Chapter 267
Chapter 267
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 267
Chapter Title: Daily Life (3)
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"Sorry to bother you so late at night."
The restaurant was bathed in soft lighting and gentle melodies.
Guided by Al, Oliver made his way to the bar in the corner of the new restaurant owned by Forest.
He hadn't had a chance to check it out until now due to lack of time.
"No need to apologize. You're the one doing the hard work."
Forest, seated at one end of the bar, responded to Oliver's greeting.
He gestured for Oliver to take the seat across from him.
As far as Oliver knew, Forest spent his days at the restaurant handling everything from management and customer service to acting as a middleman. Yet despite all that, he showed no signs of fatigue and held his post without fail.
"Something on your mind?"
"I was just curious... Why do you keep the place open so late? You didn't used to do that."
"Back then, there were no customers. Now there are."
Forest pointed to the patrons scattered around, some eating, others drinking.
Most were fixers, informants, brokers—people from the underworld. And there were quite a few of them.
Al had mentioned that the restaurant had become a sort of rest stop in the area, and it certainly seemed to be true.
Forest continued.
"We didn't do late-night business before because there was no profit in it. Now there is, so we do."
"I see. But doesn't staying open so late tire you out?"
"Does it look like I'm working?"
Forest held up his crystal glass of liquor and the newspaper in his other hand.
At a glance, he seemed like a wealthy old man leisurely passing the time, but Oliver knew better.
For a middleman, gathering information was part of the job.
And newspapers were one of the best tools for it.
"Anything interesting?"
"Funny you should ask. There's something odd here. I thought you read the paper every day."
"Ah, I haven't been lately."
"Haven't had time, huh? Not that you're just being lazy. Must be busy with something."
Forest hit the nail on the head.
Lately, Oliver had been swamped with magic tower training and preparing production facilities for the Blood Elixir.
He'd even skipped his morning paper routine.
He'd thought it wouldn't be too bad at first, but both tasks had proven far more challenging than expected.
Helping train the magic tower students couldn't be done with the haphazard methods he'd used as a black magician. He had to read books and audit classes to pick up proper techniques.
And setting up production for the Blood Elixir was hitting snags too.
Child-First still hadn't fully taken over the corpse doll—Bartoli—so they couldn't identify all the necessary materials and tools.
Oliver had his guesses, but progress was slow regardless.
For those reasons, he'd been too busy to keep up with the news.
"A bit... But it's nothing to worry about."
"Good to hear. Now, back to business. Mission successful?"
Oliver nodded and explained how he'd protected the Squatter-Workers' Union Alliance and driven off the demolition company.
Forest's face lit up with satisfaction as he poured Oliver a drink himself.
"How was it?"
"Great."
Oliver answered honestly.
The job had been thoroughly satisfying overall.
It perfectly suited his tight schedule—just one quick move—and the pay was excellent relative to the effort.
The advance wasn't huge, but upon success, he'd get 8% of the union's compensation, which he estimated at 300 to 400 million.
It was a massive haul, worth Forest taking the risk to push the union into hiring him early.
"Oh, and I salvaged a golem too."
"A golem?"
"Yeah, one made of rock. It had an eye in its torso and wielded a house-sized hammer."
"Demolition golem. Sounds like Model 2 from the design... But how'd you salvage it?"
"Smashed it."
"Ah..."
Forest let out an exclamation at the straightforward answer.
That wasn't quite what he'd meant, but he decided not to pry further.
His original question had been whether Founder was a worthy opponent anyway...
Judging by Oliver's unscathed state and his words, neither Founder nor the golem had given him much trouble.
Founder was a renowned mercenary in Randa, and a golem was a weapon that took serious firepower to stop.
Truly astonishing skill. To the point where Forest couldn't even gauge its limits anymore.
"Where's the golem now? Surely not in your Big Mouth."
"Right. I tried, but it basically asked if I was insane. Said it was too big to swallow... So I left it with the union for now."
"The union?"
"Yeah. They said they owed me big time and offered to store it in their warehouse."
It wasn't strange at all.
Thanks to Oliver, they'd turned a near-loss into a win.
Returning a small favor was righteous and pragmatic.
"They won't steal it, but you'd better retrieve it soon."
"Agreed. I left it there out of necessity, but I feel bad asking them to hold it indefinitely."
"If you want, I can store it in one of my warehouses."
"You sure?"
"Of course. You've made me a fortune today. So, what're you planning to do with the golem? Even damaged, it's valuable—easily worth one or two bills. Want me to introduce you to a regular broker?"
"Hmm... Not a bad idea, but I've made enough from this job. Think I'll keep it."
"For what?"
"Research."
"Research?"
Forest furrowed his brow. Golems were high-tech marvels handled by specialists.
Even fellow mages needed expertise to tinker with them. And now this black magician claimed he'd study one.
It was absurd.
But even more absurd was Forest's gut feeling that Oliver could actually pull it off. Without any evidence.
"Not surprising anymore."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing... It's your salvage. Do what you want. Just know you'll need a big space for golem research."
Oliver nodded.
He'd already pondered that briefly.
His new home's basement was spacious, but too cramped for golem work.
"I'll hold onto it for you. Swing by whenever."
"Really?"
"If I didn't want to, I wouldn't have offered. Just say thanks."
"Thank you sincerely for your kindness."
"I'm always nice to people who bring in the cash. I'm a materialist like that... The union and construction firm will probably start negotiations tomorrow at the latest, day after the latest. The squatters and union hold the advantage, so it'll go their way. Your pay will rise accordingly. I'll let you know once it's settled and collect the balance from the union for you."
"Sounds good. Take your time."
"I'll be quick. Gotta get my cut."
Forest cracked a natural joke. Oliver envied that ease.
As their conversation wrapped up, Oliver glanced at his watch. It was quite late.
He'd be lucky to get one or two hours of sleep heading home now.
He asked Forest's permission to leave.
"Go ahead. Sorry for keeping you so long."
"No, my pleasure. I'll be off then."
"Right—wait! Aren't you gonna ask about that?"
"About what?"
"I mentioned seeing something interesting in the paper?"
"Oh... Slipped my mind. What is it?"
"Shamus started an investment firm."
Forest slid the paper with the article toward Oliver.
Oliver saw the headline splashed across it.
[Randa's Female Investors Launch Revolutionary Firm with Druid!!!]
After reading the article, Dave showed brief interest before leaving.
Forest considered wrapping up and heading out himself.
What reason did he have to linger now that his awaited guest was gone?
Just then, Al returned from seeing him off, impeccably dressed in his crisp uniform, looking sharp as ever.
"Boss, Mr. Dave has left."
"Good work. You must be tired—head home."
"I'm fine, don't worry about me."
"...But you've got something to say?"
Forest, who knew Al well, picked up on it immediately. Al didn't deny it.
"Yes, boss."
Forest slowly finished his drink from the crystal glass.
"...Out with it."
"I know it's not my place, but shouldn't we try convincing Mr. Dave soon?"
The "convincing" meant making Dave the leader of Fighter Crew.
It was a request from some Crime Firm directors.
They figured if Dave led Fighter Crew, they'd automatically gain an alliance and wield that power.
Despite his feats and fame, Dave's mild nature led many to such ideas.
Forest had brushed them off each time, but the Crime Firm directors were persistent.
'They even told Fighter Crew to convince him themselves. Greedy bunch.'
"Al, do you think we should?"
"It's what the directors asked. And you accepted."
"I said I'd think about it. After turning them down multiple times, they kept pushing."
"Still, shouldn't we at least bring it up? If we don't even pretend to work on it, it'll sour relations with the directors."
Al, unused to dealing with big shots, said earnestly. Forest remained calm.
"They're the type to throw tantrums anyway. No matter what I do, if they don't get their way, they'll be upset. Better to build ties with the reasonable directors now and prepare our own defenses. Asking when they know I'll refuse is just as rude."
Al bowed his head at the clear answer.
"Ah... I'm sorry. I was foolish."
"Not foolish. Just inexperienced... Even if something happens, I'll make sure you and your colleagues have livelihoods. Don't worry."
"That's not why I said it."
"I know, I know."
Forest calmed the flustered Al and suddenly handed him the newspaper.
"More importantly, look into this."
The "this" was the article he'd shown Dave.
Randa's female investors had partnered with a druid to form an investment company.
Investment firms popped up all the time in money-drenched Randa, but one detail nagged at Forest intensely.
"Investments using the World Tree that can't possibly fail... That's a phrase that really sticks out."
Al tilted his head.
"Worth investigating?"
"Not a deep dive—just a quick check. My operation's grown lately, you know? The bigger you get, the more careful you have to be. Big ships catch big waves... I have a feeling this grand entrepreneur is about to stir up a massive one. Good or bad."
Forest pointed to Shamus in the photo.
He stood holding a sign that read "with three beauties," grinning widely.