Despite the exhaustion almost crushing him, Konrad refused to rest.
Or rather, he couldn't. His eyelids were heavy, his limbs ached, but his mind kept going as always. Surviving the calamity was only the first step forward.
Now, he needed a solution to the much bigger mess he found himself in. Deal with the aftermath, a necromancer, and a ruined seat of power.
Even if Lily's lap looked inviting, these things had priority.
Still, the ginger demoness excelled at playing the role of a temptress.
"Come on, everything'll be brighter after a nap," she offered, and it was hard to say no.
She was a soft island of freckled comfort on a heap of cushions in the duke's carriage.
He wanted to bury his face in her thighs, but knew things wouldn't end there.
This wasn't the time for fun. He had no stamina anyway, and Halaima should've come first.
He had, like, what, a week to rebuild it and collect the taxes? From who?
When was the king's steward scheduled to show up?
"I hate it when you ignore me." Lily pouted, making him snort.
"You ignored me earlier, too, so busy arguing with Gabrielle, you didn't even notice me leaving."
"We were arguing about you," she claimed, crossing her arms. "Cuz' you're important."
"Then you could've involved me, too," he sighed.
The girl giggled, looking out the carriage's window.
"Poor baby, you had to ruin a city by yourself," she said, and it was Konrad's turn to pout.
"It wasn't my plan, but I don't remember you offering help or any useful ideas," he frowned.
"Yeah, your plan backfired in every way possible," the girl laughed. "But at least you tried, even if you copied everything I did to the letter."
"I did what?" Konrad raised an eyebrow.
"I also acted as Stella's prisoner when springing a trap on the mercenaries. But I didn't freak her out this bad." She gave him a quick recap, complete with a smirk to show her superiority.
"How could I have copied you when I wasn't even there? Remember, I freed a dragon—"
Whom she then put in a coma with a strong sleeping potion.
Maple also talked about necromancy; she could've been useful here if she were awake.
"Oh, no, you'll thank me later," the demoness said, suppressing a giggle. "If she were here, things would have been ten times worse."
"How? Halaima is already in ruins," he pointed out.
"But you're all alive," Lily shot back with a smile. "Vargas, Welf, the tribesmen—"
Fair enough. But he wasn't satisfied with surviving alone.
"At least Stella left tonnes of ice behind," Konrad said with a sigh. "It's a valuable commodity, especially in the summer. If I could send out a few messengers to the merchants—"
"That's my Konny, trying to profit even from a disaster." The girl grinned, bumping him.
It hurt. But yes, if life gave him lemons—or in this case, ice—he knew how to deal with it.
"The corpses are an issue, though," he came to the realization.
Stella killed at least a few hundred thugs and Church servants.
"Wait, could she reanimate them again to help with the rebuilding?" Konrad pondered.
"Please don't even joke with that," Gabrielle groaned as she climbed inside her carriage.
"Yeah, almost every world bans necromancy," the demoness explained. "Unless they have already taken over. Messing with the deceased is poor taste."
"So what should we do with Stella?" Konrad pondered out loud.
"I'd vote for killing her," Lily said, her tone cold and serious. Calculating, practical.
"But now that we secured the spirits' blessing, I'd rather not piss 'em off," Gabrielle discarded the idea. "Not before we finished with our business first."
"Coward," Lily pretended to cough, but her words were obvious. "It's your business, not mine."
"Maou Midori is a threat to you, too," the angel reminded her. Konrad could only hope it wouldn't turn into an all-out screaming fest again. And this demon lord—
He didn't think about him much. He was too busy for that.
Living his good life when, well, not freezing to death by necromancers. But if there was anything to go by with a title like that, the good moments wouldn't last.
"You're thinking too loud," Lily muttered from her nest of cushions. "It's giving me a headache. Your brain should be as mushy as overcooked noodles after that lightshow."
"Oh, it kind of is," Konrad replied, his voice rough. "I can't handle everything alone."
"Uh-huh." She closed her eyes again. "Because you're alone. No united tribes waiting for your words, or freed slaves eager to pay you back."
"Not to mention hundreds of mercenaries who should be starting to stir by now," Gabby added.
"And a lazy dragon," Lily chuckled, completing the list as if she weren't the one with the poison.
They were right, though. They usually were.
He wasn't alone, but his mindset was still focused on how he could solve everything by himself.
He could command, or at least ask, a thousand men and women, and Halaima wasn't that big.
They could've cleared most of the rubble and sold the ice within a week.
"If this helps, the local saints are, well, appeased," Gabrielle announced. "They accept Otto's excommunication and your stewardship, given the circumstances. They didn't dig deep."
Okay, at least that part of his plan worked.
"The spirits are also adamant that Stella remains unharmed and under your protection." She glanced toward the barn where the main troublemaker slept. "They call her an Entropic Vessel."
"A what?" Konrad raised an eyebrow. "So they knew what she was all along?"
"Of course, they did," Lily said mid-yawn. "They gave her that power."
"A forbidden one?" he asked again, to reiterate it. "Why would they do that?"
"The spirits aren't as uniform as you'd think. Not that the saints are, or even we, angels. We each have a personal motivation. Most try to keep the peace, while others seek chaos."
Gabrielle shot a telling glance at Lily during the last part.
"She still has a purpose, and so do you," she said. "But neither party was that lenient with Otto. The best would be if your plan succeeded, and he'd become the only scapegoat."
"I won't shed tears for him, but don't even mention plans to me," Konrad shivered, then changed the topic. "What'll happen with the mute girl?"
He noticed Eyna taking care of her outside.
Lily shot him another glance, and he didn't need to read her mind to figure it out.
"No, nope, bad Konrad. She's way too young to be your haremette." She said, crossing her arms.
He could only rub his forehead as a response.
"Not what I meant. Are her parents alive? Her name was Brave, pronounced as two syllables."
"I'm sure our purple-eyed puppy documented everyone you rescued from the salt mines. If they were there, she'd know about them." Lily said with a shrug. "I won't babysit her."
"Unless the spirits ask us to," Gabrielle interjected.
She turned to Konrad next, her voice low but serious.
"Remember, Maou Midori is on the move. We need allies. A lot of them."
Right. This whole 'becoming a noble' thing and clashing with his twin was to become stronger. They wanted to prepare him for a fight in the far future—or in a not-so-far one now.
He wasn't looking forward to it.