Tanya sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose, and attempted to suppress her anger at the conniving hoard before her.
Last night, Tanya and Viktoriya had briefly discussed her battle with Chris before moving on to a detailed look at their defense of Axel and her fight with the… Amalgamation – a most apt name provided to them by both the Undead Mage that had cast it and a terrified Luna.
They'd talked about what Tanya could have done better and where she should probably improve, most of which involved getting more information on the tactics and magic in this world.
It was painful to admit it, but Tanya still didn't know what the limits of this world's spells were, and yesterday showed just how detrimental that could be.
What were the limits of Advanced magic? Could it do more, or was the spell she'd witnessed yesterday the limit? And, if that horrible spell wasn't the limit, then just what was worse?
Tanya just didn't know, though a visit to Wiz might help in that regard.
After talking for a bit more on the subject of self-improvement, Tanya had realized she had completely forgotten that Viktoriya didn't have the Agility Reinforcement spell Tanya had picked up. Tanya had stressed the need to continue to find ways to hide the fact that their magic was different, and learning that version of the Reinforcement spell would help them keep up the idea that they were odd instead of unique to those that might be… interested in advancing magic.
If neither side had a version of personal flight of their own and they found out about Tanya and Viktoriya's method, they'd definitely want to figure out how to use them – many, many books in the War College discussed how revolutionary flight had been, and all of them included both planes and Aerial Mages. She had no doubt they would be just as important here.
They had both turned in to bed soon after that, and she had woken up the next day to an apologetic looking Viktoriya. She'd explained the situation, and Tanya was here, lacking her mantle, speaking to the confident crowd of conniving clergy in the guild, and valiantly attempting the urge to pull out her pistol and murder a couple of them.
Many adventurers were looking at their argument with interest, but no onlookers made to intervene.
"No. I don't care what you say, I'm not giving you all a million Eris."
Ashley stepped forward, putting on a burdened air. "But Lady Degurechaff, you owe us money. You told us that you'd give us ten thousand Eris, and that we would get more when we got back to the guild. Plus, we healed you, which means you owe us more. Finally, it's Sunday, and your insistence on not complying is taking away valuable time for churchgoers."
Tanya scowled at them, but most of the ones she could see seemed pretty happy with themselves. Before Tanya could tear that smug look from their faces, one of the ones next to Ashley shouted, "Just be happy we aren't going to charge you interest."
Twitch.
That was the last straw. Smiling widely, she nodded enthusiastically. "I really would love to, but you see, I've already given you your payment. I said I'd give you all ten thousand Eris, or the equivalent in goods. You all spent much more than ten thousand partying last night, so I think we're even."
None of them stopped smirking, but Tanya could tell, from how all of them straightened their posture, that they'd been affected. "I distinctly remember you telling everyone they could eat and drink to their hearts' content, Tanya."
Tanya shook her head. "I privately told Luna that you all would only be getting free service because of a deal we had. Luna agreed. You have all been paid."
She wanted to add a happy 'and go fuck yourselves' at the end of that, but she didn't really think they'd be able to take it. More than one of them looked very distraught, as if they couldn't handle someone telling them 'no.'
The other half that weren't close to tears were getting angry. Ashley stepped forward, gesturing to the Priests behind her. Their muttering died down, and she leveled a condescendingly patient stare at her, one she remembered from her time in the orphanage.
Tanya did not like that stare.
"Tanya, that doesn't clear the debt the one next to you owes us."
Tanya glanced towards Viktoriya, who's head bowed down in shame. Tanya merely rolled her eyes. Viktoriya really needed to learn how to stand up for herself sometimes.
Tanya brought her attention back to Ashley. "Yes it does. You all spent much more than ten thousand Eris each."
Tanya had already confirmed it earlier with Luna last night. After Luna had become… visibly unwell at the mention of the word 'Amalgamation,' Tanya had moved quickly on to how much everyone was spending.
If they had spent the average, Tanya would still owe them money, but most of them would have spent well above the average, if they'd been paying.
Now, Ashley gave her a real glare. Then, as one, they all turned to Luna. "Receptionist. Why were we not told?"
She glanced at Tanya for a moment, but Tanya didn't respond to her – obvious – eye motions that indicated the receptionist thought Tanya should deal with it.
When Tanya didn't help her, she shrugged nervously, keeping up her ever-present smile. "I assumed you all knew of the deal. However, we can provide each of you ten thousand Eris, if you really are that insistent on being paid."
They turned again towards Tanya, now visibly angry and fuming. "You would dare deny us money, after everything we did?"
Tanya scoffed. "You all turned tail and ran away the moment the Amalgamation came out. Instead of helping, you were probably running back to your churches, packing up everything that wasn't nailed down, and planning to leave."
Tanya smirked as she saw more than a few of them bend their heads and look down shamefully. Ashley just rolled her eyes. "We would have died fighting."
"Well, that's… expected, right?" Tanya asked rhetorically, raising her voice as she spoke. "Your goddess demands that you all fight Demons and the undead, right? If you abandon that tenant of your faith so easily… I wonder why you all were so adamant about being paid fairly. They obviously aren't that important to you."
The adventurers in the guild were beginning to form a crowd, and some of them were sending rather pointed looks at the assembled Priests. They looked rather nervous, but Ashley seemed to either not notice or not care enough to stop.
"Be quiet! If we don't get paid, we'll stop providing our services!"
The crowd, before conversing amiably, suddenly quieted greatly. The church was supposed to provide healing and relief for the needy, even if they did demand some prayers or confessions from those they helped.
Tanya just laughed at them. "Fine. I'll just cast Heal on everyone. For free."
It was a bluff. Tanya wasn't going to be sticking around longer than she had to, but she hadn't told anyone about her plans to leave, besides Viktoriya and Bill the Blacksmith.
Ashley demonstrated that fact by shrinking back at her threat. "You detest the poor so much that you'd abandon them?" she asked, trying for another feeble attack at her character.
Tanya was about to speak, but Viktoriya beat her to the punch. "The Mithril Foundation has actually begun providing poor relief in place of what you do, and they don't even ask for piety. They've also begun teaching the children. Why haven't you done those things?"
At that, Luna stepped forward. "Ah, that reminds me. The guild will be utilizing the Mithril Foundation for poor relief from now on, so we will be paying you half of our usual tithe for the foreseeable future."
Tanya blinked at the odd word, but then she began smirking even more. Tithes – the church's taxes, if she remembered correctly – were more than necessary in a world where they provided actual, magical services instead of just sermons.
It seemed that the Mithril Foundation had made at least some of those services obsolete, however.
Tanya began to smirk as the group broke out into hurried whispering. How horrible.
She would have to find some way to cope with that fact.
She didn't think it would be too hard.
The Priests looked around them, and Tanya couldn't help but widely smile at that. It seemed Ashley wasn't done, however.
"May Eris cur-"
Whatever she was going to say was cut off by the Priest next to her. "We will accept your offer of ten thousand each graciously, Luna. Come, everyone. Let us collect our rewards."
With that, the crowd of Priests dispersed, and Tanya sighed. It seemed things would end without a fight, this time.
She turned around to see that Viktoriya was pouting a bit. She tilted her head. "What's wrong?"
She shrugged. "I don't know… is it wise to alienate them like this?"
That brought Tanya up short. Pushing people into corners often got them to act rashly, herself included.
Considering how powerful the church was as an institution in the histories of her last life, they probably had even more influence in a world where they could back up their claims of divine power by healing people.
Grumbling, she took a hold of the bag of Eris she'd brought with her – intending to give it to Luna as a parting gift – and stalked over to them. The Priests all seemed to be clamoring at the front desks, fighting to get to the front and get their rewards first.
She tapped one of the Priests on the edge of the group on the back. He turned around, and shrank back from her.
She wasted no time consoling him. "Here."
She shoved the bag into his hands, and then walked off.
"W- Wait!"
She turned around again, annoyed. He shrank back, but he spoke nonetheless. "Why? You were arguing against us so fiercely…"
Tanya rolled her eyes. "You all did do some work yesterday, and ten thousand each isn't… the most fair price. Just consider us actually even."
Considering that bag was filled with silver Eris, not copper, they better not want to try and take anymore from her.
With that, she waved Viktoriya over, intending to leave the guild. She was sure she had a question about something – Tanya was guessing it had to do with their future plans – judging by the way her gaze shot from Tanya to the ground more than once, but-
Then, someone ran into her.
What happened next was not cute and typical of such occurrences in fiction, where both of them bumped into each other and they dropped what they were holding.
Tanya was sent backwards, sprawled across the ground, and she was fairly sure the other person had also hit the ground hard, if the groans of pain were as bad as they sounded.
Viktoriya helped Tanya to her feet, and Tanya thanked her as she stood over the one who'd run into her.
With a scar over his nose and mossy hair that was cut close to his head, the adventurer was dressed in dark blue pants that resembled denim and a gray shirt.
He was rubbing his nose while his apparent companions consoled him.
He opened his eyes, and then took a look at Tanya, who had raised an eyebrow at the man. He blinked, and then shot to his feet, stammering. "I- I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"
Tanya waved his apology away. "It's no problem. Just make sure you watch where you're going, alright?"
He nodded furiously, and, as Tanya turned away, he continued to speak. "Is there anything I can do to repay you?"
Tanya sighed tiredly, but she turned back around. He was offering something, so she might as well take advantage of his offer…
Wait. She looked off into the distance. Last night seemed rather far off right now, but it had to do with using her wish to…
She smirked at him, and he cast his head downwards.
Right, she had thought about using that wish to bring modern stuff to this world and to rule it economically.
Doing something like that now would obviously be harder than simply wishing for crates of stuff, but there was no reason she couldn't take the idea of making modern products in this world to earn boatloads of cash.
First, of course, came market research. What did people here want?
She turned her attention back to the man in front of her. She stared at him, trying to match his face with a name.
"Your name is… Rex, correct?" she asked. He nodded, eyes wide. She eyed him speculatively, an action that sent his gaze back to the ground while his companions snickered.
He'd probably have a bit of knowledge about what people wanted. She could always ask Luna, the other adventurers, and Wiz-
Actually, no. Asking Wiz would not be a good idea, if everything she said about her shop doing poorly was true.
"Well, I'll ask you a few questions about adventuring."
He shook his hands in front of him, and his two companions smiled at him, mirth present in their eyes. "No, please! I've only been an actual adventurer for a few weeks, and I only arrived in Axel recently…"
She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. It's just about quests." She walked towards a table and sat down, watching him nervously do the same.
"Now, I don't go on overnight quests too often – I have things I need to do besides adventuring. I was just wondering what went into taking on such quests," she explained. If she was going to be making products for adventurers, she might want to know about their preferences.
He sighed, and began to talk animatedly. He'd gone on one recently, in fact, travelling a distance away to a nearby town to take care of some recently spotted goblins. Their supplies had gotten soggy in a recent downpour, and they'd had to go hungry, since their fire-starting supplies were ruined.
Tanya nodded slowly, a grin forming on her face. "Thank you, Rex. That's all I needed."
He looked confused, wondering how he'd been that helpful, but Tanya rose quickly. Viktoriya followed behind her.
Maybe they would stay in Axel an extra day or two.
-OxOxO-
Tanya stalked through the streets of Axel. There were very few people out and about. Back in the guild, the Priests had mentioned that it was Sunday today, and many people and adventurers, after much grumbling about them holding everything up, had followed them off to Church.
Now, she and Viktoriya had split up – her former adjutant was headed to the Blacksmith, to beg to be allowed to use his supplies again. Tanya would head there after her current task was complete, to make more cartridges and fix the rifle 'Chris' had damaged…
Tanya frowned. Yes, 'Chris.' Her real name was Mary Sioux and, to the regular, rank and file soldiers in the Empire, she was known as the Bloody Valkyrie.
She frowned. Tanya was sure she had a nickname among the Cordiale that was just as horribly ironic as Tanya's 'Mithril' had been.
Tanya scowled as she continued to think about that woman. She had no idea why that bitch had chosen to be a Thief, of all things, instead of, at the least, Archmage.
Tanya shrugged to herself. If she wasn't in her original body – cause even Tanya couldn't miss her hair being silver in her last life – then maybe she had been here for years and years, just as Tanya had been in her second life?
Tanya didn't know what the purpose of that would be, but she was no mind reader.
She thought back to those supplies she wished she had now that the bitch had blown up, and to the fight, and how it had ended-
Tanya shook her head, resisting the urge to trek towards one of the upscale buildings around her to find a brick with which to bludgeon herself with.
All it had taken was a single kiss for her to completely lose track of what she was doing. She'd let Mary slip through her grasp, and Tanya didn't doubt that the insane girl would try something else in the future.
Scowling, she continued down the road, idly studying the over-the-top buildings around her.
She hadn't been to this part of Axel much. She'd been here once to register the Mithril Foundation as a legitimate organization, but that was about it.
Earlier, she'd gone to the same place and asked where she might get a patent for an invention. They'd directed her to another shop, where a very old looking man with far too few teeth had cackled at her constantly, asking for a number of things she didn't have.
Yet.
She needed to bring in a working version of whatever she wanted to make to confirm that it wasn't something someone else had made, the plans for its design, and someone else to affirm that she was who she said she was and that she was trustworthy.
The working example of what she could make would come later, when Viktoriya had gotten some tools, as would the design.
For now, getting someone to sign for her meant finding Wiz, Darkness, or Gerrard.
The wily old man at the shop didn't seem like he'd be all that concerned with the nobility and their power, but even he would balk at crossing Darkness. Probably.
The Crusader had said something about being part of a 'great noble' family, or something. That had to mean something, as far as her family's power went.
Tanya sighed as she looked around at the expensive, frankly outlandish housing for the fifth time that hour. All of them matched – and probably exceeded – the wealth and decadence present in the Imperial Headquarters in Berun.
Every single building was made of stone and brick, with wide windows, pillars, columns, and domes covered each of them. They all looked very impressive, as well as very unnecessarily expensive.
Tanya shrugged. She couldn't tell them what to do with their money, and if they wanted to waste it on mansions, she couldn't stop them.
Tanya looked around again, cursing herself for laughing at Darkness when she'd told Tanya her name instead of asking for directions to her house.
Lalatina.
Tanya smiled, chuckling to herself. Well, at least she could use the girl's name to make herself laugh whenever she was feeling down.
She looked around one last time, and then shook her head. She just didn't know where Darkness could be found.
She'd talk to Gerrard, then; maybe he would sign off on her paperwork? He probably didn't like how evasive Tanya had been during her questioning following her battle against Chris, so convincing him might take a bit-
Just as she was about to head towards the police station, she was suddenly stopped by a meaty hand that gripped her shoulder.
Red and yellow cloth and marble and hallways and being dragged and a dead man and no no no no no-
Suppressing the intense desire to throw whoever had grabbed her shoulder over her shoulder and into next week, she turned around stiffly.
What met her gaze was a short wall.
Red, barely-able-to-conceal-what-hid-beneath clothing was wrapped around the wall, while a blond, trashy wigs sat atop the wall. Tanya wasn't sure how a wall could speak in such a nasal voice, but this one certainly could.
"Did you hear me, girl? Where are your parents?" asked the wall.
Tanya blinked again, and she realized that it wasn't a wall, but a man so morbidly obese that he made even the weightiest American look malnourished.
The wig was just very unkempt hair, his clothes were struggling to contain his… generousness, and his loud, nasal voice was coming from a very small mouth that reminded her of a nutcracker.
Twitch.
She tried to walk away from the wall, but knights suddenly blocked her way, and she turned around to see that someone had painted the face of the wall red while she'd been trying to leave.
It tried to talk to her again. "Answer me! When Aurip Barnes Alexei, the noble in control of Axel's finances and the brother of Alderp, Lord of Axel, speaks to someone, they should hasten to speak!"
Tanya's eyes widened. "Oh, you're a noble? Could you point me to…" she smiled slightly, fighting to keep her tone level, "Lalatina Ford Dustiness's house? I need her to look at a few things."
The man's eyes widened, and he sneered at her. "Dustiness? You presume to be so well connected and also unknown to me?"
Tanya scoffed. "Duh. I adventure with her all the time."
Aurip's beady eyes narrowed, and then they widened again. He glared fiercely at the knights that had surrounded her. "Back off!"
After they had all given her a bit of space, he stared down at her, nervous. "I- I hesitate to ask, but what might your name be?"
"Tanya von Degurechaff," she said simply as she raised an eyebrow. Immediately, the man relaxed, now more calm.
"Ah, nevermind. Your appearance made me mistake you for… Iris," he said. Tanya stared at him incomprehensibly, wondering who Iris was.
The bowling ball made no attempt to inform her, however, instead staring down at her again.
Tanya glanced around and realized that no one was moving. Guessing that he still wanted an answer to his first question, she sighed. "If you are looking for my parents, you could never find them, since they're most likely dead."
The man's eyebrows creased again. "How old are you?"
Twitch.
Everyone's gaze was dragged to the strand of hair on top of her head – Tanya had not felt very comfortable wearing the Circlet after Viktoriya's description of Tanya's actions against the Amalgamation and how it might be making the Type 95's curse worse – and Tanya, slowly, asked the man, "How old did you… think I was?"
He looked rather nervous, no doubt due to Tanya's even glare, and Tanya felt what little interest in the conversation shrivel up. She turned around and pushed passed the knights.
She heard him make a commotion, and they surrounded her again. She let her anger show on her face, but he was only momentarily stopped by her expression.
"Ahem. I was wondering if someone as deliciously cute as you would allow me, Aurip, to entertain you for an evening."
Tanya blinked.
She blinked again, and then she began to hope that she actually had beaten herself unconscious with a brick or walked into a wall, and that she was talking to it right now in some sort of brain-damage-related hallucination.
Nothing about her surroundings changed.
Deliciously.
She grimaced. "I'm sixteen." She watched his face for even the slightest betrayal that he was a pedophi-
His smile grew in size and lecherousness. "Even better!"
Twitch.
Tanya hid her disgust, anger, and rage under a deep intake of breath. How would she tell this wall that she wasn't in the least interested without alienating him or murdering-
She stopped. Then, she let a grin split her face.
She was leaving Axel, right? She'd likely never see any of the people around her again!
Or, even if she did come back, they were nobles. There was no way she would ever have to interact with them on a daily basis or anything.
She didn't have to give a damn about what she said to them. She could take out the stress and hatred generated by every lewd stare her underdeveloped, female body throughout her time in this backwards place. She could take out her anger at that Spearman of Chris's yesterday on this piece of shit. Her anger – it wasn't fear it wasn't it wasn't – at the thing who'd-
She glared at him, leveling as much hatred as she could. Instantly, the wall lost a few rows of bricks. The knights around her all backed up a step.
She inhaled, going through a list of every insult she could imagine and discarding many that wouldn't make any sense to the people of this world. Then, she began her tirade, closing her eyes and pumping mana into her Type 97 to add an extra intimidating effect to her words.
"Listen here, you loli-fucking piece of shit. Stay away from me. I'm not interested in marriage, sex, and, least of all, you. I would rather the moon come crashing down and attempt to fuck me, because it would still not be as massive as your disgusting, flabby, ball of a body."
"And I'd probably feel something then, at least. Do you often harass nobles you see on the street, hopeful that you'll be able to feel something touch your worm-like cock? I can't imagine that you're able to masturbate yourself without crushing the tiny thing under your girth."
"If you ever think of me again, I hope you imagine me violently dismembering you, because that will happen if you so much and think of my face. I'll insert everything I cut off into whatever orifice I can fit them in, eyes and nose included, should I find out."
She let her words hang in the air for a moment, and then she barked out an "Understand?"
She opened her eyes and reveled in the whimpering, softly sniffling pile of fat that had appeared. She looked around and realized that the knights were all huddled up behind their lord, armor clattering loudly.
She smirked, and the blob attempted to move away. She spun around, happy to have worked off a bit of her stress.
She hadn't made someone cry like that in a year, and it was always refreshing to take out a bit of her anger on people she'd never see again.
-OxOxO-
Tanya smirked as she watched Gerrard groan and, inevitably, rise from his seat. He wasn't happy about it, but it wasn't like he wouldn't support her.
"Thank you, Mr. Head of the Police! I couldn't find Darkness, so I'm happy that you're willing to vouch for me." She smiled as they began to walk through the building.
He shook his head. "You'd better drop that title. I'm retiring in a few weeks," he muttered.
That brought Tanya up short, and the teasing expression on her face faded. "Well, I guess that's fine. You're getting pretty old anyway-"
He shook his head. "I'm being asked to retire. They think I'm old, and, more importantly, they suspect us of harboring criminals," he said, sending her a meaningful look.
She held up her hands as she backed out of the building. "I'm innocent, and you couldn't find anything to implicate me anyway. Who's this 'they,' by the way?"
He stopped in the doorway. "I was referring to the Succubi."
Tanya gave him a sheepish smile, and Gerrard shook his head. "…Whatever. 'They' are the Central Peace Authority in the capital. Honestly, I'm lucky that they let me stay around this long."
Tanya gazed at him confusedly. "What do you mean? You seem like a responsible person, a hard worker, and trustworthy."
He shot her another raised eyebrow. "Besides that one area," she half-muttered.
He glanced at her, amused for some reason. She just raised an eyebrow, and he shook his head, chuckling. "You know, I think you're the only noble I've met that hasn't looked down on me for being a peasant."
Tanya opened her mouth again, but he stopped her. "No. My tanned skin tells everyone I meet that I got plenty of sun growing up in the south, and my hair, where it isn't gray or gone, is burgundy. I'm a peasant, and I'm thankful that I've been allowed stick around this long."
Tanya pouted a bit, wishing once again that this place was as meritocratic as the Empire had been. It just didn't seem likely, however.
Even the Empire had only become as rigidly equal as it had due to the fact that they contained a lot of land and even more minorities. If they weren't fair, the people they were attempting to assimilate would try and rebel, and the only thing the Empire seemed to hate more than losing a war to a foreign power was losing a war to itself.
They arrived at the building in short order, and the creepy patent officer told her that she was indeed trustworthy, if the Head of the Police was vouching for her. They walked out, and Gerrard sighed.
"Why were you so insistent that we do this, anyway?"
Tanya smiled slightly. "Well, I'm leaving Axel tomorrow. I wanted to get these done while I'm here, since it's almost certainly cheaper to do everything here instead of the capital."
Gerrard nodded, and the two faced each other.
Both just stared, and then Tanya held out her hand. "It was nice knowing you, Gerrard. I hope we'll meet again, but if we don't…"
He also smiled, and he shook her hand. Tanya smirked, pressed a bag of money into his hand, and then ran off. She could hear him shouting for her to come back and take her bribe back, but she didn't listen.
He'd helped her out, and she didn't think that the retirement services of this country could be all that good, if people regularly sought out Tranquility Girls to pass away.
Besides, it wasn't a bribe. It was a gift she hoped he'd spend well. Maybe on the Succubi's shop, after his three months were up.
Speaking of which…
Tanya looked over her shoulder, saw that he wasn't following her, and slowed down, strolling to the Succubi's shop. Thankfully, it was rather close to the patent office, so the walk didn't take too long.
She walked in the back door, took a short trip down a hallway, and saw a room of Succubi working. None of them were wearing their negligee, and all of them seemed to be working on the charity.
They turned to the door, and happy cries of "Tanya!" greeted her, and they came and surrounded her, asking if she was okay.
"Don't worry, I'm okay. I just need to sit down, please," she said, slipping into one of their spare chairs.
The shrapnel in her side had been extracted by the Eris Cultists – another reason she'd decided to give them a bit of extra cash – but Tanya still felt her side ache occasionally. It was unfortunate, but she wouldn't tear open her side just to remove whatever lingering debris might be left.
Not without help, anyway.
The Eris Cultist certainly weren't doing it without more money than in all of Axel, after their latest conflict, and, while Tanya might be strong, she very much doubted that she'd have the strength to do it on her own.
Most of the Succubi walked back to their stations, filling out paperwork, making plans, or donning cloaks and walking out of the door with food in hand. It seemed they were distributing food and supplies now, and they were helping people get jobs.
Tanya turned to Receptionist Succubus at her side, smirking. "I have a proposition for you all, if you'd like to earn more money."
The Succubi all nervously shook their heads, and Receptionist Succubus began to speak. "It's fine! With the new system the adventurers set up thanks to Wiz, they have more than enough money to spend here! We haven't had to increase our prices, and they've been coming in even more often. The charity is helping us get more job experience, and we're helping a lot of people get jobs so that they can spend their money here. Honestly, we have too much money at this point…"
Tanya continued smirking. She knew they might want to turn down the offer, but Tanya was nothing if not persuasive. "Well, have you been reinvesting it? Buying better furnishings, expanding your building, anything like that?"
She shook her head slowly. "Not really. If we get much bigger, we might get found out."
"Then expand the other shopfront you bought for the Foundation. Hire some regular humans so that they can run some of the business for you and make things look less suspicious. Buy a building you can use as a schoolhouse, instead of using the orphanage. You've got a lot of options, and since you all don't need much upkeep besides going out and feasting on the dreams out your customers, there isn't a chance one of you will do something like embezzle the money."
She nodded, and Tanya opened her mouth again, but the Succubus still shook her head. "It's fine. If you've got an idea for something, we'll help you, but I think we're fine with our size for now."
Tanya nodded to herself. "Alright. I'd also like to see if you all could get me a magical item?"
She blinked at Tanya owlishly. "Why do you think we could get it?"
Tanya raised an eyebrow. "So you're denying that you don't peek around inside your clients' minds whenever you give them dreams?"
She stood there, stone faced, and then she grumbled. Tanya smiled. "Thanks! It's… a kind of…"
Tanya frowned. How would she tell them what she wanted without coming off as some kind of sexual deviant?
Well, Wiz didn't have anything like that, which meant it was rare, and Tanya didn't doubt that it was also very expensive. Other than that, though…
Tanya shrugged. "Just look out for bunches of rare and expensive items. It might possibly be illegal, though not too illegal."
"You know, if you told us what you wanted it to do, we could find it a lot easier," she said as she picked at a nail.
Tanya glared at her lightly, but the woman just smiled. "Just… every week or so, send me a letter with the details of anything that might match. If I see it, I'll head back," she said.
Receptionist Succubus nodded, and Tanya sighed. That about did it for today. She stood up.
"Fine. I'm going to be leaving Axel, so-"
Receptionist Succubus became panicked. "Wait, please don't! What if we need your help?"
Tanya shook her head. "No. I've got to go to the capital to keep leveling up. Besides, I trust you."
The Succubus paused, apparently surprised by something. "You… trust us? You trust Demons?"
Tanya raised an eyebrow. "Well, as much as I can trust people I haven't known for more than a few weeks. You haven't done anything to double cross me, and you've all been perfectly nice to me. Why wouldn't I?"
She wrung her hands nervously. "Most people don't trust Demons."
Tanya rolled her eyes. "That seems… stupid. I hadn't met any Demons until I met you all, and I'm not inclined to believe the baseless lies of a religion."
The woman's eyes seemed to tear up, and Tanya resisted the urge to fidget.
Honestly, a small part of her preferential treatment of them was that they were directly opposed to Being X and his cohorts. There was, quite literally, no way he could ever compromise them and turn them against her. Tanya could trust them a lot more than others she had known for longer thanks to that.
"Alright. Well, even if you don't help in the business directly, I need you all to hold onto some of my money. I'll explain later, I just need one or two of you to show up at Wiz's place tomorrow after lunch."
She nodded her head frantically, and Tanya saw herself out after a few updates on what they were doing. They were helping the poor, and with their extra revenue, they were planning on sponsoring the construction of poor houses or to help fund the reconstruction of the portions of the wall that the invasion had damaged.
Tanya agreed with everything, despite some of her lingering doubts. Now, she'd go to the Blacksmith and begin constructing every helpful invention she could think of…
She frowned as she left the building. Right, she'd made that deal with Verdia. She couldn't make every helpful invention, then, but there had to be a lot she could make, right?
-OxOxO-
Looking at the pile of things she was showing off to Wiz and a pair of Succubi that the Receptionist had sent to her, Tanya felt somewhat… inadequate.
Her appearance didn't help the matter: she was covered in burns, her hands were clasped behind her back to hide how red they were from constantly bending metal and other materials all of yesterday afternoon and last night, and Tanya was fairly sure that there was still string in her hair, somewhere.
After fixing her rifle, she had tried to make anything and everything she could.
Really, she had.
There just weren't many things she could introduce to this world without aiding either side massively, and she did want to keep good relations with Verdia.
Tanya paused her thoughts. Verdia…
She cursed under her breath; she could remember… a vague image of meeting him, which meant she'd had some sort of encounter with him while under the influence of the Type 95 and the Circlet. Viktoriya had been unsure as to where Tanya's body had flown off to after she had finished off the Amalgamation, and Tanya hadn't had a clue.
She had forgotten whatever had happened in her encounter with him. That was… not good.
She shook her head, and smiled at the three people surveying her work. "Well, what do you all think?"
They were all holding a different item, and looking at them curiously. "Well, they all look interesting. But what do they do?" asked one of the two Succubi.
Tanya smiled, and she grabbed the first item from the purple-haired succubus, who had been holding the item by the small chain and key ring Tanya had made.
"Adventurers encounter all sorts of problems whenever they go on quests: thick bushes, a lack of hygiene, and, above all, a lack of space. They can't possibly plan for every encounter, so this helps to cut down on the limitations of how much they can carry by combining many tools into a single casing!"
With that, she began to disassemble the bright red Swiss army knife, showing off everything it had. "Scissors, a pencil, a saw, a file, a knife, and even a ruler! All of it is contained within this tiny casing, allowing for easy transport and, with the key ring, it's even hard to lose, too!"
She passed them out, and each of them began to fiddle with them, eyes sparkling. Wiz immediately looked up. "How does it hold so much? Is it magic?"
She shook her head at the thought of how reliant everyone must have been on magic, with how much more versatile it was. "It's just well built."
All of them nodded, and began to look at the items on the small table with interest, instead of simple curiosity.
One by one, she showed off everything she'd made.
A lighter that meant you wouldn't have to carry around supplies and keep them dry.
Safety matches, if you couldn't afford a lighter or didn't care for one.
Gauze, for families that couldn't afford the care of a Priest.
Band-Aids, for cuts on your arms or hands that you'd have to fix one-handed.
Ready-to-Eat Meals, which only require heating in order to be consumable.
Tanya had spent a number of Skill Points in order to learn cooking skills, and she had needed to hand out a bunch of money in order to convince the cook she'd woken up in the middle of the night to teach her the skills, then and there.
Tanya didn't think much of all of it, but she didn't have many options, as far as things she could make went.
Most of the things she could easily reproduce – like toothbrushes, soap, zippers, and a wide array of simple inventions – had already been invented, likely by some Reincarnate in the past. That left her with the items they couldn't figure out how to make and more niche items that might not sell well.
Her audience was surprisingly impressed with everything she showed them. A few stray questions – who would make all of this and how – were easily answered.
"Well, the Mithril Foundation…" she said, trailing off momentarily to confirm that Wiz knew who they were.
At her encouraging nod, Tanya continued, "They are a charitable foundation who can provide their own workers, and also push the poor and jobless they find into working to make this stuff."
She turned around, and brought a heavily-folded diagram out from the inside of her bag – a leather satchel she'd made two of last night so she had an actual bag instead of the repurposed burlap moneybags she and Viktoriya had been using.
"As for how those people will make the stuff, they'll be instructed on how to make a single portion of the item, and then pass along the work they've done to the next person in line, who knows how to make the next part. They won't have to learn any skills or get rid of their jobs in order to do this simple, assembly line work. The end result will be products we can sell, and they get steady work."
A few more questions about pricing and distribution were asked, and Tanya answered them with some input from Wiz. Then, she was finished, and Tanya breathed a sigh of relief.
She gathered up what she'd brought, and was about to leave, when she turned around. "Oh, I'll be leaving Axel, tomorrow, so I'll be seeing you guys later!"
With that, she left quickly, smiling. After a moment, Wiz came running out.
"Hey! What do you mean you're leaving? You don't need to!"
Tanya turned around, staring bemusedly at Wiz. "Well, I have to be going, right? The capital wants more people to fight the Demon King, and I think I'll be able to accomplish that easily enough."
Wiz pouted, but she nodded regardless. "I guess that's fine… do you want me to teleport you?"
Tanya's genuine smile became very, very strained. She tilted her head, trying not to become very annoyed. "Teleport?"
Wiz nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! I can teleport you to the capital in an instant. Normally, these things cost a lot of money, but considering how much you're helping us out by selling your amazing inventions, you're fine to go for free!"
Tanya gave her a shaky smile, fighting to ensure she didn't show any anger towards the unknowing shopkeeper.
Earlier that morning, she'd spent money and time arranging to be taken to the capital with a cadre of other adventurers and merchants, paying to get their quickly and decreasing the costs by volunteering for some guard duty and to ride with one of the poorer merchants.
Instead, she could have just skipped that with teleportation?
She sighed. She had already paid, so she might as well go the long way. She might even level up a bit, if she was lucky.
"No thanks, Wiz. I've already arranged something," she supplied. Wiz didn't seem the least bit upset. Tanya grabbed a pair of bags on her belt and handed them to Wiz.
"I'll be leaving Axel, and I don't want to be carrying around so much money. There should be a couple million Eris in those two, thanks to my fight with the Amalgamation. Give one to the Succubi and ask them to spend it on the projects. Keep the other locked up somewhere, alright?"
Wiz nodded frantically. And Tanya took a deep breath. "Ah, Wiz, before I left, I wanted to know something."
"What are the limits of magic? That Amalgamation was…" she trailed off.
She was hoping to imply that she was scared of it, and while she was, she did not really remember that much of the fight against it. Viktoriya's recordings of it with her Type 97 could only impart so much information to her.
Her arms struggling with the cash Tanya had handed her, Wiz's face fell. "Ah, if you mean Advanced magic…"
She then outlined a dizzying number of spells to Tanya. Explosion. Earthshaker. Inferno. Light of Saber. Teleport. Bottomless Swap. Amalgamation. Control Weather. Silent. Tornado.
And those were just the Archmage exclusive spells. Creators could use mana to imbue the elements with movement, up to and including lakes and hills. Archpriests could bring the dead back to life.
Tanya couldn't learn any of those spells. According to Wiz, it took months or even years to learn even one of them, unless someone 'special' taught you the spell.
Tanya quashed the urge to check if the Undead Mage counted as someone 'special,' as far as teachers of Advanced magic went. She could do that later.
As Wiz finished talking about another spell – Crystal Prison, which allowed one to capture another living being in a prison of ice – Tanya smiled widely. "Thanks for the advice! See you later!"
She quickly turned away, wondering just how old Wiz was and how many of those spells she knew. Tanya was fairly sure that her ability to fly away might give her an edge, but that was only if Wiz couldn't find some way to fly.
Dragons existed in this world, and they died. Tanya did not want to try and fight against one, especially if Wiz was riding it.
She shook her head and focused on her destination instead of how much more powerful this world's magic had to be compared to her last world. She needed to meet up with Viktoriya.
She should be finished explaining things to Luna, and then they'd head to the staging area they'd been told to meet up at for the trip to the capital.
With any luck, she'd prove just how strong she was in no time, level up, and maybe even find some people that could join them and replace Darkness.
Tanya's mood fell, but she shook her head, focusing on what getting finished with things. She'd pick up Viktoriya, and then they'd leave. If she couldn't find Darkness before then…
Tanya frowned. Then so be it. She needed to keep working, and hanging out around here meant that she'd be stagnating. Being X hadn't sent Reincarnates in a while, which meant he really was going to wait until she left, or he'd send Mary back down a couple dozen times.
As Tanya finished her thoughts, she arrived at the guild and paused. Nothing seemed out of place – same seal above the door, same windows, and the same roof.
She still got the feeling that something was off, however.
Grimacing, she went inside, one hand trailing towards her rifle. When she got inside, however, she tilted her head. A commotion was going on, with two people she couldn't see being surrounded by a crowd.
She got closer, pushing through the crowd where she could and slipping between bodies where she couldn't. She got to the center and had to stop herself from sighing at what was going on, planting a hand squarely on her face.
At the center of the crowd, Viktoriya and Luna stood, the latter clinging onto the shoulders of the former. It was odd to see her in front of the counter, and it was even odder to see her clinging onto an adventurer.
The weirdest thing was, however, the fact that she wasn't smiling. There wasn't even the plastic one Tanya had become used to whenever she got tired or annoyed. She was as close to distraught as Tanya had ever seen her, and it was… very concerning.
"P- Please! Don't leave! You two are the best adventurers we've had! You do your work, pay your loans back on time, and even do whatever community service we assign you! You've done so much, so don't leave me with all the other adventurers and Dust! They all suck!"
Tanya walked over, nodding at the uncomfortable look on Viktoriya's face. Tanya hadn't expected her to be very comfortable with this much attention.
People often stared at Tanya, and considering they were always together, Viktoriya faded into the background to a degree whenever Tanya was being hounded by those interested in her.
"Hey, did you list me after saying 'the adventurers'? Am I not an adventurer?" asked Dust. No one bothered to give the layabout the answer they were probably all thinking – no, you're a drunk.
Tanya shook her head at his antics and turned her attention to Luna. She placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a calming smile.
"Come on Luna. We've got to leave." Slowly, Tanya pried the woman off of Viktoriya.
She pleaded with them for a moment longer, but she must have figured out how intent on leaving this Tanya was, because she didn't resist for much longer.
Slightly teary eyed, she sniffled and thanked Tanya for everything she'd done.
"It's no problem. Besides, the monsters have started coming back, right? That means that Verdia's left and the town is safe," she said. Luna nodded, as if she thought this was inevitable.
Cheerful once more, she smiled genuinely. "Thank you for everything!"
From the crowd, people thanked her. Tanya smiled, shouting the occasional 'you're welcome' to them – and a 'see you later' to Aya, Takashi, and the girl who'd identified herself as Shizuka.
As they left, Tanya sighed nostalgically. She hadn't seen a welcome this warm and concerned for her since Viktoriya had rescued her from…
Tanya kept her face clear of disgust despite the memories that hid in her head. She tried to focus on the people around her and ignore the past.
She was moving on. She might as well give everyone a good goodbye.
-OxOxO-
Verdia knew he wasn't technically in trouble. By all accounts, he'd actually accomplished his goals.
He'd found the Double Blessed Reincarnate, and he'd stopped the flow of adventurers out of Axel by depriving them of experience.
His forces had even managed to kill some adventurers and damage the town. They'd have to spend resources fixing their walls and streets and housing instead of sending funding to the capital and the front lines.
He'd even managed to increase the size of his army with some of the more advanced humanoid undead.
Of course, he hadn't completed all of his goals. Axel still stood, but that was mitigated by the fact that the Double Blessed Reincarnate was there. The Demon King had told him to retreat if he might be beat.
After hesitating for only a moment more, he shook his head and walked into the large room. No, it wasn't that he'd failed any of his tasks. It was more that he felt he'd run away from a good fight.
He didn't desire this war – he wasn't the King of Belzerg or anything.
He did, however, like to fight honorably, and – besides Wiz – Degurechaff was probably the only person there who could have given him a run for his money in that town.
Even if she was insane.
He shook his head once, in an attempt to give him an idea. Did she worship some sort of Insanity and Power God, and if she did, how had she heard of within a few months of her arrival when he'd never heard of it in his long, nearly eleven years of living in this world?
He took a deep breath, even if he didn't need it, and walked into the room. He stared around the meeting table as he entered.
The room was sparsely decorated, but its occupants more than made up for the relative lack of decor with their presence.
Ragcraft. Sylvia. The Demon King's Daughter. Wolbach. Vanir. And of course, the Demon King himself.
And then him. One of the most powerful undead in existence. It was amazing that so much power could be concentrated in such a small space, and yet…
There was so much more of it outside of it, too. The Reincarnates. The other Generals and the good-for-nothing NEET that had quit when Wiz had joined. The Gods and Goddesses and Deities.
He sighed. Of course, whatever serious atmosphere Verdia might have thought the place should have was completely destroyed by everyone's responses to Vanir's loud, unneeded declarations of Ragcraft's personal failings in regards to Elroad.
When he entered, the nigh on murderous air surrounding the Demon King faded away, and the aging being gestured to the seat opposite of himself, on the other side of the long dining room table.
Verdia grimaced. His distance from the king was… not a good sign.
He sat down, greeting both Vanir and Sylvia cordially while they laughed at Ragcraft. He began to try and think of just how he would present this so he'd come out smelling like roses.
He discarded the idea almost instantly.
Ragcraft was undoubtedly better at manipulating facts than he could ever be. Verdia would tell his King as much of the truth as he could, with their present company in mind.
As Ragcraft became a small slime and tried to melt into the chair, the Demon King banged on the table. "Enough. We have work to do. Before we move on to the main event, I want updates from all of you. Wolbach?"
The beautiful woman's red hair drooped down with the rest of her body. "Nothing. I haven't been able to find my other half. I've already looked, and I haven't found anything. I'm going to try and search the Crimson Demon Village, but it isn't exactly easy to blend in with that town of geniuses."
Everybody nodded. No one blamed her for not being able to locate her other half, but they were all just a bit depressed by the fact that they were still having to fight this forty-year-long war. Vanir was the exception, and was grinning widely as he was probably energized by the woman's disappointment.
Sylvia spoke up. "Actually, I was wondering if we could perhaps talk about that. With everything they have in their town, I'm sure they've got some kind of doomsday weapon I wouldn't mind fusing with and causing them havoc while you find your other part."
Wolbach looked genuinely surprised, but the wicked smirked that crossed her face reminded Verdia why she was a Goddess of Destruction.
Now Sylvia spoke, as everyone was already focused on him. "It's been tough fighting for so long without a break, but I've managed to take down a number of Hero Candidates with a bit of luck and my various resistances," he said proudly.
What went unsaid was that he'd probably used his looks as well. More than a few adventurers had been duped into believing that he was as feminine as he looked.
With that, everyone again turned to the Demon King. Slowly, painfully, the being turned his gaze to Vanir. "Vanir. I don't suppose you have anything you'd like to report?"
He smiled, and everyone shivered. "Moi would only like to once again express joy at finally being able to leave this sinking ship and set out to construct Moi's dream dungeon."
Verdia blinked. That was a rather… tame pronouncement.
Of course, if he wasn't spilling nearly everyone's secrets, that meant they'd be feeling more than enough shame and disappointment without his provocation.
The Demon King nodded, and waved a hand next to his head.
His daughter snapped to attention. "Father. Celestina says that she received another power boost recently, and that it likely means that another one of her Goddess's followers was destroyed. Wiz is… still losing money, although she has been losing a bit less recently. Hans has reported that he's begun to move, and that he would… like to be sent snacks. Otherwise, our forces are pushing in around Belzerg, with a number of their forward fortresses falling."
Verdia saw the old King's eye twitch, but he breathed in slowly. "Thank you, my daughter," he said, closing his eyes for a moment. He opened them again, and turned a steely gaze on him.
"Verdia." His head turned towards the doppelganger, and his voice, just as strong as ever, said the Doppelganger's name. "Ragcraft."
Once again in human form, the Doppelganger smiled apologetically. "Yes, my King?"
The Demon King was not placated by the Doppelganger's tone. "You were rather insistent that Verdia attend this meeting, and since he made a contract that might impact all of us, I thought it prudent to summon him away from the task that I assigned to him. However, when you got here, you seemed relieved that he had made the contract you mentioned. I'd like to hear what changed," he finished, turning once more to the Dullahan.
"Verdia."
Bending his elbow slightly, he nodded his head and began to speak. "Before I tell you, some context is required. May I explain?"
He nodded slowly, and Verdia began to speak, deciding that prefacing the entire explanation with a bit of good news. "We found the Double Blessed… Hero Candidate."
Verdia saw Sylvia's eyebrows rise and Vanir's smile grow just a bit wider. Even the Demon King's daughter reacted with widely opened eyes. The Demon King himself, however, remained stonily silent.
That silence lasted for a moment.
"I assume, since you aren't already speaking of a great battle… that you did not see fit to kill them?"
Everyone else froze, and Verdia grit his teeth, lowering his head until he was staring at the floor. "Yes. There were circumstances that prevented my interfering."
At his silence, Verdia continued. "You see, a little over two weeks ago, someone who appeared to be a very young noble appeared in my castle, the only warning being a short message from a lookout and a Detonation spell. I hurried to my study, and met the intruder at the staircase."
He opened his mouth again, but then he turned to Ragcraft, an idea forming in his mind. "Could you assume her form?"
He scoffed. "Physically? Of course. I don't have a chance in hell to imitate her powers though."
Verdia shrugged, and Ragcraft obliged him. He shrunk down from his noble form to assume one that seemed to fit Degurechaff.
There seemed to be something missing, but Verdia couldn't guess what it was. Maybe he just wasn't holding himself up the same way? Was there a lack of mana?
Verdia stood from his chair, adding motions to his story and gesturing towards Ragcraft. "Imagine my surprise when, instead of some sort of Archmage, a girl with positively pathetic equipment appeared. I was going to tell her to leave, but she proved herself to be… inexplicably intimidating."
Everyone but Vanir, who was probably displeased by Verdia's lack of shame from being intimidated by a little girl, and the Demon King, who respected him more than that, began to chortle, and Sylvia even designed to comment. "Really, Verdia? She couldn't be more than twelve, and you're scared of a little girl?"
Verdia shrugged helplessly. "She has an… aura about her. It isn't physical or magical, from what I can tell. She just… holds herself up in a way that makes her seem very much more powerful than her physical form suggests."
They still shook their heads, but Verdia continued to talk. "Besides, my caution was warranted. She is the Double Blessed Hero Candidate."
The Demon King said nothing, but Sylvia certainly didn't hesitate to speak up. "You are certain?"
He leveled an annoyed glare at him. "If she had been able to alter herself to pretend to be one to my senses during our first meeting, our last interaction proved beyond a shadow of a doubt who she was. Now quiet!" he ordered sternly.
He glared at him, but he said nothing more. Verdia continued, gesturing towards the Demon King as he spoke. "The long and short of things is that she didn't want to leave. Or fight. She had come to me, one of your Generals… to learn what the war was really about."
The Demon King's eyes widened, and then he grinned knowingly at him, a spark of humor dancing in his aged eyes. "Her meeting with a general certainly went better than your meeting did."
He rolled his eyes as those around the table, besides Ragcraft, snickered. Verdia steeled himself, knowing this would ruin the atmosphere and potentially his relationship with the King. "Considering she walked away with her head attached and information on all of us, I'd say so."
The laughing stopped in an instant, and everyone leveled confused glares at him. He hurried to explain himself. "I am aware that making deals with such powerful players in the war is out of my area of expertise, but I had to."
The King, as opposed to everyone else, looked contemplative. "Fine."
His daughter turned to him, and Verdia saw that even Vanir looked over in shock. "Father? What do you mean-"
He silenced her. "If Verdia says that he had a reason, then I trust him. Besides, I would like to hear his explanation."
Verdia nodded and continued quickly. "The weapon she had… contrary to Ragcraft's naive belief, was not some sort of spear. It was a… rifle."
Other than Ragcraft's annoyed glare, he received blank looks, but Verdia pressed on. He had to impress upon them the severity of what he was saying.
"They were made in very small numbers in Japan, relative to other states in… that area. I thought that there was no way for them to be brought here. If I am wrong, then we are in luck." He gazed about, frowning.
"If she and the other girl with her," because the Undead Mage – who had gained enough of a grudge to remember his first name – had told him he'd seen another girl with a weapon like that, "are the only ones that have them, then they aren't too dangerous. But if they can construct those things…"
He trailed off, taking a deep breath.
"Then there is no telling what else they could make. If they could make even a fraction of the things I remember, then they might be able to advance to and beyond even Norse," he proclaimed.
With visions of a gray sky filled with planes and tanks crawling across the ground with a horrible, acidic mushroom cloud rising in the background, Verdia knew he wasn't even exaggerating.
He wasn't some kind of history buff, but even he knew that gunpowder weapons had been the cause of the decline of castles and swordsmanship. If she could make a tank, or if she made electricity, things would change.
If she allied with Belzerg, then they wouldn't change for the better.
Things were silent for a moment. Norse was not often brought up in conversation, unless one was in a town that was being approached by the dreaded Mobile Fortress Destroyer. But, one by one, they all seemed to realize what he was saying, looking at him incredulously. Even Ragcraft.
"You are certain? I don't doubt you, but if you think she could do such a thing, then it is imperative that we eliminate the threat she poses to us," his King uttered eventually. Verdia nodded his head, and continued to talk.
"You now understand why I gave up bits of knowledge about each of us in order to stay her hand. The contract is not self-enforcing-"
He was cut off by a hiss from Ragcraft, but Verdia tried to ignore him. "No. Those things are horrible, and I won't subject anyone to them. Besides, putting her under a self-enforcing one makes it seem like we're unwilling to trust her. If she is to join us, then we need her to see our deal as better than the ones the Hero Candidates get."
They were silent. Everyone was thinking about the possibility, but Verdia knew none of them would go for it at first. So he'd layer on promises.
"After we made that contract, she went into the courtyard of the castle I had managed to make my base, and resurrected undead. Without a spell."
The Demon King's head snapped up, eyes wide, a question at his lips.
Verdia anticipated it. "Yes. She solved the Rising Paradox. Why do some undead become much stronger undead than others? Their grudges, of course, but we could never figure out how to make their grudges any larger before they were resurrected."
He swept out a hand, and called out behind him. "Evan! Come in."
As his Undead Mage walked in, Verdia continued to speak. "Having undead stand around and hope for powerful undead spawn naturally isn't efficient. If we play on what they loved and hated in life, the things they treasured, and speak to them, as if conducting a sermon, we can get more and better undead. I used her method to create Evan, this Undead Mage, without a spell."
Again, his crowd was silent. All of them.
That was not a good thing, when Vanir was involved, who seemed altogether much too interested in what he was saying.
Trying to push down his fears that Vanir might take a trip to Axel to meet the girl – she didn't have the protections on his mind that he did thanks to the Demon King's contract – he spoke. "Evan. Why don't you tell the Demon King what you did?"
He looked nervous, and he wrung his newly sewn on limbs, but the Demon King shook his head. "Verdia. I told you, disciplining troops falls under the purview of whoever their General is. I don't have time to-"
"He summoned an Amalgamation in the middle of Axel."
Again, silence dominated. Then, the Demon King shot to his feet, face aghast and hand tightly gripping the table. "You WHAT!?"
Evan cringed, and the people around the table began to berate him. Vanir and the Demon King's daughter were first.
"Moi is truly disgruntled. Moi thought atrocities that might bring undue destruction were banned by a treaty."
"Why would you use such magic? It drains away your own life, has a ridiculous casting time, and gives you a variable and often insane undead!"
They were soon drowned out. "Never use that spell again. Do you hear me, Evan? If I ever get wind of this spell being used again, no amount of mana will save you from me."
He winced, and rubbed the back of his head. "Actually, I only used it because Tanya said she wanted to learn a spell…"
Verdia whirled around. "Since WHEN?"
He shrugged helplessly. "It never came up? She'd defeated everything we threw at her and the adventurers, so I thought leaving a parting gift would be appropriate."
No one said anything, except for Vanir, who chuckled. Undoubtedly, he was reveling in the undead's shame. "I didn't understand just how powerful Wiz was, and I certainly underestimated how much power she had."
The Demon King gripped his bearded face, dreaded the response he would receive, and asked, "How powerful was she?"
Evan began to speak again. "More powerful than I am, when she isn't using her relics. When she used them, however…"
"She could take on Wiz and have a good chance of winning. Especially with her tactics, and how she… morbidly claimed to have been trying to see what a bunch of severed heads sounded like when they screamed."
Expression now baffled, Evan continued. "She spoke about wanting to… burn Verdia at the stake when she confronted us after beating the Amalgamation, and then she spouted off about things related to heresy. We think she must be beholden to some sort of Berserker or Power God, but we have no clue, since Verdia hasn't heard of any."
The Demon King placed his forehead against the wooden table they all sat at. For a moment, Verdia wondered if he would actually start crying.
Instead, maniacal laughter echoed through the room. Vanir was grinning horribly, but Verdia tried to ignore him.
His daughter gently touched his shoulder, and the Demon King's laughter died off slowly, replaced by muttered rhetorical questions.
"Why did we have to have a complication? We're so close to the Anniversary, so tantalizingly close to getting reliable reinforcements, and so close to winning. We haven't had to fight many new Hero Candidates. Elroad is quickly declining. Vanir is going to be leaving soon, hopefully to help Wiz break even instead of just draining our resources."
He looked up, staring into the distance. "Fine then. She is undoubtedly a threat, if she could take on Wiz, who wouldn't even fight for us without Adamantite proof that the Kingdom is killing non-combatants."
He trailed off, muttering under his breath.
He turned to the red haired woman. "Wolbach. Try and find your other half again for a few more months. After that, come back. We need to be prepared for the Anniversary, which will require a united effort."
She nodded, and the Demon King stood up, gesturing to the large, painted wall of the room. On it, a picture of Belzerg's night sky rested.
Ordinarily, it would just be beautiful. Here, however, it was much more significant.
"For now, we will prepare for the anniversary. If we want to get anything more significant than a handful of angels, then all of us, the NEET included, will be necessary," he proclaimed.
Verdia could feel anger radiating from the Demon King's Daughter and Wolbach. Ragcraft seemed perfectly composed, which meant he was hiding something. Vanir seemed gleeful, and Verdia knew that the Demon was thinking about what he'd do once he completed his part in the plan.
Verdia didn't care much for what happened to him afterwards. The Demon King had only summoned him, brought him into this world, for this event. Vanir, however, was quite adamant that he wouldn't be participating in this event due to his own contracts.
He had, however, been instrumental in giving them advice on how to pull this off. After a few more clauses were added to his contract with the Demon King – he could stay here for a long while, feast on his servants, and gain a permanent anchor to this world, as long as he stayed out of Verdia and the Demon King's minds – he'd been perfectly content causing chaos instead of anarchy.
And soon, he would get to cause much more chaos and havoc, as much as he pleased, as long as he maintained the barrier.
Verdia shook his head and stared at the painting. He was just… ready. He hadn't been particularly religious or atheistic in Japan, but here, where he had fought for and against the Gods, he was ready to do his duty and help his King.
-OxOxO-
A/N 1: And so, Tanya says goodbye to her friends in Axel while giving Wiz several inventions as a parting gift. Wiz might actually start to earn a bit of money, just like with Kazuma. Oh, and she murdered a man as well.
Verbally, anyway. Aurip gets mentioned in like… one or two of the Dust spinoffs after Alderp gets… caught. He'll show up again once or twice in the future, though his fear of Tanya will keep him away.
In other news, the Demon King's Generals get together again. Celestina (aka 'Seresdina' aka Serena aka the Dark Priest from Vol. 15) gets that power boost because someone gets around to taking care of that ghost living in the hills – it was mentioned that most of the Durian quests were gone in an earlier chapter.
And, what would you know, they're waiting for the Anniversary too. How interesting.
A/N 2: Just finished watching the KonoSuba movie. If you want my full opinion, check out my profile. Otherwise…
In case it wasn't immediately obvious from my inclusion of Ragcraft and all the other generals, we're sticking with the Light Novels as far as a timeline goes, for the most part. I'm basically going to add some content from the anime (and from other sources, teehee) if I like it, such as the Friendship Crystal from season two.
A/N 3: Replies to reviews on this website (and a big thank you to everyone for the continued support, it makes life better):
vanhellsing9000: lol indeed. While vol 7 of the LNs is likely to get skipped over due to Tanya's presence, something similar might end up happening later.
neogoki: CH 018 Comment: As per the timeline I laid out in Chapter 1, Tanya and Sioux meet in Africa in this timeline, and Being X takes a more active role in training her to fight Tanya, since he learned from Anson that throwing people and countries at Tanya isn't going to work.
And, while Tanya is wondering about her lack of magic and decision to be a Thief, she does address some of those concerns in this chapter. Plus, she doesn't know of anyone else that would try and attack her for no reason. She doesn't realize that associating with Darkness made her goddess want to come down and kick her head in, so she's made the best guess she could.
CH 019 Comment: As a matter of fact, Kazuma tries to extort a house – among other things – out of Tanya during their second meeting, when Tanya isn't feeling quite as homicidal towards Aqua.
SoleReclaimer: I didn't think it would be so fast either, but GremlinJack's fans over on SpaceBattles ensured that this came out at SONIC SPEED!
And yeah, she's got quite a bit to worry about without an entire state behind her.
DNWorks: Thanks for the continued support! As for the CDs, who do you think is skilled/poor enough to make Tanya her coveted gender-swapping item?
Mechamorph: Firstly, thank you for writing so much, it's awesome to hear this.
Whle she hasn't mentioned Loria/Loliya/Beriya by name, per se, she does get forcibly reminded of some rather concerning imagery when she unloads on the pedo's head, as well as several other points throughout this first arc. As for where he ended up, he went straight to hell, as both a communist and a pedophile.
I will say no more on the matter.
Strange how ominous the above line is, isn't it? Anyway, using the Omakes to feature Eris was a brilliant idea, and I thank you for it again.
As for Tanya's moniker, the wiki says that Mithril is a variation of the 'white silver,' 'rusted silver,' 'argent' group. Not sure where Mithril is from specifically other than that – the manga, anime sub or dub, or the LNs. Viktoriya does mention that it is her nickname during her 'I couldn't hurt you' speech, though Tanya doesn't appreciate the name much for some reason. I wonder why. Hehe.
Yunyun does eventually come to Tanya for help – and if you've read the third Explosion spinoff, you might be able to guess how.
I did mention Lucifer, didn't I? I won't lie, I did originally think about making the Demon King a Reincarnate with a chip on his shoulder, much like Tanya… but I've thought of something equally interesting. (*cackles maniacally*)
Lord of Moons: I will admit that their argument on teamwork vs. versatility might need a few touchups, and while you're right about having a main battle tank to replace all the variants, the time it took to get where we are now needs to be taken into consideration. There were decades of using different tanks for different roles, before technology and tactics and learning advanced enough for progress to be made.
An Adventurer only has access to the skills that other jobs teach them, so to make the best possible job, you'd have to spend years – if you weren't a protagonist or have access to some kind of Training Program – running around trying to convince other people to share their skills with you. During that time, you could die to nearly anything.
Don't worry, though. Tanya's mostly just admitting that she could work together with others a bit more.
They won't change their jobs for something as small as that.
Byakugan789: CH 003 Comment: Unfortunately, if making specialized classes were easy, we'd see more in the canon. Tanya will stick with the Adventurer class for a long while. Don't worry though, if/when she changes, she'll continue to use her next class in new and interesting ways.
CH 004 Comment: Ah, while she could kill toads, there's a limit to how much the guild will let her do if they want to keep a viable population around. Plus, the quest she picked up didn't want her to kill the toads, it wanted her to keep them off a piece of property.
CH 006 Comment: While Aqua does have the ability to Resurrect Tanya, she might not want to, and Being X and Eris might not let her leave Heaven again.
CH 007 Comment: At the bottom of Ch 015, my responses to others lay out why she doesn't just pick them up and use them.
CH 008 Comment: Thank you for all the info on modern gunpowder. While I would have liked to use some of it, Tanya just doesn't know hat stuff, though she might experiment with other kinds of explosives in the future.
CH 010 Comment: Uh, where did you get the war statistics from? I could believe fewer people died as a percentage of the total human population, but… you know… well over ten million people died in the first WW, and at least 50 million died in the second. Not to mention all the death caused outside of war thanks to Imperialism and Colonization worked on such large scales thanks to gunpowder.
CH 015 Comment: Tanya will probably not be inventing new spells, BUT she might get more things like the Agility Reinforcement spell for some of her already existing spells. I was thinking a different form of 'Sharpen Blade' myself.
CH 018 Comment: Thank you for the support for the fight scenes. Getting specific praise for stuff like that is the best!
CH 019 Comment: Uh… could you direct me to some articles – news or Wikipedia – on the subject? I didn't know that.