Tanya felt the urge, briefly, to try and murder Revi by glaring at him hard enough.
She heard, in the unguarded moments when her subordinates spoke of their opinions of her before regretting not making sure they were seperated from her by several thousand kilometers, that her stare was intense and intimidating.
She was fairly sure that she might have a good shot at it. And, really, he probably deserved it.
"Revi, while I am… flattered, I cannot take you up on this offer. For one, I have several responsibilities, including killing the Demon King."
He pouted in that way of his that had become uncomfortably common in the past few days of her teaching him. It meant that he was saddened that one of the ideas he presented to her wasn't up to her standards.
She nearly scoffed. As if 'standards' had anything to do with it.
It was mostly that she was nearly certain that being the 'Grand Vizier' of the Kingdom of Elroad would probably conflict with her contract. She imagined that being a head of state would eventually conflict with her contract, forcing her to either abandon her post in a critical moment or to give up that wish to do her job.
Her last life had shown her that sacrificing too much for a job was a good way for a cog in a machine to get worn down to nothing.
He continued to pout for a moment. "But… you'd have everything and anything you could want! A larger salary, property, servants and serfs! Hordes of knights and adventurers and…"
He trailed off at the withering look she sent him. Mostly, she was starting to get tempted into giving up her limitless revenge on Being X by a lot of short term gain…
She shook her head. No, she just had to imagine what it would be like to finally show him…
"Ah… Tanya, what have you thought of now?"
She blinked. Right. He'd come to interpret her thoughts of revenge – necessary with how much he seemed to be willing to throw at her to try and keep her permanently – as her coming up with something new.
She turned around and stared around the room. It was cozy, filled with books and a nice desk and a bright, open window.
It reminded her of her meeting with Verdia and Ragcraft, which wasn't exactly unexpected, considering Ragcraft had used this room as his office.
"Revi. Perhaps I should give you some lessons of things beyond economics?" she asked aloud, half to him and half to herself.
If nothing, it would distract him from the fact that she was really starting to run out of economic advice to give him. The reports that his cabinet – the so-called 'Royal Council' – were handing to him and the populace claimed that the reforms were doing wonders.
She wasn't entirely sure if things could change that fast – it had only been a few days – but he seemed convinced that bringing problems to her would make life for him and his nation better.
She could hear the sound of him thinking – he liked to shuffle in place whenever he was thinking, nervous, or just about doing anything other than talking or gambling – but he did eventually agree.
She nearly breathed a sigh of relief. He was getting coronated tomorrow, and she had been invited. More time wearing that srupid dress, sure, but also some time where she could think of more stuff to tell him to hopefully continue to gain favors.
Hopefully, if she ran out of things to teach him about, she could claim that the nation was fine, that she had finished her goals, and that she needed to leave.
Because, while living easily and gaining a few levels a week just from eating was fine and dandy, she needed to be a bit more proactive.
As she turned around and decided to begin coaching him about the effective management of subordinates, she hoped that having him so indebted to her would work out, if she chose the wrong side in Belzerg's war, despite all of her deliberation. She could think of no better reason to continue speaking with him.
Of course, the fact that Iris was also thankful that Tanya worked with Revi while she had fun with Viktoriya was pretty good, as was the fact that Viktoriya and Lorelei seemed to be having a good time here as well.
Quashing the unfortunate – jealous – feeling she felt when she thought of her double and Viktoriya having fun together, she cleared her throat and began. "Now. Rule number one is to ensure that your subordinates are effective at completing their jobs. While the carrot and the stick are good, I believe that the 'carrot, stick, and explosion spell' method is much better. To start…"
-OxOxO-
Tanya stretched as she walked towards the entrance gate of Revi's castle. That had been…
Well, 'fun' might be stretching it, but it certainly wasn't horrible. Revi was a good listener and learner, when he wasn't whining or complaining about his obsession with gambling being interfered with.
"Wait! Your… friend left this."
Tanya blinked, and then she grinned widely. Finally!
"Honestly, you could have asked me to turn down the heating so she could wear it. Though, agreeing to cut your pay for a day was worth it, from a monetary point of view."
Tanya ignored him and grinned at the jacket in her hands. Getting Revi to turn up the castle's magical heating system to a level that was uncomfortable for wearing a jacket had been surprisingly difficult – no less than four different servants had tried to distract him – but now she had it…
She smiled at him. "Thank you, Revi. Same time tomorrow?"
He nodded absently, muttering about economics and pros and cons and other things that sounded vaguely familiar. She ignored him.
Tanya looked around. Now that she had it, in my hands, what were the chances Being X or that Eris would attempt to get Viktoriya to interrupt me?
It depended on what they were doing. Tanya had absolutely no way of determining that – besides maybe using the Type 95 to demolish a good number of innocent bystanders, which would guarantee that they would be watching her – so she just had to hope that they were distracted.
And, of course, take cautionary measures.
A five minute walk saw her hidden in an alley that was so nondescript it might have been noticeable for that reason alone, if it weren't also isolated. Using as little mana as she could, she whispered, "Flight."
She was up and away, soaring over the town in an instant and leaving it behind in a handful of seconds. She looked behind her…
Nothing. Viktoriya wasn't approaching. She nodded, and then began to look around herself.
She could see no Dragons, Crows, or anything else that might try and pick on her.
Though she felt as if even this wasn't enough, she found the pocket with the diary, and…
She smirked. Finally! She threw the jacket over her shoulder and undid the clasp on the front. "Finally! You'll get yours, for making me wear that dress…"
She blinked.
Ah…
She had been so consumed in actually getting the damn thing that she had overlooked a simple part of what it would take to read it.
Namely, understanding the language. It was not in Germanian, English, or even Japanese.
It was in Russy.
Tanya sighed. It seemed she had overlooked an essential step. How unlike her…
She shook her head. Well… even if she couldn't read it now, there was always the future.
ROAR!
She turned, swearing as a Dragon seemed to materialize from nowhere. While she tried her best to avoid it and send shots back at it, confusing it with illusions all the while, she planned her next move.
Despite the setback and the language barrier – and the cloying, stupid fucking memories that were coming back to her involving the last time she had wanted to understand Viktoriya's mother tongue – she would not be stopped forever.
She smirked, even as the Dragon spewed fire at her.
It might take a while… but she would read the journal. Or, a copy of it, at least…
-OxOxO-
Viktoriya, an extra skip in her step, watched as Iris, once again, won a game set up at a stall in the marketplace.
It seemed that even when they were trying to purchase their food, the people of Elroad couldn't stop testing their Luck. The man was grumbling, but he handed Iris her winnings – the grand prize of a voucher for one meal at an apparently upscale restaurant.
Iris sighed happily as they continued on, walking through the streets and being left alone, for the most part.
Occasionally, Iris would be recognized as someone of 'good breeding' and have people bow to her, but, for the most part, people left her be.
"So. Have fun?"
Viktoriya blinked and turned to find Lorelei towering above them, as always. Iris nodded happily. "Yeah! We did our rounds at the casinos again, and I skipped some rocks on this Onion Duck lake, and I won this sideshow game, and we got a restaurant voucher! You interested?" she eventually asked.
Lorelei blinked and shook her head ruefully. "Yeah. How about you head on over? We'll catch up after finding Tanya."
Iris nodded, happily chattering to herself as she went off. "Yep! Her lesson ended, so I wonder what she's up to…"
Viktoriya ignored the Princess's words and cast a questioning glance at Lorelei. She looked around herself…
And then decided against saying something. "Nevermind…"
Viktoriya sighed as she turned Lorelei made to follow Iris. "So. What were you up to?"
Lorelei blinked. "Ah… the usual. Window shopping… actual shoping – thanks for that, by the way – and-"
Viktoriya cut her off. "Hey, remember: You helped in the fight against the Dragon."
She scoffed. "Yeah right. You guys could have taken it down without me."
Viktoriya nodded. "Probably. But that doesn't mean you didn't help, right?"
She was silent, for a moment, and they walked through the crowds. Viktoriya sent a glare at those that sneered at Lorelei, but otherwise, she didn't have to do much.
That was… an improvement over the Capital. There, they had needed to verbally and physically defend Lorelei from the odd heckler, during their shopping trip. It seemed that the people of Elroad didn't dislike her.
That seemed odd to Viktoriya, though. The people here, with their obsession with gambling, must have been even more faithful to that Eris Goddess. So if they were, and Lorelei supposedly had bad Luck for becoming a beastman, then why didn't they hate her more.
Lorelei was still quietly staring down at the ground, and Viktoriya sighed. "Alright. Think of it this way…"
She trailed off, and then smiled nostalgically. "Back in the Empire, it always felt like Tanya could have fought the war on her own and beaten anything."
Lorelei nodded slowly, casting a curious glance towards Viktoriya, who continued after the nod. "Well… it's entirely possible that maybe, maybe, she could have."
Lorelei's face contorted into something of incredulity, but Viktoriya didn't admit to trying to joke. She wasn't, really.
She didn't have the slightest idea as to how strong Being X was. For all she knew, Tanya could have wiped the Russy Federation off the map if she'd actually given in.
She snorted, but she waved away Lorelei's questioning glance.
As if Tanya would give in to him.
She breathed in. "That said, she would have had to sacrifice everything that makes Tanya Tanya in order to do so. So, we really did help out, as did you."
Lorelei was quiet again, which Viktoriya was thankful for. Was that something pinging on her Observation spell…?
"Speaking of which… what exactly happened during that war of yours?"
Viktoriya winced momentarily. Uh oh.
Just like Darkness, she was starting to wonder at their origins.
Viktoriya opened her mouth. She would just-
"Tanya was oddly at ease killing those four rapists."
Viktoriya flinched at that, and then, after going over Lorelei's words, she whirled around. "Would you propose we do something else with rapists."
Lorelei opened her mouth, and then she decided to shut it with a snap. Viktoriya…
Well, she looked like she usually did – though she was glaring just the slightest bit – but she felt…
Odd. Different. Dangerous.
"Uh… no, but-"
And then the aura was gone. Lorelei shook her head and filed away the odd encounter.
"I just mean… look, you two are oddly good at… um, 'looking past a monster's looks.' You killed Tranquility Girls, and Orcs, and a bunch of Demons and Undead. And she killed those rapists."
Viktoriya sighed. "Look… I'll give you the basics, but don't ask for more. If… Tanya doesn't want you to know, then I won't tell you."
Lorelei nodded, and then she pulled her aside into an alleyway.
And she learned.
It wasn't much. At all.
But it was something.
As Tanya touched down in the alley – "I knew this place was too close to the city" – Lorelei tried to digest what she'd been told.
They'd fought in a human war?
As they walked and talked in front of her, she supposed that they really were soldiers, and not just adventurers.
Adventurers weren't just irregular forces, as far as fighting went – they weren't supposed to fight in human wars. They weren't trained for that kind of mental strain. Lorelei was sure she couldn't do it.
She gulped as she remembered the rapists. Or maybe she could.
Though the restaurant was amazing, she ate, not really considering it. Was it-
"Lorelei? Are you alright?"
She blinked and looked to Tanya.
'Are you alright?'
She smiled. "Yeah. Just thinking about a few things."
She nodded slowly at her, and then she went back to grilling Viktoriya and Iris about their day.
'Are you alright?'
Despite knowing her old team members for months, and despite the fact that she had fought and bled with them for all that time, and despite the fact that they had been one of the only parties willing to accept her without paying her nearly nothing, they had not once asked about her wellbeing outside of combat.
She smiled. She supposed that she was alright. She was probably better than ever, really.
"Thanks for being my friends," she blurted out. They looked at her oddly, but she got resounding replies.
"Of course. I'm glad we met, even if you were kind of rude to us way back when."
"No problem, Lorelei!"
"I guess you are pretty cool, even if you are a beastman."
Smiling, she ate the food. It felt nearly as good as the feeling of having people to rely on did.
-OxOxO-
It was a normal day. Nothing had seemed off, and if he was being honest with himself, he would have been happy to simply carry out the menial, repetitive, and daily decisions that any normal ruler had to deal with instead of trying to corral his Generals.
While not as interesting as going to battle himself or trying to outmaneuver his Generals, the simple, easy task of filling out paperwork certainly had a… stability to it that dealing with the Generals never had.
He should have known better than to tempt the universe.
He had been leaning over one of Ragcraft's reports about the arrival of a group of 'Hero Candidates' in the capital that some of his spies had seen arrive to much fanfare, when he was flung back into his chair.
Both him and the chair were flung back into the wall of his office, and he felt the room quake with the impact. He sat there, dazed – what had happened?
Was Wiz attacking them for some reason? Had that Degurechaff figure decided to side with Belzerg?
He reached out with his senses, stretching the limits of what he could perform without permanently damaging himself, surveying the entirety of his lands in the blink of an eye.
Nothing. No one in the lands under his control had gained massive power or anything like that.
He stood from where he'd been flung back, stretching his arms. Then… it had come from outside his realm.
He blinked. For such a powerful surge to have sent him reeling…
He turned to the door. He needed to-
"Father!"
The door he had been reaching for was flung open, smacking him in the face. Howling, he dropped to the ground even as his daughter began to apologize.
He waved away her concern as he struggled to his feet. "Did you feel that?" he asked, his voice filled with worry.
She wasn't nearly as sensitive as he was to such things, but she might have been injured if she were doing something in a precarious position.
She smiled softly. "Yes, father. There was some sort of burst of magic."
He nodded. "It came from Belzerg."
Her eyes widened. "Then…"
The Demon King felt blood pool in his hands as he clenched them tightly and broke his own skin. "Someone more powerful than the Double Blessed Hero Candidate has arrived."
He hadn't really thought that possible. Heaven had been out of commission the last time they'd done something like send her. If they were still functioning, then that means they'd dipped into their resources meant for combatting the Anniversary.
She tilted her head. "But I thought you said Heaven couldn't make anyone more powerful than them?"
He nodded. The origin of the Reincarnates was one of his most shameful secrets – not because of the content, but mostly because he had to lie to his daughter. "I did. Either they've figured out a more efficient method, which is unlikely considering how efficient it already is, or they've decided that it's worth the risk," he said, partly lying.
"…Do they fear the Anniversary?"
He blinked in surprise, and then he smiled warmly at his daughter, ruffling the black portion of her hair and running a hand through the silk-like stuff until it reached the reddened tips of it. "They must. Ever since the Big Bad threw out that first God without considering the contracts that kept Heaven held together, they've feared the curse that he placed on their realm."
He turned to the forward wall of his office. It overlooked the intimidating room where he met with the Generals, facing the wall with the painting of Belzerg's night sky.
He scowled. "We can't afford to have any of the Generals killed before then by whatever hero of legend they've sent, but we also can't send anyone with less power to investigate…"
Slowly, he let out a sigh, placing his hands on his face. "As per usual, we're stuck. No matter what we do, Belzerg refuses to fall. They get more reinforcements, or they find more resources, or the Crimson Demons have another of their parties and bombard the castle, or the Axis Cult will invent some new rumor about me that scares off some of my forces."
Those Cultists had been a thorn in his side for far too long. They'd spread rumors about him that made everyone think he was some sort of deviant.
In his territory, it was easy to say that they were lies, but Belzerg was happy to stoke the rumors to detract from his image.
He rolled his eyes as he stared at the painting again. It was ironic, really; if he wasn't the Demon King, and if the rumors about him being homosexual, a lolicon, or a sadist were true, then he'd be a shoo-in for the Axis Cult.
They did accept that anyone could love anyone else, regardless of age, gender, or race. They were rank hypocrites for suggesting that he was disgusting for being that way while also accepting anyone with those predilections.
It was no wonder that being an 'Axis Cultist' was a polite way of asking if you were homosexual.
He snorted. With how famous the Axis Cult was for their practices, he was only shocked that there weren't worse sayings about them.
He turned back to his daughter, and found that instead of being distraught, or hopeless, or contemplating selling him out to save her own skin, she was pensive.
"Father. Wiz and Vanir are honorary generals at best. Sylvia and Wolbach are coordinating their efforts to search for magical weapons and Wolbach's other half. The NEET is still protecting the castle, but he won't leave. Verdia and Hans are both working, and Evan, Celestina and I are training, albeit in different ways," she summarized.
He rolled his eyes, tapping on the two fingers that weren't outstretched. "Ragcraft is currently spying on some of the other nations surrounding Belzerg with the order to take no longer than a month, while I am trapped behind my own barrier."
She smiled bashfully. "Yes. It seems that we are out of resources that we can trust completely."
He narrowed his eyes at the way she inflected that last word. "Are you suggesting that we turn to some of the weaker forces that we can't completely rely on? I'm sure that the Undead Mage Evan might be a possible scout, but he hasn't exactly impressed me."
She shook her head. "Actually, I was thinking we should talk to… Degurechaff."
Blink.
He stared at his daughter and blinked again, waiting for her expression to change into one of mirth, because there was no way-
"I'm serious!" she exclaimed at the skeptical expression that was growing on his face. She was pouting cutely now.
The skeptical expression faded and was replaced by a mirthful one made of crickled laugh lines and a wide grin. "Hi, serious. My name is-"
She screamed, and he began to laugh. She absolutely despised his dad jokes, as the crater she left in the wall his chair had flown into attested to.
He wiped a tear from his eye as he began to talk. "Alright, alright… tell me why we should trust such an unknown quantity."
She took a deep breath. "Yes, we don't know much about her, what religion she follows, or… anything that might give us an edge over her. We do know, however, that she can be reasoned with."
He gave her a blank stare. "She threatened to burn one of my Generals alive."
His daughter raised an eyebrow. "In your training session with Evan, you threatened to burn him alive if he ever used that spell again."
He glowered at her – she wasn't supposed to have seen that. "She's not in the country," he tried. Ragcraft's spies her been relieved to relay that to him.
She shrugged. "She'll be back soon enough. Wouldn't you if you felt that?"
He drew himself up to his full height. It wasn't much compared to Vanir, Verdia, and most everyone in his army, but it was more intimidating than he could have hoped to be otherwise. "Daughter. We know-"
"That she isn't intrinsically set against us like most Hero Candidates are."
He paused, and he almost laughed at her attempt at displaying superiority saw her tilt her nose up at him. "She wants to figure out what this war is about. She didn't try and kill Verdia when she first met him. When she fought him in the capital, she didn't lead the Hero Candidates on a rampage through Verdia's forces after she disabled him. She just left them there."
He growled, but she just stared at him. "We can't throw away allies. Isn't that the point of using the Anniversary to gather the disaffected from Heaven?"
He stared at her, trying to find it in himself to fight against her. Then he sighed, bringing a hand to the back of his head. "You're right. We'll summon a Demon to send a message to her."
He felt the questioning sass emanate from her as he pushed his desk towards the window and moved the rug.
He just shrugged. "We'll make her pay for the cost."
Underneath the rug, a circle of spiraling silver lines, writing, and shapes sat there. When he dimmed the lights, they became less than interesting than the glow they emitted.
He drew in a breath, and then paused at the look his daughter was sending him. She was unimpressed, exasperated, and totally lethargic. She looked so much like…
He grimaced. The expression on her face sent a pang of pain through his heart at the reminder of her mother, but he quickly repressed it, going over what he needed for the ritual. The offering was taken care of, since Degurechaff was paying.
He inspected his mana and nodded again. He had the mana to complete this. He checked the circle again.
Nothing seemed to be missing from the complex gathering of shapes and words. It would be hard for most to summon anything larger than an Imp without training, but ritual circles like these greatly cut down on the cost needed to summon demons.
Of course, he didn't need it. He'd only constructed this in order to summon Vanir that one time.
He sent one last look at his daughter, who just sighed tiredly. "Father, how are they going to find her?" she asked, a note of annoyed patience slipping into her speech.
He slapped himself on the forehead and strode over to his desk while chuckling.
Right, if he wanted them to find her, he needed to have something that had come from her. Wolbach had proved that, while not a required part of the process, giving them something to aid their search cut down the times by a great degree.
If she had anything from the beast that was her other half, then the Demons that served her could have found it in weeks, after he sent it to them.
Because she didn't have anything from either her other half or from those Demons, they were searching for that other half without orders. She couldn't exactly summon them again, since they were already on the planet.
Luckily…
He tapped a drawer of his desk, watching as it made a small hiss as his secret compartment popped open. Inside, what he needed shined in its glass tube.
Ragcraft, between his arrival at Axel to instruct his spies and his leaving with Evan and Verdia, had gone to a place where Degurechaff had fought in the city.
He wasn't sure why she had fought there, but he was happy regardless thanks to the fruits of said fight.
He emptied the bag into his palm and grinned at the stained lock of hair. Ragcraft had gathered the blonde hair and made sure to dip it into her nearby blood.
The Demon King might have questioned him as to whether he was sure it was her blood, seeing as quite a lot of the stuff had stained the street, but his Doppelganger abilities, so closely tied to the identity of other people and beings, allowed him to differentiate between what her blood was and what wasn't.
Holding it in his hand and pouring a bit of mana into the blood and hair, he knelt and pushed that mana into the circle.
And then, he waited.
An Imp would be there soon enough, and then-
Sooner than he expected, the circle responded, and a figure began to form.
He narrowed his eyes.
Imps never formed. They were too weak to do anything more than pop into existence from a weak cloud of smoke. Eyebrows furrowed, he watched as a Demon took shape, coming up to his height.
Then, they rushed past his height, until the silhouette of light was equal to his daughter in stature. With one last gasp of energy, a figure burst into existence.
He raised his eyebrows high. With his age considered, he was somewhat shocked that those fragile wisps of hair had the energy to do so instead of keeling over and dying. The waste of energy, however, was justified.
The red expanse of skin was what made up most of the demon wasn't alarming. Demon's came in all shapes and colors, even if most of them preferred to adopt more human appearances when they could.
The knives as long as the Demon King's own hand that adorned the ends of his fingers weren't alarming, either. Mid-level demons often gained natural weapons to help them channel their mana or strength.
With his worn clothing, long, straight hair, and narrowed eyes, he could even pass for some sort of monster instead of a demon.
That was what concerned the Demon King. A Demon that had clothing and hair was either powerful and old, or they hadn't yet lost everything in the Arenas. Considering the fact that the demon wasn't an Imp or Succubus, he must have been at least somewhat strong.
As he stood from his kneeling position and gestured to the desk, he wondered why a Demon of this strength would answer the call he had put out.
The call had had power, sure, but it had also been concentrated, which translated to the task being menial.
This demon should be brokering for more consequential things.
Still, he put on a pleasant face and gestured towards the seat his daughter had brought forward. "Won't you sit?"
The Demon nodded, resting on the plush seat. The Demon King watched the Demon's eyes widen in shock and then close slowly.
He nodded knowingly. "It's much better than what they have in Hell, yes?"
They nodded. "Definitely," they said. He grinned.
They spoke in the tongue of Belzerg, and the Demon King sighed in relief. The ritual had succeeded, then.
Because a demon could be sent to Hell from a wide, wide variety of places, it was expected that they might not speak the language of the area they were being summoned to.
The ritual, thankfully, took care of that.
He sat behind his desk. "You don't seem to be much for small talk, so I'll get straight to the point."
He brought out a contract and a pen and began to talk. "I want you to deliver a letter to someone known as Tanya von Degurechaff."
The Demon King's eyes narrowed for a moment as the Demon in front of him jerked at the name, but he relayed his description of the girl, making sure to keep the suspicion off of his face as the Demon in front of him began to grow… pleased.
"Currently," he continued, holding out a hand towards his daughter, "she is outside of Belzerg. I am fairly sure that she will soon be returning to the Capital or to a town called Axel, where you can find a time to deliver it to her. Obviously, as the king of the enemy nation, I have no way to reach her personally."
His daughter handed him a quickly written letter, and he handed it to the Demon.
He sensed a question forming on the creature's lips, and he continued to explain. "I would have my spies take the letter to her, but I would rather not have them killed, if she turns out to be more hostile that believed."
The being in front of him sighed, and scanned the document, finally signing at the bottom. He then curled it up, placing it in the tattered belt at his waist. "Expedient and efficient. What about my payment? That sort of thing is usually carried out by the one creating the contract, correct, Mister…?"
Again, the Demon King felt his eyebrows rise at the slightly hungry look in the Demon's eyes.
Demon's this strong were supposed to have enough Demons serving them that fighting in the arenas for emotions was unnecessary.
He held off his judgement. For now.
"Just call me the Demon King. To answer your first question… it is an old code, but you are allowed to take payment from the recipient if it is specified by the contractor. Here, you'll need these," he said, quickly passing the Demon the blood-stained hair and moving past the whole issue of payment.
He looked at that piece of hair stained in blood, and then the Demon King could have sworn that he saw… familiarity shining in the Demon's eyes.
The Demon turned to them, bringing the hair up to his nose. He saw his daughter move forward. "I am not sure that this girl has the emotions that you could use to track her-"
"Oh, don't worry," he said, his eyes opening once more. Something eerie shined within them. "She has more than enough anger for me to track."
And, without another word, the being was gone, literally flying through the door. He turned to his daughter with a raised eyebrow.
She shrugged, a faint blush on her cheeks. "He certainly was… odd." He settled on deciding that he was odd and nothing else as he turned away. She nodded absently, helping him move the carpet and desk back into place.
Just as she was about to leave, he called out to her. "Send Evan to Axel as well."
"Is he ready for that?" she asked, spinning about to face her father's back with a skeptical look on her face.
He sighed tiredly. "I would much prefer to send Verdia, but his forces have to contend with the Hero Candidates for now. Hans isn't here to do that with how far forward we moved our plans to sabotage Alcanretia, and he's honestly the only one we have."
He sighed and turned his attention to his paperwork, ignoring the conflicted look on her face.
She suppressed the urge to offer herself – he would not agree to that. Waiting just a moment longer, she turned and left.
So much was happening, and so much had yet to happen. They were being stretched too thin, and yet her father refused to let her lead.
She had been under her father's watch as she was being 'trained' for years now. She had honestly outpaced any of the teachers he could find her, and he had promised her that she would be allowed to act like a real General soon enough.
He never said how soon, but it would never be soon enough for her. She wanted to get out a bit more, and while she knew that her father was overprotective for good reason – Hero Candidates were a big threat to them – that didn't stop all her resentment from being burnt away.
Sighing, she just hoped that this war would end soon. She didn't want to watch her father get killed, and with how long he had been trying to do this, she hoped he would see the end of the road.
-OxOxO-
"PLEASE!"
Tanya stared down at the pitiful sight before her. They reminded her of Luna, in a way, with how much they had been begging her to stay for the past hour.
Tanya didn't think Revi and his cabinet would like to be compared to a receptionist, however, so she kept her opinions to herself.
"Revi…"
He stared up at her, pouting. "Please! We can't survive without you! You've done so much in only a week! How much more could you do in a month? A year?"
She sighed and raised a pointed eyebrow. "Do you think that I asked you to promote competent people into your government just so that they'd bend over backwards to listen to me and you?"
None of them moved.
Tanya grit her teeth and gestured to the girl that looked like her mirror. "I have to take Iris home! We've solved the economic crisis, for the time being, and we've even annulled the marriage. We don't need to stay here any longer."
Of course, that wasn't her real reason for wanting to leave. The real reason for her desire to leave Elroad was much more important than just Iris being the Princess or their accomplishing the goals they had.
She'd felt some sort of massive magical disturbance in the direction of Belzerg. Viktoriya, Iris, and every Mage they had talked to in the local guild had also said something about it.
So, she needed to leave and figure out if Being X had decided to send someone truly dangerous after her. Tanya didn't immediately recognize the mana signature, so she knew it wasn't anyone she had known, though it did feel somewhat… familiar.
She turned her attention back to the current situation and sighed as Iris waved at Revi and his retainers.
He didn't notice, instead trying to melt through the stone flooring with just the force of his forehead pressed to it. Really, he seemed to be attempting to redefine the word kowtow with how much he was prostrating himself.
He didn't want her to leave, apparently.
"We need you! At least leave us with a plan!"
Tanya shook her head. She didn't exactly have much more knowledge to give him. The last five days of tutoring him and his people had drained her of most of the economic knowledge she remembered, as well as an alarming amount of her experience working in HR and as an officer of the Empire.
Bailing now would help her save face, on the off chance he thought that what she had already given him was insufficient and demanded ever more.
Iris stepped forward, and Tanya mentally thanked the girl. "Prin- I mean, King Revi…" she trailed off, apparently at a loss at his look of dejection.
He had been crowned King of Elroad, and Tanya had had to attend a ball in that stupid dress, taking several magically produced pictures with Revi, Iris, and everyone else who was there.
She would have burned any trace of herself in a dress away, but if Viktoriya had that picture in her locket, there wasn't really any way for her to destroy all evidence of such.
Speaking of which, Tanya had managed to get Viktoriya's journal magically reproduced in only minutes for a frankly outrageous fee that Tanya had paid anyway. She was none the wiser, and Tanya would be able to read it and threaten to publish it.
Once she learned the language.
"…someone of your status shouldn't lower yourself so easily, you know? We can't stay here forever, right?" Iris finished as Tanya tuned back in.
He deflated even further, but Tanya retained her resolute stare. Iris, however, seemed to weaken slightly, reaching out a hand towards him. He took it, standing and brushing off his clothing. His retainers followed suit.
"…I suppose you're right. But that doesn't mean she has to, right?" he asked, pointing at Tanya.
She just raised an eyebrow. "I am one of her bodyguards."
He looked towards her, a conniving look in his eye. "I was told that the Princess of Belzerg would be accompanied by two adventurer bodyguards."
Tanya blinked slowly, and then she sighed tiredly.
Surprisingly, Lorelei stepped forward. "Revi, you are not seriously trying to convince yourself that the Princess's retainers would hire a beastman?" she said.
Tanya hated to think about it, but it seemed that Lorelei was right. No one in Elroad had looked kindly on Lorelei, even if it was because they thought she wouldn't have money instead of simply because she was 'unlucky.'
Though Viktoriya seemed to think there were other reasons, Tanya was fairly sure that was it. She hadn't seen any wealthy beastmen, despite her time working with Revi. One of them, no matter how unlucky, would have gotten that high up, to be represented at least once in her talks, so their hate stemmed from monetary reasons instead of religious or superstitious ones.
Revi merely raised an eyebrow towards Tanya. "You don't seem to have a problem with her."
"Well, I'm not an idiot," she replied, ignoring the angry glare that Iris sent her way. "Besides, I signed one of those contracts to get Iris here. Not Lorelei."
He seemed to try and draw himself up once more, and then he deflated again. "Fine. Belzerg and Elroad are allies, after all, so it would be scandalous for me to do something so rash and demand that she stays. We will, after all, be wed one day…"
Tanya shook her head. "You annulled the marriage, remember?"
The people that made up Revi's advisors – the merchants from the first few days, a number of lawyers that helped with the legal code of Elroad, some retainers, and the few nobles he felt he could trust – all seemed to freeze in time with their Prince.
Tanya felt Iris send her a small glare for reminding him, but Tanya wasn't leaving with any misconceptions she didn't want him to have.
She'd been given the goal to prevent their marriage, so it was best to nip that thought in the bud.
"Th- That was just to distance myself from her! I didn't- I wanted her to hate me so that she wouldn't bother us, and I still thought that Belzerg had assassinated Ragcraft," he explained. His retainers sent the four of them pleading looks for several seconds as Revi collected himself.
"With that in mind, as a sign of our nations' alliance and friendship…" he trailed off, looking at Iris and fighting to keep his hopeful expression from wavering.
"Well…" Iris said, trailing off.
Tanya knew what was coming and fought to keep her hands from her ears. Revi, while a very attentive learner, could be charitably described as… privileged.
He hadn't taken her criticisms of him – his obsession with gambling and a great many other things she found backwards – very well, even if he did seem to contemplate them once he got through a temper tantrum.
"Since Elroad and Belzerg will forever be friends, we should also be friends forever," she said.
Tanya leaned backwards, closing her eyes and waiting for the cliched scream for her to reconsider to come.
It didn't.
She opened them again, only to find that Revi was staring at her.
Intently.
He strode over to them, brushing past Iris. "Then, Princess, would you be amenable to allowing Lady Degurechaff to wed me as a sign of that friendship?"
Oh.
Oh.
OH.
It began slowly, and then she couldn't contain herself, breaking out into full-blown laughter. Really, what kind of joke-
But he wasn't joking. His gaze hadn't wavered a bit, even when she'd laughed in his face. Tanya saw Viktoriya barely containing her own uneasy laughter, seeing as she was aware of Tanya's unfortunate situation involving her body.
"You're serious?" she asked, trying to keep the edge of panic out of her voice. He nodded steadily.
She looked behind his shoulder to find that none of his various aides and retainers seemed to be making much of a fuss, which meant either he'd told them, or they supported him.
Perhaps both.
oh
She audibly gulped, and then began to reassess her options. What to do, what to do…
She sent an apologetic glance towards Iris, and then began to speak, trying to placate the kid.
"King Revi, why in the name of your nation would you choose me instead of Iris? Iris could, after all, be convinced to wed you again. A single rejection is not indicative of her future preferences, and after a few years of you both getting to know each other, she may come to see you as a suitable husband," Tanya said.
She knew, even without looking, that Iris was glaring at her.
Tanya didn't care. She wasn't getting married, especially to someone who was required, by the design of their station, to produce an heir with his wife.
That. Was. Not. Happening.
He just smirked. "Marrying you would be much better, however. You share a close relationship with the Princess, which means you could convince her to give us the benefits we would have gotten from my marriage to her. Your looks are no different, and since you seemed to be the one leading her around and helping me run the country, you seem to be smarter as well."
Tanya sent another glance at Iris, and then turned to Revi. He seemed to be trying to logi his way through this, using the skills she had taught him in the past few days.
Cute.
"I am sixteen, while Iris is twelve. She'll become much better looking than I ever could."
He shrugged. "There are magic items that can fix that, if that is your wish."
She blinked, and then cursed mentally. If there were items that could give her a dick, then of course there would be some that made you simply look better.
The certainty shining in his eyes still hadn't lessened, and it was beginning to become unnerving. Tanya felt Viktoriya rest a hand on her shoulder, and she recovered from the tendrils of panic that had been creeping in.
Seeing her continued silence, he scowled briefly. "Why are you so against this? I have access to some of the most complete nobility records on the continent, and since I can't find you in them, that means you are a very low noble. Why wouldn't you take this opportunity?"
"I am not a noble," she ground out.
He had called her a noble several times in the past few days, and unlike Darkness, he hadn't listened to her assertion that she wasn't one.
As with every other time, he ignored her, instead turning to Iris. "It was always a mystery as to why your mother died during childbirth when nobles are supposed to be some of the strongest people around."
Tanya blinked in disbelief. He wasn't actually-
"Could it be that you have a secret twin sister? One that isn't aware of her past and true value?" he asked, sending a piercing stare at her.
It wasn't the most piercing look she'd heard of a twelve-year-old giving – she had given much worse to the 203rd – but he was surprisingly adept at conveying suspicion through his gaze and the folded hands behind his back.
Iris fidgeted in her place, and Tanya swooped in. "I am not a noble! If you think I'm a noble simply because I have blonde hair, then why don't you?" she said, pointing at his red locks.
He shrugged noncommittally. "While it is generally known that nobles have blond hair and blue eyes, it is more apt to say that all nobles have natural brightly colored hair and odd eye colors."
"And if I don't know that, then I'm not a noble, right?" she asked rhetorically, smirking. He paused for a moment, and Tanya pressed her advantage.
"We," she began, gesturing towards Viktoriya, "weren't born in Belzerg! We don't know all that much about what goes on in the country. We didn't even know that mackerel are grown in fields while watermelons and bananas are caught in streams!"
He blinked, and then turned to his advisors. "Is that true?"
As one, they nodded, and he turned back to her, his expression once more resolute. "See? You know more than me! You've also proven in your instruction that you know a great deal about the general workings of how the lower classes operate, based on how you predicted the economy would move."
She opened her mouth to argue, but Revi just rolled his eyes and waved a hand. "Yes, the long-term predictions haven't yet materialized, but people are already beginning to have hope in their country and in me."
She shook her head again, sending a pleading look towards Iris. She, however, stared at the far wall, not even giving her a glance. Tanya suppressed the urge to frown at the girl; she didn't want to marry him anymore than Iris did.
Back and forth, they argued.
"I don't know the proper etiquette."
"I can teach you something, for once."
"You said that you hated Iris because she was a strong woman who could act independently of a husband."
"Seeing what you've done to help Elroad, I'm sure we could benefit from that kind of help. Plus, I was… wrong. I… apologize."
"I have no knowledge of Elroadian culture and no interest in gambling. I have terrible luck compared to many people, including Viktoriya!"
"That's perfect! Ragcraft, despite his… now obvious faults, had neither of those things when he came here. You'll be the Vizier, the Prime Minister, and the Queen, and I'll be the King. Plus, if you don't have deep ties to Belzerg, then it shouldn't take you very long to acclimate to Elroad."
Finally, Tanya put her foot down.
She brushed Viktoriya's arm off her familiar green and black mantle and breathed in deeply. Then, she began to channel mana into the Type 97 hanging from her neck and left it there, allowing it to simply glow brightly.
Viktoriya pulled on her sleeve, and she turned to her, letting some of the mana go. Viktoriya pointed at Tanya's chest. "The medallion?"
She blinked, cursed herself for allowing her anger to overcome her, and then smirked, stepping towards Revi.
Despite all her attempts to convince him otherwise, he had some sort of argument, no matter how flimsy, to back up his claims.
It seemed that she would have to be less than reasonable.
Reaching into her shirt, she brought out a medallion. She had forgotten about Claire's gift to her with how good things were going.
His eyes widened on sight, and she smirked. "Claire was very clear with me that I shouldn't abuse the power that she gave me when trusting me with Iris's protection. I'm sure that my friend, Lalatina Ford Dustiness, would also object to my being forced to do something I didn't want to do."
As he backed away a few steps, she reveled in her victory.
Claire had warned her about abusing her authority, but Revi didn't know that she would be abusing it to secure her own freedom instead of Iris's.
By bringing out the medallion and stating that they'd help her if they approved of it, he thought that the Shinfornea family would help her in avoiding him, even if she hadn't said anything of the sort.
He kept up a brave front for a moment more – a moment more of holding his head high, a moment more of his eyes staring into hers – and then he collapsed weakly, hanging his head.
Tanya smirked. "Besides, if I don't want to, then there's nothing you could do that would make me happy to marry you."
He let his head rise a bit. "Please… is there anything else you can tell us?" he asked weakly.
She gazed at him, momentarily feeling the urge to spite him for his attempt to court her. Then, with a sigh, she let go of the urge.
She wasn't overly petty, especially to people that could help her, and the King of Elroad certainly could help her in the future, regardless of the outcome of this war. Perhaps he could even offer them asylum, if things went poorly.
Really, he wasn't being insulting or anything. He genuinely wanted to marry her, for some reason.
That desire would probably change if he knew just how many people and beings were trying to kill her, and how… demanding she was of those close to her.
Viktoriya knew, Lorelei would know, and the 203rd certainly had.
That was why none of those people had dared ask about her love life.
As Tanya began to rattle off the few incomplete details that she remembered from a few Wikipedia articles about how microeconomics worked, she hoped that this would be the end of whatever feelings he had for her romantically.
She doubted that; Being X, at least, would probably foster them in order to annoy her, because he was definitely petty enough for that. Still, she had made her position on the matter clear. Maybe he'd take it to heart?
-OxOxO-
Discontent, Revi watched as Iris and Tanya left, surrounded by those adventurers.
He was sad and angry to see them leave, but he couldn't hold them here; quite literally, they could fight their way out of any prison he put them in.
Or, Tanya could, at any rate. Her power seemed to be more intrinsic than Iris's, who's ability seemed largely centered in the sword at her side.
He spun around from where he'd watched them go, angrily muttering to himself and adjusting his newly-minted crown.
He would get one of them, eventually.
He was the King, after all. He had to be wed, and while Ragcraft and Tanya and he himself had cut down on some of the legal privileges of the nobility and royalty, cultural barriers still existed.
The younger, weaker nobles that he had given power didn't have a hope of wedding their daughters to him. The merchants and nobles that he had promoted and indebted to himself were similarly unable to propose anything.
He sighed as he made his way up to what had been Ragcraft's office and, before that, his father's for the two days that he had done his job as a King before deciding that gambling was way more fun.
It was now his. Not Tanya's, but his.
He sighed. What could he do to impress her?
It was obvious that her reasoning wasn't entirely logical; she might possess facts that invalidated his logic, but even he was aware that she would be promoted beyond what a family as low as her's probably dreamed of.
So, if he needed to appeal to the side of her that wasn't logical, regardless of how small it had proved itself to be in her instruction of him and his advisors in economics and her more private lessons on how to effectively manage subordinate – among other things – he needed to figure out what it was she loved and hated.
Belzerg was probably not something she loved; even though he had been the one to present the theory that she was some sort of hidden child of the late queen of Belzerg, he knew it was flimsy.
With how knowledgeable she seemed to be and the odd composition of the weapon on her back, it was possible that she was from one of the Norse successor states.
He shook his head; regardless of where she came from, it seemed that she especially prized those around her that she cared about.
That was somewhat contrary to her initial teachings that everyone around him was a resource who was fighting for their own gain, but he acknowledged that emotions could be wonderful motivators.
He had been motivated by fear to spurn Iris, after all.
Again, he shook his head, turning to the letters on his desk. He needed to travel around the whole of his country and begin to replace the more… problematic of his nobles.
Elroad was, after all, more than a single city. He needed to begin appealing to the hereditary nobles that weren't so completely obsessed with gambling that they'd give up their power for unlimited access to the best casinos, and he needed to begin promoting merchants, doctors, midwives, and lawyers that could be enticed into positions of power.
Once he had a sure hold on his country's economy and he wouldn't face revolt from nobles that thought he didn't deserve the position, he could focus more on aiding Belzerg enough to impress both the Princess and Tanya.
-OxOxO-
The days travelling back to Belzerg's capital, unlike their first time through the area, were much quieter. Plus, with the additional lizard runners, they made an even better time, only having to stop for two nights on the way back.
Now, after having just finished a light lunch, they were nearing Belzerg once more. Iris was, seemingly, nervous about arriving during the day. Tanya wrote off her concerns.
"Iris, I understand that you're nervous about coming back, but we got the defense funding, we got additional offense funding-"
"What!? Since when?" she shouted, looking accusingly at her.
Tanya smirked. "While you were staring at the far wall of the room and trying not to see me, I told him a bit more I remembered in exchange for offense funding equal to five percent of the defense funding," she explained.
Iris nodded, thanking her in a small voice. Tanya turned back to the reins of the lizard runners. Iris had given the three of them a bit of tutoring on how to handle them. Tanya just hoped that what she said would extend to horses, because she couldn't imagine herself using lizard runners often.
"Now, we completed all our goals, got a bit more than we asked for, cleared up the confusion surrounding Ragcraft, and even helped strengthen one of Belzerg's allies. What do you have to be nervous about?" she asked.
She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know… how will the people react to knowing I left without their knowledge? Oh, I hope I won't interrupt any of the Cult's services either."
Tanya brushed away her immediate response – to work against anything and everything to do with religion – and thought for a moment. Iris was a monarch who couldn't just ignore the Eris Cult on a whim.
Then, Tanya had an idea. Knocking on the door of the carriage, Viktoriya poked her head through the once closed window separating the inside from them.
Tanya smiled fondly at the woman. "Viktoriya, I want you to… go ahead of us and ask Claire and Rain to set something up for Iris's return. She's nervous about her reception."
The woman nodded. "Can you stop the cart first?"
Tanya nodded back, and they soon came to a stop. Viktoriya came out of the carriage, the Type 97 glowing softly.
Iris watched curiously from her seat, peering around the side, while the two of them went around the back. Iris rose, looking to try and find them, but by the time she'd got there, Viktoriya was gone.
She tilted her head, looking at Tanya. She shrugged. "She teleported there. They should have something set up by the time we get there."
Iris nodded, and Tanya sighed as they took off again. Viktoriya couldn't teleport; or rather, she couldn't yet. One of them was going to begin to learn that spell eventually, if only so that they could get out of a situation that could lead to their death.
No, she had instead hidden around the other side of the carriage, and then moved to the back when Tanya and her lookalike had gone back to the front.
Tanya wasn't pushing the lizard runners very hard now, so Viktoriya would be able to overtake them with her Flight spells and get to the capital in no time.
And when they got there, they'd be hurried quickly into the castle. If Iris was nervous about how her people might react to her being away without their knowledge, then it was obvious that they should skip that entirely.
Since the point of sending Iris to Elroad without nobles was to make sure they weren't spotted, Claire and Rain would be sure to acquiesce. Leaning back in the seat and letting Iris take over the reins, Tanya was sure that she'd be getting her rewards soon enough.
She grinned. With a location to make all the weapons and ammunition that she could ever want, enough money to buy all of that ammunition three times over, and the favor of two members of the royal families of two nations, she would be getting upgrades to her weapons soon.
Maybe she'd even construct that Adamantite chainmail she'd been thinking about?
-OxOxO-
Tanya tried to find someone to glare at while also keeping up a front for the people around their slowly moving carriage. Iris, obviously, wasn't possible, as she was currently waving at the crowds in Belzerg that were welcoming her home.
It seemed her fears of appearing untrustworthy were totally unwarranted, as the cheering crowds shouting their admiration for 'Dragon Slayer' Iris told them both.
She sent a glance towards the carriage, and then realized that even if she wanted to get mad at Lorelei, she couldn't, since the beastman had slipped out of it a mile outside of the capital.
That morning, when she announced her plan, Tanya had tried to soothe her by saying that even if there were a few crowds, she could slip out much closer to the city or inside it.
Obviously, she had realized that regardless of how they might have set out – shrouded in secrecy with only a rogue adventurer group realizing what had happened – coming back was an entirely different matter.
Regardless, Lorelei was also checking up on the mail that she and Viktoriya might have gotten from Axel.
The adventurers' guild was supposed to take care of holding it, and, upon seeing that the beastman was going to be steadfast in her refusal to come to the castle, she and Viktoriya had given the beastman their adventurer cards.
They began to near the castle, and Tanya was finally able to pick out someone she could glare at.
Claire. Rain. Viktoriya.
Obviously, there had been some misunderstanding along the line, if adoring crowds of people and a slow trot towards the castle were what greeted them instead of a quick and efficient movement from point A to point B.
Tanya let the front of happiness fall as soon as the imposing gates were closed and the cheering faded, glaring at the three of them. They seemed confused.
Or Rain and Viktoriya did, anyway. Claire was far too busy leaping upon Iris the moment she stepped down from the carriage.
She seemed to be both embarrassed by the maneuver and happy that she was willing to express her emotions like that, if her reddened, smiling face was anything to go by.
Tanya smiled at the scene for a moment, before turning her attention to Rain and Viktoriya.
"What was that?" she demanded, much of the anger drained by the heartwarming display.
Viktoriya seemed to understand this, as her shoulders had dropped down and the pout on her face had dropped away. Rain didn't.
"Uhh… well, Viktoriya said that Iris seemed nervous about her reception, so we made sure to gather more people together to welcome her back. We also made sure to arrange a much larger reception party to celebrate her success."
Then, she paused, staring at them nervously. "…You all did succeed, yes?"
Tanya scoffed. "Of course. Iris wouldn't have left without having gained the funding," she said, mentally adding that she and Viktoriya would have definitely left the Princess in order to figure out what that magical disturbance had been about, if they hadn't been bound by that contract.
Then, Tanya went over her earlier response. It only took her a moment to realize that the Princess's retainers had thought that Viktoriya meant the definition of 'reception' that was closest to party, not the act of receiving.
She sighed, supposing that that was what she got for not being clear in her instructions. Still, misunderstandings like this didn't occur to her often…
"Well, I understand where the confusion was," she said, walking towards Rain.
"So, are we going to get our reward now, or do you have some sort of audience room?" she asked. Rain cast a glance towards the carriage, Claire, and Iris.
"Yes, there is an audience room that Claire wants to use," she said, gesturing towards the castle's doors. Tanya nodded, beckoning towards Viktoriya, who was looking nervously at Iris.
"By the way," Rain said as they walked through the halls of the castle, "why did the Prince give you those Lizard Runners?" she asked.
Tanya blinked, and then fought down a chuckle.
Viktoriya spoke up before Tanya could. "Well… Revi is the King now, actually, and he didn't give us those Lizard Runners," she said.
Tanya quickly explained that they'd gotten them from a bunch of… ruffians who had been following them in a similarly nondescript carriage.
Rain seemed to get nervous at that.
"Don't worry," Tanya said, slapping a hand on her back reassuringly, "we killed them, and Iris was unharmed. If you can figure out which noble they managed to steal them from, then you should return them and apologize."
Rain nodded stiffly, and then pushed open the doors to the audience room.
Both Claire and Iris had managed to make it to the room before them, probably due to the meandering route Rain had taken. Iris was sitting behind an opulent desk, while Claire was standing to her side.
Iris slapped away her retainer's hands every few seconds, but she seemed fond of the affection.
The room itself was as nice as the two people already inside. Lots of red and gold everywhere, a fireplace sat unused near one side of the room, while a few windows lined each part of the circular room, letting in lots of the mid-afternoon sunlight.
Claire stepped forward. "It is wonderful to see you again! With Iris in such good spirits, I assume that you have achieved all of your goals?"
Tanya nodded her head. "Yes, we-"
Rain cut her off. "Actually, I was wondering if you could give us a… day-by-day summary of what occurred. While I'm sure that Iris doesn't need to be told about a story she was a part of, I would like to learn what happened, and just how she gained the title 'Dragon Slayer' when you were supposed to protect her from unnecessary harm.
Iris looked uncertain, but Claire spoke up as well. "Yes! I want to hear your justification, as well as… how the lovely Iris was able to defeat such a beast!" she said, her voice slowly losing its professionalism.
Tanya gave Claire a raised eyebrow, but she said nothing. "Viktoriya, help me out wherever I lose track of some events, alright?"
The woman nodded, and Tanya turned back to Rain and Claire, going over everything that had happened over the last few days and making sure to keep out her attempts to find Viktoriya's diary.
-OxOxO-
Megumin grumbled to herself as she walked away from the odd, whiny, blue-haired girl and her brown-haired companion, who was trying to apologize for the girl's trick.
Her third day in Axel had proven just as fruitless as the first two. Despite her school's teaching that Mages were rare and that Archmages were legendary and constantly in demand, she had been kicked out of two parties already.
Her Explosion magic wasn't the problem, obviously. How could it be?
It was the adventurers she had talked to. All of them had accepted her help easily enough, and then kicked her out after completing a quest.
Despite the trouble she was sure would come about if she didn't find a party – the hotel would kick her out after two weeks, after all – that wasn't what irked her most.
No, she was most upset that those she talked to, each and every one, had…
They had…
Compared her, the unique, powerful, one-of-a-kind Megumin… to someone else!
She glared at the ground as she walked towards the hotel, idly kicking a rock as she went.
It had started in Alcanretia. The man driving the caravan Megumin and Yunyun had been on had talked about a small, underdeveloped girl that was able to use Detonation spells easily, who could have easily saved them from the Giant Worms and the Giant Bats and the Goblins and the Demon, Arnes, in only a few seconds.
That had sparked a bit of interest in Megumin. Clearly, the girl wasn't as dedicated to the art of explosions if she used Detonation spells, but her heart was in the right place. Maybe she too had run into the mysterious, big-breasted Mage that had saved Megumin?
Megumin had been planning on keeping an eye out for her to show her an Explosion spell. It was very hard to learn it, after all, and learning from a master would no doubt help.
Her interest and that plan had quickly evaporated, however.
The receptionist she had first spoken to had talked about the 'wonderful' Tanya von Degurechaff, who had saved their town from certain destruction, and some adventurers had told her that her destructive potential was 'near that of Tanya.'
The evaporated interest had precipitated down on her mood the past two days as the beginnings of resentment. The adventurer teams that had rejected her stated that they weren't worth her time because of her power.
She had heard them whisper about that Degurechaff, though, and how she knew more spells than the Detonation spells and was 'clearly' superior to her, since she could blow away lots of things and continue to function.
Receptionists? Oh, Tanya von Degurechaff was a wonderful, near perfect adventurer who's only downside was her reluctance to become an Archmage. Her magic potential might have been slightly less than yours, but the variety of her abilities, dedication, and willingness to do work more than made up for it.
Adventurers? Yes, this Tanya von Degurechaff had saved them using her awesome magic, now stop bothering us please.
Charity Workers? Oh Tanya von Degurechaff was so wonderful! She had given them help and money, and they had come to her often when seeking advice about schooling. Little girl, do you want to attend school too?
Businessmen? Yes, she had introduced the Monster Rush system of fighting monsters, which had saved many of them from going out of business by getting adventurers working again. Now, are you going to buy something?
A drunk and unfortunate man that stank of vodka? Yes, he'd helped train that girl a little bit. She would be better if she wasn't so flat, but she paid well and protected them.
Megumin might have come to the aid of a girl being insulted like that, but she hadn't been in the mood.
She kicked the rock again, and pushed past the door to the hotel, not speaking a word as she ascended the stairs. It seemed that this girl…
Had set everyone's standards too high!
She walked into her room and flopped onto her bed. No matter where she went, everyone seemed to have a good word to say about her. How was it possible that she hadn't made any enemies?
Megumin sighed into her pillow, and then lifted her head. She noticed that the walls, brightened in the light of the afternoon sun, were glowing red.
She supposed that was appropriate, and she imagined that her eyes were probably glowing too.
For she, Megumin, the number one Crimson Demon, would be her rival!
Someone so universally liked, who had ruined Megumin's chances of joining a team by setting everyone's standard so high, needed to get knocked down a few pegs!
Megumin sighed again as the light of day faded away with the sun's retreat behind the walls of Axel.
Or, Megumin would do that, if she continued to be rejected. She was sure to find someone, however, that would be willing to party up with her.
It was only a matter of time.
-OxOxO-
A/N 1: Well, well, well. Here we have it! A short bit of day-to-day living before Aqua and Kazuma arrived, followed by an update from the Demon King and some information on The Anniversary. An arrival back in the Capital, followed by… MEGUMIN! Though they have left Elroad, the Royalty Arc is not yet over.
Tanya has helped and shaped Revi enough to make Elroad a more… influential force in the story, and her effects are being felt all over. Did you enjoy? I hope so.
A/N 2: Also, color me… displeased. I've begun reading the manga – Vol. 3, currently – so I'm wondering… why no one told me that there was a hot spring town already!? Renaming Baden-Baden was fine, I guess, but if I had known that there was already a town for it, I would have shamelessly used that one!
Ah well… I supposed most who are part of the fandom are more aligned towards the anime anyway. I might change it, if the urge strikes me. For now, though, I'll leave it.
A/N 3: And dammit, while the Valentine's Day episode of IQ was great… IT DIDN'T HAVE VIKTANYA!
Oh well lol. I suppose we'll just have to make do with fanfiction for the rest of time…
A/N 4: A/N 4: Responses to Reviews on this Website (As of 2/11/2020):
SuperiorFreak: Oh, decisions, decisions. I do think she'll eventually come around, one way or another, but until then, you'll have to hope she isn't too horribly hurt by the Break.
Sprengkamp: Yeah… while I am stealing most of the monsters' characterizations from KonoSuba, which tries to lean into stereotypes to occasionally subvert expectations, like with their Orcs, they could do with a bit more flavor.
Don't worry, though. While things will stay centered around Axel for a while, we'll get some more interesting stuff later on.
neogoki: Unfortunately, due to other reincarnates, it will be unlikely that she'll be able to steal the most recognizable brands. And, of course, Revi will do half the work for her by replacing uncooperative nobles.
setokayba2n: No problem! Despite how long it takes me to get to them, I don't exactly hate responding to reviews, especially if they are polite about it.
SoleReclaimer: Ah yes. The best way to learn about new anime: watch the big crossover one and go from there. I was (am) much the same with Shield Hero and Re:Zero, though I suppose I'll get around to them after the YS manga.
Ragnar: Welcome, Mr. President.
woodxvii: YES. KonoSuba could use some fleshing out, though the LNs do a good enough job to make them better than the first few.
Also. Keep that feeling for Being X in mind as you continue the story.
DNWorks: I know, right? He's an interesting character with history, who could be legitimately threatening to the main cast not by murdering them, but by tricking them…
AND THEY THROW HIM OUT IN THE COURSE OF A SINGLE LN!
Ah well. At least I can let him shine a bit in this. And, of course, thank you for the praise.
Haloman6494: Whoa! You came on a bit strong by calling me a fucker in your first three words, but don't worry, I'll finish this no matter what.
ErrorDataExpunged: Thank you for the review. I uh… I try my best on that front. While I have no personal experience in the area, I did some research and try to portray that feeling as best I can.
Navarone2013: Oh HELL no I ain't about to have Tanya just redo Kazuma's schtick, I find that wierd too. That's why I made sure she got there before he ever even had the idea of leaving his room.
As for how advanced KonoSuba is compared to our world… well, there are things like merchants and caravans instead of companies, but the Reincarnates reinvented things like toilets and pens and pencils and refrigerators. I think it tries to strike a balance and suggest that magic made technological advancement unnecessary.
Regardless, that is why her tutoring Revi and her work with the Mithril Foundation is so important – she did get a production line set up to make her products for Wiz to sell, and Revi's on his way to making Louis XIV jealous with how absolute a monarch he'll be.
If they have paperwork and the ability to post pieces of paper on a bulletin board for people to look at, I assume there's some magical way of doing paper stuff, like a Smith or Tailor but with paper.
I'm not reading the YS LN. I'm at Vol. 16 of the KS LN, and Vol. 6 of the YS Manga…
Though I might start reading the YS LN eventually. I mean, after how much I've already done for this, what's one more form of media, right?
And, as always, thank you everyone for continuing to review and read! We are now less than ten chapters from Tanya talking about The Thing That Happened.