Brigida wasted no time combing through the old Church Annex, but—
Well, what did she even expect? It had been months since that confrontation. The building was a ruin after Stella unleashed her powers. And then it remained under Konrad's administration.
Even if the Church didn't find anything about Otto's dealings when pulling out of Halaima—
The new duke might've already ransacked the place, anyway.
"What takes you so long?" Bonifacius asked, the bishop's first acolyte. "Restore this building, then let's see where we can house the rest of the order. I already finished with the temple."
Hah. More like he finished cleaning up what she might've missed earlier.
But unlike her, Bonifacaius was, in fact, a normal human, in a sense that—
Even with the Saints' actual blessings, he was at best an average boy.
"What?!" he stopped at the old office's threshold, raising an eyebrow. "I can already tell you're thinking something unflattering about me. But I won't do all your job. You're the strong one."
Whoops. Busted.
Good thing he couldn't actually read her mind, unless she had opened it for him first.
Nobody could, in fact, not even the bishop.
It was the benefit of spending a long time with someone so flippant yet powerful. Kaede knew nothing about personal boundaries, or rather, she didn't care about them at all.
If Brigida wanted to keep her thoughts to herself, she had to shield them with all she had.
'This place needs thorough purification first,' she noted via telepathy. It was easier than teaching this dullard sign language or writing things down. 'Then I'll rebuild it.'
"But it's already evening," the boy moaned. "The master will be home soon."
Except there was no home to return to. At least not yet.
And it wasn't her priority either.
That's why she lied about the purification without batting an eye, too.
'I'll handle things on my end,' she claimed. 'You go, find a place for the troops, then. That's something even you can do, right? By the time you're back, the annex will be ready as well.'
Or, you know, she might have already gone to another dimension.
Though she'd rather stay here if she could have helped it.
Her parents—well, the copies who carried their souls in a ring—were in Halaima, too.
And Konrad, whose fate had fascinated her even a thousand years into the future.
So unsure, so volatile. One decision of that man could change or collapse an entire timeline.
Which is why Kaede told her to stay away as much as she could, or even if she returned—
Come back to this timeline and tell him nothing about what'll happen next.
As if it were that easy. Even she was curious about how he would react to future events he caused in the past. But she wasn't stupid enough to give him an unfiltered rundown.
She gave him some images. If he's smart enough, he might figure some things out.
Then, it wouldn't be her fault, and it'd actually help Konrad.
But if not, oh, well.
She didn't want to mess up the timeline any more than it already was, thanks in no small part to her, and—yeah. To Kaede and the Prodigy of Haiten together.
No. She was actually Lilith now. She couldn't forget.
And if the demoness also remembered the particular timeline they spent together—
"So, I hope I took good care of you, Brigibon."
Speak of the devil. Bonifacius jumped in surprise when the ginger demoness materialised.
Brigida was at least used to it by now.
She faced the ancient menace with a big smile and bowed.
'The best care, Lady Lilith,' she thought, straightening her back. 'Your past self is sending her regards and asks your forgiveness for all the side trips she had made.'
"Hah, she made a few," the girl scoffed. "If it wasn't me, and I didn't know myself better—"
Her voice trailed off when she noticed the Church boy.
"W-wha—who are you? How did you—" Bonifacius stuttered, having fallen on his bum.
"Don't worry about me, kid," she said. "Your boss will be back in a minute, so you better not irk your duties. I'll lend a hand to Brigibon here, so let us have a little girl talk, all right?"
The acolyte asked nothing more.
He didn't even talk, looking pale as he ran off that door.
Yeah. The dragoness was already terrifying when she wanted to be, but—
Give it a few thousand years, and she wondered how Konrad could still stay close to her.
Lilith was still exuding some of that murderous aura when she turned to face her again, and—
She wasn't the same person she knew now. Even Brigida couldn't help but gulp when their gaze met. But the demoness had already tamed her fierce look the next moment.
"Sorry, had to fight off another wave, and it interrupted our date," she noted, less grumpy now.
Right. Brigida returned to the time when all those invasions happened.
"And?" Lilith asked, scanning the ruined room. "Have you found what you were looking for yet?"
'Nothing remained,' she thought, shaking her head. 'Best case scenario is that Stella had destroyed everything in this timeline. The worst would be that Lucifer got ahold of them.'
Which—given her luck?
She had a hunch it wouldn't be the first one.
The demoness sighed, too.
"Can't believe I forgot about those," she moaned. "But once you reach fifty thousand, your memories will start to fade. Oh, well. Is our friend Otto still alive, at least?"
Brigida shivered.
Even after all that time, and having become so much more powerful since—
The thought of that man, in any context, still gave her the chills.
'He's in the Church's dungeons, where he belongs,' the girl claimed. 'Benedictus wanted to take him to his own jurisdiction. But the Gallentine Order wouldn't hand him over.'
"The Church and their constant bickering," Lilith sighed, patting her head.
As if she hadn't caused at least two of their schisms herself.
"But it's good to see you back, and all grown up, Brigibon," the demoness said, her words affectionate. "Even if there's one more woman I can be jealous of now."
She caught a murderous glance again, lasting less than a second, but—
Yeah. She might've stood a chance against Kaede back then, but Lilith was a whole level above.
'After seeing how volatile the timeline can become because of him, I'd rather stay away.'
At least, that would have been the most logical thing to do.
But she was glad that even Lilith couldn't read her mind anymore.
"Eh, that's what makes him fun to be around," the demoness smirked, ruffling her hair again. Then, scanning the room once more, "I wanted to tear this place down, but Gabby stopped me."
'It wouldn't have made a difference at this point,' Brigida noted, as if to comfort her.
But yeah. If that thing somehow survived—
It'd be already out there, waiting to cause havoc when they least expected it.
"Oh, well," Lilith said, shrugging it off. "Sorry for keeping you. Let's make this place cozy for your new boss. It was so funny to see him run into Stella—and Konny tried to protect me. Aww."
And there she was again.
Even during their time together as Kaede, she'd never miss a chance to gush about her Konrad.
Rather than a love at first sight—
Theirs was a 'love at not seeing each other for fifty thousand years'.