"Lord Konrad von Halstadt, Duke of Halaima, Defender of the Realms, also known as the White Mage." Woah. That was a mouthful, but that's how they announced him during the ball.
"Is he, though?" some nobles scoffed, measuring him with hostility and arms crossed.
"Rumor has it, he defeated a dragon," a cautious voice warned.
"Bwhaha, I heard his camp was under attack by two, and they flew away with him."
"He still defeated the Demon Lord and stopped the nomadic invasion, so—"
"Stopped? Him? He let them all into Kasserlane," an angry noble claimed. "I bet he's under the Demon Lord's control as we speak, too."
In simple terms—he got a mixed reception.
"Don't worry about them," Helena whispered, walking alongside. "These nobles would die of boredom if they couldn't spread false rumors and conspire."
Konrad only grinned.
"I'm surprised they're so loud. Or are they all deaf and stupid, too?"
Well, unlike them, he did, in fact, keep his voice down.
The things they were spouting weren't all bullshit, after all.
Sure, it was kinda funny hearing that he let the invaders in, after defeating the Halaina Pass for so long. And he did so against the king's explicit orders, too, but—
Why let them starve after he defeated their leader? Twice.
"They want you to hear," Helena pointed out. "It's a type of psychological warfare, I guess."
And if Konrad had to, she must have heard that word somewhere in his court, too.
"That man in the white coat is the Duke of Crows, Cro Ashia," she kept whispering. "He's in charge of the south-western duchy of Sivala, and is the richest noble of the kingdom right now."
"Why Duke of Crows, though?" he asked, refusing to admit he had no idea where Sivala was.
"Old family legend, I guess?" the princess noted. "Their coat of arms has a crow carrying a ring."
And here, he thought it was a pun on his strange name.
"That young blonde woman he's talking to is Lady Sophia Prone of House Prone," she continued. "The heiress of a merchant dynasty who runs a Free Town on the western border."
Should he have asked what a Free Town was?
He was too busy measuring that woman in the exquisite red dress instead—
Without making it too obvious, and getting himself killed by his own wives.
"They are your greatest supporters," Helena claimed, to his big surprise.
"They are?" Konrad repeated, furrowing his brows. "This is the first time I've heard about 'em."
"They both have direct contracts with the Kitsune Trading Company, Master," Eyna noted. And she seemed a bit bashful when he looked at her. "I apologise; I hadn't shown you the books yet."
"Oh? So we're trading partners," he said, nodding at Cro Ashia when their gazes met.
Turns out, Eyna was his most valuable asset, as usual.
"It is great to have their backing," Helena said, nodding, too. "But that alone had also garnered some hostility towards you. That man in the yellow silk, he's—"
"Please, don't say any more names," Konrad protested. "No way I'd remember them, anyway."
'Pathetic,' Paula butted in on cue. 'But at least honest. And I'm here now, too, you know. I'm logging away every detail you see or hear, even if you don't.'
Helpful. Though he had his doubts.
"Anyway," the princess cleared her throat. "He's your western neighbor, and he hates your guts."
"Huh? Wait. I thought your brother was my western neighbor," he muttered.
No, no, forget that.
"Why the hate?" Eyna asked before he could.
And yeah. That's what he should have asked, too.
"He had a weak claim on parts of Halaima, but he couldn't press them against the Church," the king's sister said. "Now that Otto Ostberg is out of the picture, he might—"
Oh? That was all?
"Helena, dear," Konrad whispered. "Are you aware that I have eight thousand horse archers with nothing to do? No, the right question is—does that guy know?"
But before she could answer—
"Um. In strict technical terms, they're not your horse archers, Master," Eyna interjected. "And they're rather busy, too. On paper, they work for the Kitsune Trading Co as caravan guards."
"Right," he grunted, deciding to keep his mouth shut from now on.
But he sure had some questions for the purple-eyed beauty later.
"In any case," the princess sighed. "You have friends, and you have enemies. The main issue is that while your friends might be more powerful, they're also farther away from you."
Ah. So that was her point.
It would have helped if he had a proper map of the whole kingdom. But so far, he focused only on Halaima and the eastern borders, for obvious reasons.
"I'll be careful," he muttered, bowing his head.
"And as for my brother," she kept whispering. "He wanted your head for a while, too. I had to point out that you not only defended, but stabilised Halaima as well. So please—"
"Much appreciated," Konrad said. "And I'll try my best not to embarrass you."
If only he could make such promises in his wives' names, too.
They lost Gabrielle first, as she went to curtsy to all kinds of noble princesses.
But by the time his eyes had found her again, she was in the darkest corner, talking to some churchmen. Which—to be fair—gave him chills, but still didn't terrify him that much.
Lily Welfson did.
While the exotic veiled dress gave her a brand-new look, her behavior did not change.
For some reason, Konrad remembered the first time they met in his second life, when—
Once she saved him from the Griphlets, she rushed the trade cart to devour all the chantrelles.
It was already wild back then, even if she made his heart pound, but—
Doing the same in these lavish halls with all the fancy guests watching?!
She assaulted one table after the other, stuffing her mouth with the most expensive foods.
"Don't worry about her," Helena offered, bumping his shoulder. "You were making a face."
"Well, yeah, because—"
"It's fine. She already had a reputation for being a wild Warrior Princess from the east before you two even met. It's not like these snobby nobles have high expectations of the tribesmen."
Wait. She did?!
Now that he thought about it, when he mentioned the Sorceress Liliana in Aset—
"Anyway," Konrad grumbled. "Even if they don't mind, I do. It's not the tribesmen, either, and you know that, too. Look at Eyna, for example. She's a Saint in comparison."
Although he could only blame himself for marrying a greater demon.
'That's right,' the parallel brain butted in again. 'What did you even expect?'
Hah. Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder about that, too.
"Well, duh. Eyna's definitely an outlier," Helena smirked, watching the purple-eyed Saintess blush. "And I guess, though they're siblings, there's a difference between Lily and Welf, too."
As if she knew how big that difference was.
"She'll deny that we're siblings," the blinged-out blacksmith noted. "And in all fairness, I don't even mind that during times like these. They won't charge us for the food she ate, right?"
Konrad struggled to suppress his laugh.
This, too, reminded him of that first time.
Lily crunched on those mana crystals like candy, and Welf was begging her to stop.
But after all this time, he could finally understand.
Now that he had this vast, empty mana pool, Konrad felt a constant hunger as well.