Chapter 254

Oliver helped Child adapt to Corpse doll-Bathory.

The help he gave was simple, like supporting the body to move and sharing various discussions to find points of improvement.

But that doesn't mean it was meaningless.

Through this process, he discovered an interesting fact.

The fact was that depending on the quality of the Corpse doll, there was a time difference in how the Child controlled it.

For instance, if the Corpse Doll had no significant abilities, talents, or characteristics, Child could freely control it as soon as it entered. However, Corpse Dolls with diverse abilities and talents, and a high depth of characteristics, took considerable time.

He had felt it a bit before, but Bathory was exceptional, which confirmed it.

This was quite crucial information for using Corpse Dolls.

Oliver recorded this fact in his notes and tried to speculate the reason.

'Is it because the corpse has a lot of information and is complicated? It must be hard for Child to digest....'

Although not certain, Oliver came up with a tentative conclusion.

Although it may be too late to say now, there were times when Child used the skills, movements, and techniques of Corpse Dolls sometimes even more than the original owner.

The example was amplifying the original abilities by two or three times through cooperation between Corpse Dolls.

Instead of using techniques through Corpse Dolls, Child showed a closer resemblance to learning the abilities of the Corpse Doll and digesting them as its own.

These two may seem the same, but they were entirely different, and in the latter case, Child could dream of endless possibilities.

The more Corpse Dolls it used, the more various techniques and abilities Child could acquire and accumulate.

Then another question naturally arose.

It was a question like whether Child could train itself using the Corpse Doll as a medium to learn new skills.

Depending on the situation, it didn't just have to rely on the quality of the Corpse doll.

Oliver quickly recorded the relevant information, formulated hypotheses, and wrote down specific research methods so that they could be tried later.

He wanted to delve into this issue right away, but he couldn't because he had other work to do.

Like turning the female warlocks into Corpse Dolls, or going back to work at the Magic Tower.

⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩

"Was that Solver Will the first person you met then?"

Inside the Life School Tower of the Magic Tower, Oliver was having a conversation with three wizards. Strictly speaking, it was closer to an interrogation.

"Yes, I met him at the Outpost."

"How did you meet him?"

"I happened to meet him while looking for Solvers to accompany me."

"By chance?"

"Yes."

Oliver responded briefly.

The three Life School wizards who officially borrowed Oliver were dissatisfied.

They stared silently at Oliver, radiating an unspoken suspicion that was unclear, but not enough to voice.

"......Anyway, how did you, a Professor's substitute, come to think of hiring a Solver? Did Kevin tell you?"

"No, that was my decision. I heard that the way from the Outpost to Holland is dangerous. Both Professor Kevin and the wizards who helped me at the outpost branch said so. I thought there was no problem according to the school rules... is there any problem?"

Oliver asked, but he knew better than anyone else that there was no problem.

It was clearly written in the [Magic Tower Rules].

Professor's substitute is a person who has delegated the authority of a professor. Naturally, it was permissible to hire manpower from outside at discretion, as long as he takes responsibility if there is a problem.

The three wizards looked at each other and moved on to the next question.

"......Is there a way to confirm the identity of the Solver called Will?"

"The information about that is in the report-"

"-We've read the report. We want to hear it from you."

The answer was mixed with impatience and caution. Oliver bowed his head.

"I'm sorry... You can probably confirm it from the Northland community where he is active."

"We can't do that. It's a very closed place, and all it has are paranoid slackers who lie all day."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know any more than that."

Another wizard intervened.

"That's the problem. Why did you hire a Solver without even knowing? Do you know how many thieves are after the precious knowledge of the Magic Tower?... You could have requested a Solver from the Outpost branch."

"I'm sorry about that. Nobody taught me, so I thought I had to hire one myself."

This was true.

While he was able to hear in detail about transportation to the Outpost through portal magic, no one explained anything about safety.

Not even the Life School wizards who asked Kevin for help.

In the end, the wizards had no choice but to close their mouths once more.

Dragging out the conversation would only make them feel embarrassed.

"......Let's move on to the next topic."

"Yes."

The three Life School wizards asked Oliver in detail about what happened on the way to Mountain Pace and what happened at the research institute.

As if they were trying to scrutinize if there was any manipulated content.

Fortunately, Oliver, who had practiced with Kevin multiple times, answered in accordance with the contents of the report, and managed to dodge all the questions that were heavily trap-like.

Thanks to this, the suspicion of the Life School wizards towards Oliver gradually faded.

"......That's it."

Oliver finished explaining what happened at the research institute. As expected, there was nothing to pick on.

"So he really destroyed the wall with fire magic?"

"Yes."

"Hmm...he's not an average Solver. Did you see anything strange at the research institute? Or did that Solver touch the World Tree?"

"I was separated from him for a moment, so I don't know everything, but there was nothing of the sort when he was with me. And if you mean strange, could you please specify what you mean?"

"No, it's nothing."

The Life School wizards immediately withdrew the question and exchanged conversations among themselves.

He couldn't hear well, but they seemed to conclude that there was no problem.

"We heard what we needed to. We've asked everything we were curious about, so you can go now."

"Yes, thank you."

Oliver got up from his seat after bowing politely. As Kevin said, it ended without any major issues. Now he can return to the Elemental Tower and get back to work-

"-Wait a minute."

"Yes?"

The particularly picky Life School wizard, who was full of suspicion, stopped Oliver.

He didn't give up his suspicious attitude till the end.

"Just one last question."

"What would that be?"

"I heard the train you were on was attacked by Northland bandits, is that right?"

"......Yes."

"And you played an active role there?"

"Um...... It's not a big deal."

"A criminal with a bounty of 30 million isn't a big deal? From what we found out, many of the bandits were outstanding mana users, so even the army had a hard time... Who trained you?"

"Excuse me, but is this question related to the task?"

"No, but wouldn't answering prevent unnecessary misunderstandings?"

"What misunderstanding do you mean?"

At Oliver's question, the Life School wizard couldn't answer.

It was too unreasonable.

No matter what, Oliver was a person who had made a name for himself in the Magic Tower, and the Life School wizards were the beneficiaries who received his help.

In such a relationship, if they pursued this hard, they might get strange looks from others.

There were factions within the Magic Tower that checked each other.

If illegal human experimentation came to light, they could somehow brush it off, but if their collusion with a warlock was exposed, that would be quite a dilemma.

Because that would be an act that would be criticized by wizards.

Maybe even with the Parter Church...

At the right timing, Oliver opened his mouth.

"I'm sorry, but I think it would be difficult to answer your question. Professor Kevin told me not to answer anything beyond my duties... If Professor Kevin allows it, then I will answer at that time. I ask for your understanding."

The Life School wizards, who were in a bind, nodded their heads when Oliver made an excuse using Kevin.

Oliver greeted them again and left the interrogation room.

As soon as he came out, what greeted Oliver was an overly tidy and wide corridor, and Life School wizards walking above that corridor. They glanced at Oliver with curiosity, discomfort, doubt, and irritation.

Their pride and exclusivity about themselves were significantly higher than other factions.

Deciding that it was not good to stay long, Oliver quickly left the Life School Tower.

The place where he was investigated was not far from the Tower's main gate, so Oliver could get out without getting lost.

"That being said, why do I keep getting tangled up in strange things..."

After coming out, Oliver looked back at the Tower with its wide lower levels and narrowing as it goes up, a grotesque cone-shaped tower, and muttered.

It was the Tower of the Life School, the design was as unique as the Elemental Tower, and he thought there might be some meaning to it.

"Um... I'm not sure."

Oliver took his eyes off the Life School Tower and looked at his watch.

It was already late, but if he hurried, he thought he could take care of the aftermath. Oliver promptly moved to do his job.

⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩

"Um... you all worked hard."

In the hallway of the Elemental Tower's magic combat training room, Oliver ran into students who had just finished their class.

Like Kevin's other classes, the "Basic Magic Combat" class was quite intense, so quite a number of students were in a messy state with sweat and burns. There were even some with bruises.

In contrast, there were quite a few people who seemed clean as if they hadn't done anything.

'Did they not participate properly in the class this time either?'

Oliver looked at the people at the back of the student group and thought. Most of them were students whose grades were not very good.

"Hello, Mr. Zenon."

Yareli, who was at the front, greeted Oliver as if she was the representative. Her training suit was as worn out as always.

Oliver stepped aside with gratitude for the returned greeting, and a few students who had been observant greeted Oliver as they passed.

Of course, there were still people like Derick who ignored Oliver, but after the Mountain Pace incident, the number of people who returned greetings increased noticeably, which was quite satisfying.

After all the students had passed, Oliver entered the magic combat training room.

Inside the large training room, Kevin was tidying up the room using magic.

"Did you finish the talk well?"

Without looking at Oliver, Kevin asked. He sensed Oliver's presence with his delicate and vast mana.

'Mr. Willis used to favor that technique, should I get used to it too? Relying solely on the eye might be problematic in the future. Although the consumption of mana is a problem.......'

Oliver pondered, recalling the gimmicks of Kevin and Willes.

"Zenon?"

"Um, I'm sorry, professor. I was thinking about something else....... I think the situation with the Life School ended without any particular problems."

"Really?"

"Yes, the suspicion hasn't completely disappeared, but it's a lot fainter. I think there won't be any big problems."

"I see....... Understood."

Kevin's response was simpler than expected.

He accepted Oliver's report without any doubts.

"Is that the end of what you have to say?"

"Pardon?"

"You said you had something to say after coming back from the Life School Tower?"

"Um, thank you for reminding me. Can I ask if I can leave work early this Friday? Around 2 or 3 pm."

"This Friday?"

"Yes, I have some personal business."

"It's interesting. I also have some business on Friday, so I was planning to leave around that time. Feel free."

"Thank you for your consideration."

"It's not particularly a consideration. After all, I have work that day too."

"Still, I'm thankful. I'll take care of the cleanup from here."

"That's fine. I've almost finished....... Can you answer my question instead?"

"A question? Yes, please speak."

"When you were leaving, you met the students, right?"

"Yes, it seems like you've been teaching hard again."

Oliver recalled the ragged uniforms of Derick and Yareli and replied.

"Do you have any questions or anything to say to me?"

"Am I allowed to discuss that?"

"If I ask you to."

"Um....... To be honest, while your class is great, I don't think all students benefit equally."

Oliver recalled relatively clean students and replied.

As passionate as he was, Kevin, with his strict standards, taught very hard students with excellent skills or remarkable wills, like Yareli or Derick. However, he relatively neglected students with poor skills or lack of will.

Of course, Oliver did not dare to criticize this. When Oliver taught the people of the Joseph family, he focused more on people with higher skills and a stronger will.

Kevin nodded, seeming aware of this fact.

"You saw it accurately. It's mid-term, and I can't pay attention to each student."

"There's no helping it since there are dozens of students."

"I agree. Especially because there is a huge difference in students' levels. So, it's hard to pay attention to everyone. It wouldn't make sense to put the excellent students on the back burner....... So, I was wondering, can you help me?"

"Me?"

"Yes, I'm asking if you have any thoughts about taking care of students with lower grades."

"......Is that possible?"

"If I allow it."