A bright light shone into the room, and Tanya groaned as she tried to feel not-bad. It didn't work.
Last night was… muddled.
She had had to consume alcohol in her first lifetime at various company parties. She had gotten used to it, and even enjoyed relaxing and having a drink occasionally.
This body, however…
It was what one would call a lightweight. Plus, Tanya hadn't had anything that even resembled alcohol in sixteen years.
She winced in remembrance. The closest she had been to having alcohol in her second life was when she'd died. They had been at a bar specifically because she was at the age she was allowed to drink in the Empire.
Tanya didn't remember much after that last drink in the guild, besides that she had probably had one too many arm wrestling matches.
She sat up and looked around. Where was she, anyway?
Fearing the worst, she looked around. A room bare of decorations and smaller than a walk-in-closet greeted her vision. Compared to her first life, the room was rather dismal. Compared to her last one it was alright.
She'd been well housed whenever she was away from the front, but housing on the front itself was variable.
Regardless of how nice it was, however, she'd make due, as she always had.
More importantly, it didn't seem like anyone else was there, thankfully. She sighed in relief. She didn't even want to contemplate doing… that with a man.
She shivered, pushed unwanted thoughts of her last life out of her head, and began to check her body for possible injuries. Nothing was sore, besides her arm.
Tanya smiled. She wasn't sure if it was just the sleep, but it didn't hurt too much. She'd probably be fine pulling off some of her more impressive maneuvers in the air, then.
She felt through her clothes, which she must have fallen asleep in, ensuring her possessions in place.
Type 95? Circlet of Greatness? Contract? All in place.
She saw the sword, still contained within a polished blue scabbard, at the foot of her bed. Her money bag – now bulging – sat atop it.
Nodding, she rose out of the bed, and began to get ready for her day.
There were fewer amenities here than in her second life, however, which meant that preparation amounted to trying to tame her hair a bit and straightening her clothes.
Suddenly, she had an idea. She took the pouch of money from her belt, the ones she'd received from Aqua, and the other bag that had been on top of her sword.
She placed the circlet in the slightly larger bag, and placed the smaller bag with her money in it inside that.
She smiled. She'd concealed the more risky relic without having to stash it away in her clothing.
Speaking of clothes…
These things didn't fit in at all.
They were, by her second time's standards, normal for a soldier on leave. Just a simple white button-up shirt, green pants, and black boots. But here, where the culture was different, she was sure that more than a few of the odd looks she'd been given on her way from her… spawn point...?
Well, they looked at her like she'd had a second head. Once she figured out her monetary situation, getting proper equipment would be key.
An army couldn't run, after all, without rations, ammunition, and plenty of supplies, which meant she needed to evaluate her resources and options.
She tread down a dimly lit hallway, into an area above where she'd been last night. It seemed like more seating, to her, but maybe it was some sort of day café.
She'd seen weirder things.
She walked down the stairs, looking out into the room. She started to walk towards Luna, at the reception desk, when people began to call out to her.
"Thank you for the drinks, Miss Degurechaff!"
"That was amazing what you did to those three warriors!"
"Are you buying tonight again?"
As she walked, she smiled and waved, giving them back empty assurances and trying to remember what the hell she'd done last night all the while.
Soon, she reached the front desk. "Er… Luna? What did I do last night?" she asked tentatively.
The receptionist chuckled. "You arm wrestled nearly everyone to a standstill and earned money in the process. You even beat three of the strongest warriors at once!"
She chuckled nervously. Was that all? She hoped so. Anything more might have been seen as suspicious.
Luna continued. "After that, no one else wanted to try their luck, so you bought everyone even more alcohol to try and butter them up. Of course, you passed out after a drink, so the maids arranged a room for you," she said, staring down at Tanya, apparently amused by the whole affair.
Tanya was much less amused. Sighing dejectedly, she asked, "How far in debt am I?"
Luna laughed. "Not at all, actually. You even came away from it all with a bit more money, since we paid you a bit for being an entertainer."
Tanya nodded, casting a quick glance at the money bag hanging from her belt. "So… how do I earn more money?" she asked plainly.
Luna pointed to a board Tanya hadn't noticed yet. "There are quests over there. They give you a rating of difficulty, depending on the number and type of stamps on them," she said.
Tanya strode over, and began to peruse them.
Tanya didn't understand all of the terms they used, but judging by the stamps, most of them were probably outside her ability. At least, until she had tested out all of her skills.
"Luna? Do you have anything easier?" she called out. The woman rushed out from behind the bar, looking at them.
"Well, not really. Most of the monsters were cleared from the surrounding forests long ago, which means that the only monsters available are the easy, seasonal ones that pop up, or the ones that are farther away from town," she explained, looking at them all.
Tanya nodded, considering her options. Then, Luna spoke again. "You could get started on the Giant Toads," she said, pointing to one of the signs.
Tanya looked up at the thing.
'MARCH OF THE TOADS BEGINS SOON. MINIMAL REWARD OFFERED.'
Tanya sighed, resigning herself to yet more questions. "Why the minimal reward?"
"Well," Luna began, "the Giant Toads emerge at two times in the year: spring and autumn. They mate and breed in the autumn, and the young grow to their full size in the spring. They usually stay far away from the city during the spring, satisfying themselves on weaker monsters."
"Lately, they've been coming near the city in the spring, too. So we need adventurers to get them to leave," she finished, smiling.
Tanya tilted her head. "Why not just kill them all if you know where they usually hide?" she said.
Luna shook her head. "Well, they burrow underground to hibernate, so it's hard for beginner adventurers with few skills to find them. Also, they taste pretty good, so we don't want to destroy a valuable food source."
Tanya grinned. This would be nice and easy, then. She'd faced armies of humans in the past. How hard would a couple of overgrown pests be?
-OxOxO-
Tanya grumbled. Not hard at all was the answer to her question.
The quest had been to remove any Giant Toads that strayed into a certain area. She'd rushed to the area, skipping breakfast and intent on finishing it quickly to be back in time for lunch. She'd come out, stood in the middle of a farmer's field, and waited.
For two hours.
The old geezer had told her that if she did anything other than chase out the Toads, he'd give her a bad report. Tanya didn't know exactly how much the supplies she wanted would cost, and she wasn't about to come up short if she could avoid it.
So she'd stood there, doing nothing.
Until now.
She'd had enough, and she was fairly sure that he wasn't watching anymore. He was probably in a different field right now, so she'd just test out a few things inconspicuously.
First, her Flight spells. Her fighting style relied on her speed, agility, and maneuverability in the air. Without those, she'd be a glorified foot soldier.
She took a deep breath. She hadn't been completely idle. She had spent a large part of those two hours attempting to craft a Flight spell that would allow her to circumvent the use of her Type 95. She had been pouring mana into the spell for over ten minutes.
This was it. She took another deep breath, and…
Slowly, she rose into the air, until she was floating an inch off the ground.
She smirked, and rose another inch up. The increase in the mana drain was almost unnoticeable. Tanya frowned.
An increase in only an inch shouldn't have even registered in her mana drain.
Tentatively, she continued to rise, foot after foot.
Soon, she was floating above the rudimentary fences the owner had constructed.
Tanya breathed a sigh of relief the increase was noticeable and not… debilitating. She'd be able to continue fighting how she liked it, if she could replace the cursed jewelry around her neck with something more appropriate.
Just then, she noticed something on the horizon.
A large, bulbous, bright blue toad was hopping. It was nearly double her height, and it was supposed to only be an adolescent. The way its skin shone in the light of the day reminded her of something.
She inhaled.
Something else and worse that towered above her, engulfing her in size and staring down at her with its beady little eyes and it was bald and had power and it was engulfing her and try to to to-
Tanya shuddered, briefly, and pushed down those memories, instead choosing to rocket towards the thing. She was airborne, so she'd never need to fear being engulfed by the thing.
She then began to barrel through the air, propelled by momentum instead of mana as her spell malfunctioned.
There had been a sharp increase in the mana drain, and she cut it off, in fear that she'd go rocketing off at an appreciable fraction of the speed of sound.
She soon impacted the ground, only just slamming Reinforcement spells into action.
Dazed, Tanya looked up into the large, bloated eyes of the pest. It looked down at her, for a moment.
It then lowered its head down, intending to gobble her up.
She snarled. Not that she'd let that happen.
Fast as a thunderbolt, Tanya drew her sword and imbued it with mana as it sliced through the air.
Her attack struck true, showering Tanya with a flood of blood and bodily fluids leaking from the gash she'd torn in its stomach.
Gagging, Tanya shot away from the thing in a moment, airborne once more. She might have smelled worse, sure, but that didn't mean she wanted to get coated in frog guts!
She realized she was airborne once more, and flew around the dead corpse. The drain wasn't nice, when she was moving through the air instead of just hovering. That much was evident.
But… she could manage it. She would have to, actually, until she figured out how to make a Computation Jewel.
Landing, she studied the body.
Her job had been, specifically, to drive them off. Killing them was fine, but she'd need to get rid of the body.
Tanya began to drag it away, towards the uncultivated hills nearby, when a loud, wet ribbet emanated from her left.
Slowly, she turned, and saw three more Toads, all eyeing her. Tanya growled in annoyance, before remembering her greatest asset.
She rose from where she'd been trying to find purchase on the dead toad's slippery skin to begin dragging it, far above where they could try and eat her. She smirked down at them.
"What's wrong? Oh right, you idiots can't fly! I guess you shouldn't have tried to mess with me then, huh?" she shouted. Sure, it was childish, but she'd been standing in a field for over two hours. She wanted to vent.
The lead frog of the trio, apparently, did want to try and fight her. It raised its head, looked at her, and-
Shot its tongue at her.
Oops.
Tanya narrowly avoided the long, pink, rope of a tongue it had shot out. Right. Frogs could do that.
Tanya rose higher, nervously eyeing the road. If someone came by and saw her flying, well…
She didn't know what they'd think. She still didn't know if that was considered 'normal' or not. Flight spells came easily to people from her second world, but they might be seem impossible to the people in this day and age.
She soon retreated to a hill outside of the farmer's land. They seemed content with this, and began to hop towards the home. They were likely headed for the livestock.
She sighed. What a dilemma. What had Luna said? They liked livestock, right?
A new plan in mind, Tanya began to pour mana into another spell she had been working on in those two hours. She these pests needed to be fooled, but this was going to be unpleasant.
Five feet away from her, a… blob of white color that might resemble a child's drawing of a sheep materialized. She frowned and hoped it looked real enough for them.
"Hey, you Toads! Look at this!" she called out. They turned, as one, and saw a fluffy, white looking object.
It was enough for them.
They began to hop closer to her, moving as quickly as their large bodies could. Tanya ran down the side of the hill, and made it look like the illusion was running away. They pursued, and were soon off of the property.
Tanya laughed triumphantly as they hopped away. She turned back to the body, decided that dragging it to the side of the road would be enough, and returned to the field. She'd done enough, for now.
-OxOxO-
It came to an end. Eventually.
A few more of the things had come by, but she'd just led them off with illusions. Overall, it had been a nice, relaxing day full of nothing but watching clouds fly in the sky, reworking her spells to work without a Computation Jewel, and trying not to wince at how much mana she was using without a proper Computation Jewel.
It was peaceful, nearly stress-free… and boring.
Tanya was concerned about the boring part. She knew she'd acquired a… taste for the kind of fights the war served to her regularly – it was hard not to at least enjoy the air, not to mention the challenge – but she shouldn't have missed the opportunity to just take a minute to stop fighting.
She sighed as she walked to the man's house. Having so much violence in her life probably didn't do wonders for her taste in people either.
She arrived at the door and peered inside, searching for the man. She didn't see him at first, but she did eventually spot the old man's small form.
He was curled up on a chair, snoozing away. He greatly resembled some sort of cat, with how content he looked.
Tanya shrugged. She needed to report to him that she was done. She walked into the house, and gently shook the man.
"Hey. Wake up," she said. He rose quickly, grinning.
"Finally decided you've had enough, eh? No worry, I'll show you-" he began. He stopped suddenly, when he saw her clothing.
"Er… Did you fight something?" he asked. Tanya scoffed. Of course she did. She'd had to patrol the livestock for half a day, clothes bathed in blood, and he was asking if she fought something?
"Yeah. One of those frogs was on your property, so I killed it and moved it to the road," she explained, an eyebrow raised.
This, apparently, brought the man up short. "You… you moved it? By yourself? Without anyone telling you to?" he asked.
"Well… duh. The job said to keep the Toads off your property," she said. He looked down, suddenly, a look of shame on his face.
He licked his lips, and took the small hat on his head off so he could nervously wring it in his hands. "I apologize, young girl. I had meant for you to stand in the field until you quit. This job is usually saved for newcomers who don't have any respect for the people who don't roam the world, fighting monsters," he explained, eyes downcast.
Tanya just smiled. "It's fine," she said, heading for the door. Apparently, she had exceeded what had been expected of her, as usual.
She had other things to do, and it was already past midday. Heading for the city itself, she left behind the farmer without another word.
The farmer's wife, hovering in the kitchen, smiled triumphantly. "Told you that one of them wouldn't actually be a brat about standing in the heat, watching crops grow."
He glared back at her, sullen. "Oh, quiet you. It hasn't happened before now, and with her name and looks, I hadn't actually expected her to be understanding."
-OxOxO-
Tanya had gone back to the guild, to get her payment. Unfortunately for her, Luna said she needed confirmation that she had done her job, and since the job was about completing a task instead of just killing monsters, she needed confirmation from the person that had put it out.
Luna had said that she could look at the number of toads she'd killed, if she wanted one transported back to the guild so it could be used for food. Lacking anyway to transport its corpse, she'd agreed. Every little bit helped, after all.
She'd wanted to enjoy lunch, but she realized, after comparing the money she was supposed to earn and looking at the price of the food, that the Eris and Yen were in no way comparable. The food was horribly expensive compared to similar fare from her last two lives, and the Toad hamburger she had eventually settled on had tasted much worse for it.
Afterwards, she left the building. While the sun was beginning to fall from its height, she still had errands to run.
Luna had given her directions to a few places that Tanya needed to get to. Clothing, of course, was on her list. She needed better clothing, and she needed to get something made that would cover her Circlet. She knew this was a Kingdom, and wearing a crown might be seen as some sort of affront to the nobility.
Tanya wasn't about to get thrown in jail because of her attire.
More importantly, however, were the second set of directions. Luna had directed her to one of the city's Blacksmiths.
It wasn't even a matter of saving money. She needed to get levels in the Blacksmith Job to make her weapon.
A gun it would allow her to greatly increase the range of her spells, give her something she knew how to wield, and allow her to stop casting spells through her fingers.
The risk of blowing them off wasn't high – a Mage in the Guild had scoffed at the idea of such stupid drawbacks, which was a good sign – but the possibility was there as far as she was aware, and it rose they more difficult the spell was.
Which was the problem.
The Type 95 was, unfortunately, her best bet at survival. It meant that the casting time of any of her spells was shortened and that the risk of failure was next to nil, as long as she didn't grossly overpower something.
Without it, the majority of her spells would take far too long to use to be useful against anyone with two brain cells, and that wasn't even factoring in if this world's magic functioned or altered her own.
Of course, those benefits to her survival also came at a price. It was very, very detrimental to her mental health – but the temptation was gnawing at her. She was hoping she could recreate the Type 97 by working backwards. She did, after all, know some of the inner workings of the Type 97 by heart from deconstructing them for maintenance.
Computation Jewels didn't need much in order to function, as long as they weren't damaged. They did, however, require basic maintenance once a month, which included cleaning and the replacement of worn-out components.
The Type 95 needed even less maintenance, probably due to its divine nature, but it still needed replacement parts every once and awhile. Keeping it in top shape and trying to recreate a bleeding edge Computation Jewel would be next to impossible using only her memory.
So she needed a Blacksmith's Skill, first and foremost, because she wouldn't entrust either task to someone who might squeal on her and reveal any of her secrets.
Following Luna's directions, she soon arrived at the building she had described. Somewhat small compared to the buildings around it, the building had a number of shields hanging in the front and a dingy window that didn't look like it had been cleaned in ages.
Tanya just sighed and walked up the stairs to the door. Why would someone leave pieces of equipment out where anyone could take them?
She peered into the room from behind the door, making the decision to walk in after only a moment. It certainly looked like a blacksmith's shop.
Or, at the very least, it looked like the room of someone with a fetish for weaponry, since nearly every inch of free space was covered in it.
Stands in the middle of the room held up an assortment of swords, while baskets of daggers lay next to those. A barrel full of spears sat in a corner of the room, while even more shields and even larger swords lined the walls.
Tanya stared at the largest ones in shock. Could people actually wield things like that? Maybe they were just decorations for someone with a weapon fetish.
A countertop, reminiscent of your everyday grocery store checkout aisle, sat near the back of the room. The room behind the counter was shrouded in even more darkness, which wasn't surprising. The windows were covered in dirt, even on the inside. On the far wall, stands of full plate armor two times her width showed themselves off, while other, miscellaneous pieces of armor sat on a shelf above them.
Tanya looked around the room again, searching for the blacksmith. Luna had told her the man didn't really leave his house that much…
Shrugging, she began to try and cast a few Observation spells. They'd tell her if there was any magical activity. If the man didn't have any mana it wouldn't detect him, but it was still worth a try.
They found nothing in the front of the shop, and when she turned to the back…
Still nothing.
She walked over to the counter, and saw a note.
'Look up.'
Readying her mana in case of an attack, she did just that. Tilting her head upwards, she saw more nothing.
A rush of movement in front of her sparked action. She drew her sword quickly, thrusting it towards the disturbance.
"Hey, watch out there, little miss!" someone exclaimed as her sword was batted aside by a similar looking weapon.
Tanya looked at the man who had deflected her sword.
Taller than her by over a foot, he smiled easily, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. In the other glove-covered hand, he held a small dagger, which had deflected her strike.
Tanya looked at her own blade. Was she that weak?
"Sorry about startling you, miss, but you really shouldn't attack people like that," he said, posture relaxed and face glowing. Tanya lowered her blade, and the man did as well, setting the knife down on the countertop.
"Why'd you try to scare me to death?" Tanya exclaimed. If he didn't want her to kill him, he shouldn't have scared her.
He rubbed the back of his head. "It gets boring in here, and I like to mess with people."
Shaking her head, Tanya asked, "Would you happen to be the Blacksmith?"
He grinned and said, "Well, I don't know about the Blacksmith, but I am a Blacksmith."
Tanya nodded, studying the man's darkly tanned face. He had a short beard and a few strands of hair groups together on his upper lip that might constitute as a mustache. Above those wisps was a long, sloped nose and small eyes.
Tanya nodded. "Er… I was wondering, sir, if I could learn some Skills from you?" she asked hesitantly.
He looked up, gripping his face in contemplation. "Well, I don't think I have the skill to warrant me taking on an apprentice, but-"
Tanya shook her head. "No, sir, you misunderstand me. I am an Adventurer, capital 'A,' and I wanted to learn some skills, at some point in time. I was just wondering if you would be open to that," she explained, raising her card by the upper left corner, in order to block the revealing description of herself and show him what her job was.
"Ohhhhh," he exclaimed. Tanya squinted at the man. Did he disapprove of her or something?
"Well, while I would like to help out someone as- er, misguided as you, I can't just do these things for free," he said.
Tanya raised an eyebrow skeptically. Misguided?
She shook her head. She didn't have time to explain why she needed to be an Adventurer, nor did she particularly want to. "Of course. Why would I expect you to give away things for free? I was just wondering what it would cost," she said. The man squinted at her, this time.
"Well, alright, then," he said. Tapping a finger on his chin, he suddenly smiled.
"50,000 Eris so that you can watch me work," he said. Tanya raised an eyebrow, careful to ensure that the man didn't catch a whiff of her excitement and dread.
Haggling. Bargaining. Something she was vaguely familiar with in this odd world. She smirked as she began to mentally debate what she could do.
50,000 Eris. She didn't have it, but she could hopefully earn the money in the next week.
Not that she'd pay that much to watch the man. She made sure to seem outwardly skeptical of the price as she stared him in the face. "Oh please. It's not like I have to work with you. I could just go to another blacksmith and get a much better price. And considering the state of your windows, I don't think you can even justify earning that much without a special order. 25."
"I bet you can't even meet the Strength requirement for taking a level in the Blacksmith job. 55," he countered.
The price raise stung a bit, but she didn't let on, only smiling. "My Strength doesn't matter, since the Adventurer job means I can surpass any requirements to learn a skill. 30."
"I wouldn't want you running off and starting a rival business, would I? Plus, I'll lose whatever business you could have done with me, if you take enough levels. 45."
Tanya smirked. That sounded fine. "Just to watch you melt some metal? I don't think so," she said. They stood there, staring at each other, waiting for the other to move.
"Fine, then. I'll cut you a deal," he said, crossing his arms. Tanya nodded. This would be the actual offer.
"I'll demonstrate to you a single skill, Smith, and if you can keep up with me after taking it, I'll only charge you 40, for proving me wrong. Otherwise, it'll be 45" he said.
Tanya frowned. It was only one, but…
That was fine with her, as long as it worked. "Deal," she said, holding out a hand. He shook it, and Tanya headed for the door.
He called to her retreating form, "Hey, where are you going?"
She called back as the door swung open. "Well, I have other things to do. I'll be back in a week!"
She ran out, leaving behind an amused blacksmith. He was used to adventurers just coming in, choosing what they wanted, and leaving again with what they wanted.
She was paying him a premium, too. Thank Eris for that.
He smiled as he walked into the back room, towards his equipment. It was a nice change of pace to be acknowledged instead of just seen as the support.
-OxOxO-
Tanya looked skeptically at the building in front of her. This was it?
Not that she doubted Luna's directions. The woman had been very helpful, to the best of her knowledge, and Tanya was thankful for that.
But… well, if she had to describe the store in one word, it would be 'eccentric.'
There were designs of spinning wheels and pins and needles, cloth and fabrics, and a menagerie of other things associated with clothing painted on the front, while a small sign jutted out from the building's face that read 'Tailor Shop'.
The outside might have been bizarre, but the inside had just been nostalgic.
And… creepy.
It resembled any other clothing store in modern Japan, with clothing on racks or being showcased. That would be nice in Japan, but it was a disconcerting here, to see clothing that looked like it belonged at some historical reenactment on nearly modern shelves.
"Welcome!" greeted the woman behind the counter. She was dressed in pastel pinks, with a rather over the top looking headdress and a long, floor-length gown that covered everything but her shoulders.
Tanya nodded back, and began to peruse the shelves. None of it screamed out to her more than the rest of it, if she was honest.
Just then, the woman cried out, pointing at Tanya's clothes. She looked down, and realized she was still covered in blood. Right, that was why she was there.
New clothes.
The woman rushed out from behind the counter, ushering Tanya over to a pseudo-changing area. She pushed Tanya into the wooden room, and ordered through the closed door, "Change out of those clothes, or I'll do it for you!"
Tanya objected, "What do you-"
The woman cut her off. "My store, my rules. You're not leaving until you've changed into something much, much better!"
Tanya sighed, but began to diligently strip. Viktoriya had, on the few occasions they'd been given leave, done much the same thing, and Tanya wasn't going to argue with someone who probably knew better than her in the clothing department anyway.
Soon done undressing, she detached the Type 95 and her bag of money, throwing both of those onto the bench present in the small, potentially claustrophobic room.
She shoved her clothes under the gap between the door and the floor, picking up what looked like a menu in return. Tanya began to look at her options.
Well, the more… womanly clothes were out for her. She didn't want to wear anything like that.
She was still a man, underneath the biology, and she wouldn't stop beating that into her own head until she keeled over dead in forty to sixty years.
She had only had to wear a dress once – during that stupid propaganda photo shoot – and she hadn't worn one since. Even her attendance at that party where the Kaiser had been present hadn't warranted one, as she'd been able to wear her uniform instead.
Tanya shook her head. She didn't have the foggiest idea about what might be good for her, besides something that didn't restrict her movements too much. She needed to be able to maneuver in the air, after all.
"Miss…." Tanya began. A loud sigh was heard through the door.
"Sorry, that I didn't introduce myself – I'm Lavandula – but what you were wearing was unacceptable! Can I help you?" she rattled off.
"I haven't been an adventurer for long, so I was wondering if you had any recommendations," she admitted.
Tanya heard, from farther away, "Well, do you know what you'll be doing the most on the battlefield?"
"Well, I'll use magic the most often, from a distance, and I'll be moving around a lot. Does that help?" she supplied. Tanya had never had much time to play video games in her first life, and a decade and a half had muddled her memories further.
Considering how much like a video game this world seemed to be, she'd let an expert decide in this matter, as long as their choices weren't too bad.
The woman made a noise expressing agreement through the door, and began to talk.
"Based on your description, you definitely won't want any heavy armor, if you're moving a lot. A poor Strength stat means that you can't equip most of the heavier armor, so you'll probably be fine with some light leathers and cloth…" she trailed off.
Tanya waited for more information to come through the door, but clothes were slipped under it instead.
Eyeing them, Tanya picked them up and-
No. No. Absolutely not!
She blushed as she fought the urge to tear them to pieces, regardless of the price. This was… pathetic. Demeaning.
She wasn't some sort of slut!
There was nearly nothing there. A few pieces of cloth that looked like they were worn over her privates, but other than that, nothing.
"I don't know what kind of person you think I am, but I assure you, I am going to wear more than this!" shouted, shoving the clothing back under the door.
Silence reigned, and before Tanya could ask for her old clothes, more than happy to wear them dirty than wear practically nothing, the woman spoke back, softly. "You're not from this Kingdom, right?"
Tanya blinked. Had she been that transparent based on her clothes?
"Yes, looking at your clothes as something other than bloodstained rags, they do resemble some of the other things we've gotten over the years," she commented, drifting away again.
Tanya sighed. Yeah, she'd definitely made some sort of mistake, if she could tell that easily.
"Let me see… I'll try to find something that fits your tastes, then," she said from farther away. Tanya just stared down, kind of guilty.
She wasn't guilty about rejecting the clothing, of course. She'd never wear something like that.
The woman did know her stuff, however, and Tanya felt sort of bad for essentially insulting someone for something they hadn't realized after she had specifically asked for their recommendation.
Another pile of clothing was pushed under the door, much more hesitantly this time.
Tanya picked it up. It was… better.
A green cloth shawl-like thing with yellow borders sat on top of the pile, while a short white undershirt with a few strings to hold the neckline together sat underneath.
She picked up both, and marveled at the shawl. It was much heavier than it appeared. Did it have leather inside it, between two pieces of cloth, perhaps?
She looked at its neck and was surprised to see a price tag. Under the price – suspiciously pricey, by her estimate – was the word 'mantle.'
She looked at it again. Was that what it was called?
Shrugging, she set them aside, and looked at the rest of her provided clothing. A simple leather belt was fine with her, but the black shorts and a pair of sandals were a bit too open for her.
Plus, her boots still fit her fine. She might need some new ones, if her body ever decided to grow, but until then, she'd stick with the military grade footwear.
"Er… ma'am? I like most of it, but could you alter some of it?" she asked, pushing the pants and sandals beneath the opening again. She heard a long drawn out sigh behind the door, but the woman asked, "What do you want done?"
"Well, I'm going to stick with my boots, but longer pants would be better," she said. She shoved the shirt back under the door, and continued. "The shirt sleeves need to be lengthened as well."
Tanya heard a small growl of anger as the shirt disappeared, soon followed by a response. "You do realize that you will look quite… traditional wearing so much, yes?" she said, hesitancy and annoyance warring in her voice.
Tanya tilted her head. Was that what the culture was like here?
"How so?" she asked. The woman sighed.
"Right, you really aren't from around here. Look, I don't say you can't wear this much, but people are either going to think you're trying to show off, that you're hiding something, or that you're deeply religious," she explained.
Tanya grit her teeth at the last option. "How so?" she asked again.
The woman chuckled, and if Tanya had taken some sort of x-ray vision as a power, she was sure that she would see the woman shaking her head. "If you were a Mage, you wouldn't have blood on you. They don't get that close. If a Thief wore that much, people either think they must have a reason to restrict themselves."
"Besides," she continued as Tanya realized where the confusion was coming from, "people don't have a lot of money in the starting town of adventurers. Wearing a lot of clothing that can be easily torn means you have the money to hire people to fix it or replace it constantly."
Oh.
She'd wondered why so many people had been wearing an odd mishmash of clothing…
She grimaced. If they couldn't afford clothing, then how much was she going to get paid, then?
Tanya shook her head. She'd put off thinking of that until she got back to the Guild. For now, she'd finish this. "First of all, I'm not a Thief. I'm an Adventurer – mind the capitalization – that can use long ranged attacks and magic spells. Does that help?"
A silence began, and before Tanya could break it, Lavandula's voice rang out. "Well, you'll choose one or the other. Pants and shoes, or the shirt?" she asked.
Tanya sighed. Well, if she would be moving as much as she had, then proper shoes were a much better option than having to run around in sandals.
"The first one, please," she asked. The woman took off, her pointed shoes disappearing from the gap under the door.
In a matter of minutes, the woman returned, sliding a new set of garments under the door.
Now laid out next to each other, the pants were indeed longer, reminding her of her other clothes. The shirt's sleeves, instead of being lengthened, were now shortened, barely extending past her shoulders. She put them all on the bench, looking at the newest additions.
A pair of gloves that extended passed the elbow, judging by their length, and a pair of socks. She set the latter aside, studying the gloves dubiously.
Conceptually, she knew they were normal gloves. But they reminded her of the not-a-goddess's sleeves, if in different colors.
They could be useful, at the least. Lavandula didn't seem like she'd take no for an answer with these, if her continued presence behind the door of the stall was any indication.
Sighing, she slipped the gloves back under the door. Tanya would have them be useful, at the very least. She could probably hide a knife or something inside one of them.
"Ma'am? Would you please shorten the gloves and cut off most of the fingers?" she asked.
The woman chuckled. "And actually show off a bit of skin? I thought you'd never ask, darling."
Tanya silently bristled at the pet name. The gloves disappeared, and as the woman's steps echoed away, Tanya heard, "Pick out a set of underwear and a bra from the selection catalogue, while you're at it."
Tanya blushed, but did as told. At least the woman wasn't doing that for her as well.
Soon, the woman returned, slide the altered gloves under the door, and took off after Tanya told her to get plain, simple, unadorned boxers, as well as the smallest bra they had. A sigh had come after that declaration, but no admonishment.
Tanya waited for a moment, studying her outfit.
It wasn't… completely outlandish by the standards of her own time, and most of the oddities – the mantle and gloves – would be minor.
Her underwear was given to her, and Tanya began to put on the clothing.
Soon, she finished. She looked around for a mirror, and… she couldn't find one.
She supposed it was sensible; they were probably more expensive here.
She shook her head – she was going to have to invent quite a few things to get what she wanted – gathered the rest of her belongings, and walked out of the door.
Lavandula clapped her hand together. "There, much better. Now, that'll be 20,000 Eris, if you wouldn't mind." Tanya almost balked, and then remembered her treatment of the woman and what she'd said about affording clothing. Tanya opened her bags, handing over the majority of the rest of her money.
Just as she was about to leave, she turned back. "Er, about my other clothes?"
The woman seemed put out, and pointed to another corner of the room. "They're over there, if you really want to wear them."
Tanya nodded in thanks and walked into the back corner. As she lifted her clothing up, she realized that they were resting on a closed box marked 'SALE.'
Tanya shrugged. She might not have any money now, but maybe she'd want to get something in the future. She didn't have to deal with military regulations anymore, after all.
She opened the box and gasped.
This was all clothing from her world!
Brand names, iconic characters, stupid sayings – it was all there, tags that said 'Made in China' and all.
Tanya looked at Lavandula sharply. "What is all of this?"
The woman scoffed. "Oh that? It's all the stuff we get from out-of-towners. Whenever adventurers die, people are sent after them to ensure they don't rise as the undead. If their gear is salvageable, they sell it to us if they don't want it. We're required to take it, even if no one will ever buy it. They just have some weird designs on them."
Tanya nodded to herself, looking at the clothing. Made sense that no one would buy stuff in a language they didn't understand.
She'd probably get something later. For nostalgia, if nothing else.
As she left, waving to Lavandula, she said, "And make sure to visit the baths!"
Tanya tilted her head. Baths?
"Where are they?"
Shaking her head, Lavandula gave her the directions, and Tanya thanked her one last time before leaving.
-OxOxO-
Tanya surveyed her 'room', glaring at her surroundings.
It wasn't completely horrible. She had some hay to sleep on, there was a roof over her head, and the sound of enemy fire wasn't constantly ringing above her head.
It wasn't what she had expected on her way back from the baths, where'd she'd scrubbed herself thoroughly. You never knew when you'd get your next bath on the front, and Tanya was going to enjoy soaking if she could.
She had expected being able to afford her old room in the guild, but things turned out poorly in that regard.
Luna had told her the price of the room, and Tanya had balked. She didn't have the income to pay those kind of fees every night, not if she wanted to pay for that lesson from the Blacksmith.
That wasn't what Tanya was mad about. She was annoyed that she hadn't been told earlier, of course, but living in a stable was manageable.
What wasn't so manageable was the pay.
Luna had handed her a total of ten thousand Eris when Tanya had asked for her money. Six thousand for patrolling the man's land, and another four for the dead toad. Tanya had taken the money and eaten her dinner sullenly.
She earned half of that every hour during her job in her first life. She would have earned over three times as much money by working at that job, and while she might have been paid in both Marks and promissory notes in her second life, those could get her more than what she'd been paid.
Tanya continued to glare at the repurposed stable, wishing that she could transform it into something better. Perhaps somewhere with lighting, or glass in its windows.
Nothing changed, and Tanya sat on the pile of hay that dominated the room, defeated.
Today had been interesting. Not bad. Not good.
Just interesting.
She explored her limits, learned about this world's culture, and figured out how she would get a gun, eventually. She had also lost the majority of her money, hadn't earned that much, and had to barter for somewhere to sleep.
Tanya smiled.
But it had been liberating.
She hadn't realized with how long she'd been fighting, but it was nice to relax, wear clothing that wasn't issued by the military, and not have to worry about the lives of the people she commanded and her relationships to the people above her station.
Tanya chuckled a bit. Here she was, the feared Devil of the Rhine, the White Silver, laying in a bed of hay in clothing that looked like it belonged to some underequipped goody-two shoes bent on blindly murdering some far off villain.
She settled into the bed, wearing her old clothing. She'd use them as sleep clothing, until she could get something more proper.
Not that that would happen anytime soon. She needed to find over 45,000 Eris, while also eating and paying for her housing. She'd only kept around 2,000 Eris from today's payoff. Adding that to the money she had left from the arm wrestling meant she had a total of 4,000 Eris.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that she wouldn't have enough money by next week to pay off the Blacksmith, never mind all of the backup equipment she wanted to get.
She looked at her money pouch, laying on top of her 'Adventuring Clothing'.
She shot up again. She hadn't tested out the Circlet of Greatness!
Rushing over to the stool she'd set her pouch and her clothing on, she pulled it out of the bag and held it up to the moonlight. It still looked just as ridiculous since she'd first seen it.
She placed it on her head, and waited for a moment.
Nothing seemed to have happened. Maybe a bit of mana would help?
That was the last coherent thought Tanya von Degurechaff had for the next twelve seconds as she pushed a mote of mana into the crown, and a tidal wave of energy returned in its place.
Inhaling sharply, Tanya woke up, noting a slight change in her surroundings. Why was she on the floor?
That question passed as euphoria overtook her. This felt…
Well, it felt as good as the Type 95 had, in the beginning. It was incredible. She giggled a bit.
It was also likely giving her some sort of high, like the oxygen sickness she'd experienced whenever she went up to heights not meant for the Flight spell.
She looked around, noticing the room was suddenly much brighter.
She looked up, and saw that yes, the pseudo-crown glowed a brilliant array of colors. Tanya pouted cutely.
She might have been more in awe, but this was something created by heaven and it was the middle of the night. Hoping it would work, she willed the thing to stop glowing.
Its glow receded, but it still shone. Tanya clapped her hands together, grinning idiotically.
See cast her eyes about the now darkened room. How to test this…
Well, she might as well try illusions first. Those didn't cause any noise, at least.
She quickly went through the 'Optical Decoy spell' – why the military felt the need to make it more complicated than simply calling it an Illusion spell, she'd never fathom – and imagined…
Tanya giggled again, and watched as the room around her changed. Instead of a small, dirty stable, fit only with a pile of hay, a stool, and a singular hook on the wall where she'd hung her mantle, the room now resembled a scene she could only have ever dreamed of.
The room looked five times larger and able to house some sort of party, if she'd wanted. A long table was centered in the room, while some sort of white stone made up a majority of the floor.
All around the room, gold shone. The roof was gold. The tables were gold. The lamps were gold. The windows had golden window frames and yellow-colored glass. An expansive bed occupied the spot where the pile of hay had been.
On that bed were a number of things. Mountains of Japanese food, television, phones, and other amenities she hadn't had in sixteen years populated the bed.
Now, Tanya began laughing happily. It was here, the life of safety she'd wanted. With several upgrades, if everything was as expensive as it looked.
She heard someone knocking on the door to her room, and she blinked as clarity returned at the sound of the voice.
"Colonel, I've got some chocolate and coffee for you."
The illusion broke down and she sank to her knees, sighing tiredly.
Viktoriya. Tanya…
She shook her head. She wished that they had lived in modern times, when homosexuality was accepted.
Of course, Viktoriya didn't seem all that interested in love or romance. She hadn't hooked up with anyone – or even entertained the thought – throughout their time on the various fronts.
Nearly all the others had. Tanya had kept a diligent record of the exploits of the other members of the 203rd, if only so that she could fend off any false claims and rumors. Viktoriya hadn't though, and Tanya had respected the time period's obvious lack of advancement and Viktoriya's seeming disinterest.
She shook her head, and tried to stand. She blinked, and the sound of other adventurers complaining about how loud she'd been and wanting to hear that noise again reached her ears. Tanya shook her head.
She looked down at her body and tried to stand again, only to find that it took an incredible amount of effort to do so.
Scowling, she tried to walk to her new clothing. The Circlet had a cost, right?
She made it exactly two steps before she crashed to the ground, exhausted.
Grunting, she filtered mana into a quick Flight spell, and rose off of the ground. Floating, she rotated herself and picked through her clothing, now as heavy as the iron armors in the Blacksmith's shop had looked, searching for her Adventurer's Card.
Soon, she found it, and blinked rapidly as she looked at it. It was pretty heavy to lift, actually. Not impossible, but it felt as heavy as if it were made of steel.
She shook her head and began to study the card.
Her Magical-Power stat was stronger than it had been, and the numbers were now glowing blue. She wasn't exactly ten times the low-hundreds number that had been their earlier, but it was a great degree higher. What she was confused about was her Strength.
She had known that it would be low, obviously, but was it really negative?
Yes, negative. Somehow, the card was displaying a negative number where it really shouldn't be. Most likely, the card was broken, or her Strength was so far below the average it had rolled into the negatives.
If hay weighed a few pounds like this, then how would she hold a gun?
That… would be problematic.
She quickly began to enhance her limbs with her magic, pouring mana into her Reinforcement spells.
Nothing. Her strength rose a little bit, but otherwise, she felt nothing.
Tanya frowned. How on earth would she fight if she couldn't hold up a gun?
A breath of air escaped clenched teeth. Another thing she needed to deal with. She didn't exactly have a deadline to meet, but the longer she waited, the more people that not-a-goddess would reincarnate.
Slowly, she cut off her connection to the small mote of mana she had placed within the relic, and sighed in relief as she felt the euphoric feeling left her.
That could get addictive, and without the deterrent of having to pray to Being X, it might be harder to resist the temptation.
She placed the Circlet back in the bag, and walked over to the hay.
Today had been interesting. The week would probably be interesting while she worked to level up and obtain Skill Points and somehow find the money to pay for the blacksmith's show-and-tell-me-how-to-be-a-smith. The next months and years were a mystery to her, right now.
Tanya drifted off to sleep, visions of revenge dancing behind her eyes.
-OxOxO-
Tanya woke in an instant.
Being able to wake fast was necessary in the war, when an enemy could have tried a sneak attack. Here, she hadn't expected to be woken at all. She knew no one.
And yet, people still decided to try and get her.
She couldn't see who they were, but they definitely shouldn't have been in her room. They didn't seem to realize she was awake, softly moving closer to her.
They bent over her silent form. Tanya cursed herself, wishing she had kept her sword by her side. She did have one thing she could do, though…
As Tanya filtered as much mana as she could into her hands, a hand clamped down over her mouth, and that was all the provocation Tanya needed. She slashed with towards her assailant, magically sharpened fingernails biting into unprepared flesh.
A scream echoed through the building, and Tanya threw herself out of bed, towards the Circlet. She slipped it onto her head and made it light up like a light bulb.
The face of someone she didn't recognize greeted her light. She advanced on them slowly, and, blinded by the sudden light, they tripped into the large, empty space present in the stables.
"W- Wait! Please! Don't hurt me anymore!" he begged.
Eyes glassy, Tanya didn't take any note of his pleading. He'd tried to assault her, maybe more, like…
Like…
She snarled. "I don't think so. Now, if you'll-"
Another person popped out of another room. "Please don't kill him! He can't help it if he was aroused by your moan earlier!"
What.
What.
He apparently saw the question written in the incredulity on her face, and began to explain. "W- We were just curious, that's all. 'Why you would make a sound like that,' and other questions like 'can you make it again?' were all we wanted to ask."
Barring the apparent gap in her memory – that was why she'd been on the ground, after putting the damn thing on – she really was going to murder them. She wasn't even sixteen.
Of course, the chance was high that the age of consent and other such things were much lower. Still, that didn't mean she had to accept them.
First she needed to confirm what had happened. "How long was the sound?" she asked.
The two men seemed confused. "You don't remember?"
Blushing, she shouted. "Of course not! If I had knowingly made that sound and you'd tried to make me do it again, you'd be dead." She bit out the last word between clenched teeth.
Both shook, and one tried to jump back into his room. She jumped in front of him, aided by a slight burst of a Flight spell. He shrunk back, and sputtered that it had gone on for a few seconds.
Tanya sighed. "Whatever. If you ever try to touch me again, I'll make sure to give you genital scarring to go with the scars on your face."
Both nodded rapidly, and fled into their room. Tempting as it was to punish them further, they had at least shown her that leaving her things out of arm's reach was foolish.
This wasn't the army anymore. No one was going to respect her for her rank here.
Stalking back to her room, she made a mental note to keep her things on her. Sharpening her nails without the Type 95 wasn't hard, but she needed to make it more efficient.
Grumbling, she settled into the hay once more, her Computation Jewel resting heavily on the hay by her head. If she just slipped it on…
She shook her head and sighed. Tanya just hoped her life would settle down as she worked to get that wish.
Visions of repaying Being X for the pain he had caused her and trying to ignore how itchy the hay was, Tanya drifted off to sleep.
-OxOxO-
A/N 1: There. Tanya's done her first day of questing, and I've attempted to explain a logical inconsistency with the anime's depiction of many of the background adventurers.
She's also discovered that, as with the Type 95, her Circlet comes with a drawback.
As always, please leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter, and continue reading on!