Groggy, foggy thoughts circled through Tanya's head. Well, she wasn't dead, then.
The last two times that that had happened, she'd been fairly cognizant of her surroundings. She was surprised, honestly.
The only people who knew serious healing magic were people with the Priest job. If Being X had just stopped them from healing her…
Well, she sure as hell wouldn't be feeling this bad, that was for sure. She'd be dead.
She opened her eyes, and looked around the room she was in. It was better than her stable, if the bed underneath her was anything to go by. No windows, very little in the way of physical possessions, besides…
Tanya glared. In an alcove on the wall, some sort of statue sat. It was definitely religious, if the wings on the back were anything to go by. Just under that alcove, Tanya's clothes, looking brand new, were neatly folded. Her hat rested on top of the pile, and the Type 95 sat next to it.
Sighing, Tanya began to run through what she liked to call her diagnostic check. The name was a bit of a misnomer – she wasn't a machine – but it reminded her of the technology of her first life, and it was much less disheartening than calling it a 'post-crisis checkup on her health and sanity.'
She tried to move her limbs. Each of those was working, even if they ached every time she even thought about moving them. Sitting up slightly, a peek underneath her sheets confirmed that she…
She frowned. She was naked, and her abdomen looked untouched, which would be bad ordinarily, but she was only confused due to the lack of even bandages.
She supposed in a world so replete with easy access to fast and efficient ways to fix people up, such things were unnecessary, but they did help to stop bleeding, at least until she got to the Priests.
She blinked. What if she made bandages?
She was making a gun, after all. There had to be a ton of things she could make to reap in a ton of cash.
Tanya filed the idea away for later and laid back down on the bed, glaring up at the wooden beams that held up the ceiling. At the very least, it was a good thing that this world wasn't practicing superstitious methods of bloodletting.
She laid there for an hour, thinking about trying to get up, regardless of the inevitable pain, when the door opened a crack. Tanya sent an inquiring look towards the door while simultaneously raising the sheet to cover her up to her shoulders, and a Priest peeked through.
"Hey, Degurechaff. I'm just here to cast a bit of healing magic," she said. Tanya raised an eyebrow at her.
She certainly didn't seem to be the type to be a nurse of some kind, with how… lacking her bedside manner was.
Tanya shook her head and refocused. She nodded hesitantly, her mind already conjuring the cost of repairing near-fatal wounds if a single broken rib had cost her 20,000 Eris. She would be paying this off for the next few months, at least.
The woman stepped in, and Tanya's brow creased. "You're the one who healed me a few weeks ago, right? What's your name?"
The woman nodded. "Ashley," she provided as she brandished her hand. Her hand glowed.
Tanya inhaled sharply at the squeamish feeling she felt as her insides… shifted. While decidedly uncomfortable, the fact that she didn't feel any pain meant she was probably close to being done recovering.
The woman got up to leave, when Tanya cleared her throat. The woman turned around, and Tanya asked the question that had been buzzing inside of her mind.
"Can you teach me a bit of Healing magic?"
Ashley seemed a bit surprised. "You're a Priest?"
Tanya shook her head. "An Adventurer, actually. If I'm going to get this injured, I should probably be able to heal myself, right?"
The woman looked thoughtful. She had every right to. There were very few people who could ask to be taught the magic instead of just being able to select the skill from a list.
She sighed. "Alright. As long as you can pay, I'm fine with whatever."
Tanya glowered at the woman, who raised her hands defensively. "Don't look at me that way. Organizing the Eris Thanksgiving Festival takes a lot of money in order to pay the guild to put out so many requests."
Tanya rolled her eyes and nodded anyway. It wasn't like she didn't expect it; she just did not have the money to be spending even more.
The woman smiled radiantly, and knelt at the side of Tanya's bed. Looking around, she picked up Tanya's scepter. "Hey, what are you-"
The woman poked the side of her own left arm with the tip, and a pinprick of blood formed on where it had touched her. "Now, what you're going to want to do is to focus on the mana in my body and guide it towards the wound."
Tanya, Adventurer Card in hand, stopped the motion she was making to learn the skill. "Wait. Does that mean you've been using my mana to heal me?"
She nodded. "You can only Heal others with your own mana if you have quite a lot of it."
Tanya nodded unhappily – she'd be bedridden for even longer – and chose the skill. She growled internally as the last two Skill Points she had disappeared.
Tanya held out a hand towards the woman, poking it above the covers. "Heal," she said as an odd feeling came over her. She knew where the mana of this woman was, and directed it towards the pinprick of blood.
Soon, the blood disappeared as it retreated into the body. The skin looked good as new, and Ashley clapped her hands.
"Wonderful! That you can control it to that degree already… would want to change jobs?" she asked, a hopeful expression playing across her face.
Tanya swallowed the acidic response she'd been about to spit out. The woman had taken the time to use Heal on her and teach her a useful skill, even if she was being paid. Tanya shook her head politely, and the woman sighed dejectedly.
She stood, making her way across the tiny room. As the woman left, she pointed to the dresser next to her bed. "By the way, the expenses for your treatment are there." She swiftly slammed the door shut.
Curiously, she picked it up. Her jaw dropped.
She saw red.
Any and all sympathy she'd had for Ashley evaporated. The injury she'd had last time, the cracked rib, had taken 20,000 Eris and a handful of minutes to heal.
The hole in her abdomen, by contrast, had been as large around as two baseballs and had almost went through her entire body, had taken over twenty four hours to heal, and cost her twenty times more.
She owed 400,000 Eris to the stupid church. She'd be paying that off for months. Maybe even a few years.
Ignoring the screaming pain in her legs, she shot from the bed, paper clutched in hand. "Ashley, get back here. How much did that skill cost? Ashley!"
Throwing her clothes on and ensuring both relics were secured in place, Tanya began hobbling along the short hallway of the church. She soon found herself in a large room dominated by pews with occupants sitting in them.
She scowled at them all, but shut her mouth. They wanted to worship some being in the sky they didn't even know existed? That was their problem.
She'd have no part of it though.
Hobbling faster, she walked down the aisles, searching for that Priest. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the entrance doors slowly gliding shut.
Grimacing at the pain, she hobbled faster, soon breaking into the bright light of-
Night.
It was night time. The streets were lit by magical means, providing the whole area with a more modern feel than she had expected. Of course, the huge bonfires and groups of adventurers could have something to do with the light.
Tanya didn't have enough mana. She'd miss out on the fireworks.
Tanya shook her head, searching for that priest. Ashley was nowhere to be found. She cursed under her breath. She must have slipped away while Tanya was dressing.
Dejectedly, she sat on the ground, back resting against a building. The crowds passed her by, heading towards the bonfires that had been lit. Tanya watched them pass, colors and sounds drifting passed her as she tried to think of a way she could get so much money.
"Tanya?"
She shook her head and looked up, only to see the legs of her teammate. "Oh, Darkness. Nice to see you." Tanya looked back down at the ground again. She really needed to figure out how to get that money. Maybe she could make something from her old world, like bandages, and sell it?
The sword in the Crusader's hands dropped to the ground, and Tanya looked up. "I knew you were a clumsy mess, Darkness, but really. We aren't even fig-"
She stopped short. While the Crusader might usually have enjoyed her scathing remarks, it didn't appear she'd even heard them. Her face, instead of blushing, seemed rather upset.
It seemed she'd been crying, as well. "Darkness?"
The Crusader knelt down and embraced Tanya. The next question she had died on her lips.
Well.
That was interesting. She had certainly felt a little touch-starved after a few weeks of interacting with her new assets and acquaintances in a professional and distant manner. This was…
This was nice.
Tanya shook her head. No, she had things to do, and waiting for Darkness to stop hugging her would probably take a while. Tanya continued to sit in her embrace for a little longer than was practical, but Tanya couldn't bring herself to care about practicality. Just for a moment.
Then she sighed. It was time to end this. "Hey, this is a bit sudden. We haven't even been adventuring together for a month and you're already making moves on me?" Tanya said. Darkness stiffened, and immediately stood, still holding Tanya.
"He- Hey Darkness. Why'd you pick me up? I'm not complaining, of course; everything still hurts. A little warning would have been-"
With that last remark, Darkness dropped Tanya like a sack of flour. Tanya swore as she hit the ground on her scepter. That would sting in the morning, along with all of her other injuries.
Picking her sword off the ground, Darkness readjusted her hair and said, "Honestly. We're having a moment, and you decide to say something like that and ruin everything."
Tanya stood shakily, ready to retort – everyone in the 203rd had made jokes that were much more crass – but then something caught Tanya's eye. A shock of the clothes of the Priests of this world. Tanya began to hobble after what she saw, and eventually tapped the person on their back.
"Hmm?" the person said as they turned around, dread leaching into her features as she realized who it was. "Ah… Degurechaff. We can't refund you, so please, leave-"
Tanya shook her head. "I'm not going to hurt you. Regrettably, it was you people who saved my life. I just want to know how much the skill cost."
Relief flooded the features of the priest, as did greed. "Another fifty thousand Eris, please."
Dread immediately resurface on the face of the priest as she saw the face Tanya made. The anger dissipated, replaced by a small frown. She still couldn't feel all that mad at the brown-haired Priest. She would have finally kicked the bucket otherwise. "Fine. How long do I have to pay?"
She told Tanya, who groaned. Darkness stood by, watching the interaction.
"Fine. I'll pay it off by then," Tanya said. She grabbed her bag from her waist, rifled through, and gave the woman all the money she had on her. It was everything she had saved, but it paid for three-quarters of the price.
With that, Tanya stalked away. Darkness, realizing that Tanya was leaving, shook her head and began to follow the diminutive girl.
Tanya was still focused on her bag. Where was the stupid-
"Aha!" she exclaimed, holding the red piece of Manatite she'd purchased at the Festival. "Why couldn't you show yourself back then? I'd have won handily if you'd just have shown up."
Darkness caught up to Tanya. "Tanya, I'm going to go home now."
Tanya turned on her. "Why? The bugs are going to be coming to town, right? There's a lot of experience to be had."
Darkness gestured around them, to the darkened streets located away from the main areas of the festival. "Well, you clearly aren't, and I can't hit anything anyway."
"Stupid knight," Tanya muttered under her breath. Said knight looked embarrassed and aroused, but Tanya ignored her. The stupid thing would have been a perfect chance to-
Wait. Tanya looked at the crystal in her hand and grinned. She could participate.
"What are you talking about, stupid knight? With this Manatite, I can throw one Explosive Vaporization out, at the very least," she declared as she drained the mana out of the thing. It felt much like how using Heal had, except she was directing the mana into her own body.
Revitalized, she set off towards the bonfire, Darkness following close behind. "To be surrounded and devoured by unfeeling insect monsters. Just the thought of it-"
Tanya turned around again, another idea forming in her head. "Hey Darkness. How'd you like to try something?" she asked, a malevolent smile tugging at her lips.
Darkness looked oddly apprehensive, but Tanya was sure she'd like it.
Probably.
-OxOxO-
The foreman looked surprised. "You're here?"
Tanya smirked. "Yeah. Sorry I wasn't able to get here yesterday. Something… came up."
The man nodded, and then gestured around himself. The adventurers who had been sedate yesterday were now all eyeing each other suspiciously. "As you can see, your suggestion has riled them all up. They'll compete with each other, driving up how many bugs we'll get and the price of admission as well."
Tanya's shoulders fell at that. She didn't have the money to participate anymore. Her own suggestion had come back to bite her.
"Say, what's wrong?"
Tanya told him she'd lost her money, and a troubled expression came over his face. "But aren't you…" he trailed off, glancing at her for some kind of confirmation.
Tanya still had no clue what he was talking about. "Probably not."
He seemed a bit troubled by this. He shook his head and said, "How about a bet?"
Tanya narrowed her eyes. She probably wasn't going to like this.
"I have the money I said I'd give you right here," he said, gesturing to a cloth sack at his waist. "You could take it now and be on your merry way. But," he said, twiddling his mustache, "if you kill the most bugs here, then I'll give you the profit and the largest prize. If you don't however…" he trailed off.
"You won't get any money."
Tanya's shoulders fell. Well, it was about what she was expecting. Tanya sighed.
First thing was first. "How much is in the bag?" she asked. If she could pay off her debts, then she'd take it.
"100,000 Eris."
Tanya opened her mouth, wanting to take it. If she gave most of it to the greedy church, then she could get a loan from the guild, and – if Dust was anything to go by – get a larger-than-normal loan if she begged enough.
Just then, a voice rang out from behind Tanya. "Are you ready? They're going to start soon, you know."
Tanya turned around and stared at Darkness. Right, the woman had been enthusiastic about Tanya's plans to use her as bait and to let her be engulfed in a fireball of power.
She looked at Darkness. She'd saved her life by distracting that Reincarnate, and Tanya had been able to go on harder quests, with her there. Plus, she'd get even more money.
Tanya shook her head. She needed the money now, especially if she was going to… reward Darkness…
She tried to repress the shiver. And, if she was rewarding Darkness, she would need to pay the money back for whatever new debts she would acquire.
Tanya sighed heavily. "Fine. I'll agree to your wager. But you're going to help me."
An eyebrow raised, the man agreed. "Darkness," Tanya said as the man walked away, heading towards the group of people holding torches, poised to drop them into the bonfire pits.
"The plan has changed."
-OxOxO-
This was stupid. Unbelievably stupid, in fact, but she had little choice.
Darkness was standing on the largest rock that the two of them could find around the bonfire, while the foreman was standing behind Tanya. The fire had begun to spread, igniting each giant log of wood.
"So, how are you going to do this again?" the foreman asked, sounding very nervous and skeptical. Darkness looked just as nervous.
"You said you want a large explosion, right? Well, doing it on the ground would be hazardous. I'll power up here, and then I'm going to send that rock, and Darkness on top of it, into the sky. She'll use Decoy, attracting all the insects to her, and I'll throw the largest spell I can at the rock," she explained to the man.
"And just how are you going to 'power up'? Or send her into the sky, for that matter?" he asked logically.
"And how am I going to survive the fall?" shouted Darkness.
"You just will, alright? Don't doubt me," she shouted while doubting the plan.
She wanted that money, and she needed to pay off her debts, and she wanted to pay back Darkness a bit, so she'd do what she had to. Besides, what was the worst that could happen?
She sighed. A lot could go wrong, up to and including her starting a cult to worship Being X. However…
She did need to see what using the Type 95 here was like. It still had its curse – she could feel that – but if it was less powerful, she needed to know now. Learning in a somewhat controlled environment was far better than suddenly figuring it out on the battlefield.
Still, this plan was stupid, and not, as her accomplices thought, because she was sending Darkness into the air; she was sure she could catch her before she hit the ground, as long as her stats were buffed.
Speaking of which…
"Hey Darkness. Do you want me to enhance you?" she shouted. Darkness, peering down from the one-story-building sized boulder, looked curious.
"You can…? Well, what can you do?" she asked.
"Strength, Dexterity, Agility, and Pain-Reduction," she replied. Darkness looked affronted.
"You would- would deprive me of the pain of a Detonation spell and hundreds of insects? How cruel!" the Crusader moaned. Tanya sighed.
"Reinforcement spell: Strength!" she shouted, pointing towards Darkness. With that done, Tanya pushed her hat down onto her head.
A great heat wave hit all three, and they turned to look at the bonfire. It was beginning, then. Tanya sighed, and turned towards the foreman. "Remember when I start chanting, I want you to brace my shoulders. Use all of your strength."
Without hearing his response, she fed a mote of mana into the Circlet, giggling as she felt her pitiful mana reserves swell. Twirling her staff – using magic; she had no strength to speak of – she planted the bottom of the thing into the flagstones, cracking them.
The faint sound of buzzing reached Tanya's ears, and she nodded. A quick adjustment of her scepter pointed it towards Darkness.
"He- Hey Tanya? I'm not sure about thi-" was all Darkness could say before she was sent hurtling into the air. The foreman muttered nervously behind her, but Tanya didn't have time to notice. She began chanting a prayer, activating the full power of the Type 95.
"Oh Lord, please grant this weary traveler in a land far from home and full of nonbelievers a boon with which to rain destruction on the mindless beasts of this heretical land."
With that, the intricate screen of an Observation spell bloomed to life in front of her, tracking the stone's every movement.
She began laughing.
She had way too much mana. It actually hurt a bit, to have so much energy available.
That was fine, however; as long as she was using the blessed Type 95, nothing could stop her in this uncultured land.
"Uh… are you sure that you can hit something that high up?" the man asked, firm grip still attached to her back. The other adventurers had turned towards them.
Soon, the rock reached the peak of its arc through the air, coming to a stop, for a moment. As it did, swarms of insects – beetles, mantises, anything that could fly – swooped down from the clouds, attracted to the flying Crusader and her Decoy skill.
She grinned, pouring more and more mana into her staff. It was glowing brightly at this point, and bright flares of mana lashed out from the top of it.
She inhaled, and as the rock began to fall, shouted. "Artillery Shot!"
The flagstones the scepter was embedded in cracked, she and the foreman were sent flying backwards, a globe of pure light shot out of the scepter, and the crowd of adventurers gasped.
She readjusted herself, righting herself with Flight spells, and watched as the spell traveled.
In the lapse where she had been sent end over end, the spell had already traveled a hundred feet towards the stone. Every other adventurer, those who had been staring at them and those who hadn't, now watched it make its progress. By now, it seemed as if the sun had risen again.
She sighed appreciatively. It sure looked nice, but so much of her precious, holy mana wouldn't have been leaked if she had her gun already.
The spell pushed upwards, streaking towards the stone. A brilliant flash erupted as it detonated on impact.
Billowing heat erupted from the sphere, growing, growing, growing. Expanding until it encompassed the rock, the bugs, the clouds. All of it was blown away in the heat and light, delivered to her.
Then the smoke. What little had survived the explosion – the bugs on the other side of the rock she had detonated – was swallowed up in the fireball of smoke.
Then came the sound. An all-encompassing roar as air was displaced, followed by the shattering of anything made of glass.
She grinned. Now, it was on to kill the Demon King!
Tanya frowned. No, Tanya had to save Darkness and then deactivate the Type 95. That was the plan.
But that plan was so boring! It would be much better to fight and kill and hurt and-
She shook her head and took a deep breath. No, she wouldn't be controlled by this thing. She looked up again.
Tanya sighed as she watched the explosion fade. No one could top that. The man who'd braced her against the force of the spell gasped, horrified. "What did you just do!?"
Tanya turned to him. "I won our bet. I'll be taking my money now, thank you very much."
The man, terror and anger on his face, grabbed two sacks at his waist and thrust it into her hands. "Here. Two hundred thousand Eris. Now leave!"
Tanya tilted her head, curious. "It's not my fault you weren't prepared."
The man, face turning an interesting shade of red and purple, began to speak slowly. "I was prepared for a Detonation spell. I wasn't prepared for an Explosion spell! That was completely overkill, and it damaged the town! Who's going to pay for all that, huh?"
Tanya shrugged. "I don't know. I gotta go catch Darkness, so… see you around!" she shouted, whispering a Reinforcement spell under her breath. With that, she ran off. She wouldn't want to be seen flying after all.
Leaving behind a crowd of angry adventurers and townspeople, Tanya made her way into a darkened alleyway. A quick Observation spell told her she was alone.
Tanya activated an Optical Decoy spell, and then took off from the ground, searching for Darkness. She had probably been launched even higher up. Another Observation spell was activated, and Tanya stretched it to her limits.
There.
Something registered, and Tanya flew towards it, soon arriving at the almost entirely de-clothed Darkness. Tanya giggled a bit as she applied a few Flight spells to the woman slowing her descent. She would have taken a moment to admire her, but she was cartwheeling towards the ground.
Assured they were falling at the same rate, Tanya grabbed Darkness in a typical bridal carry, and sped off towards the guild.
Darkness came to, and looked around. Tanya tried to ignore her inquiring gaze, focused on getting to the Guild.
"…Tanya?"
Tanya winced, but remained silent. She was running on fumes, and the Circlet could only boost what was already present. She blinked.
She hadn't deactivated that?! She was still being influenced!
She took a calming breath. If she ran out of mana, they'd both end up as pancakes. She would have to let it happen, and take whatever mana high this thing bestowed upon her as well.
A minute of howling wind filled the silence of their nonexistent conversation, and then they landed near the guild. Tanya set Darkness down, and sighed in relief.
She quickly undid her mantle and passed it to the girl, and she quickly covered what was left of her clothing in the thing. Tanya sighed.
"Well, it seems everything turned out alright. Darkness…" Tanya trailed off, looking at the woman's face.
Blushing, heated, and panting, Darkness asked, "Can we do that again?"
Tanya blinked slowly as the effects of the Circlet drained away. "No."
The woman groaned in pleasure, and Tanya shook her head. "Here, take these," she said, handing the bags of money to the Crusader.
She tilted her head. "What do you want me to do with these?"
Tanya rolled her eyes. "Pay off my debts, obviously. There should be two hundred thousand in those, so I want fifty back," she turned towards the entrance to the alley, when Darkness's voice rang out.
"Why- why won't you do it?"
Without turned around, Tanya said, "I'm too weak. And you can do it right? After all…"
Tanya turned her head to Darkness, smiling. "We're friends, right?"
She knew the line was cheesy, but Darkness didn't seem to get the concept of friendship yet.
She had saved her life without needed to. She was under no orders to protect her, like the 203rd, and she could easily have left her if she wanted to.
With one last smile, Tanya activated a burst of a Reinforcement spell and sped home. Weaving through street after street, stall after stall, knowing full well that she would be out for a nice, long while after all this magic.
Until she didn't.
She stopped in front of one. The sign above the small table had the words 'Magical Items' written across it.
Bottles, orbs, and other miscellaneous objects sat on the table. A woman with red hair and skin as pale as the moon was slouched over, head resting on her hand as she stared hopefully at passing adventurers. Each one took a look at her merchandise, and then made a hasty retreat. It was… what was her name?
Wiz, that was it!
"Hey Wiz!" Tanya greeted, walking towards the woman's stand. Said woman looked entirely too sad.
She perked up. "Tanya?"
Tanya nodded and walked forward. "Sorry I haven't been able to come over. I've had things to do," she said.
Which was the truth. The past few days had been hectic, and she didn't have the money to spend anyway.
Tanya looked at the various products. "So… you make magic products, right? Tell me about some." She had an extra fifty thousand, after all. She might be able to buy some.
"Of- Of course!" she said, rising from the sitting position. Bottles were displayed, with odd effects.
"This one, when drunk, will boost the power of the Paralyze spell, increasing its area of effect!" she said, holding a brightly colored yellow bottle under my nose.
She flinched away before I could back up, but hope was still alive in her eyes. "Er… sorry. I can't use that spell…" Tanya trailed off.
The woman nodded. Perhaps because Tanya hadn't fled immediately, she tried to get her to buy anything.
Potions that she couldn't utilize because she was an Adventurer, oils that enhanced the power of attacks at the cost of the users own health, even items that helped with daily conveniences. Nothing interested Tanya; she could already do most of that on herself, or she wasn't too fussed about convenience.
The woman fell to the table, dejected. Tanya patted the woman. "Sorry I don't need anything, Wiz."
The woman's form shuddered. "It's fine. I suppose I'm used to it by now, anyway…" she trailed off, resting her forehead against the table.
Tanya looked at the table, for anything that hadn't been shown to her. A rack of potions, all colored red caught her eye. "What about those?" she asked.
The woman looked up. "Oh, those? They just explode on impact with something."
Explode?
They exploded?
On impact?
Tanya's eyes grew wide, and a smile on her face began to grow wider. "How much are they?" she asked stiffly.
The woman looked up. "Sorry?"
Tanya bent over the table, gripping the woman's arms. "I said: how much for those? I'll pay anything."
The woman, surprised by her intensity, began to speak. "Well, since it is the Eris Thanksgiving Festival, I bought a lot of them, since there aren't usually many people who can use Detonation or Blast. But because someone killed almost all of the insect monsters, no one's come to buy them. I'm actually going to go over there, since they think someone cast Explosion, and they want and expert's opinion," she babbled.
Tanya tried to keep her face blank.
It seemed she'd deprived the woman of quite a bit of her money. Well, she was going to be helping out now, right?
"How much?" Tanya repeated.
"Each potion only costs ten thousand Eris…"
Tanya winced, but she nodded anyway. This was it. This was what could substitute for gunpowder. "I don't have the money with me, but I will buy five of them tomorrow."
The woman's eyes grew big. "Tha- Thank you. Could you please let go of me? Your grip is painful…"
Tanya immediately let go, apologizing profusely. Then she began to laugh. It was probably the exhaustion, but she didn't care. "Thanks to you, I'll finally be able to recreate gunpowder! Thank you, Wiz!"
With that, she turned around, and sped off towards the stables. She needed to get to sleep so she could get her money from Darkness.
Her… friend.
She sighed. Pretending that everyone always worked for their own personal self-benefit only worked in economics. Logic wasn't the only foundation of the world or of most people, even if it was her preferred one.
Tanya had opened herself to emotion, and emotion had driven her to get revenge on Being X for reincarnating her the first time and killing the Viktoriya and the 203rd. What was a bit of friendship, compared to that?
-OxOxO-
Darkness, left in the dust of Tanya, began to walk out of the alleyway automatically. Her friend?
"I guess I'll go give these to Ashley, then…" she mused to herself, mind clearly dwelling on the battle-hardened girl winding through the streets of Axel.
Her friend?
Darkness smiled. That had been the whole point of becoming an adventurer.
Well, one of the points. Avoiding her father's pleading that she get married and getting to experience the brutality of monsters were others. But…
She sighed. Her father had spoiled her, after her mother's death. He hadn't wanted her to be upset, and had kept away anyone that could be considered a friend, leaving only the greedy sons of other nobles – possible suitors – to play with her.
Darkness panted at that thought. Filthy, corrupt, wife-beating nobles…
She shook her head. She was thinking about Tanya.
The leader of their duo. Someone who, despite their insistence to the contrary and oddities, must have been a noble. It wasn't even just the physical characteristics.
It was the haughtiness she displayed when confronted with certain things, like unpaved roads or people acting like they were better than her. She clearly expected to be respected, despite her insistence that she wasn't what she thought she was.
And her name. Not only was it pretty long, it had three names, like her own. No commoner would ever think of doing something like that.
Darkness pouted as she remembered her efforts to figure out her past. There wasn't a single 'Degurechaff' in the registry of nobles, and her father, when she'd asked, had never heard of someone with such a name.
Still. Her powers meant she had to be noble; all of the nobles, after all, were at least distantly related to someone who had defeated a Demon King in the past. Besides the Crimson Demons and Hero Candidates, only nobles had the kind of power she did.
She must have been some sort of rare Priest-noble as well; she could cast support magic, and she had learned Heal from that Eris cult priest. Tanya had an aptitude for it, which meant she must have been the daughter of a high-ranking noble, bred to be a king's loyal representatives to their church.
Her musings were interrupted, in a moment, by her realization that she'd made it to the Church. She glided inside, and soon found Ashley, head bowed in prayer, along with everyone else.
Darkness tapped her on the shoulder. She looked up, and Darkness handed her both bags. "There is two hundred thousand Eris. Please take what you're owed."
The woman nodded and rose from her seat, walking towards the area where only the priests and those they healed could enter, and not looking at her lack of good clothing. The accusing glares of other worshipers pierced her, and their unhappiness that she was only wearing Tanya's mantle and what little was left of her armor was palpable.
Her face blushing madly, Darkness sat in the seat Ashley had vacated only moments earlier and bowed her head to hide her blushing and panting and-
Then, after a moment, she was finished. She didn't exactly have a lot to do right now…
Well, she was already there with her head bowed in prayer. She might as well pray and thank Eris for her good fortune.
-OxOxO-
She sat in her chair, filling out yet more paperwork.
That made a total of three.
Three people, innocent and young, had been sent after that madwoman, had been reincarnated, with explicit instructions to attempt to kill a war veteran armed with relics that could match anything the Gods could make.
Three more people were killed, in addition to the hundreds they'd tried to throw at the Demon King.
Eris sighed. She prayed that Aqua would actually do her own paperwork, instead of shifting it to her, but she did as she was ordered regardless. She filled out the forms that stated that another Reincarnate had been killed.
Pretty soon, they'd need to send someone down there to seal them again.
A feeling overcame Eris, and she sat in her chair, blissful. Right, the Eris Thanksgiving Festival was taking place. Smiling happily, she let the feelings of thankfulness wash over her.
They really made the job worthwhile.
Suddenly, she realized she'd received a prayer from one of her Crusaders. Smiling warmly, she let the voice reach her ears.
"Oh Goddess Eris. Thank you. I've prayed, day after day, for a friend. I became an adventurer, and I met one eventually. It must be thanks to you!"
Eris nodded sadly. It was Lalatina, then?
The woman who'd become an adventurer in the hope of finding friends that weren't nobles trying to get at her father's status. Her smile faded a bit.
Eris's eyebrows creased as she went over the words again. She didn't remember arranging for her to meet someone...
She'd been planning to meet the girl herself, actually, whenever Aqua was told to seal the relics. The work would, of course, be pushed onto her, and she'd need to go down.
She continued to listen to the prayer. "She is bossy, exacting, and powerful. She has plenty of secrets… but then, so do I. And she understands my desires. So I thank you, Eris, giving me the chance to meet this girl."
Eris nodded worriedly at that, hoping for a name. What was this person's name? How had they so thoroughly entranced her-
A gasped broke free from her throat as she heard the dreadful, horrible sentence that followed. She ran it through her head, over and over, like a record. She shot to her feet, paperwork forgotten. No, not forgotten.
It was just insignificant in the face of this crisis. She'd ask to be able to go down and seal the relics, and help her Crusader as well. Aqua could survive for a while without her, right?
She began to search all of Heaven for the one The Atheist called Being X, a sentence cycling through her head.
"I thank you for letting me meet Tanya von Degurechaff."
-OxOxO-
Tanya yawned as she rose from the pile of hay in her stable, stretching languidly. Then she remembered what had happened last night, and shot out of bed.
"The Explosion Potions!"
Grinning madly, she dressed in record time. Today, she'd get that potion. If she put a bit of it into each cartridge…
She'd finally be able to have her gun, as long as she had enough points in her Smith skill. Bullets would rain down on the monsters, and she'd be set to continue towards getting that wish.
Of course, she needed to start patrolling Axel. Leaving the other reincarnates to their own devices was a mistake, as the second day of the festival had shown. So she'd stay in Axel for a bit, raising her level.
It wasn't like that was odd. There were some adventurers who had been in Axel for ten years, despite the fact that it took, at most, five to get to the point where you were expected to leave.
That Tanya was advancing so fast was extraordinary to Luna, but Tanya thought it was pretty par for the course. She had already been isekai'd once, after all. She had experience with rising through the ranks of the unremarkable to stand out to her superiors.
Happily, Tanya began her walk to the guild. She needed to get her money from Darkness, after all.
Whistling merrily, Tanya made her way through the city quickly. Lingering might open herself up to attack. Who knew how many Reincarnates were gunning for her?
She arrived at the Guild, only to be brought up short. The windows, usually shining brightly in the early morning light, were gone. She winced.
She'd done that, right?
Slowly, she made her way in. She gasped.
Two stereotypical European knights – proper ones, with plate armor, chain mail, and helmets – were consulting with Luna. Five more were positioned throughout the guild, asking other adventurers or staff questions.
Tanya gulped, and slowly turned around, trying to leave the guild.
"Halt!" Tanya heard. She ignored them, attempting to act as though she hadn't heard them.
One of them grabbed her shoulder, and Tanya fought the urge to spin around and try to attack the person. Trying to convey confusion and a bit of fear, she turned around. "How can I help you, mister?"
She asked her question in the highest pitched voice she could without it cracking. Even after years, she could still make it sound as innocent as back in Dacia. That she hadn't developed physically meant that she could abuse people's preconceptions.
The blue-clothed old man who'd stopped her seemed slightly moved by her performance, but he pushed on regardless. "I'm Gerrard, the current Head of Police in Axel. We're investigating the usage of an Explosion spell to destroy the insect swarm from last night's Eris Thanksgiving Festival."
He certainly looked like a policeman. Blue clothing with yellow highlights, a small cap adorned the man's head. A thin mustache sat above his lip, and a sheaf of papers was clasped in the hand he wasn't using to stop her. Behind him, two of the seven knights present stood there, menacingly.
The fact that he existed was odd, considering the fact that the concept of a police officer wasn't very old, especially in her last world. What were they doing in medieval times? Had some Reincarnate introduced the concept to the ruling class?
Dismissing the question, Tanya tilted her head and tried to appear innocent. "But mister Head of Police sir, I'm not an adventurer."
"Then what about your clothing?"
Tanya's eyes widened a fraction, before she looked down at them, quickly attempting to retain her innocent ploy.
"Oh, these? I didn't know they were adventuring clothes. They were in the back of mama's closet, in a box marked 'for sexual play.' There were a bunch of ropes in there, too. Could you tell me what that means, mister? 'Sexual?'" Tanya asked.
The man looked incredibly uncomfortable, and Tanya sighed in relief internally. As soon as she got out of there, she'd go to the Blacksmith's and lay low. Or maybe Wiz's shop? Regardless, the man's stammered apology was coming out, and Tanya was going to be set free.
The lack of weapon was probably helping her. She'd left it embedded in the street, and she'd need to get it as soon as-
"Hello Tanya!"
Oh no.
Darkness, unaware of her predicament, trotted up to her from a nearby table. "That explosion last night was one of the best feelings ever. Are you sure you can't do it again?" she said, a pleading look on her face.
The Head of the Police's face, by contrast, seemed to be vaguely interested. Tanya's face was undoubtedly strained.
"Oh, here you go, by the way," she said, handing over a bag of money. "This is what's left. Are we going to go adventuring today? I know you don't have all that much money for some reason, so I don't mind."
Darkness continued to talk mindlessly. As the man's face became more smug – with a hint of empathetic regret present – Tanya's face became more and more strained as she attempted to bite through her own jaw.
Finally, the accursed woman stopped talking, and she began to look between the policeman, his two guards, and Tanya. Maybe it had finally dawned on her what was going on.
"'Something you found in your mother's closet', huh?" the man asked. The two knights at his side motioned to the others in the guild. They brought with them the stares of most of the guild.
Tanya laughed nervously. "Well, you know…"
She trailed off, eyes cast down at the floor. While she tried to look as regretful as possible, she was already planning her escape. As soon as there wasn't a roof above her, she'd leave.
A quick stop at the Blacksmith's and Wiz's, where she'd get everything she'd made, and then she'd leave. There had to be nations all around the Kingdom of Belzerg. One of them should be willing to harbor her, right?
Surrounded by seven knights, the police chief held up the papers in his hand, reading to Tanya. "You are suspected for several counts of destruction of private property, destruction of public property, and the murder of two adventurers. You will come with us, and you will be subject to interrogation."
Tanya nodded solemnly. A noise to her left showed her Darkness, looking rather conflicted. Right, Tanya needed to rescue her. She might be imprisoned in her place, and abandoning her friend didn't sit well with Tanya.
The man pointed towards the doors. Tanya turned around, wondering how'd she save Darkness as well.
The woman in question jumped in front of the group of nine. "Stop! I won't let you take Tanya alone!" She declared.
Tanya's eyes widened. Wow, she hadn't really expected that from-
"You'll have to take me too. And once you have me completely at your mercy, you'll abuse your power as the Head of the Police to ravish me, right? You'll be forced to use dirty tactics in order to get me to comply with your orders and as all of the knights hold me down, you'll take out your anger at me. Right?" she asked, lust shining in her pale blue eyes.
Tanya swiftly retracted her compliments.
The Head of the Police looked rather uncomfortable. "No. If you wish to accompany your friend, you are free to do so."
Two knights moved aside, and Darkness was in the circle with Tanya, blushing madly. Tanya let the pity she felt for the woman fade and grinned to herself. Now, she'd be able to make an escape, and they'd be able to survive.
"That was stupid," Tanya commented. Darkness moaned weakly, and Tanya sighed dejectedly.
"I know," the woman said. A flash of confusion twisted Tanya's face. She knew?
"But I have a plan."
"You do?" Tanya asked nervously. Not that Tanya doubted her own plan; she had knowledge of the future and a job that favored survival over power or efficiency. She was fairly sure that she could outwit a bunch of medieval bumpkins.
But if Darkness had an idea that didn't involve fleeing to another country, Tanya wasn't exactly against it.
Darkness nodded. "I have a bit of understanding of the laws, so I think I can save you without resorting to… that," she muttered.
Tanya whistled appreciatively. Access to those laws was probably restricted, so that she'd been able to get to them spoke of the woman's resourcefulness. Whatever 'that' was supposed to be, she didn't know, but this might actually not be as bad as she had thought.
Tanya knew she should stop doubting the woman. It was just that her kink was quite distracting from her good qualities.
"Alright. I'll go with your plan instead of mine."
Darkness nodded, and they began to walk along the streets of Axel. People were made to move out of their way, and they arrived in the more affluent portion of Axel.
City houses larger than the entire guild lined the road in this part of town. Tanya had never taken the time to visit, considering how busy she was.
The windows here weren't even broken. Tanya asked Darkness about that.
"Oh, the manors and their wealthy owners always get preference. Since the guild has already paid for the trouble you caused, new windows have been installed everywhere in this area of the city."
The furious scribbling of the police chief told Tanya to elbow Darkness in the stomach. She didn't even flinch. "Is that how weak you are without buffs?"
Tanya looked down at the ground, muttering. She knew it didn't help her situation, but if made her feel just a little bit better. "Stupid fantasy world. Stupid video game terms. Stupid, stupid, illogical world!"
Darkness, wisely, distanced herself from Tanya. Soon enough, after braving the harsh stares of passersby and others, they arrived at the police station. Just as they entered, Darkness uttered something that would have made Tanya stop in her tracks, if it weren't for the knights surrounding them.
"Don't worry, Tanya. As long as they use the magical item that can see through lies, we'll be fine. They'll soon realize this was all a big misunderstanding."
The knights behind her quickly ushered her into the two-story brick building, pushing her back. Tanya walked along, mind on Darkness's words.
A truth-detecting device? That didn't sound good…
Trying desperately not to panic, they were soon ushered into a small room. Two tables were present. One was occupied by a blond haired man, who, judging by the papers arrayed in front of him, was probably some sort of scribe. The other had no occupants.
Tanya walked in, but turned around when a shout echoed behind them. "Hey, wait! I'm trying to support-"
The Head of the Police continued to cross his arms as the knights grabbed Darkness. Her face was red, but she did seem actually upset. "No means no," the police chief said.
"We'll interrogate you later. Please wait in one of the cells," he said. Tanya's eyes widened.
There went her legal support.
The door slammed shut, and the Head of the Police sat down in a chair. Motioning towards the other one, Tanya took that as her cue to sit.
Well, she could still break out if anything went wrong. It would be harder, with the building around her, but an Explosive Vaporization or two would help negate that problem.
The man set something down on the table. "Do you know what this is?" he asked.
Tanya gave it a glance. It looked like some sort of bell, with two halves. The left was light and had a simplified bird's wing on it, while the other was dark purple and had a bat's wing on it.
Clearly some sort of evil vs. good motif. Tanya raised an eyebrow, and the man sighed. "I'll take that as a no, then. It's a magical device that ensure you're telling us the truth."
Tanya didn't answer. It would be very, very important that she did not lie and that she did not tell the truth. Well, as far as the number of people she'd killed.
Because she had killed a few hundred at least, and telling someone that was likely to get her imprisoned for a very long time, or for as long as they could hold her.
"For the record, we need to know a bit about you. Bureaucracy, right?" he said, attempting to tell a joke. Tanya stayed quiet. He was probably going to try some sort of good-cop bad-cop thing.
Why else would you be nice to someone who had shown the capability to shatter the glass of nearly every building in town?
The man sighed at her lack of laughter. "Alright then. Where are you from, and what did you do before you became an adventurer?"
Tanya licked her lips. Tough questions meant that she'd try to give vague answers.
"I am from the Empire. I worked for the military."
The mustached man in front of her blinked rapidly, then glanced at the bell on the table. It made no noise.
He squinted at it. "I am a woman," he declared.
The thing made a light chime, and he looked back at her. "To recruit a twelve-year-old…" he wondered.
"I am physically sixteen."
The scribbling of the scribe behind her stopped, and both men, again, looked at the bell. "I work for the Demon King," the police chief said. It chimed again.
Silence reigned, and then the chief cleared his throat. "Moving- Moving on. I haven't ever heard of a place called 'Empire' before…"
Tanya said nothing. She wasn't answering anything that might implicate her. Seemingly put off by her previous answer and her unwillingness to let her lips flap, he cleared his throat.
"So, what were you motives for becoming an adventurer?"
Tanya answered immediately. "I want to kill the Demon King."
Ding.
The policeman stared at her, eyes wide, and Tanya smiled nervously. How to word it…
"I want to personally take revenge for a crime done to me, and combating the Demon King is part of that," she answered, smiled strained.
The bell failed to go off, and the scribe behind her continued to write.
The police chief looked suspicious, and Tanya didn't blame him. She had gotten caught in her lie.
"Alright, then. Now, to recap your crimes. The thousands of counts of destruction of private property, including the windows of every building in town as well as the counts of the destruction of public property, mostly in the park, were paid for by the guild, as per usual. You'll have to take up your debts and their payment with them."
Tanya nodded eagerly, internally grateful that she was only being prosecuted for one crime.
"…However, you did murder two fellow adventurers. The only reason you're not being executed for disturbing the peace is that various members of the guild swear that you are competent and powerful, and with the way the war is going, we need people like you," he explained.
Tanya swore she'd treat every person in that place to the best booze she could find, even if she got put into more debt.
The silence stretched on, and Tanya took the time to answer. If she worded things correctly, she might be able to avoid jail-time.
"It was self-defense," she offered. The bell didn't ring.
"Irrelevant. You still killed two people who could have been assets to the Kingdom by fighting monsters and the Demon King."
Tanya's mouth puckered. Then, the man's words sparked an idea.
"What if they became Adventurers under false pretenses? What if they never intended to kill the Demon King?" she asked him.
The man peered at her speculatively. "Go on," he said. Tanya began to talk.
"I know for a fact that the two of them were hired to kill me, and that they were planning on collecting the reward as soon as I was dead," she declared, standing from her seat.
She also knew they might try and kill the Demon King, but what she had said was the truth.
He glanced at the soundless bell and scowled. "If they were hired to kill you, then…"
He stood and bowed at the waist. "I apologize for assuming you would do something to harm the Kingdom. You will be released promptly."
Tanya smirked. It seemed she would get out of this without being implicated in scandal. "Well, it's only right. With this thing, you know I'm not lying."
The man nodded. "Just a few more questions."
"You haven't talked to any members of the Demon King's army, and you haven't committed any other crimes, right?"
Tanya rolled her eyes. "How would I have? This is the town of beginning adventurers. And even if I have, it would be because they're a spy or something."
The police chief nodded absently. "And the other question?" he asked, seemingly regretting the whole thing.
"No, I haven't committed any other-"
Ding.
The police chief stared at her with renewed interest, while Tanya was trying to come up with what else she'd done.
Her first life?
No, nothing would be considered a crime from there. What about her second?
Oh right. She'd killed several hundred people. But she'd been a soldier! That had to mean it was a part of her job instead of a crime. Right?
Of course… there were the borderline war crimes. Like bombing the capital of a nation while giving them the impression that a kid was pranking them. Or the bombing of a bunch of civilians that were considered 'enemy soldiers' since they hadn't followed orders to evacuate. Or her attack on the enemy capital, where she had personally destroyed several of their most important cultural landmarks and sang her country's anthem above the destroyed city.
And there was always what had happened during the next few years of war against the Russy Federation…
The police chief was still staring at her. Tanya needed to come up with something.
Wait. What about this life?
Tanya breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Right. On my first day in Axel, a thief attempted to kidnap me. I might have also killed him…"
The police chief nodded. "How long ago was that?"
"About a month."
He nodded, fears apparently abated. "Well, then. Since he tried to kidnap you, I suppose you're fine. You're free to go. Take your weird friend with you, please."
Tanya nodded, and rose quickly. She needed to leave before she got asked anymore uncomfortable questions.
As she left the small room, she heard another question. "Just how many people have you killed?"
Tanya froze, for a moment. The scribe's pen had stopped. Tanya began to sweat, but she kept her mouth firmly shut.
The man's chair made sound as it was moved, and Tanya assumed he was staring at the back of her head.
How many had she killed?
She wasn't even sure, but she knew it was in the hundreds. Maybe even over a thousand.
She hadn't had the bravery to look at that section of her Adventurer's Card yet. She didn't want to acknowledge how much damage she'd personally caused. It was a massive, utter waste, and she didn't want to know.
There was one thing she knew, thought. She had killed a great many people more than three.
Just then, the door burst open. Two knights rushed in and, brushing passed her easily, began to furiously whisper to the Head of the Police. The man's eyes grew to the size of saucers.
"You mean-!" he began to shout. One of the knights cut him off with a rapid shake of the head. The police chief turned to her, fear evident.
"We- We apologize for doubting the veracity of your words, Tanya von Degurechaff. Please excuse our insolence!" he shouted, bowing deeply at the waist. The other two knights followed suit.
Tanya, confused about the situation, replied uneasily. "Alright…"
They stayed there, bent at the waist. For a minute, everyone stood stock still. "Well!" Tanya said, louder than necessary, "I think I'll just find my way out then."
No one said anything, and Tanya walked out.
Creepy.
A thought struck her. The creepy Shapeshifting guy and his accomplice. What had been done about them?
Tanya turned around, and the three men stiffened. "Hey, what did you guys do about the two adventurers who tried to kill me?"
One of the knights spoke, still bent at the waist. "We sent the bodies to the pauper's cemetery. Their belongings are currently being kept as evidence, along with- with your weapon, ma'am."
Tanya felt weird. Only the members of the 203rd, during those first few months, and a few of the more brown-nosing foot soldiers had acted this scared of her.
"Well… can you take me to them?"
The subtle shaking of the Head of the Police was hardly noticeable, but the clanking armor of the knights was much harder to miss. What were they so scared of?
The police chief stood up straight. "I will-" he started to say, voice high pitched and cracking like a tween. He cleared his throat hastily. "I will escort you, Miss Degurechaff."
Tanya nodded hesitantly, and followed the man out of the room. The scribe cast an inquiring look at the knights, who began to explain.
Before she could see his expression, the Head of the Police was out the door. Tanya followed the man's fast pace, and they eventually arrived at a room. Behind the heavy iron door, a room full of equipment lied.
Tanya whistled appreciatively and began to walk towards a box. She found the lance of that Hideyo guy. It looked just as gaudy as last time. "Can I take this?" she asked speculatively.
"Of- of course, ma'am!" the man shouted from the entrance to the room. Tanya tried to ignore the man's nervousness, and soon found her own scepter.
Or what was left of it, at least. The top of it, claws and jewel, had been completely changed. The gem was gone, actually, while the claws were all twisted. Tanya uttered a tsk-tsk as she stared at it. That was why using guns and bullets was so much better.
It was very hard to warp something that was completely symmetrical and didn't have the ability to store lots of mana. That sort of thing tended to overheat, leading to the mangled mess before her.
Well, it seemed pretty useless, but she'd take it anyway. She needed to remove and fix the Seitengewehr at least. She'd probably trash the rest, or something.
She thanked the man, and he led her to the entrance. Soon they arrived at the entrance. He still seemed terrified.
She hated it. Fear didn't really help in the long run, and if someone saw that the chief of police was scared of her, that would undoubtedly reflect badly on her.
"How about we reintroduce ourselves?"
The man blinked. "Huh…?"
He'd thought he'd done everything correctly. He hadn't spoken up, he hadn't looked her in the eyes. If she was even remotely connected to the Dustiness family, then she had a massive amount of power. Compared to him, she was miles above his station.
He wasn't even related to a noble family. His hair was graying, but wisps of hair on the top of his head were a plain, ignoble brown. His eyes were small and orange, nothing even close to the vivid blue that all nobility possessed.
He'd risen as high as was technically possible for a commoner, and it seemed that he was dealing with forces that could have him killed on a whim.
Tanya rolled her eyes. She sighed. "I said, let's reintroduce ourselves. You're obviously scared for some reason, so I want to assure you that I'm not upset about being arrested."
He nearly let out a cry of relief, but he managed to stifle it. He held out his right arm. "Gerrard. As you know, I'm the Head of Axel's police force."
Tanya smiled. "That's better. Tanya von Degurechaff. Adventurer with the weakest job and rising star. I'll see you later!"
She waved goodbye, and the man bowed his head again, thankful to not be headed for the chopping block.
Tanya shook her head as she walked away. What had been done to ensure she was set free and treated so respectfully? Had it been Darkness?
Sighing, Tanya made her way out. Soon enough, she found herself outside. Bathed in the bright light of midday, Tanya lamented for the lost time, and looked around for Darkness.
An hour passed, and Tanya couldn't find her. She'd searched the entire building, the small wooded area that surrounded the building, and even a few of the streets nearby.
Nothing.
Tanya had shaken her head. Well, she wasn't the woman's minder. She had things to do, Tanya was sure, so she made her way to her first stop: the general store.
-OxOxO-
Tanya smirked happily as she left the store. The old man in there could drive a hard bargain, but truthfully, Tanya didn't care. She'd gotten that lance thing as a bonus to staying alive.
Happily pocketing an additional hundred thousand Eris, Tanya sighed. She knew she wouldn't be keeping it for long. She did, after all, need to pay for all the damages to the city.
But she would still buy those potions while she could.
Focusing on her task, she began to walk back into the city, weaving between streets and alleys, searching for the store where Wiz had said it would be, that week ago.
Soon, she arrived. It looked pretty small, for the quality of products that were inside.
Of course, Tanya thought to herself, this was the city of beginning adventurers. They didn't have the money to spend on expensive products. The bell above the door rang as Tanya strode in.
The woman behind the counter perked up, before a wide, warm smile split her face. "Tanya! You're actually here!"
Tanya nodded. "I said I would be. Now, show me those potions!"
Happily, the owner showed off her a rack of potions. Wiz pointed to one. "This is the one that explodes on impact with something."
Tanya nodded. "And I can take it out of the bottle, right?" The woman nodded, and Tanya picked up the bottle gingerly. "How many more do you have?"
"I have the five you said you would buy."
Tanya smirked triumphantly. "Good. If you ever have any more of them, I'll try and buy them. I'm going to need a lot of this stuff."
Wiz handed a rack of five potions to Tanya, and Tanya held them with both hands, hoping they wouldn't combust because she took a wrong step.
"Hey Wiz. I have a list of other things I might need. Do you know where I might be able to get them?" she asked, setting the rack down gingerly and, after rifling through her bag, handed a list to the woman.
"…well, I'm not entirely sure what you need most of this for, but a lot of this stuff is pretty specific. Copper, zinc, lead…" she trailed off. Tanya sighed hopelessly. It seemed she might have to melt down any jewelry she could get her hands on.
Then an idea came to Tanya. Jewelry was made of gold or silver, which had monetary value. What else had monetary value?
Eris. Were there copper Eris?
"Hey Wiz. What are Eris made of?"
The woman brightened. "A single Eris is made of… copper!"
Tanya nodded and then moved on. "Would the general store manager know where to get this kind of stuff?"
The woman nodded. "If anyone did, it would probably be him. He's got tons of stuff in that store of his."
Tanya nodded and turned to leave. "Thank you very much, Wiz!"
With that, Tanya left the small store, heading back to the general store. If he didn't have what she needed, she'd ask the blacksmith.
-OxOxO-
"You again? Why do you always come to slack off here!" shouted the balding old man.
Dust simply sniffed indignantly. No one used the geezer's store, anyway. Why should he care about Dust being there?
Just as Dust was about to say that, the bell above the door rang. Both turned to it, and the man shouted in surprise.
"Back again so soon, Miss?" he greeted. Dust simply stared at the little girl with a rack of potions clutched between her two hands. What was she doing here?
"Hello again. I'm looking for a number of products, and I was wondering if you had access to any of them," she said, handing over a piece of paper.
He nodded hurriedly. "Well, I don't know about the lead, but we have plenty of copper and Brass jewelry, though I don't know why you'd want that when we have much better stuff…"
He trailed off, and the commanding girl just stared at him. Sighing, he walked into his back room.
Dust watched, interested. What did that blonde loli want with a bunch of half-rate jewelry?
The man walked out from his back room – which Dust knew was poorly organized from the time the man had been absent and he'd decided to take a look around, along with collecting a number of small items – and showcased a case of gleaming jewelry. Necklaces, earnings, and armbands were there, and the woman above them was smirking.
Tanya looked at them as the man walked back into the storeroom – likely looking for the Brass. "You are sure these are pure copper? If they aren't pure, I will find out."
"Yes, yes, they're all assured to be pure," he said, showcasing a much larger case full of brass jewelry. The girl's gaze intensified.
"And the other things?"
He shook his head. "I don't have any of this stuff. If it's a type of soil, then you could try and take to some of the farmers or the botany group, I suppose."
Tanya nodded, and then pointed to the case of jewelry and asked, "How much for them?"
"Well… since no one usually buys this stuff, I suppose I could give all of this to you for… seventy thousand Eris?" he suggested.
The woman's mouth dropped open, and she glared at the man. Grumbling, she took out her bag. "See if I ever sell my weapons to you again…"
An idea came to Dust. If helped out the girl, she'd feel pretty indebted to him. Maybe she could help him out of his debts?
Usually, he would have wanted to be able to harass any girl he saw, but she was much too flat for him.
Dust stood from the rickety table he was at, and marched up to the store owner. "Hey, I don't think it's very nice of you to try and scam the girl. Why don't you tell her how much it should actually cost?"
The man looked at the ground, and Dust smirked. "Dust, I have no idea what you're-" he began.
Dust cut him off. "Don't play coy with me. I know of good quality jewelry that costs less than that." The girl behind her glared at the owner.
"Hey, is that true? To think, I've been selling you good quality weapons, and you'd try and scam me?" she said, interrogating him. The man smiled weakly at her, and shot a murderous look at Dust.
"Really, miss, I don't know what you're talking about."
Tanya looked speculatively at Dust. "You said something about cheaper stuff, right Dust? Why don't you show me where?"
He nodded, and as they both turned their backs, the shop owner cried out. "Please! I'm sure I can lower the price a bit. How does fifty thousand sound?"
Tanya spun around again, smirking evilly. "For the weapons I've sold to you, I think you'll sell them for forty, right?"
The man nodded helplessly, and Tanya grabbed the case of jewelry, balancing her rack of potions on top of it. "Thank you!" she shouted as she left.
The man stared glumly at the bag of Eris the girl had left her with. Dust wisely took the time to leave – the man would definitely direct any lingering anger at him.
He soon found himself outside, looking for that flat-chested adventurer. He soon found her – she wasn't moving very far, considering that she was trying to balance what she had with her.
"Here, I'll help you," he said, pilfering the rack of potions from the top. The girl gave him a skeptical look, but accepted his help.
She then stuffed the case of jewelry under her arm, as if she were just carrying a pillow. "Uh…"
She scoffed. "Reinforcement spells. Come on," she said, walking quickly. Dust caught up to her.
"So what's in these potions?" he asked. The girl leveled a glare at him.
"What do you want, Dust?"
Dust gasped, as if shocked. "Tanya, I'm affronted that you would think I couldn't act peaceably. Just because I'm making idle conversation doesn't mean-"
"Dust," she said, cutting him off. He shut his mouth quickly. She must not have been in the mood, then…
The silence reigned for a moment, before Dust began to talk again. "Really, you didn't even thank me for the help I've provided…"
The woman pinched her nose. "Fine, I'll pay you five thousand for helping me out. Just don't drop those."
Dust shut his mouth, satisfied. Five thousand wasn't much, but he could definitely pay off a debt or two with that. He continued along, whistling happily to himself.
"Oh, and if you do drop those, I'm not paying for the hospital bills you'll rack up due to being exploded."
Dust stopped in his tracks, casting a wary glance down at the rack of potions. He hurried to catch up with the girl. "These explode?"
She nodded. Dust remained quiet. What in the name of Eris did that girl need explosives for? The Eris festival had finished yesterday, so using them during that was out.
Just as he was pondering the subject, the woman stopped in front of the Blacksmith's shop. Dust hastily caught himself, managing not to trip. "Alright, we're here."
She dropped the jewelry on the ground unceremoniously, before she picked out two bags from her waist. "There's your money."
With that, she yanked the potions out of his hands. He tilted his head, before shrugging. If she was having trouble, it wasn't his problem.
Just as he turned to go, he heard her speak up. "Hey Dust. You're in debt a lot. Have any advice?"
He peered at her. How had the noble-in-disguise gotten debt? Wouldn't her parents just pay for it?
"Well…" he started, scratching at his chin, "It's always best to get your debts with the guild and debt collectors cleared first. Borrow from friends and acquaintances first, and then from businesses you frequent. They're much less likely to charge you interest."
Tanya nodded, honestly surprised. "I didn't know you were so knowledgeable, Dust."
He grinned victoriously, strolling up to her. "Well, it's only expected. A few more tips. The police station is much better than being out on the streets, and I can say this with certainty," he boasted, planting a hand on her shoulder.
Dust froze.
A glimmer of killing intent rolled off the girl, and he wisely retracted his hand.
"You are quite pathetic to boast about such things," she spat out bluntly.
With that, she took her case of jewelry and retreated into the building. Dust was thinking furiously, and he made a decision to never get on her bad side.
To be able to not only level that intent at people, but to control it to such an extent….
What had the noble-in-disguise done to be able to do that?
-OxOxO-
Tanya sighed pathetically. She knew it wasn't wise to put this off, but she had finally figured out everything she would need to make her gun. She would get everything she needed for that first.
A quick trip to the botanist – who helped to upkeep the town's parks, the small decorative plants that she'd seen in the guild, and anything agricultural that happened in the city – and she'd found exactly what she was looking for.
Something that retained liquid.
Sure, she could use some sort of cloth, but that wouldn't hold as much as she was sure this would. Tanya had bought a few bags of the soil then and there, and she went on her way.
Now, she had everything. Well, except for the lead, but the blacksmith said he had some. Now, she was almost there. Just a week or two.
Of course, Tanya mused as she looked at the Guild whose windows shone once more, that would come after her punishment.
She'd broken a large number of windows inside the city. The police had gotten thousands of damage reports. She had also, in the magically-induced high she'd been on from activating both relics at once, torn up a portion of the park. The botanist had actually thanked her for that, once she'd seen the scepter on Tanya's back.
Taking a deep breath, Tanya walked inside. No one noticed immediately, but Tanya didn't care if they did.
She'd be lambasted by Luna soon enough. She'd cost the Guild enormously, after all. Why wouldn't she be?
She walked over to the front desk. Luna did a double take as she took in her appearance and then realized who was standing in front of her. Her smile became fixed in place.
"Is there something the Guild can do to help you today?"
Tanya lowered her head a fraction of an inch, before shaking off the embarrassment. She face her punishment head on. "I'm here to inquire about the price of the damages I caused…"
Luna's fixed smile took on a hint of confusion as the corners dropped slightly. "You… You want to know?"
Tanya nodded. Luna, apparently shocked, shook her head. "No, it couldn't be…"
She cleared her throat and readjusted her hair. "For damaging every piece of property in Axel, the Guild has had to pay extensive fees for repairing the damage, as well as money to compensate the people who lost sleep."
Tanya groaned into her hands, but motioned for the woman to continue. "The Guild, as is usual with adventurers, paid for most of it. However, the difficulty in making so much glass at once means you'll need to help pay for the fees, as well as do community service time."
Tanya continued to nod dejectedly. This was going to be expensive. Luna looked at her, an eyebrow raised. Her smile suggested she expected something from her.
"Alright." Tanya threw the last of her money on the counter. "Here's fifty thousand Eris. How much more do I owe?"
Luna blinked, and Tanya grew confused. That was what she expected, right?
"You'll actually pay?" she said, half-shouting and half-jubilant. Tanya responded. "Well, duh. It isn't like I can't."
The woman began to stutter out a response. "Act- Actually, adventurers skip their community service time often, since they just argue that they're needed to defend the town. None of the staff are really fighters, so the most we can do is restrict their quests."
Tanya scoffed. "That's stupid. We're like a business, right? If there's constantly rivalry between the different parts because we can't work together, you'd just replace us with people who can do the work better."
Luna shook her head. "There isn't anyone else, actually. The Demon King's invasion means that anyone that could be vaguely considered a mercenary was hired to help fight in the first years of the war. They're all gone."
Tanya shrugged. She wanted to be sure her reputation continued to grow, and if this guild told other guilds that she wouldn't pay her dues, she was sure to get worse treatment.
Besides, that wasn't all of her money. She'd kept five thousand Eris, most of it copper, in order to melt it down to use in her weapon.
Luna took the bag of money hesitantly, as if she couldn't believe it was actually there. "Well, since you helped pay that much… if you take on three months of community service, we'll only make you pay four hundred thousand Eris."
She groaned. She knew that that idea had been a bad one, that using them both at once would be a horrible, no good idea, but had she listened to her rationality?
NO! She'd decided to pay back Darkness. Well, she had news for her whenever she got back, as long as she didn't ditch Tanya for being a pauper.
Tanya sighed and focused back on her situation. She was trying not to think about that number, and even then, she was nervous. What did 'community service' entail? She was sure it would be worse than simply cleaning the parks of litter.
Luna ducked behind the counter, and brought up a piece of paper. "This is a list of things you can do. In addition, you have to complete three quests a week, for free." Tanya didn't respond. The list was absolutely massive.
It seemed community service amounted to 'slavery', since she had to work for free for anyone at any time they needed help.
On the other hand, as soon as she completed her gun, she'd be able to clear many, many quests.
Tanya nodded solemnly. "Alright. Three months of community service and four hundred thousand Eris. But," she exclaimed, staring into Luna's eyes, "if this list has anything weird on it, I'm not doing it, and I'm maiming whoever dared to ask. Alright?"
Luna nodded happily. It seemed she really appreciated getting that money. With that done, Tanya thought she'd ask about Darkness.
"Oh, the Crusader?" Luna said. "Yes, she and a Thief went on a quest earlier today. They still aren't back, so I suppose they're still gone."
Tanya nodded, and began to search the guild. She needed to learn a bit of magic for the next step of making her gun.
If Darkness had made another friend, all the better.
Tanya was going to be dead weight for a long while, and she wasn't really feeling all that interested in looking at her.
-OxOxO-
A/N 1: Well, here we are! Tanya's been saddled with Dust-levels of debt. What will she be forced to do to get out of it?
Well, she's a smart person, so she'll figure out pretty quickly how to avoid the worst of it.
On that note, I think I'll leave you with another question: is Kazuma best paired with Megumin or Darkness? I prefer Kazumin, personally, but how about all of you?