William practiced the new technique he had been taught by Marek. It really was simple, though it wasn’t useful for William. He couldn’t really grow his strength until his soul was completely recovered, and this technique wasn’t that good anyway. At least, not for him. “Okay Lila, like this.”

She frowned. “Hmm… it’s hard to see what you’re doing.”

William carefully explained the cultivation technique- unfortunately it wasn’t written down on a scroll, or at least not as far as he knew. He wasn’t proficient enough to create one himself, and that would only accelerate the initial learning, compared to personal guidance. He was proficient enough to do that, because it was quite simple and straightforward… and William found all of the soul based techniques he had attempted rather easy to practice. To get beyond the basics, William would likely have to spend more time, but Lila could progress on her own if she put in the effort. “No, not like that. The method is a bit off in the second step. It should be more…”

“Like this?”

William nodded. “That’s right.”

“How can you tell so easily? I can barely even see what you do at all.”

“I have more experience.” Lila had managed a basic proficiency in Soul Perception, but her soul was weaker as well. That compounded the problem, since the disparity in soul strength made it easier for William to observe and harder for her. William wasn’t sure whether the parts of his soul that weren’t healed made it more difficult or not… but he was somewhat surprised to learn that even just the part he had recovered was still stronger than her. Perhaps that shouldn’t have been a surprise, since his soul was strong to begin with and he trained in Rotational Soul Pressure for more than two dozen years.

-----

Ever since Lorelei had learned about William’s first life on Earth, they would take time to discuss a particular subject in detail, at least to as far as William knew or remembered. On some subjects, he wasn’t really more knowledgeable than her. However, she was still surprised that everyone on Earth had access to so much information. The average level of education was much higher on Earth- even counting third world countries in the mix. Earth was also quite a bit ahead in most scholarly areas, but that was to be expected. The education system was much more open on Earth, but it was not the same for either the humans or the gevai in this world. Except… Eclea appeared to be an exception. They were growing more powerful rapidly because of that, but with the threat of war with the demons and the lack of corroboration with the other human countries, there was only so fast they could grow. William supposed they might have gained some individuals reincarnated from Earth, because the design for the train seemed more than coincidental. On the other hand, William’s knowledge about trains wasn’t so detailed that he could know if there weren’t some differences.

During one of their conversations, Lorelei received a message. She opened the envelope and frowned. “Looks like Lila’s rashness is catching up. The baron has men investigating the Van Cann estate.”

“Isn’t that… a little slow? It’s been a year.”

Lorelei raised an eyebrow. “Slow? Not for gevai. Any response sooner than a dozen years is considered quite timely. Though, if he truly wanted accurate information it is indeed quite slow.”

“What do you think they will do?”

“Oh, likely putter about trying to find stale information, and then accuse the local wizard’s academy, with or without any evidence. That seems most likely.”

“I see. What will we do about that?”

“Well, I could use my status as Archmage to dissuade them, but that might not work. Baron Elmar is relatively new to his position, so that may not help. If that happens, matters will become a bit more complicated.”

“In what way? Do we have to worry about him bringing an army?”

Lorelei shook her head, “He won’t have much of an army, not as a baron. The academy is sufficiently fortified to deal with that. However, if that happens we’ll have to kill him, and that is where the real trouble will start. The other demon lords will be displeased, and though they won’t do anything, it will be troubling. They have little respect for the position of Archmage without the backing of a Demon King. Though they won’t particularly care about the useless baron, they will feel insulted as anyway.”

“Could we avoid a conflict?”

“Certainly. If we offered reparations, that would be possible. However, then we would be seen as weak, which would likely be worse. Lila is known to be my student, at least to some of those who matter, so even if she tried to take personal responsibility, it wouldn’t make a difference.”

“What a pain. I don’t suppose assassinating him would be better?”

“That might actually give the other lords a reason to act. It’s better if Baron Elmar attacks first. Well, we might be able to dissuade him and cause him to leave of his own volition.”

“And the chances of that are…?”

“That depends on his attitude… but considering who else is involved…”

“... Lila will let him attack first, right?”

“Oh yes. She’s matured greatly. She’ll probably just call him a big stupid dumb idiot to his face, then kick him out of the academy.”

“Hmm…” William frowned slightly, “Well, I once kicked someone out of their own window, so I suppose there isn’t much I can say.”

“Ah, I still wish I had been there to see that. Very little makes me more upset than people claiming intellectual titles they don’t deserve. I wonder if the current Archmage in Ostana is actually worthy.”

William shrugged, “I hope so. There’s no saying what new generations will bring, however. I’d believe people making out Cecil Lockridge to be a hero instead of an idiot, if it benefited them. I think most of those people were dead, however. Honestly, I’d prefer if they returned to the honored tradition of not having an Archmage if they weren’t worthy.”

“I heard they do have one, but I am not extremely current on the events there. I’ve been busy with more important matters.”

William nodded. Destroying fragments of the Demon King was certainly more important than keeping up in politics in a foreign country. Though, it could still be useful.