Princess Pina Co Lada ran her hand down a noticeable crack in the wooden door that held the east entrance to the Fortress city of Italica. The acrid scent of smoke hung in the air from buildings set alight by volleys of fire arrows, while the sound people working dominated the air. The last few hours had been gruesome, fending off a frenzied invasion of bandits. Normally there would never be enough bandits to threaten an entire fortress city, but deserted members of the army, members from the failed defenses of the Gates at the Plains of Erein and the Holy Hill of Alnus had turned to villainy to survive.
These deserters were insane, showing no remorse and attacking with suicidal abandon…. It sent shivers down her spine when she saw the looks of madness in their eyes. Pina had heard terrible stories about the battles against the armies from both gates, untold magic of destruction and fire that could kill from afar, terrible explosions and metal beasts impervious to arrows and the finest blades. There were even stories of supposed demons from the gate on the Plains of Erein, flying humanoid shapes that would rain down magical destruction of terrible power upon soldiers, but the most terrifying of all their stories was the one they called "The Devil."
Many soldiers proclaimed stories of a small girl of incredible destructive power within the otherworlder's army, capable of killing an entire legion of troops on her own with explosion magic. Some believed her to be an apostle from the other world, some claimed her to be a twisted angel coming to punish them for their sins, but regardless of the stories they painted the picture of a terribly powerful member of the otherworlder's army. While the otherworlders at Alnus didn't seem to possess a member of similar capacity, that was little comfort when both armies were still able to defeat a numerically superior force of over ten times their number.
Pina sighed, leaning against the stone wall next to the entrance. Things were not looking good, not just for the empire at large, but for Italica as well. While looking for leads on the otherworlders she had come to the trade city in search of information, and had found only strife since the bandits attacked. Since Count Formal was killed in the invasions into the gates, leadership had fallen to the last legitimate heir, the third daughter of the household, an 11 year old girl named Myui. Once Pina was made aware of that fact, she had taken it upon herself to lead the defense of the city, organizing a local militia and what remained of the city guard, since all the troops that used to defend the city had been drafted for the failed invasions. The result of her efforts? A haphazard defense that was just barely scraping by. They had repelled the bandits for now, but this was a siege. They would be back, and in greater numbers.
They were barely holding on as it was, and with the east gate now damaged it was only a question of how much time they had left. She had sent word for reinforcements and a missive for the rest of her Rose order to come to her aid but they were at least two days of travel away, and the bandits weren't going to let them have that time to regroup. They needed something to change, something to help swing the odds in their favor….
All of a sudden, her friend and fellow knight, Hamilton came running over to her. "Princess! Princess, you must come quick! There are otherworlders at the western gates! They demand an audience with someone in charge of the town!" A startled gasp was heard from everyone in earshot, (Pina had half the mind to scold her fellow knight for possibly inciting panic, but the news had taken her by shock as well).
Pina's face hardened as she started after Hamilton. This was not good news… wait. This could be used, if they managed to enlist the otherworlders help, they could both gather information and see for themselves what allowed them such destructive force! Yes, this would be a good plan. "How many of them are there?" She asked Hamilton while they walked.
"About 50 as far as I could tell, your highness. They flew in using some sort of magic and they wield strange metal and wooden staves. Their leader appears to be a child, like Myui, but… there is something unsettling about her, the way she talks, and her eyes betray intelligence beyond her years, and her men seem to follow her orders without question." Hamilton summarized. Pina stiffened. A child leading a group of otherworlder soldiers? Could this be the devil the soldier's stories proclaimed? A shiver went down her spine.
"Let us hope that they are amiable enough to talk. I wish to enlist them in the defense of the city." She announced. Hamilton let out a small gasp.
"Your highness, is that wise? Allowing otherworlders into the city like that…" her aide said, worried.
"We have little choice. Another siege like before and there won't be anyone left to defend Italica should the otherworlders decide to take it." Pina stated. It was the cold truth. They had a haphazard band of hastily trained militia and a few knights, nowhere near enough to properly fend off a siege of thousands of bandits.
"Did they say what they were here for?" Pina asked, changing subject.
Hamilton shook her head. "No, your highness. They only showed up demanding to speak to someone in charge of the city." Pina frowned. Just what are they here for in the first place?
Tanya let out a slight huff while she hovered a few feet off the ground outside one of the entrances to the city. It had been almost fifteen minutes since the girl they had spoken to had run off someplace to fetch someone of higher authority and Tanya was starting to lose patience. 2/3rds of her men were spread out around the nearby area, with most in the air providing watch while Weiss and Serebryakov stood near her and the entrance. Out of boredom she had begun idly tossing a stick grenade to herself, (much to the nervousness of her nearby subordinates) and contemplating if it would be enough to destroy the doors in front of her.
Finally, after another few minutes, signs of activity were heard on the other side of the door. "Finally," Tanya muttered before the door was slammed open with almost explosive force, revealing a red haired woman of around 18-19 dressed in high quality armor and a small circlet on her forehead. Definitely someone of nobility, high ranking nobility too. Tanya thought.
"Greetings!" The woman said, slightly out of breath from jogging. Tanya stowed the grenade back on her belt before lowering herself to the ground, walking over to introduce herself.
"I am Tanya Von Deugrechaff, Wing Commander of the 203rd Mage Battalion. I've come to speak to the leadership of this city, are you part of the ruling family?" She asked in perfect Falmarteese. The redhead seemed to lose a bit of her steam, uncertainty and wariness crossing her eyes.
"Ah, no. I am Princess Pina Co Lada, I have taken over the defense of the town against the bandits in lieu of the late Count Formal." She explained. Tanya raised an eyebrow. A princess? That both complicated and possibly furthered their plans, she would have to decide whether or not she wanted to capture her as a prisoner of war. What is she doing this far from the capital, though?
"Well, if the Count is dead and you are not in charge, bring me to someone who is. I seem to recall asking directly for an audience with someone in charge of this city, not a stand in for its defense." Tanya said icily, narrowing her eyes to try and provoke them. Pina didn't fall for it as she bit down on her anger before deflating, but her friend seemed positively livid.
"Address the Princess properly, you-!"
"Hamilton! Hold your tongue!" The princess snapped, turning to her friend. Her now named friend bit back a comment and grumbled but relented. Pina turned back to the blonde soldier.
"My apologies for my friend's sudden outburst, she can be a bit… excitable." Tanya gave her a bland look of indifference. Pina seemed both relieved and anxious over her lack of reaction. "I can bring you to the current ruling member of Formal, but it's a.. unique situation." The princess finished. Unknown to Tanya, Pina was sweating on the inside considering countess Myui looked around the same age as Tanya.
"That will work." Tanya turned to her men, switching to german to issue orders. "Vice Commander Weiss, take the men and watch over the surrounding area. If anything shifty sets foot within range of an artillery spell I want to know. Lieutenant Serebryakov, with me."
""Hai!"" Weiss began organizing the platoons as they took to the skies, barking out orders while Tanya and Visha walked to follow the currently slack jawed princess and her friend, who were watching the backs of her men fly away to posts in the skies surrounding the city. Tanya politely coughed, and Pina recovered her jaw off the floor before shakily leading them into the city. The first thing to greet them beyond the doors was a large gathering of civilians, likely curious about the supposed 'otherworlders' that had shown up at their doorstep.
Most of the crowd was picture perfect medieval peasants (with the smell that came with low hygiene), but the one thing that stood out was every face to be seen looked tired and frightened. No doubt the bandit siege had taken its toll on them throughout the day and they were looking for some good news, some hope. Tanya made a note that when they take over this city it would be beneficial to give a speech to appeal to the citizens and their fears, promising protections and a better life. No family would want to live in fear for their children's safety.
They were led past the crowd and down the streets, old buildings lining the roads and a few merchants out still selling their wares to whomever would buy, but all would stop and stare as the strange group walked by. Tanya supposed it was to be expected and was rather used to the stares due to her status and age, but noticed the princess seemed to be nervous, a strange thing given her own status… unless there was another reason for her nerves. Tanya wondered if stories about her from the invasion had reached this city, it would certainly explain all the caution people took around her. After all, blowing up several hundred men in one spell would make anyone scared of her. A few more minutes went by where Pina tried and failed to strike up small conversation before they were brought to a more upper class area of the city, where a beautiful Manor with a large garden was situated.
"Welcome to the Formal Manor. A runner was sent ahead of our arrival, so they should be prepared to greet us." The princess announced. Tanya was mildly impressed with the well kept garden, signs of a prosperous ruling family and therefore a prosperous town, judging by everything she had seen on the way here. A trading hub such as this was bound to be a great place to get both information on the surrounding areas as well as samples of various goods from across the continent. All the more reason to bring it under their banner, especially before the Japanese could make a similar move.
They may have been the 'Japan Self Defense Force' but their actions in this world so far had not matched their name, and the curious lack of American support painted an interesting picture to Tanya, one that would undoubtedly be forced to change once the Germanian Empire came knocking at their door. Tanya would've smiled at the thought of chaos that would undoubtedly bloom in the United Nations of that world if it wasn't for the fact that she would undoubtedly end up involved in a lot of it, either as a security detail or translator. A non-evil, Magically dominant Axis power that had succeeded where Germany hadn't? The modern media of that world would fight like rabid dogs for stories. Some would probably attempt to set Germania up as no better than the Axis of the second world war, and some would report the truth, but almost all of them would assuredly take one look at Tanya as a child soldier and start screaming to the high heavens about how it wasn't right. The thought of fending off a mob of reporters while escorting a dignitary weighed upon her mind and she shook her head to dispel such thoughts.
Those were worries to deal with later. Now, she had a city to take over, either peaceably, or by force. Reaching the front doors to the Manor, they opened them to be greeted by an assortment of maids that made Tanya blink in surprise. She had read the reports, seen a few of the more common Demi-Humans from afar, but seeing a group of all female demi-human maids of varying races lined up to greet them, she was once again reminded this world seemed straight out of a work of fiction from Japan. Bunny girls, cat girls, snake girls.. The Otakus of Japan are going to love this world. Pina noticed her look, and explained.
"The late Count Formal had a bit of an interest in collecting non-human staff." She explained. Tanya put two and two together and inwardly scoffed. It was quite obvious to her what the Count's plan had been, but at least these demi-humans were taken out of slavery and seemed to be well cared for. The head maid, an older woman with grey hair, bowed to the group.
"Your Highness, esteemed guests, Countess Myui has been informed of the situation and is waiting in the meeting room. Please follow me." She said professionally. The demi-human maids split off for another area of the manor as the Head Maid brought them to a central room. Stone archways and a set of stained glass windows allowed light into the room to illuminate a central table and two high backed chairs presumably for the Count and his wife, but now they were only occupied by one person… A child with orange hair and blue eyes.
"Tanya Von Deugrechaff, let me introduce you to Countess Myui Formal. The current ruler of Italica." Pina said a little stiffly. Tanya blinked in surprise at finding someone in charge around her age, while Visha seemed to make a noise at how cute Myui was. The princess and Hamilton moved to the side to take positions near the young countess as a maid brought in some tea for the group. Tanya was the first to recover as her surprise was replaced with a clinical gaze. Just by looking at the countess she could tell she truly was a child, a child raised in a noble family, but still a child nonetheless. All her earlier thoughts about how to go about breaching the topic of her takeover peacefully went out the window. Being vague here could lead to confusion and misinterpretation, so she decided to simplify things.
"A pleasure to meet you, Countess Myui," Tanya started, calmly taking a cup of tea and sitting down in one of the chairs while Visha stood guard behind her. "I wish things were under better circumstances, but given Italica's... situation, I'm going to be blunt with you." She took a sip of tea.
"I'm here to take over Italica." Startled gasps were heard around the room. "By the time night falls it won't matter if I have to do it by force or if you comply willingly, but at the end of this day I will be taking Italica in the name of the Fatherland. All it would take is a few of my mages to rain down spells upon your city and you would be helpless… but we are not savages, we are a civilized empire, unlike your rulers, so I am here to attempt peaceful negotiations." Tanya finished. Pina looked aghast while Hamilton was practically frothing at the mouth!
"You would dare make such bold claims in front of her highness?!" Hamilton yelled, reaching for her sword. "The Empire would never submit!" And before Pina could stop her, Hamilton rushed forward and sliced down… only for her blade to shatter in two as it hit Tanya's diamond hard mana barrier. A vicious and wide grin appeared on Tanya's face, and with a snap of her fingers, the Lieutenant was on Hamilton in an instant, swiftly knocking the stunned knight off her feet before planting a boot in her back. A metallic clack resonated through the room as her rifle was racked and pointed at the downed girl's head.
"Did you seriously think I would come here without strength to back my claims?" Tanya said as she stood up, pacing over to the downed woman beneath the lieutenant's boot. "The Fatherland is not in the business of making empty threats, but you also seem to have neglected a simple fact. I am not here to negotiate with the Empire, I am here to negotiate with Italica. We have no words to spare for your emperor."
"Please, release her!" Pina pleaded. "She's-"
"She just attacked a foreign diplomat without provocation." Tanya interrupted. "Normally I'd have her executed on principle…" Pina paled, and Tanya's grin widened. "But… under the circumstances- I'm willing to leave her be, if you agree not to interfere in negotiations between me and Countess Myui." The look of realization and shock was a delight to the young general. Pina smacked her lips like a fish in search of things to say, stumbling for a solid minute before relenting with an anguished look.
"...Fine, just please, don't kill her." Pina sighed. Tanya motioned and Visha stepped off her back, the knight angry but horrified as she realized what she just caused her princess to concede to for her safety.
"Thank you for your understanding. Now, if you would please, you can wait outside while negotiations continue." Tanya said, gesturing to the door. A defeated Pina and her lapdog shuffled to the door, giving one last look at the group before exiting. As the door clicked closed, Tanya sat back down and picked up her tea again. And just like that, the Saderan Empire is removed from negotiations. She smirked.
"Now that those two are out of the picture, we can have a proper conversation." Tanya said softly to the countess across from her who was frightened, but hiding it well. "While I understand your hesitancy to speak with us after such a brash announcement, I may be able to alleviate some of your concerns. For one, we are not interested in harming you or your citizens if we can avoid it, and we will be fine with leaving Italica's current government alone as long as you pay a slight tax, currently half of what the Empire demands from you. Furthermore, you can be assured that your city will not fall to bandits, as my battalion will repel any attempts they make until our occupation force arrives by tomorrow. "
Tanya took a sip of her tea. "We offer all this and more, for a simple few concessions." Myui tensed. "Slavery will be abolished and prohibited, and any knowledge Italica has of the slave trade and where any of the Fatherland's citizens may have been taken is to be handed over as soon as feasible. That is all we ask. The safety of our citizens is our highest priority. Priority that can be shared with your city's citizens, if you were to agree." Tanya said. Visha quickly pulled out a pair of documents from a rigid folder in her backpack, handing the two to Tanya, who slid one over to the countess. "This is the written agreement, if you wish to review it." Myui picked it up and read over it, but kept her guard up, distrust evident.
"The Saderan Empire has never valued life as highly as you claim to." The quiet countess confessed, looking up from the document. "They forced my family to join their empire in the past by staging a force we couldn't hope to beat and saying 'join or die'. Something you are only repeating. How can I know your… 'Fatherland' will be any better than the Empire who led my father to his death?" Inwardly Tanya smiled, Myui was sharp for her age, brought up to be a leader. She would do well in running this city.
"You are right, we are forcing you into a similar position as before, but I would hope the fact we came to talk amicably first would show we are not warmongers bent on fighting everything we see flying the Saderan empire's flag." Tanya sat back. "If we truly wanted to fight we would have exchanged no words. Our enemy is the emperor himself, not you. I am here speaking to you to try and avoid such needless bloodshed. Tell me, would you rather serve an Empire that was going so far as to invade another world to retrieve their kidnapped citizens or one that has already abandoned you and the surrounding towns? Scouts have been reporting Saderan soldiers burning farms, poisoning wells, taking livestock. They are enacting a scorched earth policy, with your city as collateral." Myui looked unsettled, but frowned.
"If the Empire had truly abandoned us, then why is the princess here? Surely she wouldn't be here if they already considered us lost." Myui questioned.
"I doubt the princess knows. There would be no other reason for her to participate in the defense of this city if she knew they wanted it to fall." Tanya conceded. "All the same, just why is she here? This far from the capital, I can only assume she is on some kind of mission, likely to try and collect information on both the Fatherland and the nation at Alnus Hill. A mission like that would undoubtedly be dangerous, given how powerful we have both proven to be. The princess isn't the only heir to the throne, they may believe her… disposable."
Myui's eyes narrowed. "As unfortunate as it seems… that makes sense. She is the third princess, born to a concubine. It would be well within Molt's ruthlessness to allow harm to befall her." Myui looked at the document in front of her again, deep in thought. A few minutes went by as Tanya calmly drank her tea while the Countess stewed over her choices. Myui's eyes seemed to harden to steel, and she once again turned to look the German blonde in the eyes.
"If I was to sign this… You would be able to guarantee the safety of Italica against attacks from both the Saderan Empire and the bandits?" She asked.
"Of course!" Tanya said with absolute confidence. "It would even be a personal pleasure to deal with your bandit issue. I detest slavers and rapists, whenever any were found during the Great War of our world we executed them. Once we have set up protections around the city and expanded our operations, Molt's armies won't even be able to get close to you. Of this, you have my word." Myui stared at her, obviously looking for something, but whatever it was, she never found it as she turned back to the paper and signed the bottom. Tanya carefully schooled her face as the document was returned to her, but inwardly she was very happy. This had arguably been the first battle she'd even been in charge of that didn't involve bloodshed, and such a clean victory was to be cherished after all the lives taken in the Great war.
"You won't regret this, Countess. I'll have my men take up posts around the city to defend it until our forces arrive. Welcome to the Germanian Empire." Tanya said, allowing herself to smile. "Lieutenant, radio it in. Italica is ours." She said in german.
"Hai!" Visha saluted before exiting. Tanya reached into one of her pockets, withdrawing a polished Iron Cross necklace. Using a bit of mana, Tanya's eyes started bleeding to gold as she used the type 95 to magically engrave the cross with the right encryption and proof of identity Myui would need. The cross glowed a faint green before fading once complete. She handed it to the Countess, who took it gingerly.
"That is a symbol of authority, wear that or present it when needed and the magic in it will verify your status as the ruler of Italica to members of the Fatherland. As someone of similar age, I understand how sometimes you need a little proof to get people to take you seriously." Tanya said, gesturing to the assortment of medals pinned on her left side. "Do take care not to lose it, however, as if it is beyond your possession for more than 14 hours it will disintegrate and you will need a new one. This is to prevent people from stealing it." Myui nodded as she slipped the metal chain over her neck.
"Thank you." She said, fiddling with the symbol.
Tanya smiled a tired smile. "No, I should be thanking you. Too many lives were lost due to the madness of leaders in the Great War of my world, it is a pleasant change to not have to deal with the same here." The small moment of reflection was cut short as Tanya's magicom crackled.
"Pixie-1 this is Pixie-3. Be advised, we're seeing movement from the west, it appears to be a convoy from the JSDF headed towards Italica. What are our orders?"The voice of Neumann came through. Tanya reached up and pressed on the type 95.
"Pixie-3, this is Pixie-1. Let them pass. It accelerates things but we were going to meet them at some point soon anyways. Set up a larger perimeter for any further surprises and send the rest of the 1st company down to escort their ranking officers to the mansion."
"Pixie-3, solid copy. We'll be ready if you need any help."And with that, the radio died.
Myui looked at her questioningly. "It seems that a convoy from the other army at Alnus Hill is on its way here. I intended to open talks with them soon anyways so I'm letting them through. Would you like to be there when we open talks with the JSDF?"
A/N: And just like that, Italica joins the Fatherland! Sorry if it's not due to a fight like some probably hoped, but you will get plenty of action in the next chapter... when Tanya gets to meet Rory.
I also want to apologize for the long wait, but I ended up losing motivation for the entirety of June and was struggling with getting back on track this month with the storyline. This chapter also felt a bit rushed and short to me but I hope to fix that in the future.
In the meantime, I figured I would respond to some of your reviews you have kindly left me.
NightmareKnight1- You were almost right and the motivation is wavering but this is still by far my best story so I really do want to keep going with it
Guest- I'm not too sure if I'll be putting much focus on the Saderan empire's reactions over the gates aside from immediate characters, but I'll give it a try here or there.
Thehatterofmad- Not going to lie I've never read the light novel of Saga of Tanya the evil and I'm not well versed in philosophy or economics so I'm not going to be able to do much to replicate the LN's style but I will see about finding some interesting bits to use
The-grave-walker: The idea to have Tanya screw with Itami's mind is interesting and I would like to try that, but I'm just not too sure how I'm going to go about it. Omakes are certainly something I will make in the future, however. I also fully plan for Tanya to go all out on the 'WW1 Axis Veteran General' impression when she attends the Diet, but the Diet is not the only place they will be attending...
Obikord- You're probably right about Tanya's rank at the time, I was just going off the Wiki's listing for the members of the Kampfgruppe and to be honest I'm a bit mixed still on how everyone is still ranked. Also thank you for the kind words about my story, it is appreciated.
Ojisake- You would be right but the 203rd isn't in charge of handling the population, that'll be the occupation force's responsibility, they are just the advance force.
Guest- I've always held a dislike for Being X's meddling with other stories, and it kind of ruins the ways I'd want to set potential conflicts up so I got rid of him, and I'm glad you like that he's gone too.
Tsun- Those questions will be answered in the next chapter, when Tanya meets Rory
Holosagewolf- I suck at writing romance or pairings in general so that probably isn't going to happen, but we'll see. And on the technology note, the Empire isn't going to catch up to the level of japan within this fic, thats far too unrealistic.
Chomosuke- This is one of the reasons I like writing this story too, the worldbuilding and politics
Kitsune Obsessed Freak- Love your name, and I agree, Kitsunes are AWESOME
Arthurpendragon1940- It will certainly be interesting to the scientists of the Empire when they discover that the gods of Sadera are real in a way, and magitech is undoubtedly something that would be coveted by both other worlds
Ttunikitashtobert- You are right, politicians are cynical and logical to a fault most times unless decisions are influenced, and I fully plan on Tanya opening unofficial talks with not only some other corporations but other nations as well
Teddy- You… are completely right ;)
Magistrate Karda- On Tanya's gender, for 1, she's staying the same because thats the way we know her, and because she'd rather not reveal her old gender to Visha or it would probably be very awkward. As for Politics, you are right, Japan is going to be largely peaceable and used to diplomacy, while the Empire is going to be riding the high of their victory and probably feeling unstoppable. The thing is, they just came down from the biggest war they've ever had in their world's history, and after 3 years of bloodshed and wartime economy they probably want things to return to normal, they're probably tired of war, so while they are of course bloodthirsty and used to war they may not be too interested in un-needed fights.
Amon34- They are already aware of what a missile is, as Schugel already finished making the first unguided ones earlier.