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"Mr. Shamus?"

"Hello, Jane. Despite it being the appointed time, you were nowhere to be found, so I came looking for you myself. I was worried something might have happened."

Jane checked her wristwatch.

“Oh……. Indeed, I apologize.”

"Of course, you should be sorry. Time is money. However, if you were conversing with this fellow, I guess I should understand. After all, he\'s the current stock-rising liquor king.”

With a swift motion, Shamus delivered a slap to Murphy\'s chest. Despite feeling a pang of discomfort, Murphy concealed it well and responded with a smile.

"Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Shamus."

Jane outwardly thanked him with a smile, and Shamus also accepted it with a polite smile of his own.

Soon after, his gaze moved to Oliver.

“It’s been a long time.”

"Yes, Mr. Shamus. Nice to see you.”

"I hope you mean that. I’m genuinely glad to see you……. Hey, liquor king. Could I possibly borrow these two for a moment? We had a prior arrangement.”

Murphy, who had been standing like a pillar, responded affirmatively while hiding the discomfort welling up inside him.

Shamus glanced at Murphy\'s face for a moment, let out a soft chuckle, and let go of his shoulder.

Then, he led Oliver and Jane elsewhere.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Murphy.”

Oliver bid his goodbye to Murphy before following Shamus. Murphy also responded with a heartfelt greeting.

"I was also truly pleased to meet you. I\'ll contact you later.”

After parting ways with Murphy, Oliver walked behind Shamus with Jane.

The guests at the party, adorned in expensive clothes and jewelry, immediately stepped aside when they saw the striding Shamus.

As Jane said, it seemed Shamus was quite successful. The way people shrank from Shamus\'s momentum was proof enough.

"You always surprise me every time I see you.”

"Do I?”

"Yes, I didn\'t know you were acquainted with the liquor king. You have quite a wide network.”

"Ah……. I\'ve taken on a few jobs for him in the past. But, what exactly is this liquor king?”

"Ah, right. I intervened before you could get a proper answer. Should I apologize?”

"No, it’s not a big deal.”

"Kind. Rewards are necessary for kind people……. As I mentioned earlier, it\'s a nickname he earned from selling a tremendous amount of alcohol and becoming rich. Just like the nickname ‘liquor king\' implies.”

"Oh, is that so?”

“Yes, his product is good. Magic Wine……. Murphy\'s finesse played a role in that too. Who would have thought he\'d shift his focus from domestic to international markets? Thanks to that, he\'s amassing wealth while consolidating his footing within Crime Firm, without any unnecessary competition. Rumor has it, he’s even wealthier than most board members.”

"Huh……."

Shamus was serious.

Oliver glanced at Jane for confirmation, and Jane nodded in agreement.

"That\'s quite impressive……. But how did you, Mr. Shamus, come to know this?”

“In these kinds of places, the only topics of conversation are who\'s making money and who\'s having an affair. Even though they\'re dressed in jewels and expensive clothes, the fundamental conversations are the same as in a back alley bar……. You should get used to it, as the head of an organization, you\'ll need to get a taste of these places too.”

"Uh……. I\'m sorry, but it seems there\'s some misunderstanding.”

"Misunderstanding?"

"Yes, I-"

"-Ah, there they are!”

The moment Oliver tried to open his mouth to clear the misunderstanding, a woman\'s voice rang out loudly.

Turning towards the direction of the sound, a voluptuous woman with orange hair in an orange dress ran over and embraced Shamus.

"You\'re early!"

"Of course, I had to be early. Can\'t keep a lady waiting, can I?"

The woman radiated feelings of affection and dependence towards Shamus, and Shamus exuded an air of annoyance and indifference toward the woman. The stark contrast between their emotions was quite striking, prompting Oliver to ask Jane.

"Who is she?"

"Myrtle Vernou. She\'s a member of our Sisterhood asset group, and Shamus\'s girlfriend."

"I see……. She seems to be quite fond of Mr. Shamus?”

"Well, yes. It\'s a long story, but she owes a lot to Shamus.”

"Is that so?”

“Yes. She trusts him enough to let him manage a significant portion of her wealth.”

Oliver was astonished. He wondered if that was appropriate.

"Hey, why are you two whispering without me?”

While Oliver and Jane were talking, Shamus came over with Myrtle.

Myrtle approached with her arm looped through Shamus\'s and greeted Oliver, and Oliver, through Jane, also greeted her.

Merely being arm-in-arm with Shamus seemed to fuel Myrtle\'s confidence and self-esteem, which overflowed like a fountain.

As Jane said, her trust and dependence on Shamus seemed exceedingly high.

‘I\'m not sure if that\'s a good thing…….\'

She began talking to Oliver.

“I\'ve never met a warlock before, but you\'re very different from what I expected. I thought warlocks were creepy people conducting sinister experiments in basements……. But you seem quite decent.”

"Thank you for your kind words. I was indeed in a grim laboratory, but today I\'m here thanks to Miss Jane.”

"Oh my, you\'re quite the charmer, aren’t you? Jane didn’t tell me much about you, so I thought there might be some issue, but if I\'d known this, I would\'ve liked to meet you sooner.”

Just as Oliver was about to respond, Jane cut in.

She subtly scanned the surroundings before speaking.

"Myrtle. But do you know where everyone else has gone? I can\'t see anyone, did I arrive too late?”

"Huh? Oh, no, no……. They were waiting, but they went over there for a while. They said the wizards have arrived.”

"Wizards?”

"Yeah. Tower wizards. Specifically, students. They said they came to get investment, so they went to have a look around……. Shall we go too?”

Despite hearing that the wizards had appeared at the Landa asset holders\' party, Oliver was not particularly surprised.

He had already heard about it from Forrest.

Moreover, he had once read a similar story in the diary of the ‘Lightning Wizard\' and ‘Audrey\'s\' research journal he had acquired in the past.

Recently, it was an undeniable fact that wizards were accumulating vast wealth, but even within the Magic Tower, there were quite a few people in need of money.

People like the Lightning Wizard or Audrey, who had moderate talent but insufficient backgrounds, were typical examples.

Living as a student of the Magic Tower required a considerable amount of money, and they usually solved this through sponsorship, but once they hit a talent limit and the sponsorship ended, they had to figure out how to survive on their own.

There were primarily three options at this point.

They could engage in ‘back deals\' by covertly siphoning off the resources and knowledge of the Magic Tower, or they could leave the Magic Tower to become a ‘street wizard\', or else they had to seek ‘investment\' from the Landa asset holders.

Like this, for instance.

"So. You\'re saying that with this breeding method, we can stably obtain purebred puppies?”

"Yes, dramatically so. Adorable snouts, a playful but cute mouth, short tails, and all.”

"Oh my, that\'s really fascinating!”

"Fascinating isn’t it? It\'s about becoming completely pure……. If you use this breeding method, your authority in the Kennel Club will rise even further. I promise!”

A fair-haired, blue-eyed young man was conversing with an old woman holding a dog in her arms.

The old woman seemed interested in the young man\'s words, and the young man was trying desperately to convince her. There was a sense of urgency about him.

It was quite an unfamiliar sight for Oliver, who was only used to seeing Magic Tower students filled with pride and self-confidence.

However, on the other hand, he also thought it was natural. Everything had its duality, after all.

A warlock paying off debts in exchange for emotions,

A bootlegger hiring retired soldiers,

The Sisterhood exploiting the same women,

The Parter religion being closely related to politics and such……

So it might not be strange that the Magic Tower also had this side.

Oliver observed the wealthy citizens of the city interacting with wizards.

In addition to the wizard explaining a breeding method to obtain purebred puppies, there was a female wizard claiming she could make skin younger by processing potions into cosmetics, and there was a wizard talking about a method to create new steel.

Most were students, but there were also full-fledged wizards.

Normally, this would have been an interesting spectacle for Oliver, but unfortunately, he did not feel much interest.

That\'s because he had already read about some of these things in the library, papers, or books, and they weren\'t particularly promising stories.

Despite this, at this party, not only were they explained as completely new technologies, but they were also attracting people\'s curiosity.

Observing a scene where there was a discrepancy with what he knew, Oliver asked Jane a question.

"Do the guests attending this party invest a lot in magic?"

"Well…… It varies, but if the item is right, they invest quite a lot. If they hit the jackpot once, huge profits follow.”

“But if it fails, they won\'t even be able to recover their original investment, will they?”

"Well, that\'s true.”

"So, is it okay to invest in a field they don\'t even know well?”

"A field they don\'t even know well?”

Someone interrupted the conversation with Jane. It was a rather cold voice.

Oliver turned his head, wondering if his manner of speaking had been wrong, and apologized.

"Ah, I\'m sorry. This is my first time at such a place. If I upset you-”

“No. I just wanted to ask your thoughts, so please feel free to answer.”

Oliver saw an old woman standing in front of him.

She had stylish short hair mixed with grey and white and wore expensive magical accessories.

Astonishingly, all her magical accessories had defensive magic and security magic that could hide emotions.

‘They must be of high quality. I can barely see her emotions.\'

Oliver thought, seeing the quality of her magic items that hid emotions.

But that was not the only thing that concerned him.

The woman seemed quite old, yet her skin was unusually wrinkle-free, and a faint trace of black magic emanated from her body.

It was a similar aura to what Oliver had seen from Edith in the past.

‘What do artificial skin and black magic have to do with each other?\'

Lost in thought, Oliver was interrupted when Jane stepped forward to greet the old lady first.

"Hello, Miss Miranda."

"Nice to see you, Jane. You\'re a bit late.”

⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩

Miranda arrived, leading a woman dressed in an expensive dress and a suit.

Jane explained the reason for their delay to Miranda.

"With Murphy?"

"Yes."

After listening to the explanation, Miranda turned her body towards Oliver and extended her hand.

On the outside, she seemed mild, but her emotions felt more like following a necessary procedure than liking.

"Remarkable. I\'ve heard rumors, but you\'re even more… Oh, I apologize for using informal language at our first meeting. Can I continue to do so? I\'m older anyway."

"Of course. Feel free to speak."

"As rumored, you are polite. Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, I heard from Mr. Forrest. Nice to meet you, Miss Miranda."

"Forrest?"

"Yes, he is a broker who trades with me."

"I\'ve heard about him recently. A broker who got lucky and managed to bounce back… Have you been dealing with Forrest from the beginning?"

"Yes."

"That\'s interesting. But it\'s even more surprising that you are still dealing with Forrest. Do you value friendship?"

"…?? I\'m sorry, but I don\'t quite understand what you mean."

"There is no one who maintains their initial trading partner while rising in Landa. Either they have a romantic character that values friendship, or they are held hostage by their weaknesses.”

"Ah… Is that so? I just work with Mr. Forrest because he\'s very competent. I guess I\'m lucky."

Oliver spoke his mind candidly.

Although Oliver was an orphan, he considered himself lucky and included meeting Forrest as part of that luck.

Miranda\'s expression subtly shifted.

"…You are definitely different from the other Solvers I\'ve met. It seems I did well to invite you through Jane."

"I\'m just an ordinary solver. But thank you for thinking highly of me."

Miranda looked at Jane.

"You have an interesting friend."

"It\'s my luck."

"It seems so. And luck is an essential ability in this city… Can I call you Dave?"

"Yes, feel free to speak."

"Welcome to the party, Dave. Let me answer the question you asked earlier."

"About investing in something you don\'t know?"

"Yes, that. It seemed like you were quite worried."

"No, I wasn\'t worried. I just didn\'t understand. I\'m sorry if I offended you."

"No need to be. You\'re not wrong. We don\'t know much about it because those old wizards hide their knowledge. But that doesn\'t mean there\'s no way."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, the world always tries to balance. Even if you don\'t have the knowledge, you can find someone to advise you."

Miranda raised her hand slightly.

In response, a woman in a suit who had been following Miranda nodded slightly.

They all contained considerable mana in their bodies.

"You\'re a wizard."

"Hmm… Luckily, these days you can even hire an outstanding wizard. There are even those who do this professionally."

‘Ho…\'

Oliver was surprised. That could definitely be possible.

Despite the competition within the Magic Tower, wizards who fell behind often ended up on the streets.

It didn\'t seem odd for them to work this way.

Rather, it could be more reasonable. They could use their specialized knowledge, the risk was lower than that of being a Solver, and they could expect high wages.

"That\'s really amazing… So, Miss Miranda, do you have any fields of interest?"

"There\'s not much that catches my eye right now… the new fire power technology from the Agni School is somewhat notable."

"I think it\'s better not to do it?"

"What?"

"I said it\'s better not to do it."

Oliver said it with a steady and calm voice.

Contrasted with half of the wizards here who were trying to increase their persuasiveness with all sorts of flashy rhetoric and nuanced language, oddly enough, Oliver\'s words sounded more reliable.

It felt like he was speaking facts without any vested interest.

Miranda asked with a reddening face,

"Why? You must have a reason."

"The efficiency has a limit. When we talk about fire power, it\'s about producing energy by burning coal or magic stones based on fire magic. Even if it is improved, the limit is clear."

Oliver\'s words were quite decisive, unlike his usual open-ended possibilities.

It was not without evidence.

It was based on the books and papers he had been reading occasionally at the Elemental School Library.

The current consensus, except for some parts of the Agni School, is that fire power has its limits. Even Kevin, who came from the Agni School, agreed.

Of course, if a genius Oliver didn\'t know about came along, things might change, but he judged the likelihood to be low.

Oliver also felt a clear limit when he read the relevant material.

However, Oliver left room for doubt. It was not very good to make a judgment arbitrarily with his insufficient skills.

"Of course, this is just my opinion. If someone outstanding comes along, it could change."

"If that doesn\'t happen, what do you think would be more promising than fire power?"

Miranda asked again. There were no feelings of discomfort, annoyance, or doubt, only interest.

And it was not just Miranda.

The women behind Miranda, Jane, Shamus, and the rest of the party guests were all watching Oliver\'s words.

It seemed like he had made some kind of mistake.

"Um… Since I\'m just a warlock, I\'m worried that if I say something wrong, it might harm you all."

"Why worry about that? In the end, investing is a choice I make. If I listen to wrong information and make a wrong investment, it\'s my own fault for not judging properly. There\'s no one to blame. There\'s no fool here. Right?"

Miranda spoke to the women behind her. The women nodded their heads all at once.

The atmosphere felt like he couldn\'t avoid answering any longer. Oliver opened his mouth.

"I think the Pure Magic School would be better."

"Why?"

"Because there, they don\'t burn magic stones, but manipulate the magic contained in the stones to reduce waste. Personally, I think using the energy generated when compressing the stones-"

"-That\'s ridiculous! A warlock talking about magic!"

Someone interrupted Oliver in the middle of his speech.

And the person was Derick Redhill.

(To be Continued)

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