Darkness gleefully skipped. Yes, she skipped.
She hadn't skipped in a long time, but she hadn't had reason to. Her father's insistence on her getting a husband that was the antithesis of everything she wanted in a man had dampened her happiness for a long time.
But now…
She had actually killed something!
She hadn't just sat there and been Tanya's shield, absorbing insults about her lack of ability and attacks in equal measure. She'd actually killed something.
"Chris, can you believe it? I actually killed monsters. It's my duty as a Crusader of the Eris Cult, and I was actually able to do it!" she exclaimed, beaming at the Thief.
Said silver-haired thief was smiling along with her. She didn't say anything about how she had needed to immobilize them in order for her to do it. She was just complimentary of her ability to do what she did.
It was a bit different from Tanya, sure – Chris had made sure Darkness hadn't gotten hurt, and had refused to insult or look down on her for her choices – but it wasn't horrible.
It wasn't nearly as pleasurable in that regard, but earning experience on her own was a reward in itself.
"Do you want to go on an adventure tomorrow?" she asked. That gave Darkness pause, but then she started walking again.
"Sure! Tomorrow, we'll go with Tanya. I'm sure she's been released, since I told the knights about my parentage…" she said, murmuring the last part to herself. She'd told the knights her identity and shown them the necklace she'd worn around her neck since the age of five, and they'd let her go and gone to get Tanya. The other five knights had escorted Darkness out.
As she stood outside the prison, the worried expression on her face had faded as she talked to the silver-haired Thief. She had even offered to go on an adventure with her to take her mind off of her friend.
And she'd actually killed something!
Darkness looked around herself, and turned around the see that Chris had fallen behind. Darkness waited for the Thief to catch up. She did that sometimes.
Darkness continued to think about tomorrow. With Chris allowing her to kill things, and Tanya's insults, pitying looks, and baffled anger, tomorrow would be even better.
They both wandered into the guild. A quick stop at the receptionist's desk and they sat down in the eatery.
Darkness sighed. "I just hope Tanya is okay…" she trailed off.
Chris waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, don't worry. You don't need to think about her too much, right?" Darkness nodded her head.
Tanya was resourceful. She would be fine.
"May I take your order?" came a quiet voice from behind her. Oblivious to the incredulous face of the Thief, Darkness turned around.
She gasped.
It was Tanya. Wearing the clothing of one of the guild staff. Her shoulders were barred to the air, and her hair, usually allowed to hang about her face, was pulled into a very short ponytail.
"Tanya?"
Face red, the girl nodded slowly. "Please, miss. I have to take your orders," she muttered. A quick flick of her eyes towards the bar, and Darkness followed her gaze to the people sitting there.
A group of women, all wearing costumes similar to Tanya's, were giggling while looking and pointing in her direction. "Why are you… did the Blacksmith fire you?" she asked.
Tanya shook her head slowly. "Community service."
Darkness nodded slowly. A harsh penalty.
"By the way, do you have four hundred thousand Eris? Unless you'll also charge me interest," she stated, head still bowed. Darkness, however, had stopped paying attention.
She stood rapidly. "Tanya, I can't let this travesty go on! You must be released from this punishment, at once. Unfortunately, someone still needs to do the service. I will take your place!"
With that breathless sentence, she ran up to the counter, face bright red. Tanya watched, hoping that she'd pull it off.
She'd at least enjoy being harassed and stared at by everyone.
She looked at the other occupant of the table. "And you are?"
The woman smiled. It didn't seem to be a particularly happy smile, but at least it wasn't the lecherous grin that a number of other adventurers had leveled at her and regretted.
Luna might not have been able to tame adventurers due to a lack of power, but Tanya had no qualms about cracking a few skulls. Especially when she looked like she did and they looked at he like he had.
"I'm Chris. I helped Darkness out on an adventure today," she said. Tanya shook her hand. This silver-haired woman seemed normal, at least.
"Nice to meet you. Do you want anything?" Tanya asked. The woman nodded stiffly, and belted out an order. Tanya quickly wrote it down. "What kind of job do you have?" she asked.
The woman replied, "Thief. Most of the skills are based on your Luck stat, which means that the people who can become Thieves are very lucky to do so!"
Tanya nodded, and looked over to Darkness. She was talking to Luna, and her body was no longer heaving. She'd probably been let down, then.
"Alright, then. Your order will be served soon." Tanya walked towards Darkness, unaware of the suppressed laughter of the person behind her.
"…Alright, here you go, then," said Darkness, as she handed over a bag of money to Luna. She accepted it gladly, and Darkness walked over to Tanya.
"I paid your debts," she said simply. Tanya's mouth was slightly agape. Why did she just have that much cash on her?
"Thank you, Darkness," she muttered. Darkness gave Tanya her order, and walked back over to her table, without another word.
Tanya sighed. That was one problem gone. Hopefully, the next three months of having to do whatever anyone wanted would pass quickly.
Maybe she could even supply extra money to Luna to have it waived?
Regardless, she could just avoid having to do the work by hiding out in the Blacksmith's shop, working on her weapon. It wasn't like people were annoying enough to interrupt her work, right?
-OxOxO-
"Wind Breath!"
Hand outstretched towards the fire, Tanya chanted this again. She'd learned this bit of magic for this moment.
Fresh air flew into the forge, heating it to yet greater heights. Tanya continued to pour mana into the spell, watching as the lead melted. Soon, it became liquid, glowing in the container the blacksmith didn't know she was using.
Hastily cutting off the flow of mana, she picked up a pair of tongs and lifted the container. Careful not to drop any, she began to pour it into the molds she'd made.
Making bullets and cartridges one at a time would be tiresome, so she had made many more molds. After this, the final phase could begin.
She glanced towards the tarp in the corner. The gun had been mostly done since yesterday, when she had found the time to finish it after her last free quest for the week. The spell she'd learned had helped with clearing the sawdust that had accumulated after hours of making a stock for the gun.
She glanced back at the mold. It was filled.
She moved on, moving down the line and filling each I turn. With the extra Skill Points she'd gotten from the insects, she'd gotten Wind Breath and improved her Smith skill. She was sure she could finish.
Pounding and bending metals – some of it unheated, since she could exert the needed pressure to change them using her Reinforcement spells – had taken longer than she'd wanted, but the Blacksmith was gone, apparently.
He'd said something about travelling to the capital, and Tanya had wished him luck. His absence was all the better for her – with all the time she'd spent in here, she was sure he would have gotten annoyed at not being able to use the forge himself.
Molds filled, Tanya set the container down, waiting for the metal to cool and casting nervous glances towards the front.
The sign might have said the store was closed, but one look at the billowing chimney would show that someone was there. And it wasn't like she had many places she populated.
The last four and a half days had been… demeaning. Everywhere she went, it seemed everyone knew she was doing community service, so people could request that she do things like work for them for free.
She was in high demand, for some reason, and people seemed to take pride in seeing her powerless.
Tanya frowned as she began to delicately pour small portions of 'gunpowder' – made from the soil the botanist had given her and soaked in the explosive potion she'd bought from Wiz – into the cartridges. This stuff was very reactive.
As the task became mechanical, Tanya began again to think of her community service. She'd had to scrub floors, carry packages, fix walls, and wait on more people than she could count.
Tanya clenched her teeth at the thought of everyone who had taken pride in seeing her deferential to them. Regardless of her figure, she was an adult in this world, so petty things like 'child labor laws' were likely nonexistent.
Tanya wanted to leave Axel as soon as she got her weapon, damn her level. The thought of the Reincarnates who had assaulted her, however, gave her pause.
If she left, they would be able to start out in Axel without any blockages. They'd be able to amass wealth, tactics, and become versed in using their powers. They'd become forces to reckon with, and Tanya doubted she'd find anyone equally powerful that would help her for what little she could offer them.
She would be stuck in this town for longer than she would like, waiting for the next Reincarnate to come through. She shook her head as the molds began to cool.
Using the tongs, she picked up each mold, pouring its contents into the large bucket of water, cooling each. A few minutes of seething at her punishment passed, followed by tediously plating each bullet in the brass she'd obtained from the jewelry.
A bit of mechanical force pushed each bullet into its cartridge, and they were finished.
Twenty cartridges, each filled with an experimental explosive powder, gleamed in the light of the dying forge. Smirking, Tanya picked up the scepter in the corner.
She had had to go back to using her fingers since the Festival, which was worrying. Darkness, during the higher difficulty quests, had spared her a worried glance between all of her provocative moaning.
And she was right to. If Tanya could destroy a scepter using magic like that, what would happen to her hands?
Which was why she had stayed up late trying to finish her gun and bullets. Now that they were done…
Tanya grinned. Testing how well modern weapons stacked up against monster from a foreign world seemed to be a grand idea.
-OxOxO-
Darkness stared at Tanya in shock.
This was weird. It was weirder than when Tanya would finally give up on trying to get Darkness to hit something. It was weirder than seeing her working in a Blacksmith's forge. This was even weirder than whenever Darkness caught sight of her doing menial labor.
Why she didn't just pay off the rest of her community service using her family's money, Darkness didn't know. Maybe she was running from her family and was using an assumed name?
It was the most plausible conclusion she had come to. Her father still hadn't found anything about a 'Degurechaff' family, and the only person who even vaguely matched the description Darkness gave her father was Iris, of all people.
For obvious reasons, Tanya wasn't the Princess. Darkness was probably going to give up on it. Tanya would tell her in her own time, she supposed…
Darkness shook her head, focusing back on her rapidly approaching teammate. It was odd.
She wasn't brooding, she wasn't dejected, and she wasn't even angry or haughty. No, she seemed positively…
Happy. She seemed to be strolling up to the bulletin board, rising up on her tiptoes and not shooting a scowl at her legs. She picked out a quest, and walked up to the receptionist.
The look of mingled amusement and confusion on the receptionists face told Darkness all she needed to know. Tanya was happy.
Tanya, seemingly happy about what she'd been told, began to walk over to Darkness. A faint tune reached Darkness's ears.
…Was Tanya whistling?
Unaware of the confused or shocked looks coming from the few people who weren't talking with their comrades and from her own teammate, Tanya sat down with a contented sigh.
"Good morning, Darkness!" Tanya exclaimed. Darkness said nothing back, just staring.
The leader of their group said nothing in response to Darkness's silence, simply ordering from the shocked maid that Tanya had been glaring at hatefully only yesterday.
Had she gotten rid of her community service, or had something else happened?
"Er… Tanya. What is this? Are you okay? Are you sick?" Darkness asked. Tanya glanced at her, actual innocence shining in her eyes for one of the only times Darkness had ever seen.
"Whatever do you mean, Darkness? I'm alive and have a relatively easy job, we're taking on a quest today, you're here, and I have a scepter."
At the last line of Tanya's speech, Darkness above the woman's head for the first time.
It seemed that she had gotten a new staff, and it must have been the reason for the joy Darkness had seen.
It was unlike anything Darkness had seen, though.
Her blade was in its normal place, of course, jutting out from the top of the staff. That was odd, but Darkness didn't fault the woman for wanting to be able to protect herself. Her ability to sharpen her weapons helped out in that regard.
The staff it was attached to was bizarre. It looked like a piece of tubing she might have in the mansion, or that carried water into the city. That was all she could see of it, considering it was strapped to back.
Tanya noticed her gaze, and took the thing from her back and placed it on the table. It seemed even more foreign up close.
Part of it seemed to be made out of wood, but most of it seemed to be made of metal. It wasn't straight, with it bulging and jutting out in random places. Most of the length of it seemed to be dominated by the smooth, metal tube she'd seen.
Darkness glanced up from the staff at Tanya's triumphant face, eyes closed and smirking. Darkness looked back down at it.
She shrugged. "If you think it'll work, then I guess it's fine," she said, digging back into her breakfast. Tanya opened her eyes, shock present.
She shook her head, pitying the woman. She didn't know what it did.
Tanya dug into the meal that was placed in front of her. She'd get to show it off soon enough.
Minutes later, Tanya would receive the reaction she was looking for. "Wha- What's that?" came a stuttered half-shriek from behind Tanya.
She turned around, and saw that Chris was standing behind them, finger shakily pointing towards the gun on the table. Grinning, Tanya beckoned the girl over. "This, Chris, is a special type of… scepter from my homeland called a Mondragon Rifle!"
The woman's pale skin turned even whiter, and Tanya continued to talk on, not noticing the slight shake that had overtaken Chris. "With this, I'll be able to cast more spells than ever before! Nothing will be able to stop us now!" she declared.
Chris attempted to make herself look normal – if The Atheist realized something was amiss, she might be attacked – and tried to speak to Darkness. "Darkness, what do you think about going on a quest today?"
The woman's eyes lit up. "Yes! With all of us here, we'll be able to take on even stronger enemies!"
Chris rubbed the back of her head nervously. She had wanted to spend more time with Darkness, but Heaven had come knocking. At least The Atheist had been doing so much community service that she hadn't been able to do any quests besides the ones the Guild mandated she complete.
Darkness, finished with her own food, turned to Tanya. "Is there anything else this… interesting from your homeland?" Darkness asked Tanya. She seemed to think for a moment.
"Sure. I haven't made anything else, but using those Smith skills just to make this seem like a bit of a waste…" She trailed off. Chris was praying that she didn't get any more ideas.
Introducing a weapon like a gun to this world could be disastrous. The violence it had caused in other, similarly advanced worlds had been enormous, and the presence of magic, other Reincarnates, and the Adventurer's Cards meant that the advances offered by Tanya would be horrible.
She feared for her people. Tanya finished her own food, and swiped the gun off of the table. "Alright," she said, a fake smile playing at her lips, "time to adventure!"
-OxOxO-
As they trekked through the plains, walking along the worn dirt road, Tanya considered Darkness's words.
Making things from her past two lives – both to help in adventuring and to sell to the wider world – wouldn't be a terrible idea, and they would certainly provide another steady source of income.
She shook her head as she watched Chris and Darkness converse, laughing happily together. With her rifle by her side, she was sure to be able to take on anything this backwards world had to throw at her.
"What's our quest, anyway?" Darkness tossed back to her.
Tanya brought out the piece of paper she had taken down. "We're to kill a group of Slimes," she provided.
Tanya hadn't played many video games in her last life, but she knew that Slimes were supposed to be easily killed. However, this world had surpassed anything the medieval age was supposed to have, with lighting and police and bureaucracy, all without the aid of industry.
She had taken the high danger rating on the thing seriously.
Darkness stopped in her tracks, spinning around. "Slimes? Aren't those dangerous?"
Tanya nodded. "Apparently, but we can take them. They have some sort of core at the center and can resist physical attacks, right? I can take care of them," she said, waving off the woman's concern.
Darkness turned back to the front of the road, muttering under her breath. Tanya stared at the woman dejectedly, thinking for a moment that she was upset about not getting to fight, and only sighed when Darkness moaned when she caught sight of Tanya's pitying gaze.
She should have known better.
Chris, by contrast, seemed deep in thought. Tanya left her to her thoughts, focusing on her plan for the Slimes.
Soon, they arrived at the forest they were rumored to be in. The Guild usually left them to their own devices, considering they rarely left the deeper parts of it.
However, with how many insect monsters had been killed, monsters were beginning to venture out farther, threatening the people who used the safer parts of the forest and the surrounding area and growing fat off of the weaker prey.
"Alright. I should be able to take them out from a distance, but if they survive, I want Darkness up front distracting them while I try to finish them off. Chris, you aren't likely to be able to help them because your defense is too low. Just hang back," she commanded.
Chris pouted, while Darkness began to drool as a far-off look appeared in her eyes.
"Why do we need to listen to you?" asked Chris.
Darkness glanced at her curiously, while Tanya scoffed. "You are a part of our team, of which I am the leader. If you have something against Adventurers, you'll probably want to find a new team," she said, glaring unmercifully.
Darkness looked upset at that thought, while Chris made to apologize to Darkness. Tanya didn't say anything else as she watched the tree line. She meant what she said.
She needed the assurance that the people under her command would listen to her. If they didn't listen to her…
Well, in her last life, she had just reassigned them to another group or punished them, if they were part of the 203rd. In this life, with her lack of official authority, she would just ignore them and refuse their attempts to join a party. It was much more direct, but Tanya didn't really mind.
A rustling in the forest caught Tanya's attention. It sounded as if something was coming towards them. She smirked cruelly. Finally, a bit of target practice after a month of not having access to her gun.
As large as a truck, the thing moved out of the forest slowly. It seemed to be sizing them up. Tanya just grinned. Finally.
"Incoming target," she relayed to the others. Chris stopped her apology, and both took up fighting stances. Neither of them was rushing forward.
Tanya let a low chuckle escape her throat. Finally!
"Enchant bullet: Explosive Vaporization. Enchant Bullet: Penetration. Guidance." She let the spells flow from her lips, giddiness welling up inside her at finally being able to take care of enemies with the same ease as she had in her second life.
The thing seemed to think it could take them, rushing towards them as fast as it could. It was a large pile of something that was almost a liquid, so it was moving perhaps as fast as a regular human. That meant it was much too slow to avoid anything she could throw at it.
Gun shaking slightly from the adrenaline, Tanya's finger depressed the trigger, and out the front of her gun a bullet arced through the air. To Tanya's enhanced senses, it was almost beautiful. To the two women behind her, they probably only caught a glimpse of the light radiating from it.
A spent cartridge was ejected from her gun, and the bullet slammed into the Slime. It traveled into it for a moment, pushing through slime like it had pushed through the air.
It was only stopped by the core of the Slime, where it promptly detonated.
The thing seemed to swell, for a moment, as if it was trying to resist the explosive forces that had gone off. That moment ended quickly, resulting in billowing, fiery smoke and a wave of heat to escape it, the explosion was larger than anything she could do without the gun – she was too close to do things like that anywhere near her own body.
Tanya deactivated her enhancements, basking in the shocked gasps of the two behind her. "That, Darkness, is why I was so happy this morning. Nothing as simple as having a good night's rest could do this. Now, I'm set for life!"
Turning around, she saw that both of them seemed to be frightened. "What's wrong?" she asked them, confusion and Amusement fighting for her face. They weren't…
"What was that sound?" asked Darkness. Amusement won out, followed by a small chuckle. They were scared of the gunshot!
Tanya soon came up with an explanation. "At its most basic, this scepter shoots a piece of metal using a miniature explosion," she explained. Tanya turned away from them, searching the ground.
Since she was the one paying for the bullets, recycling the cartridges was a necessity, whenever they were doing routine work like this. It was just another measure she'd use to save money and pay back Darkness and the Guild.
Picking up the cartridge, she let her gun hang from her shoulder as she cast a quick 'Wind Breath' at the metal tube. It was still warm, but the spell was helping to cool it down. Tanya gazed at her fingerless gloves, making a note to get something a bit more suitable, once she had the money.
Tanya looked at both of them again. Now that the initial fear and confusion had passed, Darkness looked… disappointed.
Tanya sighed, disgusted. "Are you really that set on being abused?"
The woman's eyes lit up, as she nodded despite her rapidly reddening face. Chris gazed at her with fondness, and Tanya sighed again. "Fine. We'll find something you two can fight, alright?"
Darkness seemed much more cheered by that, as did Chris. Suddenly, she took off into the forest, shouting something about finding something they could fight. Tanya just shook her head. What a teammate to have…
Suddenly, something pinged on her Observation spell. She enlarged the screen and began to inspect her surroundings though it. She'd had that thing focused on the Slime, but it seemed it had picked something else up.
She cast a probe out towards the two, and two pings showing normal humans appeared on the screen. They seemed to have found something, if the sounds of Darkness's moaning were to be trusted.
Tanya cast it about herself, frowning. If it hadn't been them, then…
She gasped as she passed over the direction of Axel. A large, contiguous pillar of mana signatures was dissipating, larger than many things she had even done. That had to mean…
Another Reincarnate. Tanya glanced down at the gun that was hanging from her shoulders and grinned. She was fairly sure she'd be able to convince anyone from her last life that wasn't terminally ill to do whatever she wanted them to.
Hearing the sounds of laughter echoing from the forest, Tanya smiled a bit as she sped off towards the pair of adventurers. Reincarnates could come later. For now, she was going to enjoy the friendship she had built with the Crusader and the company of the silver-haired Thief.
-OxOxO-
Tanya basked in the warmth of the baths of Axel. Supposedly, they weren't very good compared to elsewhere, where adventurers were more common and had more cash to spend. But to a sort-of-retired soldier, who could count the number of weeks where she had bathed twice while deployed on one hand, they were luxurious.
The view, of course, only made things better. A completely naked Darkness was one she was quite happy with, and she was envious of whichever man would eventually wed and bed her.
She couldn't obviously, and she would eat her hat if she found a religion that advocated same-sex marriage.
Still, Tanya thought as she gazed at the ridiculous breasts, it was a nice thought.
Tanya cast a quick glance at Chris as she leaned on the edge of the bath and sighed. The Thief seemed oddly shy, like how Tanya had been back when she had been an orphan and been tasked with cleaning herself. She kept giving Tanya odd glances, but seemed totally fine with Darkness.
Tanya shrugged internally. She hadn't been around her for very long.
Tanya resisted the urge to stare at where she knew Darkness was. The first time they had bathed together, Tanya had caught herself staring openly at the woman. Darkness could not have not noticed too, and had had a rather embarrassing talk with the woman about her own chest.
Tanya rose from the water, ready to wash herself down with one last bucket, and then to dress once more. She needed to find that Reincarnate, once they got their reward for the day's work in subjugating that Slime.
A faint giggle reached Tanya's ears, and she glanced at both Darkness and Chris.
Neither seemed to have noticed it. Judging by the serene look on Darkness's face and the embarrassed but not suspicious look on Chris's, neither of them had made the noise, either.
Tanya looked to the windows. Why someone had put windows on the side of the building instead of on top of it, she didn't know, but she knew they were the most likely place for some pervert to be looking in.
Steam obscured her vision, but that was fine. She could just follow the laughter.
It sounded again from the window to her right, and Tanya crept down, stalking towards it. Both of her bathing companions seemed mystified, but Tanya just made a shushing motion towards them. Both played along, and Tanya soon came to the window.
Again, giggling came from the other side. Wishing she had brought her Type 95, Tanya leaped up to the window, roaring.
The person on the other side – Dust, the shock of blond hair told her – shrieked and stumbled down. Growling, Tanya rushed out of the room, forgoing the final washing-down with the buckets of warm water. The other two seemed to have realized what was happening.
Rushing into the changing area, Tanya threw on her clothes and the Type 95 in record time. Even Darkness's bountiful form was ignored in the rush.
As Tanya rushed out of the bathhouses, she missed the look of triumph on Darkness's face. Hurrying to catch up to her leader, she put on her own amulet – the one that told any who looked at it that she was a part of the Dustiness house – and rushed after Tanya.
Tanya activated her Observation spell and then decided on what to do. "I can't find anything, but we can try to look for them. You two go to the general store while I head to the guild."
Both nodded, taking off around the corner. Tanya, instead of running the opposite way, towards the guild, ducked into a nearby alley way, following the faint trail of Dust's mana.
It seemed that he had a bit of potential. Not as much as her, or even many of the actual mages in the Guild. He had enough that it was noticeable. Traceable, even.
Tanya grinned as she took off, rising to a height where no pedestrians or lowlifes in the alleys would see her from the ground and where no one would see her skirting close to the rooftops. It was a bit taxing, but it seemed that Lynn had been right about scepters helping reduce mana costs in this world.
Ducking between alley after alley, Tanya smirked as the sound of footsteps pounding on flagstones crashed into her ears. She was getting close, then.
A few more moments, and the red jacket of Dust bled into her view. Quieter than the wind, Tanya passed over his head, ducking behind a corner and waiting for him to round it. His footsteps stopped abruptly as she stuck out her foot.
The sound of him face planting into the ground and skidding to a stop, paired with his swearing, was like music.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing, you-" he began, only to go white as he realized who was walking towards him.
He chuckled nervously. "T- Tanya… Normally, I'd want some sort of compensation for getting assaulted like that, but I'll let it slide." Tanya just raised an eyebrow.
He shrunk back even farther, probably wishing he was some sort of creature that could dig through the ground. Tanya smirked, and Dust began to babble again. "Er… it's a deal, right?"
Tanya just smiled plainly. "I wonder if Luna will miss you."
She wouldn't, and if Tanya explained what had happened – or, better yet, never even reported it – his death would be lamented by few.
He licked his lips, sweat forming on his brow. Tanya just continued to stare at him, and then began to walk towards him.
Panicking, he began to back up, for a moment. He seemed to find some well of strength within him, because he stopped retreating. "So what? It's not like you have any proof, right?"
Tanya shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe, but I know that even if we did report it to the police, you would just get time in jail, which doesn't deter you. I think I'll take your punishment into my own hands," she said slowly, still advancing on him.
His eyes widened and his mouth puckered as he thought of what she could do to him with the realization that she wouldn't go to the authorities. "Wait! I'll go to jail, just please, don't do anything to me!"
She took her rifle from her back. "I wonder which one to puncture first…" she trailed off, pointing the thing towards the man's lower region. His imagination filled in the rest.
Dust seemed actually scared. He quickly assumed a kowtowing position, forehead pressed into the stone. "I beg you, the one who is known as 'Tanya the Evil' for your brutal efficiency and unwavering willingness to abandon fellow adventurers, please spare me!"
Tanya stopped in her tracks. "'Tanya the Evil?' What idiot spread that around?"
He looked up from the cobblestone, fear and dread telegraphed. "Well… the efficiency part is because you take so many quests when most adventurers don't take more than three of them a week, while the abandoning teammates is from… uh… me."
She sent him a skeptical look, and he glared at her. "Don't blame me. You're the one who sent a Detonation spell at a pond and then outraced us."
She groaned, and assumed a more relaxed stance. "Whatever. Besides, you shouldn't fear me; I've grown above the need to care about things like my own breast size. What do you think will happen to you when I hand you to Darkness and Chris, though?"
He stared at her blankly. "I'd still be more scared of you," he replied, completely unfazed.
Tanya sighed and, not for the first time, wondered what she had done to deserve the life she'd been given. Then she remembered she had insulted a being that claimed to be god and thought that that would work out well.
She shook her head. "We're getting off topic. Teach me a new skill and I'll let you go."
He opened his mouth, and then closed it, a thoughtful expression coming over his face. One of conniving glee then appeared, and Tanya experienced a bit of uncharacteristic apprehension.
Dust stood, smiling. He had come to a startling conclusion: Tanya could replace him. If anyone asked about a noble from a foreign land who was good with a spear, they would seek out one from the three adventurers with blond hair: himself, Tanya, and Darkness.
It wouldn't take long before they figured out that neither Tanya nor Darkness were that noble, and that he was the only option, despite his attempts at throwing them off with his lack of culture.
But… if the girl in front of her was any good with a spear, then they would think it was her, instead the lazy, uncultured drunkard.
In fact…
He looked up at the girl – because even if she said she was sixteen, she sure didn't look like a woman – and at what was pointed at him. It looked something like a spear.
He rose from the ground, smirking. Tanya took a step back, aiming it at him. Dust never looked energetic or motivated. Maybe lustful, but that was about as far into 'happy' as that man's emotions went.
"May I see your spear?" he asked, laying his hands out.
"It isn't-"
"Regardless," he said, an eyebrow raised, "you are using it as one, currently."
She couldn't fault him for that. She took out the magazine at the bottom – she wasn't risking being killed by a ricochet or misfire – and handed him the thing, staring at him curiously. He held it as if it were an actual spear, instead of a gun with a blade on the end.
"Hmm," he said, hefting it. "Well, it's balanced. It doesn't have a lot of reach, but that isn't necessarily horrible. I'd say from your stance that you don't actually know much about using spears, right?"
Tanya nodded hesitantly. She technically knew less than the infantry the Empire; they were supposed to charge at the enemy with those things.
Mages were meant more for reconnaissance, protecting planes, accompanying ground movements, and carrying out special operations. That Tanya had used her blade as much as she had was just to subvert her opponents' expectations that they would be having a battle of purely magical skills.
Even then, she didn't know all that much. "What would you know?" she asked, suspiciously eyeing the man as he slashed the air with her rifle.
He looked at her, just as suspicious as she was of him. "You want a skill or not?"
Tanya rolled her eyes. Of course she did. She didn't even have to take the skill if she didn't want to, and she'd be getting it at no monetary cost to herself.
"Fine. I won't ask about your history – because you use a sword and wield a spear like you were born with it in hand – and I won't tell them about who was peeking in on us. In return, you'll give me skills and lessons on Spearmanship," she said, holding out a hand and smirking.
A similar smirk was plastered on his face, and Tanya wiped her hand on her clothes after they shook hands. He seemed rather pleased with himself, and turned to walk off. Tanya copied him, heading in the opposite direction.
"Hey." Tanya turned around, looking curiously at the squinting man. "How did you catch up with me?"
Tanya just smirked, ignoring the question. Dust walked off, and both parties gloated to themselves that they were getting the better end of the deal.
-OxOxO-
While Chris and Darkness scoured the Guild, Tanya had another reason for visiting the area.
The other two were set on finding the person who had intruded on them. They were stationed inside the guild, searching for that person by talking to various groups and looking for someone who reacted embarrassed upon meeting them.
Tanya couldn't care less, but she was happy to let them try and find someone that didn't exist.
She had described an entirely false person – brown hair, brown eyes, on the taller side – so that Dust wouldn't be found. All of which were entirely subjective descriptions. The definition of 'tall' would probably be different for the two of them.
So Dust was safe, and Tanya got to sit outside and bask in the sunlight while they talked to people. Of course, she had a reason for being outside.
Luna had said that no one resembling a Hero Candidate had come in yet. Tanya knew a few things that set them apart from regular adventurers though, something that Luna didn't seem to have grasped yet.
All of them were dressed in clothing from her first life. All that Tanya had to look for was someone in a t-shirt, or office clothing, or something with a language she knew on it. Some of that clothing had made its way into this world's attire – Taylor and several policemen had ties, while jackets and zippers were commonplace – but all of it was piecemeal. Only reincarnates would be wearing all of it.
All Tanya needed to do was wait for them to show up to the guild. They would need to, if they wanted to fight the Demon King.
On the other hand, it was possible that they had decided to skip this town and move on to the next one. Regardless, either suited her options.
As long as they weren't a threat to her, she would be fine with them.
Another hour passed, and just as Tanya was getting bored with basking in the sun and contemplating if she should deconstruct her gun for a bit of practice, her target walked into view.
Smirking, Tanya made preparations for the ruse she was about to pull. Pointing a weapon at someone else in broad daylight was probably against the rules, which just meant she needed to get out of broad daylight.
She rose from where she had been sitting and stashed her gun in an alley nearby, covering it with an errant bag of trash. She methodically tied her hair behind her head, and then threw on the hood that she had sewn onto her mantle. Her hair was highly noticeable – only she, Darkness, and Dust had it, among the adventurers – so hiding it was a necessity.
Tanya thought, for a moment, about her friends and the last life she had been forced to leave, and let tears well up in her eyes. This needed to be convincing.
She activated a Reinforcement spell, and she began to study the girl. She was wearing a black shirt, had her hair in pigtails, and was wearing glasses. The glasses hinted at her past – Tanya hadn't seen many of those – but the shirt she was wearing raised a very large flag.
The black t-shirt she wore said 't-shirt' on it in white lettering. Tanya didn't understand why anyone would buy or wear something like that, but the fact that it was written in kanji meant she was a reincarnate.
Of course, the fact that she was holding a scepter taller than its holder, that also looked based on both fire and ice was another clue, but the final nail in the coffin was the look of wonder that enveloped her face as she looked around, with long, sleek, black hair whirling around her face as she tried to take in everything.
Tanya was sure she would have looked like that, if she had been told she was going to a fantasy world.
As it was, the girl seemed completely unaware of the amused looks the shoppers and shop keepers present in the adventurer-specific stalls were sending her.
Tanya smirked as she let tears flow from her eyes. This would be easy.
Running towards the girl and crying furiously, she passed her and braced herself. With all of the might endowed upon her by her Reinforcement magic, she kicked a protruding stone and tripped.
She fought the urge to right herself with a Flight spell or activate an Active Barrier. This needed to be convincing, after all.
She felt pain bloom to life in her body as she slammed into the ground. Blood began to pour from her nose, and Tanya curled up on the ground, only half-faking her sniffling as she repeated a sentence in her head like a mantra.
'Come on, girl, why don't you help the short, pathetic girl who has fallen near you. It's the start to your adventure here.'
"Are you okay, little girl?" she asked. Tanya clenched her teeth at the reminder of what she looked like for only a moment, and she looked up at the girl. Tanya just continued to cry, staring up at her pathetically, trying to avoid direct eye contact, as if she were shy.
The girl leaned down, crouching next to her. "There, there. It's okay. Why don't you tell me what's wrong?" she asked, handing a handkerchief to her.
Sniffing, Tanya took the piece of cloth from her, wiping away the tears and blood. "Th- Thank you, ma'am," she whispered. The girl continued to smile, patting Tanya on the back. A bit more coaxing on the girls part, and Tanya began to regale her with a fabricated story she had made in the past hour.
"I- I was walking through the alleyway, trying to get home. My momma doesn't have money. So- some mean men took away all of the food that I went to get. Momma's gonna be mad!" she cried, once more descending into sobs.
The girl continued to pat her on the back, and Tanya smirked internally. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Tanya looked up at the girl. "We- Well… you could help me! You look like a powerful adventurer! Maybe you can scare them into giving me back the food!"
The girl paused for a moment, indecisiveness marking her face. Tanya looked back at the ground, as dejectedly as she could, and began to speak. "We- Well, it's okay. I just hope momma doesn't have to sell daddy's old clothes. He went to the army, and hasn't been back. I hope he's okay…"
That seemed to do it. Resolve seemed to come over the girl's features, and she stood, taking Tanya's hand in her own. "Come on. We'll go show those mean men, right?"
Tanya's face lit up, and she rose quickly. "Come, this way! I know where they hide out!"
She began to run towards the alley she'd stashed her, ignoring the girl's cries that she slow down and be careful. Tanya pointed down the alley, motioning the girl closer. She rushed past Tanya, unaware of the smirk that Tanya finally let show.
Activating her Agility Reinforcement, Tanya kicked the bag of trash off of her gun and picked it up. Just as the girl had begun to turn at the curious sound, Tanya leveled her gun at her and shouted, "Freeze!"
Tanya began to activate the other portion of her plan. People could still see into the alley way, so solving that problem was necessary.
An application of a few Illusion spells would hide them for now. She was on a time limit, since making the alley seem to be anything other than unnaturally dark took too much mana, and some curious passerby would eventually wonder why it was so dark during the middle of the day.
She would have enough time for this, though.
The girl finished turning around, and her eyes widened. She seemed to do just as Tanya had said, not moving an inch. "But…"
Tanya smirked, but didn't answer the unasked question.
The girl had a brain; she should learn to use it. "Drop the weapon. If you do not, I will have no choice but to fire on you."
Stiffly, the scepter dropped from her hands, clattering loudly against the ground. Tanya grit her teeth. This needed to end faster.
"P- Please…" the girl muttered. Tanya just glared.
"There, there," Tanya said, mimicking the girl's earlier words, "no need to be scared. I just want you to say something for me. Then I'll let you go."
The girl didn't move, and Tanya took that as her cue to tell her what to say. "Speak the words, 'I promise not to harm Tanya von Degurechaff, otherwise known as The Atheist.'"
Her body was beginning to shake, and Tanya walked forward. "Hey. Just say that, and you can leave."
She stuttered out the sentence, and Tanya watched as the staff at her feet contracted. It shrunk, and the fire and ice that it seemed to exude retracted, becoming simple designs on the side.
Sighing, Tanya dropped the Optical Decoy spells, and let the gun rest on her shoulders. "There, that wasn't so hard. You can go."
The girl seemed to blink, sinking to her knees as a gasp left her body. "But… why? Why not kill me? I could become a threat."
Tanya chuckled. "You may not have realized it, but by swearing not to hurt me and actually meaning it, you invalidated the contract you made with heaven. Your scepter doesn't have whatever special properties it had, and it's little more than a particularly strong scepter now."
The girl continued to stare at Tanya, fear and confusion present. Tanya sighed. "Look, I don't hate you or anything. It's just…" she said, trailing off. She grabbed her gun with both hands, taking a bit of solace in its familiar presence.
"That contract meant you would be motivated to kill me. Now that it's gone, you don't need to. You won't get the power of my relics, and you won't get a wish if you kill the Demon King. I suggest that you find a quiet job and ignore becoming an adventurer," she explained. She turned to the entrance to the alley, but the girl's voice called out.
"And if I want revenge?" she shouted. Tanya turned, a calculating look in her eyes, all of the pity she felt for the girl gone.
"Let me make this clear: you live because I don't think you can become a threat. If that changes however…" she trailed off suggestively. The woman shrunk back, clutching the scepter.
Tanya walked over, and the woman pointed it at her. Tanya rolled her eyes. "It's lost its power, and you haven't even gone to the Guild. You don't have any skills that you can even use."
Tanya grabbed it with both hands, and yanked it away from her. Leaving behind the girl, who seemed to be on the verge of a breakdown, Tanya felt a bit of pity. She sighed, and grabbed the bag at her belt.
"Here. You don't have many Eris, but you can have this," she said thrusting a handful of money towards her.
She knew that she shouldn't pity her. She knew she probably should just kill her.
But… she was just a child, and Tanya couldn't really fault her for her idealism and wanting to run off towards danger to protect the innocent. Those feelings were at least better than the rage that fueled the people that Tanya had fought.
The girl grabbed the ten thousand Eris Tanya had handed her. Without another word, Tanya turned back to the entrance. Darkness and Chris might be looking for her.
Eyeing the staff in her hands, Tanya got an idea. Chris had refused to teach her any skills, saying that she didn't have anything that would be worth her time. Maybe this would suffice as payment?
-OxOxO-
Chris stared at the staff in her hands.
She recognized it. It had been created recently, by a God she didn't know the name of. It had even been sent out with a promising Reincarnate.
And here it was, lying in her hands, not a day after they had been reincarnated.
Eyes cold, she looked up at the blonde madwoman who had handed it to her. "Well? Will you teach me a skill now?"
Chris nodded mechanically, wishing she could descend to the world in her true form and teach this cruel person a lesson. She had been right to help spread the rumor about her being 'Evil'.
She had killed someone for this. She had killed an innocent teenager for this. She had decided that learning a skill, that protecting her own life, meant more than any and all of the people that Heaven sent to stop both her and the Demon King.
Chris would take it, and she would seal its latent power.
Why The Atheist was giving it up, Chris didn't know. It could magnify the level of her spells exponentially. No one could stop her then.
Still, if she was going to give it up…
The blonde beamed at her. "Thanks Chris! Sorry we couldn't find that pervert…"
Chris just nodded, ignoring Darkness and Tanya's antics as the former lamented not finding and being ravaged by this mysterious pervert.
Chris took a deep breath, trying to clear her head. It was better if she got the relics, instead of them landing in the hands of some corrupt noble.
So, despite her fears that the only reason the psychopath had killed the Reincarnate was to get a weapon to barter for skills with, she would accept whatever she gave her.
She would worm her way into this crazy loli's trust, and stab her in the back as soon as she could. She was a Thief, after all.
Assassination was not above her, not with this… pseudo-Demon.
-OxOxO-
A/N 1: And there we have it! Chris has descended from on high to play around in the mortal world, only to be forced to interact with one of the only people in Axel that doesn't believe in her.
How sad.
Tanya has also finally gotten her rifle. Hopefully, she'll get a Type 97 soon. I wonder where that might come from…
Anyway, this is the tenth chapter. You might not have noticed, but I uploaded the first ten at once. With that being said, I'd like to tell you when the next chapter is coming out:
Next week, I'll be releasing another five chapters, one an hour. I haven't decided when I'll start yet, but you can rejoice in knowing that you'll get another five chapters to read.
With that being said, I have a question: If I made Omakes, would you want them included with chapters, or as their own story?
I am leaning towards releasing them with each chapter, but if you all want a dedicated story, then who am I to contradict the will of the people?