As winter packs the last of its belongings, spring is warming up in preparation to take its place. Three days into our journey back to Quest, the frost hasn’t quite disappeared from the roads, forcing us to slow our pace lest we tempt fate. Our pace is further compromised by the presence of two unexpected guests in the carriage, Yulia and her son, Allen.

The rose of the north and her butterball returning with us to Quest was a last-minute decision. One that I find myself questioning the wisdom of. At the time, it sounded like a good idea, as she offered to help us with the consequences of the March. No member of my household is particularly good at being diplomatic.

Alana, my not-so-saintly future saint, has shown that when things get serious, she defaults to handling matters with a sharp blade. Kierra, the elven savage, is, well, a savage. My succubi, Geneva and Belolial, are amoral creatures that would drown babies if it progressed their goals just a little faster.

I am the most inclined to peaceful solutions, the first to balk at rampant bloodshed when it concerns the innocent. What a revelation that was.

Growing up, I thought myself a terrible person. Jealous of my peers, fearful of my “betters”, and apathetic to the plights of my lessers. My transformation has revealed parts of myself I could never imagine. I was never apathetic, simply trapped in a state of numbness.

Power woke me up, exposing a soft heart along with my deviant desires. I may be an advocate for peace but I’m no good at it. And though I can be sympathetic to the pitiful, I am just as unsympathetic to anyone who crosses my bottom line. So far, I’ve solved my problems by thoroughly crushing them.

We spent the past winter in Fort Victory. It is a place of never-ending snow and violence. Men and women die by the hundreds and thousands every season in their fruitless war against the monsters that inhabit the freezing wasteland.

Normally, Victory is the last place I would want to spend the months between my initiate year at the Grand Hall and my first year as an acolyte, but Alana gave me little choice. She was drawn back to her home, eager to prove herself to her family. I would have followed her for that alone, but it also proved a good opportunity to escape the city. Something I needed after raising a bit of fuss with the guilds who had the audacity to kidnap Howie, my favorite brewer, after I told them he was under my protection.

By a fuss, I mean Kierra, Bell, and I killed more than two dozen hunters and a guildmaster between us. Geneva, who was sent off to capture one of Howie’s kidnappers, did untold damage to the city, taking advantage of the chaos. I know she caused a bit of property damage and did some thieving. Haven’t asked what she did to come back covered in blood. Don’t think I want to know.

Understandably, the hunters were miffed with my house for dispensing our own justice. I thought getting out of the city would allow the tension to fade, at least enough for me to settle the issue without anyone doing anything reckless. It didn’t. Trouble followed me to the north in the guise of a hunter named Emberton, an idiot that messed with powers he didn’t understand.

The fool thought to use the traditions of Victory to ensnare me, calling on an ancient dueling ritual to keep me from running from a small army of hunters ready to take my head for a sizable bounty. At the behest of her brother, Zachariah James, who wanted my dear Alana out of the way so there was one less sibling competing for the shitty prize that is their wintry home. Well, one of them underestimated the insanity of the northerners and the other underestimated me. It’s hard to say who made the bigger mistake.

The end result? My household faced the hunters in a grand battle. Well, grand in scale. Not so much in execution. The poor bastards wouldn’t have stood a chance against a single one of us, except for Alana. Facing three master casters and a godling would be a hard task for the saint themselves let alone the riff-raff of the kingdom. I was forced to reveal a few secrets. Maybe that’ll console their spirits before they’re torn apart by the Abyss.

We won and in Victory, that means a lot more than bragging rights. Emberton invoked rites he didn’t understand. He wagered everything that he was as a representative of the guilds. That means that we, my house, has a claim on everything the guilds own. Their gold. Their equipment. Their homes. The clothes on their backs. Their lives.

The worst part? For the hunters, at least. Victory will enforce our claim. That means, if the guilds don’t pay up, the northerners will march on the city and put them to the sword. Nevermind that will undoubtedly spark a civil war. The people of Victory are maniacs.

So, it’s best for everyone that the guilds give us our dues. I’m not so kindhearted that I’d let such a hoard escape my clutches but knowing that robbing the guilds blind is the bestoutcome does make things easier. I don’t expect the hunters to see it that way. However, I am hoping that I can convince them that they are outclassed and save their lives.

For that, we have Yulia. A woman who, according to Alana, has managed to build a substantial power base using nothing but her smile and her words. She has managed to wrangle the knights of the north for years, taming and marrying a man those maniacs call the Devil of the North. A few angry hunters should be nothing. I’m hoping that with her taking charge of the negotiations, I can finally resolve a problem without someone dying, saints willing.

One might ask why I don’t ask Geneva, a schemer with centuries of experience tricking intelligent creatures across multiple realms, to handle it. Normally, I would, but I’m a little leery of my elemental at the moment.

In Victory, the unexpected battle royale interfered with her plans to manipulate me into taking the north for myself. A plan that involved using Alana. When I formed a contract with her, I understood I was signing up for a power struggle that will last for a lifetime, and that’s all well and good, but only as long as it is related to me. I draw the line at involving my lovers. Especially the ones I’m in a committed relationship with.

Geneva went a bit too far so she’s in timeout, unable to stick her nose in current events. Isolation is one of the few ways I know how to punish her. Pain? What is that to a creature that can manipulate their physical form? The same applies to emotional pain. She can’t be scolded or bludgeoned with hurt feelings. No, the only thing she remotely cares about is being ignored. More importantly, being deprived of opportunities to further her agenda.

The succubus isn’t my only option. There are plenty of options if I simply wanted an intermediary for negotiations with the guilds. I could have gone to Miss Talia, former dorm mother turned Kierra’s flower. Our very eager mistress who has exchanged her body and her affection to reach a higher understanding of magic. She has a calm temperament, so calm some might describe it as cold, and experience wrangling strong personalities.

Better, her past with the interrogators gives her credibility. The biggest reason the hunters have made so many mistakes regarding me and mine is that I am an unknown. They keep attacking me because they don’t know what I’m capable of.

Talia is different. If they have to sit down with the woman the powers that be expect to be the next royal interrogator, they’ll think twice about doing anything reckless. Or lying. The presence of a mental caster tends to make people more honest.

There’s also Maxine Guiness, the daughter of the famous Guiness patriarch. The man made of gold. As a merchant, I’m sure she has plenty of experience in negotiation, especially those that involve large amounts of currency being exchanged. I can also trust her to represent our interests well.

The Guiness family has been trying to win my family over since I returned to Harvest from the Enchanted Forest. Specifically, they want access to the treasures of the elven continent. Especially xanderium, the famed mana ore.

Another good intermediary would be someone from the Hall. While the school doesn’t involve itself in Quest’s problems, it is run by the Harvest Hero himself. I’m sure someone could be convinced to intervene to preserve lives. The negotiations are guaranteed to remain peaceful when the consequence of acting out is upsetting Dunwayne. Perhaps Miss Alyssa. The teacher has quite a bit of experience with my household. Enough to understand what a disaster it would be if the guilds make us use force to claim our winnings. She’s also from Victory, so she will respect the traditions that have brought us to this point.

Plenty of choices. However, I still vouched for Yulia to be our spokesperson. For two very good reasons. One is that she and her husband are most likely going to be the next rulers of the north.

From the way she obsesses over her home, I was sure Alana would be the next duchess of Victory, but recent events have left her thoroughly disenchanted with her home. Maybe she will want the title when the time comes for her father to step down, and by the saints it will be hers if she does, but she’s coming around to the idea that there is more to life than winter and war.

However, regardless of whether she is in charge or never steps foot in Victory again, Alana will always care about it. As they say in the north, Victory or death. There are no other options.

Her father says that the north is a part of the James. In their blood. While he couldn’t elaborate on the cryptic words, as a summoner, I understand the power of oaths. Alana can’t separate herself from the north just as I cannot separate myself from summoning. Our legacies are part of us.

Seeing as the fate of Victory is instrumental to my future wife’s happiness, I am invested in it. That means I am invested in the woman who will be leading it. And it will be Yulia, not her husband. Not because the Devil of the North isn’t a leader in his own right. His wife simply has him wrapped around her fingers. If she asks for the moon, the poor man will drive himself mad trying to retrieve it for her.

The second reason is more personal. Alana does not get along with her sister. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she hates her. Yulia wants to remedy the situation but her every attempt has been rebuffed with apathy and cruelty.

The two have very different views on the situation. To Yulia, she is the victim of circumstance. Lumped in with Alana’s grudge against the rest of the north that made her feel inadequate. All she wants is the chance to prove that she’s different and for the two sisters to be a real family, not a warband.

Alana believes her sister is a narcissist that cannot live without people worshiping the ground she walks on and pandering to her every whim. She thinks her elder sister will do anything to be loved, including mentally and physically battering someone until they come crawling to her for mercy. Not by her own hand. Yulia’s hands are soft and remain clean. Another thing Alana resents, as someone who grew up knowing she would have to risk her life in the northern campaigns to receive the recognition her siblings never had to earn.

Honestly, I don’t know who’s right. Maybe they’re both wrong. Yulia seems like a perfectly lovely woman who has never had anything less than a kind word for anyone for the short time that I’ve known her. However, her actions could be seen in a sinister light by a paranoid mind.

I trust Alana with my life, but I don’t trust her when it comes to her family. The north makes her…crazy. To put it mildly. Yulia makes her the craziest of all. It is entirely possible that she’s taken a brush and painted a wholly inaccurate picture of her sister.

I don’t know, but I intend to find out. If it’s possible, I’d like the two to get along. Barring that, I’d at least like for the two to be able to speak civilly. We’re going to be family after all. And, in the end, family is the only thing that matters, isn’t it?

I’m gained many things since the elemental Cosmo entered my life and remade me in his image. With wealth, talent, and power laid at my feet, I can truly understand the stories that proclaim people to be the greatest treasures. There’s nothing I won’t do for those I love. Even saving them from themselves, when necessary.