"Ugh, for the love of the spirits," Konrad rasped when he finally woke the next morning, feeling sore all over. "I don't know what happened, but it had to be a mistake."
'Well, first of all, it's the afternoon,' Paula laughed. 'And I'm not so sure about that.'
Even her voice hurt. And—
"What? Please no," he muttered. "I had plans for today."
Lots of 'em, in fact.
But right now, it took everything he had to even push himself up on the bed.
Looking around, his new room felt way too big and lavish, heavy curtains pulled close, but—
Yeah. Peeking through the gaps, he could actually tell from the lights that it was getting late.
"But then I slept, like, twelve hours?! Why does it feel like I'm dying? I'm so tired."
'Well, this is what actual harem life looks like,' the parallel brain teased. 'No wonder you're half-dead. You satisfied three different women yesterday—all in the same night. Not bad.'
Huh? No. He had no recollection of anything like that, but—
Things did get rough with Stella in the office.
During his mana transfer, she would scream, and even lose control at some point, and—
'You mean her screaming orgasms?' Paula asked. She had to be teasing him, right?! 'Or when she released her life force siphon on everyone in your office who had seen her bliss?'
No, no, no. Hold on.
"T-that actually happened?" Konrad yelled, wide-eyed, holding his own head.
He had some vague recollection of the pain, not long after his guitar session with Yuki, but—
'Oh, right. The girl from Earth. I almost forgot about her,' the voice laughed. 'Then please, excuse me, Milord, you satisfied four women last night, not three.'
What the actual fuck?
"Stop messing with me," he grunted, trying to get out of his bed, but—
Oh, man, the soreness.
He walked miles and miles in the Zone, and his legs never felt this heavy.
But yeah, Stella's life force siphon could, in fact, do that to people.
So he must have passed out sometime during his mana transfer, and—
'You did lose your consciousness for a moment,' Paula confirmed. 'But what came after was the real joyride, haha. Your wives are wilder than I expected. And the ginger one was jealous as hell.'
Um. Yeah. Konrad was aware of that, but—
"Hold on. Did something happen to her, too?" Konrad demanded.
'You actually can't remember?' she asked, whistling in his head. 'Damn. You seemed conscious to me, and from all those orgasms—even I was feeling bashful in the end.'
"I had sex with Lily?!" he scowled. "After what happened with Stella in the office?"
But, well—he did remember promising something like that to his first wife.
How could he have forgotten the fact, though?
And wait. Did Paula say wives, as in plural?
'Why, yes. Your mind is starting to work at last,' the voice scoffed. 'Once greater demon Lilith had her fun with you and worked off her jealousy—well, yeah. Gabrielle started grumbling, too.'
"The archangel Gabrielle?" Konrad repeated, taking a shaky step towards the window.
The cold and calculating Gabrielle Schwertburg?
'Okay, I can't blame you if you can't remember that. Your rounds with the ginger were way more intense, and—Gabby might've taken you once you were already out.'
That sounded like anything but her.
And rounds? She said rounds.
Konrad started to pick up on those plurals.
'Yes, counted three, but was trying to give you some privacy. That said, I had no idea what I was in for when copying myself into your brain.'
Three. And he didn't even remember.
Insanity. What a shame.
"And where's everyone now?" he finally asked, whispering in resignation.
'If I had to guess, Eyna is working on the papers you didn't actually help her with. Your wives are out fighting with that Maou Midori guy. Stella and Zoltan are resting, and the other two—'
"Good morning, sunshine," Dmitry yelled in English, making him jump.
'Right on cue. Strelok won't be far behind, either. Get ready.'
Ugh. As if he could.
"I'm told it's already the afternoon," Konrad grunted, trying to get his bearings. "What's up?"
The Captain grinned, planting his hands on his hips.
"I was about to ask, Mister Sex Machine," he said.
Fuck.
So everyone but him knew what happened last night?!
'Pretty much,' Paula offered, but it didn't make him feel better.
Fuck.
"Sorry, but I'm not answering questions on that," Konrad gritted out—not that he could, anyway.
"Fine, fine, keep your secrets," Dmitry laughed, slamming him on his back. "But yeah, so you're an actual duke here? I thought you were joking, but look at this place, wow."
"I'm pretty sure this place didn't even exist back then," he noted.
And he couldn't get used to it, either, but—
"My sister," Strelok demanded, storming into his room.
Yeah. That was starting to become familiar.
"Her copy is still in my head," Konrad offered with a resigned sigh. "Anything you wish to say to her? Because if not, I should get going before it's night again."
"Have her talk to me now," the veteran Stalker grunted, straightening his back.
But didn't Paula say she couldn't do that since Lady Origin shared some of her mana with him?
'It costs nothing to try,' the voice noted, sounding curious inside his head.
"Well, go ahead, then," the Duke of Halaima said, shrugging it off.
And while he didn't hear anything in the next few moments—
Strelok's eyes widened.
"Y-yes," he muttered, tears welling up. "I missed you, too."
"What happened?" Konrad whispered, scowling at Dmitry. "Did he do something?"
"That sorcerer guy," the Captain noted. "He showed him something, like, how to open his third eye or some other spiritual bullshit. But it seems like it's working."
Spiritual bullshit, huh?
Well, Kasserlane was full of that, and unlike on Earth, they were all real, too.
Heck. Who knows?
He also pulled off some magic tricks back there, so they might have all been real from the start.
'Are you talking to him?' he asked Paula, too, this time making sure he wouldn't speak out loud.
'Yes. And he's actually better at silent telepathy than you are, you lazy ass.'
Uh. But that was good news, right?
Except that—did they need him for it? He was kinda busy, after all.
'You do your thing,' the parallel brain said. 'I can communicate with him as long as we stay within five miles, and—well. If you're going somewhere, he can follow us, anyway.'
"All right then," Konrad sighed, cracking his neck. "It's a bit late, but time for some work."
"Oh?" Dmitry smirked. "I have been wondering what a duke actually does. Mind if I tag along?"
"Heh. I'll be honest with you—I've been wondering about that, too," he laughed. "But sure. In fact, I wanted to talk, anyway. About your plans, whether you'd like to return to Ukraine or stay?"
"Not sure yet," the Captain said, his face darkening. "I've a lot to think about."
Yeah. That he did.
Realising that magic was real, and other worlds existed—
"Like, I love my country and want to do as much as I can, but—for those bastards?! Putting me into a propaganda job while keeping the Zone a secret?! Well, fuck them," Dmitry grunted.
And yeah, no. That was not what Konrad expected.
But he would never complain about having a new ally.