Chapter Fifty-Four: The Realm of Dreams

Glancing at those high heels, Louis knew that Auxicris must have returned today. These days, the laboratory seemed busy enough, but compared to before, Auxicris had become quite the homebody. She no longer buried herself in potion experiments; instead, she thought constantly of coming home to tidy up the house and do the laundry.

Or perhaps to wash the feet of that ‘kept boy’ she boasted about to her closest friend.

Today, this diligent lady had finally returned home in high spirits—just look at the carpet, its color nearly scrubbed white. Clearly, Auxicris had used tea leaves to clean it this time.

Helen, that lazy girl, could never be as meticulous or industrious as her elder sister.

After removing his hat, Louis glanced at his pocket watch—good heavens, it was already past nine. In this era, people rise and retire early. With few entertainments after dark, nine o’clock was considered quite late.

Knowing Auxicris might be back these days, Louis had made a point to return home well after her usual six o’clock curfew. Yet the teacher no longer stood at the door with her iron ruler, waiting to make trouble for him.

Last week, when Auxicris was tutoring, she especially loved to wield her ruler, apparently finding great satisfaction in disciplining her tall, handsome student.

But it seemed that habit had been broken.

“You see, I prepared the ruler for you—isn’t that so? Well, I suppose I’ll use it myself.” Louis took off his coat and hung it on the rack. Removing his shoes, he entered the living room.

Lately, the living room had been transformed; not only the carpet, but even the curtains seemed freshly washed. Perhaps she believed that doing more chores would help her forget the affair with the socks.

Louis glanced toward the balcony and found his socks hanging there, along with several pieces of his underwear.

His cheeks flushed ever so slightly; he had hidden them under the bed, intending to wash them himself. Yet Auxicris had found them and washed them anyway.

Dinner was set on the table beside the sofa, along with a jug of cold water. People here preferred wine or tea to plain water, so the meal and water were clearly intended for Louis.

“You see, this makes me feel rather embarrassed. I really ought to praise you.” Louis couldn’t help but smile.

This lady had truly improved over these days, deserving a few words of commendation.

He glanced at Auxicris’s bedroom and found the door tightly shut. Perhaps cleaning had tired her out, and she was already resting. He’d intended to praise her.

“Maybe she’s shy,” Louis thought.

It seemed that Auxicris had no intention of giving him an excuse to explode.

Perhaps the formidable reputation of Madame Stia had prompted Auxicris to prepare carefully before the ‘dueling lesson.’

“No rush, step by step,” Louis chuckled inwardly.

Only a week had passed since Auxicris began her cleaning spree; he’d give her time to adjust. Otherwise, her thin skin might not bear it.

Helen, on the other hand, showed no signs of needing an adjustment period or being unable to accept such matters; she remained as lively as ever.

Apparently, she had just bathed, wearing only a shirt. She sprawled across the sofa, neither sitting nor standing properly, chatting with her girlfriends via crystal ball.

When Louis entered, she wrinkled her nose and snorted, then resumed her conversation. Her pale legs swung atop the table, disturbing the order her sister had just restored.

Her feet played with a salt shaker.

With each movement, salt spilled out.

Louis’s eye twitched; that salt shaker was for his exclusive use! And this girl was playing with it using her feet!

He grabbed the flyswatter ruler and smacked Helen’s little white foot.

“Ouch!” Helen quickly drew her leg back, rubbing her foot, biting her lip as she prepared to scold Louis. But when he glared at her, she instantly pouted and behaved.

[Big mean Louis! Just wait, you’re doomed—my best friend will deal with you tomorrow! Hmph, hmph!]

[Sister just brags. She promised to deal with Louis today. I shouldn’t have told her about Madame Stia. Now she says she needs a month to prepare and will handle him the day before school starts… Boohoo, Kitty will be bullied by big mean Louis for another month.]

[Hmph, silly Louis only knows how to eat. Go ahead, eat, eat. Hehehe…]

Louis pretended not to hear. Since his magical power had increased, his mind-reading abilities had grown stronger. If he forgot to close himself off, the voices of all the townsfolk would invade his head.

Dinner was sumptuous, enough for three. As his strength grew, so did his appetite. Soon the mighty warrior had polished off every dish. When it came time to wash up, Helen, still pouting, cleaned the plates.

After dinner, Louis bathed and lay on his bed. Suddenly, he felt something strange in his body. He climbed out and checked his pupils in the mirror, then peered inward through the four-dimensional vision.

He suddenly recalled Helen’s sly smile and, bewildered, lay back down. Gripping his quilt, he felt a bit nervous.

“Have I been drugged by these two sisters?”

“Did they slip me a potion?!”

Louis was stupefied.

“You two are shameless! Utterly despicable!”

It appeared Auxicris had secretly studied Louis’s body, somehow administering a potent dose—enough to knock out an ogre!

But it still wasn’t nearly sufficient.

Louis yawned; he was genuinely tired today. Stuart had summoned him several times already. They’d sneak in soon enough—he might as well nap first.

Louis quickly drifted into sleep, only to be pulled into the dream of the magician Harold by the impatient Stuart.

Harold’s dream had been devoured by the nightmare Stuart for many years. Now, with Stuart’s power diminished, it craved the dreams of such a mighty wizard all the more.

Such wizard dreams brim with powerful magic, and Harold possessed extraordinary imagination.

Dreams with imagination and magical power are a nightmare’s favorite.

It seemed that at first, Stuart had tormented Harold within the dream, but eventually Harold turned the tables, reclaiming control and punishing Stuart.

Dreams are certainly Stuart’s domain, but there are two kinds of people it cannot handle: those with extraordinary imagination and creativity, and those whose imagination surpasses Stuart’s own.

Harold belonged to the first group. Louis, to both.

Now, with Louis asleep, Stuart begged its master to bring it along for a challenge.

Harold’s dream was bizarre and fantastical. After wandering about, Louis encountered a fat man.

The fat man stood in a field of blue mushroom grass, with chocolate streams running through it, smiling like a host inviting a guest.

“Sir, I knew you’d come. Hmph, but this is my domain, so this time… er, I mean, could we negotiate, sir?” Harold broke off mid-sentence, sweating as he glanced nervously at the sky, fending off unnamed entities.

Suddenly, countless gigantic objects appeared in the sky—massive cigars, enormous saucers, giant sandwiches. Their shapes were peculiar, their surfaces mirrored and reflective. As these monstrosities appeared, stones and earth began to float upward, and the ground trembled.

This was Harold’s own dream world. He tried to erase these bizarre things or transform them into something else.

But all attempts failed.

The only explanation: these terrifying things, somewhere beyond, truly existed, witnessed or dreamed of by many. This prevented Harold from erasing or altering them.

But what truly terrified Harold was not this.

A gigantic sandwich released a small device toward the sun, and the sun was extinguished. In the dream, Harold could sense the sun collapsing, shrinking into a tiny black dot.

Harold felt that this black dot was so terrifying he could not describe it—more fearsome than any god ever conceived by wizards.

It was unnameable, unseen; in its realm, even light was devoured.

Harold tried to erase this faceless thing from his dream—again, he failed.

This confirmed it: this unimaginable, indescribable, unnameable ‘god’ was one of those entities that, somewhere beyond, truly existed.

It was devouring this world—even the void was being consumed!