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Allen was stunned.
But at that moment, the smoke in front of him swirled like a vortex! Flashes of light and shadow flew past his eyes.
Mountains, lakes, seas.
People, beasts.
Scenes of all kinds streaked past his vision like flowing lines. He felt as if his brain was about to be flung out of his skull, so he quickly closed his eyes and opened his mouth.
"Bro! Stop flashing! I'm going blind!"
Perhaps the system sensed his sincerity from his tone, but the rapidly shifting images not only didn't stop—they sped up even more.
Allen was about to complain again.
But the next moment.
The images stopped.
Allen felt his vision blur. He furrowed his brows and instinctively opened his eyes, trying to see more "clearly."
His eyes adjusted to the information, and the light and shadow solidified in his pupils.
And then he saw it.
A deep blue pool.
Right before his eyes.
Allen opened his eyes, his expression calm, simply gazing into it without a hint of surprise.
Because he had seen this scene many times in his dreams.
This was the deep pool he had fallen into in his dreams.
This was the deep blue he had longed for day and night.
These were Roxy's eyes.
Her face was submerged in the water, ripples dancing across the surface as she "locked eyes" with Allen through the water.
The Shirone Palace was vast, and she was surrounded by swirling mist, her body sinking into the fog.
Her blue hair floated like seaweed in the water, rising and falling around her delicate figure. The lines of her neck were slender and soft, the water flowing gently around her skin.
At this moment.
Allen's gaze traveled from the northwest of the Central Continent, over the snow-capped Red Dragon Mountains, through the chaotic war-torn regions. It spanned the entire continent, ignoring the distance of space.
One glance.
Just for this one glance.
Life is vast.
Mountains and rivers.
Nothing more.
——
Ten seconds is long.
Ten seconds is short.
The mist was hazy and ambiguous, but Allen's gaze didn't waver in the slightest.
He allowed himself to drown in that deep blue pool, forgetting to even blink.
When Allen finally surfaced from the pool.
All that remained before him was the lingering smoke, dissipating into the air.
Roxy's eyes were gone.
He froze, staring blankly at the two blackened holes on the table in front of him, feeling the stark contrast between reality and fantasy. He couldn't help but mutter.
'Huh?'
[Huh.]
'That's it?'
[That's it.]
Allen instantly became furious.
"Wait! My ten seconds? Did you just skim off the top?! Spit it back out! I only looked for a second, and that's it?! That was definitely just one second! I don't believe it!"
[.]
[.That was ten seconds.]
'That was one second!!'
[.It really was ten seconds.]
'Even the heavens would say that was just one damn second!!'
The smoke swirled in front of Allen, the text forming and then dissipating each time.
As if utterly speechless.
Allen, seeing this, grew even more agitated. He hadn't slept in a long time and was in a state of dopamine overload after finally releasing the weight in his heart. Now, he was acting a bit childishly.
'I haven't seen her in over a year!!'
'Ah!! I can't see Roxy, I'm going to die! I'm going to die!!'
'Add more time!! Give me more time!! Let me live!! Let me live!!!'
The text instantly solidified.
[Idiot.]
Then it dissipated.
Allen's expression froze, and he instinctively cried out.
"Come back! Come back!!"
"I want more time!!! I want more time!!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a thud from the master bedroom next door, as if someone had suddenly sat up in the middle of a deep sleep.
The next second.
Paul's groggy voice drifted through the wall.
"Huh? How did I fall asleep? I think Allen was saying something..."
"Add, add more time??"
"Zenith, help me up! I can still drink! I can still drink!"
Allen's face stiffened, and he looked at the wall in shock.
Zenith's voice, as if squeezed through clenched teeth, came through.
"Dear, you should sleep now... Don't disturb the children's rest..."
"I can still—"
A dull thud.
The world fell silent.
Zenith seemed to feel extremely embarrassed. After stammering twice, she finally didn't say anything, just sighed, and then there was no more noise.
Allen let out a long breath, then glanced at the Roxy figurine in his hand and roughly ran his fingers through his hair.
'Once a week is too little! How is that enough?'
'Wait, something felt off about Roxy's surroundings earlier... I was too focused on her eyes, but there seemed to be a lot of mist around her...'
'Mist? How? She's in the Shirone Palace, right? Where would mist come from in the middle of the night? And why was she submerged in water...'
'...Water...'
Allen's nose felt warm, and he instinctively touched it.
Hmm, no blood.
Allen stood there in a daze for a while, then walked stiffly to the bed and lay down.
Thank goodness.
Only once a week.
If I really added more time.
I might actually get a nosebleed.
In the future, I shouldn't watch at night.
Allen fell into a dream.
What he saw in the dream...
...
Perhaps it was the same deep blue.
——
The next day.
The Greyrat family's reaction to the two holes burned into the table was... peculiar.
Paul, who had blacked out from drinking last night, had completely forgotten the embarrassing scenes from his drunken state. With a hangover, he acted with the magnanimity of the head of the household, slapping Allen's shoulder and saying nonchalantly.
"It's fine, it's just a table."
Allen blinked, expecting him to say something like, "We'll just buy a new one today, money's no problem," but instead, Paul used his aura to carve out the burnt part of the table, creating a hole.
Hmm... a hole...
Then, to Allen's utter shock, he "planted" the Roxy figurine into the hole.
And it fit perfectly?!
"Make do with this. See? It fits just fine. You have to be flexible. Back in our adventurer days... Huh?"
"Wait, why is Roxy's outfit removable..."
Before he could finish, Paul was knocked to the ground by Zenith and Lilia, each delivering a punch.
Rudy, looking horrified, quickly grabbed the Roxy figurine.
He used earth magic to fill the hole in the table, the clay rising and forming a tray. Under Allen's stunned gaze, the figurine was snapped into a slot on the tray.
And it still fit perfectly?!
You two are definitely father and son!
Then, facing the morning sun, he clapped his hands with a sacred and practiced air, offering incense to the miniature Roxy.
He muttered under his breath.
"Father's way of handling it was too slapdash. In my opinion, we should use earth magic to fill the hole and make an embedded figurine stand..."
Before he could finish, this NEET was also knocked down by Zenith.
Afterward, Zenith and Lilia launched into a half-hour discussion about how to purchase a new table, what type of wood to choose, what style would suit Allen, and whether the patterns should have any new flair.
But halfway through, their conversation took a strange turn.
"Madam, the curtains are a bit old. Should we replace them with something fresher?"
"Curtains? No, Allen's a boy. We should use more steady colors."
"True, his clothes also seem a bit worn."
"Didn't a clothing merchant from Roa come by recently? We should get Allen a new outfit. The one he wore yesterday was completely stained with blood."
"Right, I heard there are some new boots that just came into fashion."
"Boots? Speaking of which, I don't think we bought any boots last year. What style do you like?"
"For styles, I think high-top laced..."
Allen's mouth twitched as he watched them.
It must be said, even in another world, some human instincts remain unchanged.
Outside, the cries of Norn and Aisha could be heard.
Days passed in this mundane routine.
In the blink of an eye, it was March of the following year.
Amid the storm stirred up by the butterfly's wings...
How would the tutor period arrive?
Note: So far this story is published up to chapter 135 on my patreon, go check it out and remember that if we reach the goal of 80 power stones I will publish the next chapter.