Chapter 644: Central Continent (2)
Oliver, who had endured the chatter of the head servant, quietly stepped out of his quarters late at night and began walking toward the forest.
The forest of the Central Continent, untouched by the blessings of industrialization, was overwhelmingly dense. When combined with darkness, it transformed into a labyrinth.
A maze crafted purely by the hand of nature.
This ominous energy seemed ready to ensnare anyone who let down their guard, but Oliver, who had gained resilience against darkness through the orphanage basement and the mines, ignored it and safely reached his destination.
His Black Mage eyes also played a role.
Oliver greeted.
“It’s been a while.”
“Yes, Father.”
In the depths of the forest, surrounded by trees and darkness, Oliver greeted Pandora, who was waiting for him there.
Pandora was one of the three Eves (이브) that Oliver had unintentionally created, and the first Eve he met. This was their second meeting since their initial encounter on the New Continent.
“Apologies for the delay. Have you been waiting long?”
“No, I’m the one who should apologize for calling you on a whim.”
Upon learning of Oliver’s arrival in the Kingdom of Aizan, Pandora contacted him through a communication device attached to the inside of his shirt collar, requesting a meeting.
Naturally, Oliver had no reason to refuse and came to this spot.
“If it had been difficult to come out, I would have declined, so there’s no need to apologize. More importantly, I also have something important to discuss with you, Pandora.”
When Oliver mentioned he had something important to discuss, Pandora’s face tensed, clearly caught off guard.
“What business do you have with me?”
“I wanted to introduce you to Eve. Eve, please say hello. This is Pandora. Pandora, this is Eve.”
Oliver took the communication device from inside his shirt collar and held it toward Pandora.
“….”
Pandora, evidently taken aback, stood there speechless, her mouth slightly agape.
After a moment of awkward silence, Pandora finally reacted.
“Forgive me, Father… Was introducing me to Eve the important matter?”
“It’s not the only reason, but yes, it is the most important. You two are sisters, after all.”
Oliver replied somewhat awkwardly, as if he were a malfunctioning doll.
This made sense, as Oliver had only realized after meeting Pandora in the colonial city of First Step on the New Continent that he had created her. His actions had been unintentional but incredibly irresponsible.
Of course, he had some reason to feel wronged.
Who would have guessed that the giant eye he encountered on his way to aid Rosburn was Eve?
At that time, pressed for time, Oliver had not dwelled on the giant eye’s identity; he had simply struck it. And so, Eve, Pandora, and Lilith, artificial spirits created from the World Tree, were born.
The problem was that Oliver hadn’t known this fact and had entirely neglected them.
“So, I thought it was the least I could do to formally introduce you two… as sisters, at the very least.”
Oliver explained with difficulty, gesturing with both hands in the air.
He was still unsure how to treat the Eves and Pandora, creations he had made unintentionally.
Hearing this, Eve gave a small laugh.
“Hehe… So very like you, Father.”
“That’s a compliment, right?”
“Probably.”
Pandora made a playful remark.
Every night before going to sleep, Oliver would read a joke book, and not only did he demonstrate surprising insight by picking up on this, but he also realized Pandora was trying to lighten the mood for his sake.
After all, nothing eased tension better than humor.
With her expert use of humor, Pandora told Oliver.
“Don’t worry. Eve and I have already introduced ourselves while you were dealing with Archpriest Roderick and the head servant. You don’t need to introduce us separately.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, Father.”
[Yes, Dave.]
The device in his shirt collar and Pandora responded in unison.
“We can converse freely through the World Tree.”
[So please, don’t worry about it.]
Pandora and Eve took turns explaining how they’d already greeted each other.
It made sense. The World Tree was vast, yet all its parts were interconnected. It wasn’t strange for Pandora and Eve, who were born of the World Tree, to have already greeted each other.
On reflection, it was obvious.
This brought a different question to Oliver’s mind.
“Then, have you also spoken with Lilith?”
Lilith, the artificial spirit of the World Tree created alongside Eve and Pandora, was currently accompanying Puppet, as far as Oliver knew.
At Oliver’s question, Pandora and Eve fell silent for a few moments, and Oliver took this as his answer.
Of course, the question itself was odd.
He was asking Pandora and Eve, whom he had also neglected, about the well-being of Lilith, whom he had abandoned just as much.
Oliver quickly changed the subject.
“Pandora, may I ask why you called me here?”
“I… wanted to ask if you truly intend to subjugate the Black Mages.”
This time, Oliver tilted his head, confused.
“Could it be that Heimdall is here?”
Heimdall.
A group of magic hackers who utilized the World Tree, which was also Pandora’s current affiliation.
“No, I am here solely for personal reasons. Heimdall is not here.”
“Then, are you receiving help from the Black Mages?”
“Yes, I need their help for something. And in the process, I heard that you were coming here, Father.”
Instead of answering Pandora’s question right away, Oliver took a moment to gather his thoughts.
After finishing his thoughts, he spoke carefully, explaining his intentions step by step.
“To answer your question, I haven’t yet decided exactly how to handle the Black Mages. Ideally, I would prefer to address them as I did in Gallos.”
“You mean capturing only the dangerous Black Mages and letting the rest choose whether to serve?”
“Yes, precisely. Although it may sound odd coming from me, I want to avoid excessive bloodshed.”
“It doesn’t sound odd at all.”
Pandora responded, and it was evident she was sincere.
“… Thank you. However, as I said, I haven’t made any firm decisions. Both Archpriest Roderick and the head servant are eager for the Black Mages’ extermination.”
This was true.
For Oliver to reach this place, he had to face both Archpriest Roderick and the head servant, who strongly but politely insisted on purging the Black Mages.
They argued that the Black Mages worshiped demons and idols, had already brought harm to numerous small kingdoms, and were arming refugees, thus increasing the threat.
Surprisingly, most of these claims were indeed genuine.
“I do have my own position to uphold, so it’s hard to ignore them completely.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, because they claim that a new sect of Black Mages worships a new idol. And to my knowledge, I am the only one known as this ‘new idol’… May I ask a question?”
“Please, go ahead.”
“Is it true that there are those who worship me? I find it rather difficult to understand.”
Oliver’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Despite the explanations he’d received from Roderick about his newfound fame as the “new idol” amid the current chaotic times, he still found it baffling that Black Mages from across the sea would worship him.
It seemed unlikely that such a following could develop so easily.
In response, Pandora answered.
“Yes, there are indeed such followers.”
“How could that be possible?”
“That, I don’t know.”
“Hmm… If it’s alright with you, would you be able to investigate? Since you said you’re skilled at looking into the past, perhaps you might discover how this situation arose.”
“I’m sorry. I have already investigated but was unable to uncover anything.”
“Wait… You already investigated?”
“Yes, I took an interest in the matter.”
Pandora’s answer made sense to Oliver.
After all, he was the one who had created Pandora, Eve, and Lilith, albeit unintentionally.
From their perspective, if people were worshiping him, it would naturally attract their attention, for better or worse.
And with that interest, it was only natural for them to investigate through the World Tree.
What didn’t make sense, however, was simply…
“… Is that even possible?”
Oliver expressed his doubt.
“I’m not trying to nitpick, but isn’t the World Tree supposed to record everything it observes? How could it fail to uncover something?”
“… It surprised me as well, but it’s true.”
Pandora’s sincerity was unmistakable.
“I checked past records upon noticing the emergence of those worshiping you, but no such record exists in the World Tree. It was as if someone had erased it.”
Oliver, who believed the World Tree’s records were indelible, quietly felt astonished.
Someone erasing it? He found himself both curious and somewhat reluctant to know who it might be.
“My personal theory is that a certain faction has been deliberately spreading this worship of you. The timing and manner of its development suggest this.”
“So, according to Pandora, someone is intentionally manipulating people to worship me and has taken steps to conceal it from you?”
“Yes.”
Pandora answered without hesitation.
Oliver wanted to ask why, by whom, and how.
The reasoning could come later, but he found it hard to imagine someone could manage this so easily in the rugged Central Continent.
However, given Pandora’s unwavering answer, he had nothing more to say.
“May I ask just one more question?”
“Of course.”
“It’s said that the Black Mages also worship demons. Is it truly demons they revere? Based on my research, it seems more like a form of indigenous worship centered around a woman blessed by an angel.”
“It would be the latter.”
“You answered quickly this time?”
“I was investigating that very matter.”
...
“Those little brats…!”
Late at night, in the Arkh Orphanage, a young man with red hair yelled.
At the sound of his shout, the children burst into laughter and scattered, running away as he chased after them, managing to catch a few and shaking them up in the air.
“Kyah!”
The children screamed as they were roughly swung back and forth, but no one stopped him.
After all, the screams were mingled with genuine laughter.
“Ah, these brats… Such boundless energy.”
“Kids, it’s time to go to bed now. Don’t tire out our guest too much,” said Amelin, the director of Arkh Orphanage, clapping her hands and calling to the children.
The children sighed in disappointment at the end of their game of tag.
“Aww…”
But the director remained firm.
“What’s done is done. You were supposed to have gone to bed ages ago. You know Joanna only let you stay up because she’s here. If you keep fussing, I won’t let you play with her tomorrow.”
At the mention of Joanna, the hero and pride of Arkh Orphanage, the children reluctantly trotted back to their beds.
Once they were gone, Derek, utterly exhausted, sprawled across a chair like a damp rag, and Director Amelin brought him a glass of water.
“Had a rough time, didn’t you?”
“…Yes, I really did.”
Derek accepted the glass from Amelin and drank.
“But I suppose it’s to be expected since I came here with a request.”
Derek had come to Arkh Orphanage to entrust Rosburn to its care, and after finishing his water, he voiced his sentiment.
Amelin’s lips curled into a gentle smile.
“Don’t say that. You’ve already given us donations and gifts. Even if you hadn’t, I know you would’ve played with the children.”
“I think you may have misunderstood—I’m not that kind of person. I’m from the Tower of Magic.”
“Actually, we’ve had two other mages from the Tower visit before. They were very kind too.”
“One of them was probably Yareli, wasn’t it?”
Derek subtly pointed in the direction where Yareli was conversing with Joanna, a knight.
The only reason Derek had played with the kids was to give those two space to talk without interruptions.
Though he didn’t know the exact details, Yareli had asked for Derek’s understanding before going off to speak with Joanna alone.
Thanks to that, Derek had ended up playing with the children for quite some time.
“Are you by any chance friends with Zenon, Mr. Derek?”
“Hmm? Are you asking because I was running errands for him?”
“That, and also because it seems you genuinely like him.”
“What gives you that impression?”
“It’s hard to explain. At my age, you just get a feel for these things.”
“Then maybe I need to work on that impression. We’re not exactly close. If we were, I wouldn’t have been so surprised to hear he knew Joanna, that knight.”
Derek thought back to their arrival at Arkh Orphanage alongside Yareli and Rosburn.
At the orphanage, he had met Joanna, a knight, and through Yareli’s explanation, learned she knew Zenon.
He was astonished to think that a Black Mage and a knight had known each other for a long time. And naturally, he was curious.
He wondered what they might be discussing over there, likely about Zenon, judging from the situation.
“Director, what exactly did Zenon do when he came here?”
“He fixed the pump and repaired the roof. His handiwork was so good that neither has broken since, even though they usually do, no matter how much we patch them up… He seems to be quite good with his hands.”
Derek listened to her without much reaction.
For someone aiming to establish an entire school of magic on his own, nothing he did would be surprising.
“He also stayed up late talking with me.”
“Talking? About what?”
“Just some advice I gave him. Mr. Zenon may appear calm on the surface, but it seemed he had a lot on his mind.”
The thought of Zenon having a lot on his mind was hard for Derek to imagine, and he tilted his head in puzzlement.
It was difficult to picture that guy, who maintained a perfect poker face with anyone and solved every problem in his path, as someone who struggled with inner turmoil. Naturally, Derek’s curiosity was piqued.
“What did you talk about?”
“It wasn’t much. Everyone has their troubles—”
Ding, ding.
In the middle of Amelin’s reply, a bell chimed.
Someone had rung the bell at the gate this late at night.
The conversation between Derek and Director Amelin was interrupted, and Derek quietly pulled a shrunken longsword from his coat.
Considering the orphanage’s remote location and the lateness of the hour, his reaction was understandable.
Director Amelin, also somewhat wary, took hold of a hidden shotgun on the wall as she went to check outside.
“Who’s there?”
Director Amelin looked at the man standing beyond the orphanage gate.
The man, dressed as a traveler, held a flute in one hand, and behind him stood a group of children—dozens of them—appearing entranced.
An ominous silence descended upon the orphanage.