Chapter 58: Beast Capture (1)
V-District, 42 Street.
As Forest said, it was a rundown area.
Centered around a hill, shabby brick houses and shacks were packed closely together, with sporadic garbage dumps dotted like acne throughout.
From the street’s appearance alone, it seemed similar to the X and W-Districts.
However, the key difference was that there were far fewer people exuding an air of cunning and ruthlessness here.
Instead, there were more people who appeared anxious and fearful.
If one had to compare, it was like predators and prey.
"Are you a representative of Martel?"
Oliver approached a man sitting at the entrance of the neighborhood and asked.
He was dressed rather plainly, but still stood out compared to the locals.
His clothes were clean, his posture was upright rather than slouched, and the most striking difference was his emotional state.
Unlike the people here who had a certain level of fear, possibly due to the chimera, this man only displayed feelings of annoyance and boredom.
Like an outsider who couldn’t relate to the worries of this area. And that assumption turned out to be accurate.
"Who… are you?"
"My name is Dave. Forest sent me."
At Forest’s instruction, Oliver delivered the message, and the man nodded.
They were personnel employed by the Martel Research Lab, and Forest had instructed Oliver to meet them first upon arrival.
The first reason was to formally announce that Oliver was there to work, and the second was to obtain necessary supplies.
"Can I get a sample?"
"A sample?" At those words, the man pulled something out of a container. It was fur.
“I’ll give it to you, but it won’t do much good. There have already been people who tried to track it using fur like you, but they all ended up coming back empty-handed or dead."
"I see."
Oliver responded briefly, as Kent had specifically instructed him to keep his answers short.
Speaking too much could lead to unnecessary exposure or trouble.
Although being a fixer might seem like a job that requires bravery, it was actually the opposite.
The more cautious and fearful one was, the longer they could survive in the profession. After all, it’s impossible to know the thoughts of others.
And that advice seemed quite accurate.
Because the man before Oliver showed no particular emotional disturbance, even though the chimera had not yet been caught.
It was said that if the chimera wasn’t captured soon, things would get difficult, yet he seemed unbothered.
Perhaps it was because he was just an employee?
"Why the hesitation?"
"No, it's nothing."
"…Take this."
The staff handed over a pen-like device with a bright red button on top.
"Press this button, and it’ll reveal your location. If you capture the target, don’t bring it to us. Just press the button, and we’ll come to retrieve it."
"Understood."
Oliver responded politely and packed the device away, but as he was leaving, the man called out to him.
"I’m saying this because I’m worried you might be new to this. Are you sure you’ll be alright? Most people have already given up, and you’re doing this alone. You might end up dead for nothing."
"...Ah, yes. I’ll be fine. Thank you for your concern."
Oliver answered courteously and continued on his way.
The man stared intently at Oliver as he walked off.
…
Not long after entering the neighborhood, a steep uphill path appeared.
The road was incredibly rough, with many damaged sections, making it difficult to navigate.
But the biggest problem wasn’t the road itself—it was the maze of alleys winding between the buildings.
It was like a labyrinth, and for someone like Oliver, unfamiliar with the area, it seemed likely he could easily get lost. Kent’s advice was proving true.
In the work of a fixer, strength was necessary, but strength alone was not enough.
At the very least, Oliver needed various other skills if he wanted to achieve his goals.
"Hmm... I should start with something light, as practice…"
Muttering to himself, Oliver pulled out the sample he had received earlier.
Chimera fur.
No matter how complicated the roads were, with this, he could track it down.
By using Sensitive Nose, he would be able to sift through countless scent trails and find the chimera’s.
The only hesitation came from the fact that he didn’t feel quite comfortable using it directly.
Back when he was searching for Harmonica, he’d experienced firsthand how taxing disease-type black magic could be on the body.
It hadn’t been a pleasant experience.
Sifting through countless smells was more tiring than expected, and at worst, the headaches could interfere with his actions.
So, Oliver decided to try something different this time.
"Minion."
As naturally as breathing, he created a minion. Then, with his other hand, he formed a Sensitive Nose and attached it to the minion.
Suddenly, the minion, which looked like a lump of meat, grew something like a human nose that twitched and started sniffing the air.
"Please find this scent."
Oliver held out the chimera’s fur and made his request.
The minion sniffed the fur, glanced around briefly, and then started moving in a certain direction.
Oliver followed it, holding a test tube filled with extracted emotions.
Step by step...
Because it was a slum, there were hardly any people around. But upon focusing his attention, Oliver realized that wasn’t the whole story.
The people inside the buildings and in the streets were deliberately avoiding him.
Like people who didn’t want to be caught up in something dangerous, they harbored both fear and annoyance.
And that wasn’t the only strange thing.
Although the minion, with its Sensitive Nose, was faithfully tracking the scent, it wasn’t finding the chimera itself—just its droppings and bits of fur.
Before he knew it, Oliver had ventured deep into the slums, far enough that he barely recognized his surroundings.
And with that came a troubling thought.
"…Have I been lured?"
A normal person might have denied it.
After all, no matter how intelligent and cunning a chimera might be, it was still just a beast.
How could a beast possibly lure a human?
Beyond simple logic, there was also pride at play. But Oliver, unburdened by pride, quickly accepted this idea.
It made sense, given that he kept finding bait instead of the actual target.
Oliver halted the minion for a moment and considered his next move.
Should he focus his eyes and conduct a wide-range search?
The emotions of people and animals differed, so it could certainly aid in the search. Yet, he hesitated.
Kent had advised him to develop various skills if possible.
And Oliver thought that was sound advice.
Should he use the easy method right away, or try a different approach and gain more experience? As he deliberated, the sound of a beast echoed.
"Kyakk!"
Oliver immediately sprinted toward the direction of the sound.
It wasn’t far. There, a scrawny dog was bleeding profusely, impaled by some unknown thorn, seemingly on the brink of death.
It was as if the dog had been killed just to lure Oliver here, and that wasn’t mere conjecture.
Kahhhhhhng——!
A strange, unearthly cry, too foreign to belong to a typical beast, suddenly resonated as a presence made itself known.
Oliver swiftly turned his head and saw it.
The monstrous chimera he had seen in black-and-white photos.
It was much larger than the photos had shown, with small wings like those of a chicken on its back and menacing spikes protruding from its sides.
In that brief moment, he noticed veins bulging along its flanks, preparing to fire the spikes.
It was incredibly fascinating.
A beast, capable of luring and ambushing a human?
Was this the power of magic?
“Kyaaaahh...”
"Hm?"
Something unexpected happened.
The ferocious beast, which had seemed ready to attack, suddenly cowered in fear upon meeting Oliver’s gaze.
Its eyes widened, ears folded back, and tail tucked between its legs as it crouched in submission. Then, as if its fighting spirit had been shattered, it desperately began to flee.
Tap-tap-tap
Reacting instinctively, Oliver tapped the ground with his quarterstaff, activating Bind Shadow.
If he let it escape now, it would be nearly impossible to capture again.
But to his surprise, the chimera’s instincts were far sharper than other beasts’. As soon as the shadow tendrils appeared, it dodged nimbly, defying its size with remarkable agility.
It narrowly evaded each tendril, even using the surrounding terrain to leap onto the rooftops.
For some reason, it seemed to have an intense aversion to Oliver.
Luckily, that worked in Oliver’s favor.
Tap-tap-tap [Black Cube]
Oliver conjured six black barriers.
Forming them into a perfect hexagonal prison as he had envisioned in his mind, the cube enclosed the massive chimera.
“Kaaah...!”
The chimera panicked, thrashing with its talons and fangs like a bird of prey, even firing spikes from its sides. It was terrifyingly violent.
Oliver pulled the Black Cube closer to him and carefully examined the chimera.
Fear, fear, fear.
Its emotional state was far from normal, as if it had encountered a natural disaster.
If it kept thrashing like this, it might get seriously hurt, so Oliver decided to act immediately.
[Deep Sleep]
Extracting emotions, Oliver imbued the end of his quarterstaff with Deep Sleep and lightly tapped the chimera.
He had been told not to harm it, but this much should be fine.
Contrary to expectations, the chimera didn’t fall asleep right away. It resisted for a while before finally succumbing and drifting into slumber.
After checking three times to make sure the chimera was fully asleep, Oliver pulled out the pen-like device he had received earlier and pressed the red button.
If the man at the entrance was to be believed, someone would be arriving soon.
Now all Oliver had to do was wait for them to come.
"…Hmm."
Oliver took a step back and looked at the sleeping chimera.
Capturing it hadn’t been particularly difficult, but apart from that, this creature was utterly fascinating.
A beast pieced together from various animals, something he had never seen before.
The crude wings on its back seemed like a failure, but in Oliver’s eyes, there was still potential.
Yet, the most impressive part was that it had lured and ambushed him.
Was it possible to create something like this using magic? As that thought crossed his mind, Oliver noticed something.
It was faint, but unmistakable.
"What is... this?"
Oliver extended his hand toward the chimera's body.
"What are you doing?"
Turning toward the voice, Oliver saw the man he had met earlier.
Though his face was covered, Oliver could tell by his emotions.
He was wary, watching Oliver closely as he reached for the chimera. Oliver quickly withdrew his hand and apologized.
"I'm sorry... I just wanted to check if it had a wound."
The man stared at Oliver for a moment, and Oliver met his gaze without flinching.
This, too, was part of Kent’s teachings. Gain trust, but never appear weak.
Fortunately, the man broke eye contact first and asked.
"Where?"
"Here..."
"Hmm... Ah, that's fine."
"That's a relief."
The man glanced at Oliver again before signaling to his companions.
Following his orders, they brought out a large sack and began placing the chimera inside. Oliver could see that the sack was enchanted with magic.
"Something wrong?"
"Is my job finished now?"
"Yes. From this point on, it's our job... Did Forest send you?"
"Yes."
The man nodded and took out a notepad, jotting something down.
"Hmm, hmm... They’ll probably tell you, but you’ll receive your reward as soon as possible. The broker might give it to you directly."
"Thank you."
"More than that, impressive work. Most other fixers either came back empty-handed or were carried out on stretchers... I’ve been waiting here for two weeks, thanks to that. Have you been in this line of work long?"
"No. I just got lucky."
"Oh... Lucky, you say?"
"Yes."
Oliver nodded, giving minimal responses as he carefully agreed.
It wasn’t that the man had bad intentions, but he was clearly sizing Oliver up, calculating something in his mind.
"…Would it be alright if I left now?"
"Oh, of course."
As soon as he received permission, Oliver bowed politely and continued on his way. Just then, the man called out once more.
"Good work, Dave. Let’s meet again if the chance arises."