Chapter 63: Retrieval (2)
As the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, Oliver sent out a minion to secretly spy on the magic liquor workshop while sharing its vision.
The bored gang members mechanically patrolled the area, but some who found even that bothersome were drinking or playing card games.
Forest's words about not needing to worry about the gang suddenly made more sense.
From time to time, an old truck would trundle along, loading twenty boxes suspected to contain magic liquor, suggesting they had a fairly large production volume.
Realizing the need for money due to the Black Market, Oliver couldn’t help but wonder how much one of those boxes would sell for.
As time passed and the reconnaissance was almost complete, the sun had fully set, and darkness enveloped the surroundings.
Oliver stood up and took out the test tube he had kept in his pocket, extracting emotions.
Then, he cast three black magic spells on himself.
[Eraser Exit]
[Shade Cloak]
[Sneak Step]
With his presence concealed, hidden in the darkness, and his footsteps silenced, these three black magic spells were enough to completely fool most people.
Oliver didn’t stop there. He cast Deep Sleep on his quarterstaff.
He infused a considerable amount of emotions to make it sustainable, which caused a bit of trouble, but fortunately, he managed to finish without much issue.
After completing his preparations, Oliver began walking slowly.
As he moved, he sent out his minions again, positioning them at key points around the magic liquor workshop.
Although he thought it was unlikely, he wanted to be prepared in case the target noticed and tried to escape.
Hiding in the darkness, Oliver approached the workshop.
Focusing his attention slightly on his vision, he could see the emotions of the gang members scattered around. Even though it hadn’t been long since they switched shifts, their concentration had already dropped significantly, almost as if it were still daytime.
All they wanted was to finish up and indulge their desires.
Thanks to this, Oliver could carry out his mission and training with relatively little pressure.
Someone was approaching where Oliver was standing.
It was a gang member on patrol. Oliver pressed his body tightly against the shadowed wall of the alley and controlled his breathing. Calmly…
Moments later, footsteps drew nearer, and the gang member appeared. However, he didn’t notice Oliver standing right in front of him and started to turn back.
Even though the gang member's focus was low, and Oliver had hidden his presence and appearance with Eraser Exit and Shade Cloak, it was still a bit surprising that the person didn’t notice him standing so close. Maybe this combination of spells was more useful than Oliver had thought.
Maintaining his composure as much as possible, Oliver lightly tapped the gang member’s back with his quarterstaff.
Some of the Deep Sleep stored within the quarterstaff seeped into the gang member’s body, and he collapsed forward like a puppet with its strings cut.
Thud—
Oliver quickly caught the falling gang member.
There were still gang members nearby, and any noise could ruin everything.
Oliver hoisted the sleeping gang member over his shoulder and took him to a spot he had scouted earlier.
It was a dirty and inconvenient place to reach, so the gang members rarely patrolled there. By leaving him here, no one would find him.
‘Hmm…’
Oliver looked at the fallen gang member and pondered.
What should he do? The gang member probably wouldn’t wake up until sunrise, but to be sure, would it be better to kill him?
But killing someone who had already been subdued felt a bit wrong.
It wasn’t a matter of conscience but because of what Kent had said.
"Violence and killing are inevitable in this line of work. But please, don’t overdo it. Keep it within reason. It’s a personal request."
‘Hmm…’
Oliver let out a faint groan as he reconsidered what "within reason" really meant.
At the time, he had nodded along without much thought, but thinking about it now, it was a rather ambiguous issue.
He should have asked Kent more specifically—what exactly did he mean by "within reason"?
Of course, he could just ignore Kent’s advice entirely, but that didn’t sit well with him. It felt… unsettling.
So, Oliver came up with a more neutral solution.
Instead of killing the gang member, he would extract a portion of his life force. This way, the chances of him waking up early would be significantly reduced. He might never wake up.
Even if he did wake up, his energy would be so depleted that he wouldn’t be able to move properly for a while.
In other words, he wouldn’t be able to interfere with Oliver’s mission.
It was a pretty good idea.
A solution that ensured safety while respecting Kent’s request, and on top of that, he’d get free life force.
Three birds with one stone.
After filling an empty test tube with life force, Oliver moved again.
The gang members patrolled in pairs or alone, without any strict pattern, making it easy for Oliver to silently take them down one by one.
He quietly roamed the area, waiting in the shadows for gang members to pass by before tapping them with his quarterstaff and putting them to sleep.
Afterward, he would drag them to secluded spots and extract some of their life force.
Thanks to this, Oliver managed to fill the test tube with life force.
‘Hmm… From now on, I can gather the life force or emotions I need like this. Not bad.’
Oliver thought this to himself after he had incapacitated around a dozen patrolling gang members.
But that sense of satisfaction didn’t last long.
When so many patrols went missing in such a short time, some gang members began to notice something was off.
"Hey, where did all the guys who went on patrol go?"
"I don’t know! Why are you asking me, you prick!"
"No, dammit, you’re the only one around here… Hey, what about that side?"
"Something’s fucked up. Dammit, all the guys from this side are gone too."
"Fuck… what the hell is going on?"
Oliver couldn’t help but sigh internally.
How foolish of him. The method had been interesting, and the free life force had made him careless again.
He should have moved more quickly to reduce their numbers, but he had let his guard down and wasted time. Now, the enemy had noticed.
It wasn’t a big deal, but there was a sense of regret for not accomplishing his goal as smoothly as he had hoped.
‘No, no.’
Shaking his head, Oliver quickly collected his thoughts.
Kent had told him not to dwell on failures during a mission.
He had said that about half the time, things don’t go according to plan in this line of work.
Sometimes it was because the client lied, sometimes a colleague made a mistake, and sometimes, things just went wrong due to bad luck.
In this case, Oliver had made a mistake, but regardless, the most important thing was to recover and adapt.
So, Oliver focused his senses to check if the target was attempting to escape and to assess the positions of the gang members.
"…Huh?"
Oliver muttered as he looked at the wall where he had been hiding.
Something was rapidly approaching. And along with it, a huge force smashed through the wall, launching an attack.
Boom!
Fortunately, Oliver quickly deployed Black Shield and avoided a direct hit, but the force of the impact sent him flying backward.
And it wasn’t over yet.
[Hate Bullet] X12
From the dust stirred up by the destroyed wall, twelve hate bullets flew straight at him.
Thud— Thud—
Oliver tapped the ground with his quarterstaff, summoning Black Shield.
The hate bullets slammed into the black curtain, shaking it violently.
Luckily, Oliver’s skill was superior, and the shield didn’t break.
"Good! This guy’s a fire-type! Push him!"
With that shout, something burst through the dust cloud.
It was a massive creature with a chain around its neck, and upon closer inspection, Oliver recognized its face.
It was the third person in the photograph Forest had shown him.
The mutant from the Fighter Crew, Big Jaw.
In person, he was far bigger and more muscular than he had looked in the photo. But the most menacing thing about him was his abnormally developed large jaw and fangs.
It looked like one bite from those would be the end.
"Bite him, Big Jaw! Bite!"
Riding on top of Big Jaw, the black magician Nico shouted.
Oliver debated whether to dodge.
His reflexes made it a close call.
Even if he did dodge, the black magician on top would continue the attack.
So instead of dodging, Oliver chose another option.
He swung his quarterstaff into the air, releasing the Deep Sleep stored within it.
"…!"
"Grr…?"
In line with their reputation as a combat-focused organization, Nico reacted quickly, jumping off Big Jaw just in time.
Thanks to that, he narrowly avoided the spell, but Big Jaw fell under the Deep Sleep.
For Oliver, that was enough.
Getting rid of the massive creature charging straight at him was enough for now.
Just as Oliver was about to unleash his firepower on the isolated Nico, a third voice rang out.
"There he is!"
"Shoot! Fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Suddenly, more gang members burst in, shooting at Oliver.
In a hurry, Oliver deployed Black Shield and retaliated with Hate Bullet.
"Argh!"
"Hide! Get down!"
The gang members scattered immediately. At that moment, more hate bullets flew in from the side.
"Damn it…"
Oliver quickly deployed Black Shield again to block the incoming attacks, but the gang members kept firing persistently.
Though it was a clumsy pincer attack, it was still quite troublesome, yet also somewhat fascinating.
Individually, none of them were much of a threat, but when they worked together, they became such a nuisance.
It reminded Oliver of his fight with the Puppeteer. Maybe this was a tactic he could use later.
Just then…
Whoosh!
Something darted out from between the gang members and approached Oliver at close range.
Ignoring the hail of bullets and hate bullets, it closed the distance rapidly, then swung its fist fiercely.
Crack—
Oliver watched as his Black Shield cracked under a single punch.
"Oh… pretty tough, huh?"
Crack— Crack— Crack— Crack—
The one who had approached so quickly was none other than Knuckle Joe, the Fighter Crew member with knuckles, who was now pummeling away relentlessly with his doped-up fists.
Even the gang members and hate bullet attacks stopped, as if to show respect for his skill. Knuckle Joe, filled with intent to kill, continued his barrage of punches.
Crack— Crack…
Smash!
Finally, after the relentless assault, the Black Shield shattered. It seemed that shields were particularly vulnerable to close-range attacks.
Or perhaps close-range attacks were just inherently stronger than long-range ones.
Instinctively, Oliver retreated, but something grabbed hold of him.
"I’ve got you."
With his disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes, Knuckle Joe had the look of someone who had killed many people.
"Minion."
"...?"
At Oliver’s command, a minion hidden inside his coat suddenly jumped out and opened its mouth.
At the same time, it unleashed a shockwave.
Thrust. A black magic spell used to either push away or destroy.
Knuckle Joe wasn’t severely injured, but he was blown far away by the impact, and the gang members nearby were affected as well.
Nico quickly tried to shoot Hate Bullet at Oliver, but this time, Oliver was faster.
[Wrath Bomb] X5
He detonated five wrath bombs, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"What the hell?!"
"Where is he?!"
"Shit! We lost him!"
As Oliver fled the scene, a flood of thoughts ran through his mind.
Just like with the Puppeteer, black magicians could fight in so many different ways.
Some would control puppets and fight from a safe distance.
Others manipulated multiple dolls to fight battles they couldn’t handle alone.
Or, as he had just experienced, black magicians could team up, compensating for each other’s weaknesses and amplifying their strengths.
It was frustrating, but also a fascinating experience.
Now, Oliver finally understood, not just in theory, why Kent had emphasized learning diverse combat styles.
If Knuckle Joe, Nico, and Big Jaw had been a bit stronger, Oliver might not have been able to show his full abilities and would have been defeated.
For example, if Big Jaw had bitten him as soon as he appeared...
Or if Nico had used a powerful fire-type black magic spell to break through his shield...
Or if Knuckle Joe had punched through the shield in one blow and landed a hit on him...
In that case, Oliver would have been in real danger.
It was a stroke of luck for him.
The vague reasoning behind learning various combat styles had now turned into a clear and practical necessity.
To survive, not only beyond the Black Market but also in this world, it was essential.
Oliver stopped and looked back at the direction from which he had fled.
Due to the swirling dust in the middle of the night, they hadn’t been able to follow quickly.
In the meantime, Oliver took out two test tubes.
One contained emotions, the other life force.
He had just extracted them on a whim, but to think he would use them so soon.
Oliver felt incredibly fortunate.
[Black Suit ver. 2]