Chapter 714: War?

It’s not the strong who survive, but those who survive become strong.

In a more educated term, it’s the survival of the fittest.

Forest liked this phrase.

It was the foundation for humanity’s golden age and for Randa’s boundless development.

But the real reason Forest liked this phrase was that he could be one of the strong.

After all, Forest was an ordinary person with no so-called superhuman talent.

All he had was a slight knack for quickly grasping the context of things, some business shrewdness, and the diligence born out of poverty.

Fortunately, Forest realized this early, allowing him to quickly shift from a restaurant worker to an intermediary, and survive until now.

Even as countless superhumans died in the back alleys around him.

So, Forest considered himself stronger than most of those superhumans, and this was a source of pride for him.

Isn’t it always better to be rich than poor, and strong than weak?

By the same logic, Elizabeth, the owner of the Angel’s House and an officer of the Sisterhood, was also one of the strong.

Although she hadn’t achieved as much economically as Forest, surviving in Randa as a woman would certainly make her one of the strong.

Considering that 60-70% of Randa’s self-employed fail every year, that was an incredible feat.

Thus, Forest respected Elizabeth. She was someone of the same caliber. And yet, she had stupidly repeated ‘What?’ three times in a row.

It was understandable. Four suspicious men barging in during such dangerous times was enough to make her brain freeze.

“Wait, Dave. Can I explain this?”

So, Forest mustered up the courage to offer to explain in her place, out of respect for Elizabeth.

“Alright.”

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Oliver handed over the baton more easily than Forest had thought, and considering Elizabeth’s mental health, Forest began explaining calmly.

He first explained how Oliver had suddenly broken into the prison, then talked about Puppet appearing through a mass of corpses, sharing parts of their conversation.

“Hold on. When you say Puppet, do you mean Puppet of the Black Hand? And that Puppet is behind the Royal Army?”

“As crazy as it sounds, yes.”

“I see.”

Elizabeth tried to maintain her composure, as a woman strong enough to survive in Randa should.

But that was only because Forest had been considerate, leaving out the parts about the Apocalypse and the Prince of Hell. If he had talked about those, the already on-edge workers of the Angel’s House would have surely screamed.

It was a feeling Forest could relate to.

“Dave defeated Puppet. Right after that, the Security Bureau agents and Defense Force barged into the prison, forcing us to flee to this place.”

This was the unvarnished truth.

After Oliver swiftly consumed Puppet’s corpse pile using his shadow ability, Forest confirmed that the Security Bureau agents and Defense Force had surrounded the prison.

It was likely that Puppet had summoned them during their conversation, and one thing was clear.

Puppet, as he had said, didn’t have the confidence to face Oliver in direct confrontation and intended to use someone else to deal with him.

Specifically, the Royal Army occupying Randa, and the Defense Force and Security Bureau under their command.

To be honest, it wasn’t an ideal situation. It wasn’t just about the balance of power.

Honestly, no one believed Oliver, who had defeated the Pied Piper and swiftly subdued Puppet, would lose. But the world is complicated, and sometimes even victories felt like losses.

This was one of those cases. Unless one was prepared to abandon everything and go fully against the world, fighting against the military was not a good choice.

An armed clash with the military would inevitably lead to a mass slaughter, and regardless of the background, such massacres would only define him as a monster.

If he chose to live as a monster, that was one thing, but as long as he aimed to live as a human, he had to maintain some boundaries. No matter how strong, humans were not meant to coexist with monsters.

That’s why Forest was terrified of the current situation. He feared that Oliver, in his current state, might choose the path of the monster rather than the human. And he had both the ability and the reason to do so.

“Hoo… I understand. So, what should we do now?”

Surprisingly, after a deep breath, Elizabeth not only accepted the madness of the current situation but asked how she could help. She even took the lead in calming down the frightened workers of Angel’s House.

Her actions were enough to impress Forest. Truly, she had nerves of steel.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, I joke around a lot, but I know when to be serious. If you’ve come here of all places, you must have a reason. So, tell me what to do.”

At Elizabeth’s request, Forest glanced silently at Oliver, who was sitting in a corner. Coming here had been entirely Oliver’s decision; there was nothing Forest could decide for him.

Fortunately, Oliver, who had been watching their conversation, responded sooner than Forest had expected.

“There’s no particular reason we came here. I just remembered that I’d left some paper here with a teleportation spell, so I came.”

Oliver explained that he had come here more or less on a whim. It was the kind of statement that would naturally anger people at Angel’s House.

Escaping from prison was a serious crime, and they had gotten unwillingly involved because of Oliver, without any guilt of their own.

It was an attitude completely at odds with the Oliver who used to apologize for even the smallest things and was almost timid with his overflowing consideration for others.

However, Elizabeth, without getting angry, calmly responded to Oliver.

“That’s fine. In a hurry, it makes sense. But, when did you leave that paper here? I’m curious.”

“…Back when I learned disguise and humor skills from Angel’s House.”

“Ah! When you helped us out.”

It wasn’t for nothing that Angel’s House had taught Oliver how to disguise, joke, and speak persuasively.

They had promised to teach him these skills, but it could’ve been a halfhearted instruction.

However, they had taught him diligently because Oliver had helped them resolve a major incident.

Back then, his reputation was nowhere near as illustrious as now, but even that was enough to make the half-hearted superhumans and rich people cautious. Even later, when Oliver stopped visiting frequently, rumors spread that he favored their establishment, allowing the employees to work in peace.

“So, we’ll consider the debt paid off from back then. That seems fair, doesn’t it?”

“…I understand.”

Oliver didn’t ask if she was being sincere. He already knew she was. Remarkably, Elizabeth took another step forward.

“So, what can we help with now?”

“You’d really help?”

“Of course, though I can’t promise to help with everything. We’re just frail women, after all. There are limits to what we can do and the risks we can take on. So we’ll help within reason.”

Although it sounded like she was offering minimal assistance, anyone with a brain could tell she was offering something far more important.

By the point Oliver and his group had come here, Angel’s House was already caught in the middle of the danger. The only way out was to report them and prove their innocence.

But Elizabeth had chosen not to report them and instead offered to help. For what reason?

“You saved Jane, after all. Jane is our greatest ally. We’re just repaying the favor. That’s my survival technique in this city. But, what do you all think? You don’t have to get involved.”

Elizabeth turned to her employees.

The women, not in their usual angel uniforms but in their casual clothes during non-business hours, exchanged quick glances before nodding, resolutely making their decision.

“We’ll follow your lead, Mama.”

“Wasn’t the answer obvious from the start?”

“Just make sure we get a hazard bonus.”

“Hm, it seems so.”

The brave women chuckled. At this, Oliver decided not to refuse any further.

“Can I ask you to hide Forest, Joe, and Captain Hook somewhere? Anywhere is fine.”

“That’s no problem. There are plenty of men who’d die to hide under a woman’s skirt.”

“And one more thing.”

“?”

“Say that I forced you into it.”

“What do you mean…?”

Elizabeth asked, puzzled. But instead of explaining, Oliver turned to the door with a sign reading ‘Angel’s House.’.

“You heard it, didn’t you? I forced them into this.”

Despite the frozen atmosphere inside, noise and murmuring could be heard outside.

Soon after, the door creaked open, and a tall man with a massive golem prosthetic arm walked in.

It was Arthur the Stone Fist, a now-agent of the Security Bureau.

“Please, have a seat.”

***

Arthur the Stone Fist.

Their first encounter had been while cleaning the Contaminated Zone in F-District. As a war veteran, he’d lost both arms but started a second life as a contractor with golem prosthetics.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to repay the loan for his prosthetic arms.

Later, during the Kel Independent Free Army’s prison raid, they had crossed paths again during an out-of-City mission. From what Forest heard, Arthur was recognized for his merit and became an agent of the Security Bureau.

Forest had also heard he had risen in rank, thanks to leveraging his experiences as both a soldier and a contractor, though since then, they hadn’t crossed paths again. There hadn’t been much reason to.

But today, Oliver was once again face-to-face with that same Arthur.

Though he had changed from the first time they met.

Back then, they were on the same side, but now, they were on opposing sides—as an escaped convict and a Security Bureau agent. Though Arthur, who’d once been friendly, now seemed much more tense.

“How did you know?”

“From the moment I arrived. You just came a bit faster than I expected.”

“I received intelligence. That you were here.”

Intelligence. Oliver had a pretty good idea of who the source was, but it wasn’t important now. Something else mattered more.

“In any case, thank you for coming in. Apparently, your colleagues wanted to flee.”

“If they’d thought they could escape, they would’ve.”

“I see. So, will you cooperate?”

“Pretend I was forced into it?”

“Yes.”

Oliver, as shameless as ever, stated bluntly. But this was just the beginning.

“That’s quite an awkward request. Honestly, this whole situation is awkward.”

“Well, you did fail the simple task of monitoring. I assume you weren’t thrilled to receive this mission, either?”

Oliver saw through everything. From the mission Arthur had been given to how reluctantly he’d accepted it.

“Regardless of my feelings, I still have to fulfill my duty to the best of my ability.”

Arthur’s characteristic diligence hadn’t waned one bit, though it didn’t matter much to Oliver.

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”

“…Are you serious?”

“It’s just a request. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. I don’t mind at all.”

Arthur’s back began to sweat profusely. The way Oliver said he ‘didn’t mind’ was scarier than any threat.

Luckily, the quick-witted Elizabeth extended Arthur a helping hand.

“We were definitely forced into this. They barged in uninvited. What could I possibly have said?”

Arthur immediately latched onto this explanation. It was a ridiculous farce, but the entire situation was already absurd, so there was no other choice.

“Right. You were forced.”

“And there’s one more thing to ask of you.”

“Oh, my God… what is it?”

“When you head back, you’ll have to report this, won’t you? What I’ll do next, or where I’ll go.”

“That’s true.”

“Report that I’m heading to City Hall where the Royal Army is stationed.”

“…Why?”

“Because that’s exactly where I’m going.”

***

Arthur, the Stone Fist, had left Angel’s House.

He was taking with him news that Elizabeth and the Angel’s House workers were held as ‘hostages,’ and that Oliver was on his way to attack the Royal Army’s main headquarters.

No one had misunderstood. Oliver had just declared war on the Royal Army.

He intended to head straight to the main camp completely alone, so there was no room for misinterpretation.

In the city of Randa, this was something that could only happen in a crazy city. And in true Randa fashion, the women calmly packed their belongings, preparing to flee at any moment, seemingly forgetting they were hostages in this crazy town.

They’d be ready to escape this insane city if things went south. Ah, crazy Randa!

While the women busied themselves preparing, the men, as per tradition, idled around.

But idleness quickly leads to boredom. The eldest man approached the youngest man and struck up a conversation.

“What will you do after you subdue the Royal Army?”

Forest asked this, assuming Oliver would defeat the Royal Army single-handedly.

Based on his vast experience, it was easy to tell that Oliver was serious. And expecting that Oliver would win wasn’t a stretch either.

After all, even though the Royal Army had driven off the infected army, Oliver, who had defeated the Pied Piper, was clearly stronger than some sketchy Royal soldiers.

“Well… I’ll decide when the time comes.”

The answer wasn’t particularly reassuring, but Forest nodded in understanding.

He certainly had more to say. His twitching jaw and trembling lips made that evident. He was only holding back.

Oliver, with the Warlock’s Eye that could see into human emotions and the God’s Eye that could see sin, didn’t miss this.

“It seems like you have a lot to say.”

“Is it that obvious?”

Forest was quick to admit it. Honestly, he hoped Oliver would notice. There were so many things he wanted to ask.

Questions like: Is the apocalypse really coming? Is the Prince of Hell real? Can you really see people’s sins? What do you see in me? And more.

It was funny how it used to be Oliver asking trivial questions, and now Forest was itching to ask his own. It dawned on him just how much time had passed.

Yet, Forest didn’t ask. No, he deliberately held back from asking.

“Why not?”

“Because it’s too big of a story for me to handle… I’m curious, but I don’t want to know. I can’t bear it.”

“I felt the same. I still do.”

“Also, I doubt I can be of any help to you. Unlike some people, I couldn’t give up my wealth and comfortable life, even after losing my friends.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“Still, as the intermediary you’ve worked with, may I offer you some advice? As a broker and contractor.”

“…Go ahead.”

“If you don’t like the current situation, I hope you’ll consider leaving.”

Oliver turned his gaze toward Forest.

“It may sound like cheap bravado, but I’m serious. At least that’s how I feel. That’s the kind of relationship I strive for. After all, we’re contractor and broker, aren’t we?”

Indeed, Forest always aimed for clean business relationships.

Whether because of what happened with Kent or his personal business philosophy, Forest had always stressed this when entering a formal contract.

It was always about a clean, mutually beneficial relationship.

“You shouldn’t force yourself to carry a burden out of a sense of obligation.”

“I don’t feel forced.”

Oliver responded immediately.

“I like you, Forest. I like Joe, I like Captain Hook, and I like the workers here at Angel’s House. You all have admirable qualities. That’s why this burdens me.”

For the first time, Oliver looked directly at a person here.

“The people I’ve liked are no different from anyone else. It’s like getting a disappointing gift. What’s worse is that I’m disappointed in myself for feeling disappointed.”

Forest flashed a sad smile at that. A truly, truly sorrowful smile.

“When I was young, there was one thing I never understood.”

“What was it?”

“The adults always told me to live a good life. I thought it was nonsense. But now, as I’ve grown older, I think I understand a little. I should’ve lived a bit better… Do you think it’s too late for me?”

“I don’t know… Excuse me for a moment.”

Oliver excused himself as he rose from his seat, about to keep the promise he made to Arthur.

But as he was leaving, Forest hurriedly asked one more thing.

“The army—”

“—I’ll try to persuade them. At least, for now.”

“…Is that even possible?”

“Why would it be impossible?”