Alphonse yawned as he stepped into the astralscape. A timeless pocket universe where his goddess resided.

It was much warmer than he remembered. It had been a while since he was last here, but he could vividly recall how gloomy this place used to be, with skeletons hanging from the walls and barely any furniture to speak of.

That was still the case, unfortunately. But somehow, it felt a little lighter now.

He jerked his hand back as his body fully reformed, the mana-rich air knitting him together from the enormous reserves of energy that filled the plane.

"Been a while since I saw you guys," he muttered, glancing down at his bare toes.

"I don't remember calling for you," a voice said from across the room.

"Hello, Diavelia," Alphonse greeted.

"Hello, Alphonse," she replied flatly, not looking up from the book in her hands. "What do you want?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to check up on you," he said. "You know... see what you've been up to."

She glanced over the top of her glasses, then pushed them back up the bridge of her nose.

"You never check up on me," Diavelia noted.

"True... but, you know, it's probably time I break that stupid habit," Alphonse said, half smiling. "New day, new me sort of thing."

"What do you want?" she asked again.

Alphonse stopped, then took a long breath in.

"Why did you do it?"

"Hmm?" Diavelia turned to him briefly before looking away. "Do what?"

"...Why did you interfere in the brothel?" he asked. "That's something you've never done before. Not only does it drain a ridiculous amount of energy out of you, but you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."

She didn't turn to him this time.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"He activated [Lucked Out] five times in a row," Alphonse said, stepping forward. "That doesn't just happen."

"Pure coincidence." She waved a hand.

"Why did you interfere?" he pressed, pulling the book from her hands and putting it aside. "As the Goddess of Life and Death, your job is to oversee, not intervene. Interacting with your subjects like this is unacceptable."

Diavelia frowned.

"Fine," she said, folding her arms. "I won't do it again."

"Still..." Alphonse shook his head. "Why did you do it to begin with? You've never interfered before. Not for any of the previous reincarnates. You've never saved anyone."

"I don't know."

Alphonse sighed and pulled up a chair, sitting opposite her.

Their relationship was... complicated. He was her assistant and informant, tasked with following her reincarnates into their worlds and helping them navigate until they either completed their mission... or didn't.

He usually never pried into her business unless she brought it up first. But perhaps this time, since Stephen was his current reincarnate, he had reason to.

"Why do you think you did it?" Alphonse asked. "Do you... like him?"

"I find him amusing," she muttered. "But that's about it."

"That sounds like a half-truth."

"Probably."

Alphonse smiled faintly.

"What do you like about him, then? You've been doing this for ages. Surely there's been another reincarnate like him?"

"No," Diavelia answered. "He's one of a kind, weirdly enough. No one I've ever given a second chance to has been this energetic, or want to remain here. They've always been cautious, miserable and quite frankly rude."

"That's true," Alphonse nodded. "But you can't really blame them. It's not everyday you die and get reincarnated in a fantasy world."

"Perhaps."

He leaned back slightly. "I guess I can understand why you interfered now. Still, this should be the last time it happens."

Even though, as her assistant, he wasn't really in a position to order her, she knew she was in the wrong. And because of that, she didn't argue.

"Good," he said with a small nod, before shifting topics. "Now, about that entity that diminished your powers earlier... have you dealt with it yet?"

"It doesn't seem to be affecting me anymore," she said, eyes narrowing slightly. "But that's all I know. I still have no idea where it is, or what it is."

"That's a problem, isn't it?"

"Yes..." Diavelia muttered. "I've figured out that its existence is the reason Stephen's world keeps undergoing those randomizations."

"Wait, really?!" Alphonse perked up.

"Yes. Its existence is a false line, and because of it, everything's getting switched and rewritten. It's so annoying, honestly." She slammed a hand on the desk. "I can't even weed it out since it doesn't register as human or any known species in that world."

"But is it really that bad?" he asked. "It doesn't seem to be interacting with Stephen physically."

"Not yet, it's not." She leaned back, "But there's no telling what it'll do, what it can do, or what it even wants. And that's the problem."

"I see." Alphonse replied. "Alright, I'll keep an eye out, then. If I catch sight of anything suspicious, I'll report it."

"You do that."

Alphonse smirked. "Still... Stephen. Never thought I'd see the day you'd actually take a liking to someone."

"How could I not?" Diavelia said, wiping a tear from her eye. "Even I couldn't help but cry when I saw him in that dorm room."

"Yeah... that reminds me. Is there any way we can let him remain in that world, even after it's—"

"System!"

Stephen's voice echoed through the room.

Alphonse froze. There was no way Stephen's voice should've been able to this place, not inside the astralscape.

"System, you there?"

He turned away from the desk, then hurried over to the book he'd set aside earlier. He opened it, and on the first page was a clear view of Stephen sitting in the barn, staring blankly ahead.

"You were watching him?" Alphonse asked.

"I was scouring the world for the entity!" Diavelia fibbed, "He might be closer than we think!"

"Sure you were." Alphonse smiled and began walking toward the exit. "Guess I'd better go see what he wants now."

"Oh, and one more thing, Alphonse."

He stepped into the astral elevator, the portal that would drop him back into Nox. Since she'd called, he turned back just as he pressed the button.

"I was pretty low on mana earlier so... I didn't have enough to max out the chances of [Lucked Out] activating repeatedly." Diavelia admitted.

"Wait, what does that mean?" he asked, just as the elevator doors began to close.

"It means I had to take back some of my mana from you to keep him alive, but don't worry. I took most of it from the timer on his current route and left his stats undisturbed!"

"You did what?!" Alphonse's voice cracked in disbelief. "How much time did you take off? You know Stephen's in no condition to rush through this!"

"I didn't take much off..." she waved a hand. "Just about two hundred and forty days..."

"That's... that's damn near all the time he had left!" Alphonse roared as the elevator doors sealed shut.

"But it'll be alright, right? He can complete the route with that."

"NO THE HELL HE CAN'T!" Alphonse screeched.

"Oh..." Diavelia's muffled voice called after him. "I'm sorry then, I really am!"

"You know damn well you're not—!" he shouted back, just before his voice was swallowed by the descending hum of the elevator.

________________________________________

"System!"

Stephen called for the system once more, then stopped. It hadn't mentioned leaving, which was strange. but maybe it didn't matter. He just wanted someone to confide in now that Tello wasn't talking to him.

But maybe this was something he'd have to handle himself.

He laid back on the bare ground, staring into the glaring sun.

"Come on, Stephen... rack that brain of yours. You took economics in freshman year, what's a good business idea for a debt-ridden convict with no friends?" He smacked his forehead. "Think—"

[Current Love Interest: Claris Grandbelm]

[Time Remaining till end of route: 34 days]

[Time Removed from current route: 240 days]

"—YOU ANNOYING BASTARD!" The system's voice echoed, and Stephen shot up.

"Where did you go?" he asked.

"To the astralscape... but forget that. We have more pressing issues."

"Tell me about it. Tello won't talk to me, and I've gotta pay the doctors before they cut off his treatments." Stephen scratched his head.

"I'm afraid this might be worse," the system said. "Read the text in front of you."

Stephen looked up at the glowing blue lines again. After a few rereads, he sat up even straighter, staring off as if glaring directly at the system.

"What does this mean?"

"...The goddess siphoned some of the power I was granted as a system to boost your chances of [Lucked Out] activating in the brothel," the system explained. "This is the result."

"The result, is a month to amass the funds to hijack the betrothal? A month to pay the doctors and a month to make her fall in love with me?" Stephen shook his head. "I don't want it."

"Unfortunately, this is final."

"So you're saying I could actually die because the goddess docked my time? That's not fair."

"You would've died in the brothel if she hadn't boosted [Lucked Out] activation rate to a hundred percent," the system replied. "It's awful that it had to happen, but... it's kind of fair."

Stephen sighed, falling back onto the sand.

"First I lose all the money from the brothel, then the place gets destroyed, now Tello won't talk to me and on top of that, I need to pay off the doctors and finish the first route all in little over a month."

"That seems to be the case."

"System... why does it feel like I'm getting screwed over by cosmic forces?"

The system paused for a second, knowing that there was truth to that statement. But to not trouble or alert him even more, didn't further on it.

"Couldn't say."

"So where do we even start?" Stephen asked.

"Hm?" the system responded, caught off guard. "You usually have the answer to that."

"Not this time." Stephen dragged a hand down his face. "My mind's blank."

"I see... well, I guess you could start by getting a job and then gathering information about Claris's betrothal."

"Information about Claris, alright." Stephen stood up.

"Seems like you missed something I said," the system noted. "You need a job, or else you won't make any money."

"But that's the issue though, what kind of job would even pay enough right now?"

"I know of a job you could do."

Stephen turned. Olga was walking toward him, holding a bag of carrots.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I was supposed to be the medic of an escort squad for some unknown prince or something, but I've left the animals for too long already." She said. "If you take over for me, I can let you take my pay."

"I don't mind doing that, but I'm looking for over a hundred thousand to pay you guys back," Stephen replied. "I doubt this job's paying that much."

"It probably won't," Olga admitted, "but I can make you a deal. If you do this for me, I'll get Gao to shorten your debt to whatever amount you earn."

"That's a good deal," Stephen noted. "Don't mind if I take it."

"Good. They'll probably come pick you up soon."

She began walking away just as Darla neighed from inside the barn, her eyes locked on the carrots in Olga's grip.

"Alright." Stephen responded. "Wait... who's going to pick me up again?"

Olga stopped for a moment, turning back to speak.

"Oh, the Mage Knights!"

Then she walked off.

And Stephen could only blurt out the following words:

"Ehh?"

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.