In the Dream Garden, Inanna was hosting an elegant tea party. Aside from Inanna, all the attendees were Pujis.
At a small round table covered with a white lace cloth, several round, plump Pujis sat upright on specially raised children’s chairs, waiting quietly and obediently.
Inanna held a delicate porcelain pot and carefully filled the miniature teacups in front of each Puji with warm black tea, only pouring herself a cup at the end.
The Pujis extended their soft mycelium tendrils, coiled around the steaming cups, and gracefully poured the tea over their smooth, rounded caps.
Inanna smiled and took a small sip of her tea, immersed in a private happiness and leisure that belonged to her alone.
As time passed, the light around her seemed to dim ever so slightly.
Beyond the formerly blank-white boundary of the garden, a woman’s figure had appeared at some unknown moment.
She knelt quietly not far away, a waterfall of pink hair spreading over the ground and hiding her face.
Though her childhood memories were already blurred, Inanna still blurted out on instinct: “Mother…?”
She couldn’t help standing, wanting to go closer for a better look.However, just as she was about to step across the garden’s border, several Pujis immediately extended their tendrils and gently tugged at the hem of her dress.
Inanna helplessly halted her steps, crouched down, and gently patted each Puji to soothe them.
When they relaxed, she looked up again—only to find that the figure who seemed to be her mother had vanished without a trace.
Inanna had no choice but to return to the little table and continue the tea party that had been interrupted.
…
“Mother…” Inanna murmured as she woke from sleep. Her drowsy eyes were still hazy with confusion; her chest felt tight and her breathing a little difficult.
After moving aside a Puji that had been lying across her chest, she felt much better.
Inanna was puzzled; she didn’t understand why she would suddenly dream of her mother.
Nothing in recent days should have especially stirred her memories. What’s more, the mother in her recollection had long since faded into an extremely vague symbol.
After all, her mother had died when she was young.
Besides that deeply impressive pink hair and a few scattered, broken fragments, Inanna couldn’t even recall her mother’s specific features or voice.
There was no portrait or keepsake of her mother to be found in the ducal manor either; supposedly, her father had ordered them removed to avoid being reminded of the past.
All in all, it was a rather inexplicable dream.
Dreaming of her mother didn’t make Inanna particularly sad. She had long been used to days without her parents—or rather, such days felt normal to her.
And besides, she had Pujis now!
Looking at the Pujis strewn crookedly across the bed, Inanna quickly cast aside her doubts about the dream and, full of energy, led the little ones out of the bedroom!
“Young lady.” As the door opened, a maid who had been waiting outside greeted her.
Farther out in the courtyard, two gold-rank guards were sparring earnestly in the morning light.
Elsewhere in the manor, other family guards and servants busied themselves back and forth.
Ever since she decided to settle long-term in Mushroom Town, Fahl had unhesitatingly demarcated a large plot in the best area near the Guild and built this comfortable manor for her.
Butler Eric had also increased the number of guards and thoughtfully arranged a team of maids to attend to her daily life.
Inanna still found it rather strange that Eric had been so understanding—and had even agreed readily to her living away from the ducal manor. She had expected it would take some effort to get her wish.
Still, since the current situation was entirely to her benefit, she was happy not to dig deeper.
What if asking too many questions reminded Eric to bring her back to that stifling ducal manor—then what would she do?
Life here made Inanna feel utterly satisfied.
She had Pujis at her side at all times; the omnipresent Spore Network wrapped around her thoughts whenever she wished; she could even chat with the Boss whenever she liked!
“Boss, I actually dreamed about my mother…”
“I only remember that when I was little, my mother was always lying in bed…”
“Boss, do you have a mother?”
Lin Jun: “???”
Only after finishing that daily back-and-forth of “Inanna says five lines, Boss replies with one” was Inanna content. Hugging her knight Puji, she stepped lightly out of the residence.
However, her good mood didn’t last long.
When she saw, in the distance, two so-called “Puji Masters” excitedly comparing the firepower of their respective Artillery Pujis, the clear brightness of her mood was quickly shadowed.
If there was anything that had truly displeased her lately, it was these suddenly emerging “Puji Masters.”
At first, there had only been one lucky accident—someone who had symbiotically bonded with the mycelium and gained the ability to control Pujis. Then, there appeared a madman who had deliberately stabbed himself to seek such a bond!
Not only had the latter recorded the symbiosis method in detail and sold it to the Guild, he also peddled it widely among adventurers, drawing in many eager imitators.
Though the absolute number of such people wasn’t high yet, the trend was obvious, and it would only grow.
Even with the Guild issuing an announcement detailing the many unknown harms and risks this kind of symbiosis might bring, many still couldn’t resist the temptation of gaining power so easily.
Inanna despised these people from the bottom of her heart. She couldn’t even sense them through the Spore Network; it was completely different from Aidan’s case.
What’s more, they had no tenderness toward Pujis—their eyes held only naked exploitation.
Look at those two. They were comparing which Puji dealt higher damage as if comparing whose sword was sharper or whose shield was tougher. In their hands, a Puji was nothing but a tool, a consumable.
They drove Pujis into battle and, once spent, felt no pangs about capturing new ones to replace them, over and over again.
If she could, Inanna truly wanted to step forward and, as the duke’s daughter, forbid such behavior. Unfortunately, the Boss did not approve.
The Boss was good in every way—just too kind. In order to get along with humans, he kept swallowing grievances for himself and for the Pujis. Only Inanna silently stood up for them in her heart.
Even so, she understood that even if she did step out to stop it, it would likely be in vain.
The power of a ducal house was not omnipotent—especially not in the face of this craze for strength.
Thus she could only bury her displeasure deep down, quietly hating those who treated Pujis as mere tools—the so-called “Puji Masters.”
Not wanting to see any more, Inanna turned away, taking her Pujis and guards with her.
…
The two newly minted “Puji Masters” had no idea they were despised by the duke’s daughter. They had just made a major discovery—these Pujis didn’t all have identical attributes!
People only knew that Puji strength was divided into broad tiers: the Puji King in the hands of the duke’s daughter; beneath that, the “Otaku Pujis” or the elite variants; and finally, the ordinary Pujis that were everywhere.
But now they had found that even among ordinary Pujis, there were differences!
Among Pujis of the same type, some actually had higher attributes!