Diary of a Dead Wizard

Chapter 116: You Didn’t Plug It In

“What exactly are those head monsters?” Saul had always thought he’d read plenty of books these past two years—but the unknown was always greater than the known.

And in the wizarding world, the unknown usually meant danger.

Because he had absolutely no idea what kind of creature he was dealing with, Saul wanted to retreat into the tent and wait for Byron and Nick to return.

But when he looked up, he saw several head monsters had somehow climbed up onto their lab bench.

One of them even had the back of its head pressed right up against the Soul Wave Detector.

The device was knocked askew and nearly fell to the ground.

But the head monster that bumped into it had absolutely no idea it had almost caused a disaster—it just bounced in place again.

Saul couldn’t take it anymore and hurried to step forward to save the detector.

But the moment he moved his left foot, the diary suddenly flew out and hovered in front of his face.

Even with only a head remaining,

Head monsters will never stop their pursuit of knowledge.

They are forever immersed in their quest for truth.

But if a head monster realizes you can see them,

They’ll enthusiastically recruit a like-minded soul—

So, what do you think?

Though you might end up a little shorter,

That’s just because all the nutrients went to the brain~]

Saul shut his mouth without a word and prepared to put his foot back down.

But as soon as his foot touched the ground, something felt... off.

Feigning casualness, he glanced down—only to find that he was stepping on the hair of that woman’s head from earlier.

She had been clumsily running along, but now, caught by her own hair, the force flipped her backward, rolling her head right to Saul’s ankle.

“Ohhh!!! Some big dumb guy stepped on my hair!”

Saul’s heart dropped.

Just then, a row of head monsters strolled past him.

They didn’t help the woman head monster—instead, they laughed at her.

“Been telling you that hair’s a hassle. Just eat it already.”

“Bald supremacy!”

“Or eat his foot instead?”

“Let’s just hope his foot doesn’t smell worse than your mouth!”

The woman’s eyes darted in all directions.

Saul had the distinct impression she was starting to be convinced.

“Ah,” Saul said flatly, “my foot’s suddenly so itchy.”

He nervously lifted his left foot and, putting on a show, scratched it through the sole of his shoe.

The woman head monster used the moment to back away and freed her hair.

“Ugh, I need to go wash my hair!” she cried, distraught, and ran off.

But honestly, her hair had more mud on it than the bottom of Saul’s shoe.

Confirming there were no more heads underfoot, Saul carefully set his foot back down.

But before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, he heard a loud CRACK! Saul looked up—only to see the Soul Wave Detector had nearly been knocked off the table.

Its base had already slid halfway off the edge.

Saul took a deep breath.

He squared his shoulders and stepped forward, muttering to himself, “This detector doesn’t look that complicated. I’ll try operating it myself.”

He carefully approached and caught the waist-high device just before it could fall.

He’d originally wanted to take it back to the tent, but when he turned around, he found himself surrounded—at some point, a crowd of head monsters had gathered.

Each of them craned their necks with great effort, staring at Saul as if hoping he could see them too.

If Saul wanted to return to the tent now, he’d either have to step on some heads—or make it obvious he was avoiding them.

Either way, it would give him away.

Saul shifted the detector in his arms and said under his breath, “This thing is heavy… forget it, I don’t want to break it. I’ll just try it here.”

He made a show of slowly lowering the detector to the ground.

Because he moved deliberately, the head monsters in front of him saw the device coming down and quickly scooted out of the way.

Saul spotted a clear patch and finally set the detector down safely.

Now, even if they knocked it over again, it shouldn’t break.

To follow through on his earlier act, Saul began to turn it on using the method Byron had taught him.

It was his first time using it, and although Byron had shown him once, Saul still fumbled through the steps.

Especially with a group of supposedly invisible onlookers crowding around.

“He’s so dumb!”

“He’s a wizard?”

“He’s a wizard apprentice!”

“If my apprentice were this dumb, I’d eat his brain.”

“As if you’d ever get an apprentice!”

Saul tried his best to tune out the taunting. But whether it was nerves or just poor memory, no matter how long he fiddled with it, the detector wouldn’t turn on.

“Forget it!” Saul slumped back, one hand landing on a head, then sliding down to the ground. “I must just be too stupid.”

He thought a new wave of ridicule was coming, but the air around him fell completely silent.

He snuck a glance at the floor.

The head monsters were still there.

But they were silent.

Like their mouths had all been stuffed with sweaty socks.

Saul blinked slowly, his gaze drifting toward the mirror.

There, in the mirror, was a warped reflection of himself.

And standing behind that warped version of himself—

Was a person!

Someone whose features were too blurred to make out—but unlike the twisted, ghostly shapes he’d seen before, this figure was perfectly proportioned.

Saul’s whole body went cold. He stopped breathing.

A spirit?

No. Not just any spirit.

An Wraith.

So Byron’s target… had walked right up to him.

But now, Saul was all alone.

He tried to mobilize his mental power, to cast a spell—but he couldn’t move.

Even his spiritual form was sluggish, like lava. It had none of the vitality it used to.

“This Wraith… it’s sealed my movement.”

Even his thoughts had slowed. With his consciousness stiff and dull, he couldn’t even feel afraid—just frozen.

He stared into the mirror at the wraith, unable to look away.

Saul almost wished he were in a life-or-death situation—then the diary might fly out, and he could shift his gaze to it and break the Wraith’s control.

But the diary didn’t move.

Even Little Algae was still.

Clearly, Wraiths weren’t on the menu.

Saul had no idea what the figure in the mirror wanted.

It just… stared at him.

And slowly…

The blurred figure became clearer—like fog dissipating across the mirror’s surface.

Saul could almost make out its eyes—

Suddenly, a hand landed on Saul’s shoulder.

“Huh?”

Saul jolted violently—and finally, he could move again.

He instinctively turned toward the voice—and saw Byron crouching beside him, looking at him with concern.

“Huh?”

“Byron,” Saul said shakily, “I… I just saw a Wraith!” He didn’t dare mention the head monsters. But when he glanced back down, all the heads were gone.

At some point, they had completely disappeared.

“You saw an Wraith? Through the detector?” Nick walked over from behind Byron, arms full of large rocks.

“No way.” He dumped the rocks, looking confused as he walked to the side of the device to inspect it. “You never even turned it on!”

“What?!” Saul was stunned. He pointed to the mirror. “Look—!”

The words caught in his throat.

In the mirror, there was only the warped reflection of himself—and the warped reflection of Byron, crouching beside him.

(End of Chapter)