Chapter 264: I Set That Fire

Saul backed away slowly, but he wasn’t planning to leave just yet.

His current principle of action was simple: as long as the diary doesn’t say no, then no one else gets to say no!

Penny “watched” him retreat, but made no other move.

But just as Saul reached the doorway, he suddenly flung his hand toward Penny.

Two black tendrils, slightly different in shape, shot out.

One aimed at Penny’s head, the other at her shoulder.

However, the moment the tendrils touched her body, Penny suddenly vanished.

Along with her disappearance, the sound of rushing tides from outside also abruptly stopped.

Saul wasn’t worried that he had attacked the real Penny—he hadn’t sensed any trace of a living person on her.

Even so, he had still held back during the attack—he’d sent the independently-conscious Little Algae to strike her head, while using the First Tier spell Frost Touch to target her shoulder.

Once Penny’s illusion disappeared, Little Algae braked hard and came to a stop.

But the spell Frost Touch continued and smashed through the small cabinet where Penny’s illusion had stood.

Thanks to the spell’s freezing property, the cabinet didn’t scatter into debris. Instead, it froze in place, shattered but still intact in form.

“Why didn’t you listen to me? Why did you have to come in here?”

Suddenly, the voice of the old madman came from the courtyard.

Turning around, Saul saw the ragged figure of the madman sighing heavily.

There was no trace of life on this person either.

“Another illusion?”

Having learned from before, Saul didn’t waste magic to attack.

“If the fake Penny could talk, then this fake madman should be able to as well.”

He smiled, slowly approaching as he asked, “Did everyone who came into this town die?”

The old man’s eyes filled with sorrow. “Yes. All dead. No one escaped.”

“Who killed them?”

The old man froze for a moment, eyes going blank as if trying to recall.

“It was… the red tide…”

The red tide again?

And as those words left the madman’s lips, the sound of waves returned.

But this time, it was noticeably closer than before.

Saul narrowed his eyes but still couldn’t see any attached soul on the old man.

The one who was supposed to have slaughtered the residents of Grind Sail Town was Mochi Mochi, but it seemed even he hadn’t known about the blood-red tide.

Did someone come after Mochi Mochi left and turn this dead land into a breeding ground for curses?

“Do you know where in town I might still find some Grinding Sound Fruit?”

“Grinding Sound Fruit?” The old man repeated, “What’s Grinding Sound Fruit?”

Saul frowned, “So this illusion only knows what happened before its death?”

The old madman’s eyes drifted again. Suddenly, he began urging Saul once more.

“Go. Leave. If you don’t go now, it’ll be too late.”

Saul asked several other questions, but all the madman would say was for him to leave.

Running out of patience, Saul asked coldly, “If there are no living people left here… then what are you?”

The madman froze, his expression going hazy again. But this time, he didn’t recover.

“I told them not to deal with barbarians, not to…” he mumbled, swaying as he staggered away. “The whole village was destroyed… destroyed!”

His running posture was strange—one hand held behind his back as if carrying something, the other waving frantically like signaling for help.

Where is he going now?

Saul frowned and gave chase.

The old man seemed to hear his footsteps. He glanced back, his expression conflicted.

Then, as if tripping on thin air despite being on level ground, he stumbled, barely managing to regain his footing.

After that, he never looked back and quickly disappeared out of the alley.

This guy… Saul’s suspicion deepened.

This madman had always been mysterious—he’d evaded Little Algae’s detection, knew the secrets of Grind Sail Town, and kept vanishing and reappearing unpredictably.

Saul had already found him strange before. Not quite mad, not quite sane.

And now even his illusion was just as weird.

Saul couldn’t resist following a few more steps out of the courtyard. But the moment he stepped outside, the madman was gone.

Of course, it was possible his illusion had simply vanished.

And the moment the madman disappeared, the sound of crashing waves halted again.

“Illusions disappearing at random… that’s normal, I guess.”

With both the madman and Penny gone, Saul decided not to linger.

“Little Algae, get me onto the roof.”

Obediently, Little Algae lifted him onto the rooftop.

This courtyard wasn’t particularly tall, but it was enough for Saul to see the nearby blocks.

The house of a wizard apprentice has to be the most luxurious one. Saul spun in place, scanning the town for the grandest-looking building.

But the next moment, he froze.

In a street nearby, he spotted a third person.

It was Aunt Jenny—the one who seemed warm-hearted on the surface but was cold at her core.

She was huddled in the corner of an alley, clutching a black shadow tightly in her arms.

Saul could clearly hear her terrified voice.

“Please… don’t do this!” Jenny was shaking her head desperately.

Is this the moment before she died?

As Saul narrowed his eyes, he realized to his surprise—this Jenny didn’t seem to be an illusion, but a soul.

But why didn’t I sense any soul nearby when I came through earlier

Is the curse over this town hiding the movements of the soul?

“This curse is really strange. Is it just a curse… or something more aggressive?”

Saul scanned the area cautiously, but didn’t spot any other souls.

Just as he was about to ignore Aunt Jenny, her wailing suddenly grew louder, filled with fury and despair.

“How could you be so cruel?! Jasmine is only twelve! Please! Let me take her place—let me be the sacrifice instead!”

Jasmine?

Saul remembered Jenny shouting in the crowd earlier that she didn’t have a daughter.

Could it be that after I left, someone came for a girl she was close to?

As that thought crossed his mind, Jenny’s agonized cry rang out again.

“No—!”

Without hesitation, Saul leapt directly from the rooftop to the alley where she was.

In just a few steps, he reached the crazed Aunt Jenny and noticed—this version of her was much younger than the one he’d seen before.

She was kneeling on the ground, staring blankly toward the alley’s entrance.

The black shadow she had been clutching was now gone.

And in that instant, Saul understood.

This isn’t a vision of her death… it’s the most painful memory of her life.

That Jasmine must have been her friend, or perhaps her sister.

So while Jenny had no daughter, that didn’t mean she had no grief.

Saul reached out toward the collapsed Jenny. As his arm moved, a nearly invisible phantom needle extended from his fingertips and pierced her soul form, injecting a bit of starlight energy into her.

Jenny wasn’t under his control, but that didn’t stop him from mimicking what he’d seen in the mental realm and giving her some power.

It was an experiment.

At worst, he’d lose a bit of soul energy. At best… he might get something unexpected.

Fortunately, this time, the result was a good one.

The dazed Jenny, staring into the alley, suddenly became much livelier after receiving Saul’s energy.

Her eyes slowly turned toward him, as if only now realizing he was there.

“Thank you… who are you?” Jenny vaguely sensed that Saul had helped her. But when she looked at this gray-skinned boy, he felt strangely familiar—yet she couldn’t quite place him.

“Do you know where Grinding Sound Fruit is usually stored in town? Or where those two wizard lords lived?”

Saul didn’t bother with identities. He had no idea how long the energy he gave her would keep her lucid, so he got straight to the point.

“Grinding Sound Fruit…” Jenny repeated, going hazy again the moment she heard the word. “It’s not a good thing. Don’t look for it. Don’t…”

Suddenly, she leaned in so close their noses nearly touched. Her face filled Saul’s vision.

“I’ll tell you a secret… I set that fire.”

Then, she broke into a twisted smile.

The more she laughed, the wider her mouth stretched—until it swallowed up the rest of her features. In the end, her entire face was nothing but a gaping maw.

(End of Chapter)

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