The great-niece’s technique did have its merits.
Elven had never imagined that lightly scratching certain parts of a Puchi body could feel so relaxing!
The recess where mushroom cap met body, the joints at tentacle roots, or even gently pinching the short legs…
As for being groped all over by Inanna?
It was No. 14 Puchi being touched—what did that have to do with the long-dead Sword Saint Elven?
Inanna’s petting only ended when No. 4, back in its normal body, poked her arm with a mycelial tentacle.
Fair-and-balanced Inanna naturally wouldn’t favor the new over the old. She scooped up No. 4 for another round of expert kneading.
Only No. 10 stood silently in the shadows, showing no intention of joining.
But it wasn’t spacing out—it was studying magic through the mycelial network.
Dedicated mushroom citizens were flipping through spellbooks per its request and projecting the pages directly into No. 10’s mind.
No. 10 knew well: Puchis didn’t need to train skills; the great Fungus Lord could grant almost any ability.
But that “almost” didn’t include the knowledge required for spellcasting. That it had to learn itself—and it enjoyed the feeling of absorbing knowledge.
It planned to become a grand Puchi archmage.
Though it never said it aloud, No. 10 firmly believed it was the Fungus Lord’s greatest creation!
…
When Inanna returned, Farr’s search parties had already begun trying to clear the passage No. 10 had previously blocked.
Lin Jun simply used bat Puchis to fly Inanna through a crevice to the sixth floor, then took the hidden room straight to the first floor.
When Inanna stepped out of the dungeon, Farr—who had rushed over—nearly clung to her feet to vent his grievances.
Who could understand the pressure of “Duke Alama is coming to Mushroom Capital”?
“Thank goodness… thank goodness you’re safe!” Farr wiped sweat from his forehead, then noticed an extra figure beside Inanna.
If it were any other Mushroom Tribe member, Farr might not have immediately recognized anything special.
But the 80 cm Sword Saint Puchi carrying four scabbards was simply too conspicuous—no way it was an ordinary Puchi.
Farr didn’t ask questions. Alama was arriving soon; Inanna’s affairs were no longer his to manage.
Inanna herself wanted to talk to her father about taking a trip to the dwarven mountains.
Under Farr’s arrangements, Inanna checked back into the Adventurer’s Guild and met Fifteen, who had just returned and was temporarily staying in Mushroom Capital.
The moment Fifteen saw Inanna, he smiled and walked over to greet her.
But the instant he glimpsed the four-sword Puchi beside her, his movements visibly stiffened.
Only when he confirmed it was four swords instead of the two from memory did he quietly exhale.
Makes sense. He had rushed back from Scarecrow Abyss nonstop.
Even if that Puchi that had crushed him crawled out of the depths immediately, it couldn’t have beaten him here on horseback, let alone appear beside Inanna.
Yet for some reason, he kept feeling that four-sword Puchi’s “gaze” was fixed on him…
The Sword Saint Puchi was indeed staring at Fifteen.
Lucky again—another chance to see Fifteen. Its tentacles itched; it wanted to test four-sword style.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t a random dungeon encounter. Starting a fight would be hard to explain.
It could only reluctantly give up.
Though the Sword Saint had dropped the idea of picking a fight, Fifteen still felt a chill down his spine for no reason.
Only No. 9 on his head remained calm—it already knew the Sword Saint Puchi was one of their mushrooms.
Tentacles gripping Fifteen’s hair, short legs kicking as it climbed down, mushroom cap brushing Fifteen’s cheek: “Don’t panic, little Fifteen. If it really fights, I’ve got your back!”
After the bold claim, No. 9 immediately sidled up to No. 4 to bond over Mushroom Tribe feelings and even got hugged and rubbed by Inanna. Afterward it sighed—why didn’t its own Fifteen this talented?
…
After settling Inanna, Farr finally dragged his exhausted body back to his office.
Lilian walked behind him, fingers gently kneading his shoulders and neck with relaxing pressure.
Inanna’s disappearance these past days had truly drained him.
The pressure didn’t just come from Duke Alama—the citizens’ growing demands to “intensify the search” were also mounting.
How could a war heroine vanish without reason inside the dungeon?
He had to shelve other affairs, diverting most manpower and resources to the search, even risking offending the Mushroom Tribe by trying to dig into deeper levels.
Under pressure from all sides, Farr felt his hairline receding.
Thankfully Inanna returned on her own, sparing him an early baldness crisis.
But that didn’t mean he was relaxed.
He wasn’t some useless noble living on handouts. Having exceptionally become Mushroom Capital’s lord, he had greater ambitions to realize. All the postponed government affairs needed catching up.
After a brief fifteen-minute rest, he sat back at his wide desk.
Most documents were subordinate requests—fortification array materials, special material purchases from abroad…
Farr skimmed and approved them one by one until one file made his pen stop.
“Mushroom Worship Cult…”
Simple contents: recently small gatherings worshipping mushrooms and Puchis had appeared in Mushroom Capital.
The world never lacked new faiths; most never amounted to anything.
Normally, an unknown faith like this would be labeled heresy immediately. But the problem was the kingdom was in early contact with the Mushroom Tribe, with many future cooperation possibilities.
And behind the “Mushroom Worship Cult,” it was hard to say whether the Mushroom Tribe was secretly pushing it.
If so, handling the cult became a diplomatic issue to some extent.
Currently, the cult’s main members were Dragonroar Valley survivors and their families—the most likely converts.
Numbers were still small. If it needed suppressing, it had to be done early!
Farr recalled recent news from the fallen western territories: the Hand of Passage cult had used the chaos to quietly hold several sacrifices.
Not just humans—even captured demons were sacrificed without discrimination. From the traces, the scale was growing. Who knew what those lunatics were planning?
He summoned Mirabell and ordered her to arrange undercover investigation—at minimum, find out who was really behind the Mushroom Worship Cult.
Farr’s greatest fear was that this so-called Mushroom Worship Cult was just the Hand of Passage in new skin.
If the Hand of Passage caused major trouble in Mushroom Capital, he wouldn’t even have nowhere to cry.
As for kingdom-Mushroom Tribe relations… perfect timing—Duke Alama was coming. Farr decided to ask Alama’s opinion when he arrived.
…
A few days later, when Alama finally reached Mushroom Capital, the one greeting him was Inanna hugging the Sword Saint Puchi.
Even with the Sword Saint’s thick skin, he couldn’t help silently turning his mushroom cap away.
(End of Chapter)
