Chapter 164: Conspiracy |
Think it, do it!
Confirming that the diary hadn't given any warnings, Saul ascended the steps again as if climbing a staircase.
Soon, his head emerged through the floor of the fourteenth level. The lights were on, and it was clear that this dorm room was occupied.
A third-rank apprentice's dormitory was twice as large as that of a second-rank apprentice.
After ensuring there was no danger, Saul fully emerged and began to wander around the room.
Although the dormitory was larger, the extra space wasn't used for comfort. It was as simple as if it belonged to an ascetic.
People who were content with pleasure could never become third-rank apprentices before the age of thirty.
The dormitory had the usual living room and bedroom, but there was also a relatively large storeroom and a compact laboratory.
Just as Saul was about to enter the laboratory to see what its owner was researching, the diary appeared with a reminder: Don’t snoop around, be careful not to get sealed!
"The diary mentions sealing, not going mad. Could it be they’re researching a method to imprison spirits?"
Saul quickly took a few steps back, moving away from the laboratory.
In retreat, he found himself in the bedroom next door.
Before Saul could turn around, he heard a suppressed conversation entering his ears.
"How could you let that little dwarf take your job?"
Little dwarf? Taking the job? Saul immediately connected the dots.
What a coincidence, this had to be about him!
Turning around, he saw two tall men with muscular builds standing face to face in the middle of the bedroom.
They were speaking in low voices, even their anger held in check.
"Master Kaz personally sent him here and wouldn't even allow me to argue. What else could I do?" The man sounding somewhat defeated was Kujin, the one Saul had taken the job from.
The other man, whom Saul didn’t recognize, exuded the presence of a third-rank apprentice.
"What could you do?" The other man’s eyes darkened. "Kill him! Once the person with the job is gone, the task will definitely return to you."
"Ferguson!" Kujin’s eyes widened, unable to hold back his voice, but quickly he lowered his tone again. "You’ve gone mad. We can’t do this again. Do you think the mentor doesn’t know?"
"What’s so impossible about it? Someone dying in the Tower—what’s so surprising about that? Does the mentor care about that? Don’t forget, if we lose access to the storeroom, we’ll run out of supplies. Do you want to become a useless fool again?" Ferguson countered, not backing down.
Kujin narrowed his eyes, his expression darkening. "I think it’s you who’s in a hurry. If this thing is exposed, I’ll be the main suspect. You, however, can stay out of it. After all, on the surface, no one would know our relationship!"
Seeing Kujin suspect him, Ferguson nearly lost his temper but then seemed to think of something and suppressed his anger, even lowering his stance.
"Yes, I am anxious. But what else can I do? Do you think I’ve stopped going out recently for no reason?"
Kujin bit his lip, saying nothing, though a flicker of suspicion passed through his eyes.
"Let me show you," Ferguson suddenly began unbuckling his belt.
Saul’s eyes widened instantly.
As the belt came undone, his pants slid straight to the floor, as smooth as though no legs were even there to support them.
Under Ferguson’s wide pants, he was wearing tight black leggings.
Yet, his legs, tightly bound by the leggings, were unnaturally thin and scrawny, unlike his muscular upper body.
It was as if the upper and lower halves of his body belonged to two different people.
Kujin gasped, his face turning pale immediately.
But what caught Saul’s attention wasn’t just that.
He stepped forward to closely observe Ferguson’s pants, and found they were made from the same material as the black gloves he once wore. Those gloves had only been used for a short time before being ruthlessly discarded by the Tower Master.
He was lamenting his lost magic crystals when Ferguson grabbed the waistband of his pants and pulled them down, revealing his legs.
Saul quickly took two steps back.
The sight of his legs was horrifying.
Ferguson’s legs were almost completely charred, as if they had been burned by intense flames. Just standing there, tiny black ash-like particles were falling off.
How could such legs still walk or stand?
The charred legs flickered with faint white electric arcs.
This electrical phenomenon seemed familiar. After some thought, Saul realized that Ferguson’s situation was similar to that of Monica.
But while Monica’s singed skin could quickly recover, turning her back into the beautiful woman she was, Ferguson’s legs seemed beyond saving.
"My gloves were for defending against external electric shocks, but his pants are for isolating internal electrical currents," Saul muttered, imitating the Tower Master’s tone. "Both are clumsy methods."
At this moment, a trembling Kujin finally spoke, "Wh-why is this happening?"
Ferguson silently finished putting his pants back on and answered with a gloomy face, "Using other people’s methods to advance means you have to bear the stronger side effects."
"Will I become like this?" Kujin clenched his fists, his forehead veins bulging.
"If the materials aren’t replenished..."
Before Ferguson could finish, Kujin took a step forward and grabbed him by the collar, his voice filled with anger, "You didn’t tell me it would be like this!"
Ferguson remained impassive, "Telling you would you have changed your mind?"
Kujin took several deep breaths to calm himself, "At least I would have had other choices."
"A useless fool nearing thirty who can't advance, what other choices do you have?"
Kujin’s pupils trembled, his brows furrowing tightly. His fingers clenched the collar even tighter.
In the room, both Saul and Ferguson stared at Kujin, waiting for him to make a decision.
Kujin finally let go of his grip, his voice weak, "We have to take back the storeroom!"
Ferguson finally let out a sigh of relief, "How do you plan to do it? If you’re afraid of trouble, we can lure him out, and I’ll take care of him. You can escape suspicion that way."
To his surprise, Kujin just shot Ferguson a disdainful glance, "You only know how to kill people, huh?"
Ferguson frowned, confused.
"We can definitely bring that little bastard Saul into this."
"But he doesn’t need to steal materials," Ferguson asked in confusion.
"I’m familiar with the second storeroom. Although some materials can be freely taken, they’re either in small quantities, not very useful, or have strong side effects. Finding the right materials from there is much harder than outsiders think. Even after years in the storeroom, I’ve only come up with a few usable materials."
"You mean..."
"We can lure him with credits or something else Saul would be interested in, and make him steal materials for us."
"But that’s too costly. Do you have a lot of credits?"
Kujin suddenly grinned, "Who said we’ll always give him credits? As soon as he violates something, we’ll have leverage over him. At that point, we can offer him small benefits to make him do more for us."
But Ferguson didn’t approve of Kujin’s plan, "Just stealing something once, he might not be intimidated."
"Whether he takes the risk depends on the cost and the reward. If the reward is big enough, even the timid would kill. If the cost is small enough, he won’t act cautiously."
Kujin didn’t wait for a confused Ferguson to respond and continued explaining, "The first time, I’ll use something he’s sure to be interested in to tempt him into stealing what seems like an insignificant but very important item."
"What’s that thing?" Both Saul and Ferguson asked at the same time.
Kujin spoke slowly, "A candle."
...
Saul returned to his dormitory.
The diary reminded him: He had been out too long, and the old house was about to catch fire.
He couldn’t keep eavesdropping on Kujin’s plan. He hurriedly sank down into the washroom, walking six steps clockwise, and returned to his own body.
"Yawn..." Saul stretched, quickly putting on his clothes. "A candle..."
The scene before his eyes began to spin. After what felt like an eternity, he finally stumbled out of the washroom and collapsed onto the ground.
His eyelids were as heavy as if they were tied with lead, and his arms felt limp as noodles.
He crumpled to the floor, his last thought before losing consciousness: "Was this soul separation a warning from Lady Yura?"
(End of Chapter)