Allen froze.
But at that moment, the smoke and dust before him swirled like a vortex! Glimpses of light and shadow flashed rapidly before his eyes.
Mountains and rivers, lakes and seas.
Figures of people, herds of beasts.
Various scenes streamed past his eyes like a blur. He felt as if his brain was about to fly out of his skull. He quickly shut his eyes and opened his mouth.
"Bro! Stop flashing! I'm going blind!"
Perhaps the system sensed the sincerity in his new title, as the rapidly flashing images not only didn't stop but actually accelerated.
Allen was about to complain again.
But in the next instant.
The images stopped.
Allen saw only a hazy light. He frowned and subconsciously opened his eyes, trying to see more 'clearly.'
His eyes adjusted to the information, and the light and shadow solidified within his pupils.
And so he saw it.
A pool of deep, tranquil blue.
Right before his eyes.
Allen stared, his expression unchanged, simply letting his gaze fall upon it without a hint of surprise.
Because this was a scene he had witnessed many times in his dreams.
This was the deep pool he fell into in his dreams.
This was the deep blue he yearned for day and night.
These were Roxy's eyes.
Her face was submerged in the water, ripples dancing before her, 'meeting' Allen's gaze through the surface.
The Shiron Royal Palace was vast. She was surrounded by rising, swirling steam, her body immersed within the mist.
A head of blue hair undulated in the water like seaweed, bobbing up and down around her delicate frame. The line of her neck was slender and soft, and the water flowed gently around her skin.
At this very moment.
Allen's gaze traveled from the northwest of the Central Continent, across the snow-capped Red Dragon Mountains, and through the war-torn Disputed Lands. It spanned the entire continent, ignoring the distance of space.
One glance.
All for just this one glance.
Life is a vast sea.
Mountains and rivers flow.
But they are nothing compared to this.
Ten seconds is a long time.
Ten seconds is a short time.
The mist was hazy and intimate, but Allen's gaze did not waver in the slightest.
He allowed himself to drown in that pool of deep blue, forgetting even to blink.
By the time Allen surfaced from the pool.
All that remained before him was the ethereal afterglow of dissipating smoke and dust.
Roxy's eyes were gone.
He was stunned for a moment, staring blankly at the two dark holes on the desk that had replaced them. He truly felt the gap between reality and fantasy and couldn't help but murmur.
'Huh?'
[Huh.]
'It's over?'
[It's over.]
Allen instantly became furious.
"No! Where are my ten seconds? Did you damn well take a cut?! Spit it out! I only got one look, and that was ten seconds?!? That was clearly one second! I don't believe it!"
[...]
[...That was ten seconds.]
'That was one second!!'
[...It really was ten seconds.]
'Even if the Jade Emperor himself came, it would still be one damn second!!'
The smoke and dust swirled in front of Allen, dissipating every time the characters tried to form.
It seemed utterly speechless.
Seeing this, Allen grew anxious. He hadn't slept for a long time and was in a state of dopamine rush after a great weight had been lifted from his mind. He was now acting somewhat childish.
'I haven't seen her in over a year!!'
'Argh!! I can't see Roxy, I'm going to die! I'm going to die!!'
'I want more time!! Give me more time!! Let me live!! Let me live!!!'
The characters instantly solidified.
[Idiot.]
Then they dissipated and were gone.
Allen's face froze, and he subconsciously cried out.
"Come back! Get back here!!"
"I want more time!!! I want more time!!!"
As soon as he said it, a thud came from the master bedroom next door, like the sound of a half-paralyzed person starting up from a deathbed illness.
The next second.
Paul's somewhat groggy voice drifted through the wall.
"Eh? How did I fall asleep? Sounds like Allen is talking..."
"More... more cups??"
"Zenith, help me up! I can still drink! I can still drink!"
Allen's face stiffened, and he looked at the adjacent wall in astonishment.
Zenith's voice, seemingly squeezed through her teeth, came through.
"Dear... you should be sleeping... Don't disturb the children's rest..."
"I can still!"
A muffled thud.
The world fell silent.
Zenith, apparently feeling deeply embarrassed, stuttered Allen's name a couple of times but ultimately said nothing more, just a soft "Eh," and then there was no further sound.
Allen let out a long sigh of relief, then glanced again at the Roxy figurine in his hand and ran his fingers through his hair messily.
'Once a week is too little! How is that enough?'
'Eh? Wait, something wasn't right about Roxy's environment just now... I was so focused on her eyes, but it seemed like there was a lot of mist around...'
'Mist? How is that possible? Isn't she in the Shiron Royal Palace? Where would mist come from in the middle of the night, and why was she submerged in water...'
'...In the water.'
Allen's nose felt hot. He subconsciously touched it.
Hmm, no bleeding.
Allen stood there stunned for a long while, then walked stiffly to the bed and lay down.
Good thing.
It's only once a week.
If he really got more time.
He might get a nosebleed, right?
From now on, he can't choose to watch at night.
Allen fell into a dream.
What he saw in the dream.
...
Was perhaps the same deep blue.
The next day.
The Greyrat family's reaction to the two holes burned into the desk was quite remarkable.
Brother Paul, who had drunk himself into a blackout yesterday, had completely forgotten the embarrassing drunken scene. In his hungover state, he displayed the magnanimity of the head of the household, patting Allen's shoulder and saying nonchalantly.
"It's fine, it's just a desk."
Allen blinked, expecting him to say something like they would go buy a new one at the market today and money wasn't an issue. Instead, he saw Paul use his Touki to directly carve out the scorched part of the desk, leaving a pit.
Yes... he carved a pit.
Then, to Allen's utter shock, he 'planted' the Roxy figurine from the side into it.
And it actually fit perfectly?
"It'll do. See, isn't it a good fit? You have to be flexible. Back when we were adventurers... eh?"
"Wait, why are this Roxy's clothes removable..."
Before he could finish, he was knocked to the ground by a punch from both Zenith and Lilia.
Rudeus, looking horrified, quickly put the Roxy figurine away.
He casually used clay magic to fill the hole in the desk. The clay extended upward in Allen's sight, turning into a tray. To Allen's astonishment, with a click, it locked the Roxy figurine in his hand into a groove on the tray.
And it still fit perfectly?
You two are truly father and son!
Then, facing the morning sun, he clapped his hands together with a sacred yet practiced air and offered incense to the miniature Roxy.
He even muttered.
"Father's way of handling it is too half-hearted. I say, you have to use clay magic to fill this hole properly and make it an embedded figurine stand..."
Before he could finish, this NEET was also knocked down by a punch from Zenith.
Afterward, Zenith and Lilia launched into a half-hour-long discussion about how to purchase a desk, what kind of wood to choose, what style would suit Allen, and whether there were any new patterns.
But halfway through the conversation, their tone became a bit abnormal.
"My lady, the curtains are a bit old. Shouldn't we change them to something fresher?"
"Curtains? No, Allen is a boy. We should use a more mature color."
"That's true. His clothes seem a bit old too."
"Aren't there some clothing merchants from Roa coming recently? Let's buy a new set for Allen then. His outfit from yesterday was ruined by all the blood."
"Yes, and I heard there are some new boots that have just become fashionable."
"Boots? Speaking of which, I realized we didn't buy any boots last year. What style do you like?"
"As for the style, I think high-laced boots..."
Allen's mouth twitched as he watched the two of them.
It had to be said, even in another world, certain human natures could not be changed.
From outside, the cries of Norn and Aisha could be heard.
The days flew by in this very mundane routine.
In the blink of an eye, it was March of the following year.
In the storm stirred up by the butterfly...
How will the teenage tutoring period arrive?
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