Chapter 38: Discovering a Blind Spot
With mucus still clinging to his hair, Saul held the box tightly in his arms and continued his ascent.
Perhaps breaking some kind of illusion, he now found himself smoothly reaching the sixth floor of the East Tower. To his left stood the rune wall that had once left newcomers like him dizzy and overwhelmed.
Even with his current mental strength, Saul didn’t dare to look at it for too long.
For some reason, the previously blurred world had become clear again, and only now did he notice a stinging pain on his forehead.
It was probably from bowing too hard against the wall earlier—he must have scraped it a little.
"Injuring the enemy by a hundred while only hurting myself by 0.1—totally worth it."
Then another thought hit him. "I need to take a bath as soon as possible. Who knows if this stuff will cause an infection?"
However, before that, he had to deliver what he was holding to Senior Sister Kongsha. Saul had no interest in sleeping with a severed head.
Passing through the corridor back to the West Tower, he continued up the ramp.
Floors six through nine were the activity zones for First-Class Apprentices.
It had just passed eight o’clock. While the East Tower was as silent as a grave, the West Tower was still somewhat lively.
Some people noticed Saul walking up at a steady pace, whispering among themselves. Others caught sight of the yellow leather object he was carrying, giving him curious glances. But due to his growing reputation, no one dared to step forward.
Saul ignored the surrounding gazes and maintained his steady pace, step by step.
Leaving the First-Class Apprentice zone behind, he arrived at the tenth floor—where Second-Class Apprentices resided. Silence returned once more.
No one lingered in the corridors, chatting or discussing the day's studies.
The dormitory doors here remained tightly shut, seemingly unaffected by day or night.
Saul tilted his head slightly.
He still remembered when he was just a servant, tasked with cleaning these corridors.
The sobbing behind the doors, the scattered garbage, and that pool of blood…
That pool of blood had changed his fate.
Yet before he could sink into further thoughts, a faint noise sounded ahead.
Saul snapped back to reality and lifted his gaze towards the ramp.
At the turn leading to the twelfth floor, partially shrouded in shadow, a pair of black leather boots peeked out.
Who knew how long the person had been standing there?
Saul didn’t stop walking. Instead, he heightened his vigilance, advancing cautiously as his gaze slowly moved upward from the boots.
The man at the turn gradually came into view.
It was Sid.
Gone from the tower for over a month, he now stood before Saul, silently staring at him with shadowed eyes.
But as Saul approached, Sid's lips curled into an exaggerated, chilling smirk.
"Is this how you greet a senior, without even a hello?"
"Good evening, Senior." Saul greeted obediently, even offering a slight bow.
"..."
Sid hadn’t expected Sol to be so compliant—far from the frightened boy who had nearly tried to kill him a month ago.
After his greeting, Saul remained calm and resumed his steps.
His face carried a polite smile, but internally, he was on high alert.
As they walked past each other, shoulder to shoulder, about to part ways—
"Do you really think the mentor cares about a mere First-Class Apprentice? The moment someone more valuable appears, you'll be discarded like trash."
Saul turned his head. He only reached Sid’s chest, so he had to tilt his chin high to look at him.
Saul maintained his well-behaved smile, though with the mucus still on his head, he wondered how eerie his expression must have looked.
Nonetheless, he kept his respectful tone.
"Thank you for the guidance, Senior. I will work hard to increase my value."
Sid let out a mocking laugh, unimpressed by Saul's self-awareness.
"If talent could be compensated with effort, the ground wouldn’t be littered with so many desperate bones."
Saul didn’t argue. He simply observed Sid in silence.
"Will he attack me directly?" he wondered. "It’s late, but with no one around, this would be a good opportunity."
But the hard-covered book remained still.
"Sid doesn’t dare make a move." Saul grew more certain.
Without another word, Sid shoved his hands into his pockets and sauntered away, his steps slow and casual, as if in a good mood.
Saul waited until Sid’s figure completely vanished before continuing his climb.
"He doesn’t dare, or rather, he can’t touch me."
Saul mulled it over as he walked. "He failed to kill me in the library and later sent Brown after me. Sid has always wanted me dead!"
"But he never acted directly."
Saul’s eyes brightened. "It can’t be because of the mentor. When I was just a servant, he could’ve killed me without consequence. Yet he still didn’t."
"Could it be that Sid can’t kill?"
That thought was immediately dismissed.
Sid had slaughtered the chubby boy who tried to bribe his way through the entrance test right in front of all the newcomers.
"Then… could it be that he can't kill me?"
The more Saul thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
His gaze flickered toward the hard-covered book. "Sid is looking for a diary, and that diary is similar to this book. Maybe he doesn’t want to kill me just to silence me—maybe he thinks killing me will lead him to the hard-covered book!"
It was an absurd, groundless speculation, but it explained Sid’s strange behavior.
He wanted Saul dead, yet refused to do it himself.
Saul stopped in his tracks, staring blankly at the package in his hands, his mind drifting.
Tonight was actually a perfect opportunity for Sid.
Saul was holding a severed head—something prohibited from being taken outside—and was covered in unknown slime.
If Sid had killed him, he could’ve easily blamed it on some supernatural incident.
But Sid didn’t strike. He merely threw a few mocking words at him.
"Killing the owner of the hard-covered book means losing the book itself!"
A phrase flashed through Saul's mind.
"If I’m right, then Sid knows a lot about this book. No, wait… if that were true, why would he throw it at me in the first place?"
Saul frowned. The hard-covered book was too mysterious—it never introduced itself, leaving him to figure things out on his own.
"Forget it. Whether Sid knows about the book’s ability to predict death or not, we are already locked in a life-or-death struggle. For now, I can only take things step by step—and find a strong ally."
Saul resumed his climb.
"Sid will definitely make another move."
After only a few steps, he suddenly halted again.
"Something’s wrong. Sid’s attitude was different today."
When Sid first saw Saul, he seemed gloomy, but his mood quickly improved.
"That means he’s already planned his next move."
Saul recalled Sid’s words.
"Do you really think the mentor cares about a mere First-Class Apprentice? The moment someone more valuable appears, you'll be discarded like trash."
Mentor… newcomer… someone more valuable…
Saul narrowed his eyes.
"Sid went outside to find a replacement for me, didn’t he?"
His survival had depended on Kaz’s protection, and that protection likely came from his work in the corpse room.
But if someone more suitable took over his job…
Kaz wouldn’t bother keeping him alive.
Glancing down at the package in his hands, Saul quickened his pace.
He needed to find his newfound ally—fast.
After all, he had done all this work for her.
Surely she wouldn’t just let him die now, right?
Do you still need a brain?
…
Kongsha was not very happy that Saul came straight to her and knocked on her door.
She pulled Saul in and watched the boy stagger to the ground. Her eyeballs in the glass case were stuck to the edge, red and bloodshot, and seemed like they would explode at any time.
"Why did you come up here directly?"
Comments
Post a Comment