Chapter 616: Meeting

After receiving support funds from Burke, Oliver returned to his daily routine.

He cleaned the Contaminated Zone, provided temporary shelters and jobs to refugees living there, and maintained regular communication with members of The Selectors and Fighter Crew from the Redevelopment Union.

He listened to how they perceived him, asked about their current lives, thoughts, and dreams or goals.

He also privately taught Dark Magic to a few individuals.

For example, Milo, Lawrence, Joe, and Marie.

Each had different reasons.

Milo helped Oliver with several matters involving The Selectors, so as a reward, Oliver taught him Dark Magic.

He taught Lawrence because Lawrence had a personal desire, especially since he liked Marie.

He taught Joe because Joe was a pillar of the Redevelopment Union.

As for Marie, he felt guilty about preventing her from using her innate Dark Magic powers, so he taught her even more diligently.

Despite being busy, Oliver spent his days meaningfully.

He conversed with people step by step, decided on his direction, and continued to clean the Contaminated Zone carefully and thoroughly.

One day, while spending time like this, Oliver made an appointment with Merlin. He had something to report.

***

“Something to report?”

“Yes, sir.”

In a park in Randa’s A-District, Oliver answered while sitting on a bench.

Merlin sat beside Oliver, and both of them held ice creams in their hands.

Merlin took a bite of his ice cream and asked,

“Hmm, let me guess… is it about the Contaminated Zone?”

“That’s correct.”

Oliver calmly answered. His demeanor seemed to pique Merlin’s curiosity.

“You’re not reacting much. Aren’t you going to ask something like, ‘Oh, how did you know?'”

“I wasn’t surprised because I thought you would already know, since you’re with the Archive. The Archive knows everything.”

“Hah… that’s true. The Archive does know everything. Who’s been good or bad. I almost feel like giving you a gift.”

“I already received it. The ice cream. It’s delicious.”

Oliver lifted the ice cream Merlin had bought for him, and Merlin gave a short laugh.

“Your joking has improved… So, what do you want to report?”

Although the comment about the ice cream being a gift wasn’t a joke, Oliver didn’t bother correcting it and moved on to the main topic.

It was more important than expected, so he couldn’t delay it any longer.

“There are a few pieces of information missing from the report on the Contaminated Zone.”

Missing information from a report could be a serious problem if treated seriously. However, Merlin remained calm.

“What’s missing?”

“In addition to the unaffiliated gangs, others also infiltrated the underground of the Contaminated Zone. To be precise, the unaffiliated gangs were just the hired hands. The real culprits were someone else.”

“Then, who were the actual intruders?”

“The Pinkman.”

The Pinkman. Officially a private security company, but in reality, they were a highly advanced mercenary corporation, the largest in both Randa and the Union Kingdom.

They had a staff of experts from various fields and numerous superhumans, supported by organized units of thousands. Their main clients were politicians, capitalists, and other high-ranking figures.

“And they are known to be close to politicians.”

“You know quite a bit. It’s unusual.”

“I’ve heard about them. In any case, it seems the Pinkman used the unaffiliated gangs to raid the underground of the Contaminated Zone.”

“Hmm… that’s a bit strange. If the Pinkman got involved, that means it was something important. But what in the Contaminated Zone would be worth the trouble? Most of the valuable research materials or equipment from the Tower of Magic were stolen long ago.”

Merlin responded as if he either didn’t know, or was pretending not to know.

But that didn’t matter. Regardless, Oliver knew what he had to say.

“It seems they were searching for evidence of research and transactions related to demons. Things that the sorcerers conducted underground in the Contaminated Zone.”

Swoosh.

As soon as Oliver finished speaking, the wind blew, bringing a moment of silence.

Merlin finished his ice cream, crunched the cone, and turned his head toward Oliver.

Oliver expected Merlin to ask how he knew, but instead, Merlin posed an unexpected question.

“Who do you think commissioned it?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking, who do you think ordered the Pinkman? They are well-trained, but in the end, they’re just errand boys. Someone must have hired them. Do you have any guesses?”

Of course, Oliver had a guess.

It was most likely the Royal Family. While not a hundred percent sure, Oliver strongly suspected it was them.

The primary reason was that the current Crown Prince, Edward X, worshipped demons, a fact Oliver learned during an outside mission.

But that wasn’t the only reason.

The fact that the Pinkman were involved also played a role.

After all, the Pinkman’s biggest client was the Royal Family.

At least, according to the logic Forest had shared.

Pinkman had to consider not only financial gains but also political connections; thus, they sided with politicians when the wealthy and politicians clashed.

By that logic, the Pinkman’s biggest client had to be the Royal Family.

Politicians were mere fleeting flowers compared to the everlasting Royal Family.

As evidence, Pinkman had been responsible for protecting members of the Royal Family during their expedition to the New Continent.

There were also other reasons why Oliver believed the Royal Family was behind it.

One of them was the acquisition of Prometheus Corp, a mining company on the New Continent.

It was unlikely that their acquisition of Prometheus Corp was purely for economic reasons.

On further thought, if it were purely for economic reasons, they wouldn’t have bought the shares from Edith at three times the price.

It was more reasonable to assume that the Royal Family wanted something else from Prometheus Corp.

Prometheus Corp was the company that produced magic stones by squeezing the Red Ones with a press.

Maybe the Royal Family suspected that Prometheus Corp had methods or catalysts for dealing with demons, which was why they acquired it.

Given all this, Oliver could only reach one conclusion about the Pinkman’s search for traces of demons in the underground of the Contaminated Zone.

The Royal Family was preparing something to deal with demons.

It was very chilling to realize this. Despite appearances of peace, such terrifying things were happening beneath the surface.

Yet, it was still difficult to understand.

Why would the Royal Family, at the pinnacle of the Union Kingdom during humanity’s golden age, worship demons? What could they possibly lack?

And there was one more thing Oliver couldn’t understand.

“I’ve thought about it carefully, but I have no idea who commissioned the Pinkman for this.”

Oliver feigned ignorance towards Merlin.

Well, honestly, there were plenty of reasons why.

After all, speaking of the ruling Royal Family of the Union Kingdom without solid evidence was a very risky move.

Technically speaking, everything he suspected about this was just deductions in Oliver’s mind without any concrete proof.

But the real reason Oliver didn’t mention it was fear. If he brought it up even as a guess, he feared it might lead to more involvement, not less. So Oliver pretended not to know.

Perhaps this would lead to severe consequences, but even so, Oliver wanted to run away from something he didn’t want to be involved in.

If something happened later, he’d just handle it by doing his best to solve the problem when it arose.

‘So until then, I’ll just avoid it… and do what I want.’

Oliver rationalized it this way, following his desire.

But perhaps out of a tiny bit of conscience, he brought up another fact.

“However, I do know that Puppet is also involved.”

“That’s not guessing. That’s certain.”

“I asked, and the former Traditional Gaia Faction sorcerer confirmed it.”

Oliver explained to Merlin how he ventured underground in the Contaminated Zone and met a Traditional Gaia Faction sorcerer.

“They confined a spirit with magic power and forcefully implanted part of the spirit’s power into their bodies. I recognized it as Puppet’s handiwork and asked, and they confirmed it.”

“That easily?”

“Yes, they said it was out of respect and goodwill towards me.”

“Do you know who it was?”

“No, but they seemed to be male, familiar with you, and someone who values effort and achievement. Enough to collaborate with Puppet.”

Merlin’s gaze changed as he listened. He seemed to recognize who it might be.

However, Oliver didn’t ask who it was.

He wasn’t particularly interested, and felt uncomfortable probing Merlin about something when he himself was hiding things.

So, Oliver simply waited for Merlin to speak without asking anything.

After a short silence, the old man with only a few tufts of hair left finally spoke.

“Thanks for sharing. It makes the ice cream worth it. To be honest, I wasn’t sure it was worth buying.”

“…Aren’t you going to ask why?”

“Ask about what?”

“Why I omitted that information from the report to the Tower of Magic, for example… Aren’t you going to ask?”

“Wasn’t it to avoid causing chaos? If it became known that the Pinkman and the former Traditional Gaia Faction sorcerers took research related to demons from the Contaminated Zone, it would have caused considerable chaos. So you chose to report it to me instead, didn’t you?”

Oliver reflexively used Warlock’s Eye.

Earlier, he had managed to catch a glimpse of Merlin’s slight emotion, but it disappeared in an instant. Now, he couldn’t read Merlin’s emotions at all.

Because of that, Oliver couldn’t tell if Merlin was being sincere or just covering for him.

Well, it didn’t really matter.

“You’re right. I should have reported it sooner, I apologize.”

“That’s true. Please make sure to report faster in the future.”

“I tried to schedule the meeting earlier, but you were the one who postponed it, sir.”

“It’s traditional for the disciple to apologize even when the master is at fault. That’s the proper master-disciple relationship.”

Merlin chuckled while saying something that made no sense.

Well, since Oliver was only temporarily under Merlin’s guidance and still only called him ‘Sir,’ it was not a significant issue.

When Oliver was almost done with his ice cream, Merlin asked.

“By the way, how’s the cleanup of the Contaminated Zone going? The Tower of Magic seems quite interested.”

“The speed is an issue, but it’s not too difficult. We’ve secured enough hands, and with the heavy equipment and golems used during the X-District redevelopment, the demolition work is going smoothly.”

“I heard the ground is in a dangerous condition due to structural weakening?”

Merlin asked sharply. Just as he said, the underground in the Contaminated Zone had become quite unstable, probably due to Oliver’s earlier battle with a Traditional Gaia Faction sorcerer.

The Contaminated Zone was already weak, with many secret underground research labs, and forcing a distortion with spirits had weakened it further, making it possible for the ground to collapse at any moment.

“It’s alright. I’m using the Power of Nature to control trees and support the ground.”

“Is it even possible with just that power?”

He was right. It wasn’t just about planting a big pillar; the key was distributing the weight properly. Simply making trees didn’t ensure the ground would hold up.

Oliver replied.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got a good idea of where to support so it holds. I read a few books on architecture from the Tower of Magic’s library.”

Oliver, who had read most of the books in the Tower’s library, said. He had borrowed books from the Tower whenever he had time.

“Plus, Eve is helping too.”

“Eve?”

“Yes, when I connected the trees I control to the World Tree in the Contaminated Zone using the Power of Nature, Eve was able to move the trees.”

Oliver shared the story of how he tried it out of curiosity.

While Oliver needed to keep the connection with the Power of Nature going and assist, Eve inside the World Tree was able to control the trees and exert physical control in the real world.

In the process, Eve grasped the entire structure of the Contaminated Zone through the connected trees and secured the basic foundation to prevent collapse.

Hearing this, Merlin reacted with surprise.

“Why are you explaining something so amazing like it’s nothing?”

“…In fact, I discovered something incredible.”

“Too late.”

“Is that so?”

“Hold onto that information. If you ever have to negotiate with the Moirai School, bringing it up then could get almost any favor you want.”

“Thank you for the advice.”

“Since you’ve shared such interesting news, I can’t just let this slide.”

“Pardon?”

“It means I have to share something interesting with you. But it shouldn’t be too substantial.”

“I’m curious to know what that will be.”

He wasn’t joking; he was genuinely curious about what would be interesting yet not too significant from Merlin’s perspective.

Merlin began to speak.

“Apparently, a prince is coming to Randa soon. Prince Albert, the second in line to the throne.”

***

Albert, the second heir to the throne of the Union Kingdom.

Coincidentally, Oliver had met the boy on the New Continent.

The boy came to the New Continent to claim Prometheus Corp for the Royal Family, and unintentionally got involved in a serious ordeal when Fen summoned The Burned One.

It couldn’t be denied, as a quarter of the city had been engulfed in a massive fire.

However, surprisingly, the boy did perform his role as a prince well.

While he couldn’t directly put out the fire, he played a vital role in restoring order in First Step, a colonial city, which was fitting for his status as a prince.

It was unexpected. Because Prince Albert was, truthfully, just a boy.

Neither in a good nor bad sense, he was simply a boy. A young teen.

While his clothes, hygiene, hair, and skin were better than that of ordinary boys, that was all. He was just an ordinary boy.

Yet, during the massive fire, he remained calm, helping to minimize the chaos among the city’s people.

That was truly impressive.

And now, Merlin said that the boy would soon visit Randa, which was indeed true.

A few days after meeting with Merlin, a royal decree came that Prince Albert would visit Randa. A few days later, he did.

However, Oliver didn’t get to see him, as he was busy with work.

“Tens of thousands of people gathered. Along the roads where the prince was to pass.”

Unlike Oliver, Joe had seen the procession, returning to share the story while sparring with Oliver, even though he was now covered head to toe in bandages.

Oliver, who was correcting Marie’s posture while teaching her Dark Magic, asked again.

“Tens of thousands?”

“Yes, there was no room to step. The City Defense Forces were deployed everywhere. It was like a festival and a disaster happening at the same time, but it’s not surprising. After all, it’s the first time the Royal Family has visited Randa since its reestablishment.”

It was true. The Royal Family had not visited Randa since it became a free city after the disaster that turned old Randa into ruins and the subsequent rebuilding.

The reasons were diverse and complicated.

The Royal Family was hesitant to go to Randa, which was no longer their land, and Randa itself wasn’t particularly welcoming to the Royal Family. Randa was a free city, after all.

That’s why this was so unusual, and why the people had gathered.

“Most of the crowd gathered out of curiosity and interest, but some showed signs of fear and wariness.”

Joe spoke about the people he saw using Warlock’s Eye, and Oliver nodded in understanding.

For most, a prince was a subject of curiosity and interest, but for some, he was a source of wariness and fear.

Those who succeeded in the free city of Randa were typically among the latter, and Joe was one of them.

“Do you happen to know why the prince visited Randa? Newspapers like , , and are all speculating that the prince came to take away Randa’s freedom, or that there’s a hidden conspiracy, or that the Royal Family is officially recognizing Randa. It’s all just weird stuff.”

“It’s probably related to the Sea of Oblivion and the Tower of Magic.”

Oliver shared what he’d heard from Merlin.

The truth of the matter, Merlin wasn’t entirely sure of, but the official reason for Prince Albert’s visit to Randa was the Sea of Oblivion and the Tower of Magic.

The Sea of Oblivion, which had acted as a mid-Atlantic stopover, was reclaimed by the Archive, leading to its ownership becoming unclear. The prince came to discuss this with Randa and also attend to matters involving the Tower of Magic.

“Specifics with the Tower of Magic?”

“Probably an invitation to an expo. The Royal Family is planning to establish a magic institution, and this is part of that effort. Also, because of me. More precisely, because of the Druid’s spell.”

To support this, there were Druids among Prince Albert’s entourage visiting Randa.

It wasn’t surprising. If they planned to use the Power of Nature in their endeavors, Druids would obviously protest.

But the fact that they came with the prince was unexpected.

Not long after Oliver drove out the Pinkman from the Contaminated Zone, the Royal Family, and personally, the prince came. It concerned him a bit, but he decided not to worry about it for now.

There was nothing Oliver could do about it anyway. So, as he continued to guide Marie through her Dark Magic training, Owen, who was sparring with Oliver and Joe, approached.

As the giant approached, a shadow was cast over Oliver’s head.

“Representative.”

“Ah, yes. What is it?”

After having supervised Marie’s training, Oliver responded.

Owen seemed uncertain, hesitating for a moment before whispering something into Oliver’s ear.

Whisper, whisper.

Despite his size, Owen’s voice was quiet, but Oliver could hear him clearly.

After listening to the story, Oliver excused himself and immediately followed Owen.

Owen led him to a small alley. There stood a boy in a hood, no—Prince Albert.

“Nice to meet you, Dave. Or should I say, Xenon?”

The boy, in his early teens, looked up at Oliver as he pulled back the hood that had been covering his face.