Genius Warlock-Episode 656
656. night (2)
“dad!”
A child walking in the forest with a man shouted.
A voice so innocent.
Just from that voice, I could tell how much love the child received..
As if to prove this, the child ran forward vigorously and placed one hand horizontally above his eyebrows..
“dad! Look over there! It's a village!”
“really?”
“Ahem! Of course not!”
In response to the man's question, the child put both hands on his hips and snorted..
The man naturally placed his hand on the child's head and stroked it, then placed his hand horizontally above the eyebrow, just like the child..
“That's a city, not a village.”
“It's a little small?”
“Because it’s a small city... My eyes have gotten better.”
“Hehe, of course... Is there any work??”
“maybe. When people live together, there is work..”
“There is work to do.!”
The child copied the man's words exactly. Just from that sight alone, I could see how much the child loved the man..
“But it's okay if you don't have it.”
“why?”
“If you don't have it, you can take a break for a while..”
“It's not that I don't have money?”
“guy! Why don't I have money?.”
“Because my dad always gives me money when I work.!”
“you idiot. When times are difficult, we help each other. Anyway, I'm not short of money.”
“Then, can I buy you snacks??”
“of course. Don't buy it for me.”
“hurray! Let's go quickly!”
After a short conversation, the child and the man walked towards the city in the distance..
And Oliver watched in silence..
It's amazing that the Pied Piper has a child, and it's amazing that he smiles.
When Oliver saw him, there was definitely a trace of a smile on his face, but it was hard to imagine him smiling..
Just like the dead can't come back alive..
But he had a more natural smile than anyone else in the past..
Oliver followed behind the Pied Piper and the Child to continue seeing the amazing sight..
The father and son arrived in the city after a long walk and, using their amazing eloquence, were able to immediately meet the mayor..
“I really want to catch all the rats that are a nuisance to this city.?”
“Yes, not a single one is left behind. I promise.”
“I promise!”
A child intervened in the conversation between the Pied Piper and the mayor, raising one hand. The mayor looked at the child and asked.
“······My son?”
“yes.”
“I heard a rumor. Ratcatcher traveling with his son.”
“Then you must have heard of my skills..”
“I also heard a rumor that he was a warlock..”
“Black magic is also a discipline originally created to help humans. You can treat diseases and recover corpses..”
“It is true that the perception is not good. If a rumor spreads that you borrowed the power of a warlock, it would be a little dangerous..”
“You don't have to leave it if you don't want to..”
“······.”
“But I'm willing to accept the risk if it costs money..”
“Well then, half of the amount... Please cut it in half.”
“All right.”
“······Seriously?”
“Yes, we have to help each other in times of trouble..”
When the mayor, prepared to hear a refusal, asked the question, the piper answered and immediately went out to the square, took out his flute, and started playing..
The melody heard in Landa echoed throughout the city..
A contradictory and strange flute sound that is not of this world, with sadness overlaid on a lively and happy melody..
However, the sound of the flute I heard now was not filled with gloomy sadness, but rather a much more beautiful and natural melody..
Hearing the ear-piercing sound, the people of the city suddenly put their heads out one by one to look at the Pied Piper, and then the rats that were hiding all over the city came pouring out..
“mouse, hold!”
City people astonished by swarms of rats rushing in like a tide.
The Pied Piper continued to play his flute and walked to the river near the city to drown the rats..
The wondrous sight drew all the attention of the city to him..
“What kind of magic did you do??!”
“It's not a big deal, it's a talent..”
“All the rats are really gone!”
“Because I promised.”
“The sound of the flute is very beautiful..”
“Thank you for your words.”
Adults are like that too, kids are no different..
“wow! It's your dad?”
“of course!”
“How did you do it?”
“Because my dad!”
“You know how to play the flute too?”
“then! this is my flute!”
“I travel every day?”
“huh. everyday!”
“Do you happen to be your father's disciple??”
“I don't know!”
“Please accept me as your disciple! I want to learn too!”
“You have a dad too, right? I also have a pretty mom?”
The piper treated the man with humility like an adult, and the son was proud like a child..
However, even for a moment.
“Here's the promised money..”
“thank you Mayor.”
When the mayor handed over the promised money, the Pied Piper left without delay..
Even though the market tried to catch it.
“Isn’t wandering life difficult? If it's okay with you, how about settling here? If you're good at playing the flute and handling mice, you'll be able to live comfortably here..”
“I appreciate the offer, but I will only accept your heart. I want to travel with my son..”
The Pied Piper stroked the child's head and set off on his journey again..
Spring is coming.
“Daddy Butterfly.”
“You shouldn't touch a butterfly with bare hands. I'm blind.”
“really?!”
“It is a lie.”
“dad!”
Summer is coming.
“Hehe. Hehe. Why is it so hot in summer?”
“Because the sun is getting closer.”
“really?!”
“It is a lie.”
“Dad!”
Autumn is coming.
“Dad, here’s the acorn! Twinkle big!”
“Why do you collect acorns?.”
“Because there are acorns there.”
Even when winter comes.
“Dad it's cold.”
“How about giving me a hug like this? It's warm?”
“It's warm!”
“······are you all right?”
“huh! Traveling with dad is fun!”
I continued to travel without stopping,
In the process, the Pied Piper and the Child saw many things..
A feast of beautiful stars embroidering the sky, rivers dyed in silver, wheat fields dyed in gold, various animals living in the forest, and even a traveling theater troupe encountered by chance on the street..
Of course, not all of them were beautiful and amazing..
“Dad look over there!”
The child pointed ahead while walking down the street..
It was quite far away, so it was hard for an average person to see what was there, but the child, the Pied Piper, and Oliver, who was walking behind them, were able to see it..
“who's lying on the road!”
It was a corpse.
Corpses killed by swords and arrows. It seemed like he was attacked by highway robbers..
The Pied Piper reflexively covered the child's eyes..
“That thing is dead?”
The child asked, lowering the Pied Piper's hand with his small hand..
The Pied Piper paused for a moment at the unexpected question, but soon answered..
“······okay. Where did you hear that? Dying?”
“In town. He said his father died there. He got sick... what is dying?”
“······That's it.”
After thinking about it, the Pied Piper walked forward with the child..
As expected, there were several corpses on the road, as if they had been killed by highway robbers..
“Lying down?”
“Falling asleep and never being able to wake up.”
“forever?”
“forever. It means it will never happen again. So I can't breathe, I can't move, I can't eat, I can't talk..”
“I like them all······.”
“That's why dying is sad.”
The Pied Piper finished speaking and took out a shovel from his robe..
Using an ordinary shovel with no special functions, he went off the path, picked a suitable piece of ground and started digging..
“What are you doing?”
“To bury me.”
“why?”
“Do you like covering yourself with a blanket when you sleep? I like sleeping without covering myself.?”
“Cover and sleep.”
“That's right.”
“Ah... I want to do it too!”
The child must have sensed something from the Pied Piper's words, and dug hard with the trowel the Pied Piper gave him..
It may have been thanks to that, but within a short period of time, several pits were created to bury people, and the Pied Piper tried to move the bodies..
“son. stop.”
“huh?”
The Pied Piper stopped the child from taking the wooden doll out of the corpse's arms. He also seemed to have a child..
The child stopped when his father, who always greeted him with a smile, looked stern..
The Pied Piper came in front of the stopped child and knelt down on one knee to be at eye level..
“You don't mess with dead people's things. that's theft.”
“But you're dead, right? I can't wake up forever... Then you don't need it?”
“It doesn't mean you don't know that you've fallen asleep forever. They can't wake up here, but they're watching us from somewhere else.”
“where?”
The child asked as if he was truly curious. Then the Pied Piper pointed up to the sky..
“Over there in heaven.”
“heaven······?”
The child raised his head and looked at the sky.
“like mom?”
“okay······. Mom is watching over us from heaven too. The same goes for the people who died here..”
“······.”
“What happens if you take things from people like that??”
The child was troubled..
“thievery······.”
“Should I do it then??”
“no.”
“That's right.”
The Pied Piper patted the child's head and then stood up..
The body was then buried and a brief prayer was said..
“Father in heaven. Your child is coming to see you today. Please have pity on us and have mercy on us, and give rest and peace to our brothers who have gone before us. mahalla.”
“······mahalla.”
A child repeating a prayer.
The Pied Piper started walking down the road again with the child, and Oliver followed behind him again..
The name of the Pied Piper became widely known.,
A popular name breeds jealousy,
Jealousy gives birth to rumors,
Rumors breed fear and greed,,
Until the fear and greed overtake the Pied Piper..
***
Excluding districts Y and Z, which were beyond Landa's administrative power, district W was the worst slum..
It was originally Area.
The name of the welfare center was Poor Brothers. It was not a fraudulent company pretending to be a welfare center, nor was it a tax evasion window for the wealthy..
It was a proper welfare organization that helped those who really needed help..
Evidence of this includes a soup kitchen that operates every day, temporary lodging that costs only half the price, and a job center in collaboration with the Redevelopment Association..
As a result, the welfare center's operating budget is tight. I should have done it, but I really didn't have to..
This was because a large amount of subsidies came from Landa City..
budget. In particular, this was unusual for Landa City, which is famous for its tight welfare budget. According to one theory, a strange rumor circulated that the chief manager of the welfare center here had connections with a tycoon who insisted on working 18 hours a day, rather than 16 hours. .(6 hours of sleep is enough.)
Ah, what a terrible and terrifying thought this is.?
Thanks to this, even the hyenas wandering around looking for something to eat did not dare to touch this welfare center..
Truly solid.
However, if you look closely, that wasn't really the case..
As if to prove that fact, frustrated groans came from the welfare center office..
The owner of this complaint was none other than Cant, who had established and operated a welfare center..
“hmm······. You didn't find out anything either.?”
“yes sorry.”
The shabby man answered. At first glance, it looked like a beggar, but in reality, it was a beggar. But if it was just a beggar, it wasn't like that..
Because he was a beggar who was in charge of one branch of the information network built by Cant for the poor brothers..
A vast amount of information covering an area gathered in his ears..
“I can't believe you didn't find out anything... I guess it's not normal.”
What Cant meant was none other than the area closure that is currently taking place in the city of Landa..
The Pied Piper's invasion left unprecedented and unusual damage throughout Landa, and even after a considerable amount of time had passed, the damage could not be fully recovered..
The reason was that due to the huge size of Landa, even if the entire Landa did its best to recover from the damage, remote and dangerous places had to be pushed to the bottom of the list..
But now, such a place was being closed down by Landa City and Magic Tower. The reason is unclear.
“Is there any reason why? At best, it's an epidemic, right? A swarm of rats and corpses must have been left behind by black magic..”
“The Pater Christians also joined in.?”
“Isn't that because zombies or something could appear??”
“Couldn’t that be sorted out with the Landa Defense Force and the Magic Tower Wizard? There is no way Landa City, which avoids external intervention, would borrow the power of the Pater Church to that extent. More than anything······.”
Cant rest for a beat. this was the key.
“······There's no way they can control that much information.?”
The beggar could not refute whether he agreed with Cant's words. She took a different approach instead.
“Still, I wonder if this will help..”
“······?”
“It's about finding out what the city wants to hide. After all, aren't the information-related matters being abandoned one by one after the establishment of the welfare center? It's dangerous..”
It was like that. After establishing a welfare center in exchange for one of his arms, Cant was organizing information networks using beggar gangs one by one..
It was a kind of selection and concentration..
If you continue to work in intelligence, you may be able to exert power and influence in the behind-the-scenes world, but on the other hand, it also means that you will be exposed to challenges and risks..
Cant's lost arm is the proof.
Cant could have taken that level of risk when he had a beggar gang, but now that he was running a welfare center, he decided he could no longer do that..
The purpose of gathering information was to help beggars and the poor. Now that we have a better means called welfare centers, the harm is greater than the benefit..
Because I could have flown all the way to the welfare center. So, Cant made the beggar information network independent one by one without causing confusion..
The beggar who knew the truth spoke quietly..
“I don't know why you're so obsessed with this issue..”
“······That's correct. stop investigating.”
“Oh no! That's not what I said again.······.”
The beggar was taken aback by Cant's bold decision..
“I'm not doing this because I'm upset either. You are right. It's because I did it because of my greed. I confused construction. You can stop researching..”
cant be serious.
The reason Cant investigated the matter was none other than Oliver..
The Pied Piper was a woman named Marie from the Redevelopment Association who first discovered the closed area..
Naturally, I couldn't help but think of Oliver, and for that reason, I forced myself to investigate..
I wonder if something will happen to that child..
However, Cant immediately reversed his decision after receiving advice from his subordinates..
As Cant himself said, we had to distinguish between public and private life, and more than anything, the child would not want this either..
this was right.
“It's really good. Just go away.”
“ah······. yes.”
The beggar thought he had said something pointless, but then walked away as if he had said something well..
Going after what Landa City had wrapped up tightly was a risky undertaking. It was right to stop here..
When the beggar left, Cant went back to work at the welfare center..
As expected from helping others, it was taxing, endless, and even boring, but Cant quietly carried on..
If you think about it as atonement for the sins you committed in the past, it was surprisingly worth doing..
However, the story changed after hearing that Oliver had left Landa to help the Cardinal Priest with his work..
It felt like I had a thorn under my fingernails, and I was constantly on edge, making it difficult to concentrate on work. What was even worse for her was that there was nothing she could do..
It was really funny. After the Pied Piper swept away, there were more meetings than ever before..
They say even a tiger will come when you tell it to, and someone else came to see Cant..
beep-
[Director.]
“what's going on?”
[A guest has arrived.]
“I would have said that today was difficult due to a backlog of work.?”
[that is······. Not a regular customer.]
Cant tilted his head..
There were times when unusual guests came to this welfare center, but they all came with a scheduled schedule. I feel sorry for the rest of the customers, but I wasn't that good of a person..
But it was an unusual guest suddenly visiting..
Cant was asking who it was, but it seemed like he was only bothering the poor office worker, so he told them to let him in for now..
The clerk answered and immediately let the customer in, and soon Cant was able to understand what the clerk meant..
“Hello. Nice to meet you.”
The Grand Wizard of the Magic Tower. It was Archive Merlin.
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