On the way back to the temporary residence, Saul had already confird that the scorpion tail absorbed into the diary had been destroyed, which left him quite frustrated.
Previously, Saul would detach the scorpion tail stinger before storing Ann in the diary. But today's situation was urgent—Ann suddenly lost control, which made Saul suspect that the pollution attached to the scorpion tail might have affected her sanity during battle.
Adding to that, there was the root-tentacle monster beneath his feet that could have launched another attack at any mont. Saul had no choice but to quickly deal with Ann’s situation and take her away.
Still, compared to the loss of the scorpion tail stinger, what truly concerned him was the root-tentacle monster's sudden assault on Ann.
Those roots appeared soft and slender, but they were incredibly tough—ordinary weapons couldn't even cut through them.
And when he saw that even Ann's scorpion stinger had no effect on the roots, his brows furrowed even deeper.
That root-tentacle was also immune to wraith pollution.
But most importantly... those were just the roots. What exactly were they connected to?
Could it be the “gift” Kist intended for him—that massive tree?
When they hurried back to the temporary residence, Agu imdiately rushed up to et them. “Master, why did you co back so suddenly?”
Saul recounted what had happened in the forest to Agu.
By that ti, Ann had also recovered.
“Ann, why did you suddenly lose control just now?” Saul asked.
Inside the diary, Ann still seed a little dazed.
[I’m not entirely sure. It just felt like a lot of thoughts suddenly flooded into my mind... There seed to be sothing disgusting inside those tree roots.]
“Tree roots? Are you certain they were tree roots?”
[Mm. When I wasn’t fully conscious, I vaguely sensed that the roots were connected to a large tree.]
“Can you tell where that tree is located?”
[No. It was far away, and I wasn’t fully aware at the ti.]
At this point, Herman, who had been silently observing from the side, spoke with a bit of lingering fear.
[If just these roots are that powerful, wouldn’t the tree they’re connected to be at least as strong as a Second Rank entity?]
Agu, sitting beside Saul, shook his head. “Master encountered the root-tentacle monster in the city, and again out in the suburbs. If that monster is mobile, it’s one thing. But if it’s immobile...”
Morden continued Agu’s unspoken thoughts inside the diary.
[If that tree can’t move, then its root system covers an unimaginably wide area.]
Saul understood what they ant. Judging by the strength of the roots and their spread, that tree might have enough power to rival an entire city.
If it could wipe out a city in one blow, didn’t that an the tree had already reached Third Rank strength?
With that thought, Saul imdiately felt an urge to leave.
But after thinking it over, he didn’t actually flee.
Caugust City wasn’t newly built; it had stood for years, and there had been no rumors of any wizards being hard by tree-based monsters.
Besides, in the wizarding world, it was normal for monsters to occasionally appear. Was he supposed to only live in places guaranteed to be safe? Such places wouldn’t even have enough magical materials for Saul to study.
Taking a deep breath, Saul said, “We don’t yet know why the tree monster attacked Ann. For now, Ann, don’t go out unnecessarily—and you either, Agu. I’ll head to Bayton Academy to gather so information.”
Saying it and doing it, Saul went straight to find Shaya.
People like Shaya, who always suspected others were out to harm him, generally didn’t like going out. So Saul went directly to his ho.
Sure enough, Shaya was ho. But this ti, he didn’t let Saul in.
“...Tree roots?” Shaya was stunned for a mont, then hesitated before saying, “I’ve heard there was a big tree in Caugust City once, but it was burned down many years ago.”
“Burned down?” Saul doubted that the tree had truly been destroyed. “Were there ever incidents of tree roots attacking people?”
Shaya shrugged. “Anything can attack you in Caugust—plants, animals, monsters... Even if roots did attack people in the past, it’d be impossible to say for sure whether it was from the sa plant.”
Saul thought for a mont and then asked, “Why are there so many wraiths in Caugust City? Isn’t there any preventative asure besides capturing them?”
When asked this question, Shaya’s expression shifted slightly. He licked the corner of his mouth and lowered his voice. “If you really want to know, go ask Dean Pond. Caugust’s current prosperity—he’s the one who made it happen.”
Standing under the shadow of his eaves, Shaya’s expression was shadowy and unreadable. “To gain sothing, one must always pay a price, don’t you think?”
It was clear Shaya knew sothing, but he clearly had no intention of telling Saul.
After leaving, Saul did go to look for Dean Pond, as Shaya had suggested.
But he didn’t directly ask about the hidden abnormalities in Caugust City—because even if he did, the dean wouldn’t tell him.
Instead, Saul used the recent attack in the suburbs as a pretext to inquire whether there had been any new progress in the research on root-type monsters.
He noticed that when Dean Pond heard the root monster had appeared in the suburbs, there was a flash of panic in his expression.
But he quickly masked the panic with surprise and expressed skepticism, saying that the monster that appeared in the sewer system last ti had likely already left the city.
He then told Saul to report the incident to Kent. Kent was responsible for dealing with wraith incidents that regular Cleaner couldn’t handle. He would gather people, share intelligence, and organize efforts to tackle powerful wraiths that ordinary wizards struggled against.
After hearing this, Saul casually asked, “Has Kent always been the one handling wraith incidents?”
Dean Pond replied that it used to be another wizard, but after that wizard died unexpectedly during a battle with a wraith, Kent took over.
And ever since Kent took charge, hardly any wizards had died in such battles.
Dean Pond told Saul that if he ever discovered anything threatening, he should report it to Kent—he was quite enthusiastic.
A wizard? Enthusiastic?
On the surface, Saul thanked the dean. But inwardly, he left Bayton Academy with a swirl of complicated thoughts.
By now, he was almost certain: the dean knew about the root-tentacle monster. Dean Pond might even be the one who cultivated it!
The last ti he deliberately called Saul to the clocktower and showed him the root segnt in a test tube, it was very likely a reverse probe—to test how much Saul knew about the root monster.
To see whether he had obtained part of the roots.
And that Wizard Beth, who was in the clocktower at the ti, was likely connected to this hidden monster as well.
There were many wizards in Caugust, and Saul wasn’t the only outsider. The fact that they were so cautious toward him likely ant they were wary of Gorsa behind him.
This also indirectly confird that the trouble Bayton Academy was hiding couldn’t be resolved by a single True Wizard.
After this incident, Saul didn’t act abnormally. In fact, he started participating even more frequently in Cleaner missions—to collect new wraiths.
Although the scorpion tail stinger had been accidentally used up without achieving anything, it had confird Saul’s theory about soul armants.
While staying in Caugust, he had to collect as many wraith fragnts as possible. Ideally, he wanted to fully arm all four consciousnesses!
During this ti, perhaps due to his repeated “complaints” stirring up concern from those in the shadows, he never encountered the root-tentacle monster again.
At the sa ti, Saul made another discovery during his missions: a newly born wraith could be subdued with minimal effort.
And since new wraiths constantly erged in Caugust, Saul realized he didn’t need to rely on the Guard Squad anymore—he could find newborn wraiths himself.
Thus, he dispatched the Nightmare Butterfly, Penny, to search every night for strange spirits forming in dark corners.
But to his surprise, the first one to bring back news of a newly born wraith wasn’t Penny—it was Little Algae!
(End of Chapter)
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