As I stepped out of the warp case, Armonia greeted me with her usual expressionless face.
"Welcome back."
"Phew... It's been a while."
Even though we talked every day, seeing her face like this always made me happy.
No matter how you look at it, Armonia is beautiful.
Who wouldn't be happy to see a beautiful woman?
"I'll brief you on the important matters later. Viola is waiting for you."
"Ooooh!"
Hearing Armonia's words, I immediately left the warp room.
After passing through the long corridors of the ship, I arrived at Viola's room.
An electronic sign hung in front of the mechanically operated door.
[Viola's Private Room]
Whoosh!
When I pressed the button, the door slid open with a hiss of air pressure.
Inside, I saw Viola intently watching TV.
"Huh? Ah~!"
"Viola!"
"Suho!"
I immediately ran to Viola and hugged her tightly...
"Kyaaah!"
"Let's do it!"
(XX: Is this guy crazy? Always... No, it's me. Let's do it!)
I took Viola to the bed and immediately started savouring her yin energy.
***
After going wild with Viola, I finally came to my senses.
We lay tangled on the bed, chatting about this and that.
Viola didn't seem to mind my sudden advance at all; in fact, she seemed impressed.
"Suho, after you came back... you seem... better at it!"
"Haha, maybe it's because it's been a while?"
-[Sexual Intercourse Lv.5]-
After finishing with Luna, my level had gone up by one.
Each level seemed to have a bigger impact than I thought.
"Hehe... That was really good! And..."
Viola, as if fascinated, pressed her nose against my chest and started sniffing.
"You smell nice!"
Viola had been sniffing my body like a child, delighted.
Her brown hair and blue eyes were always captivating.
Brother-in-law, I don't know what you're up to, but thank you.
Thanks to you, Viola is doing well.
Come to think of it, I don't even know the hero's name.
Not that I care much...
I grabbed Viola's chest with one hand, squeezing it like milking a cow.
"Hng... It's weird... When I touch myself, it doesn't feel like this, but when Suho touches me, it feels so good."
"Ooh... Like this?"
"W-Wait! Hng! Haah!"
As I kneaded her chest with both hands, Viola twitched and trembled, her body shaking.
After a few squeezes, she heated up and reached her peak again.
"Hngg!! ...Haah... Haah..."
I let go and teased her.
"Hehe, did it feel good?"
"Hng... You're so mean..."
"Sorry, sorry. Did you do well while I was gone?"
I asked out of courtesy. She had TV and other entertainment, so I wasn't worried.
Armonia was there too.
But Viola's answer was unexpected.
"I... was bored."
"Huh? Isn't TV fun?"
"It was fun at first, but being alone..."
"Huh? Armonia's here too."
"Armonia hasn't come out of there even once since you left."
"...? She hasn't come out?"
That was strange.
I thought they would meet occasionally for meals or sleep.
But she said they hadn't seen each other at all.
"I was told not to go in, so I stayed here to avoid disturbing her.
"..."
Hearing Viola's words, I stroked her head and apologized.
"Sorry, I left you alone again."
"It's okay!"
Viola smiled brightly, but I knew she was forcing it.
'I need to find a solution...'
I decided to sleep with Viola and then talk to Armonia.
***
I talked with Viola until she fell asleep.
Her rapid-fire chatter never got old.
In fact, it was more surprising that she hadn't developed any mental issues.
"...This won't be any different from before, will it?"
Looking at the sleeping Viola, I started to feel a bit guilty.
I thought it was much better than before, but that was just my perspective.
I gently slipped my arm out from under her head and placed a pillow under her head.
After changing clothes, I headed to Armonia's office.
Three steps away.
When Viola had come here before, Armonia hadn't batted an eye even when Viola and I had animalistic intercourse.
If it were me, I would have grabbed a shotgun.
Shotguns aren't available in Korea, but I would have found a way to get one.
Noise between neighbours isn't something that can be resolved with just conversation.
You need to show the will to lead.
I pushed aside my random thoughts and stood in front of Armonia's office.
I pondered for a moment.
Since I was with Viola for about four hours, she should be inside now, right?
No need to knock.
Hehehe, if she's changing clothes again, that would be hilarious.
I carefully opened the office door.
Whoosh!
The door slid open with a hiss of air pressure, revealing Armonia's office.
Despite her title as CEO, the furnishings were more modest than my office.
If the furniture in my office was flashy and new, Armonia's office furniture looked old and well-used.
And Armonia was...
...snore... snore.
Sleeping on a small bed set up in the office.
Wearing pajamas...
Pajamas must be part of the dress code, right?
I carefully took out a notebook and wrote something down.
List of clothes to dress Armonia in during sex:
1. Business suit
2. Captain's uniform
3. Crew uniform
4. Pajamas
I was a bit surprised.
Goodness, she's wearing that...
What was most shocking was the design of the pajamas.
I thought Armonia would wear plain black or white pajamas.
But the pajamas she was wearing were pink, covered with cute animal faces.
I couldn't miss this rare sight...
I cautiously approached the soundly sleeping Armonia.
...snore... snore.
Her face, free of any wariness, was a stark contrast to her usual self.
But seeing her like this, I realized there wasn't much I could do.
It's not like I had a camera to capture this moment...
I carefully poked Armonia's cheek.
...snore... snore.
No response.
She seemed to be in a deep sleep.
Feeling bored, I poked her again~
Poke poke.
Snap!
"Ah!?"
In an instant, Armonia grabbed my hand and held it tightly.
I thought she had woken up.
But Armonia, with her eyes still closed, held my hand tightly and muttered.
"Don't go..."
"..."
I don't know what dream she's having, but I had a feeling I should leave immediately.
But no matter how much I tried to pull my hand away, she wouldn't let go.
"Hey, let go for a second..."
"Don't go..."
It felt like she might wake up any moment.
I started prying her fingers open one by one with my other hand.
Her slender fingers were neatly manicured, just like her personality.
Her thin fingers were so attractive that I felt the urge to masturbate.
Focusing all my attention on her fingers, I finally managed to free my hand.
But when I looked up, I was met with the piercing gaze of a hawk.
Armonia was lying down, glaring at me.
"...What is the matter?"
"I wanted to ask you something..."
Armonia sat up and stared at me with her usual expressionless face.
"If I'm not mistaken, this is my office, correct?"
"...Yes."
"Can I consider this an unauthorized intrusion?"
"I... I'm sorry..."
Armonia's cold voice made her feelings clear.
I made a gesture to leave, feeling intimidated.
"I'll leave and come back later..."
"Wait a moment."
"Huh?"
Armonia got up and straightened the bed...
"...What are you doing?"
"You seem to want to talk, so I'm changing into proper attire."
She suddenly started changing into a business suit.
Sometimes, she was really hard to understand.
As I watched Armonia, a chilling thought crossed my mind.
'...What if she's really a cyborg?'
I hate bad endings the most.
Those who imprint stupid stories on people's brains with last-minute twists should just die.
After changing into her suit, Armonia stood confidently in front of me and spoke.
"Please tell me the reason for your visit."
***
My conversation with Armonia was more like a meeting than a casual chat.
I started by bringing up a question I had been pondering.
"...Do you sleep during missions?"
"Basically, I wake up every minute to check on you while you sleep, so there's no need to worry."
"...So you don't sleep."
You can't really call that sleeping.
"Shouldn't you leave some of it to Viola?"
"I don't want to ignore Viola, but she's not suitable for this task."
"..."
I couldn't argue with that.
But that didn't mean we could just ignore the problem without solving it.
"When I sleep, you must sleep too."
"That's not necessary."
"What if you can't stay alert during a critical moment?"
"...I'll manage somehow, so don't worry."
I tried to persuade Armonia, but it was no use.
I decided to move on from this issue for now.
"Ah, and you mentioned something about time dilation. What does that mean?"
"The time in this space can be arbitrarily adjusted by the deity's proxy."
According to Armonia, there's a time dilation system.
It can be adjusted from 10x speed to 0.1x speed.
For example, let's say I go to planets A, B, and C for missions.
If I worked on planet A, set the speed to 0.1x, and stayed on planet B for 10 months, then returned to planet A, only 1 month would have passed there.
"By the way, the time dilation is not under our authority but Zodiac's. However, since the place that assigned us the mission is actively helping, you can use it freely."
"Can we change it midway?"
"If you explain the situation, they'll probably change it easily."
That's a very convenient ability.
But there were a few things I didn't understand.
"So, the Santuary has that ability too, right? What if they suddenly revert to normal while I'm away?"
If I planned to be away for 10 months, lazing around elsewhere, and then return to Stura School only to find myself expelled and Luna heartbroken, that would be a real mess.
"The Sanctuary cannot use the time dilation system."
"...Huh? Why? Don't they earn a lot of Enels and have great abilities?"
"They overused the time dilation system."
"..."
Microtransactions, time dilation.
The Sanctuary is known for using all these to explosively grow their protagonists.
The problem is, that while microtransactions can be filled with Enels, time dilation is a different story.
The time dilation system has a set usage limit per planet, and the Sanctuary tends to max it out as soon as they find a protagonist.
In contrast, Zodiac prefers to grow things slowly and doesn't use the time dilation system.
It's more like raising fools than growing things slowly.
In other words, because the Sanctuary overused it, most planets' time dilation systems now prioritize the Zodiac.
Thanks to those who lived frustratingly slow lives, our missions can proceed smoothly.
"Okay, I understand the time difference now."
"Since you're here, there's something I need to tell you."
This time, Armonia initiated the conversation.
"What is it?"
"It's about rest."
Thanks to the Mana Golem I shot, Armonia recommended taking a week off.
And the place for that rest was...
"The planet where Viola used to live."
"Don't tell me the hero..."
Did that hero brat cause trouble again while I was away?
They're not asking for after-sales service, are they?
"Don't worry about that. The situation has been resolved."
"...? Resolved how?"
"The Demon King's army has won, and all nations have submitted to the Demon King's rule."
"...How? It's only been a month."
I was only gone for a month?
"Zodiac used the time dilation system during that time to completely conquer it."
"Ah... That's insane."
They must have cranked it up to 10x speed...
"And the reason we chose the Ilunia continent as the rest spot is related to the invitation."
"Invitation?"
"Yes, the Demon King there has invited you."
***
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