"Papa—no, Deputy Squad Leader!"

Tie threw off the blanket and began shaking her father.

But then she noticed something—and suddenly froze.

"Huh?"

For some reason, Papa wasn’t moving at all.

Her gaze soon shifted to the clock on the wall.

The second hand wasn’t moving.

"...No way!"

Tie abruptly turned the other way.

But there too—Grandma wasn’t moving either.

[Hey, brat! I’m asking, can you hear us?!]

[Tie! Are you alright?!]

[Just come out already! Miss! Miss!]

Tie swallowed.

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

"Time!"

Time had stopped.

The curtain by the entrance, which had been swaying from a draft, hung frozen in the air.

Even the light on the rice cooker wasn’t flickering.

Tie blinked with her mouth slightly open.

‘This is Pupu’s skill!’

The legendary ability to stop time.

She knew about it—because she had carefully watched the full-length animated film.

As expected.

From beyond the opening came Marbas’s voice.

[That’s right! It looks like when this door opens, a reverse flow effect occurs on the opposite side!]

[Reverse?]

[When two realities come into contact, one of them enters a “rest state.” The flow is sealed, and time naturally stops...]

[Now’s not the time for explanations, Tie!]

An amber eye appeared in the opening again.

Tie clenched her fists and answered:

"Uncle Basto!"

Looking at her through the opening, Basto asked in a trembling voice:

[Yeah...! Are you alright? Nothing happened to you, right?]

"Yes!"

After answering, Tie reached out—maybe she could touch the opening.

But it was too high.

Basto continued:

[Tie, listen carefully. We tried several times—it looks like we can’t maintain the connection for long!]

Sensing the seriousness, Tie focused on his eyes.

[In short: Pupu opened a subspace! Using the magic you gave it!]

Tie’s eyes widened.

[And Lucarion expanded that subspace into a temporal passage. In theory, we can use it to bring you and Tesetan back! But there’s a problem...]

Basto glanced aside.

And behind the dark opening, another face appeared.

[...Astie.]

"Kkamani!"

Seeing Lucarion for the first time in so long, Tie nearly burst into tears.

"K-k-Kkamani, where have you been! Tie waited every day!"

Lucarion’s eyes darkened.

[...I’m sorry.]

But he quickly steadied himself and continued:

[The passage is too unstable. If we continue like this, it will collapse while we are transferring you. So it needs to be reinforced...]

"......"

[And paradoxically, for that, we need your magic again.]

Tie blinked in confusion.

"My power?"

Lucarion nodded.

[Yes. I, the elephant, and Marbas—we are all using power we received from you. If we delay, the stored magic we brought will run out.]

Tie’s face grew serious.

"But I’m here. So how?"

Lucarion inhaled and answered:

[First... one of us will cross through the passage and take your magic directly.]

"Eh?!"

[But right now, only one can pass through.]

[And that is me!]

Before Tie could ask further, Marbas shoved his lion-like head into the opening.

Today, his wooden face looked especially smug.

[My lady. Do you know about the passage paradox?]

Tie hesitated.

Marbas tilted his head and lifted his chin proudly.

[The paradox of the passage is that the weaker one passes through faster and more precisely.]

"Faster...?"

[Still difficult? Then imagine passing through a storm! Steel is torn apart, but a feather flies through without a single scratch.]

Tie’s eyes lit up.

She understood.

Happily, she said:

"Ah! Tie gets it! Marru is the weakest, so he can come here!"

Marbas froze.

Then a gray, thick hand smacked him on the head.

[......kew!]

[G-got it! I’ll do it quickly!]

Shrinking, Marbas spoke rapidly:

[Something like that! Anyway—I’m crossing now!]

Tie nodded energetically.

As Marbas began squeezing through the opening, voices came from the other side.

[Tie! Always be careful!]

[Brat! Watch out for magical creatures! If anything happens, let the Deputy Squad Leader handle it!]

Tie’s nose stung.

Sniffling, she shouted:

"Hiiin, don’t worry! There are no magical creatures here!"

[Still be careful! Anything could be here!]

"Uu, yes! Tie will be careful of gas stoves and cars!"

[...Good! And don’t skip meals!]

"Mm! Everyone...!"

Suddenly, the voices grew distant.

The second hand started moving again.

And Marbas—tap—fell into Tie’s palm.

Silence.

Tie looked down at Marbas in her hand.

Grandma was still asleep.

But—

"...How?"

Papa, with his sharp senses, slowly lifted himself.

Marbas shook his head.

[It’s been a while! I came to take magic to reinforce the passage...]

Tie covered his mouth.

Then, quickly climbing under the blanket, she whispered:

"Shh. Tomorrow, Marru. Grandma is sleeping."

Marbas hesitated.

But soon fell silent obediently.

"Little one, don’t go anywhere, stay here, understood?! Grandma said so!"

The next morning.

Tie energetically waved at Grandma leaving for work.

"Yes!"

Behind her, leaning against the wall, sat Tesetan, who had eaten two portions of breakfast.

Grandma clicked her tongue as she looked at him.

"What a terrible illness... such a polite Kim, and now turned into such a rude ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) man..."

Startled, Tie ran over to Tesetan.

"Come on, hurry, say goodbye."

"...Again? I already did what you told me."

"That was ‘thank you for the meal’! Now you have to say ‘have a good day’!"

Tesetan sighed.

But he still stood up and awkwardly bowed.

"...Have a good day."

Grandma from 107 replied:

"Alright."

The metal door closed with a creak.

Tie let go of him and puffed her cheeks.

"Hmph."

After returning to Korea, Papa had become a big problem.

Even kids in the lower class knew these rules!

And if he didn’t understand the language...

Tie recalled Marbas’s words from under the blanket last night.

[Temporal passages usually include dimensional correction. When passing through, the body automatically adjusts to a state where communication is possible.]

‘Kkamani really is an incredibly powerful spirit.’

He even managed to create such a passage.

[So, can I explain now?]

At that moment, Marbas, who had been lying in the corner like he was dead, straightened up.

He jumped and walked over to Tie and Tesetan.

A small sphere appeared in front of Tie.

[This is a device called a “harmonium,” which I created on the other side.]

Marbas puffed out his chest proudly.

[It is based on ancient magical engineering and serves as a magic resonance device for interdimensional gates!]

"...Magic resonance?"

[Simply put—if you place your magic inside it, my lady, you will be able to pass through the passage safely.]