Gender-swapped Saintess: A Survival Diary on Hell Difficulty

With the bathroom incident over, Roland began analyzing the reasons for things getting out of control.

After gradually ruling out the possibility of an evil god's invasion, an illusionary magic attack, or poisoning from a harmful magic potion, the two focused their attention on food.

That is, the pink king oyster mushroom slices served as a late-night snack.

Mushroom poisoning is quite common throughout the Dark Underground.

Due to the lack of sunlight, the main food source in the underground world is mushrooms, and the wild ecosystem is rich in a wide variety of mushrooms.

It's common to hear stories of adventurers who, while traveling, experience hallucinations after accidentally eating unknown mushrooms, leading to embarrassing situations.

This almost perfectly captures Tess's out-of-control situation.

Although Roland didn't quite believe that the king oyster mushrooms she grew were harmful, she still placed them on the alchemy platform for rigorous experimental testing.

In the laboratory, Roland maintained the detection magic circle.

The detection magic circle looks somewhat like a Bagua diagram, with a high concentration of pink king oyster mushroom extract placed in the center. After activation, the symbols of illusion magic suddenly light up.

Upon seeing this, Roland gasped.

"No way, this king oyster mushroom really has hallucinogenic properties."

Seeing this, Tess grabbed her writing board and moved closer to Roland, writing in agreement.

"Miss Laura, eating this really makes me feel happy and emotional."

What?!

Did you enjoy the meal?

"Holy crap, it's ice cold!"

Roland let out a strange cry, the content of which confused Tess, who tilted her head and wrote two words on the board.

"Ice?"

"No, no, no, it's not ice. Um... I'm just worried that this mushroom might be addictive."

Roland immediately buried herself in tinkering. Although her magical power was only at the apprentice level, her alchemical knowledge would not disappear. As long as she spent some extra effort, figuring out the effects of a mushroom would not be a problem.

……

Several hours later.

"Detection record: Pink King Oyster Mushroom, low-level magical crop."

"The effect is to amplify the user's emotions, with the added benefits of mental healing, minor recovery effects, and minor physical activation."

"Overdose may cause hallucinations, but no addictive properties have been found so far."

As Roland recounted the experimental conclusions, her eyes widened immediately.

According to the test results, the mushrooms in this box that I grew myself are now a new variety of king oyster mushroom, and even the superb grade has been improved.

Theoretically speaking, Tess lost control and became chaotic because she overate pink king oyster mushrooms, coupled with her poor eyesight and weak constitution.

"Phew... food poisoning is better than being attacked. If I were really under a spell or poisoned, that would be a real problem."

"By the way, we need to weaken the effects of this pink king oyster mushroom before we can sell it in the tavern."

Roland muttered to herself as she pondered.

This plant mutation is undoubtedly related to the milk-based stabilizing potion, so we shouldn't make too much of a fuss about it.

She turned her gaze to the secret greenhouse at the far end of the alchemy laboratory and stepped inside.

Inside the greenhouse enclosed by glass and wooden frames.

This place has been transformed into a vibrant indoor garden.

The oak frame was covered with vines, and lush green grass grew from the gaps in the wooden floor. Numerous pink king oyster mushrooms grew vigorously, peeking out of the boxes like turtle heads, spying on the figures inside the greenhouse.

A goblin girl sat on the floor, her eyes half-closed, greedily breathing in the fresh, unpolluted air, her face full of intoxication, as if she would fall into a drunken stupor in this little garden at any moment.

"Hey, Tess, snap out of it."

"Wake up."

Roland patted Tess on the shoulder several times, but received no response.

She wiggled her hips, and her long, slender heart-shaped tail flew past her side, its heart-shaped tip tickling Tess's nose. In no time, Tess sneezed loudly.

"Ah~ Tsk~"

Tess was born with a voice impairment and suffered from psoriatic arthritis. Her sneezes were much quieter than normal, giving her an unusually gentle appearance.

She opened her half-closed eyes wide, looked up at Roland, and shyly picked up the magic writing board from the ground, writing something.

"Sorry, I was daydreaming."

"The air here is so sweet, I love it here."

Tess glanced out of the corner of her eye at the magic circle in the secret greenhouse that produced the potion mist, and then cast an admiring and hopeful look at Roland.

"Miss Laura is amazing. The purification room of the gentlemen in the upper city is probably just like this in the surface world."

"Hehehe, the little guy doesn't know much yet."

"Powerful superhumans have many ways to shape the environment. I know a powerful tree spirit whose harvest aura can directly create an artificial plant paradise."

Roland laughed and handed the test results to Tess.

"By the way, I've figured out the effects of the pink king oyster mushroom. It must be this thing that made you lose control."

"Its effects seem a bit too strong right now. Do you think there's any way to weaken it so it's easier to sell in taverns?"

Tess's eyes lit up.

Cultivating mushrooms is what she's best at!

She immediately patted her thin chest and agreed, the sound of her bony ribs making a low "thump" that made one feel sorry for her.

Roland reached out and pulled Tess up from the ground, brushing the dust off Tess's bottom and reminding her.

"Besides helping to grow mushrooms, you can also come to this secret greenhouse often. The air here is beneficial for the recovery of your pneumoconiosis."

"Sleeping here is fine, but space is limited, so you'll have to sleep on the floor."

As Roland spoke, she suddenly raised her voice and pinched Tess's cheek.

"Of course—everything here has to be kept secret! You know how this environment was created!"

"Like I said, if you don't want to be tied up in that dark room and treated like pigs, you have to keep your mouth shut and not say a word!"

Tess nodded hurriedly and, moved, threw herself into Roland's arms.

……

Meanwhile, in the Upper City of Black Iron, at the Cathedral of the Overseer.

Dura Greygold, the eldest daughter of the Greygold noble Greydwarf family, walked out of the Church of the Overseer God accompanied by her secretary, Cecilia.

The Overseer is the long-standing faith of Black Iron City and the racial god of the Grey Dwarves. He is in charge of forging and metal smelting, labor and hard labor, promotes class-based authoritarianism, and is jealous and contemptuous of laziness and slackness.

This deity was among the first to fall, so his followers migrated to the dark underworld in his early years, escaping the subsequent chaos and invasion of the abyss, and thus passed on his faith.

Although the gods have fallen, they remain the pillar of faith in Black Iron City. Whether they are grey dwarves, demons, foxes, or dragons, all councilors must attend worship services.

People would socialize, negotiate, and make deals worth tens of thousands of gold coins over lavish worship dinners.

Today, Durla's unusual early departure surprised Secretary Cecilia.

"Miss, is it really alright if we leave early?"

"What's the problem? There's no rule against leaving early at the church service."

"But wouldn't that seem a bit...not devout enough?"

Dura paused, turning back to glance at the Cathedral of the Overseer.

At the top of the church is an emblem of an intertwined hammer and whip, with the distinctive small round shield of the grey dwarves on its back.

This is a symbol of the Lord Overseer.

Dura pursed her lips, her right hand sliding down her waist to caress the gold coin-shaped wealth pendant.

"Sissia, this has nothing to do with piety, it's just that there's something urgent."

She straightened the collar of the capitalist's suit, then reached out to adjust her top hat, and began to speak in a calm and confident tone.

"Breaking news today: a large number of demon-affiliated merchant guilds in the Upper City have dispatched high-level management and personnel to the Lower City, clearly indicating that they are about to make a big move."

"Since the appearance of the large crack in the steel core, the prospects for commerce in Black Iron City are not optimistic. It's time to explore the commercial potential of the lower city."

"Let's go back and prepare. We'll also go down and take a look around, and see what the demons are up to."