Chapter 103

Elizabeth bowed her head to the fat old man’s words and went out of the room.

When the door closed with a snap, Oliver and the fat old man were left alone in the large room filled with a sweet smell.

Oliver stood in his place and looked at the drooping fat old man.

“What are you staring at now? The way I’m sitting?”

“No, I’d like to know about the job.”

“Ho~, slow down fu*ker. Are you the type that would c*m even before inserting your di*k? You do look like one that would do it in bed. I can tell by the way you’re looking. So, now… Stop peeking at my panties and go get a drink from over there. Come on.”

The fat old man flicked his finger arrogantly and pointed to a bottle of alcohol on a table.

It was a fluorescent Magic wine, and to Oliver’s surprise, it seemed to be the one made by Murphy.

Oliver poured the magic wine into a luxurious crystal glass and handed it to the fat old man.

The fat old man gulped down the magic wine and asked.

“…Are you angry? Do you think it’s a disgrace to serve a fat old man?”

“No… I was taught to be kind to the elderly.”

“Fu*k! Oh, my God. . .! Are you a fu*king child?”

“No…I’m 22.”

“Haa… he’s fu*king answering it. Sh*t! Was this guy living under his mother’s skirt all this time? It’s the type of servant I hate.”

Oliver tried to tell him that he had no mother but soon shut his mouth.

According to the new ID provided by Murphy, he currently has no parents, but he was not an orphan.

As trivial as it may be, Oliver didn’t say anything, realizing he was not Oliver but Dave Wright right now.

The old man giggled as if he misunderstood Oliver’s silence.

“Suddenly, you’re speechless. Why? Did I stab you in the wrong place? Hwaa… Do you still suck your mom’s boobies at night?”

The old man deliberately wiggled his hand mockingly.

It wasn’t particularly unpleasant, but it was definitely different from the attitude of people Oliver had seen so far, and he could understand why Coco said he was eccentric.

But what bothered Oliver the most was his emotional state.

Despite drinking expensive magic wine and wearing expensive clothes while staying in a nice room, he seemed nervous, sad, angry, and empty at the same time more than anyone Oliver had ever met.

When Oliver did not respond to his taunts, the fat old man suddenly began to droop, as if his interest had disappeared.

“It’s not funny. Why the hell are you here?”

“I came because I heard you had a job for me.”

“Haa… You speak strangely. It’s not for the job, it’s for the pensation… right?

The fat old man glanced at Oliver with his sharp eyes.

It was sharper than the pharmacist, Kent, and Forrest. Oliver understood a little why Coco called him one of the city’s big-shots.

But his emotional state was much worse….. And Oliver was curious about the reason behind it.

“I told you to answer my question. Goddam*it… Is that YES or NO?”

“Yes, I’m here for the reward. It’s because of the book about the Demons.”

“Ugh… just say a book. Just the first word is enough. If this nonsense leaks out, I’ll be fu*ked, gang fu*ked by those Paladins. Is that what you want?”

“No, it’s not.”

“That’s good. I don’t let anyone fu*k me. I’ll be the one who fu*ks them…Ah, I remembered this one guy when I was 16. I got back at him for what he did so hard that he ran off from Landa naked, fu*king naked. Haa… It was so refreshing.”

The fat old man drank the magic wine again.

Oliver once read that conversation was playing catch with the opponent, but looking at the fat old man in front of him it seemed like he was playing catch with himself. The fat old man continued to talk with no rest like a person in distress.

No, he was a person in distress, and he was a real wreck.

His emotion flared up without specific goals, they were flaring up so hard that it felt like they would cease to exist at one point, and looking at such a fat old man, Oliver asked,

“Are you okay?”

“Am I okay? Of course, why do you ask that?”

“Um? Because I was taught to ask if I saw someone in need of help?”

“Ugh…I feel like I’m talking to a fu*king seven-year-old….. Haa.., stop it. Let’s move on to work. I’m tired of talking to a poor fu*ker.”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

Oliver kindly answered, moving the quarterstaff from one hand to another.

The fat old man paused and opened his mouth.

“…Let me ask you first. Do you know who I am?”

“I heard you’re a wealthy man from District R and an influential man in the city.”

“Exactly. That’s why I’m so relaxed even while facing a Warlock like you. Is it true what the cheeky girl Coco said, about you making a name for yourself in District T?”

“Um, It seems that way, sir.”

“Seems? Huh! What about your credibility?”

“Credibility?”

“Yeah, credibility. It’s the basis for any business. Do you risk your life for your job or would you betray it when things get tough? I mean, do you put your life on the line for the job?”

Oliver agonized.

“Um…, I tend to keep my promises, if possible.”

“It’s not enough. It’s not enough… Is that all you can answer?”

“I’m sorry, but that’s the truth. I haven’t experienced a time where I had to risk my life to keep my promise….”

“Can’t you imagine what you would do in such a scenario? Life or Job!?”

“I don’t think I’ll know until I experience it.”

“…Do you really want to get paid?”

“Yes, I want to. But I don’t want to lie. I’ll do it if necessary, but I don’t want to do it in this situation.”

“This situation? Haaa…”

The fat old man looked dumbfounded, and along with that, a curiosity gradually blossomed within him.

“You might just be the guy.”

“What do you mean, Sir?”

“I’ve decided. I’ve decided to give the job to you. I want you to protect someone. Someone for about two weeks.”

His words were sincere, and Oliver asked.

“Who is it, Sir?”

“My daughter. To be exact, an illegitimate one. They’re trying to kill me.”

“Who?”

“My wife and my children.”

“…? I don’t understand”

“Are you really stupid? It’s surprisingly mon in Landa….. Do you by any chance know what are the conditions to be a rich man?”

“No?”

“When a rich man buys something, he should never look at the price tag and when a rich man decides to have a lover, he should never count the number. For your information, I’m a rich man. Of course, I had several lovers, and I have several illegitimate children.  I’m going to pass on some of my property to one of the illegitimate ones.  About 40 percent? Now, think about it. What would the legal child of my legal wife feel when 40 percent of what would be his or hers goes to the daughter of a whore?”

Oliver pondered for a moment.

“Um, maybe they wouldn’t like it very much?”

“Ugh, why are you asking with a question mark at the end? Of course, they would not like it, to the point where they will kill her to get that 40 percent share.”

As the fat old man said those words, he seemed excited.

“………then, wouldn’t there be any problem if you don’t have to hand over your property?”

“There are two reasons why I can’t. The first is because my illegitimate daughter wants to receive my inheritance, and the second is because I want to give it to her regardless of whether she wants it or not.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s my money. I want to use whatever way I want while I’m alive… How upsetting would the rest of my family feel when I gave 40 percent of my fortune to my illegitimate daughter? Fu*k you suckers. Hahahaha.”

Oliver doubted his ears thinking about the words of the fat old man.

He was literally trying to share his fortune to bully his family despite knowing that he would put his illegitimate daughter in danger.

Of course, the choice was up to him, but Oliver couldn’t understand the reason behind it. It was confusing, and it did not seem to be out of anger or something.

While Oliver pondered for an answer in his head, the fat old man said as if to reconfirm what he said earlier.

“Originally, I wouldn’t be able to give a share in my property away to my illegitimate daughter because of the inheritance law, but fortunately, this is Landa. It’s a separate place from the United Kingdom. If you lobby the Justice Department, you can legally hand it over. In addition, you have to pay inheritance tax when you give your property, which takes about two weeks in total. That’s the story. So, can you protect my illegitimate daughter for those two weeks? It could be very dangerous. What do you say?”

“What do you think about it?”

Forrest, who was in the middle of dining, asked Oliver, who returned from Angel’s house and was having dinner with him.

“Um, he’s a funny guy.”

“Funny? That Edith Rock.”

Oliver stopped eating and looked at Forrest, he wondered how Forrest knew the name when he said nothing about it.

As if reading what was on Oliver’s mind, Forrest explained.

“Isn’t there anything to be surprised about? This is my job. If it’s a person who’s with a large amount of real estate in District R and someone who came to prominence by investing in Prometheus, even a kid in Landa would say it’s Edith Rock. On top of that, Edith Rock is the only one who talks and acts in the way you said.”

CLATTER. 

Oliver asked as he cut the steak.

“…Is he famous?”

“Of course. Don’t you know because you met him? It’s that personality, that’s something bound to be famous. On top of that, he was someone who rose from bottom to top, so he once received a lot of public attention.”

“As expected, he’s really an amazing person.”

“Amazing, yeah, you can say that. Even if Landa is a place filled with opportunities like the stars in the sky, the opportunities are as far away as a star, and Edith Rock is someone who caught it. Once an object of envy, and now it’s a story that’s long forgotten.”

“Forgotten?”

“Yeah, people often forget. That’s their blessing and curse. But that worked in Edith Rock’s favor. No one really knows how he accumulated his wealth and became rich now.”

“How did he bee rich?”

“He bribed the higher-ups in administration, got hold of the information on redevelopment projects, bought the lands there at a bargain price in advance, and for those who refused to sell it to him, he threatened and blackmailed using solvers or gangsters. When people rebelled, he hired mercenaries or guys from Pinkman to make them disappear. He was cursed a lot by the people at that time, but they soon forgot.”

“Um…”

“Other than that, he threatened a noble family in the capital with debt and married their daughter almost as if kidnapping her. Edith was close to fifty at the time, and she was probably just 16… It’s a sad story, and some people even made a bet about when she would mit suicide.”

Oliver could see why Edith Rock despised his family so much.

It was a family that was formed in a way that was bound to hate each other.

Oliver talked about his job when his curiosity was somewhat relieved.

“There’s one thing I don’t understand.”

“What is it?”

Forrest asked while drinking the wine Al poured for him.

“He’s a very wealthy man, he’s influential in the city, and he knows people like gangsters, Solvers, mercenaries, why didn’t he want to hire them?”

“Maybe he can’t believe them.”

“Pardon?”

“Edith Rock, his ideology was – people move to chase after their desires. And that’s how he lived his life, too. Maybe that’s why he can’t trust the people he had worked with……I heard he was in bad health, how was he in your eyes?”

Oliver fell into another thought for a moment, he wondered how Forrest knew this much about Edith Rock, which was even more than what he thought would be. 

“Dave?”

“Um, yes, it didn’t look good.”

Oliver replied, recalling the irregular, fuzzy Life-force.

“According to a source from the Brokers guild, it was said that he would be done by today and tomorrow. So, why bother to listen to the words of a soon-to-be-dead man, instead it would be profitable if they could have a good relationship with the family who will inherit his fortune. That’s how people with mon sense think. Humans are mortal, but money…  It’s ETERNAL. That’s why people trust money rather than humans.”

It felt like Forrest’s voice and tone were more acrimonious today.

“Mr. Forrest…is there something wrong?”

“No… nothing. Anyway, I think it’s just because of the situation.…. He wanted to find a guy like you who has no connection, even if it’s gambling its worth rather than leaving it to an untrustworthy acquaintance.”

“A guy like me?”

“A solver who is skilled but has not yet belonged to any force. I’m sure he hired you through Elizabeth and Coco, who are related to him because of the strict conditions. Also, if he hires people like you, the other side will also not charge blindly. In this kind of situation where the clock keeps ticking you have to be on the offensive if you have to protect someone openly, if you go on the defensive, things might get messy in the end.”

Oliver nodded. Forrest’s words kind of seemed to make some sense.

“Even so, it’s still dangerous. The stake is not just a penny or two, but 40 percent of Edith Rock’s entire fortune… The family will throw everything they have to stop it somehow… I think this is going to be a pointless fight.”

“Pointless?”

“Yeah, do you think the girl will be safe even if she inherited it? This is just Edith Rock’s pointless fight to prove the point that he will be a powerful man even on his deathbed.”

“Why is he doing that?”

“Oh, it’s just a guess…..maybe it’s the fear. Fear that once he dies everyone will forget him, forget as if he never existed. Right now he is acting like a child throwing tantrums to grab everyone’s attention, trying to prove that he’s not dead yet. No matter how powerful and rich you are, as long as you are human, you will die. Drugs can slow down aging, but humans die in the end. You may not know yet, but the process of death is not very pleasant, especially for the rich fat ass old men…”

Oliver understood what Forrest meant, and he understood why Edith Rock’s emotions showed signs of nervousness, anger, wanting revenge, and trying to prove something.

“In a word, this is all a stunt to improve his mood. Even if he wasn’t a good guy, he was a pretty meticulous guy, and he will be one until the end…So, what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, are you going to accept the job? Honestly, I’m against it.”

“Why?”

“Definitely the pay is good. Two weeks of protection and 200 million. In addition, there is the book you wanted. For your information, that book costs hundreds of millions, and it’s harder to get. That’s why the wealthy collect it for show. In other words, this is a kind of job that’s rare to e by even once a year.”

“I know.”

“But the problem is you’ll be a piece in a child’s game board. A board where things don’t go by rules but by emotion. If things get emotional they may end up dirty, and it creates a lot of variables. It’s the worst.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, just as Edith Rock has a lot of connections, his family also has a lot of ‘em. They’ll desperately try to kill the illegitimate girl, this won’t end with a small disturbance….. I can’t even imagine what’s going to happen. A piece of advice from my experience is… Avoid it. Money is eternal, but life is not.”

Forrest’s words were absolutely right, and above all, he was sincere and genuinely worried about Oliver.

However, from the time Oliver heard about the book about Demons, some memories kept passing through his head.

It was the memories of the Old man on horseback, entrance to hell, unknown patterns.

Sometimes he’d forget, but sometimes they’d keep popping as if asking him to find out about them.

Of course, he never wanted to throw away everything he was doing and find out about it alone, but at the same time, he did not want to leave the chance that came his way.

It was said that a book about Demons would cost more than hundreds of millions, which itself would take a long time to save, and even if he did, it was uncertain that he’d have the opportunity to buy one.

Oliver wanted to snatch the chance that provided itself.

Forrest asked the contemplating Oliver as if he read what was going on in his head.

“You don’t want to give up, don’t you?”

Oliver answered, slicing the steak on his plate.

“Yes.”