Chapter 439: What About Me?

Oliver could see it.

In just 1 second, Forest’s expression changed several times.

His face showed emotions opposite to what he truly felt.

Though everyone in the meeting noticed Forest’s sudden change, they soon dismissed it as nothing, thanks to his perfect poker face.

Except the black magicians Marie, Joe, and Smith, who could see through emotions.

They sensed something unusual.

Forest opened his mouth, with a voice that seemed normal.

“…How about we take a short break?”

***

When Forest called for a recess, the attendees were puzzled but quickly exited the conference room, eager to stretch from the long meeting.

This left only Oliver, Forest, Joe, Marie, and Nora in the room.

Nora, who had been looking brave, now fixed her eyes on the floor, frozen.

Forest was repressing a rising anger in his chest, his face hard as he did, a look Oliver had never seen before. It was quite shocking; Oliver hadn’t expected him to get so angry.

What was even more surprising was Marie.

Despite hearing about Nora’s poisoning attempt, Oliver had expected her to be more furious, but she wasn’t.

Yes, she was angry, but she was controlling it well.

“…I’m sorry. I should have done something, really… I’m sorry.”

Joe approached Oliver as he spoke, though he was really inserting himself between Oliver and Nora.

He was trying to protect Nora. Joe was filled with regret and guilt, but also fear and terror.

The regret for not stopping this in advance, guilt towards Oliver and Nora, and fear for what may come.

But there was no resentment; there was no blame for Nora, who had brought about this situation. He only felt the need to protect.

Oliver closed his eyes and took in the scent of coffee and cookies once more.

“Sniff… Let’s check. Did you really mix poison into the cookies and coffee? I smell something, but my sense of smell isn’t great.”

That was true. Oliver’s sense of smell was not just bad; it was very poor.

Given he grew up in a smelly orphanage and a stuffy mine, it made sense.

Yet strangely enough, Oliver could now smell everything in detail.

The flour, butter, eggs, sugar, salt, chocolate chips, cocoa powder in the cookies, and even the Peach Bottom Grass in the coffee, which when mixed with Eel Tail Grass, became a deadly poison.

‘Is it because I’m constantly hungry?’

Oliver thought as he felt his growling stomach. Even so, it was odd.

He could understand smelling the flour and eggs, but how could he know the scent of Eel Tail Grass and Peach Bottom Grass…? Those were only things he had read about in books.

Yet as soon as he smelled them, Oliver recognized the herbs, as if he had encountered them before.

“Joe.”

Oliver opened his eyes and began to speak.

“Sorry, but could you take the necklace from Nora?”

Joe, hearing this request, quickly turned his head and looked down at Nora.

Upon hearing the word ‘necklace,’ he was puzzled, but then his confusion turned to cold sweat when it dawned on him. Nora really was wearing a necklace.

A black magic item called the Liar’s Necklace.

This item was made from a fetal heart, at least 7 weeks old, to deceive others into thinking it held other emotions temporarily.

Though useful in fooling black magicians, it was short-lived, one-time use, and incredibly expensive—an item not easily found.

An item that Nora could not have obtained herself.

“This confirms it.”

After examining Nora’s necklace, Forest spoke with certainty.

Since Nora had a black magic item to hide her emotions, they didn’t need additional evidence of poison in the cookies and coffee.

Furthermore, as soon as the item was taken from her, Nora’s face displayed extreme resentment and hatred toward Oliver—along with a sense of betrayal.

The same girl who had been smiling at Oliver not long ago.

There was no escape from this situation. A heavy silence settled like a looming fog.

Joe broke the silence with great difficulty.

“Dave… I know I’m in no position to ask, but I’ll take responsibility, so please—”

“Joe.”

“Yes?”

“Could you tell me why Nora dislikes me? You seem to know.”

Oliver’s tone was so calm that no one, not even Joe, could say a word. It was too calm for someone who had just been nearly poisoned. Everyone around him was calm because of it.

“…Nora is Nico’s younger sister.”

Joe spoke plainly. Oliver confirmed it.

“One of the two people who were with you the first time we met?”

Joe was slightly surprised and nodded.

Oddly, in this moment, Joe felt a sense of gratefulness for Oliver remembering Nico and Big Jaw.

“Hmm… So why didn’t you tell me?”

“The timing never seemed right.”

Oliver understood. After all, it would’ve been a bit awkward to suddenly mention Nora being Nico’s sister while dealing with the property takeover.

Especially when Nora was the one constantly preparing coffee.

He now understood why Joe didn’t like Nora always preparing coffee.

‘It’s partly my fault for letting her continue.’

Oliver started speaking again.

“Then why didn’t you tell Nora?”

“I couldn’t tell her. I owed you… I’m sorry.”

Joe apologized, but it wasn’t too problematic. Oliver somewhat understood what Joe was trying to say.

Telling Nora that the person who helped him had actually killed her brother must have been difficult. It would have been awkward.

“Ah, I’m so hungry.”

As his thoughts made him even hungrier, Oliver picked up the cookies and coffee and began to eat.

“…!”

Everyone was shocked. Even Nora, who had kept her head down.

Oliver had just eaten the poison. But he couldn’t help it. He was so hungry, and somehow, he felt like it would be okay to eat.

There was no basis for that feeling, but luckily, Oliver was fine.

Everyone watched in silence, as if witnessing something entirely different.

“Joe. May I speak with Nora alone for a moment?”

Oliver stood up and asked. Joe looked worried but then saw Oliver’s face and quietly stepped aside.

Nora was standing a few steps ahead.

Oliver walked up to her and adjusted his height to meet her eyes. This is common courtesy when speaking with someone.

“Nora.”

Looking into Nora’s eyes, which reflected hatred, resentment, betrayal, and fear, Oliver spoke.

“Do you hate me?”

Nora, nervously trembling and avoiding his eyes, reacted to his words by looking directly at him.

This girl in her early teens was afraid of Oliver, but at the same time, she hated him.

“…Yes, I hate you. I hate you so much I want you to die.”

It was genuine.

“You killed my brother. It was you… You also killed Big Jaw.”

Oliver remained silent. Because it was true.

“But…! I also thought you were a hero. I thought you were a hero! You helped us…!”

Nora’s emotions surged. Her voice started to tremble, like a dam cracking.

“But you tricked me. You tricked me…! The person who killed my brother… I thought was a hero…!”

Finally, Nora began to cry. Joe, watching, wanted to claim that he had tricked her, but Oliver raised a hand to stop him.

“First of all, I never intended to deceive you.”

Oliver spoke calmly to Nico’s sister, the person he had killed.

“I didn’t know Nico had a sister. Regardless, I’m sorry if I upset you. And I’m sorry for killing your brother…”

Oliver suddenly stopped speaking, something was bothering him. Soon after, he realized what it was.

“I’m sorry, Nora… But in truth, I’m not sorry at all.”

“…”

“I don’t feel sorry for you at all. Ah…”

In a rare moment, Oliver covered his mouth with his hand.

He had realized that he felt no empathy for Nora’s feelings. It was shocking and sad. It was a very selfish kind of sadness.

Even though there was a grieving girl right in front of him, Oliver only felt sadness for not being able to empathize with her.

***

Since the battle with the Flesh Cook, Oliver had experienced many changes, both good and bad.

The good was that his understanding of Disease-Weakness Death Magic had deepened, and his physical abilities, reflexes, and senses had all become incredibly sharp.

He had barely noticed these changes, but once he took time to focus, he could see them clearly.

Additionally, Oliver had developed a strong immunity to Disease-Weakness Death Magic and poison.

It was so strong that most things didn’t affect him. He confirmed this after several tests.

However, that didn’t mean he liked these changes.

The conversation with the Flesh Cook had been that disturbing, and the hunger he left Oliver with caused considerable discomfort.

This was why, after returning early from Gallos, Oliver had participated in the redevelopment project, processed corpses, and focused on enhancing the Corpse Dolls.

He hoped that keeping busy would help him forget, but all these attempts failed.

The hunger was stronger than he imagined.

Yet, humorously enough, he found a way to forget about the hunger in a most unexpected place, though it wasn’t pleasant.

“Six… no, seven?”

After his conversation with Nora, Oliver mumbled to himself, lost in thought.

In the meantime, Forest, who had finished his task, returned and spoke.

“Are you alright?”

Seeing Oliver’s unusual reaction earlier, Forest had decided to close the meeting and send the X-District representatives away.

This gave Oliver some time to organize his thoughts.

“…Yes, I’m alright. Forest, I apologize for the inconvenience I’ve caused you and everyone else.”

Oliver addressed Marie and Joe, who looked at him with concern.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

Forest asked, using his middleman’s instinct. It was his first time seeing Oliver react like that.

It was hard to describe, but it felt ominous. So much so that he had postponed the important X-District redevelopment meeting and even the handling of Nora’s situation.

It was as if the ground was shaking, and the sky was falling.

These feelings were exaggerated, but Forest couldn’t help feeling that way. He was sure Joe and Marie felt the same.

Oliver gave his reply.

“Yes, I’m really alright. I’ve cleared my thoughts. I must return to the beginning after all.”

The beginning. The others didn’t understand the word, but they didn’t ask. Instinctively, they knew not to.

“Joe… Did you ask Nora who it was that told her about the poison in the coffee and cookies, and that I had killed her brother?”

Oliver asked, eating the poisoned coffee and cookies. His hunger drove him to continue eating.

“She said it was a pretty lady she met at the market, someone who sang at a shop… She even taught her some songs.”

“Enjoyment.”

Forest said. Although there was no solid evidence, his years of experience and instinct as a middleman unmistakably pointed to Enjoyment.

With the rapidly changing situation, it was the only organization aiming to settle in Randa with a focus on X-District.

It seemed like they planned to not just heat the chimney but burn down the whole house.

‘Even so, it doesn’t make sense… Unlike before, Enjoyment needs the City’s cooperation now. They could risk getting captured by giving Druid Reformists authority if things go south.’

Forest regained his composure and thought clearly. While Randa prided itself on strong autonomy, it was still within the realm of possibility.

It was unusual, but with the right justification, it wasn’t impossible. The Paladin was an example of this.

‘But to pull such a trick on someone not aligned with the City like Dave is bold. They risk offending the City… No, did they seriously think they could take out Dave with a trick like this?’

Forest looked at the empty poisoned cookie and coffee, as well as the Liar’s Necklace.

The preparation had been thorough, but it still felt insufficient to defeat the problem-solver Dave.

As his thoughts turned in this direction, Forest had another thought.

Whether they succeeded or failed didn’t really matter.

It was entirely possible.

Considering the information Forest had on the transactions between Enjoyment and the City, this was entirely plausible.

“Forest.”

Oliver called Forest, who was deep in thought. Forest turned his head in response.

Oliver looked determined. He had a sense of purpose, or perhaps, just wanted to finish everything quickly.

It felt ominous.

“Why?”

“Do you happen to know where Enjoyment is? I imagine you’ve already investigated, Forest.”

He was right, but he didn’t answer immediately.

“Why?”

“There’s something I need to resolve quickly.”