Chapter 21

21. Rest? (2)

Oliver opened his eyes mechanically.

Looking at the clock, it was the usual time.

The only difference was that he was in a private room for senior disciples, so there were no others around.

It was comfortable and quiet, something all family members dreamed of, but unfortunately, Oliver did not feel much joy from this room.

Of course, it was warmer and more convenient to live in, but for Oliver personally, it didn't matter much whether it was there or not.

He was just staying here because he had become a senior disciple and had to follow the rules.

Sometimes, he even thought that living in the dormitory with others was better.

At least there, he could immediately see various emotions upon waking up, so he wasn't bored... No, let me correct that.

Until a few days ago, there was definitely such a sense of loss, but not now.

When he focused his eyes, he could sense the emotions beyond the walls, albeit faintly.

His eyes had become stronger after he returned from the battle with the wizard and rested for a few days.

At first, he could only sense that someone was beyond the wall, but after Joseph left, it became even stronger.

He could read the faint emotions that only existed, and now he could even read the emotions of people in other rooms beyond several walls, albeit briefly.

An unexpected change, but one that was extremely interesting. So, every morning, Oliver would focus his eyes and observe the emotions of others.

Not only was it enjoyable to use this power, but the more he practiced, the better his eyes seemed to get.

“Hmm...”

When fatigue started to set in his eyes, Oliver rubbed between his eyebrows.

That's enough for today.

After taking the strength out of his eyes, he got up from his seat, washed his face at the sink in one corner of the room, and took out the wizard's diary stored under his bed.

Since becoming a senior disciple, he was exempt from chores like cleaning, so he had more time in the morning, which allowed him to do this. Oliver tried to make the most of the remaining time by reading the wizard's diary.

He had already read it several times, but he continued to read it, recalling the faint but beautiful light he had seen before.

He hoped to find some clue.

“...”

·

·

·

·

Knock, knock.

Oliver lifted his head. A voice came from beyond the door.

"O, Oliver-sama?"

"Yes?"

"It's mealtime... After the meal, we need to start the work. Is there anything you need to do?"

Oliver checked the clock. It was indeed mealtime.

He had lost track of time reading the diary, so he quickly put it back under the bed and replied.

"Sorry, I'll be there soon."

"Ah, yes, yes. Thank you."

The voice beyond the door stuttered.

The owner of the voice was a senior disciple who harbored resentment and jealousy towards Oliver but was more afraid of him, so he assisted Oliver well.

After getting dressed, Oliver went out of the room, had a meal, and immediately assigned people to produce the Filgrettes for the pharmacist.

He assigned the junior disciples to tear the cigarettes, collect the cut tobacco, and insert the processed cut tobacco into the empty cigarettes.

The intermediate disciples were assigned to the first and second distillation processes of making the herbal distillate.

The final processing, which involved completely infusing the emotions into the herbal distillate, was assigned to the senior disciples.

Oliver participated in the second distillation process, which was the responsibility of the intermediate disciples.

One of the intermediate disciples working with him said,

"Can't we just do these chores ourselves?"

"Ah, I'm doing it because I want to. Although I've become a senior disciple, I haven't fully mastered this process... Am I getting in the way?"

At Oliver's question, the intermediate disciple widened his eyes and shook his head and hands.

"No, no...! How could I, get in the way. It's just... I feel apologetic to see Oliver-sama, who is the deputy of the master, doing such work."

Oliver observed the intermediate disciple's emotions.

They were a mix of fear and discomfort, but to some extent, it was true... Then, a sudden question came to mind.

Oliver saw the junior disciples doing the bottom work, the intermediate disciples extracting the distillate, and the senior disciples casting dark magic on the processed distillate at the end of the workshop.

"I won't get in the way anymore. Then..."

While continuing his work, Oliver asked,

"Excuse me."

"Yes!?"

The intermediate disciple answered loudly, thinking he had done something wrong. Oliver made a gesture to show it was okay and asked,

"Can I ask you one question?"

"Question? A question?"

"Yes, a question."

"If I can answer it...?"

"How did you end up here?"

***

After that, Oliver helped with various tasks in the Filgrettes production and subtly asked each person in charge of the tasks one question.

How did they end up here? And how did they live before coming here?

He didn't know why. If he had to explain, it was a hunch.

A hunch that by listening to others' stories, he could better understand the lightning wizard's diary.

Most people were wary of Oliver's sudden questions, but he didn't force them to answer and only asked them to speak about what they felt comfortable sharing.

Since Oliver held the title of Joseph's deputy, most people had to speak to some extent, and their backgrounds were uniformly unfortunate and poor.

In other words, they were ordinary.

While listening to various people's stories and focusing on the work, he realized that the work was almost done.

"Hmm..."

Oliver checked the document with the production target. He looked at the completed cigarette packs in front of him.

Most of the emotions were well infused, but a few were in poor condition.

"Those and those. And those and those, the quality is relatively poor. Is it okay?"

At Oliver's question, the senior disciple assisting him answered.

"Which ones are you talking about?"

"Those, those, those, and those."

"Let me check."

The senior disciple took the cigarette packs Oliver pointed out and examined them closely.

It seemed that others couldn't see as easily as Oliver, but after the check, the senior disciple spoke.

"It should be fine."

"Really?"

At Oliver's casual question, the senior disciple swallowed.

"Well... Yes, the quality can drop a bit during the process. The master said this level is fine."

When Joseph was mentioned, Oliver immediately stopped arguing.

If Joseph said it was fine, there was no need to argue further.

Of course, he was a bit dissatisfied personally. It felt a bit off to sell products where the emotions weren't properly infused.

It was a feeling of not finishing the job properly.

No, more than that, he was a bit dissatisfied with the products they had produced.

At first, it was a curious item, but after understanding the manufacturing process and principles, it didn't quite satisfy him.

If a few changes were made to the manufacturing method, much better products could be made.

For example, what if emotions were mixed? By mixing emotions with different tendencies, the emotions could be maximized.

If that were the case, even lower-grade emotions could produce decent products.

While lost in such thoughts, the senior disciple spoke.

"Um... Oliver-sama?"

"Yes?"

"Can we package them now?"

"Ah, yes. It should be fine."

As soon as he gave permission, the senior disciple ordered the junior disciples to put the cigarette packs into the box, and they followed the order, placing the packs in the box in neat rows.

"Can we meet the delivery deadline with this?"

"Yes, not too early, but we can complete it comfortably."

Oliver nodded in satisfaction. He didn't take on the role of Joseph's deputy out of a particular desire, but if he was going to do it, he wanted to do it without any problems.

There were issues with his relationship with Joseph and the dark magic training, but it was a promise, after all.

"Now, Oliver-sama can rest."

"Ah, is that okay?"

"Yes, as I mentioned before, the deputy only needs to do this much."

Oliver nodded and replied.

"Yes, I understand. Please take care of the cleanup."

Just as Oliver was about to leave, the senior disciple suddenly asked.

"Um, if it's okay, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well, you asked other people today how they ended up here. Can I ask why?"

"Hmm... Why are you curious?"

"Well, no one has ever asked such a question... So I'm curious."

His emotions wavered. It was a lie.

Why was he lying? Oliver instinctively knew. Probably to report to Joseph.

He seemed to trust everyone but also not trust them, a contradictory existence.

Oliver replied.

"Just out of curiosity."

"Ah..."

"I once heard how Marie and Peter ended up here, and I just got curious about how others ended up here."

"Ah, I see."

The senior disciple nodded, seemingly convinced.

Oliver asked,

"Do you have any other questions?"

"No, no. I'm sorry for bothering you."

"No problem. If you need anything, let me know."

With that, Oliver headed to his private room.

The stories of the lightning wizards and the dark wizards had some similarities.

An immortal past, an opportunity gained by chance. While Oliver didn't feel a strong emotional response, he could see the similarities.

It was a mystery. Despite having similar pasts, why didn't the dark wizards emit the same light as the lightning