Advancing from level 4 peak in the water path to level 5 wasn't easy. Even for Varian, without external help, it was equivalent to nightmare mode.
Doing that in one day was hell mode.
And in that hell mode, Varian slept comfortably for three whole hours.
Boo tried to wake him up a few times, but all of its efforts were silenced by the tyrant Varian.
"…Bad master." Boo pouted as it floated above the bed.
Looking at Varian's relaxed smile, it felt an impulse to change things. It liked when things remained the way they were.
For instance, its master was always doing something.
Boo pondered for a bit and tried to chuckle like one of the villains it recently watched."Mhuahahaa! Ghosts are never slaves!"
"Zzzz" Varian's subconscious seemed to have perceived the 'disturbance outside', so he involuntarily kicked a pillow at Boo.
"I was kidding! Master! Trust me!"
Boo jumped back into the ghost ring.
Then after a minute, it peeked outside and saw Varian was still sleeping.
So, it barged outside with a puffed-out chest and snorted. "Hah? Who's scared? I ask you all, who's scared?"
Hearing no answer, Boo nodded while rubbing its chin. "Exactly. Boo is too brave to feel an emotion such as fear. Boo just wanted to save that pillow. If it touched Boo, it'd have broken into pieces."
"Now then…" After convincing itself of its bravery, Boo rubbed its hands and turned to the room's watch hologram.
Before he went to sleep, Varian set an alarm.
With a single thought, Boo hacked into the system and changed the time.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Boo waited eagerly for its master to wake up.
"It's not because I don't want to see master sleeping in daylight which is shameful if it gets out.
It's because I don't want master to fail to reach level 5 by the deadline. Yep, yep." Boo nodded, as if convincing itself.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The alarm continued to ring.
"Sia!" Varian's eyes snapped as he shouted.
Subconsciously, he broke the 'limits' placed on his divine paths and ended up using his body path powers.
Bang! Zap!
The bed was broken into pieces while the furniture in the room was burnt to dust.
"M-Master!" Boo stuttered with a trembling voice.
But Varian didn't care.
Sitting on the floor, he stared blankly into the distance. His hands involuntarily moved to his face and covered his eyes.
He could see it…see her.
In the living room of their old home, they were on the couch, sitting side by side.
He pinched her cheeks and grinned. "Congrats Sia! Sia, the captain. What's your team name going to be? Shadow Heroes? Or Star Fighters? Hm…you know what? I'll make a list."
Sia glanced at him blankly.
Varian frowned and gave her a cheerful smile. "Hey, what happened? You don't like the names, scrap them. I was just messing with the names. I am just very happy that you're now the class captain."
"I declined the captaincy," Sia said blankly.
Varian's hands on her cheeks stiffened and he looked at her with a look of disbelief.
"S-Sia…" Varian tried to smile but failed miserably. He clenched his teeth and said slowly. "Do you know how valuable this opportunity is?"
Sia nodded silently.
"You don't! If you can gain more credits, you can apply for a better academy! If you do exceptionally well and I know you will, you can even get into the Imperial Defense Academy!… So why?!" Varian held her hands as he stared into her eyes with an intense gaze.
Sia lowered her head and bit her lip. "I—I can't."
Varian's chest heaved up and down as he felt like clutching his hair. If it was any other person, he'd have yelled…no, he'd have not cared at all.
But Sia…
"…Why Sia? Why are you throwing away your future? You know how happy mom would be if you can get into the Imperial Academy?" Varian asked with a bitter smile.
Sia stiffened at his comments and fell silent for a few minutes before muttering. "-5 months."
"Huh?" Varian raised a brow.
"15 months," Sia said again, this time with a clear voice. She took his hands holding her into his and said word by word. "The captain should focus all their time on the school missions until graduation—that's 15 months."
Varian opened his mouth to convince her, but Sia continued.
"All captains will have training in the school's main campus for four months. I can't contact you or Amanda for the four months." Her voice was low at the end, and he could sense reluctance.
Varian tried to convince her "I can understand your reluctance. Everything will be so boring without you. But four months for your future is fair—"
"It's not fair." Sia cut him off and looked at him with piercing eyes. "You know it, don't you? Our school doesn't let anyone get into Imperial Academy for free. They showed me the contract.
The goddamn contract means I have to work on another planet for five years after graduation."
"…" Varian turned his gaze away from her and sighed.
"This four months, I can bear. What about those five years?" Sia's voice was threatening to break down at any moment.
Varian said bitterly. "Sia, you are the most talented in our class. Our family couldn't support you properly. Now you have an opportunity, you should grasp it. Your future will be bright."
"Bright?" Sia shook her head. "It's already bright, Varian. You don't have to feel sorry or guilty for me. I am doing this because I like to do it. For me, family comes first."
"…" Varian looked at her shining golden eyes and was at a loss for words.
What was the emotion he was overflowing with right now?
He didn't know. But he did know it wanted him to help her in any way he could. Unfortunately, he still hadn't awakened.
Varian was snapped out of his thoughts as he felt a soft embrace cover him.
"Don't think too much. We all have our dreams, don't we? This is my dream. I want to be there for my family." Sia rested her head on his chest and whispered.
"…as you wish." Varian finally compromised and hugged her back.
After a long time, Sia raised her head and glanced at him silently. He had fallen asleep, but maintained his posture.
In fact, he didn't even move an inch. It was as if he didn't want to disturb her.
Sia gently caressed his cheeks and whispered. "You don't know how much you mean to me."
The world started to spin and everything went blank.
"Master?"
"Master! Master!!"
"Huh? Master!"
Varian was woken up by a white ghost clinging to his body.
Boo looked at him with an anxious gaze and asked. "Master, those dreams again?"
"Yeah." Varian nodded lightly and noticed the condition of the room.
"Wait, why did I do that?" He squinted at Boo.
"Eh..ahahaha," Boo rubbed the back of its head and answered. "The alarm! Yes, the alarm went off! That's why. You subconsciously panicked."
Varian raised a brow and retrieved his comm from the invisible ghost ring on his finger.
'What?!' Boo cursed inwardly and hurried to action.
When Varian checked the time, it was exactly the 'new' time that Boo set.
"Now, do you believe me, master?" Boo asked slowly.
"Boo, oh, Boo. You are very clever but also very dumb. There are only three messages from Sarah. So, only three hours passed." Varian said and stood up.
"W-Wait, What?!" Boo found this incomprehensible.
"Someone needs to pay for their actions." Varian clenched his fists and walked towards Boo with a smile so evil that Boo would claim even the villains it watched paled next to him.
"Ghost Boo, it's time for you to pay."
"Noooo!"