This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 318, Section 317: Nightmare (Bonus Chapter)
The cool morning sunlight silently streamed through the window, dividing the room into a silent tapestry of light and shadow.

Inanna had already woken up.

She curled up at the head of the bed, her chin resting gently on her knees, her arms wrapped around her calves, like a young animal trying to protect itself.

She was still reliving fragments of last night's dream: the magnificent ball, the cold touch, and the unsettling emptiness beneath that pink hair.

The puffers surged forward one after another, separating her from the woman and completely blocking the doorway.

The whole dream was like a drama that started strong but ended weakly, concluding in chaos.

Inanna didn't understand. Although her memories of her mother were blurred, in her mind, her mother was a gentle presence who would call her to her bedside and stroke her hair when she cried.

Why does my mother in my dream become so terrifying?
After pulling the knight into her arms and nuzzling him for a while, Inanna finally regained her composure.

"Miss Inanna, Mr. Aidin is already waiting outside," came the maid's soft voice from outside the door.

Today is the day the city wall is completed, and on such an occasion, Inanna, as the nominal owner of this place, must also attend.

Inanna carried the knight out of the house, where Aidin, dressed in an elegant nobleman's suit, was waiting outside. The two of them went to the north gate together.

Upon arrival, the area below the city gate was already teeming with people. For many, the rise of this city was the result of their hard work, and they felt a sense of pride in this ceremony.

Far stood atop the towering city wall, using amplification magic to deliver a passionate speech, which was met with cheers from the crowd below.

Everyone was immersed in the lively atmosphere, except for Inanna, who found the ceremony long and tedious.

Fortunately, she didn't need to go up and say anything; she just needed to stand there and certify Far's new identity—the temporary city lord.

Far's contributions to the construction of the new city are obvious to all. Although Inanna herself felt that Puji's contributions were greater, no matter what, the title of city lord could not possibly fall to Puji.

Inanna herself won't manage things; she won't, and she doesn't want to. So, leaving the position of new city lord to Fal is the best option.

Eric has already consulted His Excellency the Duke and obtained the authority to make a decision on this matter.

The reason it is "temporary" is that there has never been a precedent for the Adventurers' Guild branch leader to also serve as the city lord.

Or rather, the fact that a branch president could transform a small town into a city in less than a year is unprecedented.

In peacetime, the higher-ups might summon Far, bestow upon him a noble title, and remove him from his position as branch president, appointing someone else in his place.

However, we are still in the midst of war. If we rashly step down and replace the branch leader, it would be bad if some conflicts or mishaps occurred and affected the food supply.

Therefore, all procedural matters were postponed, allowing Far to hold two positions and oversee the entire situation as the "temporary city lord".

At the end of his speech, Far announced the city's new name—Mushroom City!
Actually, he originally wanted a rather elegant name, "Podkrei," which means "land of plenty."

However, Miss Inanna casually remarked, "Calling it Mushroom isn't so bad either," and that's how the matter was settled so naturally.

This name was naturally the result of Lin Jun whispering in Fenpuji's ear beforehand.

As for Far, the city's name was unimportant compared to the support of the duke's daughter, so he naturally wouldn't spoil Inanna's fun, as long as it wasn't so outrageous as to call it "Magic City".

Far spoke on the city wall about the various meanings of "Mushroom Capital," and finally ended his speech amidst enthusiastic cheers.

The crowd gradually dispersed, and the guards officially took their posts, guarding the city gate.

From now on, all newcomers must be checked, registered, and pay the city entry tax. From now on, Mushroom City will have to follow the city's rules!
Of course, the setup of various magic arrays is still behind schedule, and will be delayed by one or two months.

A traveling merchant handed over his guild certificate and identification documents. After being carefully checked by the guards and paying the entrance fee, he finally entered this legendary new city where "even the streams are filled with mushrooms." Leading his horse, he walked slowly with the crowd, his eyes scanning the shop signs on both sides of the street, muttering to himself, "Puji House... Puji House... I'm not in a hurry to make contact, but I need to find the place."

……

That night, Fenpuji had a nightmare.

In the dream, humans set fire to a raging fire, and the mushroom field turned into scorched earth in the flames.

Those Puji Masters drove their enslaved Puji to launch a frenzied attack on the Mushroom Garden.

Meanwhile, the Puji in the Mushroom Garden fought desperately, engaging in a fierce battle with the invaders near the entrance to the stairs.

Inanna wanted to rush out to stop the humans, or even help the Puji resist the invasion, but the Puji around her held her back tightly. They pushed her back into the mushroom house, signaling her to hide.

In the distance, the roar of explosions, the clash of weapons, and angry shouts mingled together, constantly assaulting her eardrums.

In her dream, she couldn't understand why people would do that.
The mushrooms saved them from hunger, and the Puji always treated humans with the utmost kindness, so why did they have to exterminate them all?
At the end of the dream, the sounds of battle gradually subsided. She mustered her courage and stepped out of the mushroom house, only to find that the knight Puji, who had been guarding the door and preventing her from leaving, had vanished.

She searched anxiously and finally found it on the horrific battlefield at the top of the stairs. It lay silently on a small hill made of corpses of people and animals, no longer able to respond to her.

Tears streamed down her face. She rushed forward, tightly embraced the knight's limp body, and wept uncontrollably.

……

Suddenly woke up.

She was in a familiar room, not in the mushroom garden. She quickly sensed that her connection with the knight, Puji, was still clear, and it was lying comfortably in her arms.

"It was a dream... just a dream." Inanna hugged Puji tighter, but tears kept streaming down her face.

She slowly calmed her breathing.

That night, although the "mother's" true appearance was horrifying, Inanna was not too frightened, nor did she consider it a nightmare; she simply regarded it as a strange dream.

But today's experience was a real nightmare, and she still can't calm down from the sadness in her heart.

Ever since I started dreaming about my mother, everything in my dreams seems to have started to become strange.

Inanna remembered Eric's advice: if you have a nightmare, tell him immediately.

She recalled her mother and the effects of the Dream Flower, and a sense of fear gripped her heart.

Is this some kind of illness?

Will I, like my mother, gradually weaken from recurring nightmares and eventually pass away prematurely?

Inanna didn't want to die. She loved her life now and wanted to continue living like this with the Puji.

She should tell Eric… but if she did, Eric would definitely take her back to the Duke’s mansion.

More importantly, if this is indeed an illness, it may be incurable!
Otherwise, my mother wouldn't have passed away like that back then.

"What should I do..." Inanna clung to the knight, seemingly seeking a sense of security.

After a long while, Lin Jun, who was using her ultimate move "Sunstone Irradiation" on the unconscious Xiao Lan, received a pitiful plea for help from Fen Puji: "Boss... I, I might die soon!"

(End of this chapter)