Allen froze.
But at that moment, the smoke before him twisted into a vortex! Fleeting images flashed across his vision like streaks of light.
Mountains, lakes.
Figures, beasts.
All sorts of scenes streamed before his eyes. His brain felt like it was about to explode. He quickly shut his eyes and yelled:
"Oi! Stop flashing! I'm gonna go blind here!"
Perhaps the system detected the sincerity in his tone from that address, but the barrage of images didn't stop—it only grew faster.
Allen tried to curse, but suddenly—the images stopped.
He felt his vision blur and reflexively opened his eyes, trying to see more clearly.
His eyes adjusted to the influx of information. Slowly, the images solidified.
And he saw.
A pool of deep azure.
So close he could almost touch it.
Allen stared calmly, as if this sight didn't surprise him in the least.
Because he had seen this scene countless times before—in dreams.
This was the deep pool he fell into in his sleep.
This was the azure he longed for day and night.
This was Roxy's eyes.
Her face was submerged in the water, ripples distorting the view between them. She met Allen's gaze through the water.
The royal palace of Shilone was vast, and she was surrounded by drifting, curling mist. Her body sank into the fog.
That blue hair floated in the water like seaweed, swaying around her delicate figure. The water shimmered against her soft skin.
At that moment.
Allen's vision crossed the northwestern reaches of the Central Continent, over the snow-covered Dragon Mountains, through the bloody battlefields of the Dispute Zone. It spanned the entire continent, ignoring distance.
Just for this one glance.
Life's endless waves.
Mountains and rivers.
Nothing more.
——
Ten seconds felt long.
Ten seconds felt short.
The mist swirled ambiguously, but Allen's eyes never wavered.
He let himself drown in that azure pool, forgetting to even blink.
When Allen surfaced from the pool.
Only faint traces of smoke remained in the air.
Roxy's eyes were gone.
He froze, staring at the blackened table in front of him, feeling the gap between fantasy and reality, and muttered.
'Huh?'
[Huh.]
'It's over?'
[It's over.]
Allen immediately blew up.
"What the hell! That was supposed to be ten seconds! You ripped me off! Give me back my time! I swear that was just one second! One second! I don't believe you!"
[…]
[…That was ten seconds.]
'No way, that was one second!!'
[…It really was ten seconds.]
'Even if the heavens say so, it was one damn second!!'
The smoke whirled and scattered as if too speechless to reply.
Allen got even more worked up. Sleep-deprived for nearly forty hours and riding a dopamine high after a huge weight was lifted from his chest, he was acting like a child.
'I haven't seen her in over a year!!'
'Ugh!! If I can't see Roxy, I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!!'
'I want more time!! Give me more time!!!'
The words solidified suddenly.
[Idiot.]
Then scattered.
Allen froze, then shouted.
"Come back! Come back here!!"
"I want more time!!! More time!!!"
Just then, a crash came from the master bedroom next door, like someone startled awake.
A second later.
Paul's groggy voice drifted through the wall.
"Huh? Did I fall asleep? I think I heard Allen talking…"
"More…more cups?"
"Zenith, help me up! I can still drink! I can still drink!"
Allen froze, staring at the wall in shock.
Zenith's voice came through, low and embarrassed.
"Dear, you should sleep. Don't wake the children…"
"I can still…!"
A dull thud.
Silence.
Zenith seemed mortified, muttering "Eh…" twice before falling quiet.
Allen let out a long breath and glanced at the Roxy figurine on his desk, ruffling his hair in frustration.
'Once a week is too little! That's nowhere near enough!'
'Wait, something was off about Roxy's surroundings just now… I was too busy staring at her eyes. There was a lot of mist around her…'
'Mist? That can't be right, she's supposed to be in the Shilone palace. How could there be mist there? And why was she submerged in water…'
'…water.'
Allen felt his nose heat up and quickly checked.
Phew. No bleeding.
He stood there in a daze for a while before collapsing into bed.
Thankfully.
It's just once a week.
If he really got more time, he might end up with a nosebleed.
Better not try watching at night next time.
Allen drifted into sleep.
And what he saw in his dream…
Perhaps it was the same azure.
——
The next morning.
The family's reaction to the two burned holes in the table was rather strange.
Paul, having blacked out drunk last night, had completely forgotten his embarrassing scene. Still hungover, he tried to put on the air of a man of the house, clapping Allen on the shoulder and saying grandly:
"Don't worry about it. It's just a table."
Allen blinked, expecting him to say they'd buy a new one today or something. But then he watched Paul use Douki to cleanly carve out a chunk of the burned wood.
…leaving a hole.
Then, to Allen's shock, he took the Roxy figurine and "planted" it in the hole.
And it fit perfectly?!
"Good enough, right? See, it fits just fine. You have to be flexible, you know. Back in my adventuring days… eh?"
"Wait, why does this Roxy have removable clothes…"
Before he could finish, Zenith and Lilia each punched him to the ground.
Rudy hurried to pick up the figurine with a horrified look.
He used an Earth magic spell to fill the hole in the table, molding the clay into a small tray. With a click, he set the Roxy figurine into the indent.
And it still fit perfectly?!
You two really are father and son!
Then, bathed in the morning sun, Rudy patted his hands solemnly, as if performing some kind of ritual, and even more skillfully than Paul, offered incense to the tiny Roxy.
Muttering:
"Father's way of doing it was too sloppy. I say, filling the hole and turning it into an embedded figurine stand is much better…"
Before he could finish, this shut-in was also knocked down by Zenith's punch.
Afterward, Zenith and Lilia spent half an hour enthusiastically discussing what kind of table, wood, and design would best suit Allen. But halfway through, their conversation drifted.
"Lilia, the curtains are a bit old. Should we replace them with something fresher?"
"Curtains? Oh no, Allen's a boy, so it should be something more understated."
"That's true. His clothes are getting worn too."
"Wasn't there a merchant from Roa coming soon? We should buy him a new outfit. The one he wore yesterday is still stained with blood."
"Yes. And I heard some trendy new boots are in too."
"Boots? Oh, come to think of it, we didn't buy boots last year. What style do you like?"
"For boots, I think laced knee-highs…"
Allen twitched watching them.
Some human habits never change, even in another world.
Outside, Norn and Aisha's crying could be heard.
Life continued in this mundane, trivial way.
And soon it was March of the following year.
In the storm stirred by the butterfly's wings…
How will the boy's tutoring phase begin?
(End of Chapter)
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