Mystery: A Spark

After all, to be honest, this place is only separated from Arthur's house by the Tasok River.

Leonard opened the door, went into the living room, threw himself onto the sofa, and then let out a long sigh of relief.

"Now tell me what happened to you? You look so disheveled. It doesn't look like you were taught a lesson by Arthur. What happened to you?" Pales's aged voice rang out at this moment.

Leonard swallowed hard, and only after catching his breath did he say:

"Teacher, please don't be afraid when you hear what I'm about to tell you."

"Heh, I've lived for so many years and seen it all, I'm not afraid, go ahead and say it," Pales replied calmly.

Leonard said with a serious expression:

"I just discovered that Arthur is actually a dreamless person."

Pales paused for two seconds before saying:

"What do you mean by 'a person without dreams'?"

"It means exactly what it says. I wanted to enter Arthur's dream and scare him, but I found out that he didn't have any dreams at all."

"Teacher, the Red Gloves course I took clearly stated that all living beings with normal mental bodies have dreams and can be controlled by nightmares. Even people who are not dreaming have dreams, but because dreams are scattered, they do not show specific content."

“But Arthur is in this situation now…” Leonard frowned, looking somewhat shaken.

"Leonard, dream-related abilities are the foundation of the Church of the Night. They are unlikely to make mistakes in their research in this area. My past experience also shows that no normal person is without dreams."

“So, there must be another reason for Arthur’s situation. Have you ever considered that the reason you didn’t discover Arthur’s dream is not because he doesn’t have it, but because his dream may have been hidden by someone?” Pales said calmly.

He had lived for a very long time and had seen far too many strange and unusual things; such a trivial matter was no longer enough to make him show any surprise.

The only thing that truly opened his eyes was when Arthur, a follower of the Earth Mother, went to the Church of the Night to pray to the Eternal Sun back in Tingen, prompting him to exclaim, "These young people these days really have some wild ideas."

"The dream has been hidden? That's certainly possible." Leonard pondered.

“Leonard, you should know that he is a chosen one of the gods, so it’s quite normal for him to have some special characteristics,” Pales chuckled.

“Hmm, that’s true. Wait, something’s not right. The Earth Mother doesn’t seem to have any dream-related abilities. It seems that only we Sleepless Ones have the ability to control dreams.” Leonard suddenly realized a blind spot.

"Hmm... I'm not quite sure about that," Pales replied vaguely.

Leonard scratched his head, looking somewhat confused.

"But speaking of which, if you didn't discover Arthur's dream, then what caused you to become so disheveled just now?" Pales asked another question.

Upon hearing this, Leonard looked somewhat embarrassed. He coughed lightly and said:

“I didn’t discover Arthur’s dream just now, and then I saw Arthas lying next to him, so I…”

"Is that the little messenger who comes to deliver messages every now and then?"

"Correct."

Even after parting ways in Tingen, Arthur did not lose contact with Leonard, but instead frequently exchanged letters with his poet classmate.

It was through their subsequent correspondence that Leonard learned Anduin was just Arthur's imposter, and he also became acquainted with Arthas, the messenger.

Leonard seemed to feel that his actions were somewhat shameful, and tried to defend himself by saying:

"Actually, it's mainly because Arthas is quite cute, and I felt I couldn't leave empty-handed, so I wanted to go into the little guy's dream and play with him, but..."

"So you got bitten by a dog?" Pales asked with a chuckle.

"No... I hadn't even seen anything clearly after entering its dream when I was hit by a mental shock and then woke up. When I woke up, it felt like someone had hit my head with a stick, and it hurt terribly." Leonard touched his head, still feeling shaken.

"Mental shock? Heh, how interesting. One of these dreams can't find the master, and the other will suffer a mental shock if it tries to enter, so it probably won't be able to get in. You're really unlucky, Nightmare, you've run into two nemesis, hahaha." Seeing Leonard's frustrated expression, Pales laughed heartily.

Leonard silently buried his face in the sofa, looking ashamed to be seen.

He really embarrassed himself tonight. Luckily, only he and the old man knew about it, otherwise he would probably have become a nightmare of shame.

……

Thursday noon, 7 Downsend Street.

"Tsk tsk, this place you're staying in is quite nice. It's obviously a wealthy family's home." Leonard sat in the living room, looking around as if it were his first time here, and commented.

"Hey, what a wealthy family they were, they've fallen on hard times."

“I’m thinking of renting this house out now, and becoming a coachman to pick up passengers to increase my income,” Arthur said, waving his hand.

"Come on, if you can afford such good wine, stop complaining about being poor." Leonard picked up his wine glass and swirled it.

"Oh, you don't know, these wines of mine have been passed down from my ancestors. It's taken many generations to accumulate just a few bottles. Once they're gone, they're gone," Arthur sighed, his face full of sorrow.

Leonard curled his lip and muttered:

"Alright, alright, stop talking nonsense. I'm not asking you for money, why are you making yourself sound so pitiful?"

The worry on Arthur's face vanished in an instant, replaced by a smile. He said:

"This is just in case. I noticed you brought up my house as soon as you arrived, so I couldn't help but worry."

I was just pretending it was my first time here… Leonard took a sip of wine as a cover-up, then changed the subject:

“I visited Benson and Melissa before coming to your house. They are doing much better and seem to have moved on from that incident.”

"And what about you? Have you made it out?" Arthur asked Leonard.

"Me? How can I get over it? I watched him die with my own eyes, and it was because of me that he died." Leonard laughed self-deprecatingly. "I can't get over it unless I can kill that person with my own hands."

As Arthur looked at Leonard, who was drinking as if nothing was wrong, it was as if he were looking at a suppressed volcano.

"There will be opportunities, don't worry," Arthur said earnestly.

He stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

"Let's have lunch here, so you can try my cooking."

"Row."

Leonard was about to pour himself another drink when he saw Arthas silently appear in front of him.

The puppy grinned slyly and whispered something that terrified Leonard.

"Mr. Leonard, you don't want Arthur to know about what happened last night, do you?"

Chapter 179 Arthur, Favored by "Good Luck"

"You, what do you mean?"

Leonard glanced at the kitchen doorway and asked in a low voice.

"Hehe, what were you doing here last night instead of sleeping at home?"

Arthas's face lit up with a sly look, and he asked in the same low voice.

"Well, as the night watchman, it's perfectly reasonable for me to be out and about at night," Leonard said, trying to defend himself, not wanting to be so easily manipulated by the kid.

"Oh? Is that so?" Arthas looked incredulous.

“That’s right.” Leonard straightened his back and said decisively.

"Well, as far as I know, generally speaking, night watchmen are out at night because they have a mission. Since there is a mission, I think I should talk to Arthur about it."

“After all, you two have such a good relationship, he should be happy to help you, don’t you think?” Arthas made a move to walk towards the kitchen.

"No, no, no!" Leonard hurriedly stopped the little white dog in front of him, saying helplessly, "You little thing are just as cunning as your master. Fine, fine, just name your terms."

It's better for this little thing to know what happened last night than for Arthur to know. After all, there's a limit to how much trouble this little white dog can cause, but there's no limit to how much trouble Arthur can cause.

“Hehe, actually I’m not trying to make any unreasonable demands. It’s just that I tried a dog biscuit a few days ago and thought it tasted really good.” Arthas’s expression became a little dejected. “But Arthur just won’t buy it for me, saying that it’s unhealthy.”

"You're not allowed to eat dog biscuits? What does Arthur usually feed you?" Leonard asked curiously.

"Well, it's actually quite a feast, for example, honey-glazed roasted pork, stewed lamb with carrots, and braised duck necks."

"These dishes are delicious, but I just wanted to try something new, but Arthur wouldn't let me," Arthas said, sounding a little aggrieved.

Goodness, this little thing is eating even more lavishly than I am... Leonard touched his nose, and began to understand.

To put it simply, this little guy is just getting tired of eating regular meals and wants some snacks to treat himself.

It's like how some people in aristocratic circles gradually lose interest in their spouses after marriage and instead become interested in other people's spouses.

It's all about the novelty.

Of course, this analogy isn't entirely accurate, but it conveys the general idea.

In addition, the atmosphere in the noble circles of Rune is actually quite conservative. The truly open-minded place is Intis, where people really go wild.

Things like sex, partner swapping, and naked parties are just too enviable, no, too despicable.

"Hmm... are those dog biscuits expensive? I can't afford the really expensive ones." Leonard finally accepted Arthas's terms, but with a caveat.

Although his salary as a Red Glove was quite considerable, he also knew that some dog biscuits were exclusively for the noble breeds in aristocratic households, and the prices were ridiculously high, ranging from a few pounds to tens of pounds per bag.

“At most thirty pounds, and you can’t eat it often,” Leonard said seriously.

His bad luck last night was entirely his own doing, and it's normal for him to pay to avoid trouble, but he shouldn't suffer too much of a loss. Consider the thirty pounds a lesson learned.

At least Leonard learned that even seemingly harmless and non-threatening creatures cannot be easily entered into the dream world.

Although the Red Gloves course covers this topic, no matter how eloquently the explanations are given, nothing beats the unforgettable experience of going through it firsthand.

Fortunately, this time it was Arthur and Arthas's dream that they only suffered some shock and did not suffer any substantial damage.

Leonard doesn't even want to think about the consequences if he ever enters someone else's dream and sees some kind of evil god.

"Don't worry, I just want to try something new." The puppy waved its paw and agreed.

For it, dog biscuits, though tasty, were just a snack; if we're talking about real delicacies, Arthur's cooking was much better.

While Leonard was being blackmailed by Arthas, Arthur quickly prepared lunch.

Leonard was immediately amazed when he saw the plates of delicious-looking stir-fries that Arthur brought out.

"I never expected you could cook stir-fries so deliciously. It's truly rare," Leonard said with some surprise after tasting the food on the table.

“If you like it, you can come back again.” Arthur poured Leonard and himself a glass of red wine. “By the way, after you advanced to Nightmare, will you still recite poetry like before?”

“Of course I will read it, after all, I am a poet.” Leonard straightened his back and tried his best to show the temperament of a poet.

“Hey, Leonard, but as far as I know, a poet should be someone who creates poetry. You’re just reciting other people’s poems. How can you call yourself a poet?” Arthur chuckled as he exposed him.

Even when he was still a curly-haired baboon, he found it strange that the name of the Midnight Poets series always seemed somewhat out of place.