Creak—
The sound reached the room, and Norris instantly snapped awake.
He sprang up from bed in a perfect kip-up, rolled away from his original position, and dropped into a combat stance.
At the same time, he tried to connect with Jida through the link—only to get no response.
Pressed against the corner of the room, Norris scanned his surroundings warily.
No enemies. No movement. Nothing.
After a moment, he finally realized—this wasn’t the northern Mushroom Garden.
He was in the Pujis’ Home, in Mordu on the surface.
Karen and Jida weren’t here. The noise he’d heard was just another guest walking down the hallway.
Feeling embarrassed, Norris dropped his stance, grateful that no one had seen that awkward moment.
Morning sunlight streamed through the curtains. Though he’d been startled awake, it was the best sleep he’d had in a long while.
He stepped out onto the balcony. The warmth of the sun here was entirely different from the pale, cold light of the far north. It felt as though all his fatigue was slowly melting away.
In truth, Norris had sometimes wondered if he should just give up resisting.
The Boss only enjoyed prey that fought back. Like now—if the Boss had denied his leave request and kept pushing him for a few more days, Norris would probably have collapsed.
But the Boss had instead approved his vacation right at that point.
The Boss didn’t care about the result—he savored the process.
That was something Norris had long since learned.
So, as long as he acted like a salted fish and accepted things obediently, the Boss’s attention would soon drift elsewhere.
After all, surrendering didn’t really cost him anything.
But… if he did that, something deep inside him would die.
Still, Norris didn’t resent the Boss for it.
He knew that being able to worry about such things at all meant his life was already blessed—no hunger, no debt, no threat to his life.
Back when he was a miner, if he could have erased his debt by giving up just this much, he would’ve been terrified that someone else might snatch the chance from him.
He slapped his cheeks lightly and forced the messy thoughts away.
This was vacation. Time to rest, not brood.
After greeting Dylan and the young shop girl downstairs, Norris left the Pujis’ Home.
Though the main purpose of his trip up was to sleep properly, he couldn’t possibly spend his whole vacation in bed.
At his waist hung a pouch of ten gold coins—earned by exchanging contribution points with the Boss.
To him, it felt like a fortune, far more than he could hope to spend in just a few days.
His first stop: the Rotten Willow Tavern.
The once wooden tavern of Yafeng[Silentwind] Town had, after the town’s promotion into Mordu, been rebuilt into a brick-and-stone building per regulations.
Yet the atmosphere remained much the same—except that now, many of the patrons were mushroom farmers.
Norris ordered the dish he’d long missed: honey-roasted snake meat.
But after the first bite, disappointment was written all over his face.
It wasn’t that it tasted bad—but after enjoying “Delicious Mushrooms” every day in the Mushroom Garden, this dish, which he once dreamed of tasting even once in months, now seemed merely tolerable.
He sighed, realizing that it was inevitable. Ordinary ingredients simply couldn’t compare with true “Delicacies.”
He had only glorified it in memory—expectations far higher than reality could reach.
Even if he didn’t like it anymore, he still cleaned the plate meticulously, as if checking off a long-forgotten wish.
When his stomach was full, a strange emptiness hit him.
What now?
The coins clinked softly in his pouch, but he realized he had no idea how to “enjoy” a vacation.
He thought about the usual adventurers’ amusements—and found none suited him.
Food? Nowhere beat Mushroom Garden’s canteen.
Drinking? He wasn’t used to it.
Brothels? He was still fighting to keep his purity!
Gambling? He hated it most of all.
His years of misery all stemmed from his gambler father.
Laying it all out like that, Norris realized he had no idea how to have fun.
He wandered aimlessly through the streets.
Watching the mushroom tamers walking with their pujis, he suddenly thought—Mordu is just a larger version of the Mushroom Garden. The only difference is that people here haven’t realized it yet.
“Young man! How about sharing a drink with me?”
“Huh? Me?”
Norris blinked at the female adventurer before him, stunned that she was actually speaking to him.
After politely declining, he walked on in confusion.
No one had ever invited him like that before.
Passing a shop window, he caught his reflection and finally remembered—his current human guise wasn’t bad-looking.
The thought flickered, then faded.
After all, it was only a disguise. His real body was that of a lizardman—with sharp claws, scales all over, and no tail.
But he was getting used to that now.
It wasn’t all bad. His scales could block a werewolf’s claws, and his talons let him defend himself even without Jida nearby.
He strolled through the city, observing the many new sights Mordu offered, yet nothing sparked real interest.
Just as he was about to return to the inn, a familiar figure caught his eye.
“Lord Aiden!”
“Norris?! What are you doing here?”
They knew each other well. When they first met, Norris was still a miner, and Aiden was investigating the Darkcap Mushrooms.
Their statuses had been worlds apart—Aiden’s casual gift of a single gold coin had been a huge fortune to him.
Later, after both joined the Mushroom Garden, they’d worked together occasionally and built a decent rapport.
When Norris learned that Aiden was here on one of the Boss’s assignments, he immediately volunteered to join.
After a brief thought, Aiden agreed.
The mission wasn’t particularly complex—
A mushroom farm outside the city had been taken over by a suspicious group.
Lin Jun had noticed they’d kidnapped several people recently but couldn’t determine their goal.
A barrier sealed the farm’s underground cellar, preventing Lin Jun from observing within.
He suspected that an occult sorcerer might be performing an Abyssal Magic ritual, but strangely, none of the operatives outside bore any signs of [Abyssal Magic] on their panels.
That was why Aiden had been dispatched to investigate.
His plan was to infiltrate the farm using illusions and invisibility, with a custom-made tool to suppress magical traces.
Now, with Norris’s help, he placed him outside to stand guard—just in case.
No need to risk him. Safety came first.
However, just as they were about to move, another group arrived at the farm first.
Hidden in the forest, Norris narrowed his eyes.
In the distance, he recognized the four adventurers—Veyra and her team—and frowned deeply.