Cleaning season.
It was said to be an informal event that takes place in Landa regularly.
As the name suggests, it was about cleaning, but of course, it was not about cleaning using a broom or a mop.
“Where is this cleaning taking place?”
“In a contaminated zone in District F.”
“Contaminated zone?”
"Yes, it's a restricted area in District F. Dangerous contaminated creatures and zombies appear periodically at this place."
District F, was the Hub where many of Landa's research labs were gathered, and it was also a place where the high-class people lived.
Oliver wondered why such a dangerous zone existed in the upper-tier, high-securitized District F.
“Cleaning means dealing with the rampaging zombies, contaminated creatures, and mutants by entering the contaminated area. Cleaning takes place whenever the contaminated area possessed a high risk to the District. According to a secret agreement between the Brokers union and Landa, we occasionally provide manpower whenever it was needed.”
Oliver nodded.
Then, he looked around the Solvers. Everyone looked unhappy.
This made Oliver curious.
"Is this job, an individual's choice?"
Al closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.
“Not this time.”
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
Coco came out, and then a few other Solvers went in and out. Finally, it was Oliver's turn.
When he entered Forrest's office inside the restaurant, he saw Forrest with his collar loosened as if he was tired.
As soon as he saw Oliver, he straightened up his clothes and returned to his usual form.
“Hello, Mr. Forrest.”
“It’s been a while, Dave, nice to meet you.”
His words were half true and half lie.
For some reason, he was having a bit of trouble telling Oliver something.
"… Did you hear what was happening?"
"Yes. I asked Mr. Al and he told me about the contaminated area and the cleaning season. Can you tell me more in detail?"
“Of course. Please sit down.”
Oliver sat down at Forrest's suggestion.
Forrest, as usual, poured him a glass of wine.
“So, you heard about the contaminated area and cleaning season?”
"Yes, I heard that it's a place infested with zombies and contaminated creatures."
"And it's also a place where criminals who run away from society and dangerous Warlocks hide."
"Is that so?"
“Yeah, besides that, it’s also a dumping site where hard-to-handle corpses are thrown away…that’s the reason why zombies appear there on a regular basis.”
“But Mr. Al said it was a place close to District F? Doesn’t those places have high security?”
"That may be the case on the ground, but not below."
Forrest pointed towards the ground.
Kent's words that there was another city underneath the city of Landa came to Oliver’s mind.
“Just because it’s District F, not everything is perfect, every organization has loopholes. If you give some money to the city’s defense forces, they let you throw corpses in the contaminated area.”
“Um… How come such a dangerous place formed in District F?”
"That's a good question. There are a lot of rumors, some say it was the aftermath of a magic experiment, while some say it was the trace of a disaster that happened in the catastrophe era, but no one knows the exact reason."
"Is that so?"
“Yeah. That’s Landa’s for you. Even if something huge and terrible happens, they would spread a lot of lies and crumble the truth like flour dough. Most people are busy and don’t care about those things, so… Truth is more valuable and dangerous in this city."
“… Thank you for explaining everything kindly to me, Mr. Forrest.”
Forrest smiled bitterly.
“I have a favor to ask of you, Dave.”
“Is it about the cleaning in the contaminated area?”
“Yeah, I don’t know why, but the city officials named people for this cleaning. They said that the cleaning last time was not done properly because most of the people designated by the brokers were incompetent.”
Oliver asked calmly as if the story had nothing to do with him.
“Was it true?”
"About half? It's true that most of the brokers tried not to send their talented force since it was a dangerous job that paid practically nothing… But…"
“Is the cleaning not done properly, a lie?”
“Yeah, even though they were hesitant to send their talented workforce, they still send people who could do the cleaning properly. Because it will be checked, and if not done properly, the brokers get summoned by the city officials. So, everything went as usual last time, but suddenly they’re forcing us like this. We have no choice but to accept."
There was a slight sense of resentment and helplessness in Forrest's emotions.
Apparently, in the relationship between the city and the broker union, the broker union’s position seemed to be trailing a lot.
Forrest opened his mouth again.
“And the city officials asked for you.”
"Me?"
"Yeah, it seems like they've heard rumors about you killing a wizard. It's close to a rumor, but that alone is enough to make you stand out… Originally, I didn't intend to let you go on this kind of job, but now that the situation has turned out like this, please. I need you to go to the cleaning … I'm sorry, Dave."
Forrest's words were sincere.
He felt sorry for Oliver and felt guilty.
Oliver found Forrest’s reaction incomprehensible.
Oliver wondered what was the problem with him even though he himself had no complaints about it.
Above all, he was interested in the contaminated area after hearing that Warlocks could be hiding there.
After thinking for a while, Oliver asked a question just in case.
"What if I say no?"
“If you break the secret agreement with the city, you will either be fined a huge amount or… I will lose my broker status. You will automatically become a criminal.”
“Um, then I should participate.”
"Thank you for the wise judgment. Well, I will now explain some things, considering you've accepted the request"
Forrest said while pulling out a file. He didn't seem to want to let Oliver go empty-handed.
“Please.”
“Okay, let me make sure about one thing first. There’s a lot suspicious about this year’s cleaning season.”
“Suspicious?”
"Yeah, it's strange that they are naming the participants directly, but above all, the timing is too early. It was originally supposed to take place 4 months later, but they suddenly notified us that it’s happening now. It means, there are a lot of wild zombies in the contaminated area."
“Wild zombies?”
“Yeah. I checked it with Ms. Coco and Heimdall. In the past month, the number of rampaging zombies has increased exponentially.”
“Is there a World Tree in the contaminated area?”
“Of course… Wait, did I tell you about the world tree?”
“I studied.”
"What?"
“I said I studied…… Is there any problem?”
“No, it’s not, but how…? No, it’s fine. Anyway, there is a World Tree in the contaminated area. If we knew that the number of zombies increased in the contaminated area. Then, we can guess three reasons for it.”
“Three reasons?”
“Yeah, the first reason, maybe many people died this year, resulting in numerous corpses dumped into the contaminated area without permission. Surprisingly, this is a common reason… The second is, the black plague has spread and infected numerous people living in the contaminated area.”
Black plague.
Oliver read about it once in a book he got from the Dominic Family.
It was a contagious disease that was caused by a mixture of numerous corpses, germs, and the energy of black magic, which turns people into zombies.
It was said to be more malignant and fatal than general diseases, causing uncontrollable disasters in severe cases.
“What about the third?”
“In case a dangerous warlock suddenly established a nest.”
“A warlock?”
"Yeah, I don't mean to belittle you, but there's no better place for a warlock than the contaminated area..”
“Um…”
Oliver nodded as if he understood the meaning.
The contaminated area was a restricted area, meaning, it was a kind of free area where the laws and rules of the city do not apply.
In addition, there were a lot of corpses. There wouldn’t be a comfortable place like this for a Warlock.
Even Oliver sympathized with it and wondered if there was a way to enjoy those benefits.
“Are you okay?”
“Um? Oh, yes. I’m fine.”
"…Anyway, my current guess is that zombies have increased due to these factors. It's dangerous. It's just as dangerous as the Districts Y and Z."
It was as dangerous as Districts Y and Z, which were virtually lawless places…
“Mr. Forrest, if it’s okay with you, can I ask you a question?”
"Yeah, what is it?"
" Um… I still don’t understand why they are leaving such a dangerous place. Even if it’s still under the city, doesn’t it pose a threat to the city? Instead of cleaning, why not destroy the place?”
"Right. That’s how anyone would think. But sometimes, those common sense is useless. In the early days, there were voices for the complete extermination of the contaminated area, but not anymore, now, it's not just a simple contaminated area."
“…….?”
“First, it’s well controlled, and the lab can get decent samples from there…Above all, it’s a good place to throw away the specimens from illegal lab experiments.”
Oliver understood what Forrest meant when he said the contaminated area was not simply a contaminated area anymore.
It was a kind of field to secure the specimen samples, and at the same time, it was a convenient garbage place to hide illegal experiments.
Because of its convenience, the contaminated area was left untouched.
“…these are purely rumors, and there are also rumors that the contaminated area and District F have an unspoken agreement. As long as you don't go too deep, they'll never do any damage.”
“Who made such an agreement?”
Forrest replied with a grin.
"No one knows. So it's just a rumor. Oh, look at me. Take this."
Forrest handed over a dozen documents.
"It's the minimum amount of work that one person has to do when cleaning the contaminated area and the compensation for it. It's a sh*tty price, but it's better than getting nothing."
On the first page of the papers that Forrest gave, there were details about the minimum amount of work that one solver had to do.
It was classified in detail, based on how many zombies were caught, and how many zombies or contaminated creatures were killed. It was said that if the quota was met, additional compensation other than the basic salary can be received.
It was said that everyone had to bring the head of the zombies or contaminated creatures as evidence in order to receive the bonus, and also said that they would provide a magic bag for this purpose.
It also warned the participants to be careful with the magic bag.
It said that the participants should pay compensation if they lose or damage the Magic bag.
“Huh? What does it mean by capturing? ”
“The literal meaning. If you catch the zombies and take them alive, you’ll get money.”
“I don’t understand. It’s cleaning, so why do you want to capture it?”
“They will be using it as a sample for the Magic Lab. It’s an indirect request from the Magic Tower. So the price is four, no maybe five times higher.”
“Um…”
Oliver nodded.
It always seemed that way, and it certainly seemed that the status of the wizards here in this land was unusual.
They had the power to indirectly commission the city officials.
Oliver kept flipping through the papers.
On the back was a document with an unknown map and black and white photos.
"This…?"
“A brief map of the contaminated area and dangerous places and groups within the contaminated area are marked.”
“Does the city offer things like this?”
“No, it’s something made by the brokers, including myself. We worked together to make it. It’s a crazy job, so we thought we might as well prepare for it.”
“…Amazing.”
"Thank you for noticing… Can you see the skull sign on the map?"
Oliver searched for it.
"Yes."
"It's the places with the most zombies and the dangerous warlocks. Those are the most dangerous places in the dangerous contaminated area. Be sure to avoid it."
Oliver checked the number of skull markings on the map.
As Forrest said, there were phrases marked as zombie haunting area, Warlock family, and Looters.
Oliver thought there would be no people since it was a polluted area, but there were also people living in that poor environment.
“Isn’t it great to be human? There are people who live in places like that. But they are not the only ones who are at risk.”
"Um..?"
“Well, besides Solvers, the mercenaries who are active in the city are also participating this time. Be careful with them too.”
“Mercenaries?”
“Be careful even with the other Solvers, it’s rare, but sometimes there are bad guys.”
A glimmer of concern shone in Forrest's emotions. The odds were low, but it could be dangerous.
Oliver nodded and asked.
“How many Solvers are participating?”
“Nine people from my side, including you. Including the Solvers from Districts B, H, and N, it should be around a hundred people.”
“Um, when is the cleaning?”
“Five days from today.”
(To be Continued)
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