"…and that's how we finished off the last of the Tranquility Girls!"
She smiled widely, showing off too many teeth and stretching her face until it hurt.
That didn't matter. Even the way that the other girl… Viktoriya… was looking at her and muttering something about 'just as scary as her' didn't matter.
All Iris wanted was for Tanya to know how much fun she was having.
Alligators? Squirrels? Graveyards? Explosions? Tranquility Girls?
Awesome! None of the other people who told her stories – most of which fell into either the wildly successful adventurer or Hero Candidate categories, if not both – told stories with so many ups and downs and twists and… FUN!
Protecting aging adventurers from early graves? Protecting Axel from hordes of insect monsters? Helping to clear out a graveyard for the betterment of the people?
Even better! That…
That was what Iris wanted to do. See tangible fruits of her labors instead of hoping that weeks, months, or even years after she made a decision, things would turn out fine.
She would wait, of course, but…
Sometimes, planning for the future just wasn't enough for her!
So engrossed in showing Tanya her affection and admiration at giving her a figure to so concretely project herself, Iris didn't notice the unhappy looks that Claire and Rain were giving Tanya.
Speaking of…
Tanya tried not to grow concerned as Iris continued to grin at her. While it was obvious that her renown was growing in the Princess's eyes, the fact that she was so fulfilled by four stories about beating monsters into the ground might say something concerning about her mental state.
Iris wasn't a Japanese salaryman trapped in the body of a little girl, after all.
Viktoriya was also smiling, and Tanya couldn't blame her. She'd helped Tanya during the last story, and Iris had even spoken to her directly.
Of course, the atmosphere was somewhat ruined by the two retainers of her's, who seemed to be conflicted for some reason.
Tanya supposed the conflict evident on their faces was probably due to their concern about Tanya's apparent uncaring for the fact that Tranquility Girls looked human, but Tanya knew that the concern wouldn't grow into anything more harmful…
Especially since Tanya had lied about a number of facts.
Nothing too big… just the fact that they killed ten Tranquility Girls and not two, and that they went looking for the things instead of coincidentally running into two.
Regardless of her small… suntractions, Tanya was starting to warm up to Iris a little bit, if only for her apparent innocence.
As Tanya opened her mouth to modestly thank the Princess for her praise, Claire moved to interdict the growing amazement in Iris's eyes. "What is your job, by the way? I haven't heard of one that would allow for a combination of those types of spells."
Tanya smiled, inwardly suppressing her panic. Luna, Mitsurugi, Dust… actually, just about everyone had dispairaged her for her choice of job. And while some, like Darkness and the aforementioned Mitsurugi, had at least let her explain herself, most everyone back in Axel seemed to try very, very hard to forget that small tidbit.
Appropriately, revealing that her job was the Adventurer would get her laughed at for her humor and…
Tanya blinked. She didn't honestly know what the punishment for lying to the Princess was, but they would level that punishment on her if they thought she was lying about her stories. She needed to try and… steer the conversation elsewhere.
"Actually, I'm only level 23…"
Claire stood up, an eyebrow raised as she slammed down on the table. "Impossible! Such deeds we have heard of couldn't be done by one so weak."
She shrugged her shoulders and smiled in a show of disinterest. "Levels are not everything. I had to fight before I came to Belzerg, and I think I'll be forced to fight even if I leave this land."
Claire seemed to glare at her, but Iris touched her arm lightly. Immediately, all of the hostility drained out of her, and a… dopey smile overcame her face.
Iris turned away from her retainer and smiled. "Your stories are much more interesting than the ones the Hero Candidates have. They always finish off their enemies in a few blows."
Tanya shrugged. "Well, the life of an adventurer isn't always glamorous."
She tilted her head, and Tanya continued. "We are, by definition, meant to be used as spare labor. I worked as a Blacksmith before I could fight as well as I can, and most of the time our work consists of fighting mundane things and protecting farmers and caravans from attack."
Iris let out a soft, "Oh," under her breath, and Tanya began to wonder what she'd said that was so surprising.
Had she really thought that anyone would willingly put themselves in danger if they didn't have to or if they didn't have some greater goal in mind? Had she thought they just adventured for fun?
Rain and Claire, meanwhile, were deciding that this was their best decision.
Ever.
Iris had been obsessed with adventurers ever since the King had raised the minimum age for military recruitment from fourteen to sixteen. She had realized that he wouldn't ever let her join the fight against the Demon King legitimately, so she had begun to gain interest in the other large group fighting the Demon King she could join: the adventurers.
If this odd noble girl was able to get Iris to focus on her job instead of on adventuring, Rain was going to be giving her a very large bonus.
Claire was imagining just what it would be like to have this version of Iris to instruct the other version of Iris on how the world worked. If Claire got her to keep talking that way, Iris would continue to do things in the castle and ignore the filthy peasantry, and she wouldn't ever leave it and put herself in harm's way.
"Well, what did you do before you came to Belzerg?" Iris asked, voice small and hopeful.
Tanya's expression stiffened. She couldn't say she was a Mage, because then she'd get asked to show off spells.
Tanya – and probably most people with more than a handful of braincells – wasn't stupid enough to do that in a room with this world's brand of Mage, who was undoubtedly advanced enough to know what was and wasn't possible according to this world's magic.
Getting strapped down to a table and medically examined – besides bringing up… uncomfortable memories – sounded like a very fast way to be acquainted with Being X.
"Oh, well, after that orphanage, I got into the military."
Iris jumped up, wonder in her voice. "You were in the military!? Why'd they let you join so young? No one will let me join!"
Claire and Rain, at once, retracted all their praise for the girl.
This was their most horrible mistake.
Ever.
Claire and Rain's expressions became terribly angry. They needed to get rid of her. Now.
Iris could see a vision of herself in this mysterious, Iris-like figure, and allowing the Princess to entertain thoughts about joining the military was in violation of the King's wishes.
Rain felt her eyebrows come together. Although… how did the King play into this? Was Tanya really… his, or were her parents really polarized in their devotion to Eris?
Meanwhile, Iris was smiling widely. She had been waiting to help her father and her brother fight the Demon King. She had been ten when her father had kicked back the minimum age requirement, and no amount of pleading, back rubbing, and every other tactic she could think of were able to convince him.
Tanya nodded at her question. "Well, they only let me in because of my massive magical potential. They wouldn't have let a child younger than ten to join otherwise. After that, I went through training, trained a few soldiers of my own, fought on a few fronts, and rose to the rank of Major-General in the space of seven years."
Tanya watched as all three of the people opposite of her suddenly froze. Iris was counting on her fingers, while Rain seemed nervous for some reason.
Claire asked the question first. "How old are you, Miss Degurechaff?"
Tanya rolled her eyes. What a stupid question. "Sixteen, just like her. Also, did they change the conscription law again? I thought that sixteen was the minimum age for joining the army?"
All three of them were quiet now, and Tanya's head tilted in confusion. They looked rather… sad, and she could see pity shining in their eyes.
Then, before she could spit out an acidic comment about asking a woman for her age to try and figure out why they thought she needed their pity, the truth dawned on her.
Tanya had been underfed at that orphanage, and saying that she got regular, growth-conducive meals while at war would have been a bigger lie than Being X's.
The magic she had subjected her body to when performing aerial maneuvers, while lifesaving, had also stunted her growth.
She was… short, and she looked much younger than she was.
On the other hand, the Princess across from her had likely been spoon-fed as much food she wanted.
Food that, in this place, was full of high-quality ingredients that gave her experience.
She likely hadn't been anywhere near magic that would stunt her growth either. Her father's raising of the age of conscription so that his daughter couldn't join made him sound very protective, and stunting your child's growth wasn't exactly the mark of a protective parent.
How many times had Tanya been compared, sarcastically or ignorantly, to a twelve-year-old?
"…How old are you?" she asked, misery shining in her eyes. She could guess, but she really hoped that it wasn't the case.
"…Twelve."
Twitch.
Tanya felt pitiful.
The servants in the room were staring at her, saddened expressions glued to their faces.
Her hosts were staring at her, keenly aware that any sixteen-year-old that looked like their Princess at this age was not destined to grow very much.
But oh, how they were wrong.
Tanya knew that her affairs were rather dismal as far as growth went, and that she wasn't going to become a particularly tall or… well-endowed woman.
That wasn't what she felt pitiful for.
She was supposed to have been over fifty by this point, counting her days until retirement and firing incompetent workers. She was supposed to be counting gray hairs in her short, slicked back hair, not trying to keep blonde hair manageable.
Tanya mused to herself that only Viktoriya felt sorry for Tanya in the right way: Tanya didn't care that she wouldn't grow up to be a beautiful woman; she was angry that she had to be a woman at all.
They sat there for a while, not talking. Then, a sigh escaped the too-small girl.
"Well, there's no reason to keep sitting her in silence, yes? I can't exactly do anything about my situation," she said, trying to keep a scowl off her face and adding a silent 'yet' to the end of her statement.
Hopefully, the Succubi would eventually find the type of 'rare magical artifact' that she wanted.
She'd given them vague instructions about what to look for, not wanting them to see her as a deviant for wanting to change her gender. They'd found a few interesting things, but nothing that matched what she wanted.
The others seemed to want to move passed this just as fast, and Iris looked up from where she'd been staring down at her plate. "Can you tell me about your past? How did you rise to such a high position as Major-General?"
Tanya's grip on her fork stiffened, and the slight tint to her cheeks brought on by the reminder of her forced femininity died. The past…
Images drifted passed her eyes, and she dimly acknowledged that someone had grabbed onto her shoulder. The past…
Small, round glasses and a balding man and the hurried, feverish whispering of people all too familiar with what would happen to her and a sickly, cloying smell that reminded Tanya of unconsciousness and helplessness and weakness and fear-
Tanya felt her head shake a fraction before the hand on her shoulder squeezed her hard. Her vision cleared.
"I'm sorry, but I am afraid that we will have to refuse any stories about that part of our past," Viktoriya said. Tanya thanked her friend mentally for taking control of the conversation.
She didn't really feel up for it now.
Tanya gazed towards the three hosts and saw the apologetic expressions – no doubt for her embarrassment at having to reveal her age – fade.
"Why not?" asked Iris, confusion and… a kernel of suspicion flaring to life in her eyes.
Tanya kept her mouth shut, and heard the woman behind her speak. "What is war like here in Belzerg?"
All three of them gave her concerned looks. Tanya wanted, for a moment, to tell Viktoriya to zip her mouth shut for talking about things they shouldn't…
But she couldn't bring herself to, and learning about the war of the past decades would be good, right?
"Conventionally," Claire said derisively, after a moment's pause, "the nobility all call together their peasant levies, don their armor, and ride out under a larger force to combat the opposition in a melee."
Tanya heard Viktoriya draw in a breath, but Tanya spoke up. "Are knights not expensive?"
Again, the three gave the two of them confused looks. "Not all that much. Nobles aren't exactly easy to replace, but the Eris Cult's Allowance of Divorce and Remarriage meant that you can always find someone else to marry and have children with," Rain said, eyeing them suspiciously.
Tanya nodded to herself. That made a… twisted sort of sense, for this world.
She had guessed that Blacksmith's were able to make armor much faster and for much less thanks to their skills, but if everyone could remarry without detonating their religion, the nobles that became knights were much more likely to be born.
"Furthermore, some fighting will happen, then the two strongest fighters or groups of fighters from each side will emerge, fight and kill or wound each other, and then both sides will retreat."
Now, Tanya and Viktoriya were the skeptical ones staring at Rain. Hinging all of your forces on a battle between two individuals seemed very…
Idiotic. Why even raise up peasants or knights or nobles if you're just going to let the strongest person take them down?
Their tactics did explain why this war had taken forty years, though. If all the peasants had to do was show up and survive for the twenty minutes it took for the two strongest groups to kill each other, then this war wasn't exactly taxing on their resources.
Tanya shook her head. Of course, with how powerful some people could get here, it didn't exactly make sense to send wave after wave of weak peasants against something like Verdia, who could probably take out several hundred people without getting scratched.
Viktoriya opened her mouth to continue speaking, but Tanya gripped her hand this time.
She sent Tanya a confused look, but Tanya just shook her head and took a deep breath to answer her questioning gaze.
"War is different in the Empire," Tanya said, gazing coldly at their hosts, "for lack of a better comparison, there are no people that stand out that much above everyone else, barring very few exceptions."
"The war we left behind was on the scale of continents. People marched on and killed others just to follow orders, and while I left before the death toll was calculated, it would be a conservative bet to assume that only ten million died in that thing."
She continued to stare at them coldly even as they gasped. "We weren't even fighting for more than ten years and that many died. That battle I fought in two days ago was nothing compared to what we've faced," Tanya said, gripping the hand on her shoulder.
Viktoriya stiffened for a moment, and then seemed to relax.
"We were… affected by that war. Please, drop it."
Iris seemed… heartbroken by her declaration. If there was anyone that was won over by her argument, it was her.
Rain seemed surprised by her declaration, if their raised eyebrows were anything to go by.
Claire swelled with anger, and she rose from her seat once more. "Utter nonsense. There aren't that many people in Belzerg, Elroad, and even the lands of the Demon King combined. Were either of you even in the military, or are you perhaps a silly girl with an active imagination?"
Both of them glared at her, and she missed the small – hurt – look Iris sent her, but she just scowled back at Tanya and Viktoriya. "You said that the war hadn't ended, which means you deserted. We get soldiers like the two of you often: people who can't stand the thought of fighting and try and flee or refuse orders because of their pathetic cowardice."
Tanya glared at her, standing abruptly. Before she could decide on whether to leave or to try and insult this pig-headed – or maybe Orc-headed was more apt – noble, Iris spoke up.
"I acknowledge that you don't desire to speak of your experiences of your time in your war… but I want to hear more stories of your time in Belzerg. Or maybe you could show us your Adventurer's Card?" she asked, voice quiet and forceful.
"We said no," Viktoriya said, staring at Iris. The Princess's eyes narrowed, but Tanya grabbed her arm.
It seemed that, between Claire's skepticism and Iris's desire for them to speak, they were being forced back into a corner. Tanya couldn't talk about much more without giving something important away – too much of the past few months had to do with Verdia or her brand of magic or killing Reincarnates.
Leaving could have been an option, but the lack of giddiness that Iris had been showing her was telling of how much her mood would 'improve.'
Tanya would either have to cut off her dealings with the Princess – a waste of the time spent here and the money spent on these stupid clothes – or give up… something.
"We are both adventurers with the Adventurer job."
As Tanya had expected the moment the idea of them sharing their jobs had come up, the three of them grew more angry. "Then your claims are false? There's no way that an Adventurer could do what you claim to be able to do."
Tanya rolled her eyes, trying to keep her anger in check. She might have been able to argue the matter with Darkness, but that was after months of camaraderie. She wouldn't be able to get a word in without derision pouring from their faces.
She was proved right when Iris's eyes became cold. "If you won't speak anymore, and if you both are just… silly girls with vivid imaginations, then you'll receive regular reward," she said, speaking as if a reward would change Tanya's decision.
Claire stepped forward, tossing a glance back at Iris and leveling a smirk at Tanya. "Oh please. Princess, don't pay them at all. We can get better stories from Mitsurugi. At least he can back up his claims. Are you even a noble?"
Now, Viktoriya stepped forward, and Tanya felt a headache begin to build from the uncontrolled mana Viktoriya was putting off. "She's worth far more than any of you, whether or not she's from the nobility."
Silence. For a moment.
Before Tanya could ask Viktoriya why she felt the need to blurt that out – while also trying to figure out how to subtly express fondness at Viktoriya's stalwart defense of her – Claire had grabbed her sword.
Tanya moved before she thought about doing so, and found herself staring down a shock Claire through the tinted translucent film of an Active Barrier.
She turned her head to check on Viktoriya, saw that she was fine, if a bit startled by the sudden attack.
She turned back around and glared at the hosts. Viktoriya was obviously worth more than her continued relationship with the Princess. If they would try and attack her for a single brazen insult, then they would do it again.
"Goodbye, Princess Iris. Hopefully we'll meet again under better circumstances." With that, she backed away, eyes trained on Claire's blade. She dropped the barrier and listened as Viktoriya opened the door
They jumped around the corner. Just as Viktoriya was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Tanya touched a finger to the girl's lips. Viktoriya reddened a bit, and Tanya whispered "Lurk."
She withdrew her finger and began to whisper. "Hopefully, we'll be able to listen in on whatever they're talking about."
Unfortunately, it seemed that Iris wasn't done with them, even if they were done with her. Tanya heard the three of them muttering, and then flattened herself against the wall as Claire and Rain stepped out of the door.
Both ran passed the two hidden individuals, and Tanya smirked.
"Sleep. Sleep."
Both fell, one after the other, crashing into the ground. Tanya heard the Princess's steps coming from inside, so she leaned the two of them against the wall and then motioned Viktoriya to follow her.
Both made their way through the castle, avoiding the worried looking female knights that had seemed to be everywhere on their way in. They managed, and soon enough, both were outside, watching the knights hurry about on the walls of the castle and in the lawn in front of it.
-OxOxO-
Iris stared down at her two retainers. She had found the both of them knocked out and sleeping in each other's arms just outside of her room. No matter what she did, neither would wake.
The other knights that inhabited the castle had come to her aid, and a few of them whose families had connections with magically-inclined merchants had mused that a Sleep spell had been used on them.
Just as she was beginning to give up hope, both of them woke up, groggily looking around. They were back in the dining room, and Iris was peering at the both of them worriedly.
Claire smiled widely. Iris was showing that she cared for her.
Rain, more cognizant of their situation, sat up in the chair. "What- What happened? I remember we left the room and then…"
Iris frowned. "You both left, and then there was a crash, and the both of you were on the ground, asleep. Some of the other knights thought that you might have been put under a spell…"
Claire sat bolt upright at that, and Rain massaged the side of her head. "I guess that explains the woozy feeling…"
Claire jumped out of her chair. "We need to catch them!"
Iris shook her head. "No. It's almost been an hour, so they probably managed to slip out unnoticed."
Claire calmed down, and sighed dejectedly. "I failed you…"
Iris smiled nervously. "There, there…" she said, trying to assuage her retainer's pride by patting her on the head.
In a moment, her expression had brightened, and she began to giggle to herself. Rain was already pacing next to the table, lamenting the absence of the servants.
She didn't often get to eat food as good as what the royal family had to offer.
"That barrier… was immensely concerning. How did she even…"
Iris tilted her head as she drew her hand away from Claire head and set it on her lap. Claire pouted a bit, but she quickly refocused on the subject at hand. "Why so?" Iris asked.
Rain sighed. "The Magic Research Institute and its scattered offices have been working on that problem for decades."
Rain drew herself up, and so did Iris at the sign that Rain was entering her lecture mode. "That institute has discovered how to do much in the course of its existence. From their discovery of how to imbue objects with spells and with attributes by studying Belzerg the First's sword 'Calibur,' to their more recent leaps forward in containment magic, they've done much."
"They haven't, however, been able to create a mobile one-man shield. They could theoretically recreate something like the Demon King's barrier for a short period of time, and long-term traps use a mana-barrier to imprison something in one place. The smallest we thought they could be were the ones that are put on the Royal Carriages."
"If we did have such a thing, then everything would change. Some of the institutes projections include Mages being able to do quests on their own, since they wouldn't need others for protection and using the freed up forces to bolster the armies. The war might actually be brought to a timely end."
Iris nodded slowly, and then raised her hand enthusiastically. As always, Rain pretended to be looking over a crowd of students, and then pointed towards Iris.
"Doesn't that mean that her claims of her people's war being different were right? If they have shields that can block even a noble's blow, then they must be pretty good."
Rain opened her mouth, and then let it hang open as she absorbed what Iris had said. Claire, sitting beside Iris, let her shoulders fall.
Claire had insulted a noble and called them weak, when she could do something literally no one else could.
Someone who's magic could help bring the war closer to an end. Whose family might have stayed secluded for generations researching the depths of magic to bring forth this miracle.
Rain's panic began to grow as she realized what they had done. Before she could break down, Iris stood up.
"It's fine. We can just invite them back, right? We'll apologize in a letter, and ask that she come back for a proper apology. That should fix things… right?"
Rain shrugged in uncertainty. "Maybe. They didn't really seem like they were all that enthralled by our status. They must be connected to some noble family, but… who?"
Iris shrugged and interrupted Rain's thoughts before she ignored all of her surroundings. "Then we'll vaguely offer to give them something as an apology, and just try not to lose too much."
Claire tugged on Iris's dress. "Remember, we don't have all that much in the treasury to give away. Elroad?" she said, reminding Iris of where she would be going in a few short days.
Her expression fell, and Claire jumped up. "We'll get them in here, one way or another, and then you'll have something to remember while you're in Elroad, right?"
Iris felt her expression grow happy, and Claire nearly squealed. Rain just shook her head at Claire's antics.
She sighed as she remembered that she needed to find an adventurer team worthy of taking the Princess to Elroad.
It seemed she might have found one…
-OxOxO-
Both stalked away from the imposing castle. "Can you believe them? I mean, I know that this place is feudal and everything, but we hardly did anything to rile them up." Viktoriya muttered this as she walked, and Tanya could only nod in agreement.
"I guess it's just different sensibilities. Although, how on Earth do they expect her to rule and meet with other people if they try to behead every person that insults her? It isn't like everyone they meet is going to like her."
"Like you?" Viktoriya asked. Tanya rolled her eyes.
"I didn't dislike her. I'm just not going to answer those kinds of questions when I haven't even talked to you about them. Besides the questions about our validity, it was kind of fun to talk about the more… innocent stories."
Tanya heard Viktoriya hum her approval, and the two were silent, wondering if they'd be able to stay in the city or if the Princess could find a reason to get them kicked out.
At least she wouldn't ever have to wear this stupid dress ever-
-OxOxO-
Again.
They had received a letter again, they had put on the stupid dresses again, and they had made their way through the city, getting stared at by every passerby that cared to look again.
And again, they were standing in front of the gate, watching Rain approach from the actual castle.
They were pushed open by two knights – Tanya wasn't sure of their gender, considering they were wearing full plate and the armor wasn't deformed like Darkness's was – and Rain stepped forward, bowing at the waist.
"I just wanted to say that I apologize for what we did yesterday. It was highly improper, and we should have thought before we said some of the things we did."
Tanya smirked. "Let's wait until we hear that from the Princess's mouth, shall we?"
Rain smiled nervously, and they took a direct path through the castle to the room they had been in yesterday.
Tanya was fully aware of how much she had just snubbed Rain, but she didn't mind too much. The latest letter they had received had spoken of receiving reparations for the problems they had caused, and Tanya was very hyper-literal whenever the possibility for her own advancement or detriment was present.
As it was, if she 'accepted' Rain's apology, then that could be interpreted as her reparations for the earlier insults, and Tanya wanted something better than words, if she could get something.
Tanya smiled at the Princess, who had the place of mind to look rather embarrassed. Viktoriya followed Tanya, and then Rain closed the doors.
Claire was shooting the both of them mixed stares of distrust and grudging respect. Tanya smirked.
It seemed showing off a bit in escaping and blocking her blow had convinced her of the veracity of Tanya's words.
Tanya crossed her arms, and glanced at Claire, raising an eyebrow.
Iris stood from her seat, walked in front of Claire, and bent down a bit. "I apologize for my words and our attitude towards you yesterday. Doubting the truth you spoke of your power, despite your… choice of job was… out of line."
"I understand your apology," she said, adding 'but I do not accept' mentally.
Even if she hadn't said it out loud, they seemed to pick up on what hadn't been said. Claire's face immediately began to sour, and Tanya could hear Rain sigh behind her.
Iris, thankfully, interdicted before her retainers got offended on her behalf. "Okay. We can speak of your reimbursement – and origin – later. I was wondering… if you had any other stories that you wanted to tell us?" she asked, phrasing the statement as a question.
Tanya sighed. The letter had made it very clear, compared to the vague promises of some kind of apology gift, that she would be telling the Princess another story if she came here again.
She'd nearly had another fucking fit as her own memories had assaulted her, but Viktoriya had cut things off at the head in a rather… nice manner.
Soothing cooing noises that didn't mean much literally and meant more for her than she could express in words had saved her from taking an unwanted trip down memory lane, and if everyone in the guild looked at her weird, they denied it when she glared at them, which was… enough.
She quietly walked over to one of the seats and glanced at Claire. "Could you get us a bit of alcohol? I don't care what, just… anything."
Claire looked ready to pounce on her, but the glare Iris leveled at her cowed Claire into compliance.
"A bit of context is needed to understand the war as we fought it. First, while it was true that nobles, on average, produced more powerful mages, they weren't numerous enough compared to the rest of the population to really be anything but an outlier. And nobles didn't ever have massive physical power. It was all just magical."
"Second, we were part of a group of soldiers called mages. We didn't have that job, but we used magic. Which is the third thing: magic in our country was used for imparting force into objects, explosions, and enchanting objects with either of those two things."
Revealing that much was… unfortunately necessary, if she wanted to remain close to the Princess. It would seem rather odd to them, to have such magic compared to the stuff here, and that was what Tanya was counting on.
If she gave them this much and they were satisfied with it, they wouldn't think to ask about any more. Like their ability to fly, or the fact that they didn't have any diplomatic ties to a nation so threateningly called 'the Empire.'
Tanya took a deep breath, and took a swig of the wine she was given. She was sure it looked rather unladylike, but she didn't care. They were getting one of her stories, so they could complain about her manners later.
-OxOxO-OxOxO-
More. More. More.
No matter how much mana she pushed into her Flight spells, she was still falling behind her targets.
They'd finally managed to corner de Lugo, and Tanya had been seconds away from putting a bullet through the moronic bastard who'd managed to flee from the François Republic and continue this stupid war from their African colony.
Everything had gone wrong at that point. Tanya had been distracted by Serebryakov's voice in her ear saying something about enemy reinforcements, and then the room she'd been in had gone up in flames.
She had protected herself, of course – she wouldn't be killed by Napalm spells that weak – but those 'reinforcements' had managed to get inside the building she'd cornered the idiot in and take him with them, along with a majority of their intelligence.
Tanya had readjusted her new gear – a beige and tan thing that didn't absorb as much heat as their heavier gear and that blended into the vast deserts of this heat sink – and took off, Observation spells already active and searching for any mana signatures.
She'd found them, and now she was pursuing, vainly attempting to shoot them, any of them.
Unfortunately, some of them had skill. They must have been more of the François veterans that Tanya could smugly state were being mowed down to nearly nothing at this point.
Tanya breathed deeply. It seemed she'd have to use that cursed Type 95 if she ever wanted to catch up with them…
"Oh Lord, grant-"
And as she tried to complete her prayer, her side exploded into burning pain.
She screeched, and watched as someone dared to interrupt her earnest prayer –
Tanya rapidly shook of the aftereffects of that cursed Computation Jewel as she sized up her newest opponent.
Dirty blonde hair obstructed her vision partially, but Tanya's eyes managed to see enough of her opponent to widen in shock as they recognized an eerily familiar golden glow emanating from her opponent's body.
She threw up an Active Barrier in time to see it get shredded by a spell powerful enough to rival any of Tanya's own.
She cursed as she saw de Lugo retreating – being hauled under the armpits would be a more accurate description of the image – beyond the horizon, and then she ducked under what was obviously Being X's newest pawn.
Shields and Barriers were broken. Every shot she tried to make was evaded, and the few times she ventured close enough to this enemy, her blade had been deflected and Tanya had received a punch or a kick for her every attempt.
Tanya activated her Communication Spells. "Requesting assistance!"
Tanya heard nothing over the spell, and swore as she was forced to move by a barrage of fire.
Tanya let her rifle fall from her hands and withdrew the submachine gun from its holding place. This would burn through her mana, but at least-
The golden light began to grow in intensity, and Tanya let off a barrage of bullets in an attempt to quiet the light.
It didn't fade, not in any way Tanya could measure, and turned from gold-white to blazing, burning red. Before Tanya could identify what the hell that was supposed to mean, bullets began to pepper the red light from her reinforcements.
Tanya heard crazed laughter coming from the light that her men would later tell her reminded them of her at her worst, and gasped as her opponent let of a burst of unfocused mana in the direction of the battalion.
The 203rd scattered and avoided it easily enough – unfocused mana was never as fast as bullets – but then they began to pour out more.
Literally. An all-encompassing ball of light was expanding out of her opponent. Tanya, of course, did what she did best.
Subverted everyone's expectations.
In this case, she flew towards the massive amount of mana and nearly passed out from the mana her Active Barrier sucked out of her.
She did, however, make it through the expanding ball of red light.
If she'd run, she might have outpaced it, but it just as easily could have had more time to weaken her barrier.
She swung around her gun and poured out the rest of the bullets in the magazine, grinning madly as the light began to fade. Finally, she was…
She frowned. Just as the mana had flown outward, her Observation spell was telling her it was coming… right back in.
She growled as she continued to pour mana into her attack to finish this pawn before Tanya got finished. Hopefully, she'd be able to make it-
Tanya sensed another mage flying towards her, and spun on the spot, aiming downwards. She was surprised to see Serebryakov flying upwards.
"What are you-"
But she didn't have to finish the thought. Mages, more than Tanya could count at a glance, were fighting far below her and her opponent, and many of them were aiming up at her adjunct.
Tanya bolted flew downwards, cursing the still-laughing mage behind her and trying to reach Serebryakov. Tanya could see from the blood and holes in her flight gear that she had already taken hits.
Tanya snarled.
She pushed herself downwards and found herself next to the woman, casting her strongest barrier.
They waited there for a moment, unmoving. Enemy mages that got so close to her, to where she could begin to make out their faces, usually wound up dead after more than twenty seconds.
She glared at them, daring them to move.
One did. They brought a hand to their ear, and one by one, the mages began to retreat, leaving Tanya flying protectively around Viktoriya, who was gazing up at her with a look of wonder on her face.
Tanya sighed in relief, repressing the urge to bark at the woman for looking so starstruck and for necessitating that she help her, and then looked up to where the other mage – Being X's pawn – had been.
She was gone now. Almost like she'd never been there.
Then her senses began to scream at her about the whole contracting wave of mana' thing and she groaned as it raced back towards them.
-OxOxO-OxOxO-
"…After that, Viktoriya managed to haul me back to the city for a few weeks of getting treated for mana exhaustion and all the other wounds that I'd managed to overlook. I'd spend the next few years trying and failing to kill that woman."
Tanya finished sipping on her second glass of wine, her hand squeezing Viktoriya's once again. Tanya wasn't sure she'd adequately conveyed everything that had happened…
Well, she was sure that she hadn't told them she could fly, instead using the word in a metaphorical sense.
Lorelei looked either very shocked the few times they had demonstrated their abilities in front of her, and Tanya was fairly sure that she might actually get taken to whatever the medieval equivalent of a scientist was and dissected.
She glanced over at Iris and chuckled a bit. Judging by the very… awed expression on her face, she had definitely been able to fill in the gaps of Tanya's story telling with her imagination.
"Wow…" Iris said, trailing off as she turned around. Her expression became a mixture of mischievous and pleading as she looked up at her two very stiff retainers. "She fought against a Mage, and both of them were in the army. Why can't I join?"
Rain and Claire in unison, shot her a very unamused look. "Because the King said that he wouldn't do anything that put you in danger, especially with the alliance with Elroad to consider."
Iris's expression sank once more, but then she turned to Tanya, timidity shining in her eyes and the way she was nervously shuffling her hands. "Um… if you wouldn't mind, do you have another story that won't make you feel uneasy?"
Tanya shot Viktoriya an amused look at the Princess's attempt at being considerate – a change from her actions yesterday – and tapped her chin.
"Well…"
"I think we need to cut this off, actually." Rain stood and began to walk towards the door. They needed to get these two out of here before they put more ideas into the Princess's head.
Claire nodded. "Yes. Although I don't want you to have to see your… betrothed, we really need the resources Elroad sends us. You'll have to discuss their reimbursement later," she ground out, trying to keep as much distaste as she could out of her voice.
Although… if Degurechaff had been brought to the castle by promises of a reward, then it wouldn't take too much to get her to sabotage the Princess's meeting with Revi, right?
Claire began to think, and Iris gave a long sigh.
Tanya frowned. Hadn't she heard that name somewhere?
She shook her head. It would come back to her when she was more clear-headed. While she was still here, however…
"What's going on in Elroad?" she asked, mildly annoyed at herself for needing alcohol to get through that story.
She was sure that this was probably a can of worms she regret even looking at later, but there was a possibility that she'd get her reward faster if she helped out.
Iris sighed. "I suppose going over the facts with an outsider will help me make sure I've got everything down…"
She stood, standing up straight. Tanya noticed that Rain seemed to be choked up about something with how she was muttering "Just like me…"
Iris began to talk, bringing Tanya's attention to her mirror image.
"All of the nations around Belzerg, from the successor states of Norse to the free cities of the southern coast, provide Belzerg with aid of some kind. Whether its sending over soldiers or weaponry or minerals, all of them help out with the assumption that if we fall, they'll soon fall afterwards."
"Elroad doesn't have very many nobles compared to us, so the military force they could send us would be very… inadequate. Thankfully, they have built a reputation for themselves as the casino capital of the continent, and have a large number of very wealthy establishments throughout their larger cities that cater to the whims of the nobility and the few merchants that rise high enough to contend with nobles."
"However, they've recently cut off all of their funding. Without it, we'll have to begin raising taxes again."
Tanya gripped her chin. She hadn't taken too many economics courses – you didn't really need to know a lot about that kind of thing when you were aiming to have a job where you fire people – but she remembered a few things from the ones that she had taken.
"What's so bad about that?" she asked, shifting through muddled memories to try and figure out what could help out Belzerg.
Iris's saddened expression became defeated, and Claire sighed. "While it varies from area to area, everyone has to pay around half of their yearly income to either a representative of the guild or, in the larger cities, the military garrison, during the month of Circle."
She scowled. "Nobles, however, can just take a trip to a neighboring country and wait there until the month has passed. If we can't get them here, they can just say that they were out of town. Enough of them do it that we could never prosecute them for it, and, since most of them travel to Elroad, we've let them because those profits would usually come back to us through the payments Elroad made to us."
Tanya began to nod her head. It seemed that the rich had discovered an equivalent of offshore bank accounts in this world.
She groaned as she held her head. That wine was beginning to come back and kick her.
Just how much of a lightweight was she?
"What about bonds?" she muttered.
Tanya received blank stares, and Tanya nearly growled at them. "Securities? You know, lending out money with promises of interest?"
Iris shrugged. "The banks talk about loans all the time, but we don't take out many, considering it's hard to pay them back with how much we spend on the military."
Tanya groaned, sat up, and began to look around. She sent an unhappy glare at their hosts. "Do any of you have something to write with?"
They shook their heads, and, after an embarrassingly long silence, Tanya punched herself in the head as she realized that she could just use illusions.
She made an unpleasant face as she began to feed mana into her Computation Jewel, and then frowned as a diagram constructed with golden lines wobbled into existence before her.
None of them were straight, and Tanya mused that maybe that second glass of wine had been too much. Still, it was usable.
She gestured to the image. "This is a representation of the money a business, peasant, or wealthy individual has. You need that money to expand your infrastructure, meaning you want to be able to make more money. So, what you need to do is get it. How?"
She pushed more mana into her Type 97, and what looked like a piece of paper with large numbers on it sprung to life. "This is a bond. It records an amount of money that the lender gives the government. It also has an interest rate, which is a percentage of the money that you'll give the holder of the bond annually."
She closed her eyes and scrunched up her face, trying to remember how all of it worked. "At the end of a period of time, they'll get given back the amount of money they gave the government in addition to how much money they made from the interest. This means you get money in the short term to build up your infrastructure so you can gain more resources in the long term and establish your credibility, and they get to earn money from their loan."
Tanya shook her head and dispelled the illusion, opening her eyes to find that all three of her hosts were standing slack jawed in awe.
"Where did you learn these things?"
Tanya shrugged. "School. I needed it in order to get through high school."
They were giving her blank looks, and Tanya sighed again. "School is where a bunch of children go in order to learn the basics of education, decide what they want to do with their life, and learn how to be good citizens. By teaching them, the quality of your human resources will increase, allowing your economy to grow," she explained as if she were talking to five-year-olds.
Tanya opened her eyes to see that Rain was muttering everything Tanya had been saying, while Iris was staring at her intently.
Tanya blinked. Well, they might as well be five-year-olds, as far as the concept of teaching people other than nobles things in a formal setting went.
"Could you… perhaps accompany me to Elroad?" she asked nervously.
Tanya sent her a questioning eyebrow, and she began to explain. "Their Prime Minister recently died, and because nearly every major decision about… anything relating to how the Kingdom was run went through him, they might be cutting off funding thanks to the lack of his steadying hand."
Tanya blinked at the bluntness, but she smirked all the same. Helping the national affairs of two monarchies didn't exactly appeal to her in the long term, but if she helped out the Princess, she'd be sure to get rewarded handsomely…
Maybe she'd even get a house where she could house the tools and supplies she needed to make her weapons instead of having to rely on Blacksmiths?
-OxOxO-
Tanya leaned heavily on Viktoriya as the two of them walked home.
In her case, it was more like stumbling, and in Viktoriya's case, it was more like trying not to fall over from Tanya's weight, but that didn't particularly matter to Tanya right now.
They were leaving the country tomorrow. Both of Iris's retainers hadn't seemed to enjoy Iris's proposal, but neither could doubt that Tanya at least seemed like she knew what she was doing, as far as economics went, which was more than they could say.
Tanya had barely managed to suppress a disgusted sneer when they had told them they weren't experienced with money and that Iris made most of the decisions on how the country was run day to day, since her father and brother were fighting against the Demon King and they couldn't really trust many nobles to be uncorrupt.
And the rewards…
Tanya giggled to herself. They were going to be getting paid for this. Tanya might have been trying to get to a position in the rear in her last life because she feared for her life, but she hadn't been at all upset about the pay raises that she had gotten with the rising of her station.
They weren't just getting paid, either. Iris had promised to vouch for her in getting anything from a house to a mansion anywhere in Belzerg if she was able to fix their relations and economies, if that – which was Elroad's 'official' reason for withdrawing support – was indeed the case.
Tanya had still been hesitant – the Succubi and Wiz and her inventions were still paying nicely – but Viktoriya had said she'd wanted to explore a bit, and going to Elroad would let her do that.
Tanya smiled widely as she remembered the warm feeling that had begun emanating from her small chest when Viktoriya had thanked Tanya after she had agreed to go.
That warmth was a nice feeling.
Tanya looked down at herself and pouted.
"At… at least nobody is gonna see me wearin' this stupid thing at night."
Tanya felt Viktoriya stiffen, but the woman quickly moved to continue to support Tanya. How nice…
Tanya groaned as she was hit with a tsunami of dizziness, and she leaned heavily on Viktoriya.
"C- Colonel! I need your help-"
"Just carry me. I don't feel like walkin'."
Hesitantly, Viktoriya picked up Tanya, supporting her back and her legs with each of her arms.
Viktoriya blushed a small bit and tried desperately not to think of what this position was named. And what such a position implied.
Tanya chuckled to herself, and looked up at Viktoriya's cu… face. "You holdin' me bridal style, Visha," she muttered, stressing the first part of her adjuncts nickname.
Viktoriya felt her face light up, and Tanya laughed at the sight. Full blown, joyous laughter.
She hadn't seen a stop sign in ages. How odd was it to find one strapped to the face of her adjutant?
Viktoriya continued to give her that unreadable and ever-so-slightly confused expression, even as she stopped looking like a stop sign. Tanya mostly ignored that and began to sing under her breath. "We're gettin' paid… and paid rhymes with laid… and laid rhymes with… with…"
She had meant to say Visha again – what a wonderful word and a wonderful person and a wonderful concept, those two words together – but unconsciousness decided to claim her at that point.
Viktoriya sighed, and then, after making doubly sure, began to pour mana into her Type 97. She did have that locket she had bought, after all, and it needed a picture inside it…
And even if she wasn't exactly sure how to reconstitute magical readings as physical pictures, she was sure she'd find a way eventually. Tanya looked just too… peaceful.
When she slept normally, she always had some sort of uncomfortable expression on her face, but now…
Viktoriya was sure that Tanya got nightmares about what they'd experienced on the front, just like Viktoriya herself did.
So even if she never knew, Tanya's image would be forever close to Viktoriya's heart.
She blinked at the images that phrase brought up, and shook her head. No, there was no greater meaning to this action, no matter how much she wished it did. She…
She would move on.
-OxOxO-
Tanya gripped her head, groaning quietly.
She would never touch alcohol again.
This time for sure.
She wasn't sure if this place had some sort of super-grape that made extra powerful wine, but she couldn't have gotten a hangover this big from a measly two glasses of wine, no matter how small she was.
They must have spiked her drink or something. She didn't know why they would-
Tanya heard giggling to her right, and she glared, red-faced, at Viktoriya. The woman had dragged her out of bed, ignored Tanya's protests, dressed her, and then helped her along as they came to the castle.
They had been left inside the castle's courtyard by Rain, who told them that Iris wasn't awake this early in the morning and that she wouldn't be awake until the sun was well above the horizon and the walls of the city.
Until then, they could do whatever they wanted, as long as they could be found. Tanya was tempted to try and find a library, but there were a few practical concerns that they needed to take care of before their trip.
Trying to resist the urge to hold her head in her hands, Tanya began to search the castle for the kitchen. Viktoriya was quietly fiddling with her Computation Jewel as she walked, and Tanya turned her head towards her.
"Anything wrong?"
She shrugged noncommittally. "Nothing detrimental. I think some of the more sensitive parts are starting to get worn down, though…"
Tanya clicked her tongue. They really needed to find a Blacksmith. Maybe they could get Lorelei to find one?
But no, it wasn't the problem of finding a Blacksmith, but finding one that would let Tanya use their stuff without making Tanya their apprentice.
Tanya shook her head. They didn't have time for that, and…
She stopped in her tracks. Her head shot up as she smelled something… nice drifting through the air.
Following the smell through the halls, Viktoriya and Tanya soon found themselves inside of the kitchen, watching cooks and maids, young and old, moving about the room in a flurry of activity. Tanya's expectations of something much more… sedate due to the time of day and the time period were soon found to be wrong.
Tanya stalked in, and the movements of those around her began to fade away. She ignored them – there was only so much she could think of with her headache – and quickly located a few cooking implements she would need. Packing food for this trip would be essential-
"Your Majesty, why are you here!?"
Tanya turned to the frantic voice, glaring at the originator. It seemed to be a woman in her middle years with more than a few gray hairs on her head.
Tanya began to survey the woman, and then she smiled happily.
Despite being the person in charge here – who else would have the courage to confront their employer with such an outraged tone? – she wasn't wearing gloves, and her hair wasn't in a hair net. It seemed that Tanya would have to make such things and have the Succubi and Wiz sell them.
The woman's face immediately sank, and her expression poorly masked her fear as her head fell and shoulders began to shake. Tanya suppressed a sigh. It seemed that her looks had confused those around her again.
"I'm not the Princess. I'm going to be one of her bodyguards, and I thought it would be a good idea to pack some food," she explained, walking around the kitchen and dodging past everyone in the room, picking up food along the way.
"Well, you should let us prepare food for you and Her Majesty. It is our duty after all-"
Tanya shook her head. "No, I'm sure you all have your hands full trying to feed everyone else in the castle. I can do this myself, thanks."
With that, she tuned out whatever other complaints the woman had, beginning to prepare the food.
While she had initially obtained the cooking skills in Axel in order to prepare the best approximation of a Ready-to-Eat-Meal, Tanya would be lying if she said she wasn't also interested in recreating some of her first world's cuisine.
Just like the Smith skill, as long as she could imagine it and she put enough points into the skill, she could make nearly everything… and Tanya had spent a good, long time imagining tasting the food of her first homeland.
It was with great pride that Tanya, in the course of three hours, made a number of Ready-to-Eat-Meals they could consume while they traveled. She even recreated the ingredients for a number of dinners that they could prepare on their way there.
After seeing just how close to physical pain her presence in the kitchen was causing the maids and cooks, Tanya asked them to pack their things into two mana-powered refrigerated picnic baskets.
After that, they'd left behind a crowd of seemingly happy servants, and Tanya had left behind most of her hangover. They went back out to where Rain had told them the carriage would be to find that all three were already waiting.
Claire and Rain seemed to be wearing their regular clothing – although Tanya wasn't sure, since she'd only known them for a few days.
Iris, however, was not.
Indeed, the dress from yesterday was gone, replaced by what Tanya guessed was supposed to be armor.
Her forearms and legs were clad in heavy, cobalt-blue armor, much like Mitsurugi's, with not an inch of skin showing. Her shoulders and her chest were covered similarly, and Tanya could see that a large sword was hanging from her hips.
After that, however, any protection ended. Her upper arms had only cloth, and, judging by the way it flowed around her as she turned to look at Tanya, there wasn't chain mail underneath.
Both of her thighs were completely uncovered, save for a blue skirt. Most of her hair was unbraided in a fashion that reminded her of Darkness, but Tanya ignored the reminder of her friend to focus on how unprotected she was.
It wouldn't take much to score a hit on her head or on her legs, regardless of whether Tanya was using bullets or not.
Tanya was moved out of her appraisal of the girl's defenses by the white suited woman walking towards them. Face red and steaming, Claire tried to berate them. "Where were you? We looked all over the castle, and-"
Tanya peered at the woman, while Viktoriya spoke up from her side. "We were in the kitchen making food for the trip."
Claire's face curled up, and with how much her forehead had begun to wrinkle, it began to greatly resemble what Tanya imagined that bowling ball of a noble's back looked like.
"Why, in the name of Eris, would you be somewhere like that?" she asked. Tanya peered over the woman's shoulder to where Rain and Iris were conversing.
Tanya sighed, and glared up at Claire. She seemed to be unnerved, like everyone else always was, but Tanya guessed that it was having more of an effect due to her resemblance to the Princess.
Tanya opened her mouth, but Claire just shook her head. "Fine. I suppose that you are allowed to go to such places. I don't particularly care. I have an additional job for you."
Tanya dropped the glare after another moment of holding it steady, contemplation overtaking her face instead. Another job?
"What is it?" she asked, wondering what the white-suited noble would want.
Claire sent one last glance towards the other two, and dragged Tanya behind the other side of the cart. "First, I want to thank you for taking up the job. Second-"
Tanya shook her head. "Wait. Why are you two trusting me so much? Don't you have tons of other people that could escort her?"
Claire tried to suppress a wince and failed. "We need everyone – which means everyone we trust farther than we can throw – we have right now. Letting even one person that has been here for the last few weeks leave could be a detriment to the defense of the capital. You've just arrived, so we can afford to let you leave."
Tanya raised an eyebrow at that – she thought she was probably worth more in battle than many of the Reincarnates – but that solved one question.
"Plus, there aren't many nobles we can trust to take her to Elroad and remain… low-key. If said nobles revealed that they were leaving with the Princess in tow, people might lose some of their motivation to protect the capital if none of the important leaders are here. That's why neither I nor Rain can come, since I need to work to keep the other grand nobles from realizing she's gone, and Rain needs to work to keep the various merchants and their guilds happy."
Tanya nodded, but before she could walk around and talk with Rain, Claire gripped her arm. Tanya felt the arm jolt, and saw that Viktoriya had grabbed the noble's outstretched arm.
They glared at each other, and Tanya turned around. Both unhanded each other, and Claire straightened her tie. "Now… as I was trying to say, I want you to keep Iris and the Prince from being engaged."
Her words brought nothing but silence for a few moments, during which Tanya tried to reconcile the mission they were being hired for and the one they were now being asked to do.
Viktoriya tried for a more direct approach. "But-"
Claire cut her off with a glare, and Viktoriya sent one back. Claire looked back at Tanya, and her features softened.
"Rain and the King may want them to be engaged, but… I just can't stand it! He's selfish, spoiled, and is surely no match for Iris! I won't have her be degraded by that nation that looks down of Belzerg despite everything we've done for them!"
She was breathing heavily, and Tanya sighed. "Well, I don't approve of putting your own opinions above the orders of your superiors-"
Viktoriya let out a loud cough to her right, and Tanya turned to her, glaring. What could she possibly have to say against such a simple notion?
Viktoriya shrugged, a… dare she say it, coy, look on her face, and Tanya blinked in rememberence.
…Right.
Tanya was only technically alive because Viktoriya and the rest of the 203rd had disobeyed their orders. "…but I do acknowledge that there are circumstances where they are warranted," she said as an expectant look in her eyes grew as she looked the noble.
Claire sighed. "You will be rewarded for your efforts, if either their relationship does not proceed or he cancels the marriage." Tanya raised an eyebrow expectantly.
Claire sulked. "…And you'll get a larger reward if the marriage does end up being canceled."
Tanya grinned. "I guess the circumstances do warrant an intervention, then. Don't worry, I'm sure-"
Claire cut her off by pushing a small black bag into her hands. "This is a poison that is often used in political assassinations. If you must, find a way to get it in his drink. I am sure that your looks will help you in that regard, so-"
"Absolutely not." She weighed the bag, glaring.
She sent a meaningful look at the retainer as she passed the bag to Viktoriya. "The fact that you said 'often' and 'political' means that Iris and I would be at the top of the list of 'suspicious people', assuming he has no enemies close by."
Claire tried to glare at them, but Tanya pouted cutely, smirking as Claire's glare began to melt.
Tanya cackled internally. It seemed she looked too much like Iris for the woman to stay mad at her for long.
"Fine, fine. I suppose that you should have this, then." She reached into her suit grudgingly and handed her a medallion.
Tanya looked at the necklace, glancing at the image on it. It seemed to be some sort of artistic emblem, like a coat of arms. She glanced up at Claire questioningly, wondering if this was like Darkness's family medallion.
"This," she said, gesturing to the medallion in Tanya's hands, "is evidence of my… favor. It identifies that you are trusted above all others by my household. If you must, use it to secure Iris's freedom," she explained in a pained voice.
Tanya nodded, and then turned to the gate. Claire let out one last warning. "If you abuse the power that I have given you, however…"
She left the threat hanging in the air, and then muttered something about them coming to the front of the carriage since it was near eight o'clock.
Both nodded and turned their heads to the gate. If what Claire said about it was true…
Both grinned. Lorelei was waiting for them, loitering in front of the gate.
If the guards had been around, Tanya was sure that they would have chased her off. As they weren't – they were leaving early to avoid crowds and any onlookers who might spot the Princess – she stuck out a bit with her height, but not as much as Tanya might have thought.
Tanya nodded, and walked with the other two around the side of the carriage to talk a bit with the other two.
"Alright," Tanya said as she walked around the side, bowing her head to Iris. She smiled shyly, and Tanya sent Rain a glance.
She seemed uncomfortable, and Tanya couldn't blame her. She was trusting the safety of the Princess to two strangers without any means of policing them. Who wouldn't-
Tanya tried not to flinch at the sight of a paper being withdrawn from the small satchel at Rain's side.
There was a contract. Why wouldn't there be one? And, if Tanya had to guess…
"This is a self-enforcing contract. Have you heard of them?"
"Unfortunately," she groused. As Rain blinked owlishly – how had she heard of them before? – Tanya ignored her and remembered the one she was currently attempting to toe the line of.
She didn't actually dislike the one she was currently under.
On the contrary, it was the only thing ensuring that she would be getting that wish from Being X. No, she disliked them mostly because the things had nearly killed Viktoriya.
As she tried to suppress her growing dislike of this assignment, Viktoriya took the offered pen. Tanya snatched it away from her adjuncts hand angrily, and then grabbed the document.
"We need to read this thing. You never know what hidden clause might exist within them," she muttered, beginning to skim the thing.
Besides, the last time she had skipped over the wording of a contract, she had been blindsided by those Orcs.
For obvious reasons, she didn't want the Princess to be anywhere near Tanya if they showed up again.
After five minutes of reading the single piece of paper with a scowl on her face and a pair of retainers breathing down her neck, it didn't seem like there was anything too bad, if Tanya was honest with herself. She would be killed if the Princess suffered unnecessary harm, and Tanya would only receive her reward if the payments from Elroad were secured.
It wasn't like she was being forced to think traitorous thoughts in the third person, at least.
It also mentioned nothing of upholding their marriage, and Tanya supposed that she had Claire to thank for that. Sighing, she signed the contract with the pen and handed both over to Viktoriya.
That finished, she hopped on the carriage. She blinked at the way it bounced up and down while technically motionless, but she quickly ignored the motion of the floating carriage.
The untrained might have thought it a bit odd for the thing to lack wheels, but Tanya had been told what they would be doing the night before. While she might not have remembered too much, Viktoriya had made sure to memorize everything.
They were taking a modified 'Royal Carriage' to get to Elroad in only a few days. It had no wheels and was to be pulled by Lizard Runners. Tanya hadn't yet fought the Monsters for a quest, but she was sure she could probably speed past them easily.
She was also interested in exactly how this thing floated above the ground, and if that meant she could show off her Flight spells without being dragged to an operating table.
She hadn't had a chance to ask, however, and asking out of the blue might be seen as suspicious if Flight spells didn't exist here.
Presumably, if every Mage wasn't using the spells that allowed this thing to float, then it was probably difficult to constrain the spell to a single spell or to a smaller body. Otherwise, there really shouldn't have been any reason for people capable of flight not to take advantage of the ability.
Viktoriya hopped next to her, and both stared down at the reins that were resting on the cushion the driver was supposed to sit in.
"I don't suppose…"
Tanya shook her head.
She hadn't bothered to learn how to handle horses in her last life – not that she had even ever found a chance to – rightly guessing that she'd never need to be around them in the Empire with her Flight spells and her ability to drive cars.
Here, however, she couldn't show off her flight, and Tanya was sure that neither she nor Viktoriya were concealing something like a car in their clothing, which meant…
"Do either of you know how to ride a horse? Or even how to handle these things?"
Both retainers glared at her, and Tanya held up her hands. "You can't blame, you never-"
The door of the carriage burst open, and Iris happily jumped onto the seat next to Tanya. "Here, I'll help."
She waved goodbye to the two of the retainers, who looked shocked by Iris's action for a moment and then began to break into tears.
Or Claire did, anyway. Tears also might have been an understatement, with how much she was wailing and grabbing at Rain, as if holding onto her would bring back Iris, who wasn't even fifty feet away yet.
Tanya shuddered, and then turned back to the gates they were approaching.
She was so glad that she didn't know anyone that… clingy, and that she had properly disciplined the 203rd on how to act in front of their officers.
Clearly, being a noble had made Claire rather uncaring of propriety, if it concerned her Princess.
They soon reached the gate. Iris was grinning happily, and Viktoriya was distracting her with a question about her armor. Before they moved passed the gate, Tanya powered up the Type 97 and sent the door of the carriage open with a simple Flight spell.
Lorelei, hidden in the shadows, jumped in, and Tanya shook her head as Iris looked at her in confusion.
"Must have come undone…"
Iris thought nothing of it, and impatiently began to tap her foot. Tanya closed the door, and they sped off, streaking through the streets. Iris was laughing, and Tanya guessed that she didn't get to do this often.
Tanya sighed, even as they nearly crashed into the gate of the city and Iris gave them her name. Hopefully, this whole thing would be over soon, and she could begin to convert whatever building the Princess helped her buy into a proper assembly line.
They needed to fix their stuff, and the moment they got more and better weapons, the faster they could burn through quests and get experience and decide which side to be on.
-OxOxO-
A/N 1: Salutations, one and all! This quickly moves us towards an early confrontation between Iris and Revi, caused by who else but Tanya, and her stopping the flow of Reincarnates to the capital. She really does create her own problems, huh?
Anyway, the scene between drunk!Tanya and Visha is cute and cheesy and damn do I love it! They're headed off to Elroad, too, neatly cutting out an entire Volume of KonoSuba before Kazuma even gets here.
Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed!
A/N 2: Oh, right! Ah, my knowledge of economics was at a high school level when I wrote these next few chapters, and I haven't exactly kept up to date on the subject, so if there's any advice that doesn't actually work on the scale of governments... someone will point it out probably, and I'll incorporate the usage of incorrect economic policies into the story.
A/N 3: On another note… I have an announcement: For the next week straight, I will be putting out new content.
That might be in the form of Omakes, chapters for this story, or brand new stories that have nothing to do with this at all! Regardless of what it is, I'll be posting a chapter of something for every day of the next week.
Why, you might ask, would I do this? Well, quite simply: my life is great right now!
I got my driver's license last week, and I had my birthday too. I got my first job last month, and people really seem to be enjoying what I have to offer. So, as a celebration, I'm giving you all a lot for the next week!
I hope you enjoy!
A/N 4: Responses to reviews on this website:
cj1of4: Well, if you've read the LNs for KonoSuba, then you might remember an instance where that would have been supremely helpful in avoiding being robbed.
reihangima: How's this for more?
SoleReclaimer: I KNOW, right? Oh, there's so many directions I could take that plotline in, and, if I'm quite honest…
Tanya's probably going to be disappointed.
fwterrorista: lol
Quaver Ava: If only she learned her lesson the first time. Unfortunately, she's still being a bit stubborn about accepting Luck as a quantifiable stat. Seeing as Eris can quite easily mess with that stat, it will be a wonder if she can even take a stroll down the street without tripping and breaking her neck.
Also, *Monty Python intensifies*
Thank you very much, and expect lots of drama and pain and feelings in the future!
Xpparda: As you can see, Tanya did eventually learn that Iris is younger than her and looks just about the same age. *Mad cackling echoes in the distance*
And, while Tanya's interactions with Rain and Claire have been cut short, Iris will have to come to terms with Tanya's resemblance to her.
PyroMania101: To answer your questions in reverse order: We are now two weeks until ground zero, and then a few weeks more in order for Tanya to travel all the way back to Axel.
To answer your first question…
Uh…
Well. I do have… ugh…
Alright. Short answer: Not entirely.
Long answer: I've got the story written up until chapter 38ish, and then plans for a few more chapters. Beyond a basic outline and an idea of where I want this to end up, however, I'm lacking in… specifics. I will get there eventually, but things will slow down a lot once I finally post everything I've got.
woodxvii: Thank you so much for the praise!
And once again, thank you to Imperial warlord, simple405, Sprengkamp, Haloman6494 and everyone else who continues to read this story! Have a good week!