*Tick* *Tick* *Tick* *Tick*
"Umm?"
He responded in his semi-consciousness as he heard the tingling of clocks all around him.
"What…is this?"
He said in a low voice. His eyelids felt so heavy. He tries to open his eyes but is too fragile to do so.
"Where…am I?"
He mumbles while trying to open his eyes.
But suddenly, in response to his question, a sweet voice answered it, saying,
"You're in the Time Travellers Agency of Krupticia."
"Hmm!?"
He responded as he tried more to open his eyes, and finally, he did it.
As he opened his eyes, he saw an incredible beauty looking at him with a delightful smile on her face.
"Hmm? Alice…"
He said as he recognized that the girl is none other than Alice herself.
"Yes, it's me. Good morning."
"Ah, yeah. Good mornin-?!"
He replied casually, but suddenly stopped as he remembered what happened to him back there.
"Hold on."
He said this while his tired expression shifted to seriousness.
"Hmm?"
Alice responded.
Sanix tries to get up but he fails, as he says,
"What's wrong with my body? Why can't I move?"
His body is feeling extremely vulnerable. He is trying to get up and take a look around his surroundings, but he fails to do so.
After hearing his problem, a little smile formed on Alice's face as she exclaimed,
"Don't panic. You'll be fine after a while."
"Hmm? What do you mean? What happened to me?"
He asked as his suspicions grew about Alice again.
"Well, you went conscious back there because of neuchroma. Its side effects will stay in your body for a little while. After that, you'll be fine."
Alice replied.
"Neuchroma, huh?"
Sanix repeated as he remembered that he felt dizzy after Alice kissed him. And now, his intelligent brain has already figured out the situation, as he comments,
"So…is it some kind of drug?"
"Hmm?"
Alice responded while widening her eyes in surprise after seeing Sanix realise this quickly as she replied,
"Y-Yeah. It is."
"Sleeping drugs, I guess."
"Yeah."
After Sanix becomes sure that Neuchroma is nothing more than sleeping drugs, a sudden thought strikes his head.
'Why does it feel like I'm lying on none other than her lap?'
After thinking, he looks to his right as he saw Alice's belly as his expression changed to bewilderment and he says,
"Um…Alice…"
"Hmm? What is it?"
Alice responded, still not knowing why Sanix's voice feels a little odd, as Sanix continues,
"How long have I been lying on your lap?"
After hearing his query, Alice places his right index finger on her lips and mutters while looking up.
'Um... Umm...'
Then she replies,
"I think it's been over 2 hours now."
As he hears that it's been over 2 hours, Sanix's expression changes to colourlessness as his fatigueness fades away and he jumps off of her lap, saying,
"Oh, God! Classes have already started!!"
As he said, suddenly, his eyes fell towards his surroundings, and he stiffened after seeing the view around him.
He sees more than 100 clocks, big and small, floating in mid-air while the sky emits a sparkly blue and purple light along with some white particles like stars. There are endless books on the floor settled on so many bookshelves with different designs. Some looked historical, some looked modern.
The floor has no end, despite it being vast and black-coloured like a space.
The tinkling of the clocks made him feel nostalgic all of a sudden, despite it being his first time appearing here.
"Wait... what... is this?"
He said, with his eyes wide open. His legs had been attached to the floor because of his uneasiness.
"The clocks in the middle row are those which estimate the lifespan of every living being."
Alice exclaimed as she got from the seat behind Sanix, where he was lying on her lap, as she continued stepping toward Sanix.
"And the clocks at the top estimate the lifespan of the planets and stars, including many different heavenly bodies."
Then she looked toward her right in the mid-air and said,
"And the silver clocks over there estimate the lifespan of the completely different timelines, including many different universes."
As she explained, her eyes fell towards Sanix as she asked,
"So, do you get it?"
And here, Sanix, who was left in a daze after hearing her explanation, nodded vigorously as he understood the concept. However, his vigilance gets shifted toward the book and onto the bookshelves on the floor as he comments,
"And…what about these books?"
After seeing his curiosity, Alice showed a delightful smile at him as she said while stepping toward the closest bookshelf to them,
"These books…have the data of every living being from their birth to their death. The details of every second they spent in their life."
"Wow..."
Sanix is left totally stunned after hearing this, but he doesn't freak out much since he already knows that this place is some kind of agency for time travelers.
However, the feeling of uneasiness didn't leave him yet, as he grabbed his chest and let out while looking at Alice.
"But..."
"Hmm?"
Alice responded as her focus shifted to Sanix.
Sanix lowers his gaze and says,
"Why am I feeling so uneasy? It felt like…like I had already come here before. But…I don't remember. In my view, it's the first time I came here, but then why does it feel so uneasy?"
After hearing his testimony, Alice doesn't respond, but she shows a fake smile.
But, unexpectedly, a yellow light, similar to that of the sun, emitted just above him.
"Hmm?"
He responded and, out of curiosity, his eyes fell toward him above, as his eyes got enlarged after seeing a large clock, much larger than any other clocks present there.
The clock above him is also floating in the sky like other clocks. However, the cases of the wall clocks are golden in color. The escaping wheel and the main wheel are showing. They are a wooden color. The dial and face of the clocks are golden-colored, the minutes and hours are black, and the minute hand and hour hand are wooden-colored.
"I…"
Sanix calls out, but still, his eyes are wide open.
"I've come here before."
He said as he held his head as a sharp pain arose.
'Why…What's going on?'
He mutters while closing his eyes out of pain.
"Sanix…"
Alice said in a sentimental voice, as she already knew what's happening to him.
"Let me tell you when you came here before then?"
"Huh!?"
".....?"
A familiar voice is heard from their right as Sanix is left flabbergasted after hearing this voice, while Alice looks towards her left as a smile forms on her face and she says,
"Ah, grandpa."
"G-Grandpa…?"
Sanix repeated, still in shock as his eyes fell towards his left.
He sees an old man in his late 70s coming toward them.
He is wearing a red-colored sharp suit with a red tie, a white shirt, a long hat, and a black coloured monocle with a black chain on it. and a black and white-colored staff in his hand.
"Ah!"
Sanix is left utterly shocked after seeing that old man as he yells out,
"G-Grandpa!?"