Edith..
It is said that here at First Step, he performed his duties more courageously than anyone else, improved his skills, and achieved many achievements... In addition, he said that even though he was earning a paltry knight's salary, he received donations from people around him, distributed relief goods to the slums here, and even went on personal patrols. So she was nicknamed a saint, and she was more sincere and active than in the past..
So Oliver decided that he had overcome the retaliatory personnel action. But it didn't seem like that was the case..
Oliver lied, wanting to talk about this very issue, but feeling as inexplicably difficult to explain as he had when he first encountered Nora..
“······yes.”
“What are you doing here in this building??”
“hmm······. I can't tell you in detail because it's work-related..”
Oliver spoke appropriately again. However, unlike just before, there was a clear reason..
It was premature to tell the paladin the secrets of Prometheus..
Edith strongly warned me to be careful about this. Since it is related to the devil, if you are not careful, you could end up in an uncontrollable situation..
Joanna's answer to Oliver's answer showed an expression of uncertainty, but she did not inquire as deeply as she had done in the past..
It wasn't an illusion after all. She was more broken and cracked than before..
“I'm sorry, but you have to leave... This building is under the management of the Government General..”
Oliver answered, looking around with eyes accustomed to the dark. All he could see were blood stains and fingernail marks..
“Yes, I understand······. Are you going to arrest me??”
“······no.”
Joanna thought for a moment, answered, and walked forward..
It looks so different from the past. Oliver followed behind her, feeling both unfamiliarity and curiosity about her..
Jeez. Jeez. Jeez. Jeopuk.
Joanna and Oliver walking in the dark. Because of the silence and darkness, only the sound of footsteps sounded loudly, and Oliver turned to Joanna's back and opened her mouth..
“Driver, how did you get here??”
“······I heard a story about a suspicious person entering here..”
“Oh, by the way, you personally patrol the slums and distribute relief goods.?”
“······How did you know??”
Joanna stopped and asked. For her, it's a reasonable question.
Oliver answered.
“My employer told me.”
It wasn't really a lie. He heard about Joanna's life and reputation from Paul Carver, but he also heard some from Edith..
Fortunately, Joanna seemed to understand..
“······okay.”
Joanna walked forward again. As if he was reluctant to have a deep conversation with Oliver..
Oliver forced himself to continue the conversation while looking at Joanna's back. In this state, she won't be able to achieve the real purpose of coming here..
“You are truly amazing..”
“······.”
“I heard it from Edith. He protects the city by fighting against numerous red man warlocks, and voluntarily patrols the slums to contribute to the security of the city..”
“······.”
“They also carry out relief work, albeit insufficiently, with personal salaries and donations..”
“······.”
“Edith also said that. He said he also received an offer to donate there. Of course, he said he wouldn't donate..”
It was true. Edith also received several offers to donate, but she proudly said she turned them all down..
Even though he has so much money that he will rot, he will never help others..
It even felt like a kind of belief..
In addition, Oliver talked about other things, and Joanna walked forward in silence without saying a word. Thanks to this, she was able to get out of the slave camp before she knew it..
Under the starry night sky, Joanna finally opened her mouth..
“stop talking.”
“yes?”
“Please stop talking. What am I doing here in the New Continent... please just don't say anything.”
Joanna's guilt shined like a thorn under her fingernails..
Oliver, uncharacteristically, was able to guess right away why she was reacting this way..
Because she had shown these same feelings in the past..
When Oliver from the remote cathedral asked you to save Rosburn..
Oliver, who continued speaking, closed his mouth as he recalled Joanna's feelings and the memories of that time.,
Joanna, who had been silent, touched her eyes with her steel gauntleted hand and opened her mouth..
“It's not behavior worthy of praise, so stop talking about it. The more I hear it, the more embarrassed I become..”
“is that so?”
“Yes, I do..”
Joanna turned and looked at Oliver. She let her feelings of sadness, guilt, regret, and self-loathing shine through, and her eyes became slightly moist as if to prove it..
“Everything I did here was just to ease my guilt. Guilt in the cathedral.”
This time Oliver was silent. He doesn't know what answer to give.
Meanwhile, Joanna continued speaking. As if confessing.
“Me, I... The child was turned away from the church. I tried to act late, but I failed..”
“yes you heard.”
Oliver answered, remembering the story he heard from Paladin Elton..
In the process of interrogating Oliver, he informed him that Joanna had been sent here after arguing with her superiors about investigating wizards' human experimentation..
‘That's why we also have to compromise with the world sometimes... 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..’
At the same time, Oliver belatedly remembered. She knew that Joanna was suffering and distressed after meeting her..
Only then did Oliver clearly understand why Joanna had changed..
It was none other than myself. It was her own fault, her regret, her anguish, etc. that had been implanted in her..
Joanna opened her mouth..
“It's just as I heard. I dared to speak of God and ignore injustice. I tried to fix it later, but failed, so I came here. So, I just work hard here. Then, I was wondering if my sins would be forgiven at least a little... It's an extremely selfish reason..”
The more Joanna spoke, the more her expression became distorted. Disgust and rejection shone through, as if chewing a maggot. To none other than yourself.
Perhaps because of that feeling, Oliver thought back to his words to Joanna at the cathedral..
I thought it was a bit presumptuous..
While Oliver was pondering, Joanna finished speaking..
“······So please don't say anything more. Just looking at you reminds me of my sins and makes me suffer. When I look at your skinny face, rather than feeling worried for some reason, I just wish you would disappear out of pain... I'm sorry, I'm selfish.”
Sincerity. But Oliver opened his mouth. He said he needed to hear the answer.
“I lied.”
“······yes?”
“The reason I came to this city. It is true that I was hired by Edith for the shareholders' meeting, but that is not why I came to this city. After coming, it was closer to being hired..”
“······What did you come for??”
“I came here to consult with the driver... Didn't you once say that I was broken? It didn't really matter at the time, but now I think a little differently. so about that-”
“-sorry. I spoke carelessly..”
“······I didn't come here to blame the driver. I'm just here to ask for advice..”
“Sorry, but that goes for you too. I have no advice for you..”
“Can you guess why??”
“······I also don't know what's right and what's wrong..”
Joanna smiled and answered. very sad smile.
Instinctively, Oliver could tell that he was not doing this simply because of church work. The problem was that I couldn't figure out what it was..
“I am-”
“-It would be best to return as soon as the general shareholders' meeting is over..”
“······Why??”
“I heard what happened at the port. I don't know the exact reason, but all the paladins here are keeping an eye on you. I guess I can't forget being embarrassed in front of people..”
It's a disgrace. Well, because of Edith's intervention, the Paladin should have let the Warlock go, so it could have been a shame on their part..
“If you remain here after the shareholders' meeting is over, you will most likely be subject to persistent investigation. Here in the New Continent, the activities of warlocks are different, allowing paladins to exert greater power..”
“yes, i know.”
Oliver nodded. I already knew this, but it was still an interesting story..
Since the warlock is rampant, the paladin can exert greater power. It seemed like some sort of symbiotic relationship..
But what bothered me more was Joanna's feelings..
The red man warlocks here in the New World are more ferocious than those in the Old World. It was easy to tell just by looking at the plan to commit a suicide attack at the port using a corpse doll..
Nevertheless, Joanna did not show hostility or disgust towards them, but rather showed confusion, pity, and even hesitation..
Emotional state changed from the past.
Joanna tried to withdraw as if she had finally finished telling her story..
Oliver warned her without realizing it..
“It is said that the Red Man warlocks are preparing to summon a demon..”
“······.”
“Of course, I'm not sure, I just heard it somewhere... Still, just in case, the driver should be careful too..”
***
“I told you such important information.?”
Edith said after hearing Oliver's report on his return. For some reason, the employees in the mansion were busy packing their luggage..
“yes sorry.”
“평소 같았으면 개새끼 소새끼 온갖 욕을 했을 테지만, 지금은 바쁘고, 아무래도 좋으니 그냥 넘어가지.”
“thank you······. But what does that mean? I guess it's good.”
“Literally. General shareholders' meeting. Furthermore, Prometheus Corporation and this New World have become a place that has nothing to do with me anymore. I'm leaving this red land.”
“I still don't know what you're talking about.”
“This means that I sold all of the shares I owned in Prometheus. It just so happened that I had a deal with a royal representative. I decided to sell all my stocks at three times the price. Without missing a week.”
“what are the conditions?”
“Are you listening now? Instead, I decided not to dig up any more dirty secrets of Prometheus. It's the price of conscience.”
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