"Ah! It's him. The ball guy."
Yuki-san entered Konrad's office with a yelp, recognizing her former attacker.
She kicked the poor bastard's shin with all the force she had. Which, of course, wasn't that much, all things considered. But she showed no hesitation.
And more balls than Lucifer's half-demon puppet ever did.
"D'you have an idea how expensive that guitar was?!"
The girl punctuated every word with more violence, her victim unsure what to do.
Roach hid behind his crossed arms and tried to back away, knowing better than to use force.
Lucky for him. Konrad didn't mind incinerating him on the spot, big heavenly plan or not. As much as he wanted to seal his guardian away, he had yet to forgive this guy.
But, well, the little emo's assault made the entire scene too comical.
"Might want to rethink your priorities," Konrad noted while trying to pull her away.
He struggled to suppress a smirk of his own. But Lily? She didn't even bother.
She'd burst like a balloon.
"I've almost forgotten how funny she was," she hollered. And when she slammed Konrad in the back, she used more force than all those angry little kicks combined. "I like her, like, a lot."
"Ugh. Of course you do," he grunted. "But please, give me a break."
He had everything already aching without this kind of attention.
That healing spell earlier did nothing, and Stella was still away.
Right now, he felt older than ever, including being on his deathbed in his previous life.
Why did he try to tough it out and reject the necromancer's offer for a recharge? Now he was stuck between two tiny, but fierce women, while his life essence was gone and drained.
And with it, his will to live, too.
"Try not to kill him," Gabrielle suggested from the far corner. "We need all the people my brother reincarnated we can find. Alive."
Oh. So she wasn't even talking about him.
But that finally gave Yuki-san a pause to look around the crowded office while blinking.
Half the gang wasn't even there yet, but this place was already way too small.
It was time to build a proper seat of power—not that he had the chance.
Even thinking was a luxury now.
Like, once the emo girl noticed the reincarnated child, she yelped again, but in a different tone.
"Oh my God, Kon-chan," she exclaimed. "You actually had a son?! Kawaii—"
Not exactly what he expected.
But if he felt old before, now he was ancient.
"What're you talkin' about?!" he grunted as Yuki ran up to Soap and patted his blonde head.
She didn't even bother facing him as she yelled back.
"Well, I gathered that this noble chick's your wife," she said with a pout. "But you never told me you two already had this cute little kid together. And, like, he's so adorable, I'm not even mad."
What? She couldn't be real.
Even the always-rigid Gabrielle seemed to struggle with holding back a laugh now.
And again, Lily would not bother with such a thing.
"Gahaha. That's the kid who almost blew us to smithereens," she pointed out, slamming her knees and wheezing. "But I guess he is kinda cute."
With that, she joined her memory-clone to spoil Lucifer's child puppet rotten.
That's when Yuki must have started to suspect something.
"Us?" she asked, gaze shifting back and forth between the ginger and the kid.
Needless to say, Soap blushed his hardest, his trembling legs rooted in place.
Konrad couldn't tell if he was jealous or felt bad for him.
And as it turned out, he wasn't the only one confused, either.
"Huh?" Lily asked, big hazel eyes blinking. "Y-you don't remember me? I'm the drummer?!"
"What?" Yuki scowled before shaking her head. "Nah. Kaede-chan looked nothing like you. Much fewer freckles, and the hair—Hmm. Okay, I can kinda see it in your eyes, though."
Her hand still caressed the boy's hair, but it slowed down enough for Soap to escape.
"Yep, that's her," Konrad confirmed as he disentangled the girls. "But she's thousands of years older, and ginger now. Don't even ask. She's my wife, by the way. And Soap's NOT our kid."
"T-thousands? Wife? Soap?"
He could almost see how the wheels turned inside her head.
"Wait. Wasn't your wife, like, Gabrielle?" she asked, pointing at the angel in the corner.
"Well, I am one of the two," the noble woman stated with a smirk. And as much as she must have enjoyed his torment, she even added. "Wait 'til you meet the rest of the harem."
Complete meltdown.
If Lily hadn't caught her, Yuki would have hit the floor.
Repeating one word at a time, she might have needed a moment or two to recover.
And that was when Eyna joined this unlikely crowd.
The salvation Konrad longed for all this time—
Rushed to his side, embracing him in the crushing vice of her arms without warning.
Not something he'd expect from the always timid tribesgirl.
And not something his back could take without a wince, either.
"Master, you're safe," the girl announced, purple eyes filled with relief.
Konrad's were not.
In fact, when she tiptoed to plant a soft kiss on his cheek, he almost passed out.
She had become a lot needier since his return from Earth. His wives didn't even bat an eye.
But Yuki? She shuddered at the sight, mumbling words like harem to herself.
Okay. A change of topic. Fast.
Before all these women smothered him.
"W-what's the next step in the plan?" he stuttered, aiming at Gabrielle. Why was his voice so much higher than usual? "I'll be busy taking care of the nomads, but if you need anything—"
The angel shrugged, but she was back to being all business again.
"As I said before, we still need to hunt down more of his puppets," she said. "We'll leave Roach and Soap here until then. But the problem is—we've no idea where to start with the rest."
The blonde boy, now freed from the girls' clutches, cleared his throat.
"If I may." His voice belied his age, but he was still blushing. "There are plenty more of Lucifer's followers on Earth. But he kept our groups isolated. I only ever met a man named Ghost."
"Oh, him," Roach joined with a nod. "The over-serious guy with his silly skull-faced mask."
He hid from Yuki in another corner, though there weren't many places left to go in his office.
Konrad needed a bigger one. Now.
"He always referred to Master Lucifer as The Doctor," Soap noted. "No idea why, though."
"Because he was a psychologist," the little emo claimed, rolling her eyes.
Had she finally recovered?
"And? Did he talk about his group?" Konrad asked, sticking to the plan. "At least their names?"
"He did," Roach said. "Though I never actually met them. Fang. A bulky guy. And there was Strelec? Strelok? Some Ukrainian dude that got on a plane and left, despite the Master's call."
"Oh," Lily let it bubble out, catching everyone's attention. "Um, haha. Uh—"
"What did you do this time?!" Konrad demanded, eyes narrowing.
"Skull-guy and buff dude?" she repeated the descriptions. "I uh—no. Kaede. Kaede killed them."
Well, of fucking course, she did.