“Noooooooooooo-!!”
It was the Hoffman family's office, and what was heard from the office was the loud cry of warlock Hilton, who signed an exclusive contract with the Hoffman family.
As soon as he saw the evidence Murphy had brought, he denied and groaned, and soon extracted emotions in an attempt to attack, but Oliver subdued him with a [Shadow tentacle] before he could do anything.
By mixing [Vine Shadow] and [Shadow Spike], Oliver was now able to both capture and attack the target at the same time.
As evidence of that, Oliver's shadow tentacles pierced Hilton's arm and grabbed him by his neck, subduing him in an instant.
“Keuk…Keuk…”
Hilton, a skilled warlock who received money in millions for a week, let out a suffocating sound.
Jimmy and the members of the Hoffman family were frightened by the sight
Murphy drove the momentum to persuade him, like a raging wolf.
"Look here, Jimmy… A list of truck timings and supplies found in the robbers' hideout. It's an insider, and the culprit is Hilton." said Murphy, holding out an additional handwritten letter with instructions for the attack.
Someone muttered that it was Hilton's cursive handwriting, and Hilton denied it with a breathtaking sound.
"…oh, oh, no. Sir, I… What's wrong with…? That's…."
"When I questioned a robber, he said that Hilton was saying that there was no reason to stay in the family anymore, especially when he was under a young boss, he also seemed to have said that his pride won't allow it.”
Murphy lied.
To be precise, he did not say young boss, but an incompetent bast*rd.
However, Jimmy's face turned red as if he understood the meaning behind those words.
He was still confused, but he almost believed it.
After all, there was solid evidence in front of him.
"…where are those fu*kers?"
When Jimmy asked, Murphy signaled outside.
At the signal, Arthur grabbed three truck robbers in both hands and dragged them.
He threw them down on the floor, and they were all terrified, especially looking at Oliver.
"…What's with this guy?"
Jimmy asked, looking at the man crumpled like a jerky.
Hilton seemed to know him, too.
"Ba, Barron. . .! Howwwwwwww…!"
"This jerky guy told us everything. He said everything was planned by Hilton and the plan was to squeeze as much money as possible from you."
As if convinced by those words, Jimmy, whose anger reached its max, said,
"… Mr. Warlock."
"Yes."
"Break the arms and legs of this son of a b*tch."
"I see."
Along with Oliver's answer, there was a crackling sound in the room.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
Hilton, who was dressed in a neat suit and with a well-groomed beard, collapsed on the floor crying like a baby, and everyone watched it silently.
No, everyone except for Jimmy.
He held a shotgun like a club and began to strike Hilton, whose limbs were broken.
The emotions of shame, betrayal, anger, and nervousness could be seen swirling around him, and he was in a state as if being cornered.
The pressure of being the young boss seemed to be weighing a lot.
The sound of the shotgun hitting Hilton echoed inside the room for a long time, and Jimmy stopped when Hilton's entire face and the floor was covered in red blood.
"Haaa. Haaa. Haaa. Lock this dog and that dog. I'm going to sell them to a lab.”
At Jimmy's voice filled with rage, Hoffman family members dragged Hilton along as they were told.
There was a red line on the floor along the path with which they were dragged, and Oliver sensed that his work was over.
Things worked out better than he thought.
"…thank you, Murphy."
Jimmy lit a cigarette and said.
"No, I'm glad I was helpful."
Jimmy looked at Murphy with a subtle gaze.
It was true that he was grateful, but at the same time, he was wary of Murphy.
"…where's the hideout?"
"Yes, I checked the location, and I put some of my guys there. They'll guide you as soon as you're ready."
"That's a relief…Was there anything in the hideout?"
"Yes. It's not all of them, but there were some things that they couldn't sell."
"What about money?"
"…We've secured it. It's not a lot, but it's an amount that will reduce the damage to some extent."
"That's a relief."
"However, I have one thing to tell you."
"What is it?"
Murphy saw Oliver and Arthur.
"Hey, Jimmy, half of the money we found will be taken by Mr. Warlock and Arthur."
"What the… Why?"
"That's the common practice. Solvers take some of the goods or money that they capture while working. Or I should have paid them more and made a contract where they should return whatever they find during the job….. It's my fault."
When Jimmy was about to say something, Frank and other old members of the Hoffman family stepped forward and stopped him.
It was as if saying that they solved the headache for free, so you should at least pay that much for their hard work.
Jimmy forced himself to accept this fact, and the job was slowly coming to an end.
‘Now I can go back. There was a small accommodation above the warehouse. Maybe I should get ready to move there first.’
While Oliver was planning what to do next, someone interrupted.
Suddenly Jimmy came to Oliver and spoke.
"Hey."
"…Are you talking to me?"
"Yes, you….. You look like a pretty good Warlock. Do you need a job?"
"…?"
"Just in time, we have a job available. What do you think? If you're going to work in District T, you should work with us. Why don't you join our family? I'll treat you in a way you won’t be disappointed."
Oliver wondered what he should say. Even though the intention was good, the timing was bad.
"I'm honored, but I’ve to refuse the offer."
"…Why?"
"I'm okay with my life now. More than anything, I don't like being part of an organization."
"Don't say such a cliche, you want more mon…"
"Wait a minute, Jimmy."
Murphy intervened and whispered softly.
As if he was persuaded by Murphy’s words, Jimmy's emotions, which had been seething, gradually eased.
"…Well, good. Then, I hope we can maintain a good relationship in the future."
"Yes."
Oliver answered without putting much thought into the question, and soon after, Oliver came out of the office with Murphy and Arthur as everything came to a smooth end.
It was really over, and as soon as they came out, Murphy thanked Oliver and Arthur.
"Thank you both for your help. In particular, thank you, Mr. Warlock. I was prepared to get hurt, but everything went easier than I thought."
That was true. Things would not have ended this easily if it was not for Oliver, he destroyed the trap, attacked extensively with black darts, and after that, his Corpse dolls did everything.
But Oliver denied the fact.
"No, thanks to Mr. Arthur's help the negotiations went easy, and I also got a chance to test the Corpse dolls, so it wasn't bad."
"Well, me too. Thanks to you, I have a good additional income, so I don't have any complaints. With this, I can almost fix the cost for getting this new prosthetic arm.”
The truck robbers had quite a lot of money, but it seemed like the Golem arm was quite expensive than what Oliver had initially thought. Still, it didn't seem strange because it had a complicated structure that Oliver had never seen before.
‘Continuously flowing mana, synchronization with the user, great power.….’
Oliver wanted to learn about it when he had time and wondered whether there was a book about it in the bookstore.
"Mr. Warlock, I’ll complete the paperwork and hand over the payment no later than three days."
"Yes, thank you."
"Well then, I’ll excuse myself first. I think I'll be busy starting tomorrow. By any chance, can I give you a ride on my way?”
Just as Oliver was about to answer, Arthur put his hand on Oliver's shoulder and said.
"If you don't mind, can I borrow this friend for a while?…. I have something to tell him personally."
Murphy looked at Arthur and then withdrew.
"Yes, sir. Mr. Warlock, see you again next time."
Murphy stepped back tactfully.
Thanks to this, only Oliver and Arthur remained, and Arthur paused for a moment and reached into his arms to take out a small business card.
"What's this?"
Oliver asked, looking at the business card. There was the word [Labor Union] engraved in block letters and under which there was an image of workers holding hands.
"It's an organization where I'm currently temporarily employed. It's an organization that helps the oppressed workers in this city, a little bit."
"Do you get paid?"
"A little bit… I have to eat to live. Come and see me if you need work. Of course, a guy like you won't run out of jobs, but there's no law that requires you to do business with Mr. Forrest”
"Um, I'll think about it."
"All right, that's enough….. And can I give you a piece of advice as a fellow Solver?”
"Yes, go ahead."
"Those Corpse dolls… You said you picked ‘em up in the contaminated zone, right? And those were Puppet's Corpse dolls, weren't they?"
"Um, I just picked up what was sprawling around, and I’m not sure if Mr. Puppet was the one who made them?"
Arthur's emotions shone with suspicion, but he didn't put them into words.
"Well, all right, it's none of my business. But… don't use them often in broad daylight or in crowded places. There’s a high chance of getting caught by the cops because it's a human corpse. Well, people have a lot of misconceptions about Corpse dolls, so it may cause many misunderstandings… Use it moderately."
Arthur’s words were out of pure goodwill, so Oliver thanked him.
"Thank you for the advice."
"It's nothing. Thanks to you, I saved my life once and now I made a good additional income. And… it’s not some kind of virtue… In this field, everyone will be or at least try to be kind to a talented guy."
"Is that so?"
"Very much so. Well then that’s it, see you next time."
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
"Whoa…. It’s really sad to part ways with you." said the inn hostess of the place where Oliver stayed.
"You pay on time, too, and you're not particularly picky… You're a bit unusual, but you were an okay customer."
"Thank you for saying that," replied Oliver, who finished preparing to move.
Well, there wasn't much to prepare for moving, he only packed one bag at the most.
"I'm serious. It’s really unfortunate… Rosbane would be disappointed. Rosbane, come out! Mr. Dave says he's leaving now."
After a while, Rosbane, who was engulfed in emotions such as disappointment, sadness, and regret, came out timidly.
The boy, who knew about reality, tried to suppress his sadness, but it overflowed when he saw Oliver.
Oliver couldn't quite understand it. He just asked him to help with a few things, and now he can read, write and do some simple arithmetic, but yet he was still relying on him.
Suddenly, the image of Marie came to Oliver’s mind.
"Uh, goodbye, Teacher."
"……."
Oliver scratched his cheek.
If it was normal, he would have gone back just by saying goodbye, but right now, for some reason, he wondered what Kent would have done if he was in this situation.
"….Yes, goodbye…. I'll come by… and.. visit you once in a while."
Rosbane's eyes rejuvenated, and Oliver continued.
"The food here is delicious."
"Ho-ho, I’m flattered. Why didn't you say this often?"
Suddenly the inn hostess intervened,
"I'll say from now on. I don't know how to cook anyway… So let's meet once in a while, Rosbane."
There was a smile on Rosabe's face, which was about to cry.
"Ah, yes, yes! I will be waiting, Teacher."
After saying goodbye, Oliver left for his new accommodation, the warehouse.
As he thought, this seemed right. For experimenting with new black magic, and researching Corpse dolls including [Child], the warehouse felt like the best place.
"You're here."
When Oliver reached the warehouse, Murphy, who was waiting at the door, welcomed him.
He opened the file he was holding and held it out to Oliver.
It was the formal contract for the warehouse.
"If you hold it as an asset, you may be exposed, so I’ll give it to you in the form of a long-term lease. Since it should look like a legitimate contract, I specified the deposit and monthly rent, but you don't have to worry about that. After all, I want to skip the contract and make it easier for you to use, but I also have a risk. Please understand."
"No, you're right."
Indeed it was. In the warehouse, Oliver will be conducting research experiments related to black magic, and if the owner's name on the document remained as Murphy, he could be in a difficult situation where he could not escape later.
This consideration itself was excessive enough.
Oliver flipped through the documents and signed it with a pen, in Oliver's official alias, Dave Wright.
"Oh, you have nice handwriting. It's just like an aristocrat’s."
"An aristocrat?"
"Yes, they care a lot about looking cool, so they spent quite a bit of time in their life practicing handwriting. I don't mean to be sarcastic, but your handwriting is really cool. Did you practice?"
"No, I just wrote it like this from the beginning."
Murphy squinted his eyes for a moment.
"Well… I see. Congratulations anyway. From now on, this warehouse will be yours."
"Thank you very much. I'm glad."
Oliver said so and looked at the warehouse.
He really liked it.
(To be Continued)
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