"Uh… Cling Web?"
Finishing his words, Oliver approached the web-bound attacker.
The attacker tied to the black spider web was hardened like a rock in the posture of spreading the scroll as if time seemed to have stopped and he couldn't even speak.
His entire body was in a frozen state except for one – his eyes
"… uh…."
The attacker looked at Oliver with eyes that were about to burst into tears.
Oliver checked his condition once and turned off his attention as if he was not interested.
"Now… What should we do?"
Oliver looked back at Peter and asked.
Peter still had a blank look on his face, with mixed feelings of fear, awe, and confusion.
Then he opened his mouth with difficulty as if he had barely recovered his mind.
"We'll take him to Master. Well, it might be good if he had fainted…"
While Peter was looking around, Oliver picked up a piece of brick that was scattered along the road and hit the attacker's head.
The spider web, which bound the attacker, disappeared due to the external shock, but fortunately, the attacker fainted, so there was no problem.
Looking down at the fallen attacker, Oliver said.
“I knocked him out.”
“Ah…….”
“Now…how do we take him to Master?”
It was a ridiculous question, but it wasn't a strange question either.
The attacker is an adult male, well-built, while Oliver is skinny.
“Hmm, shall we carry him together?”
Peter staggered up and said.
Peter, who was relatively well-built, lifted the attacker’s upper body, while Oliver lifted his lower body, but soon, the two got exhausted and dropped the attacker to the floor.
“It's harder than I thought?”
“…By the way, can you answer me, now?”
"Huh? What?"
"The previous question. Am I in danger?"
Peter was silent once again.
Even though he was just about to die, he was worried about Andrew and the faction below him.
Peter thought about how funny his situation was.
About five seconds later, Oliver opened his mouth once again.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I'm sorry I asked you a question.”
"… Why did you help me earlier? When we were attacked."
It was Oliver who was silent this time.
Peter asked again while wondering why Oliver helped him.
The warlock world is a place where the weak become the meat, while the strong eat the meat. The weaker a Warlock is the quicker he gets abandoned. That was the reason why two junior disciples died during the last raid.
Oliver answered
“….Why did you tell me about your life as a junior disciple and why did you answer when I asked this and that. So I helped you because you got something, don’t you?”
Peter wondered at the answer that came with a question mark.
However, the answer felt sincere.
"…….. You asked if you were in danger, right?”
“Yes."
"Yes, you are in danger,"
Peter answered without thinking.
"As you know, for a Warlock, strength is rank and justice. In other words, if a strong Warlock suddenly appears, no matter who he is, everyone must consider him as a superior. Because of that, the people who are already at the top keep the talented Warlocks in check to the fullest extent, since he will be a threat to his place one day."
Oliver listened silently.
There was no expression or movement in the eyes.
"In that sense, you're better than anyone else. So you’re on the lookout. Within ten days of coming in, you killed a junior disciple and took over his position. A person who was Andrew's man."
"Andrew’s man?"
"Faction. I mean, he's close to Andrew."
Oliver tilted his head as if he didn't understand.
Peter went into more detail.
"It's profitable to be close to each other. Andrew can consolidate his position, and the people at the bottom have someone to back them. It's been a long since this kind of structure solidified."
"Then…, aren't there any other talented Warlocks?"
"No, Didn’t you listen to what I said? A brilliant Warlock is not a welcome thing in the warlock community."
"But Master…"
"Master? What?"
Oliver tried to answer, but shook his head and said nothing since it felt strange.
The reason was obvious, when he first met Joseph, he said his goal was to raise strong warlocks, but there was a strange gap between reality and what he said.
Peter said again.
"So be careful… No one knows if the junior disciple who was in your place really died of food poisoning in the first place. That's all I can tell you."
Peter stopped speaking as if he had repaid his favor.
Along with that, he felt a strange satisfaction of doing something on his own with a sense of weakness that seemed to drain his energy.
Oliver replied, looking at Peter.
“Thank you.”
“Huh?”
“Thank you for answering the question. It helped.”
“Uh…Okay, that's a relief."
"Now shall we go back to work?"
Peter and Oliver once again lifted the attacker and started walking.
The attacker was still heavy but Peter’s heart felt light as he recalled Oliver thanking him.
? ? ? ? ? ?
"It's been a while. You wouldn't have come just to see my face, what's up?"
"I came here to talk."
In the basement of Joseph Sausage Factory, there were many rooms like an ant cave, and two men talked in the most colorful reception room.
One was Joseph, the owner of the place, and the other was Pharmacist, his dealer.
No, not a mere dealer, Joseph’s biggest dealer.
He digests all of Joseph's products and supplies raw materials at the same time.
So even Joseph, one of the best Warlocks in the town, was careful with him,
"What, do you want a drink?"
"No, thanks. We're busy, so I'd like to get straight to the point.”
"I like it. What's the matter?"
The pharmacist bent his upper body slightly forward and opened his mouth carefully.
The eyes over the gold-rimmed glasses shone sharply.
"Have you been attacked recently? During the collection of ingredients."
"…… How did you know?"
The pharmacist answered, pulling his upper body.
"It's more of an assumption. The Anthony family, and the Dominic family, were all attacked. Oh, by the way, I'm also included. The truck that was going to Landa with products was attacked and robbed."
Joseph's eyebrow went up.
The pharmacist was a person who looked like a normal guy on the surface, but in reality, he was a scary person who wouldn’t lose footing with Joseph or other Warlocks in the city.
The city's big man, who pretended to run a drugstore on the outside, while controlling all the transactions with warlocks from behind.
It was safe to say that at least there was no one in this city who would go against him.
But such a person’s truck was robbed?
Then, there was only one conclusion.
“Did the bugs crawl in from elsewhere?”
“Probably. Landa is rapidly developing and the losers in the survival race are spreading around. Chances are high that the bug is one such kind."
“Hahahaha!”
Joseph laughed.
"What is it? Regular gangs? Or Warlocks?"
“I don't know that. I'm just here to figure things out and explain the situation so that there won’t be any misunderstanding between families.”
Joseph nodded.
In the past, Pharmacist was the one who mediated between the warlock families that fought against each other to eat this small city and were on the verge of collapse.
And since then, they have been strangely listening to the words of the Pharmacist.
"Anyway, thank you for telling me, we'll search as soon as we can to find out who the culprit is. Can I ask you if we need any help?"
“Yes, of course… It's our enemy anyway. If we find any trace, we'll contact you.”
As the conversation was coming to an end, they heard a knock on the door.
Tock Tock Tock Tock
"What? I'm talking to a customer right now, if it's not urgent, talk to me later."
A panicked voice was heard through the door.
"Oh, I'm sorry Master. But there's something I need to inform you about."
Joseph spoke when the pharmacist winked at him as if he was fine.
“What?”
“That… Oliver came.”
"…What?"
"Oliver came with a guy who attacked them."
"……”
Joseph and the pharmacist looked into each other's eyes without saying a word.
? ? ? ? ? ?
Oliver joined forces with Peter to drag the stunned attacker.
They couldn't carry him for a long time, so each grabbed one leg and dragged him, and thanks to this, the attacker's back was all split.
Oliver and Peter, who were breathing hard and wiping their sweat, were resting for a while near the main gate, and before they knew it, informal disciples, junior disciples, and even intermediate and senior disciples started to gather.
"Wow,… does it make sense?"
"Did they really catch the attacker?"
"They say so?"
But the moment when Joseph came out with the pharmacist, the disciples who stuck like flies around Oliver and Peter, scattered around.
“Did you catch the guy who attacked us?”
“Ah…yes, Master,”
Peter, who was tired from moving, answered.
Then, the pharmacist who followed said with admiration.
"Oh my God, You really caught the attacker. I thought you must have made a mistake, but you really caught one… What a bunch of great disciples. Who caught him?"
Peter looked sideways at Oliver when asked by the pharmacist.
The pharmacist, who understood the meaning, laughed loudly once again.
"Hahahaha… Is it him again? I think I've seen that face. Your recent disciple, right?"
"Yes," replied Joseph,
"You've brought some amazing kid. I knew he was exceptional when he took out Life-force, but I didn't expect it to be this much. How old is he now? 13 or 14, right? And yet, he's like this. Everyone from the other family will be jealous if they heard it."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Contrary to the answer, Joseph's expression was not very good.
But the pharmacist didn't care about it and kept talking.
“This is the attacker, huh?”
“Yes, We caught him while he was trying to run away with a scroll.”
“What?”
Everyone, including Joseph, was surprised at the word scroll.
Needless to say, Scrolls are expensive items that wizards make.
In particular, Scrolls which can use tricky magic like teleport are very expensive.
Proper items cost hundreds of thousands and hundreds of millions depending on safety and distance, even though dozens and hundreds of items were illegally made and sold on the black market.
The pharmacist who was listening quietly intervened.
"Scroll, huh… Joseph, if you don't mind, can I take this attacker?"
“Why?"
"Isn't it suspicious to see him run away using an expensive scroll? I want to find the mastermind behind this attack as the person responsible for the peace of this community. Please allow me. I'll let you know everything in a week, and I'll give you anything in return."
Joseph nodded after a moment of thought.
The pharmacist has never lied before and in addition, the product production had been delayed due to the scuffle with the attacker.
When the permission was given, the pharmacist smiled happily and ordered the bodyguard to take the fainted attacker to the car.
Then he thanked Joseph once again and left the factory, but before he left, he greeted Oliver lightly.
"You did a great job, little friend."
With the Pharmacist gone, the factory became quiet, and Joseph opened his mouth and broke the silence.
“Oliver.”
“Yes, Master.”
“How did you catch the attacker? Your seniors couldn't even catch their tail… Well, it's understandable if they're running away using Scrolls."
"Sir. Peter helped me catch him, Master."
Joseph's eyebrow narrowed.
Joseph felt something was terribly wrong, but there was no further questioning since he made a contribution.
"Okay, good… whatever it is it doesn’t change the fact that you made a big contribution."
No one denied it.
"If a disciple makes a contribution to the family, I have to give the disciple a reward. Thanks to you, I've got to relieve some stress. Well, let's see… It's unusual, but do you want me to make you an intermediate disciple?"
Everyone was surprised, including the intermediate disciples and the senior disciples.
The number of disciples has always been fixed, but suddenly Joseph was trying to break it, just for one person.
But no one was against it.
In the first place, even the rules were set by Joseph, the owner of the family.
If they objected to it, it might be considered a betrayal to the family.
Thus everyone thought Oliver would become an intermediate disciple, but Oliver, the party concerned, expressed his refusal.
"I’m fine being a junior disciple, Master"
Everyone's eyes were on Oliver.
“Why?”
Oliver said with his peculiar blank look.
"Uh… I just want to be able to learn black magic. Thank you for making me a junior disciple. I just want you to teach me more often. And…!"
"What's wrong?"
"There is a favor I'd really like to ask Master. I'd like to see how you make the product, so could you let me do some chores in the place where you make products? "
"…Are you asking me to put my junior disciples into production?"
"Oh… Of course, I can do it myself."
Joseph burst out laughing at Oliver's answer.
Joseph thought for a while and opened his mouth slowly.
"Okay, there's no harm in increasing the number of workers anyway because the schedule is urgent."
“Huh??!?!?!! "
“Huh??!?!?!! "
“Huh??!?!?!! "
Standing behind Joseph, the intermediate and senior disciples exclaimed in surprise.
When Joseph turned around and asked what was wrong, they shut their mouths tightly.
Joseph looked down at Oliver again.
"As you ask, I will increase the number of classes for the junior disciples and put them into production. Now, go and get some rest."
Joseph went back, while Oliver bowed his head and said.
"Thank you….Master"
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