Chapter 65

<65. The Gray Market (1)>

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Oliver walked toward the potion-making workshop where Professor Hubert was, tapping his quarterstaff as he went.

It wasn’t far, but along the way, he saw traces of gang members who had fallen after being hit by black darts or barely managed to escape with their lives.

Perhaps because of this, he no longer saw any more obstacles when he focused his eyes.

Not only the obstacles, but the number of people loitering around also sharply decreased.

Of course, there were a few people with a mix of curiosity, interest, and a bit of fear, but he decided to ignore them.

There were many such people in Zone X who liked to pry into others' affairs, as Kent had said.

If he paid attention to each one, there would be no end, so unless it was something really important, he was told not to worry about it.

He even said that if used properly, it could help raise one’s reputation.

Oliver touched his face, just in case.

More precisely, the black magic item leather mask he had on his face.

Fortunately, it wasn’t torn or damaged.

After confirming this, Oliver moved forward, leaving the prying eyes behind.

As long as he had this face, even if some unforeseen danger arose, there would be a way out. He decided to gain as much experience as possible.

Who knows, maybe it would make things easier?

While thinking this, Oliver had already arrived at the potion-making workshop.

"Hmm......"

Oliver looked around the four buildings used as workshops.

Each workshop had eight, eight, six, and nine people, respectively, all in a state of fear, panic, and confusion, far from being rational.

The most noticeable was the largest workshop, where nine people were present, and one of them had a different emotional state from the others.

Like the others, he was startled by the sudden situation, but he wasn’t paralyzed by panic.

He was mustering his will, gathering his courage, and thinking of ways to resolve the situation.

A faint blue light could also be seen alongside him.

This blue light was not an emotion, nor was it life force.

It was similar to the two but different, and he had seen it somewhere before.

When was it... Ah! The lightning mage.

Oliver soon realized that this light was magic power.

"So, that person must be the mage, then?"

As soon as Oliver identified his target, he went inside.

There were no hostile or suspicious people, so he entered the workshop in one go. As soon as he went in, he could smell the musty dust and the sour smell of alcohol.

He also saw pipes connected along the ceiling, tanks used for various purposes, and distillation equipment.

Potatoes and corn were piled up on one wall, and potion ingredients were in boxes.

While slowly observing the surroundings, he noticed people hiding under desks and behind equipment and said,

"I know you’re there. Come out."

Silence was his answer, or rather, silence and fear.

"I won’t harm you, so please come out. I beg you."

This time, his persuasion worked, and one person slowly came out with his hands up.

He was wearing a dirty work uniform and a work cap, and it seemed he was a simple laborer with no intention of fighting.

“Huh... Please, spare me...”

"You can leave."

Oliver pointed to the door politely.

Instead of feeling relieved, he seemed confused, and eventually, he fled in a panic.

"Ahhh...!"

“...Are the others not going to come out?”

The other laborers, who had been watching the situation, slowly came out and, like the first person, screamed and ran away.

Oliver couldn’t understand why they were acting this way, but at least it helped him clear the place.

Oliver looked around and headed deeper into the workshop where the mage was.

He passed through the distillation equipment and various machines, and the red fluorescent bottles of alcohol stacked on one wall, and arrived at a narrow and dirty office.

Oliver instinctively looked around the empty office.

The large window was open, letting in the cold outside air, and the wind had scattered the ledgers and documents on the desk.

Not only that, but the safe in the back of the office was half-open, with a little cash left inside.

If an ordinary person saw this place, they would think someone had hastily taken the money and fled.

It wasn’t a foolish assumption, given the circumstances.

Oliver, too, would have thought the same if he didn’t have the black mage’s vision.

‘Interesting.’

Oliver thought to himself without showing it.

He blinked, switching between normal vision and the black mage’s vision, and observed Professor Hubert, who was hiding in a corner of the office.

He couldn’t be seen with normal human vision, but with the black mage’s vision, his emotions were visible.

It seemed to be a concealment spell similar to the Shade Cloak, but its performance was much better.

The Shade Cloak required darkness, but Professor Hubert was simply invisible.

However, it wasn’t entirely superior.

His magic power, visible along with his emotions and life force, was visibly decreasing in real time.

It must be to maintain the invisibility spell.

Either his magic power was insufficient, or the spell consumed a lot of magic power. It seemed his invisibility would soon be undone.

Therefore, his tension and fear were growing.

Oliver thought for a moment and walked to the safe.

Thud. Thud.

The sound echoed with each tap of his quarterstaff.

Oliver squatted down and examined the money in the safe.

There was a considerable amount of cash, and while he wasn’t uninterested, he needed a lot of money for the future, so the more, the better.

However, what interested Oliver as much as the money in front of him was the reaction of Professor Hubert, who was watching the situation from behind.

He could have used the quarterstaff to administer a Deep Sleep and knock him out, but for some reason, he was observing him.

He was looking forward to seeing his reaction.

Why? Oliver asked himself.

Was it because this was the first mage he had met since the lightning mage?

Or was it because he hoped to see the beautiful light the lightning mage had shown?

Oliver observed the professor with a hard-to-explain sense of anticipation.

Professor Hubert, as if in response, went through a series of emotions: greed and restraint, fear and courage, wisdom and stubbornness, and finally, he seemed to make a decision and quietly approached.

It seemed he was a professor and not experienced in combat.

His emotions sang carefully, but he couldn’t hide his footsteps.

Did the spell he was using not have a sound-dampening function? If so, why wasn’t it given? Was it because there was no such spell, or was his magic power insufficient?

While thinking this, Professor Hubert had already reached right behind Oliver.

Oliver, tense and waiting for the professor’s attack, heard an unbelievable sound.

Click—

—Bang!

The moment he heard the sound of a gun being cocked, Oliver swung his quarterstaff behind him, stabbing Professor Hubert.

He didn’t stab too hard, but thanks to the Deep Sleep spell on the quarterstaff, he immediately fell.

Seeing this, Oliver’s interest quickly waned.

It was... different from what he had expected. He had hoped for something more from a professor from the magic tower.

Well, it didn’t matter now.

After confirming that the fallen target was not injured, Oliver did some work.

First, he used a glutton’s pouch to collect the money from the safe. Then, without being asked, he gathered important-looking documents and scattered ledgers.

He also collected the potion ingredients he had seen on the way. The potions in the reinforced glass, which looked like a round pot, had a red stamp on them.

"Hmm... I don’t have the glutton’s pouch anymore?"

Oliver muttered and, as if there was no other choice, put two or three potions in his arms.

He wanted to take more, but it was too cumbersome to carry more. While checking if there was anything else to take, he received a signal from a minion he had placed earlier.

Oliver closed one eye to share his vision.

Some people had appeared, and they seemed to be black mages.

They didn’t seem hostile, but he decided it was best not to stay any longer and moved immediately.

Oliver approached the fallen Professor Hubert and cast Obedience on him.

A black magic spell to control the minds of reanimated zombies, animals, or living people.

As expected, it was easy to cast with the resistance lowered by the Deep Sleep. Oliver roughly picked up a fallen hat and put it on him before leaving the potion-making workshop.

He then walked in the opposite direction of the newcomers.

He kept his eyes focused in case of an unexpected attack, but fortunately, they only took care of the fallen Knuckle Joe.

He also checked their emotions, but they seemed more interested and excited by the situation than angry.

As if this wasn’t so bad.

Oliver continued to observe them as he moved forward and soon came out at the entrance of Zone X as the sun rose.

Fortunately, the feared situation didn’t occur.

Bang! Bang!

A loud horn.

Oliver looked in the direction of the sound and saw the taxi driver who had brought him here yesterday, with the window down, looking at him.

He had a slightly furrowed brow and an awkward expression as he said,

"Ah... I came as agreed. But it seems you’ve had a very busy day?"

Oliver only then realized he was covered in dust.

"Ah, yes. I had a somewhat chaotic and interesting night. Thank you for coming."

"No, it’s nothing. I came because you offered double the money... But please get in. And... your friend, too."

Oliver looked at Hubert.

"Ah, yes... He’s a friend."

***

"Mr. Hubert, that’s right. Boss."

Al, who had confirmed the Hubert brought by Oliver, said.

He didn’t just check his face but also compared fingerprints and took a blood sample to put into a small device.

"......"

"An identity verification method based on blood magic. It’s the latest technology. Faces and fingerprints can be changed, but blood doesn’t lie."

"Blood magic?"

"Yes, a new branch of the life magic school. I understand it’s unfamiliar. It’s a very recent field of study, officially born about 12 years ago, and gained recognition in the past 2-3 years."

Forest, who was usually kind, seemed even more so now.

He soon explained why.

"Still, it’s really impressive. I thought you were amazing with the Chimera, but I didn’t expect you to succeed in the mission in just one day."

"Thank you for the compliment."

"It’s not a compliment, but a statement of fact. Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t wish for you to fail. I’m really surprised."

"Is that so?"

"Of course, the Fighter Crew is a recently formed organization, but they have already proven their strength. Even some of the Crime Firm’s gangs do business with them. They are a group united by pure strength. Yet, you took down not one but three of them. That’s really impressive."

Oliver nodded silently. He didn’t know how impressive it was, but he acknowledged their strength.

Oliver hadn’t been injured, but he hadn’t won overwhelmingly either.

It was a close call.

If they had been better at using black magic and landed effective hits from the start, it might have been Oliver who ended up in trouble.

Cant’s words about how complacency invites death rang true.

"Thanks to you, the client is also happy. They bet money on the job, but they didn’t expect it to be resolved so easily."

"They seem happy."

"Of course, it’s always a pleasure to complete a job successfully."

“...If it’s not too much trouble, may I ask a question?”

"Sure, go ahead. By the way, I have a gift for you."

"A gift?"

"Yes, before I tell you about the gift, let me ask you a question. How many emotions do you have? I don’t think you have many."

Forest’s words were half correct.

The emotions he had collected before leaving the Joseph Family were already half used.

He had tried to conserve them, but he had been using them continuously since the beggar gang.

In this mission, he used more emotions than expected. However, it wasn’t a waste.

Thanks to the emotions he obtained from the puppeteer Glib, he maintained a similar amount to when he first started.

After some thought, Oliver answered with what Forest wanted to hear.

"I have about half of what I originally had."

"Then it’s time to replenish."

"Yes, but I’m a bit at a loss. The contract says not to extract emotions carelessly, right?"

"That’s true. Specifically, from ordinary people. It’s not something we or the guild can protect you from."

"So, I was thinking of extracting emotions from enemies during missions."

"During a fight...? That’s impressive. You could get hurt or even die."

"Well... But why are you telling me this?"

"I was going to introduce you to someone."

"Excuse me? Who?"

“The Gray Market.”