"Lucifer, I swear, if you dragged me away fo— Oh." Lilith froze as the greatest of the archangels towered over her. "M-michael? It has been a century."
And Gabrielle and Lucifer were there with him—the latter avoiding her eyes.
"Greater Demon Lilith." The angel's voice cracked the clouds. "A Demon Lord seeks to break into the higher planes—and you ruined our plans to stop him, after he banished me—"
"Bani— Mortals whooped your ass?" Lilith snorted. "And for the record, I didn't—"
"You keep saying Konrad's yours—and he saved my martyr," Gabrielle cut in. "Eyna should've been the sacrifice, distracting Maou Midori while that dragon—"
The ginger scoffed.
"That puny little thing? If that's all it takes, I'll get rid of him for ya."
"You can't fight him—nor can we," Michael claimed. "Even if our magic is superior, Maou Midori found a way to banish us, higher beings. And if he does that here—"
Gabrielle interjected. "Mortals of that world might be immune—"
"Nope, not my problem," Lilith shot her down. "I destroyed that core you asked me to, so—"
"A minor setback," the angel claimed. "Maou already found six of those. If nobody stops him, one more, and he'd be at our doorstep. We've got to whip Konrad into shape—"
The demoness flared her wings.
"You'd throw my Konny at that monster?!"
"Well, my pick was Eyna, but—"
"I'll grant him entrance to the heavens even if he dies," Michael boomed. "Or reincarnate him for you—sacrificing his life to save thousands of worlds is worth this much."
"Reincarnate?!" the ginger scoffed. "So your little brother didn't brag about his involvement?!"
She stared Lucifer down, her eyes burning with fury, and the youngest angel gulped.
"I, uh," he mumbled, "may or may not cut his soul off the Eternal Cycle."
"You what?!" That surprised even Gabrielle. "Then Konrad's—"
"I still tether him, but—" Lucifer avoided their eyes, "if he dies—he dies for good."
***
Konrad brushed a messy orange strand from Lily's still face.
Her breathing was steady, her petite body warm, but she was somewhere far—
"You won't believe what happened in Aset," Welf barged in, then froze. "Uh, okay, you might. Gabby passed out, too, after having the duke promise to help us."
"Your sister gave me no warning," the boy complained, leaning over her.
So the same thing happened to two of the craziest, most powerful women he knew, miles apart? The connection couldn't have been more obvious, but it didn't make him feel better.
"You know she'll be fine," the blacksmith tried to comfort him. "But we have to go."
Konrad grunted. Leaving felt like tearing his soul.
"We've got a carriage, too," the redhead pushed him. "With four freaking horses. As timid as she looks, Eyna had the duke sweating from her haggling. We'll be in Halaima before—"
"Not so fast," Zoltan interrupted them outside. "I might've found what you wanted."
The decaying pages he held threatened to fall apart.
His vinegar stench left no doubt about what he had been doing.
"Didn't find the table of contents yet, but this here mentions faster mana recovery."
Konrad's eyes flashed, his haremettes—when not comatose—kept chewing him over that.
"I've about ten pages so far, once I find the rest—"
"Ugh, no. I'm on a tight schedule." He shook his head. "But it'll be only a month."
"You've only been here for a month, too," his 'master' scoffed. True. And so much happened in that time. "But if you come back as a noble, I'll charge you a hefty price—"
As a noble. Would it be any different?
He understood trade and logistics and now had plenty of magic power, too.
But the most people he ever 'led' were five colleagues, in a sub-project for his company.
And that, too, was an entire life ago.
"Master, I secured relays for us in ten staging posts," Eyna beamed, holding a parchment.
"Amazing—but please don't call me that," Konrad scowled.
If he didn't look away, those purple puppy-eyes would've made him blush.
"Lord Halstadt doesn't seem appropriate, either," the girl wrung her hands. It sure wasn't.
"Not without the title," he groaned. "For now, I'm an Ostfeld bastard, so stick with Konrad—"
"M-master's a savior, no bastard," Eyna rejected the idea, and—was she blushing now?
Between powerhouses like Lily and Gabrielle, he spent less with the chieftain's daughter. But she was no less beautiful—pure, exotic even. He had to be careful with her, or his heart—
"I mean it as a technical term, not an insult," Konrad clarified. "I'm an illegitimate son."
Welf must've had enough, pushing him towards the carriage.
"You can talk about technicalities on the road, too. I can't wait to drive this thing," the blacksmith—soon coachman—urged them. "Besides, if the rumors are true, you're no bastard."
"W-what?!" Way to drop a bomb like that.
Before he knew, Welf was at the front, and they lurched forward.
The carriage might've looked worthy of a noble, and the four horses ran fast. But the dirt road and lack of suspension made it ride more like a runaway rally car.
Konrad clung to his seat, and asking the redhead to elaborate seemed like a distant dream.
"I heard Lord Erwin had a tribal lover." Eyna's voice was almost lost in all that jostling. "And before his final battle, they eloped—no marriage by Kasserlane's laws, but—"
He still remembered that pale woman from his birth.
Not something normal babies would do, but he reincarnated. And while he never forgot her face, he had no idea of her name or who she was. It didn't feel like a mother to him, either.
But the nun who found him mentioned tribal script on a note—
Why didn't he ever ask about it? Would Father Alastair keep it all this time?
The image came back sharper than ever—until a bump in the road garbled his thoughts again.
"Holy hell," he complained. "I know we're in a hurry, but I'd rather get there in one piece."
Too bad, Welf didn't hear him, playing coachee on the outside.
Only a month ago, he traveled for seven days to reach Aset.
On his way back, they went two or three times as fast, and thanks to the relay horses, they wouldn't ever stop. No rest, they devoured the miles even at night, making sleeping impossible.
But on the second day, the shabby town of Halaima was already in sight.
And so was that obvious roadblock made of logs, a few miles before it.
"Well, banditry wasn't a lie," Konrad poked his head out. "Let them know a new lord's in town."
Only slowing enough to concentrate on a flashy spell, he'd glass the highway for half a mile.
With his illusions, he even created a mushroom cloud for dramatic effect.
Still, he was careful not to burn the bandits hiding on both sides of the road.
"Yikes, and I tell Liliske not to do excessive crap," Welf yelped, speeding through cinder.
"I've got to send a message," the boy grinned, burning through almost half of his mana in one go. "I'll leave the rest of the negotiations with the tribes to you two."
It seemed like a good investment to arrive in style.