Third Time's the Charm

by SugarcaneSoldier

Dying again was much more painful the second time for Tanya von Degurechaff, but what came after was intriguing, to say the least, and she was nothing if not opportunistic. Taking the opportunity presented by Aqua would expand her opportunities by much more than she could have dreamed possible… but why did the good have to come with so much insanity!

30. Musings of an Absolute Unit (and More)

Alderp almost leaped out of the carriage as he made his way into his mansion in the city.

His size rubbing against the sides of his carriage's door reminded him that if he did that, he'd most assuredly break a nose or hip or something, so he instead delicately stepped from his carriage, and then he broke into a labored run.

He knew that he wouldn't be getting out the regular way – the gates would be the first thing that was guarded, which meant he'd need lots and lots of money to bribe them instead of being able to simply waltz through thanks to his noble status.

He swept into his house. Of course, he couldn't leave behind his other relic. The first one seemed to have made its way into the hands of Iris, which meant that, eventually, Maxwell would convince her to put it on and then erase her memories.

It would make its way to Crown Prince Jatis, and then it would only take one meeting for him to take over the body of the Prince.

It would be child's play to take Lalatina as a wife from there. The Prince needed to produce an heir, even if the next Hero Candidate killed the Demon King and succession passed to Iris.

He growled as he made his way to his room. If only he hadn't pushed his plans forward…

He sighed. Despite the lack of manpower in this capital, security had been increased a while back, leading to him needing to bribe people on the way to his mansion, necessitating his needing to grab more on his way out.

Apparently, Claire and that penniless wretch Rain had made a big fuss about some noble's child who had caused an explosion in the middle of the shopping district, which was why he needed to get more money.

He began to sweat as he came to his secret treasury. He would pick up his Divine Relic and some money, and then he'd be on his way.

He grumbled as he fiddled with the lock on the door of his treasury. If that stupid Prince had been at the party, he could have just done it then and there…

But nooooo! That idiot, just like his father, was completely obsessed with battle. It was a wonder that this pitiful kingdom hadn't collapsed into civil war by now, but he was guessing that this place wouldn't.

Not until the Demon King was finally destroyed and the only thing keeping the nobles from ignoring the King – the threat of eternal damnation – and keeping the peasants from objecting to high taxes – the threat of eternal damnation and the lethal knights that kept the peace – went with him.

He sighed happily at the sight of his money. He scooped up a few bags of Eris, and then he swiped his Divine Relic from the pedestal. It might have looked like a rock, but Max, for all of his annoying mannerisms, was supremely helpful.

As long as he had him, he could change the memories of everyone there, if he made another contract with him. Even that Degurechaff wouldn't be able to resist the Demon's power if he wasn't splitting his attention between many different people.

He turned around, preparing to make his way to the secret room where Max was held. It wasn't nearly as secret as the cellar in his room back at his main residence in Axel, but it had been fine for now.

He sighed at the thought. Really, if Maxwell's power had functioned on anything even remotely resembling proximity, he would have been found out by the Eris Cultists – and their leader, Cardinal Gabel Montgommery – due to the undeniable trail he left everywhere.

He was just contemplating that terrifying leader of the Eris Cult when his blood froze.

The hallway that had been wonderfully empty and filled with only his own wealth, in the form of paintings, gold gilding, mirrors, and books, was now full of strangers.

Two people stood at the front of a line of guardsmen, all of them armed with spears and swords.

"Ah, Iris. How nice-"

"I am not Iris, although it was… wonderful to inhabit the body of the Princess."

Alderp froze. They knew what it was, then?

Alderp shrugged. "A wonderful gift, is it not? Divine Relics are not easy to come by, and-"

"You know, you might not have been found out. I certainly couldn't remember your name. However, your son was more than helpful in revealing his own unintended compliance with your crime."

He seized up as the girl pulled out his Divine Relic and, before he could say the words, threw it on the ground.

He gulped. He needed to convince her to let him go.

If the royal family got him…

He held up the bags of money and was about to make her an offer, but she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but Claire has already given me more than enough money to ever consider listening to that. Besides, I happen to like Iris a lot more than you."

He turned to the… beastman at her side. "And you?"

"You would speak to me?"

He scoffed. "Of course. Beastmen might be reviled by most, but I'm far more pragmatic. If you would provide a distraction…?"

She shook her head, and Alderp waited. He could…

He didn't know what he could do. He had no ability with weapons in this body

"Seize him! He must be brought before the Princess and executed! There's no telling how much he has corrupted the nation!"

He opened his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut and began to shout, panicked. "PLEASE! I'll give you guards whatever you want! Women, money, power! Just don't listen to those two!"

He flinched back, waiting for the sound of feet pounding on the ground as they ran towards him, waiting for them to attack him or beat him, but the blows never came.

He peered between his fingers to seem them all standing there, staring at him. None of them were moving…

Then, like they weren't there, they disappeared.

Illusions.

Lying.

MAXWELL!

He began to squeeze the stone in his hand, even as he stuttered out a reply to the sudden disappearance of the guards.

"W- What?"

Tanya smirked. "Viktoriya and Iris are currently looking for the guards. You on the other hand…"

With a curved grin marking the beginning of her approach, she brandished a sickeningly familiar weapon.

A gun.

She had a gun.

Who in the HELL-

"You are coming with us. You really should learn when to respond to questions, especially when they're in Japanese."

He raised his hands, one with bags of money in it and the other with the stone that was supposed to bring Max to him. Where was that-

She jerked her head towards the other end of the hall, and, slowly, he began to walk forward.

Tanya swiped the money and the stone from his hand. He lurched forward. "NO! You can't! Max is mine!"

She jumped back, and Lorelei delivered a rabbit punch or three to the back of his head.

As he stumbled to the floor, Tanya smirked and bent down towards his head. "Don't worry, Alderp. I won't let them kill you right away. You might be useful to me, after all."

Then, he knew no more than the idea that maybe death would be better than whatever that insane smile promised.

-OxOxO-

Alderp took in a breath and tried to readjust his clothes. It didn't do much for their uncomfortable size and material, however, so he just sat back down on his bed and stewed in his anger.

He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep, or how long it had been since his capture, but he knew that he had been duped.

Max had used his magic on him. It had probably been his order to have him use his powers on everyone 'closest' to the Princess. That meant physical distance, of course, but that also meant how much you knew about them and whether you had any bonds of friendship.

He was guessing that the bastard had willfully misinterpreted his order in order to assume that Alderp, being a noble and controller of one of Belzerg's most important towns, fell into the category of 'close.'

If not for that thing, he wouldn't have blabbed about Max, and he would have taken his secret passage out of the city through the tunnel in his house instead of trying to get money.

He groaned at the memory. Honestly, how stupid was he to respond to his oldest language? Sure, Maxwell had been messing with him, but that was a rookie, even an imbecilic, mistake.

He shook his head. He had woken up two times on his way to his current residence. The first time, he knew he was in a cart of some kind, and he had heard the girl – no, the Reincarnate, like himself – talk about bringing him to the castle before he was knocked out again.

The second time, he thought he heard the sound of teleportation, but he was put under a spell of some kind almost immediately afterwards.

Now, he was in a small room unfitting of his status as a political prisoner.

Oh, he might not have been one of the grand nobles, like Lalatina and her family, but he was close enough to being one that he could try and wed his child into their group.

That meant he had support from other nobles, money, and power. Why he was in such a small room with such ill-fitting clothes with such bad food, he had no idea, but once he was out-

Then, his door burst open, and in came his captor, a number of Knights, and her…

Friend? He didn't know. They had been sending each other looks throughout the party that made him think that they might be something more, but he wouldn't presume.

Tanya gestured to the Knight at her side. "You asked to speak with him. Guards, leave us."

They seemed to protest, but she sent them a glare that chilled Alderp to his bones. They, the people receiving it, stumbled out unceremoniously.

Tanya leaned against the wall with her friend, while the Knight, taking off his helmet…

Ah. It was his son.

"Father?" he asked, almost unbelieving. Alderp just raised a single eyebrow towards him.

"I thought I taught you not to ask stupid questions," he said, nearly asking it. Walter glared at him.

"You don't really love me, do you?" he asked. Alderp shrugged uncomfortably.

"You adopted me when I was eight. I took it as a sign from the Goddess that I should spend my time giving back to the community what I had earned because of Luck," he began.

He sat down next to his father, and the Knight looked down at his hands. "I learned everything you had to offer, but… you were just too corrupt. You wouldn't alleviate the suffering and taxes of the people for anything."

He opened his mouth, but Walter shook his head. "Don't mention 'this Denmark' or 'that Norway' that have even higher taxes! Degurechaff has heard of them, and she said you were lying!"

Alderp sent a weak glare at her, but she shrugged.

He sighed. He didn't remember how much those countries in Europe charged for taxes, but he knew it was a high amount. He'd used them as justifications for the… ah, taxing taxes he leveled on his peasants and merchants.

"Plus, she said they used a lot of that money to help the people! Most of our money goes to the war and to lining our pockets! I left for the Knights because I hated your policies, but you…"

"You wanted that! You simply desired me for my body, to set me up with Lalatina! A tour as a Knight would make me even more attractive to her father!" he accused.

Alderp let an eyebrow rise, but Walter just scoffed. "I thought it was odd how much you would pick and choose my future. You made sure I had plenty of connections I didn't want, you let me go to the Knights, and you wanted me to marry Lalatina, even though that was always your desire."

They sat there for a moment, and then Alderp sighed laboriously. "I loved you for what you represented to my plans – namely, a chance at marrying Lalatina. So, while I loved your body and skill and magic, I never loved you," he said bluntly.

They were silent after that, and Alderp could feel the anger rolling off of Degurechaff's friend. He looked at his son's face, and scoffed at the saddened expression. "You should be grateful that I bothered to scrape you out of that miserable orphanage."

Walter sighed. "I am. But… you've doomed yourself. I won't help you."

With that, he stood, put his helmet back on, and stepped out of the heavy wooden door. Degurechaff's friend moved the table – he had thought it was solid wood, but with how easily she lifted it, it must have been fake – in the corner into the center of the room, and the girl sat down in one seat.

He rolled his eyes, but he rose and sat in the chair across from her.

The other girl placed an item on the table that sent chills down Alderp's spine.

It was a truth-detecting bell. He would be fine if he had an item that allowed him to trick it, but he had had everything on his body stripped.

"Hello, Mr. Alexei. I have been put in charge of the investigation into your crimes."

He glared at her. "Well, it's nice to finally nice to see my captor, but I have to complain about my conditions. Do you really think that my political partners and I will appreciate this treatment of me? We'll raise a fuss once I'm out of here."

She remained eerily silent, like a certain disgusting demon that he had the misfortune of owning.

Instead, she brought out the necklace that he had tried to slip Iris.

"You know, my brother will get me out of here. I can't wait-"

"Where did you obtain this relic?" she asked. He grimaced, but he said nothing.

She simply stared at him, and he crossed his arms. "I won't tell you anything. I'll be out of here-"

"I have killed 6527 people."

He blinked, and then focused back on her.

What?

"Judging by your toad-like blinking, you're confused. I'll repeat myself: I have killed six thousand, five hundred, twenty seven people between my different lives," the girl in front of him said as she leaned forward across the table.

Slowly, Alderp, leaned back in his rickety wooden chair, attempting to process the information he'd just been given.

'I have killed…'

That was fairly obvious. She was an adventurer, which meant she had definitely killed monsters.

'…6527…'

That was a bit more confusing. She had killed that many monsters in her time as an adventurer?

That was impressive, especially since his brother, after his humiliation, had claimed that she hadn't been an adventurer for more than three months. Alderp didn't need to ask how he knew – both of them bribed adventurers regularly for information. That number was astounding when applied to monsters… but…

'…people…'

Alderp licked his lips, but he said nothing. That…

That was terrifying.

Only Demon Generals, monsters and Demons of legend, and magically resistant diseases could claim to have killed that many people personally.

He glanced at the device at the center of the table, waiting – no, praying – that it would ring.

It didn't.

"What does this relic do?" she asked, bringing out the rock. There were no words written on it on how to use it or anything, which meant that Alderp probably knew.

He was staring at it, and Tanya rolled her eyes. "I found that 'Max' person, actually."

He froze again, but Tanya continued to explain. "He claimed to be a Demon of some kind and asked about his payment. I told him that you were imprisoned and that your property was being taken away, and he settled for a promise from me that I'd owe him a favor."

Tanya shook her head as she remembered that odd encounter.

After mentioning her 'holy' presence – those stupid Relics were affecting her more than she thought, and the fact that she collapsed once she had left Iris's body and regained her own was even more concerning – the thing had dissipated slowly.

He had faded away in a flash of light like that other Demon that had given her that letter. He had looked unhappy at not getting anything, but he seemed like he was ecstatic about being released.

Alderp felt one of his eyes twitch. "How dare you! He was working for me through that relic! He forgot-"

He suddenly realized that he was spilling his guts to her, but she merely raised an eyebrow.

Tanya sighed and brought out the pistol. "Look, either you tell me, or I shoot and then Heal you."

He growled, but he finished his sentence. "He forgot about whatever deal we made when he completed it, and I got so much use out of him because of it."

Tanya narrowed her eyes. "I won't ask about what you did with him. Not yet, anyway. Now, I'm feeling rather lenient, so if you tell me everything I want to know, you'll get to live out the rest of your days in your old mansion.

He sighed, and dropped the nasal voice and haughty accent he adopted like a professional actor. He met her eyes with a frank stare. "Look, I do have a very real fear of someone willing to tell me how many people they've killed, but I will get out of here."

Tanya shook her head. "Sorry, but no. I'm afraid that you've already been sentenced by Iris. Claire seemed to want to put your head on a pike, but she's given the task of your disposal to me."

His eyes widened. "But my wealth-"

"Has been… redistributed," she ground out. She didn't like the communist connotations of the word, but it was the most apt description.

"As a reward for helping avert this national crisis and for helping increase her standing in the eyes of the nobles around her, I am now the Governor of Axel, and I own quite a lot of your wealth. Some of it was given to others – guards, Rain, other nobles – but the majority of your holdings are now… mine."

His face fell, and Tanya sighed. Really, this was way more than she had bargained for or wanted.

She now had to look out for thousands of people and miles and miles of land. She was trying to restructure everything as best she could, but Alderp and his people seemed to have functioned solely thanks to bribes and that Demon, so it was hard to find anyone that was trustworthy.

Walter was helping her a bit due to the fact he hadn't known of his father's crimes – which were still being discovered without the work of that Demon to cover them up – and that, while an adult, his family was now tattered and needed to be restored.

Iris thought that him working under her would help with that.

Tanya shook her head, for a moment. Why had Iris decided that Tanya could-

His audible gulp interrupted her thoughts. "My brother doesn't know how I accomplished my feats. He'll save me, even if he doesn't know-"

She shook her head again. "Your brother admitted to his own crimes and testified as to the extent of your crimes in return for a less harsh sentence. He'll never be anything but a slightly wealthy man, and I don't think that he'll last long anyway, even with the small amount of land and money he was left."

He had started being particularly helpful the moment Tanya had shown up and glared at him, at which point he had muttered something about 'horrifying monsters' and sang out Alderp's crimes.

It seemed that her lambasting of him had left its mark.

Alderp began to mentally curse his brother, and then, after considering it, he decided to curse him verbally too. He didn't care if they were both sending him amused looks, he was going to strangle that-

Tanya wasn't done. "Besides, it isn't like he's really your brother."

He ignored the statement of fact. "Why do you want those relics, anyway? I suppose you might also want to become immortal?" he ventured, hoping to gain even a small bit of information.

Tanya scoffed. "That would be nice, but that isn't the main reason I'm interested in their history."

She was, of course, doing this for official reasons, but…

She sighed and wondered if she was really about to do this.

This wasn't what Viktoriya likely had in mind when she had asked Tanya to talk about her past, but things had gotten more bizarre over time.

She snorted. Revealing her past to someone everyone thought was dead probably didn't even get a consolation prize on her list of weird shit that had happened to her.

"In my second life, I was looked down on constantly for being a woman. Oh, the Empire was a meritocracy, but that didn't mean that there weren't any people that thought that women had no place in the military."

She breathed in, trying not to let the memories overwhelm her.

"I… was so, so close to being raped by a pedophile, another Reincarnate that I killed was unabashedly interested in me, and your 'brother' tried to solicit me. He was happy that I was not only 'his type,' but that I was legal."

Once that was out, the rest came easily.

"I've had to endure periods, appraising looks, and far, far too much scorn just because I look more like a doll than a person."

He scoffed. "So, you just want better treatment, then?"

Tanya stared, and then Tanya breathed in and raised a fist. The fat lard ball shrank back, but she let it fall hard.

The table was broken, splinters were sent everywhere, and he gulped.

"No, you idiot! I have been stuck in this body for over sixteen long, grueling years, and I want out!"

His eyebrows creased, and Viktoriya sighed tiredly. "This is Tanya's third chance at life, while this is my second. She didn't get to keep her body the first time she was reincarnated."

His eyes widened when that bell didn't make a peep, and Tanya recovered enough that she didn't think she'd kill him.

She rose from her chair, her hands held behind her back. She stalked forward, letting the splintered table crunch under her feet.

"Listen here you grotesque piece of lard, and I'll make this as plain to you as I physically can: I AM A MAN! In my last life, I had no chance, no thought of a chance, to EVER get back what I had lost, so the most I could do was reassure myself. I had more important things to worry about than whether or not I was really a female because 'god' forced me into this body. But now…"

She felt a stinging sensation build behind her eyes. "Now, I live in a world that hasn't even HEARD of gunpowder, let alone tanks and trench warfare. It's peaceful compared to that last world, ever with the threat of a Demon King, which means…"

She took in a breath, and allowed herself to look… hopeful as she pushed down the urge to cry as the corners of her eyes warned her that they were beginning to feel a stinging sensation.

"I have a chance. I can focus on other things than this 'war.' I have a chance to be something like myself again instead of being trapped in this infernal body without any method of… release that I can stomach, especially since puberty is upon me. I can get what I want and tell that piece of shit to shove his stupid promises so far up his ass then end up in hell."

She hadn't even factored the unfortunate biological process of puberty into her actions thus far, and it helped explain a lot of her more… odd decisions surrounding her relationship with Viktoriya. Honestly, she'd been half hopeful she wouldn't go through the process again.

However, a hormonal imbalance certainly explained why she'd even dared to think about Viktoriya, a woman from 20th century Europe, carnally.

As if that would happen.

She sighed again, and frowned as she looked into his beady little eyes. "So, if I have to beat every last miserable scarp of knowledge out of you, I will do so with a clear conscious and a smile on my face as you begin to resemble nothing less than a cooling corpse."

Alderp nodded, and he looked down at the remains of the table.

He hadn't had to become a woman for years, but he remembered the feeling. It…

It wasn't fun, and he'd changed as fast as he could. He'd actually set back his plans by nearly five decades by doing so, but having a male body back was worth it.

More importantly, he had no options. Even if she was lying about his stuff being taken and his brother abandoning him, he was here.

The most important thing was survival, and the cold, cynical look on her face told him that she would, if she needed to, beat him close to death in order to get what he wanted.

He sighed. He hadn't thought that he'd be able to get away with immortality forever – not with a Goddess of Luck in this world – and that he had lasted as long as he had was astonishing to him.

He opened his eyes wide, smiling nervously. "There's no need for torture. I'll comply with your wishes."

Tanya smiled. "No, there isn't. I know you'll try and keep your cards held to your chest so that I don't have a reason to dispose of you, and I don't enjoy causing people pain. If you try and hold out on me when it counts, however, I'll wring every last speck of knowledge out of you the hard way."

He nodded, and, after picking through the remains of the table and taking the two Divine Relics in hand, she turned away. "I'll have you brought better food and clothing soon. If you harm the servants that come to help you, it goes without saying that you'll regret it."

Alderp nodded stiffly, and then he told them, unprompted, the specific operations of his third, monster-summoning Divine Relic.

They were rather unimpressed, and then they'd asked about his first relic.

Not the Body-Switcher. They already seemed to know how that worked, which confirmed, without a doubt, that Degurechaff was a Reincarnate, if the Japanese hadn't been enough. No, they were interested in his first one.

The one he hadn't bought. The one he had brought with him from his death.

He told them a short summary of how it had been destroyed in order to take down a General of a Demon King a long, long time ago, and how his treatment afterward – as a Relic-less Reincarnate – had driven him to become immortal.

Both of the women left after that, patronizingly thanking him for his help.

He was honestly amazed that he hadn't voided his bowels, but this wasn't his first run in with this sort of situation.

He'd survive for as long as he could, as he always had. Maybe he'd be given access to his second Divine Relic as thanks for his service and be allowed to take the body of some criminal before running away. Maybe he'd waste away in here, acting as a secret adviser to one of the most powerful people he had met yet.

He didn't know what the future held, but he did know that, for now, he wouldn't be killed.

They had both promised that in front of that bell.

-OxOxO-

Tanya sighed as she left the room. Viktoriya, standing on what had been his bed to flip the switch they'd eventually found – is used that damnable metal, like every other replacement for electricity – also sighed as she caught up.

"I thought we weren't going to keep potentially dangerous enemies alive?" she asked hesitantly.

Tanya was aware her face greatly resembled that of a five-year-old that had just sucked on a lemon, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

"Alderp, despite his numerous crimes, isn't the main problem we're dealing with right now," she muttered.

And his crimes were numerous and uncountable. In addition to the ones against Iris – for which he had been condemned to death – now that 'Max' was gone, everyone had suddenly remembered all of the things he had done to them.

Aurip had told them that his brother had fleeced many merchants and people and nobles and shopkeepers out of money, and that he didn't know how he had done so.

Tanya, Viktoriya, and Walter – who would be helping them run Axel at the directive of Iris, who believed that Walter's family name could be redeemed if he helped Tanya – had received hundreds more than just 'many' people during their first day in Axel.

And that wasn't the most important thing, unfortunately.

"We can't throw out everyone that took bribes from him. We'd probably have to chase out a sizable percentage of all of Axel," she said.

They could, of course, throw out almost everyone. They could point to the people that had accepted bribes and have the police bring in the truth-determining device, and they'd be out of a job.

It seemed, however, that almost everyone was helping him or being helped by him. He had bought off guards, bureaucrats, and nobles, if Aurip was to be believed.

That meant that if they threw everyone out, large portions of Axel's bureaucracy, security, and government would be completely gone.

In addition, there were only so many people that could be trained to replace them, considering that education was limited to the upper classes and those wealthy enough to afford it, especially in a short enough time that wouldn't see Axel become a ghost town.

That meant that she either needed to reach outside of her resources for people – not exactly possible with how few people she was connected to – or she would have to work with the least guilty of his collaborators.

Alternatively, Tanya could just take on large portions of the tasks on her own, but she didn't have the time for that… probably. She had other responsibilities.

Iris had told her that agents of the Demon King were heading towards Axel to check on the disturbance, and the blood-red letter she had received had told her much the same.

Iris had neglected to say how she came about that information, and Tanya hadn't really cared enough to ask, with Claire and Rain hanging around and looking murderous.

In fact, it was the Undead Mage that she had nearly killed, according to the blood-red letter. The letter had also asked its recipient to work to find out what the disturbance was caused by due to the fact that the Demon King's resources were going to be a bit stretched in the next few months.

He hadn't demanded it, or even asked the recipient to sign a contract. Instead, it asked that she consider the fact that they might not be so different.

One in her position might admit that they could possibly have similar interests. The person in her position probably had no love for Being X, and she doubted that the Demon King was happy about being besmirched by the two religions of Belzerg.

He'd then asked that she would leave any information she came across in front of a certain castle so that she wouldn't break any clauses, and he'd consider himself in her debt. It wasn't exactly a concrete promise of anything, but he had told the recipient that they could discuss the matter with Evan, the Undead Mage, if they wished for something more.

Plus, from her interactions with the Succubi and that one Demon in the capital, it seemed they followed the letter of their contracts much like she followed the rules.

Since she was now the Governor of Axel, she'd leave a record of any information she came across in front of a certain castle. She would be giving all of the same information to Iris, after all, and she didn't technically know what might happen to any information she placed in front of that castle.

Tanya sighed as they walked next to each other and exited the bedroom. Iris…

She had been fine when the two had left. She seemed mentally sound, considering everything that had happened to her, but Claire and Rain could be best described as…

Absolutely livid.

They had, literally, wanted to have him tortured and then drawn and quartered, which Tanya was now unfortunate enough to know the exact details of.

She didn't know how it was done in her past worlds, but here, it involved ropes around the arms and legs attached to Lizard Runners, Acid spells, a Rookie Killer, thirteen Goblins, and a pair of Giant Toads.

She shivered as she remembered how Claire had described it in detail to an unhappy Tanya and an… intrigued Iris.

Both of the retainers had justified themselves by spouting off about how the practices were old but perfectly acceptable punishments for treason. Iris hadn't seemed all that concerned with what happened to him, as long as he ended up dead.

That was, honestly, the only reason Tanya was now able to sequester him away now. Iris had seemed happy enough to give Tanya his properties, and Tanya had vowed to execute him for his transgressions, once she got more information relating to his property from him.

Everyone in the room at the time – Iris, Claire, Rain, as well as a few of Iris's other advisers – had agreed that that was fine, and the pity shining in Iris's eyes when Tanya had talked about giving Walter a few moments with his father had pushed her past those who doubted her.

She wouldn't be going back on her word. She did need to get information out of him, and he would die.

They hadn't ever specified when, however, and if they wanted it done in a more specific way – by firing squad instead of by old age – they should have been more precise.

As they walked through Alderp's mansion, Tanya's eyebrows creased.

Wait… was Iris mentally sound?

She had collapsed when she had been forced into Tanya's body, but despite that, the friendship-obsessed Princess hadn't spoken a word of it to Tanya. Was she…

Tanya grimaced. Was she being influenced by Being X?

She frowned. It seemed like it might be a distinct possibility. And, even if she wouldn't be now that she was in her own body, that thing might have left marks on her.

Tanya sighed. She didn't know what he wanted her to do as the Governor of Axel, but it probably wouldn't be good. Would she even know, or was he actually trying to use some of that fabled power of his to manipulate her surroundings like a chess master instead of a construction worker with a jackhammer?

Tanya shook her head as one of the maids bowed their heads to her and Viktoriya. Along with his Governorship, she'd received a lot of the wealth contained in his holdings in Axel.

That included a brigade of maids and butlers that seemed more than relieved to not have to work for him.

She scowled. Many of them had been reporting abuses he had performed upon them.

That wasn't what they remembered thanks to the loss of the Demon. Many of them had suddenly remembered who had fathered their children.

As with everyone else trying to seek compensation, she could ignore them, but both Walter and Viktoriya thought that giving them something – money and support, mostly – would be the best idea to ingratiate herself with her new town.

Since their arrival to the town in yesterday's early hours – Lorelei had refused to teleport, and after a whispered explanation as to what secrets had been revealed in their bath together, Tanya had decided that flying to Axel, despite Lorelei's skittishness, would be the best option – they had been receiving complaints.

Tanya had barely been able to sequester Alderp away in that dungeon before merchants, nobles, shopkeepers, farmers, adventurers, and anyone else that had ever had a problem with him had shown up at her new doorstep and demanded his head on a plate.

She'd looked into his records – he had a surprisingly large amount of documentation for a criminal – and found that huge portions of the taxes he raised were being funneled into his own private coffers, as well as the pockets of dozens of guards, nobles, and other bureaucrats.

She'd chased off the people that he regularly bribed – most of the nobles were just complaining about not receiving money from her as his replacement – and given others money and directed them to the Mithril Foundation if they needed more support.

She was hoping that she could get something that resembled an uncorrupt form of government in place, but that could take a long while.

As she sat down at the long table next to Viktoriya, Lorelei, and Walter, she wondered how she would be able to do this. She didn't have the time to do everything herself, which meant she'd need to find someone trustworthy…

She grinned as a figure, clothed in blue and yellow and looking entirely too overworked, popped into her head.

He could work.

And, while she was looking for him, she could catch up with everyone else. The Succubi and Wiz had both said they were doing well in their letters, and that she should pick up her cut of their profits. Tanya wanted to know how the 'friendly' reincarnates in town were doing, if only to make sure they wouldn't betray her… and maybe to recruit them for her government.

A growing list of things to do growing in her mind, she wondered just how much time she'd actually get to spend in her new place of residence trying to create more inventions and weapons.

-OxOxO-

Tanya, slouched over and wearing her usual Adventurer clothing, groaned as she walked through Axel.

This time – because she had been groaning nearly all morning when their coffee had finally run out – she didn't even have Viktoriya or Lorelei by her side.

She was going towards the Adventurers Guild, which was an unfortunately long distance away from the police station.

The three of them had been busy for two days straight, vainly attempting to stave off the hordes of people claiming to have been slighted by the noble they had locked up.

When they'd complained to that fat bastard about his crimes, he'd simply suggested that Tanya bribe the nobles, and then threaten to bring out the guards for everyone else. That was way easier than hoping they wouldn't stab them in the back later, since you could always increase the amount of money you gave them by taxing people more in the next year, during the tax month.

Tanya had been tempted to, and after her lunch on the second day – interrupted by people knocking on her door and demanding compensation – she'd dumped three million of her hard-earned, Claire-given Eris into the Mithril Foundation and told them to go ask them.

That had solved the problem for all of that day, but they'd been talking with Walter for the last three hours about how they would continue to pay the Guards – most of whom were horrible at their job and willing to let anything through the gate for a couple hundred Eris – if they were decreasing the taxes so much.

Tanya had decided to order half of them fired. Walter had delivered the order, and the Guards had threatened to rebel.

She had asked Walter to start attempting to placate the nobles – who were all starting to wonder if they should leave Axel entirely if Alderp wasn't there to protect their shady businesses – so that they wouldn't take a third of the town's business with them.

Tanya had finished demonstrating to the Captain of the Guards exactly why they wouldn't be rebelling.

Mostly, she'd just shown up and scared them a bit, but Tanya had also ordered the Knights Walter had told to listen to her to back her up.

Things had worked wonderfully, and the Captain of the Guard had resigned with his head held high instead of having it pushed into the dirt to get the same outcome. The rest of the Guards, remembering how she'd defended the town and trembling from her threats, had fallen in line and promoted a woman named Melodia to be the captain.

She had supplied Tanya with a time when she could help train the Guards.

Now, she had to go to the police station to talk to Gerrard about the new captain. She hadn't needed to know before today – she didn't exactly need to know their schedules if she was just an adventurer – but Alderp had taken the time to explain how the protection of Axel worked.

The Guards patrolled the borders of Axel. That meant the walls of the city, mostly, but ten dozen guards were supposed to patrol the lands surrounding Axel and the towns that were nearby.

'Supposed to' was the operative phrase, because Alderp had bribed the whole of the Guards to not do that, which allowed smugglers carrying contraband to trade in the smaller towns.

The Police patrolled the internal mechanisms of Axel, ensuring that the adventurers weren't causing trouble and that squabbles between everyone were solved amiably.

Their secondary job was to ensure that criminals were apprehended. Tanya had been shocked to hear that, and Alderp had agreed with her. He had also pointed out that since becoming an adventurer was so easy, people who might become criminals could become adventurers instead, leaving only the truly depraved to seek out criminal activity.

The Police had been able to stave off Alderp's corruption, mostly due to Gerrard, but those that worked under him could be intimidated by Alderp's noble titles.

The Knights were subordinate to both the Guards and the Police. They were trained for combat, and while they had some education as nobles, the people who became Police and Guards were specifically trained in how to patrol, how to recognize crime, and other specific tasks that the Knights weren't.

She sighed as they arrived at the police station. She was given appraising looks by the blue-clad police and the Knights that littered the corridor, but none of them gave her more than that.

Some of them didn't even try to hide the fact that they were talking about her as she walked by. "Hey, is that Tanya?" one dusty-blond policeman asked his friend.

Tanya smirked. Honestly, she had been getting very tired of the people in Iris's castle being so deferential.

The dusty-blond policeman and his friend – a blue-eyed man with an inquisitive smile on his face – walked towards her.

Both bowed, and Tanya frowned. "Lady Tanya-"

Tanya's frown turned into a grimace. It seemed she'd be reminded of her forced gender switch at every opportunity. The nobles at that party had called her that enough, and Iris's 'proclamation' that she be given the Governorship of Axel referred to her as 'Lady.'

Obviously, these two had heard something about the party from whichever of their relatives had attended.

It was time to nip that in the bud.

"Actually, it's Governor, now."

Both of them, slightly bent at the waist with their eyes closed, suddenly looked up, confusion on their faces.

She gave them a mirthless smile – she didn't have the energy for more, after trying to run this cesspool of nepotistic corruption. "Alderp attempted to… harm the Princess, and I was tasked with overseeing Axel and his death."

Immediately, both snapped into a salute as stiff as any she had seen – and the 203rd had tried very hard not to disappoint whatever standards she could think of after those first months together – and began to apologize.

She waved a hand and dismissed their apologies as her expression once more settled into a tired grimace. "It's no problem. Could you please bring me to Gerrard? Or, if he's already been replaced, to whoever the Chief of Axel's Police is? I have some things I need to discuss with them."

They shared a look, and then the one with blue eyes gestured forward. The one with the blond hair began to walk away, rounding a corner towards where Tanya knew the interrogation room was. "Of course. In fact, I could give you the tour-"

She shook her head, her grimace receding into only a tight frown. "No. I'm on a schedule. Axel needs to be run, and I have several other meetings to attend to today."

She really was getting tired, and it was beginning to look more and more like she and Viktoriya would have to start doing the work of all the incompetent people until they could get replacements.

-OxOxO-

Gerrard stood from the seat behind his desk as he finished giving the two other people in his furnished and frugal office the rundown on what they'd be doing.

The two women in front of him were easy on his eyes, which he supposed would be one of his only consolation prizes, considering one was here on noble business and the other was his replacement.

Aloerina Vola Essex had a documented history in Axel. She had been working as a guard protecting some of the farther-flung towns around Axel. She had been recommended for transfer by Alderp's brother, which meant she was either an attempt at corrupting the police, or she was as incorruptible as he was and had less than half of his experience.

From what he'd seen of her so far, she was inquisitive, and, while she seemed eager to state her mind, she had been able to temper her excitement with very particular questions about how things were run. She seemed like she might be a good replacement, on the off chance it wasn't all a front.

He sighed, but he waved off the concerned expressions of both of the women in front of him. He couldn't let them know his thoughts. Both of them were reverent of the nobility.

Sena Jemail, in comparison to Aloerina, had no history here. He knew that she came from Alcanretia, but that was all he knew.

No matter who he had look – the highest ranking being the second son of the Klein family, a man who had joined the police after becoming exasperated with his father's practices, tendencies, and devotion to the Axis Cult – couldn't find anything on her.

Other than the hair and eyes – sleek black and violet-blue, respectively – her face seemed to be made for disapproving expressions and a steely, dutiful will, which was why he'd been shocked by the fact that, whenever he asked what she'd do when confronted with a noble, she responded by assuring him that she would bend over backwards at the first sign of their desire to become involved.

He scowled as they walked past him and out of his office. Officially, she was here as a replacement for the prosecutor that had died in the fighting against the Undead Mage that had attacked. And, if he was honest with himself, he didn't want to find out anything else.

It seemed like it was above his pay grade, and as long as she wasn't working for Alderp, he'd be fine with her.

He had almost convinced himself that she was there to investigate him and the other male police, but he had managed to assuage his fears when she seemed completely unfamiliar with Demons of any kind.

He frowned as a faint, echoing sound began to make itself known outside his office door. Uneven and pounding, they made him wonder what was so important that someone would…

He looked around the corridor outside his office, and he saw that Fischer Tennessee was trying to run towards them at full speed. His uniform was ruined, and, as he stumbled to a stop in front of them, he didn't even manage a salute.

Gerrard raised an eyebrow. Why had he run through the cells? It was much faster to come through the armories of the Knights and Guards and the other offices than-

"Alderp is dead."

He blinked, and he ignored both of the women gasping after they had a moment to register the information. He stepped past them and crouched down in front of him to better look the man in the face. His arms wobbled as he struggled to hold himself up.

"What else?" he asked. He knew there was more to it, or he'd be breaking out alcohol for a celebration.

"Degurechaff is here. She was tasked with his execution, and she is now Governor."

With that, he collapsed completely, and Gerrard suppressed a groan. No doubt, she was coming here to ensure that he would stay in line and wouldn't dispute her appointment.

Honestly, he was suppressing the urge to grin or to burst out into laughter. Alderp being dead was probably good, as long as Degurechaff could be convinced to discontinue his policies of corruption. If not… well, he had misjudged her, and he would continue his efforts to keep Axel cleaner than most places with nobles – which was everywhere.

He turned back around, and gestured to his office. "Please. You'll want to meet her, if she's the Governor now."

Aloerina spoke up, staring nervously at the collapsed policeman. "What about…"

He turned around, and he sighed. "Right. I'll put him in one of the cells for now. You two go in and wait."

With that, he bent down and began to drag the body towards one of the empty cells. He really hoped that today would be getting better because of this.

-OxOxO-

Today had just gotten a lot worse.

Gerrard was now panicking. Both of them, in the twenty seconds he'd been gone, had managed to find his dream journal.

The Succubi had given it to him as a gift for his years of loyal patronage and continued help in hiding them.

It contained records of everything he'd ever seen from their dreams.

For rather obvious reasons, he didn't want them to see it what was contained in it. Those dreams were for him and the Succubi, and no one else!

Of course, the more pressing issue was that they had all signed the inside cover of the thing with their titles, all of which contained the word 'Succubus' and some kind of physical feature.

He opened his mouth and began to explain while praying they wouldn't see the jack shit. "Well… my wife has been dead for a bit over five years now. I miss her terribly, and have been keeping records of… my mind's subconscious desire to be reunited with her."

Aloerina was looking at him with a very… odd look in her eyes, but Sena seemed to be on the verge of glaring at him. His fears that she was there for him and the other male police came roaring back to the surface. He began to pray that something would-

And something did. Or rather, two somethings came in and interrupted the unofficial interrogation.

One, he knew well. Michael Perdun was a studious policeman that tried to ignore the fact that, like Gerrard, he was one of the few people not related to nobles in the entire force.

The other one, he knew enough of. Tanya von Degurechaff had extensive files inside the Adventurers Guild, and he'd interacted with her far more than every other adventurer, except for The Degenerate.

He blinked. Would they help him cover up the Succubi? She'd talked to them, from what little they had told him after he had claimed his three months of free dreams, and he had once seen her enter the back of the building on one of the few days off he allowed himself.

"Chief Gerrard, I've brought Governor Degurechaff to meet you," Michael said in a voice that nearly hid his nervousness. Gerrard could see in the way his eyes were flicking between him and her and the two other women in his office that he was probably terrified.

Gerrard stood, and walked towards her. Tanya smiled widely at the sight of Gerrard.

"How wonderful to see you again! I thought you were getting replaced?" she asked, a hint of humor in her voice. Her face showed none of that humor, and seemed to hold only the barest hint of life.

Honestly, she'd been thrilled to hear from the nervous man that just hurriedly left the room that Gerrard was still around. That meant she wouldn't have to make a trip to his house, because she was getting his help.

"Sena, Aloerina, meet Tanya von Degurechaff," he said, dragging Tanya's attention to the two other people in the room.

Both were dressed like all of the other police in the place: blue clothing with yellow highlights, a tie, small hats that did little to actually cover their heads, sensible black leather shoes, and no visible weapons.

Unlike the rest of them, however, the one on the left has small, triangular glasses and a clipboard. She also had black hair – something Tanya thought was restrained to the Hero Candidates – and a… mixed expression.

She seemed to be trying to keep up a stoic front, as she held out a hand for a handshake, but her hand was oddly clammy.

She was… well, by this world's terms, she probably wasn't that well-endowed, but comparing anyone to Darkness was rather futile. In either of her last universes, however, 'stacked' was probably the best term to describe her.

"Sena Jemail," she stuttered out. Tanya gave her the warmest expression she could with how tired she was – completely neutral – and then turned to Aloerina.

She looked much more like the annoyingly familiar nobles back in the capital. She had bright blonde hair that was close to Tanya's hair in color than any of the other nobles, barring the obvious, and she wasn't nearly as developed as Sena, Viktoriya, or even Lorelei, were.

Tanya shook her head for a moment, before holding out a hand. She seemed to be using sweetness to hide her nervousness. She smiled widely as Tanya shook her hand. "Aloerina Vola Essex."

Tanya surveyed the office as everyone began to settle down. There was a small bookshelf with what looked like recreational reading material on it. She had to blink as she continued.

Behind the large desk overflowing with paperwork, were two filing cabinets, which was odd to see in a room made of stone. Other than that, a picture frame faced his seat, and light came in and lit the small room up much better than most of the building.

Gerrard made to enter a small closet opposite the window, but Tanya shook her head. "I'd rather stand, thank you."

He paused, and then nodded, taking a seat once more. He needed to word this correctly. He ended her help taking suspicion off of him with the Succubi business, and…

He grimaced for a moment. He needed to warn all the other policemen. They needed to keep their mouths shut for as long as these two women were around. Tanya, if she even knew what the Succubi really were, had to be the only woman he'd ever met that wasn't freaked out by the thought of Demons or outraged that they were hoarding the men.

"Tanya, I was thinking," he began, looking her directly in the eyes while trying to think of what he could say that wouldn't inform the other two police, "that you should talk to these two."

All three of the other people in the office looked at him strangely, but he didn't look away from Tanya. "You have a lot of experience in Axel, and you know about some of the… seedier places in the town."

Tanya blinked, and then nodded slowly. She didn't really want to talk to them, but she wanted his help.

He smiled, fighting down the urge to smirk. That might be considered suspicious. "Wonderful. I'm going to go tell the other police that you've become Governor."

He got up, and only paused to take back his 'dream journal' from Aloerina. He needed to hide this thing-

"Say, what's that?" asked Degurechaff. Gerrard paused, and he was sure that if a truth-detecting bell had been in the room, it would have rung, even if he was only going to lie through omission.

Aloerina answered for him. "It's his dream journal. He dreams about his… deceased wife, apparently."

She sounded suspicious, but Gerrard turned around to see that Tanya was smirking at him.

Uh oh.

"Yes, Gerrard. I'll tell them a bit about Axel and what I'm planning on doing with my position. Are you going to be telling the police you see about your absence as well?" she asked, staring at him knowingly.

Gerrard gave her a shaky smile, nodded, and resisted the urge to attempt to smooth down his thin mustache. The two policewomen knew how to look for signs of nervousness.

"Absence?" asked Sena. All the suspicion was now gone, and she seemed only curious.

He glanced at Tanya, mentally pleading that she'd tell him what she was signing him up for. She turned, looked past the two mountains on the woman's chest, and smiled sweetly into Sena's eyes. "Yes. I'm a bit new to running an entire town, and there aren't many other people in Axel I'd trust to help me in setting up something that resembles an uncorrupt government."

He nodded, slightly more sure now. He turned to leave, but Tanya spoke up again. "Gerrard, I hope you realize that if Alderp was the reason you were being forced to give up your job, that you can keep it. You have experience that would go to waste if you were forced to quit, especially since I'm Governor now."

He paused at the dull way she delivered what was honestly the best thing he had heard all month – besides the voice of his wife in his dreams – and he shook his head as a smile began to form. With how corrupt Alderp was, she could probably get Gerrad replaced even faster simply due to suspicion, if she so desired.

He was fairly sure that she wasn't going to be continuing his tactics then.

With a muttered farewell, he quickly opened and stepped through the door. He made his way through the station, informing everyone that Tanya was the new Governor and, using a few agreed upon had signals, informing the male police that they needed to be more careful about mentioning the Succubi.

Everyone smiled and thanked him, though the men were certainly more adamant about their praise.

He finished in the offices, and made his way to the armory. He had to inform everyone, even people on break and not in the building, before either of the women caught wind of what was happening.

Who knew. Maybe he'd even be able to take care of some of the corruption in the Knights and the Guards if Tanya really was going to try and help him out?

-OxOxO-

Tanya turned her attention to both of the women, who were looking a bit nervous to be in the room with her alone.

She shook her head. "Well, he wanted me to tell you about the town. What do either of you know about Axel?" she asked, well aware that she had next to no idea about a lot of the town.

Sure, she had been in the city for around two months, but that wasn't all that much time in the grand scheme of things. Gerrard had probably been around for years, but she wouldn't be calling him back.

She was resourceful, if nothing else. She could…

She smirked. "One of the organizations you should probably know about is the Mithril Foundation."

Both of them became curious, and Tanya felt momentarily brought out of the lethargy that had gripped of her.

"They provide help to the poor and to orphans. They provide money and education and help finding jobs, too," she began.

Sena interrupted her. "For what? Which noble controls them? It sounds like the organization is very influential, so-"

Tanya cut her off. "They aren't associated with any religion or noble specifically. They don't ask that they serve anyone or devote themselves to anything out of desperation. As far as can be told, they operate independently, taking donations from grateful people they've helped in the past."

Nothing she said could be disproved, either. She'd helped set it up, sure, but it was out of her hands, even if a lot of those jobs she mentioned were making items she had thought to recreate.

"To have a town of such noble people…" she trailed off, awe shining in her eyes.

Tanya was too tired to repress her snort of derision. "I think not. Most of the adventurers, as is expected of them, use their necessary position in the defense of the town to ensure that they are given preferential treatment. Luna cried when I left because no one else has ever done community service."

Both looked disgruntled, and Tanya continued on for the next hour, informing them of some of the better places to visit – shops and restaurants that Tanya had heard good things about and hadn't had the time to visit herself – as well as outlining the fact that the Hero Candidates appeared in the city.

Tanya had to pinch herself a few times in order to keep her voice from drifting into a toneless stream of drivel, and she thought that maybe she should get a bit of sleep.

Appearing this way in front of other people, regardless of how much work she had to do and how little coffee she had, reflected poorly on herself.

She shook her head as she finished describing the Eris festival that had occurred. Sena and Aloerina seemed a bit wide-eyed, but that must have just been a figment of-

"Wow! You've done so much here, and that was all in two months? Astonishing for one so young," Sena said. Aloerina nodded her head in agreement, and Tanya almost missed the movement of her head due to the thoughts that had just popped up.

Twitch.

She sighed. Maybe she should get a business card that says that she was sixteen and not a noble? It would certainly cut down on the time she had to explain the same damn thing over and over.

"I'm sixteen actually, even if I look closer in age to the Princess." She smoothed out her annoyed expression as both of them began to blush.

"Ah…"

Tanya cleared her throat. She had pretty much finished telling them about everything she could, which begged the question: where the hell was Gerrard? It had been over an hour, if the grandfather clock in the corner was to be trusted, and there couldn't be that many police.

She was beginning to wonder if she should ask them about how they were trained – she didn't have much more to tell them unless the topic of travel came up, but she didn't think that either of the professional looking-

"Well, um, you are older than fourteen, and you have taken over for Alderp, so…?" asked Sena.

Tanya raised an eyebrow. She wasn't sure what she was trying to ask, but she was fairly sure she wasn't going to like it.

More work – this sounded like – was not on her agenda, considering how much she was having to do to run the town.

Both of the women looked to each other, for a split second, before scooting their chairs forward and leaning towards Tanya. She took a step back, and found herself nearly against the wall as both of them gave her conspiring looks.

Being slammed against a wall by two beauties might have been a wonderful position in different circumstances, but the crazed looks in their eyes, so similar to Darkness when she thought of being abused, told her that she wasn't going to like this at all.

"Have you ever heard of the Seven Mysteries of Axel?" asked Aloerina. Sena had her eyes glued to Tanya as she shook her head. Seven Mysteries?

Sena nodded as Aloerina began to explain. "Well, there are some very odd things about Axel, and the most odd things have been made into very piercing questions that no one can answer. Why do the Hero Candidates announce their presence in this town specifically, when most of them end up travelling to the front in a week anyway? Things like that."

Tanya nodded slowly. Sena spoke this time. "One of the Mysteries is why female adventurers and employees are not popular amongst the men. Everyone who works in the city seems to just… not be interested in females, in any way, shape, or form."

Aloerina pouted. "It's maddening."

She raised an eyebrow. Why was this important? "How so? Is it a requirement that they get married?"

They looked at each other again, and they sighed helplessly. "Not technically – the King can't demand that much with how high his taxes are – but the Eris Cult constantly preaches that producing children that might one day rise up to fight Demons is a virtue."

Tanya was able to hold herself from gnashing her teeth or outright sneering at the thought, but she just didn't have the energy to fight the frown that overtook her.

Both of them nodded happily and smiled. "That's why we've joined a… group."

Tanya raised an eyebrow, trying desperately not to begin glaring at them. If they were asking her to try and-

Sena straightened up. "Even though I'm new to Axel, I am the president of this group, after they heard that I'd been divorced by my husband."

Tanya mustered all of her energy to give her a weak smile and a small condolence as she tried to push past them. Neither had moved, however, and she couldn't get past them without very physically pushing them.

Aloerina nodded encouragingly. "Yes. We had no choice. She was given the pleasure to be married, and then had that ripped away by her husband's choice after less than five years," she said. Sena nodded, and Tanya frowned contemplatively as she wrung her hands nervously.

Aloerina continued, oblivious. "She is the youngest of us, at 20, but the Association to Protect Women's Chances of Marriage is growing by the day!"

And that was all she needed. She didn't care one way or the other if people in this insane world married at fourteen or whatever – she had more important things to do, especially now – but she sure as hell wasn't getting roped into it.

She pushed past them both, walking towards the wide window. "No thank you. Honestly, why you would want to get married to anyone in this town is beyond me, but-"

"We are desperate." Tanya turned around to see that Aloerina was looking very saddened, but Tanya rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth-

BOOOM!

The room shook, dust drifted down from the ceiling, and Tanya choked on her words as memories assaulted her unprepared mind.

She was in the east and she was falling and falling and something broke and unnatural sweet smells and something was burning her wrists and-

"...orner?! What… what's wrong, Lady Degurechaff?"

She shook her head, and everything was sane again. The women were leaning down over her, grabbing onto her wrists. She wasn't wearing anything made of that despicable metal.

She finished taking a dozen deep breaths in an attempt to keep herself from hyperventilating, and shakily rose from the ground.

"What… what was that?"

Both of them looked at each other, and then Sena frowned. Her face lost all of the nervousness and eager wonder from their earlier conversation.

"That would be…"

Aloerina made a face like someone had shoved her into the bottom of a trench without an Oxygen Conversion Spell to help with the smell. Sena sighed.

"While I haven't had time to investigate, there were some rumors among the guards that there some crazy Crimson Demon that's obsessed with the Explosion Spell, and who won't use any other spell," Aloerina said. Sena sighed.

"It isn't as bad as it would be without the Monster Rush system, but-" Sena began. Tanya held up a hand.

"'Monster Rush?' What's that?" she asked.

Both blinked, but Sena straightened herself up and began to lecture. "With Verdia taking residence in the castle, it was necessary for drastic measures to be taken. The town was on the verge of economic collapse, when a famous former adventurer proposed using potions that attract monsters to a person for the rest of their lives."

Tanya nodded along. She knew that much, even if it was phrased quite… fantastically.

"Five people volunteered, and monsters were killed in large numbers. With the retreat of Verdia from his castle following the defeat of his Undead Mage, regular operations resumed in the guild," she said, finally taking a breath.

"However, many people liked the new system. It allowed for more experienced adventurers to help everyone instead of just their party, and, while rewards for monsters were decreased, it allows for more experimentation. Every week, the guild gathers together in order to go out to one of the plains near town," she finished.

Tanya nodded, and she wondered why neither the Succubi nor Wiz had informed her of the change.

She shook her head. Obviously, that Crimson Demon was a bit more helpful out on the plains, but learning a single spell, especially one that was supposed to be the most powerful one, was extremely inefficient.

"What do those Crimson Demons look like again?" she asked. Sena provided with her a brief description – red eyes, black hair, odd clothing and very good magical equipment – before Gerrard finally came back.

She smirked. Finally, she'd get out of here. She rose, bidding the two goodbye and telling Gerrard to meet her at Alderp's mansion tomorrow. She had plans.

With that, she wound her way through the police station. Her next conversation was going to be much better.

After all, the Succubi couldn't have gotten into too much trouble, or the Eris and Axis Cults would have likely eradicated them.

-OxOxO-

Viktoriya suppressed the urge to tear her hair out, and instead just groaned as she pushed came closer to the guild. Why was this world so… woefully lacking?

If there was anyone in this town that was uncorrupt and able to help them, Alderp would have mentioned them, if only to complain that they hadn't bowed to him in the same breath.

She and Tanya had to spend all their time trying to run this place on their own instead of working on replacing the dozen rounds the two of them had or on fixing their now slightly-malfunctioning Computation Jewels.

Why couldn't they be doing either of those things, or taking a bit of time to relax from the tedious adventuring, or taking a nice, hot, relaxing bath togethe-

She shook her head and pinched her leg. She had managed to get to the guild half-asleep. She needed to be awake, if only so she could handle everyone in there.

Tanya was, apparently, the more recognizable half of their duo in Axel, and they had decided that her going to the police station to meet with Gerrard, who Viktoriya had not exactly talked to a lot, was the better option, especially since Viktoriya was much less likely to be mobbed when she went in the guild thanks to the aforementioned eye-catchiness of Tanya.

Lorelei, since she wasn't yet associated with them – and how the beastman had seemed to glow at the implication that they would publicly associate with her – was going to visit Wiz.

The part-rabbit woman had been shocked to learn that Wiz was a Lich, but they'd needed some way for Lorelei to confirm to Wiz that she was working with them. That fact about the shopkeeper would get things rolling fastest.

She shook her head, hoping to gain one last ounce of wakefulness, and pushed through the doors of the guild.

Thankfully, no one recognized her or cared enough to bother her. She smiled faintly, and made her way to the front desk. She needed to talk to Luna first; the possibility that she'd be willing to help them run Axel was tantalizing.

She made her way through the place, avoiding bumping into a harried waitresses. Viktoriya smiled as she remembered Darkness mentioning something about Tanya wearing one of those costumes, and-

She shook her head again, trying to banish the thoughts, and then groaned and gave it up. She didn't have the energy to function, network, and curtail her own thoughts at the same time.

If she had to prioritize, then of course she'd choose the first two and forget about the third. And, since they were just… thoughts, they couldn't be that bad. She wasn't actually telling anyone, and, soon, she'd find someone she liked and stop having those distracting things rattle in her head.

Finally, she was at the front. For once, it seemed like there wasn't anyone there, but it was midday. It was likely that most everyone was out adventuring right now.

She walked closer, and cleared her throat. Luna looked up, apparently surprised, and then her face lit up like Christmas had come early.

"Viktoriya!" she cried. She hurled herself over the barrier, and Viktoriya tried not to feel embarrassed as Luna kneeled down in front of her. She looked around to try and avoid the embarrassment.

After a quick look around, her embarrassment faded. There weren't that many people there. It looked like three groups were huddled close to the bulletin board, with a few more scattered throughout.

She groaned as she couldn't locate the Reincarnates. She had come here to hopefully recruit them, but if they weren't, she'd have to come back tomorrow.

She shook her head and turned her attention back to Luna, who hadn't stopped kneeling. Viktoriya sighed, bent down, and patted her on the shoulder awkwardly.

"Come on. It couldn't have gotten that bad…"

She stood, and Viktoriya blinked as the woman's smile disappeared, and a scowl – an actual sign of negative emotions beyond the wax smiles she usually wore – took its place.

"You have no idea. The people who took that potion you guys recommend are getting angry that they'll be stuck here forever, even though we told them what they'd be getting into, Dust took all of three hours to completely drown himself in debt and become more of a nuisance than ever, and not even four weeks after you left and we've got another destructive loli-"

"I hope you aren't referring to Tanya." Luna blinked, and then looked around.

She felt a great sense of foreboding…

She shook her head and looked back at the simple-looking Adventurer. "Uh, I mean…"

She grimaced as the foreboding increased, and then blinked. Though Viktoriya looked normal – her face hadn't changed from the inquisitive, tired stare – she could feel… something coming from her.

She realized what it was in a flash, and she tried not to gulp. "Uh… no. Of course not."

Immediately, the force retreated, and Viktoriya shot her a smile. "Okay. Well, I just wanted to let you know that Tanya has taken over from Alderp. He attempted to harm the Princess, and Tanya was tasked with carrying out his death."

Luna blinked, and then nodded slowly. Like most everyone who wasn't being paid by him, she disliked the fat noble for his policies, especially since he often tried to 'hire' adventurers to sing his praises.

The brown-haired woman nodded again. "Well, she was looking for help. She's a bit overworked trying to undo a lot of his policies, and she was wondering if you'd like to earn triple whatever you're being paid now."

Luna gulped audibly. That…

Well, it would certainly be nice to earn that much money, and, really, why would she want to hang out here?

Sure, she was hoping to marry some strong adventurer eventually, but everyone in this town seemed completely uninterested in such a thing. If she were to work for her, then…

"Actually," Viktoriya said, seeing the unguarded uncertainty on her face, "could you direct me to wherever Darkness is? We could really use her help right now."

She opened her mouth to respond – she'd been adventuring with that silver-haired Thief for the past few weeks – but she was unable to finish the thought. She couldn't.

She spotted, over the shoulder of the woman in front of her, the crazy Crimson Demon walking in. She was stumbling around, hardly able to hold up her own weight, but the unsubtle movements of the adventurers near the bulletin board seemed to fill that loli with the anger needed to accost them.

She shook her head. "Sorry Viktoriya. Can't talk right now." With that, she calmly walked behind the guild's counter and shut the doors to the windows.

It was rude, sure, but she wasn't risking that Megumin character coming over. She was probably insane, especially with how much brooding she seemed to do whenever Tanya was brought up.

Luna thought, for a moment, about opening the doors and warning Viktoriya not to mention Tanya in front of her – Luna had been forced to kick the Archmage out of the guild for swearing to 'outshine any hideous pretenders to the name of Best Explosion Mage' – and then thought better of it.

It just wasn't worth the possibility that the girl would grab her clothing and try and drag her over the counter. It was somewhat pathetic – she wasn't strong enough to actually accomplish her goal – but she'd had to go to the Eris Cult yesterday because she'd bruised her chin when the girl had yanked her out.

Meanwhile, Viktoriya blinked at the now closed windows, and then sighed again. Well, if Mitsurugi – who had claimed he was coming to Axel at that party – wasn't here, and the Reincarnates weren't either, and if Luna wasn't talking right now, then there wasn't really any reason for her to stay.

She turned around, heading for the door once more. Maybe she should eat a bit of lunch soon? Tanya had claimed that the Succubi would probably treat them to something, and if they didn't, that they had food at home.

"Hey, you should really think about showing a bit more skin. I know it's getting close to winter, but that doesn't mean you should hide everything away from us men."

She continued walking past someone having a rather odd conversation, until something blocked her path. It took her a moment – she really needed to find some decent coffee in this town – and realized who it was.

"Oh, it's just you, Dust. Have you got the money to pay off your debts to Tanya? You haven't been helping her much, and while you only owed 100,000 Eris when we left, you now owe her 300,000 again due to interest," she said.

He just blinked at her, and Viktoriya glanced to the side. It seemed his friends were all eating, split between sending Dust murderous looks or sending apologetic looks – in the case of the girl and the Crusader – and lecherous looks – in the case of the Ranger – towards her.

He opened his mouth, cleared his throat, and began to speak. "Yo- You know, since you're blocking me, I could have run into you. I think you should pay me for getting in my way and ignoring my compliment."

Viktoriya looked into his red eyes, smirked, and scoffed loudly.

He seemed to grow confused, but she was happy to explain. "Really, how pathetic are you that that is considered a compliment? I know you have some sort of 'tragic backstory' you don't want us talking about that you think justifies this behavior, but people who've experienced worse have risen far higher."

He seemed taken aback, but she didn't let up. "And that ego? Sure, you aren't half bad, as far as looks go, but your personality paints you as the pathetic leech that you are, whose only redeeming quality is that you are only a petty criminal instead of something actually dangerous."

"Hey, even I will start to cry if you say stuff like that!"

Viktoriya rolled her eyes. "If you don't want to get insulted, then maybe you shouldn't make it so easy. Take the easy out next time, you-"

"Are you alright?"

Viktoriya blinked at the sudden question, and found that the girl was peering at her curiously. She took a deep breath, and the rest of the world came back into focus.

"No. I'm trying to help Tanya run the entire town, which isn't exactly easy with how corrupt everything is," she admitted. The girl nodded.

"What is your name? I think Tanya mentioned you, but…" she trailed off. She banished Viktoriya's returning nervousness with a wave of her hand.

"It's fine. My name is Lynn Cetane," she said as she extended a hand. Viktoriya nodded.

Maybe she had been hanging out with Tanya too much. Insults like that were her style, even if she usually saved them for incompetent people and their enemies. "Viktoriya Ivanovna Serebryakov. I'm sorry for insulting Dust, it's just-"

"Don't worry about it," she said. She leaned forward conspiratorially. "Honestly, he probably needs it."

"Hey!"

Both laughed at the grumbling Dust, and Viktoriya excused herself with an apology and a promise to talk more later. As she walked away, she felt her lethargy returning. She had things she needed to do and-

Her eyes narrowed as she saw a man arguing with two girls. He was passionately pleading with them, gripping onto the one with a tie tightly.

She stepped forward, hoping that Luna wouldn't look out at her anytime soon.

-OxOxO-

Megumin glared at both the kneeling man that was attempting to grope Yunyun's shoes and at the girl herself. Yunyun wasn't really going to give in, was she?

The rat-faced man dressed in shabby black clothing and reeking of something – she wasn't sure what it was, but it was more pungent than even the crazy materials her father used in making his bizarre potions – looked up occasionally, but he always lowered his head and continued to beg Yunyun.

Megumin stepped forward with a drawn out sigh. Usually, she'd jump into Yunyun's troubles quickly, but she was feeling very tired.

She had been in Axel for eight days, not including the afternoon when she had arrived in Axel, and she hadn't been able to keep a party for more than a few hours.

Oh, on her fourth day she had impressed everyone by taking out a large amount of monsters during the 'Monster Rush,' but that hadn't done anything. Everyone still looked down on her Explosion magic and called her crazy.

Or, they did something worse. Instead of being filled with awe at the thought of her power, they'd shrug, say they'd seen something similar, and accuse her of attempting to rip someone else off!

She didn't have to guess to know exactly who they thought she was copying.

Tanya. Von. Degurechaff.

Everyone mumbled about missing her, and wishing that she was there instead of her, and basically daring her to demonstrate just why she was the greatest user of Explosion magic. And not some faceless, haughty noble.

Megumin shook her head and saw Yunyun begin to break down. She looked far too afraid and troubled for the obvious lies of the man in front of them. She leaned down, gripping one elbow and looking as stereotypically nervous as possible.

"Ugh… Th- Then, just for… a while…"

"Really?!"

The man's face had broken out into what seemed to be, at first glance, a genuine smile. Yunyun, ever inexperienced with interaction, couldn't tell that it was fake.

She stepped in at the perfect time. "Of course not! What are you up to!? Exploiting another person's kindness!? Want me to call the police?"

"Wh- What are you saying!? Ah, oh. You are-"

The man stopped speaking, and Megumin could not blame him for it. A chill seemed to strike all three of them at the same time, and Megumin's thoughts were sent back to the short time – relative to other Crimson Demons – she had spent in school.

One question the less studious Crimson Demons had was the matter of killing intent. How could people just 'sense' a thing's intent to kill them?

The teachers had assured them that they probably wouldn't ever feel the full effects of it. Front line fighters would acclimate to such things, while Archmages and Priests and the like, who didn't often face their enemies very closely, would only feel a small bit of it.

Megumin turned around stiffly, wishing that the teachers had brought in someone to demonstrate the effect, if only so that she wouldn't be freezing up now.

"Excuse me, is this thing attempting to harass you?"

Megumin blinked. There was no towering adventurer of legend standing behind her, or a Demon of some kind, or even something wider than Megumin was tall.

No. Instead, it was just a woman. She might have been twenty-four, with light brown hair, bright blue eyes, a face with a rounded chin and sharp cheeks, and seemingly mundane clothing and equipment. A curious light near her chest seemed to be shining through her clothing.

"Let me ask again: is this thing attempting to harass you?"

Despite the facts of her appearance, it was like standing in front of a storm. Her eyes, despite being the color of a clear, sunny day, held no warmth or compassion. Her cold words and the frigid tone she'd spoken with were at odds with a small and oddly creepy smile on her face.

Megumin quickly glanced to her right, and saw that Yunyun seemed frozen, and that the man at her feet, halfway through the motion of rising, might have been changed into a statue.

The woman stepped forward, and that broke the man out of his trace. He managed to get to his feet, muttering, "I'm sorry, I'll just be going now," as he brushed past Megumin.

Fast as a Lightning spell, the man collapsed, choking. The woman's hands, which had been close to her sides, were now held up. One was outstretched – she must have punched him in the throat – while the other was reaching down towards the man.

The woman turned to Megumin, and she took a step back.

She looked at Megumin's eyes, and a confused expression came over her. She blinked, and the killing intent faded away.

"Ah… I apologize for frightening you."

Yunyun said nothing, so Megumin took the lead. "About your earlier question… he was definitely planning to do something to Yunyun."

"Hey! What do you mean? He just wanted to take me to see his sick mother...!"

Megumin scoffed. "That was definitely a lie! Did-"

But the woman reminded them of her presence. "Okay. I'll take him to the police station, then. If he's afraid of them, then he might be wanted for something. And if he isn't…"

Both looked at her with interest, and she held out a hand. Megumin stepped back at the unnaturally calm look in her eyes.

"Dehydrate."

The man began to shrivel up, and Megumin backed into Yunyun as his cheeks sank in. The woman bent down, grabbed the back of his shirt, and walked out of the guild.

If Megumin's lecture on why Yunyun shouldn't be tricked so easily was any less harsh because of what that woman had done, neither of them mentioned it.

-OxOxO-

Lorelei looked down at the small piece of paper that denoted the address of the shop their friend owned, and then looked back up at the shop.

This was the place.

She opened the door and looked around at everything. There were potions covering the walls, jars and containers were stuffed everywhere, a shining glass ball on a red pillow lit up the area around it, and various oddly shaped items that she was sure had some magical purpose. She could even see a few pieces of Manatite.

What drew her attention most, however, were the pieces of merchandise on the tables in the center. Flashy pieces of… hardened paper? She didn't know what they were, but it cried out that the 'lighters' and 'matches' and 'Swiss Army Knives' were supremely helpful.

On another table, she could see small wooden boxes emblazoned with a white plus sign surrounded by a red circle, along with ever smaller leather bags with the same sign. The hardened, brightly colored paper above these declared that 'they could save your life long enough to find a Priest.'

Just as her attention had been drawn to those tables, a pair of adventurers were also looking at the table, picking up items and gasping at what they did. Both hurried to the countertop where the shopkeeper was and bought their items quickly, only slowing down their rapid pace to stare at her as they left.

She shook her head and looked up from them towards the shopkeeper. She was pale – something to be expected of a merchant focused on creating and selling magical items, but even more expected of what she really was – and had lovely red hair that contrasted nicely with the simple but high-quality purple and yellow robes that she wore.

She seemed startled to see her, but Lorelei smiled kindly, hoping to put her at ease.

It didn't, and Lorelei sighed. Even if Lorelei hid almost everything underneath her clothing – her pants weren't the black, flowing pair that she usually wore, but something closer to jeans. She was wearing her usual pastel blue and white jacket, but she'd decided to wear a white shirt today – and her friends looked past her ears, it seemed that some people couldn't help but focus on what was most prominent.

Wait… if she was a Lich, why was she looking at her like that? Surely she'd-

Wiz opened her mouth, probably to greet her, but Lorelei wasn't in the mood for it. "I'm not here for any merchandise, Lich."

She immediately stopped attempting to greet her, and Lorelei nodded. She walked forward, around the merchandise, coming up to the counter. She towered over the woman, and the sword at her side seemed especially prominent, considering the lack of any other equipment.

"Ah… I have already told the Demon King that he'll get some money back soon. I've actually been able to make a profit this month, though I have been thinking about buying more merchandise…"

Lorelei tried not to lash out, took a calming breath, and summoned the vestiges of her energy.

She might not have been working as hard as Tanya and Viktoriya – she just didn't understand the terminology that they rambled on about, and neither of them was willing to take the time to teach her for fear that they'd be even more overloaded with work by the time they were done – but she had still spent hours with them, attempting to give them ideas.

"I am working for Tanya, actually. She told me that you'd know that I was working with her from the fact that they told me you were a Lich," she said with a raised eyebrow. She didn't add that she wondered whether Wiz was actually their friend if they'd misjudged her that badly and she thought the same of her as most did.

Of course, there was the possibility that they hadn't misjudged her and they were going to kick Lorelei to the road at the first opportunity and-

She cut off that unfounded thought and looked at the Lich, who wilted at her glare.

"You told her that you have some money for her?" Lorelei continued, trying to ignore the look on her face. It wasn't Lorelei's fault that the Lich thought she was working for the Demon King, but she hated being thought of as an enemy by everyone just for her ears.

"Well… yes, I do," she replied stiffly. She ducked down behind the counter, and brought up a bulging bag.

"I took five percent off of all the sales of her merchandise, and… she's got two million Eris, now," she said.

Lorelei nodded, and grabbed the bag. "Fine." With that, she turned away, intending on going straight to the 'special' shop that Tanya had been talking about.

Well, talking was a strong word. She mentioned it often enough, but she hadn't ever said exactly what it was that they did that made it so special. Lorelei hadn't heard of it, which meant it probably wasn't something related to adventurers, but-

"Actually… actually, could you tell Tanya that I don't want to sell her stuff anymore?"

Lorelei paused, and then turned around, her annoyance and anger fading away into confusion. "What? Why? All this stuff is amazing – they've only just convinced me that none of it is even magic – and she's got even more stuff in the works."

Tanya had pitched a few of her ideas to Lorelei – not that she would tell her where she got them from – from a handheld watch that almost seemed like it must run on magic with how intricate it was, to sleeping bags that would make even the most secure, warm bedroll obsolete.

The Lich shrugged uncomfortably. "It… it just feels like cheating, to be doing this well…"

Lorelei rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip as she peered at the woman skeptically. "Why? Is it bad to be doing so well?"

Again, the woman shrugged uncomfortably. Lorelei sighed without a hint of irritation.

"Wiz… Tanya holds you in high regard. She does admit that some of your purchases are… odd," Lorelei said.

Tanya had shared a letter or two of Wiz's, asking her for clarification on how certain magic items functioned. Lorelei wasn't a huge help in that regard, but Tanya was often able to come to a conclusion about what certain items were 'really' for.

"Like… you made a whole bunch of fans to help people keep cool, right?"

The woman nodded and looked forlornly at a corner of the shop, where several metallic fans were located. A letter had stated that she'd made them with insights gained from Tanya's items, and she'd been interested in them.

"Well, those aren't going to be sold for much right now due to the cooling weather, but," she said, stalling the woman's falling features, "you can always hold onto them until the summer. Plus, while you can't use them to keep cool, Tanya pointed out that you might be able to push enough mana into one to use it to dry wet clothing or hair."

The woman's eyes widened, and she nodded absently as she stared at them. Lorelei walked closer to the counter.

Wiz turned back to her, looking up at her face. "Besides, she probably wouldn't trust anyone else to sell her stuff without trying to steal from her. She knows she can trust you," she finished with a smile.

Wiz nodded in a revitalized manner. Lorelei reached down to her belt, drawing out her own bag of money. "Now, I'd like to purchase one of those lighters, please. Oh, and as many of those explosive potions that you sell to Tanya as possible. Also, Tanya recommended that you get some kind of name card with the store's location on it, to help customers find it."

After that, she was soon out the door and heading towards the shop Tanya had told them to meet at, a lighter in her pocket and a crate on one shoulder. The leader of their party wanted to meet up with some friends at the shop and try to get their help with her paperwork.

Soon enough, she found the next shop. Both Viktoriya and Tanya were talking outside, though it looked more like they were trying to stay awake. Other than that, Tanya looked more upset than she had in the past two days, including when they'd run out of coffee.

That didn't bode well. She hurried up her pace, rushing to their side to catch the tail end of their conversation. "…go in later. For now-"

"Go where?" she cut in. Both jumped a foot off the ground, and she smirked. "I thought I was the rabbit beastman here, but if you guys are so skittish…"

Both glared at her, but she just laughed at the annoyed gazes. Tanya rolled her eyes at her antics. "Whatever. We're going into the Adventurers' Guild tomorrow afternoon in order to try and recruit some… Hero Candidates to help us."

Lorelei snorted at the mental image of Hero Candidates, the very images of strength and character and defense against the Demon King, doing menial paperwork, but she didn't make any noise beyond that.

After looking at the beastman and getting no explanation as to why she'd snorted, Tanya wrote it off. She needed to get in, ask how the Mithril Foundation was doing, ask for a bit of help, and get out. She was already getting tired, and she needed to nap for an hour or two before she started doing paperwork again.

She pushed open the backdoor into the hallway, and drifted down it with Viktoriya and Lorelei in tow. They ducked to the right, into the back room, a place they'd told her they did lots of the drier work that went into running their business and the Foundation in, and…

She blinked as she pushed open the door and looked at the room of scantily-clad demons.

Her mental processes took an entire three seconds to focus on anything but the expanses of flesh and skin before her. She shook her head to try and snap out of it.

Right, they had told her in a letter that an increase in the number of adventurers in Axel had necessitated that they wear their work clothing so they could cater to anyone that suddenly showed up. They'd even given her a way to contact them so they could dress more normally through some bizarre 'ritual' so that Viktoriya wouldn't see them like this.

Whoops.

Tanya tried to ignore the way that neither of the people behind her were talking or how the people in front of her were staring questioningly and looking between her and the other two.

She stepped forward, trying to think about how she would justify this. She hadn't ever told Lorelei who these people were or what they did, and this might not paint the best picture of either her or them, especially considering the wings and the tails…

She frowned tiredly. She wasn't sure she had the energy to care, honestly.

She made her way in between the Succubi – most back here were wearing a bit more than usual, with how cold everything was getting and how no one had invented air conditioning or indoor heating beyond refrigerators and fireplaces and, accord to Revi, expensive, massive pieces of magical equipment that could only be afforded by the wealthiest…

She filed away that idea for later and cast a glance around. All of the Succubi were still staring warily at Viktoriya and Lorelei, while Viktoriya and Lorelei seemed to be on the verge of slack jawed bafflement.

She shrugged. They'd adjust… probably. She looked around again, and saw that Receptionist Succubus was nowhere to be seen. She looked around for the second-in-command, and soon found her.

"Hey, what are you guys doing? I need a detailed briefing of what you all have been up to," she said.

They all waited at least another moment, and just before she could get mad, Loli Succubus shook her head and looked at Tanya.

That seemed to be the signal, and everyone burst into motion and decided to ignore everything but their jobs. It wasn't their business to wonder why Lorelei and Viktoriya were getting to see them as they really were, so they wouldn't ask.

The small girl in front of her stuttered only for a moment. "Well… uh, we have been doing… exceptionally well. We're getting more business than ever on the Succubi side of things, while the Mithril Foundation has been getting increasingly noticeable."

Tanya nodded. Good. "I'm sorry about telling everyone that came to me to go to you guys, but-"

She cut her off. "What do you mean? That was you? They just complained about an 'irritable noble loli' who became Governor telling them to come begging to us."

Tanya blinked at the worried expression on the girl's face. Had she worded it that harshly?

That question quickly jumped out of her brain as it realized the storm that was being birthed by how they had described her.

"They called me what!"

Loli Succubus backed away a bit, and Tanya let the anger drain away. She really didn't have the energy to care for more than a few seconds. "Fine. Whatever. Did you help them? I didn't just donate a couple million Eris because I was feeling extra charitable."

She nodded, and Tanya sighed in relief. Having to try and find everyone again and compensate them would have been hard work if they hadn't helped those leeches.

She moved on to her next piece of business. "Would any of you be willing-"

"No."

Tanya blinked at the speed of the reply, and then took the time to consider the emotions on the face of the Succubus in front of her.

Earnest. Apologetic. Unyielding.

She blinked and continued to look at the Succubus, even after she finished figuring all that out. She looked pretty… pretty.

She shook her head and fought down a blush. Focus.

She looked upset by her own words, and the way she was leaning back suggested she expected a reprisal or some kind of explosive argument.

Luckily for her, Tanya didn't have the energy for it, and she knew, from their letter, that they were as stretched as they could be. They just didn't have the energy to work any more.

Tanya sighed. "Fine. If you can't help me, then I've got… other ideas."

Alderp had, after all, made regular contracts with dozens of people to work as servants, butlers, maids, and even as his personal artists and musicians.

She owned those contracts now, so she could use them.

She didn't trust them – Alderp had thought hiring them was a good idea, which meant that some of them were probably corrupt or only loyal to him and not to her – but she had few other options.

She sat down in a nearby chair, trying not to fall asleep and providing the Succubi with ideas about how to run the school and help the orphanage and their own business and the dozens of workers they had producing the merchandise and tools she'd recreated.

After an hour, they were out of questions. Tanya stood up, ready to go back to the mansion and take a bit of a nap. After that, a meeting with Walter was sure to happen, and-

"Tanya?"

She spun around, an inquisitive frown on her face. The Succubi who had walked towards her – a purple-haired one that had asked Tanya to address her as simply Tiffany before she had left – seemed concerned for her.

Tanya shrugged. "Yes?"

"Are you… okay?"

Tanya nodded. "Sure. I'm just a bit sleep deprived. Cleaning up after Alderp is hard work, but I should be able to finish it."

With that, she turned to leave. Loli Succubus spoke up again. "How about I get you guys some tea?"

She almost sneered – why didn't anyone in this town have fucking coffee? – but she nodded all the same. Viktoriya and Lorelei rose from where they'd been quietly asking questions or helping to figure out and followed her out of the door.

They went down a few hallways, and then into a small room that greatly resembled what Tanya remembered of the break rooms from her own place of work. It was honestly kind of comforting.

She quickly poured them a bit of tea. "Thank you, Loli Succubus-"

"Actually," she interrupted, "I, uh, hung out with Dust a while back. Without you here to save him – why do you do that, anyway? – he racked up a bunch of debt."

She finished handing out cups to both Lorelei and Viktoriya. "He actually went out to get a quest, but he didn't think he could do it on his own. He tried to trick one of the more powerful teams – a guy named Rex leads them – but they saw through it. They agreed to help him for a bit of the payout, and he managed to pay off a bit of his debt by making me act as a Mage using Sleep."

Tanya nodded again, and again, and again…

She snapped up, and looked down at the tea. It wasn't bad, and she had nearly nodded off drinking it. She looked at the Succubus.

"Uh… the point is, he dubbed me 'Lolisa,' so you can just call me that, if you want," she finished.

"Do you prefer that? It certainly sounds more like an actual name instead of a derogatory title…" she trailed off, looked at her.

She shrugged and began to grin apologetically. "Yeah, I prefer it, and I don't mind being a loli. I mean, everyone has their tastes, right? Some of the people specifically ask me to make their dreams for me because of it."

Tanya nodded again, slowly, and tried to ignore the sound of laughing coming from behind another door. It probably led into their… business area. She looked down at her tea, trying and failing to focus more on it than on anything else, especially how tired she was.

"Anyway, why did you buy his debt?"

Tanya looked up from her tea to see that Lolisa looked curious and…

She shook her head at the idea that she looked hungry. The small girl wasn't some sort of gossip hound right?

"Well, he might not be the best adventurer out there, but he handles a spear well, if-"

Tanya was cut off, not by a well-meaning interjection or an understanding nod or a clarification, but by a spray of still-hot tea.

She flinched away for a moment, and then sighed and cast Heal on herself.

She looked up to see that Lolisa was looking at her apologetically. "Uh… sorry about that. It's… it's just that I didn't expect that. I mean, Dust? Couldn't you do better?"

Tanya froze.

She breathed deeply. Lolisa wasn't-

She was still rambling on. "Of course, your preferences are your own, but you would think that I would have seen something like that in his dreams. Still-"

"Lolisa."

She paused, turning to Tanya. She blinked as the blank look on her face began to recede. She hadn't shown any kind of emotion earlier, besides annoyance or grudging acceptance or-

Lolisa took a step back as the emotions bubbling up on her face showed pure rage. Every iota of tiredness was now gone, replaced by a snarling mask of nearly unrestrained hatred.

"If you ever suggest I'd sink to such… things, I will personally witness you begging the Eris and Axis Cults for deliverance before ending you."

She retreated into the corner. How? Why? Who was this? How was she so powerful? She was just a human-

Then, it was gone. Like a light switch, the mask of tiredness was back on.

She breathed deeply again. "I apologize for that. I'll… make it up to you or something. I'm really tired and not entirely in control of my facilities. Sorry."

With that, she turned to leave, not even taking the time to leave the cups. She muttered "Dehydrate" under her breath, and sighed as her clothing, still dripping from the tea, became markedly less wet.

With that, the three of them were gone. All three of them.

Tanya nodded to herself, trying to keep her thoughts clear of any drowsiness and to keep her train of thought away from anything but her goals. As long as she had them – these two wouldn't dare her to kill them by suggesting that she'd fuck Dust – she would be fine. They'd beat this town's corruption into submission, even if-

"Uh, Tanya?"

Not that Dust was a completely horrible person. He hid it well, but his skill with a spear and an odd, regal-looking helmet she'd seen him bring to one of their training sessions told her that he wasn't totally horrible. She just wasn't – and wouldn't – ever be doing that with another man.

"Tanya?"

She swiveled around, staring blankly at Viktoriya. She looked just as tired on the outside as Tanya felt on the inside. "Yeah, Visha?"

A small blush seemed to be all that she had energy for at the sound of her nickname. She quickly glanced at Lorelei, and then back to her. "Are you really okay with them?"

Tanya blinked, processing the question. Was she okay with them?

Well, the question was a bit vague, but she was obviously asking about their clothing. Tanya had said that they were Succubi to her friend often, and the only clarification she had asked for then was about the nature of their powers.

She shrugged. "Yeah, I'm okay with them. They don't usually wear that little – they aren't forced to wear that stuff or anything – but they have a lot of business. Something about adventurers staying for longer because the Generals aren't fighting on the front as much."

She shook her head. Honestly, she wouldn't mind if they wore even less. Then at least-

Her train of thought was cut off by another flood of tea raining down on her, this time on her back. She sighed angrily, cast Heal and Dehydrate in quick succession, and then turned around, an eyebrow raised.

Viktoriya, it seemed, was the perpetrator, but Lorelei – if she hadn't abandoned her cup somewhere – would have probably dropped it and shattered it. Both were looking at her in abject terror.

Oh. Wait. Had she said that last part about their clothing and not minding less of it out loud?

Lorelei spoke. "Uh… I just wanted to know if you were okay with them being Demons. Viktoriya told me that you explained it best."

Well.

Fuck.

She cleared her throat and turned on her heel, trying to push down her embarrassment. Was she really slipping so much?

"Considering I was probably going to be sent to Hell if I died back in the Empire, I uh… thought it would be a bit hypocritical to judge them for that minor detail." She continued to look forward and away from both of them, ignoring whatever looks of befuddlement, disgust, or horror that Lorelei was probably sending her.

Viktoriya knew about her physical attraction to women, so she didn't have to fear anything from that quarter.

She had explained that she was a guy deep down, after all. There was no way either of them didn't understand each other completely, especially since neither really had enough energy to focus on lying.

She cleared her throat. "Besides… I thought it would be remiss of me to judge them just because they came from Hell."

None of them talked until they began to drift away from the city's center and towards the estates of the nobles. "The place you came from must certainly be an odd country…"

Tanya shrugged uncomfortably. If she was thought odd because she didn't buy into the dogma of religion, then fine.

She groaned as Alderp's old mansion came into view. Now, they had to take a quick nap and get back to work.

Although…

Hitting herself with Heal had given her an idea. The Pain-Reducing Reinforcement spells accomplished their purpose through stifling nerves and giving the user a bit of a high, right?

Maybe that could be useful in staving off the effects of sleep deprivation…

And as Tanya discovered something that couldn't possibly come back to bite her in the ass, Lorelei thought of many questions, all of which she knew were probably not getting answered anytime soon.

She half wished that she had access to the rumored memory-altering potions the nobility had access to to forget what she had just heard.

Of course, if she forgot those words and the… look on Tanya's face, she would also forget all of the other questions she had.

She really wanted to ask why she was okay with Demons, and were they really going to start doing adventuring again, and how did those weapons actually worked, since they had given her the excuse of 'advanced magic,' and literally nothing else, and-

She shook her head and just trudged inside.

Viktoriya soon followed Lorelei, shaking her head.

She must have misheard Tanya. She never… said anything like that. She was always composed and refined and protective and not in any way interested in anything to do with sex or love.

Again, she shook her head. She really needed to find some way to forget all of this.

-OxOxO-

A/N 1: So. Story time.

At the end of the 'I AM A MAN' scene, I kinda… completely lost my will to write thanks to writer's block. Since last spring to… around last fall, I believe, I just didn't have any idea where this would go, since I was sort of… aiming to hit that scene and didn't know where to go next.

Thankfully, I figured out which scene I would aim for after that, and I got there and have taken aim at another. I've only got… seven-ish chapters in the backlog now, and after them, updates will be much more sparse…

On the other hand, I won't have to edit as much, so yay!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed everything, from Maxwell's introduction, to Alderp's incarceration, to Lorelei's discovery that Tanya reinvented cardboard, to Tanya's being forced to take over for Alderp and the incorporation of some more plot lines from the first Dust LN and, as we look into Axel, the plots of the third Explosion LN. Plus, we met Yunyun on time and Aloerina early!

A/N 2: And hey, Alderp as a Reincarnate. Plausible? We never do get an explanation behind him, besides his desire to marry Darkness and him being wealthy and having access to Maxwell. Has anyone else done this? Give me your thoughts.

A/N 3: Also, was her kill count… reasonable? From what we see in the Anime and the Movie… probably not, but taking into account what happens on the Eastern Front in the AU I laid out at the beginning, I think it just might, especially since the Adventurers Card takes into account everyone she's killed, whether or not she knew she hit them in things like shelling enemy lines and such.

A/N 4: Responses to Reviews (on time, this time):

Indbrony: I do try and update on Tuesday (but, you know, I always end up staying up past midnight and posting on Wednesday anyway).

MarkoncioX: Well, Visha didn't mean to, at least. Still, Tanya will pressure her into helping out with the punishment, assuming they don't die of sleep deprivation first.

Boyzilla: That's what we like in this fandom, right? Insanity with just the thinnest veil of Tanya-logic to make things seem rational.

Harmless Orange: Thank you thank you thank you! It's always great to get long reviews like this! I'm still trying to write that to be as good as possible, and it's getting there.

Navarone2013: An interesting idea, her explaining her situation. Unfortunately…

Well, she does trust that the Succubi aren't going to sell her out, since they're demons, and Lorelei is pretty well tied to them…

Hmm… I might need to make some changes. Thank you very much.

Guest: Eventually, 'm gonna change the scene so she notices some people doing just that lol

DNWorks: Walter is, thankfully, fine. Though, with him training under Tanya…

He might become Revi's wingman or something.

I'm just gonna save that idea for later.

Acerman: Good. You are supposed to feel some confusion. Since Tanya doesn't have the strongest grasp on the situation, it makes sense that the reader shouldn't, if it's from her perspective, right?

Tylermech66: Oh HELL no I ain't gonna cuck you guys like that. Don't worry, you're going to get plenty of full-blown VikTanya say… around her birthday.

Now, if only there was a consistent calendar…

Once again, I am thanking you all for your continued support! Look forward to more – especially in the Charming Omakes side story. With Tanya finally interacting with Kazuma and co. soon, we'll have many, many more opportunities for funny stuff.