Oliver opened his eyes.
He looked at the clock and it was the same time as usual.
The only difference was that he was in a private room provided to senior disciples, so there were no other people around.
It was pleasant and quiet, something everyone in the family would dream of, unfortunately, Oliver didn't find much joy in this room.
Of course, it could not be denied that it was warmer and more comfortable to live in, but it was Oliver's personal experience that was not enough.
Just being a senior disciple means he had to stay here according to the rules.
Sometimes he even thought that the dormitory where several people lived was better.
At least there, as soon as he woke up, he could see various emotions, so he wasn't bored.
Until a few days ago, this kind of regret was evident, but not now.
Now when he puts strength in his eyes, he was able to see the emotions of the people in the other room through the wall, even though it was faint.
His eyes started to grow stronger during the few days of rest after returning from a battle against the wizard.
At first, it was like there was someone beyond the wall, but after the departure of Joseph, it got stronger.
He wondered if he could only read the emotions that are near him, but now he can cross several walls and briefly read the emotions of people in other rooms.
This kind of change was completely unexpected, but it was so interesting that Oliver woke up every morning and focused his attention on observing the emotions of others.
It was fun to use this power, and the more he practiced, the better his eye’s ability seems to get.
As his eyes grew tired, Oliver rubbed his eyes.
That's all for today.
After relaxing his eyes, Oliver got up, washed up in the sink installed on one side of the room, and took out the wizard's diary that he kept under the bed.
As a senior disciple, he was excluded from chores such as cleaning, so he had more time in the morning.
He had read this book several times already, but he still continued to read this diary, remembering the faint but beautiful light he had seen at that time.
He wondered if he could get any clues.
…….
KNOCK KNOCK
Oliver raised his head. A voice came through the door.
“Ah, Senior Oliver?
"Yes?"
"It's meal time…We have to go to work right after the meal. Is there anything wrong?"
Oliver checked his watch.
It was literally meal time.
He didn't notice the passage of time because he was looking at the diary, but he quickly put the diary under the bed and replied politely.
"I'm sorry. I'll be back soon."
“Ah, yes, yes, thank you.”
The voice behind the door spoke in a flustered manner.
The owner of the voice was a senior disciple who had dissatisfaction and jealousy toward Oliver, but he still supported Oliver well because he feared him even more.
Oliver soon got dressed, walked out the door, and ate, then he immediately assigned people from the production to delivery.
The junior disciples were entrusted with the tasks of breaking cigarettes, collecting tobacco, and finally collecting the empty cigarettes in a barrel, while the intermediate disciples worked on the primary and secondary distillation.
Lastly, the process of completely merging emotions into the herbal extract was left to the senior disciples, and Oliver took part in making the secondary distillate, which was carried out by the intermediate disciples.
The intermediate disciple he was working with suddenly spoke.
“I will do these chores.”
"Ah, I'm doing this because I want to. I've become a senior disciple, but I'm not completely familiar with this job… Will me doing this disturb your work?"
At Oliver's question, the intermediate disciple widened his eyes and shook his head and hands.
"No, no…! It’s not a disturbance. It's just that… I felt sorry for Senior Oliver, who was taking care of the family on master's behalf."
Oliver looked at the intermediate disciple's feelings.
There was a mixture of fear and discomfort, but to some extent what he said was true…
Oliver saw a group of junior disciples working on the ground, the intermediate disciples extracting distillate, and a senior disciple casting black magic on the distillate that had been processed.
“I won’t disturb you anymore. Then…”
Oliver continued his work while suddenly asking a question to the intermediate disciple.
"Excuse me."
"Yes!?"
The Intermediate disciple exclaimed loudly, wondering if he had done something wrong, he was frightened, but Oliver asked, gesturing that it was okay.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“What? Question?”
“Yes, A question.”
“…. I will try my best to give you an answer.”
“How did you end up here?”
After that, Oliver helped various people with their tasks in the production of distillate, and secretly asked questions one by one to the people responsible for those tasks.
How did you come to this place and how was your life before coming here?
Oliver himself didn't know the reason behind these questions.
If he had to explain it, he could only say it was his gut feeling.
Oliver thought if he were to listen to other people's stories, maybe he'll be able to get a better understanding of the Diary of the Lightning Wizard.
Most of them were wary of Oliver's sudden question, but Oliver did not force them to answer, and just asked them to speak comfortably.
Most of them had no choice but to speak to Oliver since he held the title as Joseph’s proxy while their backgrounds were both unfavorable and poor.
Thus, it was normal for them to answer.
Oliver listened to the stories of many people while he immersed himself in the work, till the work was almost finished.
Oliver looked at the document about the target and looked at the finished cigarette packet in front of him.
Most of the emotions were well absorbed, but some of them appeared to be in poor condition.
“This and this. And that and that were of relatively inferior quality, is it okay?”
Oliver's question was answered by an assistant senior disciple.
“Which one are you talking about?”
“That, that, that and that and that.”
"Wait."
As the senior disciple answered, he picked up the pack of cigarettes Oliver had pointed out and took a closer look.
It didn't seem like everyone could see it as easily as Oliver, but the senior disciple who had completed the confirmation opened his mouth.
“I think it will be fine.”
"Really?"
At Oliver's thoughtless question, the senior disciple swallowed his saliva.
"Uh… Yes, it is inevitable that the quality will deteriorate a bit during the work process. Master said that this level was okay."
When the disciple spoke about Joseph, Oliver immediately stopped asking.
If Joseph said it was okay, then it wasn't an issue anymore.
Of course, he was personally a little bit dissatisfied, since he didn’t like to sell something like that as a product that didn't perfectly permeate with emotions?
It's such a shame that he couldn't finish the job properly.
No, to be exact, the product he now produced was not up to his satisfaction.
It was a strange thing at first, but after he understood the process of making it and the principle of making it, there were doubts in his mind.
He thought that he could make a better product if he were to make a few changes to the way they were producing.
What if you mix more emotions?
For example, You can maximize the product’s potential even more by mixing different emotions.
If we do that, we can make a product that is much better than the product produced with a lower-grade emotion.
The Senior disciple, who saw Oliver indulging in daydreaming like that, said.
“Senior… Oliver?”
"Yes?"
“Can we wrap it up like this?”
“Ah, yes, I think you should.”
As soon as permission was given, the senior disciple ordered to put the cigarette packs into the box, and the junior disciple picked up five or six packs of cigarette packs and put them in the box one by one.
“If this is the case, will we be able to meet the delivery date without problems?”
“Yeah, it’ll not be late, so I think we can finish it leisurely.”
At that answer, Oliver nodded with satisfaction.
He didn't want to act as Joseph's representative, but he wanted to carry out his assignment without any problems.
There were also issues about his relationship with Joseph and black magic studies, but he had made a promise anyway.
“I think Senior Oliver can rest now.”
“Oh, is that okay?”
“Yeah, as I said before, as master’s representative you only need to do this.”
Oliver nodded and replied.
“Yes, I understand. Then please clean the rest up.”
As Oliver was about to leave, suddenly a senior disciple asked a question.
“Senior Oliver, if it’s okay with you, can I ask you something?”
“…what is it?”
Oliver looked closely and asked, and the senior disciple replied with a slight sign of discomfort.
“Ah, it was nothing, you asked other people how they got here today, can I ask why?”
“…Why are you curious about that?”
“Ah, there had been no person who asked that kind of question… so I got curious.”
His emotions staggered while he spoke.
It was a lie.
Why was he lying?
Oliver instinctively knew.
Perhaps, he wanted to report it to Joseph.
Oliver’s actions seemed contradictory in a place where everyone seems to believe in Joseph.
Oliver replied.
“I was just curious.”
"ah…"
“I heard once about how Marie and Peter got here, and I just got curious and asked others how they got here.”
“Ah… is that so.”
The senior disciple nodded his head as if he understood roughly.
Soon, Oliver asked.
“Do you have any more questions?”
“No, no, no. Sorry to bother you.”
“It’s alright. If you need anything, please ask me.”
After saying that, Oliver headed to his private room.
The stories of the Lightning Wizard and the disciples had some similarities.
A chance during an unfortunate past.
Oliver was not particularly surprised because he knew there were some similarities.
Then there was a question.
Even though they had a similar past, why did the Warlocks not emit the same light as the Lightning Wizard when he died?
Recalling stories about the past he had heard from others, Oliver tried to read the diary of the wizard once again.
In the process, he did not know whether he would be able to find the difference between a wizard and a warlock, and he did not know whether he could find the cause of the beautiful light in that difference, so Oliver's interest grew more and more.
‘If I could see that same light again…’
"Oliver! Oliver!"
Marie knocked at the door and hurriedly called Oliver.
Oliver slowly came back to his senses and asked what was going on.
she answered
“I think you should come out now.”
“Why?”
“The pharmacist … the pharmacist has arrived.”
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
When Oliver went up to the factory with Marie, he could see the pharmacist who had visited with his men.
His half-striped gray hair and gilt-rimmed glasses seemed like his trademark.
The pharmacist greeted Oliver as soon as he saw him.
“It’s nice to see you.”
Oliver bowed his head politely and greeted him.
“Hello, Mr. Pharmacist.”
“Yeah, how are you? It seems like it’s the first time I’ve seen you since you caught the raider. Are you okay?”
“Yeah…what’s going on?”
"It's not a big deal, I just stopped by to check due to the delivery date. Where's Joseph?"
“Master has been away from work for a while. Now I am taking his place.”
“Really? That’s amazing. You are the youngest in terms of age and time, but you’re given the position of Joseph’s representative.”
“I just got lucky.”
“It’s luck what you need these days.”
Oliver tilted his head.
He couldn't figure out why the pharmacist came.
Obviously, he said he had come to meet Joseph due to the delivery date, but his gut feelings were telling him that it wasn't the truth.
Oliver threw the bait.
“…the product is being manufactured smoothly, so you don't have to worry.”
“Well, I’m glad if that’s the case, but I’m a worried person, so can you show it to me for a moment?”
At that moment, the pharmacist's emotions shone coldly, as if he had captured the prey.
“…..Yes, I understand."