"Soo, any favorites?" Lily asked, hooking her arm into his as the last squad disappeared into an alley. When she snuck up on him—or did she materialize out of thin air?—Konrad had no idea.
He should've gotten used to it by now, but—
"Can't you at least make a noise like a normal person?" he groaned rather than answering.
"Didn't want to ruin your show, darling." The ginger beauty pinched his side. "You put so much effort into this—I'm sure you were placing bets on your subordinates, too."
As if. He didn't have the time, nor did he think that far ahead.
"To be fair, I only know a few names," he confessed. "What kind of leader does that make me?"
"A new one," Lily chuckled, nudging him again. "Leader in training. You'll get into it soon."
"Hope you're right," Konrad muttered, bringing his illusions to life. "Wanna watch how they do?"
In one thing, Lily sure was correct.
He had put way too much effort into every single detail of this wargame, in the name of 'practicing' his magic. Into the obstacles, lures, observation, everything.
But even if he went overboard, now he could summon screens to share his exploits.
The overcharged bomb of energy by his side shot him a lopsided glance, rolling her eyes at the overkill. In a medieval world like Kasserlane's, it was—well, magic.
"It looks like your old workstation, doesn't it?" was all that Lily had to say about it.
"Wha—How d'you even know about that?" Konrad raised an eyebrow.
"What am I looking at?" She ignored his question, watching the squads spread out at random.
Shaking his head, he decided to let that slide for now.
He had a wargame to run, a present to focus on.
"I've hidden adamantite artifacts all over the place, and can use their point of view as—"
"Not that, dumbass," Lily laughed. "Don't care 'bout the nerdy details. You copy and bend light before reprojecting it here. I get it. Would've been easier to observe from above, but—oh well."
Konrad scoffed.
Not only had she interrupted his great explanation, but she did a better job summarizing it.
"Not sure if you noticed, but I don't have wings," he said, pouting.
"You have a dragon," Lily pointed out, her eyes still on the illusion-screens.
Another touche. The girl was on a roll.
"You need to manage your assets better, sweetheart," she said at the complex spells he had weaved. "This is so much wasted mana, and I even like to go overboard."
"I-it was practice," Konrad stuttered, already off his game. "And didn't want to involve Maple."
The demoness shot him a glare.
"You should work her to the bone," she noted. "Let her make up for her bullshit, rather than doing something even worse. Trust me, you don't want a bored dragon at your hands."
Whatever reasons she had, she still hated that girl with a passion.
Considering the similarities and her attitude towards him, it wasn't hard to guess why.
"So when does the action start?" she asked, already losing interest. "And who's gonna win?"
"If I had to pick someone, it would be your bro—I mean, Welf," Konrad said, pointing at the largest screen. "The first two squads will meet around that corner, and we'll see what they do."
"Okay, that part isn't exactly clear," Lily confessed. "How do you manipulate them?"
Finally, he could explain his masterpiece.
"The lots they drew had magic circuits on them," he said, jabbering before she'd interrupt him again. "It disrupts illusion towards matching pairs, but everyone else looks like a zombie."
"So, hold on—" The girl raised a finger. "You're casting and cancelling your own magic?"
"Either this, or I would've cast it for every individual warrior, which was—"
"Oh, for the spirits, how much mana did you burn on this thing?" the demoness demanded.
Konrad would never admit the real number, but—
"That is way too much," she yelped, reading it out straight from his mind. "And it won't work, either. Like, there is one thing to show them an illusion, but what about the sounds and stuff?"
"Ah, I'm way ahead of you," Konrad claimed, recovering fast. "I also garble their voices."
Again, it was a very complex spell he had invented thanks to Maple's teachings.
He pushed his limits, setting everything up in a single day, treating it as a learning experience. He burned through all his mana in the process—twice, working until his nose bled too hard.
"Oh, Konny," Lily moaned, shaking her head. "We could've made so many babies in that time."
"I'm not sure that's how babies work," Konrad noted, trying not to take it on himself.
He expected a bit more enthusiasm. Praise, even.
Lily had other ideas.
"I get what you were trying to do, but this is a waste, no matter how I look at it," she accused. She even sounded more serious than usual. "Both time and mana, gone for good."
"It's not," he protested, right as the first two teams encountered each other. "Look."
They could watch on the big screen as they froze, measuring each other up, raising their weapons. They called out to the other squad, but their voices never got through.
Soon, the men assumed a defensive stance, and hell was about to break loose.
"See? It's working. They have no idea they're seeing each other," Konrad said, feeling victorious.
"Yeah, it's a neat trick," the demoness admitted. "It could work on your enemies too, but—"
She didn't have to say it, and Konrad didn't need to ask if she read his mind, either.
"I know, it takes about half an hour to cast," he confessed.
"Or strike them down with lightning in three seconds," Lily noted. "And for less mana."
"Also less entertaining." He shrugged, watching as the first tentative strike unfolded. "I can't train my men with lightning bolts, either. This was necessary for—well, to test them."
"No, it was not." She rolled her eyes, but watched the duel with interest. "But okay, it's kinda fun."
The two teams seemed as suspicious of each other as of their own members.
They didn't assume a proper formation or cover each other's blind spots—at least not at first.
Once they realized the 'zombies'—in both of their eyes, the other group—were as capable as they were, they had to adapt. Welf was right. Throwing them in deep was a good call.
Facing lethal enemies made them forget their differences faster than spending years together.
And while they used the same training gear as during practice, this was different.
More serious, fierce, and even fun to watch.
"I wish we could use this during the tournament," Konrad muttered, satisfied with the result.
"It'd lose its charm as soon as they figured it out," Lily noted, mesmerised. "But yeah, my money is on Welf, too. He knows your trick and will mop the floor with these amateurs."
"But his squad elected a champion as leader," he said. "Might've given him too much handicap."
"Mhm, he's more of a follower type, not a leader," the demoness nodded along. "But you only need a few commanders for these games. You can never have enough capable swordsmen."
And with that, the first bout ended in a draw.
The two unnamed squads—Konrad knew nobody from either team—disengaged.
Realizing they couldn't overwhelm each other fast enough, they reached the same conclusion.
Run to report back and warn the others.