The bard fantasized again.

Chapter 100 The Vanished Diary

[July 5, 1000 of the Lost Calendar, Longjincheng, sunny.]

The first day after arriving in Longjincheng.

I became good friends with a guard captain.

I'm so lucky to have met such a like-minded friend in a completely unfamiliar place.

He has a cheerful personality, dislikes nobles, loves adventure, and most importantly, possesses an interesting soul.

Please allow me to briefly describe what happened at the city gate—

After I explained to him the seriousness of the orc situation, he immediately set aside his differences with the nobles, opened the gates, and let Merad into Dragongold City.

But he was a man of principle, and as I was about to step inside, he gently pushed me out:

"I'm sorry, my friend. You are not a citizen of Longjin City. Please forgive me for stopping you with a guilty conscience."

"Okay, I completely understand. After all, it's your job."

As I spoke, I pointed to the rubble behind me.
"Can he go in? As a guard of the nobles, he knows some more detailed inside information."

I saw the captain of the guard scratch his head, pretending to suddenly realize something, and joke:
"Oh, sorry, there's one more person here."

【etc.

As I write this, it suddenly dawns on me that perhaps he wasn't joking—

Is it possible that he genuinely didn't see it?

The "Slave Pen" ignited Tang Qi's desire to express himself, driving him to write incessantly, dreaming that perhaps writing 30,000 words a day wouldn't be a problem—

The captain of the guard treated me like a brother, and he talked to me a lot about his deeds:

"I started drinking when I was three, and at five I got two dwarfs six years older than me drunk. At twelve, emboldened by alcohol, I peeped at orcs bathing. At seventeen—"

He joined the city guard of Longjin City at the age of seventeen, and at the age of thirty-three, he became the captain of the guard.

Do you know how old the last retired captain of the guard was when he took office?

Fifty-three years old!

He only served for seven years before passing away from a serious illness, and it was my turn.

And I, at least, avoided twenty years of detours!

We hit it off really well and at one point thought we were long-lost half-brothers.

He even invited me to go for drinks at 'Mermaid Song' in the dock area.

I've heard that fish skin is their signature dish, and I can't wait to try it.

What, you're asking me his name?
amount……

Isn't his title supposed to be Captain of the Guard?

Tang Qi looked at his 'work' with satisfaction, then turned to the next blank page:
"Next up, it's the tavern and the mushrooms—"

To be honest, my heart skipped a beat when Catherine said, "I think you'll be very interested."

For someone who has no family and was thrown into the "society" to struggle at a young age, it's hard to call the first half of their life "warm".

So when someone comes along and genuinely tells you that they care about your feelings, no one can remain unmoved.

In addition, I did need the 'Golden Oak' as a base for making a name for myself, so it was only natural for me to go to the 'Haunted House' to investigate.

No kidding, I really want to feel the ghost's body temperature.

This resulted in a more disappointing outcome than I had anticipated.

Those were just some singing mushrooms, supposedly alchemical materials that had recently appeared in the 'deep well' of Dragon Gold City.

As a fungal organism, its spores must have drifted into Longjincheng through the deep well, or perhaps penetrated the ground, where they took root in the damp environment.

Regardless, the incident was resolved successfully.

It's better than me keeping a rambling diary, isn't it?

"I'll stop here for now, leaving this as a partial ending. Maybe I'll go back to the dungeon later and continue the Mushroom story then..."

When Tang Qi put down the Snoopy Pen, a wave of fatigue washed over him. He stretched and then waited for the log to be settled.
"It's not a big deal, but it's a proper beginning and end, so there should be some reward, right? I'd even accept edible mushrooms..."

He stared intently at the end of the journal.

But the drowsiness in his eyes vanished instantly—

The expected reward settlement did not appear in the next blank line.

On the contrary.

The words in the log, like ink soaked in water, began to dilute and gradually fade from the bottom up.

Until, they stopped at the words 'alchemy materials'.

"what's the situation?"

Tang Qi had conducted some experiments on this diary, and couldn't help but speculate on the reason for the disappearance of the text.

"It has been confirmed before that the settlement mechanism will only be triggered if the three conditions of 'personal experience', 'authentic and valid', and 'complete and consistent' are met."

If the first two conditions are not met, the written diary entries will be deleted.

If the third condition is not met, the game will remain at the point of ending.

So, does the removal of all the words after 'alchemy materials' mean that the speculation about the mushrooms' influx is wrong?

Tang Qi frowned, picked up his pen, removed the speculations about the origin of the mushrooms, and simply wrote a partial conclusion.

But the words in the diary still faded and disappeared.

So it means...

Is this not over yet?

That doesn't make sense; I should have picked all the mushrooms.

Guessing will never lead to a conclusion. Tang Qi quickly looked out the window, estimating that it would still be some time before dawn, and hurriedly left the room.

"Dawn, dawn?"

The headless knight's soul flames shone brightly, clearly showing no intention of resting, and he waited quietly outside Tang Qi's door, guarding him like a statue.

Hearing Tang Qi's call, her armor gleamed with a metallic clang, and her heartfelt words resonated with a profound sense of security: "I'm here."

“There’s something wrong with that ‘haunted house.’ Let’s go check it out again.”

"it is good."

Although her answer was brief, Tang Qi could sense her excitement.

That was the echo of a desire for challenge.

He then dragged Kuru out of another room.

Although he had taken away its spellbook, Kuru, who had just woken up at night and was still craving to read it, had a plan—

He asked Chuck for a newspaper that Long Jincheng was selling, and was reading it with great interest by candlelight.

Forced out of the ocean of learning, Kuru stomped his feet in anger.

But considering it was Tang Qi's order, it reluctantly nodded and followed.

The trio once again traversed the streets and alleys, but along the way, they could no longer see the drunkard, the dwarf grandmother, or the two brothers having an affair.

A salty, damp sea breeze swept over me.

That faint, mournful song echoed in my ears once again.

"besides!?"

He rushed into the mansion, still carrying the refreshing scent of mint.

Walking into the corner that was cleaned up tonight, a cluster of mushrooms stood proudly in the damp, shady corner of the wall!

Tang Qi quickly opened his dimensional bag to confirm that the mushrooms had indeed been picked clean and preserved.

This means that the mushroom must be real and has not disappeared over time.

"So, they grew back in just a few hours...?"

Tang Qi believes this is the only reasonable explanation.
"With such an incredible growth rate, wouldn't it require cleaning every few hours?"

After all, being adjacent to an inland sea, humidity is unavoidable.

If you can't change the environment, you can only adapt to it.

"Rua!"

Tang Qi heard Kuru call out and quickly turned around.

Then they discovered that the dog-headed man had pulled out a newspaper that had been folded many times from his robe—the very newspaper he had been reading by lamplight.

He spread it out and pointed to a prominent section, allowing Tang Qi to see the contents of the newspaper through the [Light Spell] that came with the ring.

That seems to be news that was reported a few months ago—

[Shocking! Dragon's Nest suspected of being planted with a large number of seeds by an unknown creature, possibly overnight!?]

"If the Deep Well is a dragon's treasure trove, then it really does seem like a 'dragon's nest'?"

Tang Qi raised an eyebrow and continued reading, discovering that it was almost identical to the information he had obtained from Chuck.

However, the newspaper's audience was the entire Dragon Gold City, not just a few adventurers who knew everything about the [Deep Well].

Therefore, I will elaborate further on the introduction of the dungeon.

"History is now lost to history, but it is speculated that the Deep Well was once a natural mine connecting to the Underdark, serving as its resting place in the form of a nest."

After the dragon died, its blood irrigated the land and seeped into the mine, causing the lair to show signs of 'revitalization'.

Its mines and dark chambers, like writhing flesh, became chaotic and disordered, moving in an irregular manner, thus burying the entrance to the dark realm.

The remaining magic of the dragon brought new life to the land, nurturing a wide variety of subterranean creatures and forming a unique ecosystem distinct from that on the surface.

The vast treasures he had stored up during his lifetime were thus scattered throughout every corner of the dungeon, attracting numerous adventurers who roamed the pit as "gold prospectors."

After reading the entire report, Tang Qi finally understood what Kulu meant.
"You mean these mushrooms appeared in this house because of the irregular changes in the underground city—and we should go underground to find the source?"

"Rua!"

"But Longjin City is currently under martial law, so we shouldn't be able to enter the deep well."

Not to mention the intricate underground city; it's difficult for us to find our way from the Deep Well area to the vicinity of Dragon Tail Pass.

Tang Qi nodded, then suddenly stared intently at Kulu, lost in thought.
"unless……"

"Rua?"

Kuru shuddered, his voice trembling.

Tang Qi's scrutinizing gaze inevitably brought back memories of the time before it left the cave.

While traveling with its kind, it casually glanced up and discovered several giant spiders hanging from the ceiling, eagerly pouncing on it.

In short, they have ill intentions.

"Kuru, I remember you kobolds are all experts at digging tunnels, right?"

Tang Qi laughed, grabbed Kulu who was trying to run away, let it struggle as it pleased, and led it straight to the backyard of the house.

I randomly picked a patch of overgrown grass with mushrooms and continued:
"Now is the time for you to show your talent!"

Kuru pointed to himself in confusion:

"Kuru, one?"

"There's no other way—I'm too weak. Dawn will be the main force in the underground cave, and besides, none of us are as experienced as you."

Tang Qi patiently guided him,
"The fact that mushrooms can grow from underground shows that this land is not as solid as we thought, so it shouldn't be a problem for you."

As the former leader of the tribe, Kuru always took overall command and was unwilling and rarely participated in the tunnel-digging project.

But Tang Qi knew it was a dog-headed man addicted to reading:

"Hurry up and dig! Once we reach the entrance, I'll return your spellbook to you!"

Unable to study, Kuru, feeling like ants were crawling all over his body, reluctantly stared at the mushroom-covered land.

It hesitated for a moment.

Then, with a determined heart:
"Rua!"

For the sake of learning, Rua fucking!
(End of this chapter)