Chapter 94

<94. ID (1)>

An unexpected gift from Joanna.

Oliver readily accepted it.

Not only did he love books, but he also wanted to know what expectations or hopes she had when she gave the gift, and what intentions she had in showing such kindness.

Perhaps, after reading this gift, he could ask her.

So, Oliver read the Paternus Scriptures that Joanna had given him.

Except for when he was eating, teaching numbers and letters to Rosburn, reading the ledger-doll books seized from Puppet, studying code words on his own, and conducting personal black magic experiments, he spent day and night reading the Paternus Scriptures.

As a result, he realized that this book was quite peculiar.

The basic structure of the Paternus Scriptures was as follows:

It narrated the stories of the characters in the Paternus Scriptures, wrote down important dialogues or phrases at crucial points, and provided interpretations to guide how people should live.

The problem was that this seemed quite ambiguous to Oliver.

It wasn't that the stories were bad.

However, stories and phrases can be interpreted differently by different people, but the Paternus Scriptures presented subjective interpretations, asserting that this is how it should be done.

Books are meant to gain knowledge and broaden one's thinking, but in this sense, the Paternus Scriptures failed to fulfill the function of a book.

Moreover, there were contradictions, inconsistencies, and actions that negated their own claims, which made it take more time and effort to understand the book.

Still, because it was a gift from Joanna, Oliver took a break to recover and read the Paternus Scriptures for a while.

Forest didn't say much about it. He just said he would look for a good job in the meantime.

He was truly a kind person.

Time passed slowly, and surprisingly, the city provided considerable compensation to the participants and the deceased in the recent contaminated area cleanup.

It was said that the brokers' guild had obtained this after persistent negotiations with the city.

Originally, compensation would only be given to the deceased, and the amount would be paid in a lump sum.

However, the city made a concession due to the sloppy handling of the city's public affairs and the significant damage to the brokers, as Forest explained.

For the solvers who voluntarily participated, the compensation was three times what was written in the contract.

For the solvers who were forced to participate by the city, the compensation was paid in varying amounts based on the tasks they had accomplished and the amounts they had earned.

And this applied not only to the deceased but also to Oliver.

"Speaking of which, here are 30 million rands."

Oliver looked at the 300 banknotes, each worth 100,000 rands.

"…Was it supposed to be this much?"

"Absolutely not. The city has a large budget, but it certainly doesn't spend it lavishly. If they think they can get away with it, they'll squeeze every last bit out of you. That's why the city is often called the worst corrupt business entity in Randa."

Forest said this smoothly.

It wasn't just that he was good with words; it felt like he genuinely thought of Randa that way.

He continued.

"…But that can be both a disadvantage and an advantage. If it helps, they can invest quite a lot."

"Invest?"

"Yes, invest. For example, the compensation you received is much more than what other solvers get."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. Surviving against Puppet is a big deal. It means they want to maintain a good relationship with you. This compensation is also a kind of signal."

"Thank you, but it sounds a bit burdensome."

"You're right. It's not a good thing. It means they want to use you when they need to. Of course, you could use this opportunity to join a big player and move to a higher position, but I don't think you want that."

Indeed.

Oliver's goal was to form connections with the big players, but not to work under them.

Once you belong to an organization or someone, you have to prioritize their work, and you might have to do things you don't want to do.

It just didn't suit his temperament.

"By the way, is there a way not to accept it?"

"Not accept it?"

"Yes, it feels a bit burdensome. I'm not rich now, but I have enough money to get by."

Forest pushed the stack of money towards Oliver.

"No, just take it. The city dislikes people who reject their kindness, regardless of their intentions."

"That's unfair."

"Of course it's unfair. This is Randa. What have you learned from this city?"

In the end, Oliver took the money and put it in his fat pocket at Forest's urging.

Well, if things got bad, he could always abandon his current identity, so it wasn't too bad.

'…But I really want to avoid that as a last resort. I've built up too much so far.'

Oliver thought, recalling his career as a solver and the people like Forest, Murphy, the old bookseller, and Joanna.

While his fat pocket was sweetly swallowing the stack of high-denomination bills, Forest brought a few file folders and placed them in front of Oliver.

"Are you done resting?"

Oliver checked the file folders and answered.

"No, not yet."

The contents of the file folders were job requests targeting Oliver.

As Forest said, the conditions were generous, with a base of 5,000 rands, and some jobs were worth 100 million rands.

The types of jobs varied.

There was a request to destroy a glass factory in U District, a request to terrorize a black market in V District, and a request to kill an unaffiliated gang in X District.

"The jobs seem more aggressive than what I've done so far?"

"As the money increases, the demands become more overt. But not all of them are like that."

Indeed.

Besides destruction and assassination, there were also security and guard jobs. The most eye-catching was a request to protect an auction house and its items in L District.

The auction items included a mummy and a golden crown from a colony, and a jade throne, but while they were interesting, none of them particularly appealed to him.

Or rather, he wasn't in the mood to take on a job right now.

Money is good, but it's ultimately just a tool.

Oliver wanted to repair and modify the ledger-doll he obtained during the contaminated area cleanup as soon as possible.

If done well, it could be a useful tool beyond just satisfying his curiosity and could be used in his solver work, but the problem was that it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

To conduct experiments, a safe space isolated from the outside was essential.

However, it wasn't something Oliver could get right now.

'Hmm… It's a bit disappointing, but maybe I should put the experiments on hold and take a job to save money? A warehouse won't be cheap. Or should I negotiate to get a warehouse?'

Oliver slowly planned to get a warehouse, and at that moment, an idea struck him.

To buy a warehouse, he needed money and an ID, and Murphy had offered to provide an ID in the past.

Murphy of the Kimball Family.

"Mr. Forest."

"What is it?"

"By any chance, have you heard from Mr. Murphy?"

Forest's eyes widened slightly.

"Surprising. How did you know? Murphy contacted me this morning and said he had something to tell you. I was going to tell you after we finished talking."

Sincerely.

Oliver asked what Murphy had contacted him about, and Forest answered.

"He said he had prepared the payment we talked about last time and asked you to come to his shop when it's convenient."

***

The 43rd night street in T District, adjacent to the industrial area.

Oliver visited this place.

There were many people here because there were workers' residential areas nearby. Most of them went into the bars or the mysterious shops with red roofs on the street.

Occasionally, there were women's screams, curses, and fighting sounds. For Oliver, who had never visited such a place, it was truly a curious sight.

It felt like a place where emotions could be extracted without causing much harm to the target.

'Should I think about it seriously? If I can just hide the extraction process, I can easily obtain emotions. Then I can save money too.'

It didn't seem like a bad idea.

It might be worth thinking about.

However, Oliver put this thought aside for the moment and went to the meeting place.

Forest had told him that Murphy had made the ID he had requested and asked him to come to the shop to pick it up.

Murphy was busy with business and politely asked for his understanding, but since he was also giving a good gift, Oliver accepted without any complaints.

He was also curious about the shop Kimball had mentioned.

"Is this the place?"

Oliver looked at the downhill staircase between the red brick buildings.

It wasn't very deep, but there was a small door at the bottom, and quite a few people were continuously entering.

According to Forest, this was a secret bar run by the Kimball Family, but it didn't seem very secret.

'If you give the district police some money, almost anything can be a secret.'

Forest's words came to mind.

Oliver looked at the shop for a moment and then mixed in with the other people to enter.

Since it was a one-way path and he could blend in with the crowd, he didn't get lost.

Thump, thump. He went down the stairs and entered the shop in the basement.

The shop, unlike its appearance, had a fairly luxurious interior.

It wasn't as high-end as the Blue Moon, which Joseph used to like, but it was one of the most luxurious shops in T District.

The brick walls were clean, the tables and chairs were proper furniture, and the counter behind the bar was filled with various colorful drinks.

Among them, the drinks that glowed with various fluorescent lights contained a trace of magic, likely magical drinks.

"I'll have a glass of Palm Essel."

"Sure, I'll get it for you."

"I'll have a bottle of Ipe Vegi."

"Sorry, but we don't sell by the bottle."

"Damn...! Then give me a glass!"

"Five glasses of Schuk Piek, please. I'm going to share with my friends."

The skilled bartenders poured the magical drinks into glasses to meet the orders of the incoming customers.

They gladly handed over the banknotes and drank, looking extremely happy.

"Interesting."

"What's interesting?"

Oliver turned his head towards the direction of the voice.

There, standing with a