Chapter 289: Trouble

After consuming the Grinding Sound Fruit extract, all of Saul’s emotions had been compressed to their absolute limit.

But once the effects of the potion began to wear off, those compressed emotions lashed back with overwhelming intensity.

Details he hadn’t paid attention to at the time, and feelings that hadn’t even arisen before, all launched a fierce counterattack against him.

The thought of having given up on the previous user’s diary experience—not something he truly regretted—now pained him more than it should have.

Under the side effects of the Grinding Sound Fruit, that mild ache twisted into an agony that felt like a drill boring into his heart.

He hated it so much, he nearly collapsed to the ground and started punching the floor with his fists!

Other events also triggered intense emotional reactions, but none as violently as this one. It had gotten so bad that just moments ago, he had nearly lost control in front of Buri.

Thankfully, he managed to hold out until after seeing the man off.

Otherwise, the embarrassment would’ve been monumental.

The side effects of the Grinding Sound Fruit are this intense? Saul couldn’t help but wonder, if Senior Nick experienced the same when he used it in the past. He suddenly remembered how strange and twisted Nick had looked before Saul left—something about his half-human, half-ghoul appearance—and concern began to rise for the man’s wellbeing.

Maybe it was due to Saul’s powerful mental strength that the side effects hit fast, but also faded quickly.

Within a minute, the emotional feedback began to dissipate. Three minutes later, he was already back on his feet, looking as if nothing had happened.

“Good thing no one else was around. The side effects are brief, but still a huge hassle. If I’d had a sudden breach in my mental defenses back there, it could’ve triggered a total breakdown. I really need to find better materials to build a more stable Mental Realm.”

Even though Saul now used the diary as his locator, that didn’t mean he no longer needed a Mental Realm.

Especially considering his second internal theory: pulling a person’s soul consciousness into the platform for battle—a dangerous and insane idea.

What set Saul apart from others, though, was the diary. It allowed him to foresee danger and screen whether an enemy could safely be dragged into that battlefield.

But regardless of the safeguard, the prerequisite for such a maneuver was a mental battlefield strong enough to contain it.

After straightening his robes, Saul turned to inspect the supplies that Buri had brought in.

He might only be the temporary master of Black Castle, but he still needed to ensure a proper handover.

The supplies sent from Borderfall City weren’t plentiful, but for Black Castle—which usually housed just one person—they were more than enough.

The boxes mostly contained survival rations like dried meat and dense bread.

Apparently, the previous master of Black Castle had no interest in the pleasures of food.

“This is a little too basic… Crates and crates of bread and dried meat, not even a single vegetable? Did the former masters just make their own nutrient paste?”

The food and daily necessities were neatly packed into small boxes, which were then loaded into a giant wooden crate. Numerous magic formation were carved onto the outside, all designed to preserve freshness.

At each of the four corners of the crate, there were embedded magic crystals powering the formation.

Using a magic formation to preserve food was a pretty extravagant choice. In the Kema Duchy, only the royal family or a handful of powerful families could afford something like this.

Saul extended his mental probe. He could detect faint traces of magical energy, but nothing that exceeded what was expected from a preservation formation.

“Should be fine.” He clapped the dust off his hands, ready to leave. There was no way he could open and inspect every box; this level of checking was already thorough enough.

If something buried deeper inside turned out to be of poor quality, then it would be the responsibility of Black Castle’s next master to take it up with Borderfall City.

Besides, even if there were quality issues, the worst that would happen is that they’d send another box of food.

Saul still had his own food stores, so he didn’t plan on touching this crate—he would leave it untouched for the next owner.

But just as he turned to go, he paused and looked back at the crate, eyes narrowing as he scanned it again.

He’d already developed a habit of using semi-immersive meditation to examine every place he visited. So he applied the same technique to this crate.

A quick sweep revealed no abnormalities. But Saul wasn’t in a rush. His eyes kept drifting across every side of the crate.

Mutations and contamination often hid in the tiniest of details. In places like Grind Sail Town, the overall environment was too massive for such meticulous inspection, but for a single crate? Saul didn’t mind wasting a minute.

Then, as he crouched to check the underside of the crate, he spotted it—slowly squeezing out from a bottom corner—a pale grey dome.

It resembled a rounded bun.

Saul’s heart skipped a beat, but he didn’t stop scanning. He continued inspecting the other three sides.

However, he kept the dome-shaped object in his peripheral vision.

As he shifted his stance, the dome slowly withdrew into the crate.

Saul inspected all six sides thoroughly. Then he brushed off the dust from his hands and walked out of the storage room.

As soon as he shut the door behind him, his expression turned grim.

There’s something inside that crate! Saul strode quickly toward the lab. Did Buri put it there? Or did someone tamper with the supplies sent to the Wizard Tower?

Using the crate’s preservation formation to mask faint magical energy was clever.

If Saul hadn’t developed the habit of “seeing” through materials for contamination, he probably wouldn’t have noticed anything wrong with the supplies.

He hadn’t been particularly suspicious of Buri’s visit.

After all, the corruption in Grind Sail Town should’ve already been resolved, and Buri’s reasons for visiting—to check on Saul and deliver news about the mad old man—had seemed plausible enough.

But now, thinking it over, it was either Buri had been used by someone else, or someone had exploited Saul’s recent takeover of Black Castle, assuming he might be careless about inspecting the supplies.

“No one would sneak something like that in without a reason.”

Saul reached the lab and quickly cleared the table, erasing any traces of magic formation from the floor.

Then he summoned Little Alga, instructing it to alert the Devil’s Vine. Both demonic creatures were to increase security.

“Is this an attack specifically targeting me, or a general assault on Black Castle?”

Saul hadn’t yet mastered a Second Tier spell. If this was some hidden operation from Kema Ducy—where Buri hailed from—he really might not be able to resist alone.

“How did Mochi Mochi usually receive messages from the Wizard Tower? If I knew the method, I could report this to the Tower and ask how they’d handle it.”

Unfortunately, Saul hadn’t inherited the Castle through normal procedures. Many rooms and tools still weren’t accessible to him.

Especially the ones sealed with magic locks by Mochi Mochi—if he didn’t handle them properly, forcing them open could destroy whatever was inside or even backfire and harm Saul himself.

“It’s a pity Lady Yura only had time to hand over control of the Devil’s Vine before she left. If only she had…”

Wait!

Saul froze in the middle of packing up.

“Could it be… Yura deliberately acted in a rush so she wouldn’t have to tell me how to contact the Wizard Tower?”

(End of Chapter)

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