It was late at night.
Amid faint creaking sounds, Allen opened his eyes.
Moonlight streamed through the window, whitening the floorboards.
He found himself lying on the bedroom floor.
Allen rubbed the back of his neck and pushed himself up. Thankfully, Paul and his wife had been considerate enough to lay a mattress beneath him.
Allen sniffed at the smell on his clothes and muttered helplessly, ".I reek of blood. I got blood all over myself from killing that boar today. They put me on the floor because they were afraid I'd stain the bedding and it'd be hard to wash, huh? Pretty straightforward. Still, Brother Paul hit way too hard. Was that really necessary? When all was said and done, you should be thanking me. Without me, where would you get your doctor's-office play?"
Creak, creak.
Allen froze. The air held more than just his muttering—there were other unusual sounds.
Faint murmurs drifted over from the master bedroom next door.
"Darling, I can't take it anymore."
"Oh? We're only just getting started."
".No."
".Don't."
".Ah."
Allen slapped a hand over his face.
Damn it! I never should've woken up at a time like this!
Allen lay back down, but the escalating commotion next door made him feel as though he were sitting on pins and needles.
He forcibly calmed his mind and focused his attention on the Dragon Saint Battle Qi Core Embryo in his abdomen.
Beside the Healing Spell Rune shaped like a tiny tree, a flowing, water-like rune flickering with brown light lay quietly embedded in the Detoxification Magic slot.
The original novel had relatively little description of Detoxification Magic. No, not little at all—it was just rarely used for its proper purpose. Most of the time, it was used for upset stomachs or hangovers. Detoxification Magic... Once its level got high enough, it seemed capable of removing negative conditions from oneself. Like mercury cleansing crowd control?
Better not test it. My mana recovery is too slow. It wouldn't be worth it.
"Darling..."
I need to think about something else to distract myself. Sylphy's hair... She hadn't cut it short yet at this point. Nice, I made it in time. She was so delicate and adorable, like an SD doll...
"Ah, I really can't take it anymore."
Mm. That was Zenith's voice.
"Use Healing Spell and Detoxification Spell."
Mm. That was Paul's voi—wait! What the hell were Healing Spell and Detoxification Spell doing there???? No, could Detoxification Spell even remove that kind of negative condition??
Allen's eyes flew open, and he sprang up from the floor like a carp.
They were an old married couple, so why the fuck were they playing ball every day? Wait, Paul was... let me calculate. Twenty-four years old?! Then Zenith was... twenty-two? Ah, so Zenith gave birth at seventeen and got pregnant at sixteen. Paul, you animal! Still, that meant they really were at an age when their energy was overflowing. No wonder. Sigh. I won't be getting any sleep anyway. Might as well take a bath. The bathroom is pretty far from Paul and Zenith's bedroom, so they probably won't hear me. Then again, if they do hear me, they'll probably only get more excited.
Allen shook his head, quietly opened the door, and stuck his head out to look around. Then his neck stiffened.
In the dim hallway, Lilia was slumped outside Paul and Zenith's bedroom door. A faint light spilled through the crack in the door, casting a straight strip of brightness across her face. She wore only a shirt, one hand reaching beneath herself.
Allen silently pulled his head back inside, then covered his face in agony.
Is this some kind of family habit?! Everyone has to spy outside the master bedroom door? What's so damn attractive about it that it's making me curious too?!
He sighed soundlessly and walked back to the spot on the floor where he had been sleeping. Just as he was about to lie down again, he caught sight of the hide he had skinned from the Terminator Boar during the day, faintly gleaming with a soft sheen in the night.
Allen blinked, fully waking up.
I can't sleep anyway. I might as well go out and finish what I promised yesterday. Then I can come back early tomorrow morning and take a bath. If I'm lucky, I might even gain something...
Allen nodded, got up, and opened the window. Moonlight instantly flowed over the back of his hand like water.
Outside, Buena Village was utterly silent at night. A breeze swept in from afar, rising and falling with the waves of grass before brushing against Allen's face.
He flipped through the window and landed soundlessly in the yard outside, then vanished into the darkness.
Early the next morning, birdsong outside the window woke Rudy. He opened his eyes groggily, then his gaze sharpened as he stared blankly ahead.
A delicate shrine stood beside his bed.
The shrine was tiny, only about as large as Rudy's face. Its cut surfaces were smooth, its grain clear, and it gave off a woody fragrance carrying a hint of dampness, like a forest after rain.
He blinked and slowly turned his head to the side.
Allen sat in a chair beside the bed, propping up his chin as he watched him, his eyes narrowed as usual.
"Morning, Rudy."
Rudy blinked. Only then did he remember that he had fainted after being poisoned yesterday. Before losing consciousness, he had felt a trace of resentment toward Allen, but the moment he saw the shrine, that resentment vanished without a trace.
"Morning, Allen."
"This is what I promised you yesterday. I originally wanted the three of us to make this shrine together in the afternoon, but something unexpected happened. Uh, that was partly my fault too. I didn't expect your bodies to be unable to handle eating so much Batil Flower seed powder at once."
Allen rubbed his tired eyes and pulled out a black leather pouch from behind him.
Rudy could not help shifting his gaze from Allen's face to the pouch. He realized it was the piece of Terminator Boar hide Allen had deliberately cut off yesterday.
It looks like one of those Bucket Bags girls carried in my previous life. There's even a snap button, made from the dried seeds of some plant. Allen really put a lot of thought into this. But what's it for?
As he was thinking, Allen took the shrine from Rudy's hands and slipped it neatly into the leather pouch.
"Here. This makes it easier to carry and hide. Put it under your bed—even if someone sees it, they probably won't specifically open it just to see what's inside, right?"
Rudy's mouth twitched.
Hey, don't you know people are curious? Wouldn't that make it easier to discover instead?!
Still, he solemnly accepted Allen's gift with both hands.
Allen then stood up.
"All right. The master and mistress seem to be... uh, tired today, so they haven't gotten up yet. Lilia... hasn't gotten up either. Anyway, you can stay in bed a little longer."
The morning sunlight was soft, falling over Allen's face as he lazily yawned.
"I'm off to take a bath. I killed a boar yesterday, and I still stink of blood."
Looking at him, Rudy felt that Allen, whose face normally made him look rather like a bully, seemed strangely unthreatening today.
"Thank you, Allen."
Allen rose and was about to leave the room when he turned his head and spotted the Earth Magic figurine of Lokkishi on Rudy's desk.
He blinked, pointed at the figurine, and looked back at Rudy.
"By the way, can I have this? Is that Lokkishi made with Earth Magic? It's really exquisite."
Rudy's attention was still on the shrine. Hearing that, he looked up and glanced at where Allen was pointing.
"Sure. I made lots of figurines of Teacher Lokkishi. If you want it, you can have this one."
Allen unexpectedly has pretty good taste.
Allen smiled, picked up the Lokkishi figurine without ceremony, and walked out of the room.
Compared to one-sided giving, mutual exchanges were a better way to maintain intimacy between people.
Further increased Rudeus's favorability. Childhood participation increased.
Current stage: Childhood. Cumulative participation score: 52 points. Evaluation: Even 2 points are still points.
Allen twisted his stiff neck and watched the system panel before him fade away.
After receiving feedback from the system multiple times, he had discovered that, at least so far, the simplest and most effective way to increase his participation rating during childhood was to generate positive feedback through direct interactions with the main characters. In practical terms, that meant gaining the main characters' favorability.
The main way to earn points was by deepening one's "connection" with the main characters? He could not be completely sure. He needed more samples to analyze the underlying logic of how points were obtained. Whenever he had asked the system directly before, it either played dead or gave vague answers. Damn riddlers. This time, he had only gained 2 points—less than expected—but it was better than nothing.
He yawned again and headed down the hallway toward the bathroom.
Before you continue