Chapter 98: The Grinding Sound Fruit and the Wandering Apprentice

That night, Saul slept in Ada’s room.

He took the table, Ada slept on the bed, and Penny slept inside the cabinet.

Each of them occupied their own space.

Perhaps the interaction between Saul and Penny earlier in the evening had unsettled Ada, as he deliberately took out a rope, tied it between the table and the bed, and hung up a blanket like a curtain.

Saul did not fall asleep. When night completely enveloped the land and silence took over, he slowly opened his eyes.

He lightly jumped off the table and lifted Ada’s old blanket.

The person underneath was fast asleep.

At some point, Ada had rolled to the edge of the bed, one arm and one leg dangling off.

Saul sat on the edge of the bed and gently opened the cabinet above.

This time, the cabinet door did not make a sound.

A Simple Tier-0 spell—Silent Hinge.

Inside the cabinet, young Penny was already asleep, her posture much neater than her brother’s.

Perhaps it was because she had always slept in a cabinet.

But as Saul closely observed her eyes, he noticed that her eyelids were constantly twitching—quite intensely.

This was a sign of someone dreaming.

Penny’s complexion was poor, her brows slightly furrowed, lips pressed tightly together, hands and feet curled inward. She seemed to be sleeping without any sense of security.

Saul immediately entered a semi-immersive meditation to examine her.

But she was entirely clean—no abnormalities whatsoever, not even in her eyes.

Saul reached out and lightly touched Penny’s closed eyelids before touching his own. They felt completely the same.

If not for the diary’s entry, he would have merely thought they were a pair of pretty eyes, nothing more.

But anything that caught the diary’s attention had significant value.

Should he take Penny’s eyes?

Saul knew a way to remove them safely.

After all, she was already blind.

But in the end, he withdrew his hand and carefully closed the cabinet again.

At that moment, Ada rolled over, shifting from the edge of the bed back to the center.

Saul jumped off and quietly left the room.

—

It was midnight. The full moon hung high, with no clouds in sight.

The moonlight poured down, illuminating the small town with a faint glow.

For Saul, this light was sufficient.

"It was a new moon yesterday, so how is it suddenly a full moon today?"

Saul stood in the empty streets, gazing up.

"From what little memory I have from the original body, this seems to be normal. So the moon in this world is more than just a celestial body."

Having spent most of his time in the Wizard’s Tower, Saul had never noticed this anomaly before.

But now was not the time to be studying the moon.

Before taking the carriage to Grindstone Town, he had carefully researched Grinding Sound Fruit.

He didn’t bring many books with him, and the Encyclopedia of Plants wasn’t among them.

Luckily, in the books Nick had left in the carriage, there was an entry on Grinding Sound Fruit.

Grinding Sound Fruit was a vine plant that drooped like gourds, shaped like flutes. When the wind passed through, they produced a grinding noise similar to a millstone.

The sound wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but it was highly disruptive to ordinary people, causing irritability, dizziness, and even fainting if exposed for too long.

Despite this, it was a valuable material for sorcery and both difficult to cultivate and nearly impossible to transplant.

That was why the Wizard’s Tower had accepted Grindstone Town as its vassal, even though it was outside the tower’s usual sphere of influence.

Nick’s books also mentioned that Grinding Sound Fruit had a calming effect, capable of soothing people’s emotions and even affecting spirits—similar to a sedative.

Since it was meant to be supplied to the Wizard’s Tower, it was unlikely to be grown openly in the wild. It would be carefully cultivated and guarded.

Yet, because the fruit made noise when exposed to wind, it couldn’t be grown in open-air conditions, as ordinary people wouldn’t be able to tolerate it. Any carelessness could lead to complete failure.

Saul climbed the tallest building in town, stood atop a chimney, and scanned the area.

The town was deathly silent, with only a few places still illuminated.

Because of this, several light sources at the northernmost part of the town stood out clearly.

Locking onto his target, Saul used Little Algae as a rope to lower himself down before making his way toward the location.

Upon reaching the north, Saul discovered that the lights were coming from beyond the town’s outer walls. He climbed over—there were no guards—and ventured outside.

A few hundred meters beyond the northern wall, there was a row of stone houses.

These buildings encircled an enclosed courtyard, which was surrounded by a three-meter-high wall with a wooden roof over it.

Tonight, there was no wind. Many wooden panels had been lifted, revealing the dark green vines and foliage within.

The vines were not densely packed, and through the broad leaves, Saul could glimpse hanging fruit.

Beyond the courtyard, a three-story tower stood in darkness. Every window was boarded up, exuding an ominous aura.

Saul jumped down from the wall, carefully concealing himself as he approached.

Nick had mentioned there were two First-Tier Wizard Apprentices here. He had called them weak, but that was from Nick’s perspective. Saul couldn’t afford to be careless.

If they found out he was from the Wizard’s Tower, they would surely try to hide the real reason for the Grinding Sound Fruit’s declining yield—assuming there was a secret to hide.

Casting a minor spell for concealment, Saul stealthily made his way toward the enclosed orchard.

Fires were lit around the area, and guards stood every few meters.

Their numbers exceeded those stationed at the town gates and patrolling inside.

Finding an opening, Saul climbed onto a nearby rooftop.

From here, he had a clear view of the orchard.

The plants matched Nick’s description—except the fruit, shaped like flutes, were wrapped in parchment-like paper, leaving only a small exposed tip.

"So this is how they prevent the Grinding Sound Fruit from making noise?"

"But can the fruit grow properly like this?"

They built walls for wind protection, wrapped the fruit, and the region didn’t seem particularly rainy…

With these conditions, it was no wonder the fruit’s yield was declining.

Could there be another reason?

Scanning the area, Saul noticed a guarded building behind the main row of houses.

Activating Human Phantom Stealth, he carefully observed his surroundings.

He found no visible spirits—not even around the sealed tower, which was unexpectedly clean.

Outside the Wizard’s Tower, cleanliness was the norm.

Confident in his spell’s effectiveness, Saul entered the guarded building through a second-floor window.

The house was completely dark inside.

Saul searched quietly, but there was no one around.

Eventually, he discovered a hidden underground passage in the kitchen.

Its entrance was concealed beneath a stove.

Though disguised well, Saul sensed faint magical fluctuations from below.

Someone was casting spells inside.

"The magical energy leaking from this place is ridiculous—definitely an untrained, self-taught apprentice. No… a wandering apprentice."

Now Saul believed Nick.

If these were the two First-Tier Apprentices he mentioned, he really could kill them with ease.

Even though his enemies were weak, Saul didn’t rush in.

Entrances to secret chambers like this almost always had traps.

If he wasn’t careful, he’d alert the people inside.

He was here to eavesdrop, not assassinate.

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