Genius Warlock-Episode 659
659. dawn (2)
A welfare center located in Landa W district. poor brothers.
Recently, the place was as busy as any other organization or institution in Randa..
The reason was none other than the Pied Piper..
It's hard to believe, but the Pied Piper invaded Landa alone, causing unprecedented damage in Landa's history in less than an hour..
Swarms of rats and zombies were rampant in the city, and numerous casualties and victims occurred regardless of social status..
Welfare centers that received subsidies from the city had a duty to deal with these situations, and the poor brothers' welfare centers were no exception to this, so they had to work night, night, and overtime every day..
(This was also the reason I stayed there until the morning sun rose.)
Thanks to this, the people at the welfare center were so tired that they stopped saying anything other than what was absolutely necessary..
Silence steeped in fatigue.
But there was a change in the silence..
“A wizard really came from the magic tower.?”
“You idiot, you're not just a wizard..”
“then?”
Everyone is busy working, but aren't they stopping and talking to each other?.
Even middle managers, who were supposed to crack the whip and encourage work motivation, joined in..
I thought everyone had gone crazy due to the continuous overtime work, but when I looked into it more closely, I found out that wasn't the case. because-
“-He's not just a magic tower wizard. It's an archive, an archive! Archmage Archives!!”
It was because the archive came to visit..
The pinnacle of wizards, the only one called the Great Wizard, the wizard with the highest reputation whose authority is recognized and respected by even kings and the Church of Pater, and at the same time, the most secretive wizard..
Such a wizard had personally visited the Poor Brothers Welfare Foundation here..
So, I had to stop what I was doing and understand that it was so messy that even the director's office could be heard..
Of course, it was right for the general manager of the welfare center to apologize for this uproar..
“Sorry for being so noisy. Archive······. grand master?”
Cant apologized to the customer against the backdrop of a faint murmur coming from beyond the door. I was a bit confused as to how to address myself..
The customer responded to this.
“no. I was the one who came here on my own... Just call me Merlin..”
“Is that okay??”
“Of course. Instead, may I call you Mr. Cant??”
“It's an honor.”
cant accept.
Because the Archmage Archive was like that. He acts directly, but he does not······.
correction.
Landara was a global power beyond the city. He just exists.
Cant, which mainly handles bottom-line information, cannot even sense it..
The only thing Cant knew was that it was the (Sentai) Archive that actually built the Magic Tower, and furthermore, only speculative information that it may have been involved in the creation of Landa..
Like many urban legends spread all over the place..
However, unlike other rumors, the difference was that it was plausible..
Anyway, what Cant was trying to say was that it wasn't normal for the archive to come here in person and be kind enough to call me by name..
That's why I was worried about Cant. Because it meant that if it was something out of the ordinary, something big had happened..
Whether in a good or bad way, it's probably too much for someone like Cant to handle..
Cant confirmed that point right away..
“Mr. Merlin. Can I ask you a straightforward question??”
Merlin nodded, taking a sip of his coffee..
“Is the reason you came here because I was investigating the closure of the area??”
Instead of hiding his mistakes, he revealed them first..
It was a decision he made because he believed that the archive's intelligence and information network were superior to his own..
There was nothing in the world more dangerous than a clumsy snag, so it was better to go out with confidence..
At least the damage can be reduced.
Merlin opened his mouth..
“That's not why I came here.”
“It means you knew..”
Cant looked at the blank spaces in a puzzle and inferred information from the answers like putting together other pieces..
“I learned it naturally while working. Personally, I don't think it's a bad move. It's an individual's right to prepare for danger..”
Even though Cant didn't have the eyes of a warlock to see through emotions, he could tell that he was speaking from the heart..
If I had come to investigate a mistake or give a warning, I wouldn't be so polite. No, there would not have been an official visit before that. It would be more comfortable if I came secretly without anyone seeing me..
Then there was only one reason left..
“Is there something you would like to ask me??”
A question I asked even though I couldn't believe it. Merlin answered with silence, and that was enough of an answer..
“By any chance, do you have a question about Zeno??”
Zenon. To be more precise, Xenon Bright. Currently, this is the name Oliver uses at the Magic Tower..
“How did you know??”
“That's all the archivist would ask me..”
“That's correct. may I ask?”
“If I can give you an answer... Instead, may I ask the archive a question??”
“Well then, how about we take turns asking each other questions??”
Merlin readily accepted. Instead, he took the first question.
“Zeno: Could you please tell me how you first met that child??”
Cant did not panic and answered Merlin's question calmly..
The time when I first saw Oliver being held captive by the gangsters in Area.
Cant kicked out those thugs and brought Oliver into his gang..
“Let me tell you why I helped you.?”
“What reason could there be? Let's just say it's nonsense. Isn’t it strange that there is a reason to help a child in trouble??”
“Well, that's right... It's strange that there is a reason.”
“We are the ones who actually received help..”
Cant recalled the first time Oliver used black magic in the sewers and how he defeated the black magician named Puppet alone..
A truly shocking sight. But the most shocking thing was the last word..
‘I miss you. I want to see what Cant will do with that money. So just accept it.’
He remembered the time Oliver gave him money..
What would have happened if that money had been used for personal gain? Did the child smile??
“Can I ask a question this time??”
“tell me.”
“Can you tell us why some areas are being closed down in Landa now? Is it a plague or a zombie??”
“no.”
flinch.
When Merlin shook his head, Cant flinched..
It was an expected answer, but since the speaker was the speaker, I unconsciously reacted more seriously..
“then······.”
“Currently, an abnormal phenomenon that cannot be defined has been observed in the Magic Tower..”
“anomaly?”
“exactly. An abnormal phenomenon that not even a decent wizard could withstand. There are cracks in the ground and buildings, and an unknown force is flowing through the cracks and contaminating the surroundings. This is also the reason why paladins were mobilized..”
Just as Cant was about to ask what that something was, Merlin asked the question half a beat faster..
There were no complaints since it was Merlin's turn, but the content was the problem..
I'm more interested in it than just a strange phenomenon in the city, and I'm suspicious of its origins. At least that was the question for Cant..
“Zeno: Tell me what you think of that child.?”
“······?!”
Cant was speechless..
What do you think of Oliver? Not only is it not something that can be easily answered, but I was suspicious of the intention of the question before that..
That's why Cant ignored the rules and spoke his honest thoughts..
“Why are you asking that? Mr. Merlin.”
“······That's what I'm asking to answer that question. Mr. Cant, what do you think of Zeno?.”
A short but meaningful question.
When Cant heard that question, he remembered the time in the past when one of his arms was cut off by a druid..
Blood spurting, broken ribs. While I was not surprised to lose my mind right away, a stranger appeared and said.
‘You mentioned it earlier, right? He might be the person who saved the world once. That's why I saved you once..’
Even if I think about it now, it's like a riddle that I can't understand. But paradoxically, Cant seemed to know who this meant..
oliver.
He pointed to the child whose intuition surpasses reason, logic, and rationality..
cant open his mouth.
“He may look clumsy, but he is smarter than anyone else. Although he looks weak, he is stronger than anyone else, he looks blunt, but he is kinder than anyone else, and he always tries to go in the right direction... He's that kind of kid..”
“That's all?”
Merlin asked as if he could see right through me. Actually, Cant didn't say everything he thought..
“There's more, but it's presumptuous so I won't tell you about it..”
“······.”
“So this time, Mr. Merlin, please speak. Why did you ask that question??”
Cant unconsciously gave strength to the quarter staff in his hand..
“Why did you ask me what I think of Zeno??”
“hmm······. Before answering, can I talk about something else first??”
Cant looked at Merlin. No way, I'm trying to avoid answering... It didn't seem to be.
Because I told him that the insight I gained during the real estate boom as a problem solver was not the insight I gained from being a beggar. Even if it wasn't, there was nothing Cant could do. So Cant asked me to say it first..
“What is?”
“About what was found in the cracks of the city.”
“? ······Didn't you say that's something even the Magic Tower couldn't explain??”
“The Magic Tower did, but not me..”
“ah.”
Cant let out an exclamation. Kind of a pun. However, I didn't question it because it wasn't wrong..
No, there was something more important than arguing..
“What was found in the crack?”
The answer was beyond imagination.
“hell.”
“······hell?”
“Or, you could say it is the remnants of the great disaster. The great disaster that occurred before the current Landa was built..”
“How can you be so sure??”
“Because I'm an archiver. Because the person who eliminated that catastrophe and laid the foundation for Landa was the archive in front of me. I have his memories..”
I heard it once.
It is said that many politicians, capitalists, and wizards collaborated to establish Landa, but it is a kind of legend that the key figure among them must have been different..
It wasn't strange. Stories like this were bound to be accompanied by various rumors..
Also, the grand plan to erase the traces of the catastrophe and build a new city was more likely to be centered around one individual rather than many people..
Because the reckless and dangerous path was taken alone, not with others..
For example, like trying to establish the first black magic school in the Mage Tower..
Cant didn't know how to react to this outrageous story. It was so surprising that I became calm..
But I really can't help but do something..
Cant asked the most fundamental question.
“Why did the Archive cleanse the land that had become useless due to the catastrophe and establish Landa here?.”
Merlin held up two fingers. She was the index and middle finger.
“first. This land has not been purified. I just covered it up.”
“Covered it??”
“second. The reason Landa was created by covering the catastrophe was to set the stage..”
“What a stage. What on earth is that... Whose stage is this??”
“Oliver. It's his stage..”
***
When the morning sunlight drove away the darkness and illuminated the world, the armies gathered one by one around the small towns of the Aizan Kingdom..
The army had different flags and uniforms, as if claiming to be a union of several countries, and the atmosphere of the army was also very chaotic in proportion to the chaos..
To be exact, the king, prince, or royal family who came with the army was in disarray..
The reason why these people who called themselves born with noble blood were in such disarray was because their original plan went drastically wrong..
The plan to subdue the Pied Piper... More precisely, it was because the plan to just spoon the Pied Piper without fighting him went awry..
The reason was none other than the disappearance of the most core hero, Landa..
Landa's hero must defeat the Pied Piper on their behalf..
The paladins said they left because they had something to find out (despite being summoned by the cardinal priest and the king)..
So the kings and princes of each kingdom, or their relatives, who had come with armies and boasted that they would defeat the Pied Piper, were gathered in a cramped space like a flock of crows trapped in a cage..
In response to Cardinal Roderick, the initiator of this plan,.
“Cardinal priest. What do you plan to do now? It was you who told me to come with an army.?”
“exactly. We can't keep leaving the army alone... What if the Pied Piper appears again??”
“Something needs to be done quickly.”
Adults who were quite old were holding Cardinal Priest Roderick and whining like a child..
It wasn't something I couldn't understand..
If the kings of small kingdoms, whose authority has been shattered for hundreds of years because of the Pied Piper, return here without being able to do anything, or if they encounter the Pied Piper, their authority, which was already on the rise, will decline even further and they will be thrown underground..
Nowadays, the country is barely being maintained thanks to the support of the Paterism..
If something like that were to happen, the country might no longer be able to maintain itself even with the support of the Paterism..
What this meant was that, unlike the calm morning sunlight shining outside, the lives of countless small royal families in the center of the continent were now as if their lives were at stake..
It was unfair. They just followed the opinions of the cardinal priests and nuns..
However, the chief priest who actually insisted on the plan was silent..
Someone who couldn't bear it anymore shouted and asked.
“Is it true that he appears again??”
Roderick, who had been quietly listening to those words, finally opened his mouth..
“I'll be back. I'm not sure when that was though.”
“maybe? Amara said that?!”
The royals who came with the army shouted angrily..
Even in decline, a king is a king. I've never been treated like this before.
At that time, a nun wearing a black priestly robe who was standing behind Cardinal Roderick intervened..
“he will definitely come back.”
The heated atmosphere inside calmed down for an instant..
“······Really?”
“Yes, I promise..”
That was the influence of the nuns here in the center of the continent..
Because they take responsibility for the people's livelihood, which they cannot do in the kingdom. Also, the royal family and nobles who were secretly suffering from unknown diseases were treated through prayer..
When the kings regained calm thanks to the nun's intervention, a shrewd-looking man spoke up. It was Balor, the king of the Aizan Kingdom..
He spoke in the same tone even if it were a chicken instead of a pheasant..
“First, let's kill the warlocks..”
“warlock?”
“exactly. Cardinal priest. Warlock... Aren't there people taken prisoner??”
Captured Warlock.
They were none other than refugee warlocks, who surrendered thanks to Oliver's persuasion and numerous creatures..
In the midst of suffering great damage from Roderi and dozens of Holy Knights, Oliver intervened and encouraged them to surrender, and currently, they were all disarmed and isolated according to Oliver's wishes..
“First, let's kill them all with the troops gathered here. Wasn't that the original plan??”
It was true, and to be more honest, it was an annual event..
An annual event unique to the center of the continent that raises the authority of the kingdom that fell to the Pied Piper by punishing other warlocks..
Roderick also remained faithful to that tradition, but this time his reaction was different..
“That's not possible.”
“why?”
“Because the real owner of those warlocks is different..”
“······the warlock?”
“That's right. majesty. This is something I already promised him. Now, if you kill people arbitrarily, there will be problems..”
Roderick spoke calmly to the numerous kings. But they seemed to have no intention of complying..
“doesn't care! Anyway, he is a lowly warlock... If you dare to make kings wait at will,-”
-Yiiiiiiiiiiit profit!!
While the king, who was afraid of the Pied Piper but looked down on other warlocks, was speaking, a huge sound that shook the entire building was heard from above the sky..
Sounds like it's not of this world.
Every animal in the city screamed, and even the proud kings got up from their chairs and ran to the windows..
Thanks to that, they were able to see. A shadow cast over the entire city. The giant beast that created the shadow.
“Yo, it's a dragon······.”
Oliver returned to this city riding a dark red dragon..
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