Chapter 102: Your Dream Is Terrifying

"Why are you so nervous? I just thought Penny was too bored being alone, so I wanted to take her out for a walk."

"Nonsense! If I hadn’t come back early, Penny would have been taken away by you!"

The more Ada thought about it, the more frightened he became. He raised his fist again and charged forward.

Jayce scrambled up from the ground, dodging twice, and on the third attempt, he firmly grabbed Ada’s fist.

"Alright, alright. If you keep hitting me, I’ll have to fight back." Jayce’s tone became a little cocky, but then his gaze landed on a small, thin finger peeking through the crack of the window. His expression lost some of its arrogance.

"You can’t keep Penny hidden forever." Jayce straightened his collar, then used one hand to push Ada backward.

Ada stumbled back a few steps, crashing into the door with a loud clang.

He was trembling with rage, his hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Jayce didn’t bother with Ada anymore—he knew Ada wouldn’t dare to truly fight him.

Because Ada was no match for him at all.

As he passed by Saul, Jayce turned his head and flashed a provocative smirk.

"Yo, found yourself a job?"

Saul remained silent. Jayce pointed his thumb behind him.

"You might as well let Ada take care of you. He’s not too bright anyway."

After Jayce left, Saul finally walked up to Ada.

"Are you okay?"

"I’m fine!" Ada responded stiffly.

He stood there for a moment, looking down, then walked into the yard to clean up the mess.

Saul didn’t help. Instead, he went inside to check on Penny.

For once, Penny was standing in the middle of the room, looking a little lost. Her silver, starry eyes had lost their usual sparkle.

"Brother Saul," she called out as soon as she heard him approach, once again correctly recognizing his presence. "Why can’t I go outside?"

"Because… outside is kind of messy." Saul smacked his lips.

"Oh." Penny’s voice dropped.

She turned around, walked to the cabinet, opened the door, and climbed inside.

Outside, after Ada finished cleaning up, he returned to the house.

Seeing that Penny was gone and the cabinet was closed, he walked up and whispered something.

Then, Ada turned to Saul.

"You… You can stay here for three more days. After that, you should leave. I remember there’s some work in town that includes lodging, though it’s a bit tough. If you can’t handle it, you can look elsewhere."

Perhaps Saul’s recent "idleness" and "cold indifference" had finally pushed Ada to his limit, and so he set a firm deadline for Saul’s stay.

"Alright." Saul nodded and went to lie down on the table, turning his back to Ada.

The room fell silent, except for Ada’s long sigh.

---

That night, Saul actually slept for a little while.

This time, he was keenly aware that he was dreaming.

In the dream, he was back in the corpse processing room, lying on the conveyor belt.

Hundreds of corpses, which had passed through his hands, stood around him.

A corpse with its skull split in half held a cleaver, aiming at Saul’s head.

Another, broken into pieces but stacked together like a block tower, wobbled precariously with a hammer on top.

"Saul."

Someone was calling him.

Saul pushed away the corpses trying to tear him apart and sat up from the conveyor belt.

The densely packed bodies collapsed like dominoes.

Beyond the fallen corpses stood Gorsa, wrapped in pink bandages.

Even in his dream, Saul still maintained respect for the tower master.

"Tower Master."

Gorsa raised both hands in an unnervingly strange motion and slowly unraveled his bandages from the top down.

Underneath the bandages…

There was nothing.

Saul’s mouth slowly opened in shock, astonished by the revelation that aligned with his own suspicions.

Was this his subconscious at work?

As the bandages unraveled to the eyes, two silver eyeballs fell to the ground.

Yet, Gorsa’s mouth continued speaking.

"Saul, do you know why I had you study souls?"

Suddenly, all of Gorsa’s bandages lost their support and dropped to the floor. But his voice remained.

"Tell me, if only the soul remains, does that count as being alive?"

The corpses swarmed again, their voices rising in unison, regardless of whether they had mouths or not.

"Can someone live with only a soul?"

---

"Brother Saul! Brother Saul!"

A girl’s voice, filled with sobs, echoed in the darkness.

"What’s wrong, Penny?" Saul sat up instantly.

He couldn’t see Penny’s expression in the dark, but her small hands, clutching his clothes, trembled slightly.

"Brother Saul, don’t sleep."

"Your dream… is terrifying."

Was Penny inside his dream just now?

Saul hadn’t noticed at all.

He rubbed his temples, which felt a little heavy, then gently patted Penny’s hand.

"Alright, Brother Saul won’t sleep. Don’t be scared, Penny. Dreams aren’t real. Go back to sleep."

As Penny hesitated, Saul quietly cast two spells on her—one for minor wound repair and another to boost resistance.

These were the only two beneficial spells he had mastered.

There was no other choice. If Penny remained trapped in his dreams, going insane might be the least of her problems.

Thanks to Saul’s magic, Penny visibly relaxed.

With lighter steps, she climbed back into the cabinet and went to sleep.

Saul, however, couldn’t sleep anymore.

In his two years at the wizard’s tower, he had never had a meaningless dream.

So why had he dreamed of this now, here, in Grindstone Town?

Saul pondered, half-closing his eyes, and spent the night in meditation.

---

But this night was a sleepless one for many people.

On the northern outskirts of Grindstone Town, a loud noise erupted from the tower standing beside the Grinding Sound Fruit fields.

The soldiers guarding the fruit instinctively lowered their heads, not daring to look in that direction.

Inside the decrepit tower, a middle-aged man with no hair on his entire body stood completely naked in a magic formation on the top floor.

Outside the formation lay a female corpse he had just thrown away.

The girl taken in the morning now lay in the corner of the room, her limbs severed.

Her eyes were wide open, the edges cracked with blood, unwilling to rest in peace.

The first-rank apprentice stood in the formation, his lips twitching, his expression horrifying.

His chest rose and fell violently. It took him half an hour to step out of the formation and reach for a black robe hanging on a rack outside.

"Ruper." His voice was low and filled with cold fury.

Though he hadn’t spoken loudly, his words reached their intended recipient.

Outside the tower, the mayor of Grindstone Town, Ruper, took a deep breath, his hands trembling as he pushed open the door. He quickly ascended the spiral staircase and entered the third floor.

"Lord Shelly."

The moment Ruper stepped in, his gaze landed on the female corpse. His facial muscles twitched, but he quickly concealed his emotions and bowed to the first-rank apprentice, Shelly.

"The promotion ritual failed," Shelly said bitterly. "But I’m just one step away from becoming a second-rank apprentice. Find me another suitable girl immediately!"

"Another one?" Ruper hesitated. "We’ve already taken so many. The townspeople are getting anxious. If Lord Yuka returns, won’t he suspect something?"

Shelly’s cold stare silenced him.

"Once I reach the second rank, do you think we’ll need to care about his opinion?"

Ruper swallowed. "Understood. I’ll send someone to fetch a Grinding Sound Fruit as well."

"Five, actually," Shelly corrected.

Ruper flinched. "But the barbarians are coming soon, and the Wizard Tower’s collection is next month. We don’t have much left."

Shelly dismissed his concern. "I must advance before Yuka returns. Once I do, we’ll have the power to resist those barbarians."

Hearing this, Ruper’s eyes hardened. "Understood. I’ll make the arrangements."

But he couldn't shake one question.

Why did the barbarians want Grinding Sound Fruit instead of food?

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