Chapter 522: Concerns

522. Concerns (1)

In a corner of the vast Tower of Magic grounds, there was a building that resembled a vault.

A black, rectangular structure with no windows.

The building was not only designed to look like a vault but also had an equally stringent security system. However, unlike a vault, the focus was on monitoring and guarding from within, more than preventing external intrusions.

That was because this place was a prison. A prison that held the Tower of Magic’s wizards who committed crimes.

The reason such a building was erected within the Tower of Magic grounds was to prevent the City’s authorities from taking control of the wizards. The Tower of Magic reportedly paid a significant price to the City for this private prison to be built.

“I have checked the documents. There’s no issue. I’ll escort you immediately.”

The guard in a uniform received the visitation documents Oliver had filled out, checked them, and immediately offered to guide him.

Normally, there would be a short waiting time, but seeing Oliver’s face, he allowed him to pass right away.

‘So, Miss Yareli was right.’

Oliver thought as he recalled Yareli after returning from his mission.

Yareli had privately advised Oliver to be cautious in his future actions.

‘Cautious? Did I do something impolite?’

‘No, that’s not what I meant. I just think you need to be cautious in a different way. In many respects… you’re quite unusual.’

‘Unusual? What do you mean by that?’

‘Haven’t you noticed a change in how people at the Tower of Magic look at you or behave around you?’

‘Hmm… yes. There’s the librarian and some students. How did you know?’

‘As I said before, there’s never been anyone like you, Mr. Xenon. You are just an ordinary Tower of Magic employee, but you also have solid fame, wealth, and status outside the Tower.’

At first, Oliver didn’t understand what she meant, but soon, he did.

Indeed, Oliver had a reputation as a troubleshooter, held wealth worth hundreds of billions in Randa, and was co-head of the X-District redevelopment firm. It was a unique situation.

‘Being unprecedented means you’re strange; people are wary of strange things. They might think you have ulterior motives.’

‘I have no ulterior motives.’

Oliver spoke without hesitation, and Yareli believed him without a doubt.

‘I know… but others might not see it that way.’

‘Isn’t the fact that I get to freely use the Tower of Magic’s library reason enough?’

Oliver responded as he recalled why he had come to the Tower of Magic in the first place—following Merlin’s teachings to learn through self-study.

Now that he thought about it, it was curious. He had come just to use the library, but along the way, he got involved in various events, forming some ties here.

‘Most people wouldn’t think that way. They’re all weak… Anyway, what I’m saying is, Mr. Xenon, if your goal is to quietly use the Tower of Magic’s facilities, then you need to be extra careful. Voluntarily taking on missions or clashing with other wizards might not be the best approach. It could lead to misunderstandings.’

Oliver understood what Yareli was trying to say.

In her own way, she was giving advice for his sake. It was about how to get by in this place the way he wanted.

It wasn’t wrong. Though unintended, by forcibly taking on the Eve matter and clashing with other wizards, he could cause misunderstandings.

Actions that, when considering why he initially came to the Tower of Magic, should be avoided.

Understanding Yareli’s advice, Oliver expressed his gratitude.

‘Thank you for your advice.’

Yareli seemed relieved by Oliver’s reaction, yet she also appeared as if there was something else she wished to say. Something very earnest… But she didn’t go on.

‘What could it have been?’

“We have arrived.”

Lost in thought, Oliver was brought back to reality by the guard in uniform.

At the sound of the guard’s voice, Oliver saw a massive iron door ahead, reinforced by multiple layers of barrier magic.

Creak. The heavy iron door opened.

“Please understand that visitation time is limited.”

The stiffly uniformed guard made a polite request to Oliver. Oliver replied that he understood; then, he stepped inside the door.

On the other side was a visitation room far more elaborate than any standard prison, and at its center sat Felix.

A student of the Tower of Magic affiliated with the small Gaia faction, one of Kevin’s researchers, and a criminal caught up in the underhanded dealings during the recent audit.

Felix seemed thinner than before, likely from the hardships of prison life.

“Hello, Mr. Felix. How have you been?”

Oliver greeted him as he naturally took out the packed food he had brought along.

A pie, wine from the Forest Restaurant, and a bit of cash.

Kevin had mentioned that even in prison, money could be necessary, so Oliver had brought some.

Felix, hanging his head in doubt over whether these were poor choices, slightly raised his head. Though he said nothing.

“…”

“As I said before, I’ve come again. It seems I might leave soon.”

“…Where?”

Felix reacted to the mention of leaving.

“Gallos. The specific location hasn’t been decided yet… More importantly, have you thought over our last conversation?”

Oliver recalled the time right after he completed the mission involving Eve.

At that time, it was Oliver’s first meeting with Felix since returning from the New Continent, and although it was late, they managed to have a bit of conversation.

They talked about how Felix got involved in the underhanded deals, and whether Kevin’s research was almost stolen.

In short, it was true.

Felix had applied for classes, improved his grades, and became a researcher with the intention of stealing Kevin’s research.

He claimed it was because of the Tower’s exorbitant tuition and living expenses.

There was a bit of contradiction there.

The reason for wanting to succeed in the Tower was money, but achieving that required a ton of money.

Wanting to make money yet needing money to do so—it felt like a structural contradiction.

So, Oliver had made an offer.

“I said that if you turn over a new leaf and no longer plan to steal research, you could come out after serving your time and work with Mr. Xenon?”

“Yes, I mentioned how I’ve started a small business, and I think having a wizard on board would be quite good.”

“A business that controls an entire district can hardly be called small.”

Oliver couldn’t deny Felix’s statement. Indeed, the redevelopment firm in X-District wasn’t on a small scale.

Starting with redevelopment, they had expanded into rental services and even established a magical workshop business centered around Smith, a master black magician, securing exclusive deals with the Crime Firm.

Additionally, they were establishing various subsidiaries by leveraging the unique talents of the indigenous communities in X-District.

For example, using Dean Claridge’s connections from running a gym in X-District to set up a low-cost security company by partnering thieves with bouncers, or legitimizing X-District’s illegal fighting matches into official entertainment like horse racing.

Fortunately, overall, the businesses were progressing smoothly, and as a result, the redevelopment company was growing, securing influence in various directions.

Felix seemed to know this, and he asked in a complicated tone.

“…But is there really anything you need me for?”

“I thought maybe your skills would be useful in managing the forest.”

Oliver answered without hesitation. It wasn’t a mindless suggestion; he had thought this through.

“You mean the forest that appeared in X-District—a forest for lumberjacks?”

“Yes. Given your magic from the Gaia faction, which deals with the power of earth, I thought it could be helpful in cultivating the forest.”

Indeed, one of the reasons Oliver intended to hire Felix, whose career at the Tower of Magic was shattered by the underhanded dealings, was because he thought Felix could manage the forest in X-District.

Interestingly enough, the magic of the Gaia faction, which manipulates earth power, had some overlap with the Druid’s rituals, proving quite useful in forest management.

As evidence, alchemists frequently interacted with members of the Gaia faction regarding the soil used to grow herbs.

‘And besides that, he could teach earth magic to others as well.’

These were the thoughts running through Oliver’s mind.

Currently, Oliver was teaching black magic to the Fighter Crew and The Selectors, but that didn’t mean he had to teach only black magic, right?

Who knows, there might be someone with more talent in magic out there.

So, Oliver wanted Felix to help teach magic as well.

Though Oliver was a current employee of the Tower of Magic and shouldn’t casually teach magic to outsiders, if Felix were to join them, he could teach through Felix.

At that moment, Felix asked a question.

“Why me of all people?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, why are you making such a generous offer to someone like me? After all, I’m just a thief who stole someone else’s research… Is this sympathy?”

Felix displayed emotions he didn’t usually show—anger, inferiority, and self-loathing.

These were feelings Oliver wouldn’t have understood in the past. But now he did.

Because he had indirectly experienced Duncan’s life through the Filgarett cigarette created from his beautiful light.

Though not exactly the same, the essence wasn’t entirely different either.

“I understand why you made that choice, Mr. Felix.”

“…What? You understand?”

Felix asked back as if questioning his own ears. Oliver nodded.

“Yes, is there something odd about that?”

“Of course, it’s odd. How could someone like you possibly understand me?”

Felix displayed genuine confusion and anger as if he were being mocked.

“You’re officially a member of the Tower of Magic, but you hold an established position as a troubleshooter outside of it!”

Oliver was silent.

“In addition to that, you have such magical talent that even the Archive takes notice of you. You could quickly ascend the ranks within the Tower if you wanted to. And yet, you’re telling me that you understand?”

Oliver, who had indirectly experienced Duncan’s life, responded.

“Yes. I understand.”

“Struggling with ambiguous talents, not good enough to quit, but not enough to continue, so you resort to stealing or sneaking materials to survive in the Tower… How could someone like you understand that?! Are you mocking me?!”

Felix’s outburst was a mixture of resentment and lamentation. His bloodshot, moist eyes showed he was overwhelmed by his emotions.

Oliver pondered how to explain this.

How to explain who Duncan was, how he created the Filgarett from his emotions, and how Oliver came to experience that life through it.

“…I just happened to find out.”

There was too much to explain, and some of the information was sensitive, so Oliver chose not to. He simply answered in the most straightforward way.

Felix hesitated at Oliver’s brazen answer.

“You just happened to?”

“Yes, I happened to find out. It wasn’t easy to learn, though.”

Oliver spoke sincerely. The process of extracting Duncan’s beautiful light and experiencing it through the Filgarett cigarette wasn’t easy. It was a situation where he could have died numerous times.

“Are you telling me to believe that?”

“Yes, since it’s the truth, I can’t explain further.”

Felix wanted to say something but eventually stopped.

Despite his personal jealousy and inferiority toward Oliver’s talents, he couldn’t deny his gratitude for Oliver.

For one thing, Oliver had saved him in Lake Village and provided the Blood Elixir to aid in his recovery.

Additionally, even though Felix wasn’t fully aware, he had built a sense of trust in Oliver’s character. At the very least, he believed Oliver wouldn’t mock or lie to someone.

Oliver took the silence as an answer and responded.

“I’ll say it again—I understand how you and others at the Tower of Magic feel. The dreams and goals you once had, the unforeseen reality, the limits of talent, the resulting frustration, fear, despair, and anger… That’s why I realize just how lucky I am.”

“…So you’re offering to help?”

“Yes, although it seems there might be other reasons why I want to help you, Mr. Felix.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Oliver muttered to himself as he answered Felix’s question.

“My personal thoughts have led me to ponder this through various cases. Why I treat different people in different ways, depending on the subject.”

Oliver recalled when he had interfered with the Holy Knight who came to eliminate a noir master who was just a child, his different treatment of Eve, Child, and the Gluttonous Pouch, and why he chose to leave Bartholomew’s unspoken words and just walked away.

“For some, it doesn’t feel wrong when they die, but it does for others. Some make me interested, while others I feel indifferent to… Though I’m not certain, I suspect it might have something to do with my personal sense of closeness or distance to them.”

Personal closeness and distance. It’s something most people instinctively recognize as they live their lives, yet Oliver spoke as if he had made a groundbreaking discovery. It was new to him, after all.

A truly odd and peculiar sight. Felix felt a strange sense of anticipation.

“Do you consider me personally close?”

“Compared to others at the Tower of Magic, I think you’re relatively close. No matter the reason, I’ve seen how dedicated you’ve been as a student and how hard you’ve worked as a researcher.”

“…”

“That’s why I want to help you, Mr. Felix. But that’s just my offer. Ultimately, the decision to accept lies entirely with you.”

Despite having come uninvited and spending a long time persuading Felix, Oliver’s final words were delivered almost apathetically. It was clear that if Felix rejected the offer, Oliver wouldn’t push any further.

Ironically, it was within that apathy that Felix felt respected. That Oliver was trying to treat him as an equal, as a person.

Though he didn’t exactly know why, Felix felt deep satisfaction, joy, and relief.

His once lifeless face and eyes now carried a spark.

“…Honestly, I’m not sure. I’m scared to commit to anything now.”

Instead of a decision, Felix confessed his uncertainty. Oliver didn’t make any harsh faces and accepted it calmly.

“Then take your time to think it over. After all, while you’re here, you’ll have plenty of time to consider, right?”

“Is that supposed to be a joke?”

“What? No. I’m serious.”

At Oliver’s response, Felix let out a hollow laugh and began to eat the food Oliver had brought.

“Then, as you said, I’ll think about it thoroughly.”

“Of course. Take as much time as you need… But, why did you ask earlier if it was a joke? Did I make a joke without knowing?”

“Let’s not talk about that.”

Felix ended the conversation there and continued to eat the food. It was delicious.