Sprinting was never his favorite sport, especially in armor.
Konrad couldn't imagine how much worse it would have been with heavier plates. Like a regular set, not one made of adamantite by the best blacksmiths he'd ever known.
It always made him stand out, though.
The dragonscales and the rare metal turned every head in Kasserlane.
So, imagine the effect in Tokyo.
If only they'd outrun the crowd, but people refused to thin out. In fact, it got worse. By the time they reached Akihabara Station, he had to force his way in like a human ice-breaker.
His odd looks came in handy there, but he had no idea how the girl slipped through all that.
She was tiny and fragile-looking, her movements quick and graceful.
It reminded him of someone, but he still had no idea who he was following.
She might've helped him in a sticky situation, but he got way too trusting way too fast. If she weren't that elusive, Konrad would've drowned her in questions.
But she only stopped when they reached the station's automated gates.
"You know how these work, right?" She pointed at a card reader. "I mean, you're from here, so of course, you would. Silly me."
From here? Not by a long shot. But before Konrad could catch his breath, she skipped through.
And, well, yeah, sure, he knew how these worked, but—
Did she use her student ID?
Back in his days, these things were different, at least where he was actually from. It was too late to ask now, so Konrad gave it a try before she disappeared in the crowd.
He has never been happier about an automated gate opening in his life.
Almost as if he were a child again—but there was no time to celebrate if he wanted to keep up.
"Third platform," the girl yelled, pointing at the huge glowing timetable. "A train is about to roll in, so let's catch that. Hurry up, or we'll have to wait eight whole minutes for the next one."
As if eight minutes were a long time. Besides, they were in a hurry ever since they met.
Was it him, or was Earth always like this? Everything felt fast and urgent, compared to how things were in Kasserlane. And he thought he never had time to breathe there.
He had to think again.
In that world, traveling took weeks, or at least days, even when he was in a hurry. Here, he had to sprint, or otherwise he'd have to wait eight extra minutes, like that was the end of the world.
And all that running through the ever-present crowd. Madness.
He lost the girl for a moment, but he couldn't miss the third platform even if he wanted to. The train had already arrived, with people pouring out the doors like a human tsunami.
Then, passengers from the platform were up for squeezing themselves in like sardines.
Now try that while wearing armor and out of breath.
Even if he compared it to how things were in his past life, this was insanity. The closest he ever got to this feeling was at a sold-out rock concert, where people kept pushing each other.
It was suffocating, making him scared for his life—
But at least he forgot about his embarrassment for a moment.
He got in somehow, the doors closing behind him.
The train jolted right away, and while he worried he'd fall, there was no way he could. The sheer mass of human bodies supported him from every angle.
And yet, a tiny hand found its way to his arm and grabbed him.
It was the girl again, grinning ear to ear, and as if by a miracle, a trail opened deeper inside.
"This took me a while to get used to," she said, giggling. "But it's almost as fast as flying."
Impossible as it seemed, she found them a place to sit. Konrad almost collapsed onto the seat.
He needed time to recover; fresh air, which wasn't exactly abundant. But the girl's smile helped.
Again, so familiar, yet so strange. And she kept talking.
"We're switching at the fourth stop, but the crowd will thin out by then," she chirped. "After that, three more stops, and a short walk, and we're there. I got you a flat and a change of clothes."
There? Where? It sure seemed like she expected him and thought of everything.
She slipped back and forth between Japanese and a language only known in Kasserlane. You know, in case he had any doubts where she came from. Still—
"Not to sound ungrateful, but who are you?!" Konrad asked when he finally caught his breath.
The girl froze, her mouth hanging open, looking at him with genuine worry in her eyes.
"Konrad-kun? Did you hit your head or something?" she asked rather than answering. "I mean, the transfer was kinda rough on me, too, but you don't remember? It's me, Kaede-chan."
As if that name should've told him anything.
"Who?" It made no sense. But what if she only slipped back to Japanese again? Konrad tried translating the name, yelling out the result when it finally hit him. "Maple?!"
He waited for no confirmation.
His body moved on its own, arms flying around the slender torso.
They almost crushed the past of his future wife in a tight embrace. Of course, she seemed familiar, even if she didn't have as many freckles as the Lily he knew yet.
She already lost the sharp edges and the mature shapes of the dragoness, though.
"Not so loud," the girl winced, but didn't pull away. "You're making a scene, bossman."
As if his looks alone wouldn't already drawn everyone's attention.
"And ouch, I'm a little girl, you know," Maple—Kaede—complained. "And you're in armor."
She said that, but her arms closed around him as well.
"I thought you died," Konrad mumbled. "You jumped in front of that spell, and—"
"Oh, yeah, I did," she scoffed, pushing him away to look deep into his eyes. "What an absolute moron you are, bossman. Here I sacrifice myself for you, and you fall into the same thing."
"Sacrifice?" he asked, dumbfounded. "You nuts?! If you die—"
"As you can see, I did not," the girl pointed out, shrugging. "And I'm aware of the connection between your future wife and me. No wait. Between your wife and future me. It's weird."
"Exactly. You put both yourself and Lily in danger to save me," he argued.
"But I am Lilith, Baka," Maple countered. "And also Maple, and now Kaede-chan."
Konrad must have made a very dumb face. She sighed and patted his head before continuing.
"The fact that my future existed told me I wouldn't die from that attack."
That did make a strange kind of sense, but he wasn't about to admit it.
"Still way too dangerous," he said. "Even if you didn't die—now you're banished forever."
Kaede laughed, leaning back on her seat, legs dangling from the short skirt.
"Nah, that was no banishment. It wouldn't have worked on me anyway," she claimed. "It was a new, experimental temporal magic that he butched because of your hidden attacks."
"The Isekai Microwave?" Konrad asked before realising. "Wait, how would you even know that?"
She laughed again before jumping off the seat.
"Because the Demon Lord told me," she said, adding, "Come on, we switch here."
And Konrad followed her with his jaw hanging open.