At Yufan Port’s dock district, salty sea breeze couldn’t cool the tense heat. A brawl erupted out of nowhere.
A Puffshroom Master, fresh off a successful job with a hefty haul, overheard venomous taunts from adventurers leaning on crates, mocking the mycelium marks on his face.
Three sharp exchanges later, rage smashed through reason’s dam. Fists replaced weak words.
The scene spiraled.
Nearby Puffshroom Masters saw it and sent their Puffshrooms, busy unloading fish from boats, to swarm in support.
On the other side, the adventurers’ buddies roared into the fray. In moments, men’s shouts, women’s screams, and Puffshrooms’ “puff puff” noises mixed into chaos, human fists and mycelium tendrils clashing wildly.
With a screeching clang of metal, someone drew a weapon!
As the brawl teetered toward bloodshed, heavy, synchronized footsteps rang out.
“Wings of Judgment! Stop now!”
Solarin’s commanding shout led her squad in, their chestplates’ glowing holy emblems gleaming with undeniable authority under the sun, instantly taming the near-lost scene.
Trained Church warriors swiftly split the fight, subduing both sides with precision.
Soon, every human brawler—Puffshroom Master or adventurer—was detained.
But the squad faltered facing nearly a hundred Puffshrooms standing idle.
Normally, troublemakers’ magic pets got tossed in sturdy cages.
But this many Puffshrooms? No way they had enough cages…
A squad member turned to ask Captain Solarin for orders, only to see her far off, hunched against a wall, vomiting her guts out, like she’d empty her bile.
Just moments ago, glancing at the familiar Puffshrooms littering the dock, Solarin instinctively activated [Truth Vision]…
In a flash, the breezy, sunlit port city shattered and faded!
A chaos-drenched blur of writhing colors replaced it, greedily clinging to every corner, as if to swallow everything into a blasphemous mess!
“Mayne… handle the rest…” Solarin gasped to the approaching cleric, trembling.
She shoved off his helping hand, pale and near collapse, stumbling toward the deputy commander’s temporary post.
Ten minutes later.
“You’re asking what’s wrong with this city… haven’t you noticed our rations have had more dried mushroom slices lately?” The Wings of Judgment deputy commander eyed Solarin, puzzled by her sudden visit.
“You mean…” Solarin’s face visibly paled.
“Urgh—!”
Seeing his subordinate retch against the wall, the deputy stepped forward, helplessly patting her back.
“That bad? Your… what’s it called…” He gestured near his eyes.
“Truth… Vision,” Solarin muttered weakly, stomach churning again.
“Right, that skill’s really that freaky?” The deputy knew her ability was unique but couldn’t grasp its impact.
Solarin wiped her mouth with the offered cloth, voice still shaky. “It’s not just nausea… it’s heavy corruption! I can’t even use it now! And those Puffshrooms—what’s with them? Why are monsters roaming the streets?”
“They’re not roaming,” the deputy, well-informed, explained patiently. “Those are Puffshrooms controlled by ‘Puffshroom Masters.’ Like contracted magic pets, but easier, lower barrier.”
After his detailed rundown on Puffshroom Masters and symbiosis, Solarin could barely believe it.
“For… for that little power, they let some unknown thing live inside them? How’s that different from those who turn vampire for eternal life, selling out to the empire?!”
“Hey! Watch it!” the deputy snapped, cutting off her rant. “Our job’s to calm tensions and keep order, not add fuel! Don’t breathe a word of that outside!”
“But these monsters… they’re all… the same thing…” Solarin struggled to describe the suffocating unity and chaotic essence behind every Puffshroom.
She’d thought they’d stay buried in the dungeon, gone with it, not… this!
The deputy frowned, mulling her words. “Judging all Puffshrooms as one just because of a chaotic vibe is a stretch.”
Solarin tried to argue, but he pressed on.
“Your findings aren’t worthless, though. Write a detailed report in your spare time—stick to what you saw, no guesses. I’ll attach it to my regular report for the bishop to decide. Meanwhile, ease up on that skill. Our main job’s keeping the peace.”
Fair and reasonable. Solarin could only nod and turn to leave.
“Oh,” the deputy called, pointing at the mess on the floor, “grab a servant to clean that up on your way out.”
“How’d it go?” Mayne, the cleric waiting outside, asked.
Solarin relayed the deputy’s orders, then asked, “Mayne, you think I’m overreacting too?”
Mayne glanced at her, honest. “I can’t imagine anything controlling that many independent creatures at once. These aren’t just dungeon Puffshrooms—we’re talking Mushroom Capital, Yufan Port, Norvid. Countless Puffshroom Masters and Puffshrooms. Saying it’s one entity is…”
He wanted to say “absurd” but held back, searching for a kinder word.
Solarin didn’t mind. She thought it over. Mayne was right—how could one being pull that off?
If everything was it, everywhere, wouldn’t that make it god-like?
Too wild. She started doubting herself.
The deputy and Mayne were right. She’d jumped the gun.
It was just a guess from her rare, barely-referenced [Truth Vision], lacking proof.
Better stick to writing that report…
Solarin didn’t know her report wasn’t ignored.
It went from the deputy to the regional bishop, then higher. Eventually, it landed on High Archbishop Ditasi’s desk.
Ditasi’s aged, deep eyes scanned the report, showing no ripple of emotion.
He sat in silence, then calmly filed it in a drawer, issuing no orders.
Today, he had a key meeting with several dukes, centered on integrating the promising “Puffshroom Masters” into the kingdom’s military to counter the looming demon invasion.
(End of Chapter)
Comments