Chapter 3, version 3

When Tanya had heard the bandit trio refer to a boss, she had envisioned a slightly overweight middle-aged man with a fur coat - sleeveless of course, to play off the style of this medieval world. She was very much happy to find that her mental image of her possible opponent was not that far off reality.

She had woken up early today, had a good meal, wished for coffee to go with it, and then set about preparing for the potential confrontation later in the afternoon. She knew the bandit boss and his underlings would be around sooner or later so she wanted to be sure she left a good impression. She borrowed some cleaning tools from a local woman and made her uniform as spotless as she could get it. She even used some of the wood she chopped as barter to get some animal tallow to shine her boots. Perhaps that was a bit overboard and unnecessary but she was of the firm belief that a good impression with a new employer - even if it was unlikely - was always worth its weight in gold.

By the time the bandit lord finally arrived, Tanya was standing there looking like she was fresh off whatever magical transportation system the afterlife used to make people arrive in this world. Her gray overcoat was spotless, her shoes shining and her hair firmly stuck under her green cap - no ahoge today thankfully. The bandit lord was as she had expected, just with the caveat of wild hair across his body poking out of any place where exposed skin might be and gold chains that almost made him look like he was trying to imitate an American rapper.

He was guarded by about half a dozen lackeys carrying spears wearing clothing that looked like they were held together by the dirt that had accumulated on them over time. The Rambo look-alike from yesterday was also accompanying him. Besides the dirt-covered appearances, the majority of them looked like they had hard lives; scars were common among them, and they looked like they worked hard to maintain their physical form. These were not the low-level minions she beat a few days ago; these were bandit boss's A team, so she had best not get on his nerves.

As she stood, examining him, the bandit warlord had been examining her in turn, giving her a glance over her uniform and badges with interest. He then shrugged and started the conversation with a statement that took her for a bit of surprise.

"Well, you're shorter than I expected but you'll do. I'm Hisakage, died in 1975, from Japan. I've been in this world for about 4 years. This is Kudo, you met him yesterday. He died 1949 and has been around 22, also from Japan," Kudo nodded.

"Now that we've introduced ourselves, how about your introductions?" His voice was on the deeper end of the spectrum.

It took her a brief moment to recover from Hisakage's statement. The time scale made no sense! If Kudo died in '49, then the year should be '71, but Hisakage's own introduction would mean it's '79. All of a sudden she was wishing she'd pushed Haruri for more details about how death worked. The other element that had thrown her for a loop was their mention of Japan, which meant this reality was much closer to the one she'd come from. And as an odd timing, this afterlife would be closer to her first life's birthdate than her second. She wondered whether, if she ever found a way to the world of the living, she could find her first life and maybe warn him about taking human capacity for revenge too lightly.

Shaking those thoughts away, she cleared her voice. Trying to keep the irritation of coming to grips with these revelations in check, she said. "Lt. Colonel Tanya von Degurechaff, died in 1928, from Germany."

She intentionally changed the country name from the Germanian Kreise Empire to something more from her old life. Normally she was not a big fan of lying, especially on what could be amounting to a job interview, but explaining multiverse theory and alternate universes to a bandit lord - even one from a rather modern era - seemed unlikely to be successful. At best he'd just shrug it off as unimportant, at worst he'd think she was insane, and she'd rather not be forced into the afterlife mental health section. Luckily, it did not look like her answer aroused too much suspicion.

"Huh, 1928? Missed out on the big economic collapse of '29 then. The question being, pro or anti-national socialist?" Kudo asked while rubbing his chin.

"I'm more in favor of the Kaiser's rule than any Marxian pyramid scheme dreamed up by authoritarians stretching for a utopian fantasy that will never come and will precipitate the destruction of a functioning economy." She also was not particularly in favor of the Kaiser of her Salaryman world from what she remembered, at least the Kaiser in Tanya's world had been more of a hands-off monarch.

"Well that's good. I really did not want to work with a Nazi anyway, even if you managed to end up being the one of very few good Nazis who didn't get sent straight to hell. The stigma with working with those folks is a problem I'd rather not have to deal with. Let's get on with this whole meeting then. I'm sure you're curious as to why I've called out to you," Hisakage said with a happy tone, seeming more at ease after her tirade.

"Very much so. As far as I can see, there's no real business we could have with each other. You're a warlord of sorts while I'm just a simple soldier looking for her retirement. I'm not in the mood for more violence and I've seen enough of that on the Eastern front," Tanya said with a questioning expression.

Kudo looked suspiciously at her at the mention of the eastern front, but he did not comment. Most likely, if you compared her statements to this world's history, they would not match up completely, so she'd have to be careful and try to remember her old world history a bit better. She thought Poland had had trouble with the Soviets in the '20s, maybe she could claim she was part of some mercenaries from Germany if anyone asked about how exactly she died.

"Well, I was not exactly coming here looking for a former soldier. I was looking for someone with high spiritual pressure. Being a soldier is just a welcome bonus. Hmm, maybe I can explain the issue I have and you might have some military mumbo jumbo that can help me?" Hisakage asked with confidence and a smile.

"And your problem is?" She asked, not particularly liking the length it was taking to get to the point.

"When I first arrived a few years back, this place was overrun by the bad sorta bandits. I can see it in your face, 'bad sort?' Well, the fact is my group of bandits have orders to not kill. We've all already died once and I like for a more medieval 'you give us stuff and we'll keep the monsters away' situation to develop. The bandits who used to run around this territory were murderers and worse who somehow weren't sent to hell when they died or developed the taste for their crimes in this world. We have fought them to a standstill, but we can't get rid of them till we attack the Den," Hisakage explained, sounding like he was trying to charm her with his heroic ways.

"The Den?" She inquired, interested in his tale by this point.

"The Den is an old medieval era fortress with good walls positioned near the border of 79 east, allowing them to raid any trade that tries to cross over from that district. As long as that fortress is in their hands, inter-district trade is a very tricky thing," Kudo finished for his commander.

"Ah, I see." So Hisakage wanted to polish up his title to king and his bandit scum into shining knights of the people - an interesting strategy and one she was not necessarily against. If they did protect people from the worst elements of the criminal underworld, then she could work with them. Opening trade routes would improve life around here greatly, though… they could be lying, and if they were, she would have helped put them in power. That could make her a pariah in 80 east if Hisakage was flipping the roles of the story. It would be good to get out of town and separate herself from whatever happened just in case they had lied.

"I see the merits in your plan but I don't see how I could be of help, let alone what I get out of this deal?" She inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"You're leaking spiritual pressure, kid. That is a sure sign you are a lot stronger than most of the folks around here. Hell, by my estimate, you're at least strong enough to be a low-level Shinigami," Kudo spoke up from where he was standing, with a smirk on his face.

Leaking spiritual pressure? Well, that was a new one for her. She wondered what they could be referring to for a moment until she remembered she was running a basic enhancement spell in case this turned into a fight. It was no surprise they could sense it. Haruri had mentioned he could sense her use of it, but if it was giving off the impression that she was stronger than she really was, that could be a problem. She would have to be more careful in the future or find a way to hide her pressure so people didn't overestimate her.

"As for what you get out of this little fight we have planned, what do you want? Help us take that castle down, and I will be the reigning warlord of this district. Then I can get anything you want," Hisakage said with a cheery tone.

She didn't need to think too long for an answer to that question. "I need funds to move further into the lower districts. As I have said, I am not one for fighting and I would like to retire in a more peaceful place than the edges of civilization."

Hisakage nodded, then pulled off one of his gold chains and tossed it to her. She grabbed it from the air, a bit confused.

"I know a guy in the eastern 77th district who can get you a good price for that. With the money you make from him, you should be able to get to the mid-40s. If you're good with money, maybe further. Help us destroy the Den and I'll make sure you have that meeting with my guy."

Upfront payment, and a valuable referral upon achieving his objective. Well, this bandit lord may have terrible fashion sense, but his negotiation skills were well worth the meeting. But how would she destroy this Den...

"Then I may be able to help you destroy this Den, but I need a particular tool. Do you have access to any firearms or know of a way to get your hands on one?" she asked, as an idea began to take shape in her mind.

"No, most modern firearms are not a thing here kid. It takes a lot to kill a person in this world and guns tend to just not do enough damage to put a charging guy with a sword down. Swords and other melee weapons are more useful and preferred in a fight," Kudo said, dashing that idea.

"There are some older firearms here, like muskets and such, but they're hard to come by and usually just abandoned projects. I will admit I bought a cannon for this attack in hopes of blasting the walls down, though Kudo thinks it won't do shit," Hisakage added, nodding to his second.

"The cannon will do fine knocking the door down, sure, but that just means we'll have easier access to members of the Den to fight in melee. The cannon is not mobile enough to move up with us, so it will sit in the back lines after that, useless as the day it was built. By the way, if you agree to help us, we can get you something more useful than that dagger," Kudo responded, trying to downplay the usefulness of the cannon.

With a growing smile on her face, an idea began to form. It may be a bit dangerous, but it would solve the bandit problem quickly, allowing her to be on her way. Grinning widely, she spoke, "A cannon, you say? Well now, I was a bit of an artillery officer in my last life. If you let me at the machine, I can make sure it works as more than just a door knocker."

The two gave her an odd look. Then, looking at each other, they shrugged "Ah sure, but we're still going to have to get up close and personal to put them down no matter what, kid. What kinda weapon do you want?" Kudo asked.

"A spear or halberd - anything that will give me some reach," Tanya said, thinking that she probably would not need it for this fight at the Den when she was done with the cannon, but it would be useful for her trip to the more civilized districts.

"So do we have a deal?" Hisakage asked, putting his hand out.

Stepping forward with a smile, Tanya took the offered hand and shook it.

"Deal".

"Stupid bratty soul reaper wannabe," mumbled the dark monster hanging from a tree, its words muffled around the bloody remains of a human body it had grabbed from the road below. It had had an easy existence since it lost its humanity, out here in the 80s. Soul society was slow to move against its kind here, tending to care more about the closer districts and the world of the living. Moreover, its snake-like appearance had allowed it to burrow and sneak out of any trouble that had come its way.

It had been enjoying prey from a woodcutter village on the edges of these forgotten outskirts of the soul society, having a great afterlife, until that blonde-haired brat had shown up. She was bait if it had ever seen one. Leaking that much pressure, she had to be something meant to draw it out, and then her Shinigami friends would come out of hiding and kill it, ending its hollow existence with their damn Zanpakutōs.

Well, it was no fool. It was a hunter who stalked the soul reapers' charges in their own backyard. It knew the time had come to leave and head for a new hunting ground. That was why it was taking the long road to 80 south. It would take some time to get there and eventually find good food sources, but it would have free rein down there. Opening its jaw wide, it lifted its head back and began to swallow the torso whole enjoying the energy boost. Unfortunately, its feast was interrupted by footsteps on the road below. Looking down with glowing yellow eyes, it saw a young woman with short brown hair and a dirty brown cloak carrying a shovel over her shoulder. Probably some farmer's wife, perhaps the wife of the man it had just eaten? Well, that was a sad thought. Better let her join her husband.

With a smile, the black snake-like creature lowered itself from the trees, its pale bone face opening wide as it slithered closer to the woman, ready to rip her apart.

Then it felt the pressure.

Too late however, as the shovel came around like a battle axe smashing hard into its lower jaw, embedding deep enough that it could taste the blade at the bottom of its tongue. "Shinigami!" It screamed through its mangled mouth, as the brown cloak fluttered, revealing the telltale black uniform.

"Sneaking up on me like that, the Colonel would have a fit if she knew I let my guard down that much," the reaper muttered, using the shovel to pull the hollow's face closer to her clear blue eyes.

"I had hoped to get here before your next victim was taken," she said, shaking her head upon seeing the blood around the mask's bony lips.

"But I will just have to settle for your purification, hollow." With a pull, she wrenched its skull down, ripping the rest of its body off the branches from which it hung, snapping many of those branches off the trees as well. The body piled up on the road with a heavy thud, and before the hollow snake could try to get away, the shovel was ripped free from its jaw and brought down repeatedly on its neck, until the head rolled free, ending its life.

Author's note

Alright, this completes the refurbishment of the three chapters I did over of the rec thread. So from this point on nothing is set in stone. I have ideas but I am very much interested in my reader base's thoughts.

I will say chapter 4 is going to be slower coming out, I'm going to shoot 4000 words min and I have nothing written yet. Maybe if we're lucky it may be ready next weekend.

Please comment and review, and generally enjoy yourselves…

Betaed by RefugeInAbsrdity, FinalFan