Deep in the Puchi underground city, in a remote little cave with only one entrance and its concealment cranked to the maximum.
Inside, a Puchi stretched out a tentacle and slotted a recording crystal labeled "Sword Saint Social-Death Hall of Fame #12" into a gap on the third row of the tall shelving. Rows of shelves stood against the walls, holding everything from classic scenes of inner-core members like the Sword Saint and Little Pig, to the comical moment of some fungal folk nobody could even name drunkenly tumbling into a ditch.
These crystals were Lin Jun's most prized collection of the past several years, second only to his handful of divine artifacts.
The crystals labeled with the name "Norris" were especially numerous, taking up nearly an entire shelf on their own.
At the very end of the collection sat a row labeled "Amusement Park Group Activities xxx," tucked off by itself in the corner, set apart from the "Social-Death Series" up front.
On a stone pedestal in the deepest part of the cave lay a big, thick memo book. From constant use its cover was worn and its corners curled, and inside it was crammed full of densely packed writing.
Looking over the treasures of this little cave, a warm sense of accomplishment welled up in him.
These were all the little bits and pieces Lin Jun and his companions had left behind in this world — the Puchi-prints he'd pressed into it every step of the way.
And now, Lin Jun was about to step into a new stage.
No more hiding, no more skulking. He would appear before the world out in the open.
His identity, of course — not his true body. No one was ever going to find the green mushroom that was his real self.
He'd made this decision for a couple of reasons. The first was that the female Hero had returned to the Kingdom, and beneath that status panel of hers, a great many things simply couldn't stay hidden.
Besides, his greatest enemy, the Demon King, already knew. Rather than keep skulking about and breeding mutual suspicion with humanity's leaders, it was better to be candid and let slip some information where appropriate, deepening the cooperation between the two sides.
When it came down to it, he didn't have any ill intentions. He just wanted to parasitize everyone, that was all.
The other reason was that, with the power he now commanded, there really was no need to keep hiding.
Even if humanity's leaders lost their minds and insisted on making an enemy of him, it would only cause a bit of trouble — humanity had long since played all its trump cards.
Of course, needless trouble was still worth avoiding where he could. Which was exactly why he'd already sent the esteemed Sword Saint off to play the sentiment card!
In the Saint-Clair ducal manor, in a small, exquisitely furnished room.
The Hero Sophia, Priest Samuel, Duke Alama, Duke Lorenzo, and the Legendary Summoner Inanna sat fanned out around a table. Across from them stood a raised child's seat — though the Sword Saint Puchi, rather than sitting in it, stood directly at the edge of the table.
"Dying and coming back to life as a Puchi…" Even though he'd been told in advance and had braced himself plenty, Lorenzo still couldn't help asking, "Airaven, are you certain you were resurrected? Not, say, rescued on the brink of death and then turned into a Puchi with transformation magic?"
Before the Sword Saint could answer, Sophia spoke up first, her eyes on his status panel. "It isn't transformation magic. His Excellency the Sword Saint is now a genuine Puchi."
"Good heavens!" Lorenzo slumped back against the sofa and stared at the ceiling, at a loss for where to even begin.
At the same time, he was privately alarmed by this "panel" of the Hero's — an ability that gathered perfectly accurate information in an instant. It was mentioned now and then in the texts concerning Heroes, but mostly described as a kind of "detection" magic. Now he could see the two weren't remotely comparable.
Of everyone present, the most excited and delighted was Inanna.
She was happy that Airaven could become a Puchi, and happy that she herself would one day become one too.
As for having rubbed and petted this Uncle Airaven of hers before — well, a Puchi was a Puchi, and the more she thought about it, the less it seemed to matter.
Of course, that was only the pink Puchi's own take. When Airaven had emerged from his private talk with Alama earlier, the whole mushroom had already been in a dehydrated, half-dead state.
A pity that the newly chosen room also had a barrier, and this time Lin Jun hadn't managed to plant a recording crystal inside beforehand — for which Lin Jun made a note against Alama's name.
The Sword Saint gave a rough account of it all: the mutual-aid pact to save the world that he'd struck with Lin Jun after his resurrection, and the noteworthy events he'd taken part in since.
Only now did it dawn on Lorenzo. "No wonder all that was left was a skeleton when we dug up your corpse — I'd always assumed your flesh had been corroded away by that old bat's sea of blood!"
Samuel asked, "Has anyone else been resurrected? The Archbishop, perhaps?"
The Sword Saint Puchi shook his cap. "There are indeed others who've been resurrected as Puchis, but most are Mushroom Fortress residents. The Archbishop isn't among them."
Samuel nodded, not especially disappointed.
"By saving the world, do you mean holding back the Mist?" Sophia asked.
"That was the original plan," the Sword Saint Puchi said, rubbing the underside of his cap, "but the Reaper we ran into said the Mist 'doesn't matter.' As for what exactly that means, I'm afraid we'll have to find some way to get more information."
A world in crisis, a Reaper — the others present turned over just how reliable all this was.
At last Alama spoke. "Airaven, my friend, I'm willing to believe you. But now I'd like you to clear up one last doubt for me."
The Sword Saint Puchi lifted a tentacle, motioning for him to go on.
"That nameless 'Fungus Lord,' this 'Boss' of yours — is he reliable? Or rather," Alama looked earnestly at the Sword Saint, "could he become an enemy?"
Hearing this, Inanna nearly blurted out, "The Boss does have a name," but after a moment's thought she held her tongue.
The Sword Saint, for his part, flashed back to the Boss's daily routine — never doing any real work, just endlessly tormenting his own subordinates — and genuinely could not connect that with the word "reliable."
He chose to answer the second question directly. "From what I've seen, the Puchi won't become humanity's enemy. In fact, on that point, you can go ask it yourself."
"Ask it directly?"
Knock, knock, knock.
After the knocking came the butler Eric's voice from outside the door. "My lord, there's a Puchi here calling itself the Fungus Lord, asking to come in."
"Let it in."
The door opened, and a Puchi with a bright red cap came bouncing in and hopped up onto the raised child's chair all on its own.
A voice as young and bright as a four- or five-year-old's issued from the Puchi's belly. "Hello, human friends. I'm so glad we can talk directly like this. Just call me 'Boss.'"
Sophia stared at the information on the Puchi's panel and said nothing. Lorenzo and Alama, caught off guard by the unexpected voice, raised their eyebrows a fraction, then quickly composed themselves.
Inanna, by contrast, went wide-eyed, and the Sword Saint's cap was the very picture of having seen a ghost.
Of course, apart from Lin Jun and Inanna, no one present could read a Puchi's expressions.
(End of Chapter)
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