Tanya opened her eyes blearily, and she began to try and look around. She was annoyed when there wasn't much light coming towards her eyes. She tried to time the end of her sleep with dawn, to get as much done as she could, but-
Then it all came rushing back to her.
She had been forcibly put to sleep, and the cloth covering her head wasn't a blanket, but instead rough burlap. The lack of light wasn't due to it not being dawn, but the lack of constant light in whatever room she was in.
Her breathing beginning to become frantic, 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 began to try and calm her erratic breathing. She was fine, nothing had changed, she was okay and she wasn't there with him and she was alive and okay and not on the eastern front and-
She groaned, and she tried to move her hands to cover her face in an attempt to repress her memories. They were tied behind her back, and she grit her teeth.
Great.
With a sort of mantra running through her head – they weren't handcuffs, they weren't, they were not they – she realized that she had neither the Type 97 nor either of her relics.
She only had her mana. Of course, that also raised the question as to where her stuff was.
Her opponents might have thought her defenseless without a fancy stick and her hands tied behind her back, but she knew better much better.
A burst of Observation spells told her that no one was in the small room besides her, and she nodded to herself as she began to build up mana.
"Sharpen Blade."
While she didn't have a blade, per say, she could channel the mana into her nails to make small, glowing extrusions that were sharp enough to cut through skin and muscle.
As it turned out, the ropes holding her hands together could be cut as well.
Minutes of carefully maneuvering her fingers passed – she didn't want to hurt herself – and the ropes, fiber by fiber, were sliced away, leaving her hands free.
She cut off the flow of mana, and ripped the bag off of her head. She found herself in a dimly lit room, lit only by a single mana-fueled light near the door.
The walls were the smooth stone that lined the interior of nearly every permanent building in Axel. A small window near the top of the right wall of the room, one that, from the brief glimpses Tanya could get through it, showed the streets of Axel.
It was a bit odd for them to store her somewhere easily viewed by the outside world, but they probably wanted to move her somewhere else soon. She smirked at the knowledge that, even succumbed, she'd overcome their spell before they thought she could.
She stalked towards the door, straining her ears, hoping to catch another conversation. The last one still confused her.
Peeking in on her dreams didn't seem probable, even with magic.
Then again, someone had invented a truth-detecting device and a gender-switching magic item. Mind reading didn't seem all that infeasible.
She heard nothing through the door, and tried the handle. Surprisingly, it moved under her hand, and Tanya peeked through the unlocked door into an empty, unlit hallway.
There was another door across from her own, and a staircase on the right. Tanya could now make out faint sounds of conversation, and straining her eyes showed her that a small amount of light was drifting down the stairway, likely through the cracks between a door and its frame.
She grit her teeth. Obviously, she couldn't escape through her room – she'd need a real blade if she wanted to cut through iron or steel with the spell…
She looked to the other room. She'd check in there for something to cut her way out. If she couldn't find anything, then she'd wait for someone to check on her. While they checked her room, she'd sneak up behind them and take a hostage.
She tiptoed toward the targeted room, turning the knob and slipping inside. Her hand brushed against the wall for a switch, and it found one easily.
What met her gaze wasn't other people, in a similar situation to herself, or boxes full of weapons or cash that might be expected to accompany an operation that made a habit of kidnapping women. Instead, Tanya was shocked.
Shelves of paperwork strewn across desks and peeking out of boxes met her gaze, and Tanya stared incomprehensibly. What kind of illegal business left a paper trail this big?
Tanya tilted her head and went up to one box.
'Dreams for O Month'
Tanya blinked, and rubbed her eyes, unsure if she was dreaming. Yes, it still said 'O Month'.
Eyebrows creased, she wondered why this place would use symbols for its months instead of names. What…
She shook her head. If she could wonder about the naming conventions of this fantasy world, then she was wasting too much time. She thought rapidly, wondering about their purpose.
Were they attempting to assemble some sort of black market of information? If they could peer into dreams, then they'd learn about everyone's secrets and perversions. Tanya gulped, and backed away from the piles of contraband. She needed to tell Gerrard.
Even without the moral objections she had, telling the police about this would mean she'd get their gratitude forever. Their gratitude would return dividends in her being able to get out of any sticky situation she found herself in.
She could imagine any number of situations that was applicable, most of which involved that truth-detecting device and an investigation into her past.
Alternatively, she could blackmail the people upstairs with her knowledge. She didn't know what she might want to purchase over the black markets, but there had to be any number of interesting things in this world.
Suddenly, the sound of a door swinging open crashed into her ears, and Tanya lunged for the light switch, hoping that they hadn't seen the light. With the lights in the room off and the door above shut again, she was plunged into darkness.
Soft steps sounded down the steps, and Tanya hid just inside the doorway of their apparent records room. They became louder, and then softer again. Betting they'd come to check on her, Tanya peeked around the corner, and saw a figure's back.
She smirked, and stepped out of the room. They flipped on the switch in that room, and Tanya saw them recoil as an empty chair greeted them.
After muttered "Sharpen Blade," Tanya flew towards their back, propelled by rough Flight spells. Tanya grunted as she hit them, and both tumbled to the ground. Tanya had overestimated their weight and flown over them into the chair she'd freed herself from.
She rectified her mistake quickly, jumping back over the fallen chair and landing, once more, on her still-dazed captor.
Tanya took a deep breath, and then realized that they – a she by the tone of her stuttering voice – seemed to be calling for help. Tanya looked down, and smirked.
The cloak they had been wearing had covered their front, presenting them an apparently vexing trap to get out of.
Ignoring their muffled shouting, Tanya leaned towards her chair and the ropes she'd left on top of it, managing to grab it. A few quick movements of her hands had one of her captors bound and their cloak tied tightly around their neck.
They continued to squirm about, but Tanya ended that quickly. She grasped one of their legs, punctuating her order to "Be quiet" by scratching their leg with her sharpened nails.
They shouted out for a moment, but she made no more noise after that. Tanya nodded.
"Good. Now, you're going to help me get out of here. If you don't struggle, you won't get injured. If your friends try to stop me, however, I can't guarantee your safety. Understand?"
The person she was straddling nodded slowly. Tanya stood, dragging them up by their shoulder. "I'll undo the tie around your neck to let you speak. I hope you're persuasive, because if you don't convey how much danger you're in, you won't be able to speak again."
She loosened the tie, and they took in a gasp of air. Pressing her right hand into her back and holding her shoulder steady with her left, they walked out of the room. "Plea- Please! You have it all wrong! We just-"
"Quiet!" she snapped. She wasn't particularly fussed as to why they kidnapped her – she wasn't exactly sure if this world practiced had either slaves or serfs, but she knew for a fact that there were sickos that would want her for her diminutive body.
One of those Reincarnates had looked at her speculatively, after all. She would kill him first if they ever tried it again.
She shuddered and tried to suppress a surge of memories – a warmer-than-usual night in the Russy sky, falling endlessly, the feeling of a cloth pressed to her face – and focused on her objective.
Fighting down revulsion, Tanya walked them up the stairs. "Once I leave, I'll report you kidnappers to the police. I'd clear out of here, if I were you."
They chuckled nervously. "Oh, the police won't do anything about us. They'd probably protect us, in fact," she teased smugly.
Tanya froze, and then fought to keep her balance as her bargaining chip continued forward, unaware of Tanya stopping.
She cursed; they must have gotten some information on the police as well. Then, Tanya sighed tiredly. That could be rectified easily enough, even if it would be tiring.
She smirked, trying to keep her nervousness out of her voice and buried deep within her mind, where it belonged. "Change of plan: we're going back down, and I'll destroy all of your files."
A Napalm spell would be difficult, but she should be able to pull it off. It was a shame she'd be destroying evidence, but she wanted the police to act. She'd still get a bit of thanks for destroying the records of whatever they were being blackmailed with.
She resisted, harder than they had earlier, twisting her body in an attempt to throw Tanya off. "No, wait-"
Tanya pressed into their back with her nails, and they screeched. Tanya tilted her head; she hadn't pressed down that hard…
She shook her head. Focus on the mission.
"What don't you understand about the blade I have pressed into your back?"
They continued to struggle, and Tanya fought to keep her balance. "No! I must struggle; the livelihood of my associates is at stake! I can't let you destroy them!" she shouted, fear and determination lacing her tone.
Tanya growled and continued to struggle. They continued to make commentary. "Besides, why would a woman want to kidnap someone as cute as you?"
Ignoring their attempt at persuasion – and that was a really weird attempt – Tanya grappled with them. They still wouldn't stop, and Tanya grit her teeth.
Angry now – why wouldn't they stop moving? – Tanya reinforced her arms, grabbed the other woman's arm, and twisted.
Even with her reinforcement, she would have never been able to do more than bruise someone without a Computation Jewel. Something more painful might have been possible with a Computation Jewel, but nothing would come of her attempt.
Back in her second world, anyway.
Here, however…
CRACK!
They screamed loudly, and Tanya worked to get the makeshift gag back on. Here, with presence of the levels she had gained and the increase in effectiveness her Reinforcement spells got just from using them, snapping bone in this woman's arm only took mana.
"I told you, we're-"
Her words were cut off by the sound of a cascade of feet, and Tanya began to panic a little. They were crying now, not fighting at all – Tanya expected someone in this sort of business to be more capable of taking pain, but they were probably the Mage that had put her to sleep.
As much as she wanted to ditch her and fly out, she needed her equipment back. Leaving things like her gun, relics, and Type 97 lying around could mean disaster.
She wanted to be the one to introduce this technology to the world, after all; she had ideas of what to do in the far future, after she killed the Demon King and finally got free from Being X.
Tanya carried the woman over her shoulder, taking a moment to admire her bare legs. She ran up the steps, and kicked down the door.
The action worked, but the door had been locked. Tanya cursed, and began to dull the pain in her legs with a few Pain-Reduction Reinforcement spells. She'd probably torn something, but she didn't have time to-
Tanya's thoughts froze as she assessed the scene outside the door. She was speechless.
Soft mood lighting lit the room a lurid shade of pink, and numerous chairs, each of them dyed blue and made of leather, were arrayed around the room. Each was separated from another by leopard skin, of all things, hung on a bar of metal reminiscent of bus seats, giving them an impression of being booths rather than simple seating. A small, stout table sat in front of each one.
Tanya might have been confused as to why a kidnapping ring had such a suggestive interior – maybe they also ran a strip club? – but the occupants and the center of the room destroyed her earlier assumptions and left confusion in their wake.
A table, filled to the brim with delicious looking food that Tanya hadn't enjoyed since the Demon King's General had shown up, was the largest thing in the room. A sign above the table – which looked like it could seat at least thirty – said in cluttered, obvious lettering, 'Thank you, Tanya von Degurechaff!'
At one chair, near the head, Tanya could see her rifle, pistol, and Type 97 resting out in plain view.
More than all of that however, were the people in the room. Each and every one of the people seated around the table or standing and staring at her in shock were, in three words, 'sexy as fuck'.
Some wore an elaborate series of pins, hooks, and metal loops, stretching cloth across their bodies. Others wore more, showing off plenty of skin and wearing enticing, frilly pantyhose.
Tanya could even spot a few of them that had nothing that even resembled a bra or bikini, using their hair to cover anything that would get them rated mature in some sort of harem anime. Tanya could let her mind fill in the blanks as to what was underneath, though.
For a moment, they stared at Tanya, and Tanya stared at them.
With her mind imagining what the little that remained covered looked like, all Tanya's mouth could do was let out a very intelligent "Uhh…"
All of them still seemed more confused than hostile; more worried than angry. Slowly, Tanya set the woman she had been carrying over her shoulder down, and cut a hole in their cloak.
Underneath, the woman wore a very similar outfit to those in the room, even if she wasn't as well-endowed as the others in the room.
She gulped. It was official.
Tanya had come to an incorrect conclusion, and needed to fix that mistake, and she needed to try very hard not to stare at anyone in the room.
However, her conclusion was logical; she had been kidnapped in the middle of the night and tied up in a dark room. What else should she have assumed?
She decided to choose a middle ground: no accusations, and no apologies.
"What is going on here?"
One of them – pink hair cascading as far down as Darkness's with pointy ears poking out of it and wearing see-through gloves that were longer than her own – walked towards her slowly.
Tanya tried to not get too distracted, ensuring she was sparing enough concentration to keep her spell running. It was hard not to, however, with just how much of the woman seemed to jiggle with every step.
Frankly, it was obscene, and it bordered on ridiculousness.
That didn't mean Tanya didn't like it, however.
Softly, the woman spoke, an edge of fear present in her voice and cyan eyes. "We were hoping to thank you?"
Tanya blinked, and then tried to phrase her question as diplomatically as possible, given what she'd gone through. "For what?"
She smiled down at her, as if the answer was obvious. "Why, for killing so many Tranquility Girls, of course."
Tanya looked to the other occupants of the room, who were all nodding energetically. Carefully, she set the girl in her arms down. "Well, I'd love to accept that, but you should probably Heal her. I kind of broke her arm…"
All of them gasped and seemed stunned, for a moment, until two of them rushed forward. Tanya hesitated for a moment, before snapping her fingers. "Oh right. I'll just use Heal on her, and she'll be fin-"
"NO!" all of the screamed. Tanya shrunk back, but didn't give up her hostage/patient. "Why not!?"
The one with the pink hair, who seemed to lead them, spoke quietly, panic on her face, her former tepidness nowhere to be seen. "We're Succubi! We'll be eradicated if priestly skills are used on us if the worshiper doesn't believe in a Dark God."
Tanya pinched the bridge of her nose, more annoyed with their description of some religion than their claiming she was a part of one. Why would someone call their own god 'Dark'? That seemed like the worst way to attract followers.
She sighed, and shouted "Heal!" anyway. She remembered Wiz saying something about Heal being effective against undead because the skills of a Priest relied on their connection to their god, back when she'd first met her.
Tanya had no such connection, meaning hers was technically weaker than a Priest's, if said Priest had as much mana as she did.
They all shouted for her to stop, but, bit by bit, the girl's soft crying, which Tanya hadn't heard, began to fade. They all stared at her, flabbergasted.
"But… aren't you an Adventurer? Why do you have a Priest skill?"
Tanya nodded, wondering how they had figured that out, and handed the girl over to the pair waiting. She turned to the tall, pink-haired one. "That brings up my next question. Succubi?"
She nodded, and Tanya elaborated. "No, not are you all Succubi. What is a Succubi?"
She remembered something term that, vaguely, from her time in Japan, in relation to some sort of marketing scheme done by another company in a desperate and oddly successful attempt to save themselves from bankruptcy. She didn't remember many details, though.
Clearly, they had something to do with sexuality, because Tanya had no idea why they'd wear clothing like that otherwise. Besides that, Tanya assumed they were some sort of being that opposed 'gods,' if they couldn't be healed by a Priest.
They acted surprised. "We're very minor demons who feed on the vitality of men," she explained.
Tanya opened her mouth again, but the woman expected her question. "We have a mutually beneficial relationship with the men of Axel. We give them whatever dreams they desire, about whatever they want, and we charge a bit of money and take some of their life force."
She seemed rather nervous, and Tanya could guess that she only really explained that to first timers they saw as a source of food an income instead of someone they were indebted to.
"Then what were you talking to Dust about?"
One of them, purple hair drifting passed her shoulders and ending in curls, jumped up from her seat. Tanya blinked at the wondrous sight, and exhaled through her nostrils, wishing now, more than ever, that Being X hadn't imprisoned her in this stupid body.
Maybe she'd do the same to him and ignore every other option, purely out of spite. She'd done a lot more out of spite, after all.
"Well, I came around to give him the dream he paid for, but he was awake. He told us about where you were staying and a bunch of stuff about you, and we told him he'd get three days of dreams for the price of the one he paid in return."
Tanya's eye twitched, and she swore she'd get back at him. For now, however, she would continue focusing on her newest acquaintances. "And the kidnapping?"
That was what most vexed Tanya. If they had wanted to talk to her, she would have come easily, if they had openly expressed their admiration for her having killed the Tranquility Girls.
Luna had thanked her, and some of the Crusaders had thanked her for doing a job that needed to be done, but that was about all the 'praise' she'd received.
The purple haired succubus shrugged apologetically, rubbing the back of her head. "We panicked?"
Tanya sighed deeply. "Fine, whatever. Why do you care so much that I killed a bunch of plants?" She began to make her way to what she assumed was her seat, and most of them began to sit down.
It seemed that they didn't hold any grudges for her attack on them. The tall one flashed her a smile.
"They kill adventurers using their wiles, depriving us of a food source. We want them eradicated out of both a sense of self-preservation and… a bit of jealousy."
Tanya nodded all the while, sinking into her seat heavily. Well, this was certainly a very interesting night. But for now…
She looked out across the table as she slipped the Type 97 around her neck, shouldered her rifle, and put on her belt and pistol. She'd eat her fill – it would be rude to reject what they'd offered, and all this food looked wonderful – and then ask them some questions. Like just how much those dreams cost, and how long she'd get free dreams for killing the Tranquility Girls.
-OxOxO-
Ragcraft muttered to himself angrily. Why that Dullahan didn't just march on the town, he didn't know.
Sure, they couldn't kill everyone, but there weren't many people who'd sit by and let an undead do what they wanted with their town. They'd resist, no longer be considered non-combatants, and cut down to feed his army.
Plus, he'd get more and better undead soldiers by just killing the adventurers that came to stop him, instead of scavenging graveyards.
He sighed tiredly as he made his way towards the graveyard. Verdia did have a sense of honor, which was probably what stayed his hand.
He shook his head and continued to trek forward. It was nearing midnight, which meant that absolutely no one would be here.
If someone was there, then he and whoever they were could both raid the cemetery. He couldn't really think of another reason someone would be out here at this time of night.
The people buried here were just poor or homeless. Priests didn't take the time to send their spirits off, since they couldn't pay for the service.
And while they technically went on a waiting list, by the time the Priests got to them, they'd already become some sort of undead. He didn't need to be a Priest to know that.
He finally got to the top of the hill – the undead couldn't get down without possibly tripping over themselves and injuring their already decaying bodies – and groaned at the sight that greeted him.
He'd marched through the dark, tripping time and time again because he couldn't see in the dark in his human form, and what waited for him?
Someone sending spirits to Heaven, in the middle of the night, using a magic circle, of course.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, but continued on, changing his stature and features. Before, he had been just slightly taller than average with dirty blond hair that drifted down to his shoulders.
Now, with a much brighter blond mop of hair that was cut shorter and bright blue eyes, they'd have to listen to him. He looked and could act like a noble; threats would accomplish his goals.
He stalked through the expansive graveyard, dodging behind the occasional sickly-looked tree or mound of dirt whenever he could. Catching them in the act would be crucial, and-
His thoughts stopped as he approached them. He had assumed guards surrounded the 'Priest,' but a closer look at them showed him he had been wrong. Instead of living guards, perhaps Crusaders who would help a young, naïve Priest be a good person instead of lusting after money, they were Zombies.
Full-fledged, rotting corpses, given new life by a master. And while it could mean he was facing a Necromancer, he had an answer that was much more plausible.
Wiz. A Lich, someone powerful enough that she could defeat most of the forces in the Demon King's castle, if done by surprise. And, more recently, as the Thief of the King's Coffers.
The idea to imitate Verdia struck him, but he wrote it off. Even a Doppelganger couldn't imitate the energy that the undead gave off, and Wiz didn't like him anyway, if the Dullahan's annoying muttering was anything to go by.
Instead, he strolled behind her in the guise of his midnight-black silhouette. She would recognize him as a strong monster, at least, and then a conversation could begin.
He crept up behind her, and when, only a foot from her, one of the zombies finally noticed him, he tapped her on the back. "Wiz."
She shrieked, and the bright circle dimmed as she lost concentration. Arms raised, as if to start casting a spell, she tilted her head at the sight of him. "Who…"
"I am part of the Demon King's army. I had come here for a different purpose, but I think he will thank me for checking up on you," he rattled off. She nodded hesitantly, turning back to the circle.
He stood next to her, and asked his first question. "Why are you losing so much money?"
She pouted miserably as she watched souls fly towards Heaven. "I don't know. I try my best, but no matter what product I try and stock, no one seems to buy them."
He nodded, and was about to move on, when she added, "Oh, except for one. A special customer of mine buys five impact-explosion potions every week or two. I don't know what she uses them for, since no one has said anything about repeated, large explosions, but I'm too afraid of scaring her off to ask."
As she continued to talk, Ragcraft, instead of sharing the happiness present in her tone, was mildly annoyed. "And? You've still been losing money, and month after month, the Demon King has to spend resources getting enough money for your rent and sending it to you."
She began to pout once more. "I'm so- sorry…"
Ragcraft sighed again, wondering if he should have just remained the Prime Minister of Elroad instead of coming back. "Just… make some safe investments, or ask someone you know for help. Now, this one is off the books, but… what do you think of Axel?"
She smiled softly, and began to tell him about the town, some of her favorite parts of it, and how she wished some of her products would sell. He smiled and offered occasional advice, but he was otherwise uninterested.
The Lich still hadn't given up on portions of her humanity, just like Verdia.
He phrased his next words carefully. "Say, Wiz… The Demon King has been wondering about Axel, and has been thinking about moving me here to monitor it. Also, he moved Verdia here recently, and he's been causing problems for adventurers by depriving them of monsters."
This wasn't even just information he'd asked of the Demon King and Verdia. In the few hours he'd been in Axel, Ragcraft had observed that the economy was stagnating.
He had been the Prime Minister for Elroad, after all; he knew a thing or two about an economy that was not just hurrying, but sprinting towards ruin.
Axel was declining, obviously, due to the lack of monsters.
Adventurers, with their lack of spending money, had to settle for horrible food. Farmers couldn't sell all of their food, leading to them having to lower prices, despite doing the same amount of work. They made up for it by putting up fewer quests for adventurers, saving them a few Eris and dooming the adventurers to even worse food.
Shops were forced to lower their prices to try and attract even the smallest bit of business. They had to pay their employees less or even fire them, leading to more people having less money to spend.
People would tighten their belts and continue spending less, and the whole thing would repeat for a few weeks or months, until aid was provided by an outside source, likely either the nobles, the clergy, or the royalty.
Wiz seemed to have seen some of it too, if the truly saddened expression that marred her face was anything to go by.
He then raised his own tone. "Not to worry, Wiz; Verdia will leave as soon as we confirm a few things about Axel. If you could help, then we'll leave even faster!"
Her face lit up at the opportunity to help, and Ragcraft internally shouted in triumph.
If they could figure out the defenses of the town, they'd have an easier time of getting in, taking all the people who survived with them to use as undead, and then retreat to the castle and teleport out with the help of Wolbach, who was still searching for her other half and should be here in four weeks.
"Of course! What do you want to know?" He smiled at her, morphed his body into the one he'd worn while travelling there, and began to ask questions.
He asked about the strength of the adventurers, and she told him that there were two or three that could be considered truly strong, as well as a few who were over level thirty.
He asked how she knew, and she told him that she often strolled through Axel while buying ingredients or new products. She heard things, and she still talked with plenty of people, even if she did try and stay in her shop to catch whoever might show up.
He asked about the presence of Hero Candidates, and she told him there was a large group of people who resembled them in looks and who didn't have the matching weapons.
He asked about the double blessed Hero Candidate, and she told him that none of them had any strong abilities or weapons to speak of.
Ragcraft felt he could almost giggle, but he stifled it for now. "Wonderful! One last question: can Verdia use this graveyard for-"
"No."
He blinked at her uncharacteristically blunt response, but he nodded regardless. It seemed that she hadn't become entirely soft once she had become an undead.
"I understand, Wiz," he told her while thinking of how he would be coming back tomorrow once he had hired some adventurers.
She seemed taken aback, and he smiled softly at her. "Keep up the good work. I'm sure you'll be able to break even soon!"
With that, he morphed his body back into the silhouette and loudly walked towards the beginning of the slope of the hill. Soon enough, he saw her turn away – this form's ability to survey its surroundings was unparalleled, so literally seeing out of the 'back' of his head was child's play – and he crouched down, preparing to transform.
If he'd had a face, he would have grimaced, but he didn't have a choice. He needed to figure out which bodies were best suited for becoming undead, and he couldn't do it in broad daylight or under the watch of Wiz.
He felt his arms and legs mold together, and he felt his neck disappear. Slowly, his body became one of his stealthiest forms: a Giant Worm.
They were easily killed by adventurers, but that was only when the Giant Worm tried to take on an adventurer. If they remained underground, they were nearly impossible to find.
It took him but a moment to adapt to his newest form, and then Ragcraft was off, burrowing through the ground, bumping into the occasional body, and making a mental map of where the best ones were.
He would be at this for a few hours, and then he would trek back towards Axel for a bath.
-OxOxO-
As she chewed on a frog leg, Tanya eyed the Succubi around her, wondering if Demons preferred to feel awkward during their celebrations.
She rather doubted it, but the atmosphere definitely suggested it. She'd eaten her fill and sipped at the wine, trying not to feel awkward as everyone spoke quietly. It didn't feel like a celebration.
The sounds of others eating, the occasional comment about the food or even the weather, and some whispered questions that Tanya couldn't make out from her position filled the room for several minutes.
It was almost unbearable, but Tanya was too busy eating and enjoying the alcohol to care, for now.
Finally, she had finished with her first serving. Just as she swallowed her last morsel, she began on her next serving, shoveling more food – Squirrel, Toad, and even a bit of Rookie Killer – onto her plate, carefully ensuring that her pajamas remained free of sauce.
The Succubus to her right blinked as she watched Tanya eat. "You have a rather voracious appetite for one so young."
Tanya almost spat out that she was sixteen, but that would have sent food flying across her plate and killed the pathetically weak conversation.
Since Tanya wasn't feeling homicidal, she just nodded. "Lots of mana usage means you have to eat a lot of food. I used to eat even more, back when I was a mage."
She tilted her head. "I thought you were an Adventurer?" she asked, and several of the surrounding Succubi looked their way, interested.
Tanya nodded slowly. She supposed she should reveal a few personal details that she could afford to let slip, if she was going to use their debt to build some sort of relationship with their business.
No doubt, they earned tons of money by providing dreams to frustrated teens and adventurers. She wanted a bit of that money, since she was sure the money she had managed to accumulate doing quests would disappear soon enough.
She'd already spent a large chunk of it on getting provisions for Viktoriya and building their equipment, and the materials used in Computation Jewels weren't cheap.
"I am. I fought for my nation in a war. Joined when I was… eight? Nine? Something like that."
The others seemed shocked, but Tanya had grown used to that reaction. She just sipped on her wine imperiously, hoping they wouldn't ask too many questions about the war.
After a moment, conversation began to spring up after that, no doubt about her, but it was more sufferable than the near-silence of earlier.
"By the way, what's your name?" Tanya asked as she nibbled at a bit of cabbage. The woman next to her smiled.
"Sorry to say, but we can't give those out freely. Those have power over weaker demons, among our other weaknesses…" she said.
Looking up from where she was staring at her plate, she looked up. "You can call me 'Receptionist Succubus' if you need to address me." Tanya nodded, but didn't pry into the weaknesses further.
She could ask Darkness about their weaknesses tomorrow. No doubt, most of those weaknesses had to do with religion, blocking her access to using such methods. Still, Darkness was a Crusader, which meant she might know a few more.
As Tanya looked around, it seemed that most of them had already finished eating. "You all said you feast on human vitality, right? Why eat at all, then?"
She shrugged. "There aren't enough jobs to be able to feed on them alone, so we supplement our diets with whatever food we can buy."
Tanya nodded, and went back to her food as the Succubus's attention was caught by another Succubus. A few more minutes passed, leaving Tanya to stew in her thoughts of what to do with the opportunity before her.
They would be good allies, if they treated her to food whenever she took out a Tranquility Girl.
Suddenly, one of the doors out of the room that Tanya hadn't seen burst open, and the three Succubus that had left earlier ran in, all of them happy. Several got up to greet them, including the receptionist.
Tanya turned to the purple haired Succubus who had been one of her kidnappers. "What's the big deal?"
Her happy expression faded into one of puzzlement, and then she nodded. "Right, you might not know. Demons of all kinds have really weak bodies. Pain and damage done to them, even clipping a simple nail, is very harmful. We're just happy she didn't go insane or die from that arm break."
Tanya's gaze turned to the Succubus who she'd hurt, and she grimaced. She'd nearly killed one of them, and now she was trying to make inroads…
"I guess I should apologize…" she mused.
The girl next to her waved her off. "No, it's our fault for kidnapping you. It's just… you started saying that prayer, and we were sure you were going to exorcise us," she said, looking apologetic and rubbing the back of her head.
Tanya fought the urge to grab a quick look at her breasts, and, for the millionth time that night cursed Being X for not giving her a male body.
Tanya rose to go apologize anyway – she wanted to have an upper hand in negotiations, and they could use the Demon's near-death as ammunition against her – but the scantily clad demon began to talk again.
"By the way, what Dark God do you worship? There are rumors of a Regina worshiper working near Belzerg, but…"
Tanya continued to walk, ignoring her question. Everyone – and she meant everyone – expected everyone else to praise some sort of god.
In her last world, it had gotten very annoying, and it hadn't gotten less annoying here.
Here, at least, there was justification for everyone's interest in it: you got support from whichever church you worshiped, and you got barred from entering the premises every church you didn't worship.
She shook her head as she walked towards the gaggle of Succubi, who was seeming a bit overwhelmed by all the attention she was getting. She wouldn't give anyone a definite answer as to her religion.
Let them assume she praised what they expected her to praise.
Tanya broke through the circle, lightly pushing them out of the way instead of elbowing them. What if elbowing a Demon gave them internal bleeding?
She didn't know, but giving someone internal bleeding seemed to be a very bad way to keep these people thankful to her, so she erred on the side of caution.
They parted easily, and Tanya cleared her throat once she was in front of the girl.
Her eyes widened, and Tanya began her apology. "Ahem. I am sorry for causing you so much harm. I wasn't aware of the possibility for death, and I didn't know what was going on. Still, I shouldn't have broken your arm just because I was trying to escape."
Tanya bowed her head, hoping she had done enough. Instead of some sort of icy acceptance like she had expected – Tanya certainly would have been absolutely furious at anyone that tried to kill her, accident or no – Tanya was hugged.
"Aw, it's alright. We lolis have to stick together, right?" she asked her happily.
Twitch.
Tanya felt her right eye twitch, and she was sure that stupid strand of hair on the top of her head was waving wildly, but she stiffly returned the hug. "Yes…"
The crowd around them began to return to the table, and both began to walk towards Tanya's spot on the table. "How'd you all sneak into our room? I didn't hear any of the floorboards creak."
A pink eyebrow climbed up the girl's forehead, before she giggled. "We can fly," she said.
Two purple wings sprouted from her back, thin and lithe. The girl began to float up, until she topped Tanya in height.
Tanya just raised an eyebrow, and the girl broke into a fit of giggles, curling up in the air. Tanya nodded respectfully as she slipped into her seat.
"Cool," she said as she took yet another sip of wine. The self-proclaimed loli slipped into the one to her left, her wings receding and a small pout forming.
"'Cool'? Usually, we get asked how we can stay afloat," she said crossing her arms, clearly fishing for the question. Tanya smiled amusedly, weighing if she should show her magic off.
Smiling widely, she decided she might as well. They had shown her theirs, after all. "It's just using mana or a spell, right? Just like me?"
The Succubus, on the verge of agreeing with her, whipped her head towards Tanya, eyebrows knit and eyes staring.
A grin on her face and a bit too much alcohol in her system, Tanya rose from her seat an inch, before scooting her chair back and rising further.
"No WAY!"
The gaze of every other Succubi was drawn to them, and they made similar declarations as they realized Tanya was flying in the air under her own power.
Tanya basked in the praise. "Yes way! Just a simple application of mana and force is all it takes!"
She began to do little tricks she'd picked up in the spare time the 203rd often had as it traveled from front to front, battlefield to battlefield.
A cartwheel, a bit of marching through the air as if she could walk across it, and even walking on the ceiling.
Thankfully, she didn't even have to worry about some stupid nightdress falling down around her head, as she hadn't gotten around to getting actual pajamas. She was still wearing the clothes she had first come here in to bed.
She wondered, for a moment, why that mattered, and then she decided that didn't matter, and that the people around her cheering loudly were much more important.
They ate it up, and Tanya sighed happily. She didn't often get good praise – she was awarded medals and favorable reports, but no one had ever held a party in her favor before, except for the 203rd.
Then, she stood on the ground, surrounded by scantily clad women all asking questions. She only halfheartedly hid her lustful gazes, mentally writing her actions off as her choosing someone to answer the questions of.
She picked the Loli Succubus. "Are you some sort of Devil?"
She chuckled. "Nope, pure human!"
She picked another one with a much more attractive figure – blonde, honey-colored hair and wearing even less than the average succubus there. "What else can you do?"
Tanya laughed. "All sorts of things! I can cast numerous Detonation spells, Lurk like a Thief, and cause untold damage to any who stand before me! Plus…" she trailed off, gathering a bit of mana.
"Reinforce Agility!" she shouted, pouring in as much as she could. The people around her slowed down, and Tanya ran to each, touching hair, pieces of clothing, and giving even a passing caress to their exposed skin.
She assumed her previous position, and reacted to their near simultaneous cries of fright at the unexpected touches.
Then, applause broke out. Tanya surveyed them again, picking out the purple haired one. "What Deity do you praise?"
Tanya froze.
The other Succubi all began to clamor for the answer. "Yeah! They must be super lenient on Demons, so Wolbach seems like she'd fit!"
The Receptionist Succubus spoke up, shaking her head. "No, she's not in any way representative of Sloth. It must be Regina!"
Another spoke out. "What could she be vengeful about? Plus neither of them can bestow flight! She must praise some sort of God from that Kingdom she mentioned that she fought for!"
More and more, they tossed forward names. She recognized none of them, but Tanya knew one thing: she followed none of them.
Faster and faster and faster, they continued to shout out names. They continued to dare suggest that she would bow before another being and call them god.
They continued to shout, all of them looking at her, having decided that only she could tell them.
"Which God! Which God! Which God!"
"NONE of them!"
Her shout had silenced them, and Tanya snarled at the cowards. "Do you all assume I have to have help to do what I do? That I have to bow my head, crawl through the dirt and grime, and beg for someone else to save me?"
Still, none of them spoke.
"Never! A thousand – No, a million times never! After all they've done to me, I couldn't, wouldn't and won't!"
With that, she snarled again, pushed passed the crowd, and sunk into her chair, glaring at them. Shamefaced and confused, they all followed her, sitting back in their chairs.
Tanya took a deep breath, trying to sober herself. She shouldn't have said that, but she couldn't take it back. She'd just have to make amends the old fashioned way: talking.
She cleared her throat. "I am sorry for the outburst, but I stand by what I said."
None of them dared to make a move, and Tanya pinched the bridge of her nose. Great. She'd ruined one of the first parties thrown in her honor.
She shook her head. "Moving on: I was wondering how much that Sleep spell costs to learn," she said, staring at the Loli Succubus.
She jumped out of her chair, bowing at the waist. "I- I'll demonstrate! I need more practice, after all…" she trailed off, looking to the others in the room.
The purple-haired one rose slowly, and Loli Succubus simply chanted, "Sleep!"
The Succubus seemed to waver on the spot, and another rose to set her in her seat. Tanya looked to Loli Succubus, and her stature straightened.
"Um… The spell isn't as effective as Paralyze, and it can be resisted by either high magical resistance or by someone with a strong enough will. But, since the skill is a part of being a Succubus, it should cost fewer Skill Points to learn for anyone we teach!"
Tanya nodded, patting her on the shoulder. She cursed as she realized her card was back in her room, and sighed. "I'll just have to learn it tomorrow. Now, I have a few propositions for you all, if you'll let me speak."
They seemed to pause for a moment, and Tanya winced at her own stupidity. She glanced down at the table, and swore she wouldn't drink in situations like this. She was obviously very lightweight if three glasses of wine could get her to spill so much.
The Receptionist took the first step, leaning towards her. "We'll listen to you, Tanya."
She smiled, and began to relay her ideas. They spoke, long passed morning and well into the middle of the day. But Tanya got her ideas out, and they had even taken up a few of them.
It was a start.
-OxOxO-
Chris was worried about The Atheist; not for her, of course, but about her whereabouts.
She had taken yet another day to come down, leaving her angels and Aqua to the work she usually got.
She had needed to get those Reincarnates their weapons back, however. It hadn't been easy, diving down to the bottom of the lake she'd been throwing them in, but she'd managed it.
She'd hand them out, give them a bit of training, and then, hopefully, see the end of The Atheist.
After that, she could pay a trip to the Demon General that was living nearby with them, watch him get defeated, and then wish them luck as they headed towards the capital.
Of course, giving them their weapons meant she needed to watch for The Atheist, so she didn't catch her giving them back their weapons. Unfortunately, if the shouting of Viktoriya was to be believed, The Atheist had disappeared.
Darkness and Chris had both tried to calm her when she'd burst into the guild earlier that morning looking distressed, but they hadn't succeeded. She had honestly only become more worried when they said they hadn't seen her.
She'd left again and been back within the hour, claiming she'd searched all of Axel for the petite Adventurer. She'd raised a complaint with Luna about it, waving around a large sack of jangling money she'd give to whoever found her.
Most of the other adventurers had left after that, scouring Axel. Chris was currently sitting with one of the few groups that hadn't left – the posse of Reincarnates. They were arguing whether they should help search for her.
Chris shook her head at their squabbling. "Enough. We wait here. You all still don't have your weapons back; I'll get them to you in a few days." Most of them glared at her, anxious to be reunited with their weapons, but all of them quieted down regardless.
She had wanted to bring them in sooner, but she would have to travel passed the guards, and coming back with a large bag of weapons wasn't exactly inconspicuous. She could have just Lurked out and Lurked back in, but she would have to wait for someone to go through the gate.
And since there weren't any monsters to slay, that meant she would have to wait for merchants, who were starting to become scarce with the lack of monsters and their parts.
Suddenly, the door burst open, startling the ten of them and the others who had decided to stay. None of them looked enthusiastic, and all of them were shying away from their leader.
Followed closely by a worried and calmer Darkness, Viktoriya marched up to the front desk, grabbing Luna by the small amount of cloth on her arms. "We couldn't find her! The guards said she never came by, no one has seen her, and you said she hasn't come her yet! That means she's missing, probably in the basement I told you I could sense her in!"
Chris felt sympathetic for the hapless-looking receptionist, who tried to pry the other girl's grip off of her. "P- Please! Adventurers go missing all the time! Have you tried the police station?"
Chris winced at the way Luna shrank away from what must have been a chilling stare. Chris couldn't see it, but everyone who had was backing away rapidly. "You dare suggest that Tanya wouldn't know how to evade every law known to mankind?"
Chris tilted her head, wondering at the odd description. One would usually assume an ardent supporter would say something about her being too pure to remain outside a prison cell; clearly, she knew her superior.
For the umpteenth time that day, the doors of the guild were blown open. All eyes turned to them, realizing that the police had assembled there. Leading them was, of course, Tanya von Degurechaff.
As a cheer went up at her being found and the police began to spread out, Chris wondered if the adage about speaking the devil's name applied to those who weren't actually demons.
Viktoriya ran towards The Atheist, and she embraced her for a moment. Then, she pulled away, leaving the shorter one smirking. "Well, it's nice to see you all so happy to see me, but before we continue…"
She spun on the spot, pointing towards the bar and the only person not staring at her. "That's the man! He's the one who led those strangers to my residence!"
Three police officers rushed towards him, dragging him towards Tanya, Viktoriya, and a rather sheepish looking older man.
"Dust…" he trailed off.
The adventurer looked angrily at them. "Hey, what's the-" he cried, only to cut himself off as he stared at Tanya. She smirked back at him.
Suddenly, his annoyed tone became rather apologetic. "Tanya! How nice to see you. Did you have an interesting meeting last night?" he asked, an eyebrow raised suggestively.
Tanya, unfazed, turned to Gerrard. She was going to enjoy this. "This is him, Gerrard. He's definitely the one."
He looked down at her, pleading with his eyes that she didn't have to do this. In her earlier meeting with Gerrard at the police station, however, she had outlined exactly why she needed to do it.
This was revenge on Dust; he'd led people she didn't know to where she was staying. Sure, he knew them, but Tanya didn't know if he would sell her out for a bottle of booze if given the opportunity. She just wanted to make it clear to him what she could do.
This was also revenge on Gerrard. He'd told the Succubi about her in the first place, and she didn't really want people giving her name away so easily. So, she wanted to make a spectacle out of this.
When he'd asked why he should help her, she had pointed out that, while his fellow policemen might not care about what he did, the policewomen surely would.
He'd caved in an instant, and here she was, watching as Dust was clapped into handcuffs.
He brought out a hastily written notice of imprisonment, and read out what it said. "Dust. You have been a petty criminal for months, harassing people, conning people, and even peeking in on bathing women. However, you've gone too far this time."
He paused, and looked down at her again. She smiled, and motioned him to continue.
Groaning, he read out the last line. "For giving the location of Tanya von Degurechaff's current residence to potentially harmful aggressors, you are charged with one month of jail time, with no chance for getting out early."
He looked quite pleased, but Tanya cut off his dreams of living comfortably for a month quickly. "That is, you won't be in the holding cell, but an actual cell, under the supervision of the policewomen."
Now, he looked angry, because he hadn't ever been in a real jail cell, since most of his crimes were really not worth the effort. He opened his mouth again, but she waved the police officers onward, and they began to leave.
Gerrard, throwing one last annoyed glance at Tanya, read out an addition she had made. "Additionally, if you attempt to appeal this, you'll be put in court, where all of your other crimes will be reviewed, since you were never technically tried for them."
With that, Dust threw one last glare at Tanya, before he hung his shoulders and trudged on, in a calculated display to gain sympathy.
Tanya only felt a twinge of it, which was soon crushed under her feelings of watching a well thought-out plan being executed perfectly.
Viktoriya stuck close to Tanya as she sat down at her table, and Darkness sat across from them. Before any of them could wonder about Chris's absence, she nodded to the Reincarnates.
"Remember: I'll have your weapons for you tonight. Just be here by then."
All of them gave her an assortment of goodbyes – from Shizuka's demur "Goodbye" to Kei's steady nod.
She sat down and began to talk amiably with Darkness as the other two spoke in their own language. Darkness didn't seem to mind – she'd asked what it was about and left it at that – but Chris did.
The whole point of her being close to The Atheist was to learn about her and try to get her killed. Crucial details could be passed between the two of them, and Chris wouldn't even know.
She stood, offering to go get a quest. She needed to get those weapons.
-OxOxO-
A/N 1: And that's that! Everyone is gathering more allies, and things are still coming to a head.
Now, after this, I'll be settling into a more regular upload schedule. Something like one or two chapters a week, I think, depending on if I hang you guys off of a cliff or not.
Other than that, I'll ask again, just to be sure: Should Omakes be part of a different story, or should they be tacked on to the end of the regular chapters? I've actually got a side story half-finished – no spoilers – so I'm leaning towards making the Omakes their own thing as well.
Still, if you all would prefer something different, please tell me. I'll be accepting votes for that up until I post chapter 20, at which point, I'll either make a seperate story or shove them at the end of the chapters.
A/N 2: Several people, including the esteemed Gremlin Jack, writer of 'A Young Girl's Delinquency Record' – go read that too – have suggested that I post this on SpaceBattles Forum, to which I'll say…
Maybe? Right now, I'm looking for my first job and getting my driver's license, so I don't have as much time to write as I would like – 24 hours a day. Still, uh… I promise I'll at least try to crosspost it there. Eventually.
A/N 3: In case anyone not using mobile is curious, I made the cover image. It took two hours, but that's what I get for using Google Images.
A/N 4: This section is to respond to reviews on FF net alone.
Prometheus-42: I will be completely transparent: KonoSuba is not exactly... consistent with a great many things – Aqua's ability to turn anything into water and the… vague timeline among them – and the Divine Relics are also one of them. In the Sixth Light Novel, for example, the Princess is threatened by a Divine Relic that once belonged to a Reincarnate that died, and it had plenty of power, despite its owner being dead. Meanwhile, Mitsurugi's sword's powers are completely unusable by any besides him. I'm guessing it has something to do with whether the relic's creators decided it could be used by anyone or by only the owner.
simple405: I think I mentioned, somewhere, that the Reinforcement spells don't exactly do wonders for your height and a war's dismal food doesn't do wonders for physical development. If I haven't… uh, well, I guess I probably should have.
DNWorks: Tanya's interactions with Vanir will be interesting, to say the least. He is more powerful than her, and she could also spill every last secret she has to those around her that she doesn't tell. Meanwhile, she represents something he doesn't like very much at all: someone that doesn't mind killing humans before he can extract every last bit of shame and embarrassment from them. On the other hand, he will want to reveal that she and Viktoriya love each other at precisely the right moment to induce the most emotions. I can't wait!
carnagie: Tanya is no Schugel. While the Type 97 and Type 95 do have similarities, they are not identical, and she just doesn't have the knowledge required to completely reconstruct something like that from memory, even with the Type 95. Thankfully, Viktoriya fulfilled that niche quite nicely. As for why she wouldn't ditch everything she knew for this new world's magic, Tanya, like most people, prefers things she knows works. She knows that having gunpowder in the age of horses and a Computation Jewel in the age of waving sticks around are massive legs up on everyone. Also, she is an Adventurer, which means she would have to find someone that knows that spell. The Megumin spinoffs highlight that people that know the Blast, Detonation, and Explosion spells are rare to practically nonexistent, in that order. Some of them might have congregated in Axel for the Eris Festival, but they wouldn't stick around long enough for her to try and learn anything from them, even if she wanted to waste the 30 Skill Points and hours upon hours of learning it would take to get them, as outlined in the spinoffs and volume 16.
As for why she wouldn't dump the Type 95, it is useful, even if she despises it.