Alear and Ingvild appeared in the main hall of the mansion through a discreet magic circle. The room was illuminated by the soft light of the late afternoon streaming in through the tall windows, and the familiar scent of tea and freshly baked sweets hung in the air.
Mio, Maria, and Valerie were already gathered there, chatting casually on the large sofa. As soon as the two appeared, all three turned their gazes toward them at the same time.
Mio was the first to smile upon seeing him.
"Welcome back, Alear!"
"You're finally back, Alear! That didn't take long this time..." Valerie commented. Since she had started living in the mansion, she had gradually changed. The old empty and apathetic expression she used to wear almost all the time had become increasingly rare. Although she remained naturally calm and reserved, her face was now capable of conveying small emotions such as curiosity, relief, and even a subtle smile when she was around people she trusted. That daily interaction had slowly restored some of the vitality she had lost because of her Longinus.
Maria, on the other hand, raised her hand and waved enthusiastically.
"Welcome back, Alear-sama!" Immediately afterward, her eyes fell on the young woman accompanying him. The mischievous smile on her face widened instantly.
"Hm?"
Mio also turned her attention to Ingvild, observing her discreetly. The girl possessed a delicate beauty and a refined air that caught attention at first glance.
"Who is she?" Mio asked, curious.
Valerie also showed interest, looking at the girl beside Alear with a curious expression.
Maria tilted her head to the side and smiled mischievously.
"Hehehe... Alear-sama, don't tell me you went out for a few hours and came back with another girl for your harem." She brought a finger to her lips, pretending to think. "Is she perhaps a secret lover?"
Mio shot a reproving look at the little succubus.
"Maria..."
"What? I'm just asking." She replied innocently, though the amused glint in her eyes made it clear she was deliberately teasing Alear.
Ingvild, who had remained silent until that moment, ended up blushing slightly at Maria's words. She hadn't expected such a direct question, much less a provocation of that kind right on her first meeting with the people who would from now on be her companions in nobility. For a few seconds, her eyes shifted between Maria and Alear, unsure exactly how she should react to the situation. Still feeling out of place in a completely new environment, she became visibly awkward and simply lowered her gaze discreetly, remaining silent as her cheeks continued to show a slight reddish tint.
Alear, on the other hand, remained completely indifferent to Maria's provocation, as if that kind of comment was something he fully expected from her.
"This is Ingvild Leviathan," he introduced calmly, placing a light hand on the girl's back to encourage her to step forward. "She was reincarnated as part of my peerage. Starting today, she will be living with us."
For a second, silence filled the room.
Mio was the first to react. Her pink eyes widened slightly, and a genuine—though somewhat surprised—smile appeared on her lips.
"Welcome, Ingvild. I'm Mio Naruse. If you need anything, just let me know..."
Valerie also introduced herself with a smile on her lips.
"I'm Valerie Tepes. It's nice to meet you..."
Maria puffed out her cheeks slightly upon realizing that Alear had simply ignored her provocation.
"Hey! Alear-sama, you're ignoring me on purpose, aren't you?" She crossed her arms, making an offended expression, although the playful smile on her face gave away that she wasn't really upset. "I asked an important question here. As your loyal servant, I have the right to know these things."
Alear simply gave her an indifferent look.
"...Tsk."
Maria looked away for a moment, realizing she had been caught. Even so, she showed no remorse, simply maintaining her usual mischievous smile.
"Alright, alright. I was just kidding," she said, raising her hands in surrender.
Then, she turned her attention back to Ingvild, this time adopting a slightly friendlier expression.
"I'm Maria Naruse. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ingvild. I'm the person responsible for taking care of Alear-sama's sexual needs and also one of the people in charge of maintaining this mansion. So, if you need anything, you can count on me."
The hall fell silent for a few seconds.
Ingvild blinked several times, clearly surprised by the extremely direct way Maria had chosen to introduce herself.
Mio, on the other hand, brought a hand to her face, showing an expression of pure embarrassment.
"Since when are you responsible for that...?" she asked, before letting out a resigned sigh. "And stop trying to act like something you're not. We all know very well that you're just a pervert."
Maria immediately placed a hand on her chest, pretending to be deeply offended.
"Hey, Mio-sama! I'm a succubus with honor, okay?! A dedicated professional!"
She pointed at herself with an indignant expression.
"There's a big difference between being a dedicated professional and being a pervert!"
"That's exactly what a pervert would say..." Mio replied, with a tired expression.
Valerie, who had been silently watching the scene, simply brought her teacup to her lips, trying to hide a small smile at the discussion that seemed to be something completely normal between them.
Alear sighed internally but kept his calm expression.
"Anyway... treat her well. Ingvild is still adjusting to all of this. She's been through a lot, so I don't want to see any of you making jokes or pressuring her."
Maria stuck her tongue out childishly, leaning forward with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Eeeeh? Are you afraid I'll corrupt the newbie?"
She blinked exaggeratedly, clearly trying to provoke a reaction from him.
Alear simply stared at her with a neutral expression.
Not a single muscle on his face moved.
"Maria."
"Yes, yes~" she replied, laughing softly.
Realizing she wouldn't be able to get any reaction out of him, she eventually gave up on the provocation.
Alear then turned his attention back to the rest of the room, noticing the absence of a specific person.
"Where's Ravel?"
Mio replied as she elegantly crossed her legs.
"She went back to the Phenex family home early this morning. She said she needed to take care of some matters with her parents and that she would return in a day or two."
Alear nodded, satisfied with the explanation.
"I see."
He then looked back at the girls.
"Well, I still have some things to take care of, so I'll leave Ingvild in your hands."
He then looked at the young woman beside him, who had been watching the entire interaction with a mix of shyness and slight relief.
"Make yourself at home. This is your house now too."
Ingvild remained silent for a few seconds, absorbing those words. It was still strange to think that, after losing nearly a century of her life, she now had a new home and people willing to accept her. A small grateful smile appeared on her lips.
"...Thank you. I'll do my best not to cause any trouble."
Alear nodded slightly at Ingvild's words.
"You don't need to worry about that. Just take your time getting used to your new life."
He then turned his gaze to Mio, Valerie, and Maria.
"I'm counting on you."
Mio smiled and nodded.
"You can leave it to us. We'll take good care of her."
Valerie also agreed with a small nod.
"She can rest easy here."
Maria, on the other hand, opened a mischievous smile.
"Of course, Alear-sama. I'll be an excellent hostess."
Alear nodded and left the main hall, once again walking through the mansion's corridors. Meanwhile, behind him, Ingvild slowly began taking her first steps into her new life, chatting with the girls, who showed considerable interest in getting to know the new member of the peerage better.
Instead of heading to his office as he usually did, he changed his route and descended the stairs leading to the basement. Upon opening the large door at the end of the corridor, he found a scene that would seem extremely bizarre to anyone else. A perfect copy of himself was sitting in a swivel chair, absentmindedly manipulating a floating hologram filled with complex equations and unknown information.
As soon as he noticed Alear's presence, the avatar looked up and flashed a casual smile, waving with one hand.
"Hey there, me. How did it go with the sleeping disease?"
Alear closed the door behind him and let out a small sigh.
"You already know the answer, don't you? So why are you still asking? It's literally like talking to myself and pretending it's a conversation between two people. I admit it feels a bit strange doing it out loud."
The avatar tilted its head slightly, as if reflecting on its own words.
"Really? I find it interesting. Maybe it's because of that slightly... schizophrenic part of ours."
Alear remained silent for a few seconds, staring at his own copy.
"You realize that just makes the situation even weirder, right?"
The avatar simply shrugged and turned its attention back to the hologram.
"Maybe. But you keep talking to me, so I guess it's not that bad..."
Both Alears sighed at the same time. There was no need for lengthy explanations between them, as their minds were connected on a deep level. They were not separate individuals, but two manifestations of the same consciousness—a division of his own existence. While the main body handled external affairs, the avatar remained in the basement, spending the last few days in his workshop working on various things. Two different bodies, but one shared mind.
This was an ability he had only managed to develop in the last few days. Through his deep understanding of the soul, his ability to manipulate it, and the influence granted by his own "divinity," he had succeeded in creating something he called [Unity].
The ability consisted of creating Secondary and Tertiary Egos connected to his Main Axis of Consciousness, allowing his mind to expand beyond the limitations of a single body. These Egos were fragments of his own soul that became exact copies of himself, which he could control simultaneously. Each avatar had the freedom to act, think, and perform separate tasks, but all remained linked to the same core, instantly sharing experiences, knowledge, and acquired memories. It was as if one person had the ability to place their mind in multiple bodies at the same time: if one version of him learned something new or experienced any situation, the original Alear would receive that experience as if he had been there personally.
The real difficulty of this ability was not in creating the avatars, but in maintaining the unity of his own consciousness, as an ordinary mind would probably be destroyed when trying to handle multiple perspectives and simultaneous streams of thought. However, thanks to his [Memory Partition], he could organize and separate all that information without losing control, allowing each manifestation to function independently while still being a single person.
Alear approached the avatar and placed a hand on its shoulder. In the next instant, both began to merge smoothly, as if they had never been separate beings.
He let out a long sigh before approaching the hidden door in the floor. When he opened it, it revealed a staircase leading to the lower levels of his workshop.
The first underground floor, where his avatar had been working, was the main research space, where he developed new techniques, conducted experiments, and built his various projects. However, that was only the beginning of the structure he had created. Below it were several other floors, each dedicated to different areas of study and specific projects he had developed during the past week.
As soon as he reached the second underground floor, Alear observed the vast pavilion before him.
Inside large glass tubes filled with a bluish, slightly luminous liquid, about thirty bodies remained suspended. They were homunculi, all created with the same physical appearance: the same facial features, the same white hair color, and the same body structure. They were evenly divided between fifteen male and fifteen female individuals. Still in the maturation stage, their bodies remained motionless while various cables and tubes connected to their skin provided nutrients, accelerated development, and transmitted the necessary information to prepare them for their future functions.
Alear walked slowly between the glass tubes, observing the identical faces of those artificial beings he had created. His eyes showed a mix of satisfaction and cold analysis as he checked the latest development data.
"Good... everything is ready."
He extended his hand and touched the cold surface of one of the glass tubes, causing a hologram to appear beside him with detailed information about the state of each homunculus, including their development level, stability, and compatibility with the functions they would receive.
After confirming that all of them were within the expected parameters, he began activating the room's mechanisms.
"It's time to put all of you to work."
With a few commands, the tubes began to open gradually, starting the process of removing the homunculi and preparing them for their first mission.
From that moment on, the Häangenti family's potion business would officially start operating again!
_______________
(A/N: Want to get ahead?
The story now has 110 chapters available on Patreon — that's right, there's still a lot of content waiting for you beyond the public release. There are currently 30 chapters ahead of the public version, meaning supporters are already deep into upcoming twists, revelations, and the absurd chaos of Fate Gacha summons.
If you can't wait for what comes next — the plot twists, power progressions, and those insane lucky (or unlucky) summons — this is the best time to jump in.
Light spoiler: his luck might be terrible… but the story only gets better from here.
My Patreon: patreon.com/Adam_Kadmon
Thank you for your support — it makes all of this worthwhile.)