Genius Warlock-Episode 553
553. new phase (5)
Squeak······.
A shabby inn room. Oliver opened the door and came in..
As it was a shabby inn, there was a stiff hinge sound as soon as the door was opened, but that only lasted for a moment..
As soon as Oliver closed the door and used the soundproofing spell, all the noise in the room disappeared as if erased with an eraser..
Originally, Lucien and other Millieux bosses offered to find a better hotel, but Oliver deliberately declined to do the necessary work while staying in Gallos, and was staying at this inn without anyone knowing..
So, he would have gone straight to work, but instead, he sat on the bed and got lost in thought..
I'm thinking back to the conversation I had with Murphy earlier..
‘Congratulations on becoming a finger..’
Murphy, who almost died after falling from a high-rise building and being stabbed with a kitchen knife, said this after overcoming the crisis..
The problem is that it is not just a joke or a polite greeting, it is sincere..
Oliver was so embarrassed that instead of talking about Murphy's youngest brother Milo, which he had originally intended to talk about, he asked what it meant. Sincerely.
‘Fingers... What are you saying??’
Murphy was taken aback by Oliver's question, which was full of doubts..
The response from the person concerned was that they had no idea. However, Oliver's doubts were natural..
That's because the title 'Finger' refers to the Black Hand, an association made up of warlocks. It was a title referring to four of the most prominent warlocks..
Eternal Puppet, Human Flesh Chef, Eternal Child Fan, Pied Piper.
A warlock who reigned for hundreds of years at most, or a few decades at short..
But giving that title to Oliver? There really was a lot to discuss..
First of all, Oliver was not a member of the Black Hand to begin with..
Murphy was still surprised by Oliver's question, but at the same time, he answered as if he had expected it..
‘Ah, as expected, you don’t know…. Well, I thought you might say that..’
It's not sarcasm, it's a sincere guess based on Oliver's personality..
Murphy left the noisy scene and took refuge in a more secluded place and explained..
Based on the calculated feelings and human goodwill of building a good relationship with Oliver..
‘You probably have a lot to say, but the rumors are currently spreading. A new finger was born.’
‘Are those new fingers referring to me??’
‘yes. To be precise, I am referring to Dave Wright, a woodcutter who is the fixer of 30th Street in District T of Landa and the head of the redevelopment project in District X..’
Murphy distinguished between Dave's status as a problem solver and Zeno's status as a Magic Tower employee and pointed out the exact difference..
In fact, it was obvious even to Magic Tower students that they were the same person, but due to his uniqueness and Merlin's help, Oliver possessed both identities without any particular arrangement..
Sometimes it's Dave the Fixer, sometimes it's Zeno. It's completely up to you..
Murphy continued to explain..
‘And the reason such rumors spread was none other than-’
‘-Is it because of something to do with the Meat Chef's legacy??’
asked Oliver, who had previously shared this story with Eve at the restaurant. Because there is nothing else besides that at the moment..
Unfortunately, my bad premonition was as accurate as ever..
‘That's right. The legacy of the human meat chef... Officially, it is said that it was found by the Gallos royal family, and unofficially, it is said that Millieux found it, but some say that it was Mr. Dave who found it..’
‘what is the reason?’
‘Mr. Dave defeated the cult all by himself and fought against the Finger Puppet.?’
Murphy speaks in doubt. But I didn't bother to ask Oliver if it was really true..
It was because seeing Oliver's reaction confirmed that the rumor that was now quietly spreading in the back world was true..
‘It was real.’
‘······.’
Oliver responded with silence. As a courtesy to Murphy, who answers questions as a courtesy. Well, there was also the reason that I was not a person to be fooled by obvious lies..
Murphy, interpreting the silence, opened his mouth..
‘You are truly amazing. But it's not that surprising. For some reason, I felt like Dave would be like this someday..’
‘······.’
‘Hmm, anyway, because of that rumor, Dave has now been given the title of New Finger. It's not official, but it's an atmosphere of recognition... Because I fought against my fingers as equals..’
Oliver really had a lot to discuss..
Although we fought with puppets, it was at the level of assessing each other's skills. It was absurd to say that we fought as equals..
In particular, the puppet did not properly utilize the corpse doll in the archive..
However, Oliver, who had lived his own social life, knew that this would be a meaningless explanation, so he asked a more productive question..
‘I understand that the finger refers to a black magician who represents the Black Hand. But I am not black handed. How do I get the title Finger? Could it be that I am known as the Black Hand Warlock??’
Oliver asked just in case. In the past, it would have been a story that could have been ignored, but now that we have more responsibilities, such rumors are a bit dangerous..
Wouldn't you be a bit sorry if the Choosing People, Fighter Crew, Area?
No matter how unofficial an alliance was established with Landa City, it was difficult to protect even the Black Hand..
‘No, Mr. Dave is from the Black Hand. There are no such rumors.’
‘Ah, that's a good thing. Then why······?’
‘hmm······. Words are variable.’
‘Variability?’
‘yes. The meaning of words may change. Just as Kaiser, which means emperor, was originally a person's name..’
‘Oh, you're smart..’
‘Because I read books. Anyway, Dave is right about the exact meaning of the finger, but currently it also means a powerful warlock. The glory of the warlock who has reigned for the past hundreds of years is too high..’
Oliver understood at once what that meant..
The puppets, human meat chefs, and fans that Oliver met. And they were so powerful that even the Pied Piper, whom they had never met, were all feared..
Puppet not only organized his army with zombies, but even treated the archives as corpse dolls, the Human Flesh Chef devastated the capital of Gallos, and Pan had an army of creatures that even the Paladins could not deal with..
Above all, the Pied Piper was the one who single-handedly defeated even a large army of several nations united..
‘Meanwhile, one finger lost his life to the archive, and rumors spread that another finger also died..’
I felt like I knew who he was talking about. Was a human meat chef and fan.
Pan, who had failed in his attempt to capture the devil in the New World, disappeared after being so shocked that rumors spread that he was now dead. Oliver didn't think so.
Murphy continued to explain..
‘Of the four fingers, at least one or at most two disappeared. In the meantime, if someone with a rumor like Mr. Dave appears... Some might call it fingers..’
‘hmm······. I don't understand.’
Oliver commented after hearing Murphy's kind explanation..
‘Understand that it is a special characteristic of power. Power does not allow space.’
‘Is that so?’
‘Yes, look at Gallos now. Now that the human meat cook is gone, aren't we all fighting to take his place? It's a completely natural phenomenon..’
‘······.’
Oliver was silent. I think I roughly understand what you mean. Still, the embarrassment hasn't changed.
I expected that rumors would spread to some extent thanks to Eve, but I never thought I would get the title of Finger because of it. I was even more embarrassed because I couldn't predict whether this was good or bad..
It feels like I have more work to do while I'm busy.?
‘Don't worry too much. Not only is it not official yet, but Dave, you are not sure of his identity? A magic tower employee and owner of a legitimate business. Even the Paladins won't be able to easily bother you unless there is direct evidence..’
Murphy used his unique sense of humor to give Oliver the advice he needed most. Considering his emotional state, it didn't seem like something he had just made up..
‘Thank you for your words.’
‘Thanks to you, my life was saved, and this is a cheap price. Can I consider this as payment of my debt??’
Oliver nodded at Murphy's joke..
‘Ah, it looks like the remnants of the human meat cook from earlier. Why did they attack Mr. Murphy? It seemed like he had planned it out..’
Oliver asked a question, recalling the situation at the time. Judging from the attack on Murphy after he fell from the building, it appears that he was targeted rather than somehow getting caught up in the fight..
‘I think it's because I obtained the bloody wine recipe..’
Bloody wine. The chef's signature product is human flesh made by mixing human blood with wine and maturing it using black magic..
After the death of the human meat chef, the supply of the product was cut off and it was a top-of-the-line product that was experiencing a shortage to the point that it was worth paying for it..
‘I secured it.?’
‘Yes, because I am resourceful... Of course, I have no intention of making it exactly like the human meat cook, but rather improving it like a magic spell..’
Murphy told me something I didn't even ask..
‘That's probably why they attacked me. The remnants of the Meat Chef will think the bloody wine recipe is theirs..’
‘Is that all?’
Oliver asked, seeing through Murphy's emotions. She had less to say.
Murphy responded with slight surprise to Oliver's sharp question..
‘······From what I hear, it seems like they are trying to resume business with some nobles on their backs. There may be a reason to eliminate competitors in advance..’
‘like······.’
It was a bit of an interesting story. As far as Oliver knows, the human meat chef was funded by the popular faction in the past. But, the remnants of the nobles and the human meat cooks, who are the opposite of the popular faction, are joining hands..
‘One side needs money and the other side needs support. That's not surprising. This is what happens in the world.’
‘okay.’
‘hmm······. And I have one more thing to tell you. I wondered if I should tell you because I thought it would be presumptuous, but I thought it was right to tell you. If I was rude, I apologize in advance..’
‘? What is it?’
‘Mr. Dave... There are also rumors going around that it has something to do with the human meat chef..’
As soon as he remembered Murphy's question, Oliver opened his eyes and returned to reality..
The process of earning a legacy as a human meat chef, says Murphy. Some people said that Oliver's appearance was the second coming of a human meat chef..
Beheading, which can be said to be the trademark of a human meat chef.),
Seeing the power that shatters a huge fist with his bare body.
At the time, the situation in front of me was so urgent that I couldn't pay attention to it, but as soon as I heard that story, Oliver felt like it was a mistake..
‘I didn't say this to hear what you had to say. Everyone has secrets. However, please be aware that such rumors are also spreading..’
Thanks to Murphy's consideration, Oliver was able to obtain information without being silent or lying..
It was a great repayment for my help..
“hmm······. First, shall we go back to Landa??”
Oliver briefly considered returning to Landa instead of attending the party he had promised today..
The party I decided to attend was nominally a party to collect donations for the reconstruction of Laville, but in reality, it was a private organization that discovered the legacy of the human meat chef. In other words, it was a party to praise Millieu..
Oliver was also invited to the event. by the paladin.
Considering the overall situation, it was wise in many ways not to attend and to leave..
Although it was unlikely that the Paladin would harm Oliver, there was nothing good about Oliver becoming involved with the Paladin while he was earning the title of Finger..
But Oliver soon gave up on that idea..
Personally, I was reluctant to break my promise, and more than anything, I was interested in that paladin..
What should I say? It was a type of paladin I had never seen before..
As a Paladin, he does not have the wariness, hatred, confidence bordering on arrogance, or sense of superiority towards warlocks that he usually has..
Oliver wondered why such a paladin had called him..
“Well, you better keep your promise..”
Oliver weighed the risks and the curiosity and decided to stay, making good use of the extra time he had before attending the party today..
Oliver immediately got to work..
“big mouth.”
Oliver called out, taking out the Big Mouse from the leather case behind his waist..
At Oliver's call, Big Mouse's body swelled as usual, and eyes and limbs sprouted all over its body..
“Grurrururuk.”
Big Mouse, whose stomach was much fuller than usual, let out a dull sound..
The reason for this was because the human meat cook had swallowed half of the enormous hidden inheritance, and its capacity had almost reached its limit..
Well, Big Mouth looked happy though..
“Guruk!”
“big mouth.”
“Gururuk?”
When Oliver called, Big Mouse narrowed his clam-like eyes and became alert..
He did this because he was afraid that he would be asked to vomit out the gold bars, cash, and jewelry he had swallowed..
In fact, Oliver told Big Mouse to stop eating because he thought it was too much for him to swallow alone, but Big Mouse refused Oliver's advice, saying he could eat it all. In the end, the entire legacy of the human meat chef was swallowed up..
With the power of a glutton’s innate desire for material goods and greed for food,.
Obviously, Big Mouth's share is one gold bar and a bunch of bills. Even though I said it was one of the most faded gems..
Oliver let down Big Mouth's guard for work..
“Do not worry. Big Mouth. Because I called you for something else..”
“Rolling?”
“book. Could you take it out??”
At Oliver's request, Big Mouse's expression changed and he happily opened the zipper made of human teeth and started spitting out the contents..
“GUWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
The contents were none other than the devil's book, and during the few days he stayed here in Gallos, Oliver read all the devil's books in the flesh cook's safe and copied down the important contents..
For example, how to summon a specific demon, or an analysis of demon summoning..
There were more practical and direct stories than the devil's book I read earlier, but there were some quite interesting stories..
The most interesting story among them was one that analyzed summoning the devil, and found that the most important thing in summoning the devil was neither a ritual nor a sacrifice, but the will of the devil himself..
According to the content, no matter how well the rituals are performed and the precious sacrifices offered, if the devil is not interested, summoning is impossible..
No matter how precious an ant sacrifices to itself, it makes no difference to a person. He put forward the theory that people just respond according to their interest at the time..
‘Then, why did all the demons who responded to the summons so far, including the one who was burned, respond??’
Oliver had a small question, but quickly pushed the thought aside..
Because the work I'm about to do now isn't about thinking about that..
Oliver found a book among the piles of books that Big Mouth had taken out..
It was none other than the devil's book that Oliver first obtained, and the book full of blank pages he obtained from Edith..
Oliver looked at the book in question, looked at the devil's book that he had already read once, and then spoke to Edith's book..
“It's meal time.”
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