How they reached Eytjangard's outskirts, Konrad didn't know. He struggled to breathe or think, but they've made it. Without the captain's steadying hands, though, he'd fallen a hundred times.
Now he only had to cancel the spell, and— Wait, how'd he do that?
"Kid?" Vargas whispered. "You're too quiet. Mess with me, and I'll take my amulet to—"
Right. Artifact. Problem solved.
"Do it," Konrad pleaded. "It'd be suspicious if I went further, but walk a hundred paces, and—"
"What?! I'm still blind," the captain groaned, but did it anyway. "I'll remember this."
That was the least of his worries, feeling like his spell sapped his very life away. They've split, with him stumbling back, and a huge boulder off his chest when it was over.
The world stopped spinning, and he saw Vargas shoot him a glare—but he did see him.
His magic worked—for the most part, and at first try, too, but it felt almost crippling.
"Was that your first spell, Konny boy?" A sweet voice was all the warning he got before getting hit by a freight train. "Did I witness you lose your virginity? Aww, I'm like a proud mom."
Lily pounced, her warmth enveloping him even through her cloak— and not like a mother's.
Talk about virginity. Hands wrapped around her on instinct, despite exhaustion, and something stirred in him. Fiery orange hair spilled from her hood, and—
Weren't her incisors longer before?
"How'd you know?" Konrad choked out, trying to fight her off, but not too hard.
Without war paint on, her freckles stood out even more.
"Because I'm the greatest demonic sorceress," she giggled, bouncing on him. "A for effort, but you need more to fool these eyes."
This was— Hell. He hadn't recovered from the beatings, which didn't bother her in the slightest.
She sandwiched his face between her palms, laughing, until someone smacked her head.
"You're hurting him, Liliske," Welf rasped, and Konrad could finally take a breath.
"Me?!" Her eyes widened, letting out a theatrical gasp as she threw back her hood. "I'd never."
Konrad couldn't reply, his eyes fixing on something, or rather, the lack of something.
"W-what happened to your ears?" he choked, confused.
Lily raised an eyebrow, adjusting her wild tangles. "You mean these?" She had nice, oval shapes on the sides of her head, where you'd expect ears to be.
"Weren't you a beastkin?"
The answer was an awkward pause, then she burst into laughter.
"Oh, Konny," she slammed his chest with so much force a rib might've cracked. "I told you: sorceress, I can be whatever I want." She made her point by making her ears disappear.
Fluffy triangles sprouted instead, and as a reward, Welf smacked her again.
"Come on, showoff, heal him already."
"Fine, fine," Lily pouted, and warmth washed over; exhaustion, pain, and anxiety melted. "I keep healing him these days, and we only met twice in this world."
'In this world,' again? Where did he hear this before?
"Thank you," he sighed, blushing, feeling warm and fluffy inside.
Lost in thought and peeling off his bandages, he missed the approaching footsteps. How dumb it was to believe they haggled for him earlier, when they talked about crystals—
"What was that stunt earlier?!" Before he realized, Zoltan, scruffy as always, loomed over him.
"Oh, your meow-ster is angry." Lily's smirk was oil into the fire. If this world had popcorn, she'd grab a bucketload to enjoy the show, but he couldn't figure out what the problem was.
"I shouldn't have trusted you," his teacher raged. "You said you'd get that town's guard out of here, but you were spying on us instead, didn't you?"
What? Konrad tried to protest, but—
"Ah, that's why that guy was invisible," the girl burst out laughing. Zoltan snapped.
"There's no way he could've—"
"He did, though," Lily shrugged, matter-of-fact. The stares made Konrad uncomfortable, his teacher's mouth gaping as if asking how. If only he could explain—
"I, um, imagined writing the runes in a merchant's ledger," he mumbled. "And it worked."
Lying was easier than going into what coding or computers were.
"It did, more or less," Lily giggled. "But he ran dry from a single spell."
That explained why he felt so spent. Like running a marathon, on an empty stomach, and—
"So the Captain's gone?" Zoltan asked. When did he eat last? His vision blurred—
"Yeah, but, uh, I messed it up," Konrad admitted. So much went wrong. Where to even start? He felt dizzy. "I tried to make us both invisible, but only Vargas vanished, and I couldn't undo it."
"Running into spellcasting head first," Lily laughed. "Ambitious, I like him more each moment."
Even if she joked, his heart beat faster. Like, a lot faster. And his eyes played tricks on him.
"Show me," Zoltan demanded, "right now." But his voice sounded like he was underwater.
"Nah, he's about to collapse," Welf noted as the ground rushed towards his face.
***
Darkness swallowed him—and with it, the familiar incense scent.
"You're on the right path," Lu claimed, spreading his wings. "But it won't be that easy. And don't forget to keep your distance from Gabrielle."
So it was another dream. The boy scoffed at the vague warnings.
"Why? What can a fragile little noble girl do to me?" he complained in his sleep. "And there's nothing easy in this. I'm against the clock, and there's so much to learn—"
To his surprise, the angel crossed his arms, glaring.
"Wait. You can hear me?" For all those years, it never occurred to him that he could answer. He listened, trying to make sense of things, but he never tried to talk. "Holy shit—"
Lu sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"You're hopeless," his wing fluttered, washing away the dream. "All you need to know is—"
Konrad woke up in an unfamiliar room, still in his clothes, and they were getting ragged.
The only thing he remembered was— Fainting? And that the duke's daughter was dangerous. He got up—stumbling towards the door, groggy—and Lu's words echoed in his mind.
The sun almost blinded him, his steps shaky on the staircase.
"No, Liliske, no more crystals." Welf's voice was the first he recognized, and the crunching sounded familiar, too. There was a feline hiss, but no real heat behind it.
"Why, nya? Zoltan won't buy them anyway," Lily's fiery hair came to view as they sat at a table.
The place seemed like an inn, and he was jealous of their casual morning chat.
"You guys sure are close." He should've asked how he ended up in a bed instead.
"Well, she's my little sister after all," Welf shoved a chair towards him, jumbling Konrad's mind.
Sure, they were both redheads, but he didn't expect that—
"Meow, I'm not," Lily kicked Welf's leg under the table. "He says that 'coz his mother birthed me to this world, but I'm the greatest archdemon this multiverse—"
"That's the literal definition of what a little sister is," Welf smacked her head.
Chunibyo? She was so deep in her fantasy, but— She did have some crazy powers.
"Whatever, eat," she commanded, pushing a steaming bowl in front of him. His stomach growled from the meaty smell. "Casting spells can make you hungry."
"T-thanks." Konrad starved. "Don't mind if I do."
He didn't even care that they both stared as he ate like it was the first time in years.
"Is he functional now?" Zoltan appeared on cue, pointing a finger at him but eyeing Welf. "He can't leave before casting light scatter on that bowl, or I'm drowning him in acid."
Konrad choked on the soup—as if his teacher's vinegar smell wasn't bad enough.