'Do you even know how a steam engine works?' Paula kept pestering him, but—
"Come on," Konrad grunted. "Everyone knows the basics."
'Well, not in this world,' she said. 'And scouring your memories, I couldn't find a definitive answer, either. You have a vague idea, but—you want to base your entire economy around it?!'
Ugh. It hurt to think a former mutant brain became the sound of reason in his head.
But he had already made up his mind.
"I'll consult with Welf—once he returns," he proposed. "And we'll do as much of the work without magic as possible. But if we run into issues, there's still the nuclear option, right?"
"Please never go anywhere near nuclear fission or radiation again," Gabrielle sighed.
And she had to pick this moment to return from the capital, too. Uhh.
"I meant that as a figure of speech," Konrad muttered, trying to look as small as he could, but—
His second wife didn't arrive by herself, either.
She entered with Lily, Welf, and the redhead's royal love interest, Helena von Kasserlane, in tow.
No, well, it was obvious that the demoness was their transfer, but—
"Uhh, man. Speaking in front of the fancy pants nobles made me sweat buckets," the blacksmith groaned. "Please don't make me do this again. I'm not built for this."
Ah. Right.
While the White Mage had his duel and that long session behind closed doors—
"You had to report on our military situation?" Konrad asked his friend.
"And he did well," Helena claimed, patting his broad shoulders, and—
Hold on. Her other arm wrapped around his stomach? That made them look way closer than he had expected, but—yeah. He had seen the signs earlier and heard the rumors.
It was an odd pair, but he wanted to cheer for them.
"Wait," Konrad realised. "What is our military situation anyway?"
Welf gave him a look, took a deep breath and let out a long, tired sigh.
"You, too, mate?" It took him a minute to pinch his nose before he actually started talking. "I mean, we have defeated and disarmed the nomads and let them into Kasserlane. That stuff."
"Yeah, yeah," the Duke of Halaima said. "That's what I was asking about. How did it go?"
He was away for a while, after all, and—
'Weren't you trying to make a steam engine?' Paula reminded. 'Or did you actually want to go nuclear? With that, I could help a little, but—you sure have the focus of a hyperactive child.'
"Don't think you should be joking with that, either," Konrad muttered under his nose.
Even if Gabrielle couldn't penetrate his mind-barrier, he wouldn't want to piss her off.
And now that he thought about it—how did the Crimson Mage bypass it so fast?!
'See? Are you sure you have no ADHD?' the parallel brain teased.
As if he knew.
"You're the brain," he grunted. "You figure it out."
And when he finally looked up, Welf and Helena were both scowling at him. Um.
"Yeah, he's been like that," Lily chirped, dropping herself on the fluffiest cushions. "Not sure if I should count it as another Haremette or a parasite, but—he even named it Paula."
"Wait, wait, hold on," Konrad protested, realising how strange he must have looked.
"Crimson even sealed her away," Gabrielle scoffed. "But he was adamant about getting her back."
"Y-you guys are actually jealous of my parallel brain?" he muttered, adding, "I didn't name her, by the way. She's a, uh—the clone of Strelok's sister? And their memories had all synced up?"
Would have been easier to explain if he understood it better, but—
'Yeah. And you'll feel even worse once you're building your steam engine, but nice try.'
Oof. Right. They weren't going anywhere with that, either, were they?
"That's not what you told us in the capital," Gabby noted, crossing her arms.
"Well, duh," Konrad scoffed. "We had no time to talk in private, and I didn't want to go into details. Right after the Crimson Mage attacked me out of the blue? And also—"
"Oh, hold that thought," Lily yelped, jumping up. "I'd rather not miss it, but—"
His first wife disappeared before she finished her sentence.
And, um. The air she left behind felt rather cold and tense.
"Another Haremette?" Welf said with a grin. "Man, you're living it up."
"I never said she was a Haremette, though," he protested. "And this weird relationship of ours didn't happen by choice, either. But, like, how else could I have saved her?!"
"Hey, told you to wait until I'm back," the demoness pouted.
And yeah. It took her less than twenty seconds to reappear with even more people in tow.
Soap, Roach, and Maou Midori seemed all beat up, but—
Holy crap. What was that creature behind them covered in blood?!
"Hmm? What happened to Stella this time?" the archangel asked, raising an eyebrow.
She didn't seem that worried, but—
"That's her?!" Konrad yelled when the realisation hit, rushing in to help her.
But he still had no healing magic, and the parallel brain could not use hers in Kasserlane.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," the blonde woman claimed, but even her voice didn't sound right. "I was too focused on the sorcerer opening the portal, and missed his mechanical guards."
"Yeah, those bastards," Roach spat. "Lucifer sent meat puppets early on, but now it's all golems."
"It's almost as if he's terrified of Stella Nord," Soap agreed, too. "He's not even trying to preserve his manpower. The reason he's sending these soulless monsters is to counter her talents."
"I'm tempted to say we should leave her home the next time," Maou Midori said, but—
"No, I want to fight," Stella protested, coughing up blood.
"You're not going to heal her?" Konrad shouted over the chaos, watching his first wife drop back on the cushions. But the former Church girl was trying to push him away, too.
"I said I'm fine," she panted. But she looked anything but. "A walk in my estate's forest, and—"
Her knees buckled, and he caught her in the last moment before she hit the floor.
'Well, I can't heal her, but I could knock her out,' Paula offered. 'Then she'd be easier to handle.'
Not the solution he was looking for, but—
"The spirits told me to help as much as I can," the girl muttered. "But that I should remain independent. I have the power to heal myself. I will be all right soon."
But she sounded like she was already in a fever dream.
'She's telling the truth, though,' the parallel brain noted. 'Hmm. So that mess in her head is all the spirits talking over each other? What a weird world. Deities fangirling over a necromancer?'
Konrad wasn't even sure what she was talking about, but independence or not—
"I'll infuse you with my mana," he grunted, holding Stella up. "You can turn that into vitality, too, can't you? That counts as you using your own talent, I guess. So heal yourself up."
And despite the protests, he initiated the transfer, which—
The girl's steel-blue eyes popped wide open, and she let out a sound that made both Gabrielle and Lily jealous. Heck, even Welf seemed to be blushing, but—
Fuck. He forgot what his mana transfers actually felt like.
Oh well—now he refused to stop.