"Are you, like, a psyker? Or a Highlander?!" the Captain asked, staring at him with both awe and confusion. "That story about that Rifleman—was it all fake? But, then, why are you here?"
It wasn't an actual flood of questions. He asked them one by one, little by little, but—
Konrad needed a moment to sort himself out.
Some people couldn't function without a morning coffee.
But with his mana depleted, Konrad didn't even feel human.
He was a vegetable, at best.
An old, dried-up, and wrinkled one that nobody wanted to eat.
It wasn't this bad the last time around. He was stuck on Earth, but he never dropped to absolute zero in his essence. To think he used to struggle with this a few months ago, like, all the time?!
While having only five mana in his pool, at least it recharged fast, but here? Now?
He felt empty. Hollow. Drained.
Good thing he had his trusty adamantite sword with him.
He hugged it tight, rubbing his face against the cool metal to increase the surface area. The more they touched, the faster his mana could flow back into him without the usual side effects.
Like, burning his body to a crisp.
The alternative would have been to crunch on one of those crystals. But he was still not sold on the idea of ruining his teeth. This was so much more convenient, and nice, and—
Crap. He shouldn't have pulled that thing out in public, should he?!
Where was he even? A hospital bed?
The soldiers must have carried him here after—
After Lily decided he was better off in a coma.
Damn that woman, even if she was most likely right.
But those questions he kept hearing—they came from somewhere.
Was that Captain Bandera? His expression was borderline maniacal.
As if he couldn't decide if he should've left—run, rather—or slap Konrad awake.
There was no need to do the last part; he was more or less awake now.
But what was he asking?
"Guess, you could say I'm a wizard?" Konrad muttered, scratching the back of his head. He still held on to his sword as if his life depended on it. "Not an evil one, of course."
It felt appropriate, adding that.
And while he preferred to keep this a secret, it seemed like the Captain had already figured most of it out. Was stopping a ballistic missile a bit too obvious?
Well, still better than dying to it.
Bandera didn't look like he was about to run anymore. He took a tentative step closer.
"A wizard? Like, a magician?!" he asked, but didn't seem to doubt him. "So, you sucked away the whole explosion with your magic to save our lives?"
"I did what?!" Konrad pushed himself higher on the bed, confused.
"Well, it looked like you took the brunt of the force in our stead, then collapsed and all."
Ah. Right. So that's how it looked from the outside?
"I wasn't trying to tank it, to be honest," Konrad noted, clutching the blade tighter.
He recovered a few hundred mana, so why didn't his brain function as it should have now?
'Mana poisoning's a bitch, if you're not used to it,' Lily provided him with an explanation.
At least telepathy was still working, huh?
'Never mind me,' the girl urged him. 'Sort things out with the handsome little Captain here.'
Sort? Handsome? Right, he was in the middle of the conversation.
But he could feel a headache coming from a mile away.
Konrad cleared his throat, trying to sort himself out.
"I, uh, wanted to stop that missile, not eat the explosion or whatever. But it seems like that was still beyond my capabilities. And since I'm in a pretty bad shape now, please, um—"
"You want me to keep it a secret," Captain Bandera stated.
It wasn't a question, and here he was mumbling and bumbling, unsure how to say it.
"Nobody would believe me, anyway," the soldier noted with a shrug. "And whether it was beyond you or not, you saved my men and, so I've no reason to start a witch hunt."
Konrad let out a long sigh he didn't know he was holding.
The Captain made things a lot easier for him. But he wasn't done yet.
"So why the story 'bout this guy? Why're you here? The war? Are you with the Russians?!"
Now the questions were actually flooding.
"Wait, wait, slow down," Konrad pleaded, holding up a hand. "First off, I didn't make his story up. I did come to look for Strelok because, um—"
How much should he say?
At this point, he might as well have explained the basics.
He needed help finding his target, anyway.
"He's an evil wizard's pawn," he said, because involving angels might have been too much. "He rejected his master's call when the war broke out, but I don't know if he's evil himself, or not."
"How many of you are out there?!" Bandera scowled.
"I don't know. A few?" Konrad said with a shrug. "Don't worry. My, uh, companions have already dealt with most of the bad ones, so—I only have to find the one who's left."
This was still easier than explaining why they needed him.
All that exploiting their tether with Lucifer to seal him talk—
No, he didn't want to go into details he didn't understand, either.
"And you're sure that he's here?" the Captain asked, pacing back and forth in the ward now.
Well. It's not like he was. Soap's words were his only lead after all.
To think that he returned because of an eight-year-old little blonde boy?
"This is where my investigations led me," Konrad claimed. He tried to sound confident. "But when you told me his nickname wasn't something unique—I got stuck in my search."
Bandera grunted.
"That's the thing, though," he said. "I spent the last three days digging around, and nobody in the armed forces heard of the guy. Ever. When was he supposed to enter the country?"
"W-wait. Last three days?!" Konrad repeated.
Lily knocked him out for three whole days?!
'And you still feel like shit, don't you?' the little ginger asked, her thoughts echoing in his head like she were a permanent part of him now. 'Imagine how bad it would have been if I didn't.'
Fair. And she wouldn't thwart him for no reason.
She wanted to get this whole thing with Lucifer done and over with as soon as possible, too.
And despite all her snark and occasional sabotage, Konrad knew she loved him.
'Aww. Yes, yes I do,' she confirmed, her thoughts feeling almost intoxicating. 'But if you don't respond to this handsome officer immediately, I will use telepathy on him instead.'
Hold on. Was he actually that handsome?!
He could see the beauty in every woman—especially in his haremettes.
But whether a guy was good-looking or not was beyond his expertise.
Konrad felt a sharp electric jolt, making him drop his sword.
She did that through telepathy?! He could almost see her smug smirk.
But right. He still owed the officer an answer.
"Uh, sorry. Let's say, two or three weeks ago?"
Unless he traveled back and forth in time—
Captain Bandera scoffed.
"Nah, he couldn't. Kyiv was under attack," he claimed. "The airport was offline."
Well, then. Where the hell did Strelok go?!