I'm back, with plenty of food for thought.

Our date ended before I had the gall to call it one, but this is what we agreed on, I spend the day in that world, not the night.

Me and my sister got in touch; tested the new shell, and signed the attendance sheet at the university.

The canned soup and our walk on the campus were already an extra.

It was a day well spent, very dense and tiring, and I got scared.

What if Alexandra is the evil one? How could she be evil?

What a stupid question to ask, but she got me thinking anyway.

The Demon Lord excommunicated her and the Inquisition was after her too.

But I knew it was all a misunderstanding.

I don't want to play the devil's advocate, but it was an accident.

She didn't mean to teleport the Old Capital, and her 'victims' survived too.

Well, the Empire didn't.

And the First Bride caused suffering for many, but that wasn't Alexandra's fault.

It could be my stupid bias and pink glasses, but she never seemed like a bad person to me.

Not even when she evaporated my original shell, she's only a klutz, that is all.

These thoughts fill my brain in the big white void returning to the Orc camp.

Since I didn't spend the night, only a week passed, but I'm worried about what has happened.

At first glance, no apocalypse. It's still dark out there, and the System parked Alexandra's original form in the small tower I built for her. So far so good, but she seems offline.

Looking out the window, the Orcs didn't waste their time. They paved the road between the new houses, and the Bathhouse I sketched for the System is also completed.

I can't wait to try it out, the one thing I missed in my world was a shower.

Even if it's a different body in another dimension, I'd rather not skip on hygiene.

Especially not as Alex.

I'm about to lay in my luxurious bed and rest until morning when the System notices I'm here.

The only sign is that she floods my brain with memories from the past week.

"Hey, slow down, I can't process them at this speed." It causes a headache, although life here feels slower. That entire week looks less dense than one day on the campus.

[Notice: Some events need your attention.]

That doesn't sound good. What did you do while I was away?

[I convinced the Orcs that I needed to meditate, urging them to only interact with me when necessary.]

That's a bit cold, but a good idea. So what happened that needs my attention?

Almost half of the memories seem like she recorded them from this window, looking at the Orcs working.

More than orcs. We got plenty of new workers from different species and the Beastmen from Fenna's village. They connected our two settlements with a paved road during the week.

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"Wow, that's not bad." It's like twenty miles?

And they even set up a coach service between the villages.

The other allies also started their road-building projects, and trade is abuzz.

So far so good. So what's the matter?

[Reminder: You invited the Demon Lord to negotiate about your reconciliation. And about handing over the Princess.]

"I did not." That's not what I said unless the System went crazy and sent an actual invitation. "I offered him the option, saying I won't let the Princess go unless he convinces me."

[Notice: Lord Omega is on his way here with a company-sized contingent, according to Omerta.]

Shit. If he comes with an army, he wants blood. But only a company-sized one?

I'm not versed in military affairs, but isn't that much smaller than a battalion?

[Notice: A battalion usually has a thousand combatants and extra staff. A company might vary in size, from a hundred warriors to two hundred and fifty.]

Okay, that sounds like something we can manage, but our battalion is smaller than it should be. If it comes to fighting, we could leverage the new mutual protection pacts, and arm our men with crossbows.

But if he comes with such a small army, does it mean he is confident and brings his best soldiers, or only wants to talk? How do I find out which one? What did Omerta say?

[Notice: I put her on house arrest.]

You what?! Why? And how did Hana react to that?

It was a terrible idea to leave things to the System while we were away.

And it was my fault to convince Alex about this.

The original plan was a switch, and she'd fix up her programming here, but I wanted to spend a day with her. All this before the bugs and quirks of this silly thing got fixed.

[Notice: I can still read your thoughts, you know. And you are being rude. I had a good reason to put the Demon Lord's witch into house arrest, and not even Hana contested it.]

Huh? And what was it? Don't tell me she got an order from the Demon Lord to sabotage us. Or that she planned to fight against us when it came to battling it out.

[Explanation: Neither. The Demon Lord requested us to put her on house arrest. She is under investigation for betraying and murdering the Thirteenth Champion, Dioneras.]

But Dioneras is alive. I let them go. What happened?

[Notice: We know that, but he still hasn't reported to Lord Omega. As such, he is currently missing. During the investigation, this will be easy to prove.]

So it's nothing but a weird protocol. She knows they have to drop the charges, so she doesn't protest, nor does her brother. Sister. Hana, you know.

In that case, you could have started with this, rather than giving me anxiety. I have enough on my plate already. So when will this company-sized army with Omega get here?

[Notice: My estimate is three hours.]