Chapter 582 – The Eve of Dreaming
Chapter 582: The Eve of Dream Entry
After leaving Sarah Meier’s mansion, Lucrecia didn’t immediately return to her own residence in the city-state, but instead returned to the Radiant Star ship that was docked at the harbor.
Fluttering pieces of colored paper hovered over the deck, through the corridors, flew across the bridge, and entered the captain’s bedchamber, Lucrecia’s figure stepped out from the Wind of Illusion, and she casually placed the spiced wine in her hand on the low cabinet to the side, before striding towards the dresser where the crystal ball was placed.
In a corner of the room, the large rabbit doll lying on the bed immediately moved for a moment, and immediately jumped up from the bed, bouncing towards this side: ”Mistress! You’re finally back, Rabbi was so bored on the ship ……”
“Just a temporary trip back, I have to go back to the city later,” Lucrecia took a look at the creepy looking rabbit doll and casually asked, “Is there anything unusual on the ship?”
“There’s nothing unusual on the ship, everything’s ~fine~!” The mischievous girl’s voice came from inside the rabbit with an inviting tone, “The rabbi is taking good care of the place, just like when the mistress was here!”
“And last night?” Lucrecia asked again, “Did you see anything out of place on shore while docked in the harbor?”
“On shore?” Rabi was stunned for a moment, it seemed to finally notice the serious expression on its mistress’s face, and the lively and inviting look it had before was immediately collected, “There was nothing out of place ashore ……, but Rabi didn’t pay too much attention to the movements on shore… …”
Lucrecia slowly furrowed her brows, and after briefly asking this rabbit doll a few questions, she waved her hand, “There’s nothing more for you to do for now, go and wait on the sidelines – after that, you and Luni will come with me to the city.”
“To town?!” The rabbi let out a short exclamation that seemed to carry a hint of surprise and amazement, “You’re taking the rabbi into town? Are we going to play?”
Lucrecia reached her hand towards the crystal ball in front of her, and after hearing the rabbit doll’s words, she was silent for a second or two before speaking faintly while touching the crystal, “It might be fun for you.”
The rabbit jumped happily in place, then bounced back to the bed, laying down where she had just been with a plop, and waited patiently.
The crystal ball gradually glowed and hummed, and after waiting for some time, there was finally a response in that glow, and Tirian’s figure hastily appeared between the light and shadows, and gradually took clear shape.
“Lucy?” A voice came from the crystal ball, “Ah, I was receiving a few merchant representatives just now, and I didn’t notice the crystal ball’s movement – is everything alright on your end?”
“I’m fine,” Lucrecia looked at her elder brother in the crystal, and after noticing the fatigue in the other party’s expression, she quietly put away an expression of some impatience due to having waited for a long time, “It looks like you’re very busy on your side, and haven’t been resting much lately?”
“To be honest, things are already much better now than they were a while ago, at least I’ve had the chance to fix my own lunch at the table,” Tirian shrugged, and then he couldn’t help but survey the situation behind Lucrecia, as if confirming whether or not there was someone in the picture, and then he hesitated for a moment before hesitantly speaking up. “Father is he …… over there?”
“Not right now, he’s busy with something else,” Lucrecia replied, then added, “Don’t be such a bundle of nerves, Dad’s busy right now.”
“Oh,” Tirion answered, then hesitated and asked cautiously, “Did you …… get along with him okay the last two days? Nothing happened, did it? Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Everything’s fine,” Lucrecia said casually, then she thought for a moment and motionlessly turned her head sideways so that the silvery-white waves and feathered hair accessory appeared in the picture, “He finally gave me this hairpiece that’s a hundred years late, and unbelievably, it’s as good as new. ”
Tirion in the crystal ball froze, the worried expression that was hanging on his face a moment before suddenly froze a bit, he looked over in a daze for a long time before the corners of his mouth finally twitched, “…… Ah?”
“He didn’t bring you a gift?” Lucrecia turned her face and asked with special seriousness.
Tirion thought for a moment, pressed one hand to his forehead, with a tone of lifelessness, “Sixteen rounds of 24 pounds, three rounds of 32 pounds, and no count of 12 pounds ……”
Lucrecia looked across the room in silence for a long time before speaking quietly, “You fired first.”
“…… You came to me out of the blue just to say that?”
“Of course not,” Lucrecia shook her head, and only then said with a straight face, “I want you to pay attention to some …… things lately, if there is a situation, the first time to contact me.”
Tirian immediately became serious, “Pay attention to some things?”
“Elves, if I remember correctly, Frost should also have quite a few elves who have settled for a long time,” Lucrecia said indifferently, “That ‘synergistic monitoring system’ between the Church, the Adventurer’s Guild, and the city-states has just been established. It doesn’t seem to be reacting right now, so I’ll contact you directly ……”
…… At 99 Crown Street, in the back garden surrounded by trees, greenery and fences and thus appearing a bit gloomy, a fire light suddenly expanded into a burning doorway, and the figures of Duncan and Alice stepped out from the gate.
Shirley, who was dawdling in the sun in the backyard, instantly jumped up and turned her head to run towards the house – but after just two steps she was stopped by Duncan: “What are you running for?”
Shirley rushed to a halt, she froze in place for a moment, twisting her head around and scratching her hair, “Yeah, what am I running for …… Sorry Captain I reflexed ……”
“A shock,” Duncan frowned at the girl, “Is Lucrecia back yet?”
“Not yet,” Shirley shook her head, “but Vanna and the old man are back, they’re in the parlor.”
Duncan nodded, “Well that’s fine, come in with me and see what they’ve got.”
“I’ll go to the kitchen and put things away first then,” Alice said as she walked away, clutching the large wooden tub full of ingredients that she had taken from the Lost Country, “We can have fish soup tonight!”
Duncan glanced at the doll with a subtle expression – in Alice’s head, it seemed to have its own set of logic tree that operated steadily, even if something heavenly happened around her, as long as the Lost Country ship didn’t explode in place, she could calmly and naturally act at her own pace, such as going back to the Lost Country ship to get the fish, such as going to the kitchen to make the meal ……
Duncan even suddenly a little suspect, even if the Lost Country really suddenly exploded in place, as long as he is still in front of this doll, she can after the reaction froze to ask himself what he wants to eat tonight ……
But there was nothing wrong with that – in this turbulent world, Duncan felt that it was actually quite nice to have such a doll by his side who only ever cared about what kind of soup he was going to make tonight.
A few moments later, Duncan had arrived in the parlor while Vanna and Maurice, who had just finished a day’s worth of action in the city, briefed him on what they had so far.
“…… As far as it seems, it should indeed be the entire city-state that was affected last night, which includes the local elven population, as well as the other races that live in the city – no one noticed the mutation, and as for those who are engaged in night work, there seems to be a degree of ‘cognitive confusion’ ……”
Vanna sat on the couch and recounted her investigative intelligence from the perspective of a professional Inquisitor.
“During the morning, I came into contact with several mechanics who had just returned home from their shift in the steam pump room, and during the conversation, I realized that they did not remember their specific night watch last night, yet they felt that everything was normal last night, and that nothing had happened to them all night, and that they were lucid, yet they had no cognizance at all of the contradictions in their own words, as if… …”
Vanna hesitated for a moment, as if searching for more appropriate words, before continuing a moment later, “As if still immersed in a ‘lucid dream’.”
“That is to say, those who sleep at night collectively experience a dreamless night, while those who work at night are ‘lost’ for a period of time out of nowhere, while at the same time feeling all right about it?” Duncan listened to Vanna’s report and couldn’t help but venture a question, “Have you tried to confirm the deeper mental states of those people? Any signs of mental contamination?”
“I used some of the Church of the Deep’s divine tactics, but didn’t go too far,” Vanna nodded, “After a preliminary check, there were no signs of contamination in those people, they just …… ‘naturally developed false perceptions and memories’.”
Duncan rubbed his chin and after a moment of contemplation looked up again, to Maurice, who was seated on the other couch.
“I went to see a few old friends to inform them of last night’s mutation, the Academy side is now investigating and formulating countermeasures, and if all goes well on Miss Lucrecia’s end, the entire official response system in Lightwind Harbor will be active afterward,” Maurice nodded, “but As far as the current situation is grasped, when the influence of the ‘Dream of the Nameless One’ is enhanced, everyone in the entire city-state will inevitably be affected, and the only ones who can remain awake to move around in the inner or outer Dream Realm are you, and those of us who follow you – the academy and the City State authorities shouldn’t be able to move so smoothly.
“In addition, I have found several scholars familiar with the lore of traditional elven culture, and have learned from them some further knowledge of the Archdemon God Sasloca, the World Tree Silantis, and the ‘Dream of Creation’, during which I discovered a… . rather interesting place.”
Duncan immediately became curious, “A more interesting place?”
“Yes,” Maurice nodded, “In some of the lesser known narrative poems, there are these lines describing-
“Sasloka created the world’s first dreams, and He knew not what they were;
“Mortals called it a dream, and He was thus in a trance;
“And then the dreamless were born into His trance ……”
(end of chapter)