Chapter 100: The Foster Mother of the Silent Fruit

Ada scolded Saul for his reckless behavior, yet he himself seemed the one feeling guilty. He rubbed his hands together anxiously, his face a little pale, and his gaze unsteady.

"What exactly happened just now? Why was a wizard present?" Saul asked curiously, not angry at Ada but rather intrigued by his nervousness.

"I already told you—don’t be too curious. In this place, curiosity is not a good thing."

At that moment, someone suddenly interrupted Ada.

"If this little skinny guy wants to settle in town, don’t you think it’s better for him to know a few things? Otherwise, aren't you afraid he might accidentally offend the wrong person and lose his life?"

Jayce stepped out from where he had been leaning against a roof eave. It seemed he had been standing there all along, coldly observing the scene.

He glanced at Saul and asked with a smile, "Do you have an older sister or a younger sister?"

Saul shook his head. "I’m all alone."

"Oh, then you don’t have to worry." Jayce spread his hands. "Our Grindstone Town has always relied on Grinding Sound Fruits to survive. The problem is, those fruits are difficult to cultivate and tend to suddenly drop in yield. To ensure the town’s prosperity and maintain the protection of the Wizard Tower, our noble, great, and esteemed wizards select a lovely young girl every few years to serve as the Foster Mother of the Grinding Sound Fruit."

"Foster mother?" Saul repeated in surprise.

"Yes, foster mother. She sacrifices her life to feed a bunch of fruits—if that’s not a foster mother, then what is?"

"How exactly does she 'foster' them?"

Jayce’s face darkened for a moment before he quickly returned to his indifferent expression.

"Who knows? That’s wizard business. How could we possibly get a glimpse into their ways?"

If Jayce's face hadn’t turned so grim for that brief moment, Saul might have actually believed him.

It seemed this role of foster mother was far from a good thing.

"Does this happen every year? Wouldn't the town eventually run out of girls? How would people continue having children?" Saul pressed further.

"It didn’t used to happen so often—maybe once every three or four years. But lately, it’s been increasing. This year alone, she's already the third…" Jayce trailed off, lost in thought.

Ada finally couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed Saul and started walking away.

"Why are you even talking to him? He’s just an old scoundrel, idling around all day, taking advantage of people wherever he can. Stick with him, and you'll turn bad sooner or later," Ada muttered irritably.

"Ada, do you know about this foster mother thing?" Saul asked instead.

After they walked a few dozen meters, Ada finally stopped and turned to Saul. "If you stay here a few years, you’ll learn about it eventually. But it’s none of your business, and you can’t do anything about it. This is just how things are. After all, our town… depends on the Grinding Sound Fruits to survive."

"Then do you know why the fruit's yield has been decreasing?"

"How would I know? That’s something only the big shots deal with. Just mind your own business."

Assuming Saul just wanted to wander around town, Ada tried to drag him back to the fields to work. But Saul slipped away halfway through, leaving Ada stomping in frustration. With so much work to do, he had no choice but to head to the fields alone.

But Saul didn’t go anywhere far. He returned to the place where the crowd had gathered earlier.

Most of the people had dispersed, leaving only a few relatives and curious onlookers lingering around the grieving couple, offering them words of comfort.

Their words, however, were not truly comforting. They simply told them to accept their fate, to let go, to understand that they could always have more children in the future.

When Saul approached, he noticed Aunt Jenny, who had been the most vocal in persuading the couple earlier, now standing at the edge of the crowd with a cold expression. The fake, enthusiastic smile was gone.

She stood there like a stone statue in the middle of the street—except that she was a person.

Saul cleared his throat twice to get her attention.

She turned and saw him, her face immediately lighting up with a smile as if she had just come back to life.

"Aren’t you the young lad who came back with Ada yesterday? What are you doing out here alone?" She looked him up and down again.

"I just arrived in Grindstone Town and wanted to look around for work," Saul answered casually. Then he asked, "Aunt Jenny, what exactly happened earlier? Why was a wizard’s apprentice involved?"

"Apprentice? What apprentice? That was the Wizard Lord!" Aunt Jenny exaggeratedly shushed him with a finger to her lips but didn’t lower her voice at all.

Then, with excitement in her eyes, she eagerly began telling Saul about Grindstone Town's traditions.

Originally, Grindstone Town was just a poor, insignificant settlement with barely a fraction of its current population and size.

One day, two wizards happened to pass through and discovered wild-growing Grinding Sound Fruits. Seeing their potential, they decided to settle down and cultivate them.

Through their efforts, the Grinding Sound Fruits yield increased significantly, turning it into the town’s primary source of income. This, in turn, secured the protection of a powerful wizard organization, providing the town with trade opportunities, wealth, and resources.

As Grindstone Town prospered, it was renamed from its old, forgotten name.

However, due to its location near a contested border, things became difficult when the relations between the Kema and Kenas duchies soured.

Conflicts at the fortress drew away most of the town’s military forces to the Desert Frontier City, weakening its defenses significantly.

On top of that, a band of barbarians, origin unknown, began raiding outlying villages. The increasing attacks further harmed the town’s Grinding Sound Fruits production, reducing the harvest year by year—almost to the point where they couldn't meet the required tribute.

To counteract this, the wizards had to increase the frequency of selecting foster mothers to maintain production and secure their continued protection.

"But isn’t that wizard organization supposed to be protecting Grindstone Town? Why don’t they just send someone to exterminate they barbarians?"

Saul had heard from Nick that the Wizard Tower regularly sent Third-Rank Apprentices to collect the matured Grinding Sound Fruits. Surely, it wouldn’t be hard for them to wipe out a few barbarians?

After all, ordinary barbarians were only physically stronger than regular people. Against wizards, they were nothing.

"Well…" Aunt Jenny hesitated. "I don’t really know. The barbarians mostly attack the outlying villages, and no one knows exactly where they hide. Maybe they’re just hard to catch?"

As she spoke, her gaze drifted toward the grieving couple being helped into their home.

"You can rest easy living here. As long as the Grinding Sound Fruits are fine, Grindstone Town will be fine!" she said firmly, emphasizing each word.

With that, Aunt Jenny quickly switched to her usual cheerful tone and enthusiastically invited Saul to her house. But her expression seemed a bit strange.

Saul had already gotten the information he wanted. Without hesitation, he dismissed her.

"Thanks, Aunt Jenny, but I still need to find work. I don’t have any money right now." Saul grinned and dashed away.

Aunt Jenny blinked in surprise, then clicked her tongue, scolding him under her breath. But she didn’t seem genuinely angry.

Saul jogged through the streets, taking in the shops and scenery.

The town wasn’t particularly prosperous, yet the people looked especially content.

Even an elderly man in ragged clothes could sit on the steps, cheerfully chatting with the shop owner behind him about what to eat for dinner.

It was as if this town had no worries about the future.

After all, they had the Grinding Sound Fruits.

At noon, Saul returned to Ada’s small courtyard.

As he entered, he saw a woman carrying a wooden basin. When she spotted Saul, she gasped, turned around, and hurried back into the house, shutting the door with a loud bang—as if Saul were some kind of monster.

Saul quickly checked his hands—his magic disguise was still intact. Why was she so flustered?

Ignoring the strange woman, Saul turned left and entered the old madman’s room.

The old man had been fast asleep when they left in the morning. Now, his room was a mess—worse than before. Someone had clearly rummaged through his belongings, and some things were missing.

Saul stroked his chin.

"He sure ran off fast."

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