Konrad had never met the king in person.
The closest he ever got to him was reading his letter about a month ago.
That also had a fuzzy, holographic image of him, conjured by the Silver Mage at the time.
But the old wizard wasn't here.
That image alone wasn't enough to tell if he saw the real deal, or a convincing dopplegänger.
Luckily, he had a wife with all the relevant knowledge of a noble woman and an angel.
"Your Majesty, you're alive," Gabrielle dropped to her knees in her frilly blue dress.
She didn't say another word—nor did she use telepathy. But a single glance was enough for Konrad to do the same. Lily remained in the background for now, ready for anything.
Not that the fancy royal guard could pose any threat.
They fanned out to surround them at the entrance to his new tent, hands resting on the pommels of their swords. He didn't sense any magical energy emanating from them.
Plain old, regular soldiers. Nothing to worry about. Except—
Wasn't most of the king's entourage murdered when he disappeared?
"Konrad von Halstadt," Kasserlane's ruler said, ignoring everyone else around him.
Konrad gulped.
"Y-yes, Your Grace?"
An awkward silence followed, but his stare was intense—painful and tired.
He was a man in his thirties, with wavy brown hair reaching below his shoulders. The face reminded him of Helena, another proof that he was facing the real king of Kasserlane.
But he had no idea how or when he returned, and what he was doing here.
It should have been great news. One that warrants a messenger from the capital.
Unless he came to the frontline first, which would've made sense in an emergency, but—
No, it did not. And now that he thought about it, he didn't even know his name.
'Some duke you are, Konny baby,' Lily's mental chuckle echoed in his mind.
Too bad, he was in no mood to laugh with her.
"I take over the defense of the Halaima Pass," the king announced after a silence that stretched way too long. By that time, some men-at-arms and their commanders gathered around them.
Their reactions were all mixed.
"The king has returned," some muttered, while others shouted the same in cheers.
"We can't lose now. The nomads will never stand a chance."
Ouch. As if it wasn't Konrad who won some impossible victories days ago.
He couldn't even say a thing, still on his knees and staring at the ground.
He was running his numbers, calculating what this all would mean.
Not to him—but for the overarching plan to deal with Maou Midori.
"Rise, Lord Halstadt," the king commanded, offering a hand. His tone was neither friendly nor hostile. It was odd. "We must discuss the details of this handover in private."
Something was fishy about all this, but Konrad had no idea what and why.
He stood, following the man who already entered his tent.
Good thing the merchants left before the king arrived.
And now the guard blocked the entrance, barring anyone else from following.
That included Konrad's wives, too—but it couldn't sever their telepathic link.
'What's going on?' he asked, almost panicking, but he got no satisfying answer.
The king took his seat, only sparing a glance at the map still on his table.
It reminded him of the unwanted and uncomfortable meetings from his previous life.
He could never tell if his boss was about to promote or scold him.
"Have you met Maou Midori?" the king asked after a silence that stretched way too long.
And what a conversation starter that was.
Konrad stared at him with wide eyes, unable to say anything.
"In case you forgot, he kidnapped me, too," the ruler said with a painful smirk. "And if I'm not mistaken, you spent an eternity with my court mage. Which one of you broke free first?"
"I did," Konrad muttered, clearing his throat. "But how—"
"Unfortunately, I can't do magic. You'd think that, as the ruler of this nation, I would be powerful, but I'm a regular old human. Born to this world—nothing special whatsoever."
It felt like he didn't answer his unasked question at first.
But he wasn't rambling at random, either.
If he read between the lines, the message was obvious.
'He knows,' Lily noted, too. 'And I'm willing to bet he wants to stop you now.'
What Konrad figured out was that the Green Mage let him go on purpose, and he knew he was from another world. They both did. So was he brainwashed by the enemy?
'He's not,' Gabrielle claimed. 'I have no problem reading his thoughts, but—'
'King dude is hiding it well, but he's terrified out of his mind,' the demoness added. 'More so of you than of Meow Midori in fact. Interesting.'
Whether the ruler noticed the probing of his thoughts, he went on talking in riddles.
"He didn't torture or demand my allegiance. He gave a glimpse of the future. Of ten different futures, one more terrifying than the other. I know you can defeat him—but then we're all lost."
"W-what are you—"
That's how far Konrad got when the horns of the camp all blared at once.
'Uh, oh, riders approach the Halaima Pass,' Maple reported in. 'And before you scold me, I didn't miss them. They appeared through a portal ten seconds ago.'
Portals. Of course. Konrad used them, too.
They were very limited in range and capacity, so he didn't even think of it as a danger.
But if Maou Midori could bypass his defenses with that spell—
'No, no, they are still on the other side and—'
The dragoness fell silent for a long moment, though her thoughts never disappeared.
Confusion washed over Konrad in waves, and he caught a glimpse of what Maple saw.
Nomadic riders in the fanciest khaftans he has seen until now, waving a white flag.
Not an invading army, but a delegation.
"If I have to guess, the envoys are here," the king noted, standing to leave. "It is time I greet them and discuss the conditions of our surrender."
He was smiling, but his words had shocked Konrad.
Before he could stop himself, he jumped to block his path, his hands grabbing the king's arms.
As if he triggered a defense mechanism, the guards' armor rattled outside.
"Why would you surrender?!" he demanded, but was quick to let go before the knights barged in. Not that the king seemed to mind. "I can defeat him and his army, too."
"I know," the king noted, his smile turning sour. "I saw it in the future."
"Then why—"
The guards entered, swords drawn to step between them.
Kasserlane's ruler had to stop them before they'd take it any further.
"In half of the visions he'd shown me, you won. And it destroyed our world," he claimed. "Not the kingdom—everything. And of the five futures where we lost, in only one did we survive."
"How?" Konrad mumbled, but the king was already on the move.
If he didn't want to pick a fight with his guard, he had to let him go.
He considered it, but his wives intervened.
'He let us take a glimpse,' Lily chirped. 'He k-meow we were listening.'
'We have to talk,' Gabrielle added. 'This changes everything.'
And so Konrad stood frozen in his own tent, watching the king of Kasserlane leave.