Tafel lay back on her couch. It was outside in the sun, on top of the roof of a castle. She was holding a glass of unknown liquid in one hand, a block of ice created by magic floating on top of it. She sighed. No wonder why Auntie Lindyss always relaxed this way; it felt great. After all that work running around, helping peasants, overthrowing churches, coercing nobles, she finally got a stable system set up—one where she didn’t have to do any work until she was summoned. Speaking of which, it seemed like someone was summoning her right now.

Tafel put her glass down, adjusted her clothes, and fixed her hair. Then, she opened a portal. She was greeted by the sounds of explosions and screaming, and she furrowed her brow. Hadn’t she told that person from Hungary to let her know when Alice arrived? How come it sounded like there was an ongoing war? She cast a simple haste spell on herself before stepping through the portal. As expected, there really was a battle going on, but that wasn’t too important. What was important was the small woman in front of her. “Alice!”

Alice furrowed her brow and nearly dropped the person she was holding. “Tafel?” The keepers of the church had pulled out a stone necklace and channeled their white light energy into it. Alice had thought it was an attack, but unexpectedly, the keepers of the church summoned an ally for her…. “Come, help me beat these people up.”

Tafel frowned and turned her head to stare at the keepers. “Who are you guys, and why do you have my summoning necklace?”

One of the keepers cleared his throat. “D-don’t you remember us? We’re Madam Mary’s companions. You said to summon you when we were having difficulties.”

Tafel’s brow furrowed, and she narrowed her eyes. “You all look a lot different from before, like, your faces.”

“That’s because Madam Mary had beaten all of us to a pulp on the day that we met you, and we hadn’t recovered yet,” another keeper said with his head lowered. “Please, as Madam Mary’s friend, help us capture this witch. Madam Mary wanted to talk to her, so we tried our best to subdue her, but she took one of us hostage instead.”

“I can see that,” Tafel said, nodding at Paul, who was still held by his ankle but unconscious now. “Alice, these people you’re fighting, they’re Mary’s subordinates.”

Alice stared at the ankle she was holding. Then, she swung him at Tafel, hard.

Tafel’s eyes widened, and she fled backwards. It was a good thing she hasted herself earlier; otherwise, she would’ve been hit. “Alice!?”

“This is an illusion,” Alice said. “Let me hit you with him, and if both of you get injured, I’ll believe you’re real.”

Tafel scratched her head. “What do I have to do to convince you I’m real? Preferably something that doesn’t involve me being hit by a person.”

Alice furrowed her brow. “Tell me something embarrassing about yourself that you haven’t told anyone yet, including your husband.”

Tafel’s expression darkened.

“Well?” Alice asked. “I’m waiting.”

“Just hit me.”

“Eh? Are you really Tafel?” Alice raised an eyebrow. When Tafel didn’t respond, Alice sighed and dropped the person she was holding. “Darn. I was hoping you’d fall for it,” she said and shook her head. With her shield, it was impossible for her to be affected by an illusion cast by a human. A dragon was a different story, but a dragon had easier ways of dealing with her than an illusion—for example, eating her.

Tafel rolled her eyes and stepped forward, holding her arms out for a hug. “It’s been a while, Alice.”

The keepers stared on as Alice and Tafel embraced each other. Then, Alice pushed Tafel away. “It’s too stuffy,” Alice said as her golden aura died down. “Alright, is it just you? Where’s Nate?”

“I can send you to him, if you’d like,” Tafel said. “He’s exploring Africa, looking for traces of Vur and Prika. They’re the only two we haven’t found yet.”

Alice stared at Tafel. “Are you serious?”

“What do you mean?”

“You couldn’t find two dragons, but you found Mary, Nate, and me?” Alice asked. “How does that even make sense? I should be the last one to be discovered since I’m the most normal out of all of us!”

“Most normal?” Tafel raised an eyebrow. “Well, I guess that’s true. Anyway, how’ve you been? Want me to send you over to Mr. Skelly? I heard you’ve been working with the Ottomans. Want to continue working with them, but get them to conquer in the other direction? I basically own everything up north already.”

Alice pursed her lips. “If you own everything up north, you can probably take the Ottomans too, right? I won’t be needed? Since that’s the case, send me to Nate,” she said. Before Tafel could do anything, Alice raised a hand. “But hang on a second. I have to get my cat.”

“Your cat?” Tafel tilted her head. Did Alice own a cat before coming to this world? “Where is it?”

“Over there,” Alice said and pointed towards the ongoing battle. “He should be with Suleiman. Or he was left near the supplies; I’ll have to go over there and ask.”

“I don’t think you have to go over there,” Tafel said. “It looks like he’s coming to us. Who are you fighting? Is this Hungary’s army?”

“Yeah,” Alice said. “Well, technically, isn’t it your army? Hello, Holy Roman Empress, nice to meet you.”

“Don’t call me that,” Tafel said and sighed. “I prefer to be called the Supreme Ruler Who Stands Above All.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “Yeah, alright. You’ll never stand above Vur though.”

“Excuse me,” Tafel said and placed her hands on her hips. “I’ll have you know, I stand on top of his head all the time.” She looked around. “Anyway, it looks like the Ottomans did a number on the Hungarians, huh? I wonder why they didn’t call me over to help.”