Konrad had no time to enjoy his victory, no matter how hard he fought to turn things around.
Such was his fate in the new world. Always rushing, and always late for something, even with Gabrielle's tricks. Not to mention, the time dilation was starting to get to him.
His old, boring previous life didn't seem so bad anymore. It was simple, lonely, but predictable.
He was reborn with the sole wish of taking full control of his new one.
But if he wanted to be honest with himself, did he have even half as much control as before?
Back then, he made bad decisions, sure, but now—others made his bad decisions for him.
All he wanted was to lie down and rest for a while. Like, for an eternity or two.
Or at the very least, sleep for an entire week—and he already missed that chance.
Before he'd march his soldiers off the battlefield, a group of horsemen arrived. They rode towards him in a hurry, and he didn't have to guess who they were or what they wanted.
Helena and her guards, in their uniform grey armor, the fancy dress of the princess long gone.
"Looks like you have a fan," Welf noted with a groan, rolling his shoulder after all the intense fighting. He looked tired, but Konrad didn't miss the flash of jealousy in his eyes, either.
"She's not coming to congratulate us," he claimed, handing off his dulled practice blade to Kade.
Once he left the spell-blocking field, his head almost exploded with Maple's reports.
'Her scouts found the remains of the king's convoy. The guards were all mauled or missing. No sign of the Silver Mage or the king himself, but you can make a wild guess where they are.'
'I know. Six feet under,' Konrad thought, unsure how to face the princess now. 'Keep me posted.'
She dismounted in a hurry, throwing her helmet away, acting as upset as he'd expect. The king was her brother, not to mention how the fate of Kasserlane rested on her shoulders now.
"L-lord Halstadt," she began, already out of breath. "I uh, we—"
"I got the reports as well," he said, bowing his head. This wasn't the time for mourning. The princess was still unaware of the real danger. "There's something else, though, your Highness."
"It can't be worse than the disappearance of the king," she muttered. "I'm not in the mood for it."
Disappearance. Sure.
She was still optimistic, but she wouldn't be for long.
"It is much worse," Konrad confirmed, "take a look at this."
He summoned an illusion, a downsized copy of the ominous sight that Maple provided.
It was the camp beyond the Halaima Pass, spanning the entire horizon. Tens of thousands of tents and yurts until the eye could see, even in this miniature version.
Nomadic forces, waiting for a single man's signal to swarm the now weakened kingdom.
"W-what is this? Where? When?" Helena stuttered, blood draining from her face.
And judging by her trembling lips, she was about to break down and cry.
Too bad, she was the leader of this country now, and they had no time for such weaknesses.
"It's about a week's walk from the border," Konrad reported.
He had to grab her shoulder with a firm hand to lock into her gaze.
"Their scouts are already here. We must be ready to face them. We must be strong."
His royal 'we' was all but a coincidence, but Helena's eyes lit up for a moment there.
Konrad acted like a leader, exactly what Kasserlane needed in this situation, and yet—
"How? My brother—the king is—"
"He is gone. You're the queen of this nation now," he stated. "Or at least you must act as a strong regent for its people. But you're not alone. Order me to protect your borders, and I will."
His words needed some time to sink in as a lone tear traced its path across Helena's face.
Konrad could imagine the pressure. He knew her well by now.
She was more of a warrior than a princess; a knight, sworn to defend her people. Despite being a woman, she was always ready to fight from the frontlines.
But it seemed like she never expected that she'd have to lead others instead.
"Kasserlane never had a queen," she mumbled, avoiding his gaze. "What are we going to do? Even if the nobles stand by me, the time it'd take to gather the army and march them here is—"
"The army is here," Konrad noted, waving at the ruined fort behind him.
The Western Vanguard he beat, and his own tribesmen looked tired.
A force beaten, stretched to its limits, but already healed by his first haremette.
Given a few hours of rest—a luxury he envied from them—they would be as ready to fight as they could ever be. Well, depending on their respective owners, of course.
But Konrad had beaten one of them, with strong ties to another. One that also won a fight.
He knew he could make it work. Somehow.
For Helena, it should've been even easier.
"It might not look like much right now, but you already gathered the best of the best here. Six hundred men-at-arms are waiting for your command. What else would you need?"
Well, his Rogue Rejects only numbered seventy, but that was close enough.
"Six hundred against that?" the princess asked, sniffing—or scoffing?—at his illusion. "Those are what? A million nomads, ready to tear us apart. And these men don't even belong to me."
She was right on a technical level. And yes, that was one huge number in this world.
But nomads were savages, fearsome warriors. Nobody wanted to deal with them.
Less so conquered by their kind.
"Doesn't matter how many they have as long as we have the will to fight," Konrad said. Another corny line he wanted to utter for so long—but it worked well. "We have the Halaima Pass."
He grew up in its shadow. He knew everything about its importance.
The lifeblood of trade in Kasserlane when in peace; its strongest shield at war.
They could've brought all the men in the world if they couldn't fit them into the narrow valley.
"You're right," Helena said, taking a few deep breaths, her posture straightening. "We have no time to waste. Once they're beyond Halaima, it would be all over. You are right."
Welf and Kade watched the exchange with bated breath.
Eyna was running towards them with wide, purple eyes as well.
Reminders that only a few knew about the events outside of Konrad and part of his harem.
And this was about to change.
The way he presented the news could have decided the outcome of the war. Well, almost.
But it was clear that he couldn't depend on luck or anyone else but himself.
Konrad knew the nature of the real enemy, and it was his fate alone to face him.
But he also had to lead the kingdom's armies.
He needed the power to do that; the authority.
That was the last thing he couldn't quite gain yet.
He knew only two ways to fix this problem.
"What will you do now, Lord Halstadt?"
Konrad smirked. Well, he already postponed this for too long.
"I'm going to get married. Twice."