Amidst the tension, the female voice spoke again, breaking the awkward sileh a mog, carefree tone.

  "So, should I expihing to this human now?" she asked, clearly amused by the situation.

  The ma out a long sigh, as if already tired of this whole game.

  "Yes, I suppose that's the right thing to do. After all, you’re the one responsible fing this human here."

  "Oh, don’t get so serious!" she replied, ughing softly before turnitention to Non. "Listen, we’re going to lift your limitation."

  Non uzzled.

  What did that mean?

  Could it be that the limit he'd felt all these years… was because of them?

  Before he could even form a question, the female voice tinued.

  "We know what you've been trying," she said, her tone a mix of mischief and curiosity. "We've seen it, over and over, trying to go beyond that tiny minute you rewind time. You want more, don’t you?"

  Non’s heart skipped a beat at those words.

  Could they really know what he had been trying?

  Time magic had been his obsession, and that one-minute limit frustrated him more than anything in the world. He had dreamt so many times of breaking that limit to go further back, but…

  ‘Why are they doing this?’ Non thought, feeling fusion overwhelm him once again.

  "Were you even paying attention?" the male voice grumbled with exasperation. "Didn’t you hear anything we said before?"

  Non, still lost in his thoughts, shook his head, uo fully process what was happening.

  All of this felt so uhat at times he wondered if he was trapped in some kind of twisted dream.

  "That's why I hate dealing with humans," the man muttered, visibly irritated. "They’re so... stupid. Always lose track."

  The female voice chuckled, a mischievous spark in her words.

  "Oh, but they’re the ones who add fvor to our job managing all of this. Without them, it would be terribly b."

  After a brief, exaggerated cough, the woman resumed the versation, this time with a more formal, almost solemn tone.

  "We’re going to remove the limit from your ability, Non. But, if you really want to go back to that moment you so desperately desire… first, you’ll have to start a family."

  The silehat followed that decration was deafening.

  Non, stunned, froze in pce.

  The words echoed in his mind, but he struggled to uand them.

  ‘A... family?’ he repeated, his voice full of fusion. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  The woman’s soft ugh broke the silence, as if she found his fusion charming.

  "You see, in the b order of things, survival and species preservation are essential. And for you, Non, that means starting a family. Humans... you know, their nature."

  The man interjected, correg her impatiently.

  "It’s called the natural order of things."

  "Yeah, yeah, that," she responded, dismissing the corre.

  Non was more lost than ever.

  ‘What kind of requirement is that?’ he asked, almost uo believe what he was hearing.

  The woman replied calmly, but with a tohat suggested there was no more to discuss.

  "Those are the ditions, at least for you. If you really want to go ba time to that moment you long for, you’ll o have a family. At least two children."

  Before Non could even process what he had just heard, the male voice joihe versation.

  "No, no. At least one boy and one girl."

  There was a brief silen whion could sehe woman turnitention to the man, clearly fused.

  "That’s not what we agreed on," the rotested, surprised.

  "Yes, but that’s what’s required now," the man replied firmly.

  The woma out a sigh, as if resigning herself to something iable.

  "Alright, alright. So, whatever he says." She turned back to Noing with a touch of annoyance, "At least one boy and one girl."

  Non was still in shock, uo snap out of his astonishment.

  ‘But… why?’ Non finally asked. ‘If yoing to break the limit on my ability, what does that have to do with starting a family?’

  The woma out a soft giggle.

  "Think of it as… a ritual."

  The man sighed but nodded.

  "Exactly. Once you’ve dohat, we’ll tact you and give you two options."

  The male voice paused, and his tone became colder, more serious.

  "At that moment, you either tih your life and accept death when your time es… or destroy everything you've built to go back to that moment you're so obsessed with."

  The man’s tone had turned bitter at the end of his statement, clearly upset with the tter option.

  But, as always, the female voice lightehe mood.

  "Oh, don’t get your hopes up about this whole rewinding time thing," she remarked with a light ugh. "Even though we’re removing the limit on how far back you go, you’re forbidden from returning to this moment."

  Non frowned, pletely baffled.

  ‘What? How does that make any sense?’

  The woman crified, her voice soft but firm.

  "You ’t rewind to this very moment, where we’re talking right now. If you try… well, I’ll leave it to your imagination."

  Before the woman could tihe male voiterrupted with a more severe tone.

  "Don’t even think about trying something like that."

  Non, deep in thought, didn’t know how to react.

  This whole offer was strange.

  Was he really not dreaming?

  Starting a family in order to rewind time to that moment… all for some bizarre ritual.

  None of it made seo the logic he knew.

  The female voice broke the silence again.

  "Well, well… to ence you a little on this path, how about hearing a story first? I’m sure you’ll be ied..."