Watch closely, This Is How You Use Allen!

The time rewound to one minute earlier.

As soon as the bathwater was ready, Rudy immediately stripped off all his clothes. But contrary to what he had imagined, Sylphy kept dawdling beside him and would not even look him in the eye.

"What's wrong? You'll catch a cold if you don't take off your clothes, and you're covered in mud. What are you planning to do, keep wearing them?"

"Huh? Ah, yeah."

Sylphy stiffly faced the wall in silent reflection.

"Huh? Don't tell me you still can't take off your own clothes. Geez, what am I supposed to do with you?"

Rudy, stark naked, walked over to Sylphy's side.

"Come on, raise your hands. I'll take them off for you."

"W-Wait. I..."

"What do you mean, you? Take them off already, or do I have to call Allen over?!"

"Huh? No! Don't!"

Rudy tugged for a long while, only to find that Sylphy was not giving him any chance to remove his clothes. He could not help pursing his lips.

"If you don't want to take off your shirt, then let's start with your pants!"

With that, he grabbed Sylphy's pants and pulled them down with all his strength. Sylphy desperately clutched at them and let out a scream.

"Ah!!!"

Rudy covered his ears and took several steps back. Wearing a disgusted expression, he was about to speak when hurried footsteps thundered from the stairs. From the sound alone, he could tell it was neither the familiar Lilia, Paul, nor Zenith. Each of them had distinct walking habits; none of them would make such frantic footsteps.

Rudy's eyes lit up.

He immediately darted to the door and crouched down, assuming a ready-to-pounce stance. Turning toward Sylphy, he placed a finger before his lips and whispered excitedly.

"Looks like you've never bathed with boys before, Sylphy. Once I take off Allen's pants, you'll definitely be able to happily join us."

Haha, Lord Allen. This time, I'll definitely win!

Thud thud thud! In just a few breaths, the footsteps were right outside.

Seeing Sylphy turn toward him, Rudy's mouth curved upward, revealing a lecherous grin.

"Sylphy, watch closely."

The door flew open with a bang!

Perfect chance!

"This is how you use Allen!!"

Allen looked at Rudy. Rudy looked up at Allen. Sylphy faced the wall in the corner.

The three of them fell into an eerie silence.

However, Allen was not the most shocked.

Rudy was.

He stared upward, his mouth hanging open in astonishment and his eyes vacant.

How could this be... It's standing tall. Could Allen really like little boys? Wait, does that mean Allen doesn't like Sylphy, but me?!? Huh???

As Allen watched the terror gradually fill Rudy's eyes, he had no time to care about the bizarre embarrassment of wanting to die on the spot. He yanked up his pants, then hurriedly lifted Rudy straight off the floor.

"Quick! Put on some clothes!!!"

Rudy struggled in terror.

"Huh?! Why do I have to put clothes on, you pervert?! No! Allen, put me down!!!"

Allen furiously dragged Rudy close, gritting his teeth as he squeezed out words only the two of them could hear.

"Sylphy is a girl!"

"No, Allen—huh? Huh? Wait, what did you say? Huh??"

Rudy turned in shock toward Sylphy, who was crouching on the floor behind him with her head in her hands. In an instant, he understood.

Sylphy! It's Sylphy, not Sylph! No wonder her nickname is Luffy! No wonder I always thought she was too pretty! I should have realized it sooner!! Aaaaaah!!! She's a girl, and I just got completely naked in front of her!!

He instantly erupted into a miserable scream.

"Clothes, get me some clothes!!!"

"Then put them on already!!"

"That one has mud on it!!!"

"Is this really the time to worry about whether there's mud on it?!?"

"Oh, right—no! It's too far away, I can't reach it!! Wait, I've got it! Take off the pants you just changed into and let me wear them!! You've already been seen naked anyway!"

Allen: ????

"Didn't you get seen naked too?!"

"Oh, right, I did."

"Then what the hell are you screaming for?!"

"Because of you! Why are you standing at attention?! It's terrifying!!"

"That's because I activated my battle aura!!"

"You're lying! Paul activates battle aura too, but I've never seen him like that!"

"How do you know Paul isn't like that!"

Lilia, who had arrived long ago, stood frozen at the end of the hallway as she watched the entire farce unfold.

Behind her, Paul's face had turned ashen, and veins bulged on his clenched fists.

At lunchtime, Sylphy was kept for a meal.

Meanwhile, Allen and Rudy sat beside the table with huge lumps on their foreheads, lowering their heads as they looked at each other.

It was utterly ridiculous. Two children whose mental ages were both over thirty were being scolded by a twenty-four-year-old young man, and each of them felt awkward about their actual age.

"Have you two had enough? An argument is one thing, but how did it turn into a discussion about whether I stand at attention when I use battle aura? And you even called me by my name. It seems you haven't practiced swordsmanship lately, and your hides are getting itchy."

"Sorry, sir/Father."

Allen and Rudy apologized in unison.

"Keep calling me Paul, why don't you! Hm?!"

"Sorry." They spoke in unison again.

Zenith narrowed her eyes and glanced at Rudy and Allen with an amused look. She seemed to find this noisy daily life rather interesting instead.

Then she turned to Sylphy.

"It must be hard being friends with them."

Sylphy, sitting ramrod straight, hurriedly waved her hands.

"N-No! They're both very good to me!"

Zenith chuckled, then turned and rested her cheek on her hand as she looked at Paul.

"All right, dear. Let's eat."

Paul shot Allen and Rudy an annoyed glance.

"Fine, you two can eat too. But you're not allowed to go out and play tomorrow. Practice swordsmanship with me!"

"Yes, sir/Father." They replied in unison for the third time.

Allen and Rudy took their seats, secretly exchanging a glance before sullenly beginning their meal.

Allen reached over and took a piece of bread that Sylphy could not quite reach, then silently began conversing with the system.

By the way, you said earlier that Rudy's affection could possibly be reset. If it gets reset, will there be a punishment?

No.

Will my evaluation decrease?

No. Evaluations are point-based.

No, then what did you mean when you told me to watch myself?!

Because I think it's interesting. If the host can ultimately end up with Rudeus, wouldn't that count as a "deeper" form of participation in the Mushoku Tensei transmigration? Naturally, I would be happy to see it happen.)

...Fuck.

While Allen was arguing with the system, Rudy secretly looked at Sylphy, then at Allen.

So Allen had already realized Sylphy was a girl. Damn it, he made his move so early. Huh? Wait, then doesn't that mean Lokkishi is mine?!

At that thought, both corners of Rudy's lips rose at once, revealing his trademark lecherous grin.