Genius Warlock-Episode 632
632. defection (1)
The city of Landa, built on top of it after the Great Plague, had various nicknames despite its short history..
It may seem strange at first glance, but it is completely natural..
Although its history is short, through freedom and innovation, the kingdom has reached a point where it can safely be called the economic capital of the world..
And the nickname representing Landa was none other than Free City..
free city landa.
Although it is one-dimensional, it could be said to be a name that reflects Landa's characteristics very well..
This city, which was built at great risk, was not interfered with by anyone, including the royal family or the central council..
Therefore, although ‘Free City’ is simple, it has established itself as a second name that can be intuitively understood by the general public..
However, there are people in this world who are not popular. They called Landa differently..
More in line with Landa's characteristics. For example, a city of wealth and violence.
Landa was wealthy enough to attract all the goods in the world, but instead, violence was rampant due to yin and yang... No, the expression “representative” may be inappropriate..
Because wealth gathers, violence may be rampant..
Anyway, Landa had many other names..
Megacities, cities of opportunity and crisis, cities that eat cities, corrupt but capable cities, etc..
Everyone who lives in Landa has experienced this nickname at least once, and it is still the same even now that the Pied Piper has swept away..
A corrupt but capable city..
“her····. Does this city care about poor people like us??”
One of the poor Landa residents said as he looked at the group of officials who had come to clean up the damage..
Landa's city council members responded quickly to the disaster across the city, whether in upper, middle or lower class districts..
The usual political strife disappeared, and all capabilities were focused on suppressing the spread of damage and recovery in the city, regardless of region..
Even using some of the slush funds I had saved up,.
Well, for it to last for a long time, the city had to be in good condition..
Whatever the reason, thanks to this, the looting and violence that occurred mainly in the slums gradually subsided, and the chaos in the city gradually subsided, just as swarms of rats appeared as if they were lying..
In the process, all of Landa's public officials, including police, soldiers, and even hygiene department employees, worked overtime without any specific dates, but no one complained..
Since city council members and even the minister were working overtime, it was impossible for a civil servant to complain..
In this way, Landa's official rulers proved why they are Landa's masters..
Not only the media within Landa, but even the media outside of Landa are impressed..
But what made the city of Landa truly great was that it had the ability to go beyond just repairing damage; it also knew how to take advantage of the damage..
‘I want to take care of the big gangs and warlords in the small towns around Landa..’
A city council member made a request to the entourage that followed the prince and remained in the city..
An act that clearly violates the city agreement. Of course, it couldn't proceed like this haphazardly..
In the general case.
‘I have no authority..’
‘I know. But isn’t this a special situation? Couldn't the gang take advantage of this chaos to attack Landa? no! We will definitely attack you! Even when Landa was fine, these guys attacked trucks going to and from Landa, but now they're terrible..’
‘I said it was not my authority.!’
‘Why are you going to say that I have no authority even if some crazy people harm the prince??’
‘Are you threatening me??!’
‘What a threat! Anyone who hears will think we are holding the prince captive. If the prince doesn't go, isn't it because he chose to??’
‘grunt····!’
‘All we ask is that you close your eyes for a moment so that we can better protect the prince's safety. I don't even ask for permission. All I'm asking is for the Secret Service to take a walk. As soon as the prince went out of Landa, those crazy people knew what they would do.?’
The city council members tried to persuade each and every member of the prince's entourage, and in the end, some who did not want to take the risk reported the matter to the capital and were told to turn a blind eye for a while..
Permission, not permission.
However, that was enough for Landa, and the city council secretly dispatched the collared superhumans from the Security Bureau and the New Gentlemen to the gangs and warlords in the surrounding small towns that were wreaking havoc right before their eyes. It caused enormous damage and broke its momentum..
Naturally, the city requested a newspaper and announced the fact on a large scale..
Except that the city was involved, and small-town armed groups suffered greatly..
This bit of good news can help us divert our attention from the disaster right in front of us..
And that wasn't the end.
‘Now that things have come to this, we will also proceed with the project that has been lagging.?’
An emergency response headquarters created to deal with the damage caused by Landa. Paul Carver, the Minister of the Interior in charge, first proposed it in front of city council members..
‘Minister. What does that mean?.’
‘Please turn to page 7 of the damage report. How is it?’
‘It's terrible.’
‘Yes, it's terrible. Human and material damage covering all levels of social status... However, thanks to this, those who hindered the project also suffered great damage..’
‘The project to incorporate all administrations into the world tree?’
‘That's right. A project to transform Landa into a single machine by collaborating with the Magic Tower that has secured Eve to incorporate all city-related administrations, including city administration, finance, and trade, into the World Tree. I'm sure you all remember the examples here..’
‘Just remember. I also gained support because of that..’
‘But when I started, it wasn't easy. Surprisingly, the heads of each field did not want to go that far..’
‘I just want to use the World Tree, I don’t want to be tied down. Also, even without the World Tree, he is already in the top position..’
‘Exactly, that's it. Thanks to this, unlike what was announced with Landa, the progress of the project itself was slow. But, a cause arose. Each bank record and trade transaction record was lost to swarms of rats and zombies..’
‘Let's make recording mandatory on the World Tree for safety reasons.?’
‘Now is the right time, when the entire city is in disarray and the opposition's strength has weakened. It would be better to just force it to happen like this..’
Carver, the Minister of the Interior of the city of Landa, was planning to rob empty houses at a time when the floods were coming and everyone was trying to clean up their homes..
It's not that strange in Landa, where there are all kinds of crazy people, but if it was a spectacle, it had a different meaning..
The problem was that the city council members accepted it without a moment of hesitation, as if they were the ones who appointed that crazy guy..
‘It's not bad?’
‘Well, now is the best time. Stealing is always done in a burning house..’
‘If you want to get elected in the next election, you have to show some results..’
‘Even if something goes wrong, all you have to do is kick out the head of the emergency response headquarters..’
That last statement bothered me, but the important thing is that I took the risk and the city council members accepted it..
As soon as permission was given, Carver went ahead with the work as planned, as the chaos had not subsided..
Even if it means using a little abuse of power and violence when necessary. First of all, if the result was good, I would eat half of it and go in..
“Is that why the city is so noisy??”
Black magic school. A meeting held to establish the Bright School. Forrest asked.
At the table where Forrest was sitting were Professor Kevin, the representative of Magic Tower, Carver, the Minister, and Oliver, who was the centerpiece of the room but was also a hunchback..
These four. Excluding Oliver, the three established a system for the full-fledged creation of the Bright School, including the organizational form, system, and benefits to be provided..
The reason Oliver was excluded here was because the other three did a good job so I just left it to him..
Carver answered Forrest's question..
“Yes, I was in a high position and I felt like I lost a lot of sense. I thought that if I pressed with just the right amount of force, he would look at the situation and pretend that he couldn't win, but even then, he resisted with all his might..”
Carver explained that other rulers of the city who opposed the city project had united to oppose the World Tree administrative system, using violence and lobbying on the dark side and the media on the positive side..
The city is trying to take away freedom by joining in with the wizards..
“The freedom they talk about means tax evasion, performance manipulation, and embezzlement of subsidies by exploiting administrative loopholes..”
“Minister.”
Kevin, who was helping establish the Bright School on behalf of Magic Tower while also working as a professor, immediately called Carver. he looked tired.
“Yes, professor.”
“That's enough of an introduction, what's the main point??”
A quick question from Kevin. Carver wasn't offended. The color of his skin meant little to him if he was useful to the city, and he had figured out that there was no malice thanks to several meetings..
Rather, Carver took matters into his own hands with ease..
“We need to divert media attention to counter the opposition, so can we take advantage of what we're doing now??”
Carver pointed to various documents piled on the table..
The intention is to promote the creation of the Bright School on a large scale in the media and push out those who oppose the World Tree tracking system..
At first glance, it didn't seem like a bad story, but Kevin and Forrest shook their heads at the same time as if they had made a promise..
“I'm in trouble.”
“It doesn't work.”
A blunt Kevin, a smiling Forrest. Their facial expressions were completely opposite, but both had a firmness that made it seem as if not a single tooth would sink in..
Even the minister had to step down..
“Establishing a school of black magic is a matter of interest, but it also raises concerns. We haven't even finished talking with the Pater Church yet, but if we announce it, there will be more than enough interest..”
“I also agree. And Dave doesn't want any more attention than he needs..”
“He's already been announced as the city's hero, so would there be any problem with adding a little more? More than anything, it is a school. They're trying to establish a school of black magic, but they don't want attention. Isn’t it a bit antinomy??”
“This is a friend who, even though he worked as a troubleshooter in the back world, returned 3 trillion won worth of money to the owner without stealing it. You can't try to think rationally..”
When Forrest mentioned the ABC incident in the past, Carver remained silent..
Although some time had passed, it was a past incident, but the ABC incident still remained in everyone's mind..
3Because it was an incident where Joe almost evaporated. Of course, Oliver, who found the money, also remained in everyone's mind..
Because I just returned it instead of stealing it. It would have made more sense to just eat and run..
Oh, of course, I didn't necessarily do the job as a troubleshooter for the money, but it was usually done for the money..
Oliver didn't notice because he didn't care, but it was a headache that people who work in this field talk about again and again..
So much so that one civil servant rose to the level of minister. If I explained it any further, my mouth would only hurt..
The person who had benefited more than anyone else was convinced and withdrew cleanly..
“As expected, it was too much. All right. I guess I'll have to look for more news..”
“Is anything okay??”
Oliver, who had been writing something on the table earlier, suddenly asked:.
“It has to grab people's attention, so I put it in the 'anything' category, but yes, the content doesn't matter. It's better to be positive if possible.”
“okay.”
“By any chance, is it related to what you were writing about earlier??”
During the meeting, Carver glanced at what Oliver had been writing and asked a question..
The paper contained various technical terms, diagrams, and mechanical blueprints..
“No, that's not it. This is just for a gift.”
“For gift?”
“Yes, it also includes a gift for Mr. Carver..”
Unknown words. Just as Carver was about to ask what Oliver meant, he stood up, taking the paper he had been using..
“Excuse me, but can I get up first??”
Oliver's movements seemed somewhat uncomfortable, as the effects of his injury had not yet gone away..
Forrest, Kevin, and Carver, who saw this, all let him go without asking why. There was nothing Oliver did at the meeting itself anyway..
After receiving permission, Oliver expressed his gratitude and left the conference room, following the hallway to the Forest Restaurant..
Perhaps because it was lunch time, there were many customers, and the employees were busy in proportion to the number of customers..
Oliver took a quick look at the scene, said hello to Al, the restaurant manager, and then went outside the restaurant and started walking on the sidewalk in Section T..
Following a different path than usual.
Jeez. Jeez. Jeopuk.
Oliver, who was walking a different path than usual, gradually headed towards a deserted place, and after a while, he stopped and spoke into the air..
“Could you please come out now??”
There was no response for a few seconds, but as Oliver continued to wait, someone emerged from beneath the shadowy ground..
It was a concealment technique using shadows, and he seemed to be a black magician specializing in shadow manipulation among the black magic manipulation series. My skills were pretty good.
He wore a large hood covering his face and opened his mouth..
A foreigner's unique, awkward tone came out..
“Since when did you notice this??”
“From the time you came to eat at the restaurant. You kept trying to look inside using the shadows.?”
“As expected, that's where you interfered..”
“Because I'm very shy.”
Oliver kindly answered each question one by one. At least there is no malicious intent to cause harm. Still, it was true that it was suspicious, so he couldn't help but ask about its identity..
“I'm sorry, but who are you??”
“Before answering, can I ask one more question??”
Very polite attitude. Oliver nodded..
“Are you Dave? A troubleshooter on street number 30 in Landa T area. Dave the Lumberjack.”
It wasn't a nickname he particularly wanted, but Oliver said yes..
As soon as he heard it, the warlock made up his mind, came over to him, and knelt down in front of Oliver..
“please save us.”
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