Novels2Search

Chapter 41

Some time had passed, and it was already mid-afternoon. Oliver rested on his bed with a laptop on his lap, dressed in a loose shirt while taking notes and contemplating.

"It's been two days since the showdown with the gunslinger," Oliver stared at his laptop screen while refreshing the page for news, but ultimately, there was nothing he expected. "He was serious about the forest being isolated, I made sure we fought deep inside to avoid trouble, but I'm still surprised."

His mind went back to the day before. Oliver had returned to the forest with a visibly tired face and some bandages on his face, but a shovel was propped against his shoulder.

Walking a bit further along the path where they had fought, Oliver saw the still-destroyed trees and wilting leaves, but most notably, the gunslinger's body was still leaning against a tree, seated with a smile on his face, now without the relics.

Oliver continued to stare in doubt at that smile, but then he removed the shovel from his shoulder and put on his coat to do his job. As he dug into the ground, he grimaced in pain, feeling it throughout his body, and when he looked, his arms were covered in bandages where he had been hit.

"It looks like they'll take a while to heal," Oliver sighed and forced a painful smile. "There's no other way."

But soon, he gritted his teeth and continued digging, creating a grave to bury the gunslinger. After doing all he could, he left.

Now that he was back home, he saw in the mirror that his injuries, thanks to the tree movement, had already healed, but the gunshot wounds were still bothering his body.

Oliver stood up and glanced at the relics, noticing some changes in the cape and the bow. The weapon's shape remained the same, but there were now small notches that seemed to be paths running throughout the equipment, while the cape appeared slightly larger with cut edges, giving it a more rustic appearance.

"Was this what that woman meant about the duel?" Oliver frowned as he remembered the final moments of the fight along with the arrow he had discovered in the battle against Nolan, scratching his chin in thought. "At that moment... the relic didn't shatter from my shot..."

It was common knowledge that an arrow couldn't shatter a revolver, but Oliver was sure that the green-charged arrow was the strongest he had used since then. In the final moments of the shot, the arrow had destroyed the luminous bullet and pierced the gunslinger's chest without any resistance from his opponent.

When the battle had ended, Oliver followed the path of the arrow where several trees had been pierced until the arrow simply disappeared without a trace.

"Thanks to that shot, I won, but I can't use it whenever I want," Oliver looked at his right hand and lightly clenched it, opening it again after a few moments and repeating. "It takes a while to channel all that power, honestly, I can't use it without a viable situation."

Oliver stood up and went to a box, opening it to reveal the gunslinger's pistol and ammunition supports, along with his red handkerchief.

Sitting in front of the relics, he concluded, "The pistol was capable of rapid shots, faster than common pistols and even rifles. Its power could penetrate the layers of bulletproof vests I was wearing, so it's much more potent than regular weapons." He picked up the handkerchief and the belt that served as a support. "The bullets are self-explanatory, but this handkerchief must be the equivalent of my cape."

Oliver turned the handkerchief back and forth, trying to understand what it granted. "Did he not use everything he had? No..." Then he remembered the shots the gunslinger had evaded even though he wasn't agile enough for that. "It must serve as a warning to him about what can take his life or something like that. He knew about the arrows, but couldn't dodge them. He had no physical power, but his colt was much more powerful than my bow."

In the end, Oliver sighed and left the relics in the box, closing it.

"More important than that."

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Oliver returned to his bed and logged into the postal service website, checking for packages recently sent to his home. However, there was no record of anything in the last six months.

It's not like his salary and income allowed him to buy things online, but it was still strange not to have a record of the package. Even if there was no sender, there should be confirmation that something had been delivered to his residence, leading Oliver to conclude, "Whoever sent me this came in person." He remembered again that the box was already in his room when he arrived. In the end, his mind again reminded him of the gunslinger's last words, leading him to conclude, "Someone who can also wield the bow that he gave me... but why?"

Finally, the time was approaching his work hours at the television station. He could miss a class or two without a problem, but when it came to his job, the story changed.

So he got ready to leave, putting on work clothes and making sure to keep them away from his injuries before heading back to work.

When he arrived, it was comforting to return to his routine.

During his shift, he confirmed that in the last week of preparation, the gunslinger hadn't acted, in stark contrast to the green vigilante who had caught even more thieves.

"He just arrived in the city not long ago; it will take time to gather all the information," Oliver rested his fist on his cheek and concluded. "The materials about him had very scarce information; most of the things I discovered on my own."

Oliver knew something was wrong there. Even though the gunslinger was now dead, there was still a chance he wasn't responsible for hiding all the information.

"Reports of his crimes emerged just over six months ago, but he claimed to have had the relics for a year. Did he come from a small town?" Oliver furrowed his brow as he thought. "It's possible that someone at the newspaper is concealing this information, maybe they know about the relics... so if I want to find answers instead of just searching..."

While musing and looking for articles, Oliver once again spotted a familiar face in a news report, Sergeant Steel.

"In his most recent statement, the sergeant reported that a police operation resulted in the apprehension of a group of arms traffickers," Oliver read with a slight smile on his face. "The sergeant emphasized that the vigilante interfered, but the operation still went well, and he expressed satisfaction that no police lives were lost in this operation."

In the end, Oliver sighed in relief and thought, "This guy is on my tail; I think that's why the vigilante isn't as famous as he should be, but in the end, every cloud has a silver lining."

Looking to the side, he thought, "I've only been working here for less than six months; all the information comes to me much later... so I'll kill two birds with one stone."

Oliver smiled and gathered some articles he had searched for during his week of preparation, reports of the gunslinger's appearance that had been ignored because they didn't yet have a clear case, along with interviews about the weapon and the mystery surrounding a single image. All of this was compiled into a single file.

Spending some time at his job, Oliver put together an entire article with the information he needed and then printed it, attaching the pages with an initial presentation sheet bearing his name.

With his work completed, it was time to leave, and before he left, Oliver went to his boss's office and left his research on the desk.

In the end, there was no information about the relics, but a significant portion of the information that had led him to the gunslinger was there. He then went home with a slight smile on his face.

"A promotion would be welcome right now so I can afford to eat meat more often, but I doubt they'll give me the editor position so easily."

After some time, Oliver arrived near his home, and after taking a shower, he once again went to his notebook to create another file in case the chief editor found it interesting.

"The gunslinger case probably won't be solved, and maybe this will boost my chances of getting higher positions this year," he thought with a sigh, but then continued to write, "But I don't need something big right now; I just need the news to come to me first."

Oliver knew that, in the end, the gunslinger wasn't really interested in killing him, as there were better opportunities before the duel's conclusion. But he knew that it wouldn't happen again, and another mistake could cost him his life.

In the end, Oliver spent a few more hours of his day until late at night. As he stretched his body, he felt relieved, saying to himself, "I'm done."

However, as he lowered his arms quickly, he once again felt pain beneath his bandages and closed his eyes, realizing that he hadn't fully recovered.

After finishing his work, he turned off and stored his notebook, sitting on his bed as he glanced at the clock, seeing that it was still approaching 9 in the evening.

Oliver furrowed his brow as he thought, "What should I do? Even after all this mess, I still don't have any friends to invite for a meal." After the thought troubled his mind, Oliver crossed his arms with a furrowed brow and finally realized, "It's strange."

During his last week, which seemed to have lasted much longer than the others in his life, Oliver had spent almost every late night fighting criminals or facing vampires. He seemed to have finally adapted to that routine where he went out to combat wrongdoers and help people in need.

"I guess I can finally take a little break from my poorly paid job as a vigilante?" Oliver furrowed his brow with a slight smile as he looked out the window at his relics. However, soon his expression became pensive, and he wondered, "Why am I bothered by this?"