After negotiating with the Parter church of the Landa branch, the Paladins were released.
Contrary to the worries, the Paladins followed the orders of the branch and left Wineham, and a few days passed.
The city was quiet again as if the uproar had been a lie, but that was not without a price.
Two of the three great warlock families in Wineham were gone.
Of course, this in itself was not a big problem.
The real problem was that the small and medium-sized warlock families and the remnants of the destroyed families, who mistook this for an opportunity and ran wild.
There were chances that it might draw attention again if their competition were to become fierce, but the cautious pharmacist didn't want such a situation, so he decided to strike first.
“How many people are there?”
It was a slum in Wineham.
James lowered his voice and asked.
Oliver glanced at the abandoned building and answered.
“There are eight. It seems like they don’t even know we’re here yet.”
"That’s good."
James beckoned and ordered his men to stop them from escaping.
The pharmacist's subordinates moved quickly and blocked all the escape routes and Oliver, who saw this extracted a small amount of emotion and made two minions.
"Marie."
“Yes, Master.”
At Oliver's call, Marie immediately extracted the emotions and created a Las bomb in each of her hands.
She was holding it in her hand without throwing or bursting, and when she saw Oliver's minions that were sucking her Las bomb, she pouted her lips.
“It’s better than before.”
“It was all thanks to Master.”
Oliver's calm praise made Marie blush.
Oliver ordered the minion that had swallowed Marie's Las bomb to enter the building with caution.
"Go."
A minion flew low and entered the building unnoticed.
After a while, there was a loud sound and a sudden explosion inside the building.
Some warlocks inside had been wounded, while others fell into a state of confusion and fear.
When Oliver nodded to signify a successful surprise attack, James signaled everyone to enter.
At that moment, the employees armed with firearms and baseball bats entered simultaneously.
A loud noise could be heard, and soon, one of the employees who had entered came out hurriedly and shouted.
“Fu*k! There was a doped man.”
With those words, the other employees ran out followed by a remnant of the Dominic family who had strengthened his body with drugs and black magic, came out by breaking the wall.
“Hey, you bastards…! I’ll squeeze you all to death!”
His skin turned red which may be due to too much anger injected or too much reinforcement black magic.
He picked up a shaft and threw them to the side of the wall.
“Ugh! Fucking as*holes! Kill him before he takes more drugs!”
James shouted and shot at him with his men.
Bullets poured from all directions.
However, ordinary bullets could not pierce through the strengthened muscles and couldn’t inflict fatal injuries.
At most, it was enough to stall some time.
"Marie."
“Yes, Master!”
At Oliver's call, Marie came forward with the test tube.
Then she casted a targeting spell towards the besieged Dominic remnant as she had practiced hundreds of times.
Then she fired three bullets of hate.
[Hate Bullet]×3
Bullets of hate flew all at once towards the target.
However, she noticed that the enemy was not an idiot as he crossed his arms to defend himself.
As his steel forearms collided with the hate bullets, there was the sound as if something broke.
“You f*king short hair…! It hurts.”
Surprisingly, it damaged only one of the warlock’s arms.
It seemed true that he specialized in disease magic and drugs.
Whether it was from pain or anger, the dark wizard's muscles swelled even redder and with great strength, he kicked the debris towards the pharmacist's employees to keep them in check and then ran toward Marie.
“I’ll kill you! Bi*ch…!!”
He screamed like a bewildered animal.
As a bad memory resurfaced, Marie got frightened and flinched but at that time Oliver, who was behind her, placed his hand on Marie's shoulder and stretched out his hand.
[Hate Bullet]
The bullet of hate which was shot calmly flew swiftly towards the head of the oncoming enemy.
The red warlock, who grew stronger due to the drugs smiled confidently as he raised one of the remaining arms to block the bullet but to his amazement that single bullet shattered his arm and pierced through his head.
“….!!!”
The red warlock fell down with his head bursting like a watermelon.
It was a sight that was a great shock when you consider the number of people who were hurt by him.
However, Oliver, the party involved looked at Marie's condition as if nothing had happened and gave advice.
“Targeting speed and Hat Bullet have improved….are you okay?”
Marie came to her senses and nodded.
“Yes… I am fine, Master.”
“Okay. Then, I’ll say it again. It was good. Casting skills and speed have been improved. However, it is a bad habit to lower the density of the bullet for making multiple bullets. If I were to make such a shot I would have pierced both of his arms along with his body. So, it's meaningless if you don't do it right. Do you understand?"
Oliver slowly explained like a teacher teaching a student while Marie listened carefully.
It would have been a pretty good sight if there wasn’t a corpse in front of them.
After James made his men clean up, he approached Oliver and spoke to him.
“… It feels good to see you getting along with someone.”
"Really?"
"No, it's ironic. Don't ever do it in front of a corpse. It's creepy."
After saying that James cut off the dead warlock's head with a machete and put it in his bag.
Fortunately, it was a specially processed bag, so there was no blood leakage, and Oliver who saw James taking the head asked.
“Why are you taking his head?”
"The remnants of Dominic and Anthony's families along with all the other small warlocks can't be caught or killed easily, right? So to make all those bastards surrender we have to show them something like this….well, even though it was smashed, it’s all right."
"Um… is that so?
“Your reaction is very consistent. Have you ever been surprised in your life?”
“There are many times?”
James shook his head in disbelief.
“Mr. James, we’ve finished cleaning up. We’ve taken their drug production equipment, and we’ve also found the stolen goods and money.”
"Okay, don't touch it and put them in the car. We have to share it with the Warlock… If it's okay, send the lady to check."
Oliver saw Marie, and Marie went straight to the cleaning area.
James spoke to his subordinate again.
“After everything is done, you can call the police and finish everything properly, can you?”
"Yes."
"Great."
The conversation ended like a flowing stream.
Oliver looked at James and asked.
“Then…is this the end for today?”
“Yes. Would you like a smoke?”
James stopped smoking but he still recommended it.
Oliver shook his head.
“No, it’s okay. Today, I don’t think there is much to do.”
“Well, of course. You’ve been fighting continuously for the past few days… I personally thank you.”
“Are you talking to me?”
"Yes. I'm talking to you. Thanks to you fewer people died which made our work a lot easier and everything is thanks to your help. If it were to be others then they would have gotten arrogant, but it's nice that you're quiet."
“Well, I also needed your help.”
That was true.
Oliver helped with the pharmacist's job, but it was never free.
The pharmacist was helping Oliver with many tasks, including the reorganization and stabilization of the Joseph family with a new hideout, safe houses, and even the expansion of the pilgaret production facility.
Not only that, Oliver also received books of the Dominic and Anthony families in exchange for the goods that were taken in the course of negotiations with the Parters.
“Master, I have checked everything. I have written down everything about the production equipment, stolen goods, and cash. It seems like we would get our share later.”
Marie said while showing the meticulously written notes in her notebook like an accountant.
"Um… Okay. James, since you said we don't have anything else to do today, can we just go back?"
“Oh, wait a minute. We fought together, but you're leaving just like that?"
"Yes."
"Damn, you're replying too quickly? Do you hate me? I'm sorry, but could you stop by our base for a moment? Boss wants to see you."
Marie was about to say something, but Oliver stopped her first.
“You mean the pharmacist?”
“Uh, yes, I think he has something to say. Are you okay?”
“Um…yes, it doesn’t matter.”
Oliver, along with Marie and James, rode a truck to visit the warehouse built on the outskirts of Wineham.
It was said that all drugs supplied to Landa were supposed to go through this place including the legal drugs as well as the pilgarets and suspicious stimulants.
Perhaps because of that, it looked sloppy on the outside, but in reality, there were actually quite a lot of security personnel deployed.
“Why did he call us to meet here?”
Marie asked James.
"I don't know, Miss. I'm just an employee who gets paid and does what I am told to do, so don't be too harsh. It hurts my heart."
When Oliver calmed Marie saying that it was fine, she quickly calmed down.
She seemed to be dissatisfied with the situation where the pharmacist calls Oliver at will.
After a while, the car stopped.
James, Oliver, and Marie got off in order and those who were carrying luggage and guarding the warehouse came to James and Oliver.
They made a salute.
“Where is the boss?”
“He’s waiting for you in the warehouse office over there.”
"Okay… Come with me, I'll guide you."
James took the lead.
Oliver and Marie followed James without saying a word but along the way, Marie lightly grabbed Oliver's shirt cuff.
"Master?”
“Yes, Marie?
“Look over there.”
Oliver turned his head as Marie told, just to see the remnants of the Dominic and Anthony families gathered on one side.
Although they looked gloomy, they didn’t look like prisoners.
“What is this?”
Marie asked nervously.
Oliver, on the other hand, was calm.
“We can go and ask.”
They entered the warehouse where the boxes were stacked, and soon they arrived at the office, built on the second floor.
In front of the warehouse office, there were two fierce-looking men standing as guards, who checked Oliver before giving him permission to enter.
As Marie was about to snap again, Oliver calmed her down.
“Well, it doesn’t matter.”
"Thanks for your cooperation. Come in. Sir Warlock."
The guards politely opened up the large door.
As they entered through the door they could see the pharmacist sitting at the desk.
He got up and greeted Oliver politely after Closing the papers he was reading.
“Thank you for coming. I have been waiting for you. First, let’s shake hands.”
A middle-aged man and a boy in his mid-teens held hands.
“Would you like to sit down? Do you need anything to drink?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Well, then, was the job difficult?”
“Not really. It was alright.”
"Alright?"
“Yes, I get to train Marie.”
The pharmacist looked over the door.
"As expected, you brought that girl. That’s why I told you to come alone. Every time I say something, she gets really mad, and it's scary."
“Um… I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s not like that, but anyway, don’t take her often with you.”
“Um…”
"Haha, that's not really important. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you. Thanks to you, things are progressing easier than I thought."
The pharmacist’s words were sincere.
Among the remnants of the Dominic and Anthony families, there were some skilled Warlocks who gave a lot of headaches, but when Oliver joined, it wasn't a problem anymore.
Thanks to Oliver, the pharmacist was able to save countless resources such as time, manpower, and money.
“I'm glad I was helpful.”
“Yes. That’s why I prepared a present for you.”
“Are there any new books?”
“No, that’s not it. We already gave all the books we had to you last time.”
“Um… Then?”
“Didn’t you see something on your way when coming inside?”
“… The disciples of the Dominic and Anthony family?”
"Exactly, the remnants. The head of both families is dead… By the way, we didn't catch them, it was they who came here to surrender by themselves. So, please take care of them."
"Surrendered?"
“Yeah, they have been fighting for wineham for a long time, so they know – To survive you have to fight and win, if you can’t, you have to leave or you have to kneel.”
“Um… So.”
“I will give them all to you.”
"Give them?"
“They all have promised to surrender to you.”
Oliver didn't even react because Oliver wasn't particularly interested in them.
The pharmacist also noticed this and explained how important of a decision this was.
"They may not be a big deal to you, but it's a pretty big deal for me. If you were to accept them then you can make your pilgarets more efficiently."
“……”
“I’m willing to give them to you because I want to protect my relationship with your family.”
At first glance, it may seem like a great favor, but it wasn't.
The only thing that the surrendered warlocks can make at best was the widespread and common pilgaret.
Oliver, on the other hand, was able to make pilgaret with unparalleled quality, to the point of perfection.
In other words, the pharmacist's favor was of no great value in the first place, and Oliver was also aware of this fact to some extent, so he stayed silent.
Just looking at the emotions of the pharmacist, it was full of ulterior motives, so Oliver silently kept looking at the pharmacist without saying anything.
After a while, the pharmacist sighed and spoke.
“Well… the pilgarets they made in the first place are not worth much, but anyway, it’s my belief in you guys.”
“Um… you don’t have to do this but thank you.”
"Then?"
“Yes, I know you helped me a lot.”
The emotion of relief emanated from the pharmacist.
"I'm glad you know… In that sense, I would like to ask when will you be able to start full-scale production of pilgarets?"
“If I want to make it, I can start making it right away, but I think it will take a little time because other people have to practice.”
Right now Oliver was training some of the senior disciples including Peter to synthesize emotions.
“Is there any reason to do that? It would be much better if you were the only one who could do it.”
“I have a lot of work……it would be better for a stable production.”
“Well, yes, but…”
“Don’t worry. We will start production and deliver like we promised.”
Upon hearing the answer, the pharmacist walked over to Oliver and held out his hand.
“I am getting more and more worried as I get older, can you confirm the promise again?”
“…the pharmacist will look after the family, protect the family, and provide the necessary raw materials required for production, so all our dealing will be with the pharmacist?”
“Thank you, I’m embarrassed to say this, but I want to keep a good relationship with you for as long as possible. If possible, for the rest of my life.”
Oliver looked at the pharmacist's hand without saying a word.
When the silence became so long, the tension grew, but soon Oliver grabbed the pharmacist's hand.
“Yes, I hope so too….”
‘In the time I'm here.’
Oliver answered, deliberately omitting the last part.
(To be Continued)
To read ahead 👇$1/chapter
CH 40-41 (Marie's confession & Oliver's answer)Aug 17CH 42-43 (First steps into the world)Aug 19CH 44-45 (Oliver becomes a beggar)Aug 22