Arcanum: Chaos Path

Chapter 387 Leonard is Desperate

To be honest, Rowling wasn't too surprised by this answer. He simply looked at little Amon, then sighed and said, "Although I think you might be naturally gifted at some things, and although I'm a little worried that you might go astray because of it, but..."

He smiled, reached out and ruffled little Amon's hair, and said, "Go, little Amon, go and witness another side of humanity, but don't forget that even in the mud there is still beauty. Rather than experiencing those not-so-beautiful things, I hope you can witness those beautiful flowers that still bloom in the chaos. Those flowers are more amazing than those in a greenhouse. I like them, and you probably will too."

"I will." Little Amon nodded seriously.

He will witness those flowers, and He will become more like a human being.

……

After settling the three children's leave requests and witnessing Saslir take over the work of the border city, Rolin's Lucifer vest did not stay any longer, but instead chose to visit Pales.

At that time, Mr. Pales was raising his children.

Indeed, ever since Leonard unfortunately revealed his naivety to the angels of the Fun Club a few days ago, Palles's desire to "tiger" Leonard has been rising. He has started to find all sorts of ways to tutor Leonard, plunging Leonard and Abraham's younger generation into tutoring hell even earlier.

This might be a common problem among the three Gou families; they are all quite adept at using exam papers to bury their juniors or students.

In short, Leonard unfortunately lived a "good life" where he had to handle the Red Gloves job when he had something to do and listen to Pales's tutoring when he didn't. Because of the fact that the Night Path didn't require much sleep, Pales didn't even need energy-boosting drugs. Sometimes, when Leonard was so sleepy, Pales would tutor him in his dreams.

Perhaps that's why Leonard digested the Nightmare Potion so quickly—who says falling into a nightmare isn't a form of reverse digestion?

For example, a certain witch of pain, in order to digest, can not only inflict pain on others, but also digest her own pain.

In any case, Leonard has now largely digested the Nightmare Potion, and it seems that as long as he accumulates enough merit, he can be promoted to Sequence 6 Soul Master.

From this perspective, Pales's "tiger parenting" campaign was quite successful; in the original story, Leonard's promotion to Soul Master is not expected until next year.

"Good afternoon, Pales, Leonard. Have I disturbed you?"

Rolin, who had approved the Lucifer disguise, greeted Pales and the other man with a smile. He glanced at Leonard, who looked utterly hopeless, then at the book in front of him containing knowledge of the occult, raised an eyebrow, and looked at Pales, saying, "Are you tutoring Leonard?"

Pales nodded and said, "You know this kid's knowledge of occultism is really not that great, so I've been giving him extra lessons lately."

"...But I'm not a polymath or a spiest person, so there's no need for me to master a lot of knowledge!" Leonard finally couldn't help but mutter under his breath. He had really been studying so much lately that he almost threw up.

"You'll regret not having studied enough when you need it. If you don't learn now, you'll regret it when you need it later, and you'll pay a bloody price." Pales naturally heard Leonard's mutterings, glanced at him, and said with a smile.

“…Don’t I still have you, old man?” Leonard clearly wanted to struggle a little longer.

“I can’t be with you forever. You’re not getting any younger, it’s time to learn to live on your own,” Pales said unmoved. Leonard was completely defeated, burying his head in the pile of study materials, radiating an aura of utter despair.

“You and Bethel probably have a lot in common,” Rowling said, shaking his head as he watched the scene.

"Bethel?" Palles looked at Rolin with a puzzled expression. He had been engrossed in raising his children lately and was not really clear about some things.

“Bethel has returned and recently reorganized the Abraham family. His strategy for the younger generation of Abraham is similar to yours: learn from them to the bitter end as long as they don’t die,” Rowling explained simply, without revealing anything further.

Although he and Pales had been working together for a long time, their relationship was never particularly close. After all, Pales was a very indecisive angel. Even when he was working with Roland, he never chose to go all in, so he was never able to enter Roland's inner circle.

However, Rolin didn't care about this. He helped Pales partly to gain capital in the early stages, and partly because he still had the blood of the Zoroaster family, so he didn't mind helping Pales, the ancestor of the Zoroaster family.

“…That’s certainly His style.” Pales smiled, a hint of nostalgia in his expression, perhaps recalling something. Then he looked at Roland and asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Pales knew very well that Lucifer wouldn't have time to come to him unless there was something important to discuss.

“I need a sorrowful emotion, perhaps you can provide it to me,” Roland said, smiling at Pales.

“Sadness?” Pales paused, clearly taking a moment to grasp the meaning of those words, before carefully asking, “What should I do?”

“Recall the things in your life that truly sadden you, let that sadness permeate your heart right now, and then don’t resist; I will take it away on my own,” Rowling described simply.

“…Okay.” Pales frowned slightly, probably still somewhat puzzled, but he still chose to do as Rolin said.

After all, Pales knew very well that after He had recovered to Sequence 2 with Lucifer's help and after He had witnessed Lucifer's abilities, He had already joined Lucifer's faction.

Working people should have the self-awareness of working people, so Pales wouldn't refuse this request, which was absurd but harmless.

So Pales tried his best to evoke his emotions, and those past memories came to mind.

Pales' past was not pleasant, or rather, Pales once had a good life. Before the collapse of the Solomon Empire, although Pales was not in a good position in the competition for the Lord of Mysteries, he had a family and respected descendants. Pales enjoyed the beauty of family affection. To the outside world, he was a cruel thief angel, but to his family, he was like an ordinary old man.

However, everything came to an abrupt end with the second fall of the Black Emperor Solomon. Pales lost everything in a very short time, and the Zoroaster family also fell apart, to the point that even their bloodline is now almost extinct.

Pales rarely thought about these things, not because He didn't care, but because there was nothing He could do about it.

So at this moment, under the influence of indulgence, Pales's mood quickly became heavy, and a real sadness lingered in his heart.

(End of this chapter)