Chapter 71

< 71. Ambush (1) >

Oliver entered a dilapidated warehouse following Murphy's guidance.

The warehouse, which was covered in grime and had parts of its finish peeling off, was as messy inside as it looked from the outside.

Old, dusty wooden crates were piled up like walls throughout the warehouse, and black tarps were sagging in various places.

Oliver, who knew nothing about it, thought the warehouse hadn't been maintained for quite some time. Or perhaps it was intentionally made this way.

As if reading his thoughts, Murphy said,

"It's quite messy, isn't it?"

"...A bit?"

"Thank goodness."

"Excuse me?"

"That's the goal. To make it look so messy that it's common and thus less likely to be inspected. Everyone hates getting dust on their clothes."

"Oh…."

"Murphy, who is this?"

A third voice interjected. It was a woman's voice, and when he turned his head, a middle-aged woman holding a file was approaching. Beside her was a teenage boy, around Oliver's age.

"Aunt Maggie, this is the black magician I mentioned I would bring last time."

"This is…? Younger than I expected."

Her expression momentarily showed a hint of disappointment, but she quickly regained her composure.

Oliver, without showing any particular reaction, greeted her politely while observing her.

She seemed strong and somewhat similar to Marie in the past. A person who fights against the world's storms.

"Damn, he's so young. Is this really the guy the deputy professor brought?"

Smack!

The boy, who was standing next to Maggie, was hit on the back of his head by Murphy for speaking out of turn.

The boy, who was hit, grumbled, "Shit…" but didn't resist further. Seeing this, Murphy apologized.

"I'm sorry, Black Magician. He's the youngest, so he's a bit rude."

"Oh, it's fine. But is he your brother?"

"Yes, Milo, the youngest."

It seemed that unlike the Black Magic Family, the Kimbell Family really operated as a family unit.

This might be important information, so he noted it in his mind.

"I also apologize for my nephew's rudeness, Black Magician. Thanks to you, we were able to restart our business sooner than expected. Thank you."

"No, it's fine. I'm just doing my job for the money."

"If I may, what is your name? We'll be living together for a month, so I think it's necessary to know."

"My name is Dave."

"Dave?"

"Yes."

"Thank you for telling me. If you need anything during your stay here, please let me know. I'll do my best to accommodate you…. I have some business to attend to, so if you don't mind, I'll take my leave now."

Oliver nodded, and Maggie left, pulling on her nephew Milo's ear.

"Ah! Ah! Aunt, Aunt! My ear!"

Maggie left with Milo in tow.

Oliver, watching her go, said,

"She seems quite strong."

"Yes, she is. A strong person…. Would you like me to show you around again?"

At Murphy's words, Oliver nodded.

"Thank you. Then, this way…."

Murphy led Oliver around the warehouse again.

The warehouse was filled with a lot of stuff, with items piled up along the walls.

Upon closer inspection, the items had formed walls and paths.

Murphy then entered between some stacks of crates.

"This way."

Oliver entered between the stacks of crates, which looked like they might collapse at any moment.

It was deeper than he expected, and he soon realized that this path was intentionally created.

"Here."

Murphy opened a secret door on a large wooden crate and said,

"Did you set up a workshop in the center of the warehouse?"

"Yes. Originally, I planned to set it up in the basement, but it wasn't feasible for the scale of the workshop."

When they entered, Oliver saw a workshop similar to what he had seen in the X Zone.

It wasn't complete yet, but several workers were already working on finishing it.

"Mr. Murphy?"

A worker, with oil stains on his hands, took off his cap and greeted Murphy.

"I'm here for other business. Don't worry about me. How's the work going?"

"I've made some adjustments to the plans you gave me. There's no major problem with production, but it's more efficient to make some changes. Thanks to that, I think we can complete it on time with some effort."

"That's a relief."

Murphy genuinely felt relieved.

"But who is he?"

"He's here to guard the workshop."

At this, everyone's gaze turned to Oliver.

They muttered anxiously, "Black magician…", "He's so young?", "Is he really okay?"

The noise was quite annoying, but the foreman, who was talking to Murphy, shouted,

"Stop chatting and get back to work! I'm not paying you to talk!"

The workers then resumed setting up the workshop. When it got quieter, the foreman whispered to Murphy,

"Is he the black magician you mentioned?"

"…He's a bit young, isn't he?"

"He's skilled. Mr. Forest vouched for him."

"Well, I guess that's fine for a gang, but what if a real magician shows up—"

"—Don't worry. The chances are very low. Bringing a black magician will make it even less likely. You don't need to worry about that. Just focus on your job. If this workshop runs smoothly, you won't have to work for peanuts in this factory anymore. Understand?"

"…Yes, sir."

After this conversation, the foreman returned to work, and Murphy approached Oliver.

"This is the place you need to guard, Black Magician. We bought this warehouse and gathered the surrounding items to disguise it as we set up the workshop in the center."

Oliver looked around the workshop, which was much larger than what he had seen in the X Zone. It also had a ventilation system installed.

It seemed the factory wasn't a lie.

"Where are the entrances?"

"Including the way we came, there are two entrances: one for people and one for moving items."

"I see."

"And I have a request."

"A request?"

"Yes. Normally, I would handle small gangs, but while you're here, I'd like you to take the lead."

"…"

"I'm not trying to use you. Just…."

"To spread the word, right?"

"…Yes. To let everyone know that I've hired a black magician to strengthen our defenses. If the rumor spreads, the number of reckless attacks will decrease, making our work much easier. Is that okay?"

"Hmm… Are you colleagues?"

"Excuse me?"

"The person you were talking to earlier."

Oliver pointed to the foreman.

"Oh, yes. He's a comrade. He was a mechanic… After discharge, he didn't have a proper job, so we work together."

"I see. I understand. I'll take charge of the intruders as you suggested."

Oliver's straightforward attitude pleased Murphy.

"Thank you. I don't need you to do everything, but it would be great if you could show up often and use some black magic."

"Yes, but won't that attract real magicians?"

The word "magician" made Murphy's expression darken.

It wasn't just fear of the name. There was something more specific.

"…If a skilled black magician is around, they probably won't come recklessly. They wouldn't want to cause a commotion."

Well… Oliver was honestly skeptical. He had only seen electric magicians, and he wasn't sure if they would care that much.

And that wasn't the only thing that bothered him. There was something else.

Murphy, who had gone to great lengths to bring Oliver, didn't seem to expect him to win against a magician.

Well, he knew that black magicians were considered inferior to real magicians, but this reaction was still surprising.

"Have you ever seen a magician?"

"Excuse me?"

"You seem to know a lot about them."

"…I saw a few during my military service."

"Can you tell me more? About the magicians you saw during your military service. It might help me a lot."

"Sure, I can do that."

***

Military Magician.

Murphy referred to magicians who participated in the war as military magicians.

Some were actual military personnel, while others joined like him, but for convenience, they were all called military magicians.

Each military magician could hold their own, and while their capabilities varied, they all had a minimum level of magical firepower, capable of exerting the power of dozens to hundreds of people.

Some even claimed that if several magicians worked together and prepared properly, they could vaporize thousands of people with absurd magic.

Even for Oliver, who fought with limited emotions, this was quite a surprising scale.

He wondered if it was just exaggeration, but seeing Murphy's sincere expression, he dismissed the thought.

Murphy was genuinely serious. Despite his calm demeanor, he was quite anxious about the possibility of facing a magician.

Murphy continued,

Military magicians not only gave hope to allies and fear to enemies but also excelled in resource exploration and various academic fields. Because of this, even non-magicians who had served in the military had likely seen a magician at least once.

Upon hearing this, Oliver asked Murphy to gather all the war veterans who had seen magicians.

Murphy, though puzzled, complied, and as a result, Oliver was able to hear detailed accounts of magicians from many people, including war veteran warehouse workers, magic potion workers, security guards, and even Murphy's brothers, Martin and Meyer.

Listening to these war veterans was never boring.

According to them, the main role of magicians was to deal significant damage to the enemy with powerful firepower, breaking their will to fight.

This was especially evident in the New Continent and the unknown eastern lands, where magicians were absent.

One legendary story was that three magicians once inflicted heavy casualties on a force of 5,000, causing them to retreat.

Oliver had felt the difficulty of facing a magician when he encountered the electric magician. He was genuinely afraid. But he wasn't going to sit idly.

Since he had accepted the job, he needed to do his best.

While on guard duty, Oliver walked around the warehouse, memorizing the terrain and thinking about potential entry points.

He selected seven entry points that seemed easiest to breach and planted emotions he bought from the Gray Market at these points.

The range varied from near the warehouse to the top of distant buildings.

He also didn't forget to engrave a black magic array on the test tubes containing the emotions.

A black magic array, as seen in Anthony Family's books, is an auxiliary device that helps activate black magic from a distance.

Originally, it was for manipulation-type magic, but Oliver modified it to be more versatile.

While black magic might be weaker in firepower compared to magic, this element of surprise could make up for the difference.

At least, based on his past combat experience.

Over several days, he repelled small gangs and prepared thoroughly to face a magician, but his colleagues still seemed to doubt him.

"Wow, this black magician is better than expected. He chased away gangs three times on his own."

"Yeah, I was worried because he's so young, but he's surprisingly good."

"He's not that weird either. The black magicians I saw on the battlefield were more dangerous than the enemies."

"Still, will it be okay? We can handle gangs, but the problem is the magician."

"Well, it's been a few days, and the workshop is almost complete. They probably won't show up."

"True, but what if a magician does come? If they attack here, they're not in their right mind and are confident in their skills."

"We have a black magician, so it should be fine, right?"

"No, the basic firepower of a black magician and a magician is different. Why do you call black magicians fake magicians?"

"Maybe he's confident?"

"No, he's just a threat. We've prepared this much, so they won't come. Besides, there aren't many black magicians who can properly fight a magician. If he's that skilled, he'd be doing more prestigious work."

"Yeah, I guess. It would be a disaster if he came."

Oliver sat in a designated area of the warehouse and listened to their conversation.

It wasn't intentional.

He had only planted listening devices around the warehouse for security, but he ended up overhearing their casual conversations.

Well, he found it interesting, so he left them in place.

Compared to when he first met them, they seemed to have more trust in Oliver, but they were still anxious about the possibility of a magician's attack.

"Are you okay?"

Murphy, who had been absent for a while, appeared and spoke to him.

"Oh, Mr. Murphy. Hello. It's been a while."

"Yes, I was at a client's place. Everyone was curious about when the business would start…. Have there been any issues while I was gone?"

"No, nothing in particular."

"That's a relief."