“Come on, hop on.”
Coco said pointing to the car parked at the entrance of Forrest restaurant.
It was a stylish car with a straight bonnet, and it looked expensive.
Next to it was a female driver in a uniform and a hat waiting.
There were no gaps in her short hair, but looking into her eyes, it didn't seem like the ones of a normal driver.
The driver looked at Oliver with sharp eyes and politely opened the car door.
“Thank you, Penny.”
The woman called Penny bowed her head slightly at Coco's words.
After taking her seat in the back of the car, Coco gestured to Oliver.
"What are you doing? Come on board."
Oliver took the seat next to Coco as he was told to.
The interior of the car was designed with seats on either side facing each other, and he thanked Penny, the driver, before entering, but Penny only nodded her head briefly with her cold eyes.
“Did I do something wrong?”
"No, it's just that Penny doesn't like men. She's like that, so don't worry about her. There are quite a few people who don't like men among our members."
Oliver nodded his head.
Before he left the restaurant, Coco introduced herself as a member of a women's group called [SisterHood].
Oliver was told that Sisterhood got started as an organization filled with women who had it rough with life, and also a place where women who had no one to lean on come together and rely on each other.
Coco also added that the scale of the organization has grown with time, and now it has members who are from all walks of life, like businesswomen, shopkeepers, hotel maids, bar clerks, Solvers, and sex workers.
“Amazing.”
Oliver said as the car moved past the buildings of District T.
"It's more amazing than you think. It started only as a small group, but now it's starting to have some influence in Landa."
Oliver nodded his head at Coco's words.
According to Coco, the members collect money, lobby city councilors and civil servants to provide relief for the crackdowns on stores run by women, and to pass laws against alleviation of discrimination against sex workers. She also continued to say things about women's suffrage, equal rights, etc., which Oliver found interesting but could not understand.
"Well, I'm more interested in business than women's voting rights."
Understanding that the conversation had taken pointless turns, Oliver asked.
“Who is the client?”
Coco, who had been speaking passionately for a while, corrected her posture and answered with a businesswoman-like attitude.
“He's a wealthy person in District R. He's a great man. Even if he isn’t among the core people who control Great Britain's politics, he could be said as someone who’s near the core.”
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
"He's quite a dynamic person. He started as a low-income worker, but one day he suddenly appeared with a large sum of money and jumped into the Landa’s gambling boards and made fortunes. Then he invested all that money in the mana stone company [Prometheus] and made it big time.”
“Um…what’s Prometheus?”
"Ugh….. Man, were you living in the woods or something? Read something like a newspaper. These days, even a solver can’t be ignorant.”
"Thank you for the kind advice. I'll follow it."
Coco put on a stern face looking at Oliver who responded with sincere words without any malice toward her sarcasm, and that was not to her liking.
“…. Prometheus is a company that handles mana stones, the core of the magic machines industry. What kind of foresight he had, he bought a piece of that company when it was nothing but buying worthless garbage lands in the new continents, but a few years later, from one of those garbages a large amount of mana stones reserve was found and within a short period they became the leading corporations in Lan… No, in the entire United Kingdom of Great Britain. Of course, the class of investors has also changed.”
Oliver nodded curiously. He cared only about black magic and the work as a solver, so he was indifferent to such things, but now it seemed like there were a lot more interesting things in the world other than black magic. He decided that he should read the thing called the newspaper and study the world.
"After that, the client settled in District R and bought a large amount of real estate there, living like a medieval lord. He is one of the supporters of the city councilor in District R, so even the police can't be reckless around him."
"Um… He seems like a great guy."
Hearing Oliver’s reply, Coco added.
"Yes, but he's just as eccentric as great he is. So, be careful."
“Yes…but can I really get the book?”
Oliver asked cautiously.
Even though he didn't know who the client was or what the job was about, the reason he followed Coco was because of the book about Demons that was said to be the reward.
"Yes. He's a good liar, but with the given situation I don’t think he would lie."
“What is the situation?”
"Well, it'll be quicker to see it for yourself. Don't worry, we'll arrive soon."
What Coco said was true. The scene outside the car began to change, and the buildings became more lively and bright, unlike the normal streets.
Oliver had seen a similar street before and as he rummaged through his brain for the answer…
‘.. Ah!’
The atmosphere was similar to the street where Murphy's Secret Pub was located. With that thought in mind, Oliver asked Coco,
“It doesn’t look like a residential area?”
"Of course, because it's not one. This is District O, Street 66. It's called the Street of Joy… In many ways."
In fact, as if to prove her words, there were several smiling men on the street.
As the car with Oliver moved past a car with an open top, Oliver saw a man kissing a young woman who was dressed as pretty as Coco inside it.
As the car moved along, through the window Oliver saw women in colorful dresses on the side of the road walking profusely and seducing men on the street.
It was not just the streets, women could also be seen clapping their hands from the second-floor terrace at young men who looked rich with money and willing to play, some even joked with the men on the spot.
“It's a place for men to play,” said Coco, and Oliver wondered what she meant by that.
“Um… Is the client here? I thought we'd see him at his home."
"Well, this is more of a home for him. He has been here longer than he was at his home."
At the end of those words, the car came to a smooth stop.
Penny's driving skills were pretty good, and she even got off and opened the door for Coco.
"Thank you, Penny."
Penny bowed her head.
“Thank you, Ms. Penny.”
Penny bowed her head briefly.
“Come on, here it is.”
Coco spoke turning toward Oliver while standing in front of a building. It was an old-fashioned rectangular building, built with elongated sides, and a roof painted dark red.
There was a large sign in the form of an arch at the front door, and a light bulb was attached to the rim which illuminated the words…
“… .Angel's house?”
"Yeah, it's an angel's house. It sends customers to heaven."
Saying so, Coco walked towards the front door, and Oliver followed.
As the large red door gently opened, the splendid interior caught Oliver’s eye.
A thick carpet spread seamlessly on the floor, with a bar on one side filled with colorful magic wine, and a seating area where one could quietly relax on the other.
Along with that, there were employees in tight clothes waiting for the customers, sitting in the window, smiling and kissing passing men, and Oliver had no idea of what kind of play they were doing.
After all, as a boy, Oliver has only been bullied and never heard of the word ‘play’.
"Mama, Coco is here."
At that moment, an employee who was carrying a drink saw Coco and Oliver, and ran while shouting those words,
The employee had fake wings on her back.
"Is Coco here."
With a reply, a woman descended from the second floor.
She was a woman who was different from all the women in the building, she had few white hairs between the well-combed black hairs and eyes that were as sharp as Forrest's.
She was dressed in a manner that showed off her dignity, and although her face had wrinkles in them, she still retained the beauty of her youth.
As soon as she descended the last step of the stairs, she slowly walked toward Coco.
"You came just in time, Coco."
"Of course. That's me, Mama."
Mama. Oliver thought it was her name but yet felt a bit strange to call it a name.
“That person over there…?”
The lady named Mama asked, pointing toward Oliver.
"Yeah, his name is Dave, the dark horse from District T. Dave, this is the person who owns this place."
"Hello. Dave. I'm Mama Elizabeth, the owner of this Angel's house."
Oliver bowed his head politely.
“My name is Dave, a Solver. Nice to meet you.”
Elizabeth smiled softly.
“As Coco said, you are polite.”
"I'm just doing what I was taught when I was young… And… Is Mama really your name?"
Coco's expression wrinkled subtly, but Elizabeth, the party involved, explained with a gentle smile.
"Mama is kind of like a title. It's a sort of title ‘cause my job involves taking care of a lot of kids."
"Um, I see."
"As I was told, you’re really incomprehensible."
"Is that so?"
“… .Did you know about the job?”
"I only heard what the reward was. I did not hear about the contents of the job."
"That's great. It's just the way the client wants."
"Um.., where is the client?"
“He’s in the VIP room. I will guide you.”
With those words, as if given a baton touch Oliver started following Elizabeth this time.
The VIP room was at the top of the 4th floor, and as soon as they reached the place, there was a muscular woman and a man with a vigilant attitude standing at the entrance.
‘This place feels different.'
It was as Oliver guessed, the whole floor was soundproofed so that no one could hear what was going on the floor. As they passed through several rooms, Elizabeth finally stopped in front of the most expensive-looking room.
There was a small wired communication device in front of the door, into which Elizabeth spoke her words.
“Mr. Rock. I brought him… Yes, I understand.”
Elizabeth said, putting the communication device in its original place.
"Please wait for a moment."
Oliver waited as he was told, but not long after the door opened and eight women emerged from the room.
They held quite a few money bills in their hands, with emotions mixed with displeasure and the joy of earning a lot of money.
Oliver wondered what they did inside for them to have these kinds of emotions, but at that time…
“Come in.”
From inside the room, a low voice was heard. It was as if the voice of a dying person.
Oliver looked inside and there he saw a fat old man who looked like a pale pig, looking very tired.
“Is your sh*tass ear canal blocked? Come in.”
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
Oliver entered the room with Elizabeth as instructed.
Inside the room, a machine that looked like a lamp constantly emitted sweet-smelling smoke, and Oliver felt a subtle magical power from the machine as well as the smoke emitted by it.
As soon as Oliver smelled the smoke, he sensed that it was a potion.
He had never drunk a potion, but it was similar to the smell he smelled at Assistant Professor Herbert’s workshop.
Oliver wondered why he was taking the potion in the form of smoke. He knew that the potions had an effect on healing and recovery, but also heard that there were side effects from drinking it. He wondered whether he was taking it in the gas form to overcome those side effects. Suddenly, he also wondered what kind of sickness the fat old man was having.
As his head became filled with questions, Oliver quickly shook his head and brushed them away.
The reason he had such thoughts was that the man in front of him looked sick and the Life-force emanating from his body as well as his appearance was irregular and hazy.
It was as if he was almost on the verge of death.
"What are you staring at, you fu*king sh*t. Are you gay?"
Growled the fat old man angrily. He was only wearing panties and was panting,
He struggled to put on his trousers, but after several trials and sighing, he brought them to his hips, and as if it was difficult beyond that, he sat with his panties showing without zipping up the trousers.
He looked really tired.
“Haa… Did someone fu*k your ear canal?”
"Pardon?"
"Ain’t I asking something here? What are you staring at? If someone asks you a fu*king question, you have to fu*king answer it, you piece of sh*t."
The old man said with a stern expression.
Annoyance turned into anger, and not just that, he also had a malicious intent wanting to discourage Oliver.
Either way, Oliver just responded as usual.
“Um… I’m sorry. I was seeing you put on your pants.”
"……"
"……"
The old man and Elizabeth looked at Oliver with puzzled eyes.
It was as if they were seeing some crazy guy that they had never seen before.
"What an irritating brat. I’ve seen all sorts of crazy fu*kers in my life but never a ret*rd like this… Ellie, is this really the right guy?"
Elizabeth said with a puzzled smile.
“Certainly, because Coco brought him.”
"Huh, I guess then this is the end for that greedy little girl. Typical women, like a fruit – fragrant and tasty, but their shelf life is really fu*ked up. Hahahaha! Isn't it?"
The fat old man thought his joke was funny and laughed.
Elizabeth also laughed with him, but Oliver remained like a stone, without laughing.
"Why aren't you laughing fu*ker? Isn’t this joke funny enough for you?"
The fat old man suddenly frowned and asked. He was quite overbearing, but unfortunately, it did not work much on Oliver.
"I'm sorry. I can't laugh."
“You can’t laugh?… You mean you can’t fu*king smile?”
“Yes, I’ve been practicing, but I’m not good at it.”
"If you laugh, I'll give you 1 billion. How about it?"
A sudden offer and it was 1 billion.
It was enough money for Oliver to take a break from working as a solver for a while and focus on his research.
"Um… Wait a minute… Ummm… I'm sorry. I can't do it."
Oliver answered after a sincere effort. It felt difficult for him to laugh.
"Ha… what a crazy bi*ch. Okay, fine. Ellie, go out. I want to talk alone with this fu*ker."
(To be Continued on NOV 21 {MON})
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