Chapter 456: Urban Legends (1)
After finishing his meal, Oliver entered the guest room that Edith had prepared for him.
He did want to eat more, but after about five servings, Edith told him to stop, leaving him with no choice.
“Damn it, are you trying to bankrupt me with the food expenses?”
Well, it wasn’t so bad. There was also something he wanted to check at the moment.
Click.
After closing the door, Oliver locked it.
Then, he gathered the magic stored within his body and the emotions contained in the test tube, concentrating them in his hands to simultaneously activate both security magic and black magic.
Starting with a soundproofing spell to prevent any noise from leaking out, he cast an anti-intrusion spell to block entry, a defense spell strong enough to withstand most attacks, and a detection spell to alert him of any approaching presence.
The spells were applied thoroughly, covering the door, windows, walls, ceiling, and floor, leaving no gaps, like laying bricks.
Although it seemed a bit excessive, it was actually not excessive at all.
After all, Oliver was about to read a demonic tome, so he couldn’t be too cautious.
Thud.
Oliver leaned his quarterstaff against the wall beside the bed, placed his magic bag on the desk, took off his outer garment, and then removed the leather case attached to his waist to take out Big Mouth.
As soon as Big Mouth was placed on the floor, the voracious pouch, made from human skin, eyeballs, and teeth crudely sewn together, inflated like bread dough and soon grew to the size of a person, standing up.
“The size hasn’t changed, but you’ve become a bit heavier.”
“Grrribbit?”
Big Mouth croaked in its signature toad-like voice while its numerous eyes darted around, scanning the surroundings.
Oliver replied, “No, Big Mouth. I didn’t summon you to fight other voracious pouches.”
“Gribbit?”
“No, I’m not saying you won’t fight anymore in the future. I’m not sure about that. If needed, we might do it again, even three against one.”
“...”
“When I saw you fight last time, I thought three-to-one odds would be manageable.”
Oliver offered his genuine encouragement to Big Mouth, clenching his fists tightly.
During the last battle, Big Mouth had miraculously secured a victory using martial arts learned from Child, so it seemed plausible.
However, despite Oliver’s sincere words, Big Mouth did not empathize at all, which was truly disheartening.
Amid the awkward atmosphere, as Big Mouth stared at him with a resentful look, Oliver decided to change the subject.
“Well... Could you take out the book we received from the elder?”
Though still glaring at Oliver with resentment, Big Mouth complied silently, regurgitating the document bag containing the book.
Grrreeegh!
The bag fell onto the floor with a thud. Oliver pulled out two banknotes from his wallet and handed them to Big Mouth.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Gribbit... Gribbit? Gribbit! Gribbit!!!”
Seeing the two bills, Big Mouth flailed its arms and suddenly erupted in anger.
In summary, it expressed that it wasn’t helping Oliver for money, so how could he resolve everything with cash?
Big Mouth pointed out that what truly angered it was Oliver’s materialistic attitude of trying to solve everything with money while not valuing it sincerely.
It insisted that it was not a greedy, selfish voracious pouch—
“How about ten bills?”
“Gribbit!”
When Oliver took out more money, Big Mouth was immediately satisfied. It grabbed the banknotes and slowly, savoring each one, put them in its mouth.
Feeling a small sense of accomplishment for having appeased Big Mouth, Oliver took the document bag and placed it on the bed.
With a metallic click, the bag opened, revealing a demonic tome inside, its pages tightly packed.
Although he had briefly glanced at it after receiving it from Merlin, opening it again now felt different.
After all, though it was a secondary reason, it was still one of the factors that led him to leave the Joseph Family.
Oliver found it curious.
As mentioned earlier, the demonic tome was a secondary reason for leaving the Joseph Family, but acquiring it felt like a long, arduous journey.
He had obtained one from Edith, but that was it.
Considering how rare these items were, it was a bit strange. It was almost as if someone had been deliberately obstructing him.
“Isn’t that a bit far-fetched...?”
Oliver dismissed his thoughts as excessive speculation and began to take the demonic tomes out of the bag one by one, stacking them neatly beside him.
As he pulled each book out, he checked their titles.
[What is Demon Summoning?]
[Demon Summoning. Hey, You Can Do It Too.]
[Tools Needed for Demon Summoning and Their Meaning]
[-79824. A Compilation of Records]
[+100. qnvofhdlsgkstotleo]
[Records of Visits to Ruined Cities]
[A Father's Diary]
[The Meaning and Theory of Demon Summoning as Written by a Madman]
The titles varied, from those that seemed clearly distinctive to rigid titles and even incomprehensible phrases.
Merlin had mentioned that there wouldn’t be anything particularly captivating for Oliver, but that might actually be a good thing.
When reading demonic tomes, he often experienced eye strain, dizziness, and other discomforts. If the content was less significant, it would be less taxing to read.
As he continued sorting through the books with that thought in mind, Oliver finally found the one he was looking for.
[Demon. Summoning. City. Observation. Record.]
Recalling the urban legends about the New World that Edith had mentioned during dinner, Oliver opened the book.
...
Edith had said that the New World had various urban legends, each with distinct characteristics.
For instance, the story of Mangtaegi Halabeoji, who takes away naughty children who don’t listen to their parents, was actually quite common.
“Common?”
“Yeah, places where there are human traffickers always have such stories. Human traffickers exist everywhere. But the Mangtaegi Halabeoji of the New World is on a different level.”
“How is it different?”
“There’s no discrimination. He takes poor kids as well as rich brats without exception. Usually, they can’t do that... But it’s just an urban legend.”
“You mean no children have actually gone missing?”
“Not exactly. Kids disappear periodically every year. It’s so frequent that it can’t even be joked about. Especially, not with me. However...”
“However?”
“During the early days of First Step, there was an incident where a large number of children went missing all at once. Of course, it’s not certain. I couldn’t care less whether kids disappear or not.”
Edith spoke as if it was no big deal and then quickly moved on to another urban legend.
A fish-man who helps catch plenty of fish in exchange for a beautiful girl or child...
A clown who amuses children with his strange tricks but kills adults...
A siren who sinks ships with her beautiful singing...
A bisque doll searching for its parents...
A fairy who helps people fly...
A boogeyman who lives under beds or inside closets and targets children...
A nutcracker who bites and kills wicked adults who abuse children...
A golden sorcerer who turns people into gold...
A prince who takes people to a land of adventure and dreams...
A sea monster that supposedly swallowed ships traveling between the New World and the Old World decades ago...
Combining the stories Edith mentioned, there were at least ten intriguing tales.
However, the most fascinating aspect of the New World’s urban legends was that not only children but even adults secretly believed in them.
Adults who avoided the seaside at night, sailors who lit candles and prayed before each voyage, and the wealthy who hired bodyguards to protect both their homes and children—these behaviors were all evidence.
While Edith found First Step amusing for this reason, Oliver felt a strong academic interest rather than simple amusement.
Although the stories differed significantly in nature, they shared a similar atmosphere with what was described in the demonic tome [Demon. Summoning. City. Observation. Record.].
“...It is said that even 100 kilometers away from a city where a demon was supposedly summoned, unidentified warped beings would appear. These beings, covered entirely in black tar-like substance, took a humanoid shape but—hmm…”
Oliver transcribed the parts he found interesting into his notebook, specifically focusing on the entities presumed to be “demons.”
“Humanoid shape…”
Intrigued, Oliver found himself wanting to encounter such a being, though it wasn’t an overwhelming desire, just a curiosity.
From what was written, the entity seemed interesting, though it paled in comparison to the demons he had encountered while dealing with Joseph or the Flesh Chef.
What piqued his interest more was the bizarre phenomena observed when approaching the inner parts of the city.
Near the city where the demon was summoned, there were signs of a mass suicide involving a large number of people, far beyond the usual cases.
Typically, group suicides involved no more than a dozen or so people, but the book described incidents where entire villages committed mass suicide.
The scale was almost unbelievable. Yet, the realistic illustrations in the book lent some credibility to the account.
The text beneath the illustrations speculated that the suicides might have been driven by the fear instilled by the demon’s appearance, but Oliver had a feeling that wasn’t the case.
He couldn’t quite explain why. There was something about the illustration—more like… sadness? Regret? Guilt...? It evoked emotions other than fear.
“Although my perception may be off, considering it’s my own feeling…”
Acknowledging his limitations in empathy, Oliver carefully noted down the intriguing portions he had read, including the illustrations.
Just as he was about to continue to the section concerning the inner parts of the city, he sensed Edith approaching.
He wondered why she was up instead of sleeping, only to realize that he had stayed up all night.
Although he had been absorbed in the demonic tome without experiencing any eye strain or dizziness, he hadn’t expected it to be this late.
Hastily, Oliver closed his notebook and stuffed both it and the demonic tome [Demon. Summoning. City. Observation. Record.] back into the magic bag, then quickly dispelled the security and black magic.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As soon as the spells were lifted, Edith pounded on the door—her characteristic vigorous knock.
Hearing the knocking, Oliver immediately opened the door.
“Didn’t sleep?” Edith said bluntly as soon as she saw him.
“Um… Slept well.”
“Liar.”
“Yes.”
Oliver quickly admitted to the lie. Edith had already noticed, using her sharp, gambler’s intuition.
“Anyone could tell you’ve been up all night. You’re still in the same clothes.”
“Ah…”
Oliver glanced at his attire. He had been so engrossed in the book that he had forgotten to change.
“I’ll make sure it doesn’t affect my work.”
“That’s a given. If you’re hired, you need to earn my trust too.”
It was a sincere reprimand. Oliver nodded immediately.
She was right. Doing the job well was a given, but building trust with the employer was also essential—especially for this job.
Oliver acknowledged his mistake right away.
“I apologize, Edith. I won’t make this mistake again.”
“…What were you doing all night?”
“…Reading.”
Oliver dodged the question slightly. He didn’t want to admit to reading a demonic tome all night.
Fortunately, Edith didn’t press him further.
“Fine, then. For now, there’s work to be done. Eat, wash up, and be ready to go out.”
She turned and began walking back the way she came, as Oliver called after her.
“Yes, I understand… By the way, could I ask about the schedule?”
“I’m planning to meet some shareholders who aren’t aligned with the nobles, traditional capitalists, or nouveau riche. I want to get a clearer picture of the situation. More importantly—”
Edith paused and pulled out a note from her pocket.
“I heard that a major shareholder who has never attended a shareholders’ meeting before has arrived here.”
A major shareholder who had never attended a meeting…
“Did the note tell you that?”
“No, Heimdall, who sent the note, informed me.”