As Saul successfully marked the vine with his ntal signature, everything around them slowly began to co back to life.
The vine obediently extended its roots deeper into the soil, and even the dampness within the underground passage began to gradually dissipate. A small white mushroom even sprouted beneath Saul’s right foot.
“Looks like the Elder Vine really recognised you. I can feel Black Castle recovering quickly,” Yura said, gazing upward, “Alright, let’s get out of here. It’s too damp—I think this body’s joints are about to grow mold.”
Saul was still observing the changes around him, but at her words, he slowly lifted his foot to follow.
This vine beneath the Black Castle truly was sothing strange.
As Saul began to move away from the root system, he could feel one particularly active root suddenly sprout from the main body, following his footsteps as he walked.
Every ti his foot landed, it felt as though it touched the root through a thin layer of soil.
Saul found it fascinating. He raised his right hand and reached out toward one of the walls.
Imdiately, the root system split in two. One branch rapidly and playfully extended upward, and just as his palm touched the soil on the side, a small tip popped up and gave him a gentle “high five.”
“Whoa!” Saul chuckled with amusent and imdiately raised his left hand toward the opposite wall.
The roots split again, growing even faster to et his left palm under the soil.
Palm touched root once more.
“Heh.” Saul couldn’t help but laugh aloud this ti.
Ahead of him, Yura turned around in confusion. The puppet’s head twisted all the way backward, “What are you doing?”
“Uh…” Saul suddenly realized how childish his actions must have looked. Especially to soone else, he probably seed like an idiot playing around.
“Ahem.” He awkwardly withdrew both hands and discreetly wiped the dirt off his fingertips, “I was just… feeling the vine’s changes.”
I definitely wasn’t taking the root for a walk!
Yura gave him a suspicious look, then turned her head back forward after a few seconds. Her neck joint made a creaking noise like wood rubbing together. Maybe she really was growing mold.
The two of them left the underground cavern, exited through the wine cellar, and shut the secret door behind them.
It was only then that Saul completely lost contact with the root system underground.
However, after he and Yura left, the root—once quietly growing beneath the earth—suddenly trembled, weakly but noticeably.
[Who… exactly is he? Why did a re ntal connection allow him… to take over my entire body?]
The faint voice was no longer impatient like when it had just spoken to Saul. Instead, it quivered slightly, mirroring the subtle trembling of its physical form.
[And… who are you? What did that boy leave inside ?!]
No one answered.
…
The puppet body housing Yura’s soul was really falling apart now and not just in the sense of growing mold. Her whole movent had begun to slow down.
“I’m heading back now. I’m requisitioning your coachman,” Yura said, speeding up her steps—though even her hip joint was beginning to make strange noises.
“Vini, are you alright? Do you need to do anything?”
“I’m fine. There’s sothing inside this puppet body I didn’t expect. I need to get back and clean it out. No need to see off.”
With that, Yura pushed open the castle’s main gate and bolted out like the wind.
Outside, the coachman was still waiting in place—squatting beside the road and examining the wild grass.
Suddenly, he felt a gust of wind sweep into the carriage, followed by a voice so phlegmy it sounded like it was wrapped in mucus.
“Back to the Tower!”
Startled, the coachman stood up at once—only to find Saul still standing at the gate, not having gotten in.
The boy’s expression was a little dazed and uncertain.
Saul nodded slightly at him, gesturing for him to depart.
Only then did the coachman scramble into the driver’s seat, bow slightly toward Saul, and drive the carriage swiftly away from Black Forest.
Now, Saul was the only one left in the entire Black Castle.
He turned, and saw that on the long, narrow door of the castle, where an eye had once been, a black tendril had suddenly stretched out.
It looked… very familiar.
“Little Algae?” Saul imdiately reached behind his neck.
A small, black tendril extended from there, wrapping briefly around Saul’s index finger before quickly releasing and retracting.
“When did Little Algae sneak in there? Wait… don’t tell the one playing pattycake with in the soil earlier was you?”
Realizing this, Saul quickly returned to the underground passage.
As soon as he stepped through the wine cellar’s hidden door again, he noticed sothing was different.
The air was still damp, but no longer suffocating. The ground had beco looser and slightly muddy underfoot.
When Saul reached the thick vine from before, he was shocked to find it had already “slimd down” a size in just a few minutes!
“Little Algae?” Saul called out to it.
[No, I am not—but if by that you an the black tendril that took root in my body… I believe it is trying to respond to you.]
As the deep voice fell silent, several black tendrils suddenly grew out of the soil around Saul.
It felt just like the abandoned underground laboratory beneath the Wizard Tower again—where corpses floated on the surface and giant tendrils as thick as barrels stretched out.
Saul looked down and stomped his foot again.
The ground squished under him, sticky and slightly sunken.
It really was becoming more and more like a swamp.
“Why did Little Algae move into your body?”
[…Was that not your doing? Just now, when you connected to with your ntal power… whimper…]
Wait. Was this big guy… crying?
[…Your powerful ntal energy exceeded the bounds of the connection and took over my entire body. After patrolling through the forest and the castle, you retreated.]
[But you left behind… Little Algae. It’s now frantically devouring my nutrients.]
Saul was dumbfounded.
So that stifling, imprisoned feeling earlier wasn’t just from the ntal link?
It was because he’d ntally groped this thing from top to bottom—and then, before leaving, left behind an uninvited guest who took over the house and started raiding the pantry.
[Could you maybe control it a little? At this rate, my extremities will wither, and the whole castle will collapse.]
“Little Algae,” Saul called after a mont of silence.
A thin black tendril erged from the back of his neck and opened a shark-like mouth at him, clacking its teeth with a “ka ka ka.”
“Take it easy, don’t eat too much. We’re going to be staying here for at least ten more days.”
Little Algae happily nodded and retracted again.
Saul turned back to the vine root, “Is that better now?”
[…Thank you for your generosity. I also apologize for my rudeness when we first t.]
“It’s fine,” Saul said, leaving the vine where it was.
Perhaps because of the new “owner,” the atmosphere within the Black Castle was different now. The tall, narrow buildings began to seem less grotesque.
More in line with Saul’s aesthetic tastes.
He didn’t bother finding Mochi Mochi’s room and simply entered a guest room at random, sitting on a long, narrow bed that looked more like a coffin.
“The carriage trip takes ten days at least… so for now, it’s just here.”
Saul thought of the bag of Grinding Sound Fruits he’d managed to bring from Grind Sail Town.
“Honestly, there’s no need to return to the Tower. I can completely rebuild a ntal Realm Formation right here. This is my turf now!”
(End of Chapter)
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