Chapter 29: Hmm and Heeheehee

Crap!

In his haste, Saul had simply grabbed his things without paying attention. The side of the three-dimensional coordinate diagram with writing on it was exposed.

"Hmm~"

This time, the nasal sound took on a pleading tone.

A second-level apprentice had seen something interesting. He didn’t snatch it forcefully but instead expressed his request.

A very... expressive request.

Saul sighed inwardly and spoke in a low voice to the seemingly harmless and almost invisible senior apprentice, "Senior, it's almost eight o’clock. How about we head back to the West Tower dormitory area first?"

"Hmm!"

A short and cheerful response.

Saul quickly made his way back to the West Tower, with the second-level apprentice following closely behind.

Silent, barely perceptible.

Like a ghost lingering behind him.

By the time Saul returned to the West Tower dormitory, most of the apprentices had already returned as well.

It seemed like an unspoken rule—very few would linger in the East Tower after eight, but they wouldn’t return too early either.

This was the liveliest time in the West Tower dormitory area. Even some of the long-established first-level apprentices who lived on the sixth floor would come out for a breather.

No other reason—just immense pressure.

Their living environment was confined to this small wizard tower. Without reaching the second level, they had little opportunity to go outside.

At the end of a day filled with mind-numbing studies, the moment of returning to the dormitory was when everyone was both the most exhausted and the most relaxed.

Saul had hardly ever seen the apprentices like this.

Because he always returned straight to his room, never lingering outside.

But today seemed particularly lively.

"Saul!" Keli was leaning against the door of her dormitory, as if waiting for him.

Seeing him, she took two steps forward, looking somewhat displeased.

"Why didn’t you attend the Mutual Aid Society meeting?"

Saul blinked.

"I forgot."

He really had forgotten.

At first, he had been too engrossed in studying the three-dimensional coordinate system, losing track of time. Later, he had been buried under a mountain of work, barely managing to make it back to the East Tower on time.

In that state, how could he have spared a thought for the Mutual Aid Society?

"I only went because Doze said you would be there," Keli pouted, her expression more animated than usual.

"I only said I’d consider it..."

"Knew it! Doze is unreliable," Clary huffed, but quickly recovered and even smiled. "But the Mutual Aid Society was actually quite interesting. Discussing things together really helped me understand some things I hadn't thought of before. Heeheehee..."

Saul suddenly shuddered.

Keli felt uneasy under Saul’s gaze and quickly looked herself over. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Saul rubbed his arms. Just now, when Keli laughed, a chill had run down his spine, and he still had goosebumps.

"Why did you laugh like that?" Saul asked outright.

"Laugh?" Keli instinctively touched her face. "Did I laugh?"

"It was like..."

"Heeheehee..."

Saul and Keli turned simultaneously and saw a girl across from them chatting with Doze while laughing.

"... Heeheehee."

Doze seemed to have heard something amusing and started laughing as well.

Saul suddenly felt that the entire dormitory area had turned strange.

He looked further into the corridor. Had all the new apprentices come out? Why were there so many people?

"Heeheehee."

"Heeheehee..."

Laughter echoed intermittently in the corridor—seemingly normal yet disturbingly eerie.

Saul’s gaze returned to Keli.

"Heeheehee." She was still watching Doze, appearing amused by something, and started laughing again.

"Keli!" Saul smacked her forehead.

"Ah!" Keli snapped out of it. "What are you doing?!"

Saul didn’t know how to explain, but he felt she shouldn’t keep laughing like that.

He grabbed Keli and dragged her into his dormitory.

It was her first time inside Saul’s room, and her eyes immediately locked onto his desk.

Of course, a top student like her was more interested in studying.

Just as Saul closed the door, he remembered the nearly invisible senior apprentice still behind him.

He turned to open the door and invite the senior in, only to see that the "Hmm" senior had already positioned himself behind Keli.

Keli, still curious about Saul’s desk, resisted the urge to start flipping through his papers.

Meanwhile, the senior apprentice lowered his head behind her. His mouth extended like a retractable pipe, stretching out over ten centimeters until it hovered just above Keli’s head.

And Keli remained oblivious, completely focused on Saul’s desk.

"Senior, don’t!"

Hearing Saul’s exclamation, Keli turned around just in time to see a man she had never noticed before.

His elongated, worm-like mouth seemed to be "kissing" her head.

Normally proud and composed, Keli froze in terror.

Then, as she tried to move, she realized she couldn’t.

"Saul... Saul..." The twelve-year-old girl trembled, calling for help.

Just as Saul was about to step forward, the senior shook his head at him.

"Hmm~"

A prolonged, undulating rejection.

"Gulp."

Something seemed to be sucked out of Keli’s mind. A distinct bulge traveled from her head through the pipe-like mouth and into the senior’s mouth.

Then, the senior retracted his abnormal mouth, wiped it with the back of his hand, and nodded at Saul.

"Hmm!"

Saul instinctively understood—the senior was saying everything was fine now.

As soon as the senior withdrew, Keli remained standing, her expression darkening by the second.

"I got played," she muttered, touching her head, finding two tiny wounds that only stung slightly when pressed.

Regaining her composure, Keli bowed respectfully to the senior who had saved her.

"Thank you so much."

The senior ignored her and instead gestured toward Saul.

"Hmm, hmm."

Saul handed him the diagram with due reverence.

The senior had already seen it—if he wanted to take it, Saul wouldn’t have been able to stop him anyway.

Besides, he had helped Keli.

And Keli had helped Saul before.

"Senior, about the people outside—will you help them too?" Saul tested.

The senior studied the diagram while shaking his head indifferently.

Hearing the refusal, Saul actually felt relieved.

He wasn’t particularly kind-hearted—he had just been afraid that this senior might be too much of a good person.

Now it seemed the senior’s intervention was merely a transaction.

If Saul hadn’t shown how much Keli mattered to him, the senior might not have acted.

That was fine. Saul preferred fair exchanges over owing favors.

"If Senior is interested, I can explain the principle behind this." Since the diagram was already given away, Saul didn’t mind elaborating. He knew that a second-level apprentice would eventually figure out the basics anyway.

Since the senior liked transactions, Saul didn’t mind showing a bit of his hand first.

That way, his cards wouldn’t lose their value too quickly.

The silent senior didn’t refuse. Saul directly pulled him and Klee to the long table and briefly explained the concept and application of the coordinate axis.

After just a few sentences, the room fell silent for a moment.

The senior suddenly opened his mouth wide.

His mouth stretched like rubber, big enough to fit an entire arm with room to spare.

Then, he actually reached inside, rummaged around, and pulled out a small booklet.

There were a few messy scribbles on the cover.

Byron's Study Notes.

"Senior, your name is Byron?"

Senior Byron nodded. He hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a sharp dagger from his mouth and casually sliced a five-centimeter-long wound on his neck.

Dark red blood gushed out.

Saul and Keli were caught off guard.

What was going on?

Was he performing a live beheading?

But instead of a fatal wound, a set of large, yellowed teeth and a thick tongue struggled to emerge from beneath the cut.

"A parasite from the Mutual Aid Society won’t kill me," a hoarse voice rasped, as if it hadn’t spoken in a very long time. "But it's not a good thing either. Stay away. Mind your own business."

As Byron spoke, the wound on his neck began to heal. By the time he finished his last word, the wound had completely disappeared, leaving only a trail of blood extending from his neck to his chest.

Next Chapter

Table of Content