Tanya had expected a moderate amount of chaos when he arrived back in town. In between asking if just about every woman Tanya knew the name of was taken, and plenty he didn't, Aigis had explained that Mitsurugi's trip south hadn't been to root out criminals, but to ally with them instead. Apparently, it hadn't gone as well as he'd prayed, but he'd still gotten some support.

Leaving the dungeon hadn't been hard, as they had been bluffing about having reinforcements. Getting back to town wasn't hard either, just time consuming. He would've flown, but his reserves were lower than he would have liked, especially if it meant carrying so many people.

So they walked back to town, Aigis's nasal rambling about his appreciation of the female form wearing Tanya's frazzled patience thin. He was used to overhearing conversations of such during his command of the 203rd and the Salamander Kampfgruppe, but Aigis was dogged, his words seemingly unending, and insistent that he both be heard and that Tanya actually respond, even if that response was to tell the suit of armor that it was annoying or gross or perverted.

The people he'd contracted hadn't told Mitsurugi, and, by extension, Aigis, what they were actually going to do to keep the town occupied; only promising they'd be able to distract everyone long enough for Mitsurugi to finish the job.

Tanya expected to find the town in a number of very specific circumstances.

In the case that they were more capable than Aigis seemed to think, Viktoriya, the police, and the guard might be at the tail end of wrapping things up. If he were being honest with himself, however, Tanya had fully expected Visha to greet him at the front gate, along with a few others, perhaps, and explain what happened and offer her own opinions on how they should proceed. There would be chaos, of course, as people worried about whatever had happened, but it would pass quickly.

However, as the trees thinned out and they approached the plains that surrounded Axel, an odd din began to reach his ears. Aigis continued nattering on, his cadence refusing to be entirely ignored despite his best efforts. They broke through the treeline and beheld Axel.

There was a lot of smoke rising from the town, and it didn't seem to be localized to any one area. Tanya frowned deeply at the sight. He had faith in Viktoriya's abilities, so how on earth had they caused this big a distraction?

He picked up his pace, and Aigis kept up easily with his greater height.

The next thing they noticed was the screaming.

Aigis seemed taken aback, but Tanya only found himself scowling. "I thought you said he didn't get that much assistance?" he said. Aigis shrugged as best he could with one shoulder weighed down by a Mage. "He didn't."

They picked up the pace again.

-OxOxO-

There was no one at the gates, though the weapons of whoever had been on duty had been abandoned where they stood, while the gate lay completely unguarded. The wagons exiting and entering Axel were empty of people and full of cargo.

He hardly noticed such things, because he could see through the open, unguarded gate into the heart of Axel.

A few people ran from one side of the street to the other, screaming names or prayers or wordlessly. Further down, he could see a few looters attacking a storefront… and then abandoning it when they broke down the door and moving on to the next. Their owners hardly did anything besides scream back at their attackers.

The wailing reverberated through the city.

Most of the people in the street weren't screaming, or running. Most of them weren't trying to cause damage.

Most of the people who'd been out in the streets were on the ground, flailing in a few cases but mostly curled up, and doing nothing else.

Tanya blinked, and then he sent out a desperate message for clarity from Visha with a communication spell. He had no idea what-

"TANYA!"

Tanya winced at the volume, but he smiled as Visha didn't waste time on confirming he was alright – if he hadn't been, he would've said something – and instead launched into an explanation.

The situation, as best as Viktoriya could tell, was that a large portion of the town seemed to have gone temporarily insane. Her guess, based on what people were screaming, was that it had something to do with belief in Eris. She, Megumin, and Yunyun were fine, while Aqua, Kazuma, and the other followers of the Axis Cult had been afflicted with a headache for a few minutes.

As it was, the crisis should be over in a few hours. Viktoriya had gotten in contact with the Succubi and Wiz and figured out a plan on her own. The Succubi would use Sleep on everyone they could find, while Wiz and Kazuma did their best to keep them topped off while using Darkness, Megumin, and Yunyun as batteries. They wouldn't last the entire time, but Kazuma and Wiz figured they could get away with using Drain Touch on some civilians if they had to.

Tanya nodded. "Alright. I'll explain exactly what happened on my end later. What do you need me to do? Over."

Viktoriya didn't respond and Tanya scowled. "Viktoriya, do you copy? Over."

"Gu- Yes, sir! Uh, do you have any ideas for how to help? Over."

Tanya nodded after a moment of thought. "We could use our Chemical Conversion spells to knock people out. We obviously don't have the manpower to do it from the air, but going room to room shouldn't be too hard. We can target especially volatile people and leave the more sedate people to the Succubi. Over."

"Right!" There was silence for a moment. "Uh, right. We should get on that. Over."

Tanya chuckled – if he'd known giving Viktoriya this kind of command over Tanya would fluster her so much, he'd have done it earlier. "Understood, ma'am. I've got some prisoners to escort to the hospital, then I'll get on it. Over."

"I-" resounded in Tanya's head. He raised an eyebrow. "I'm glad you're alright, Tanya."

He smiled to himself. "I love you. Over."

Viktoriya's joyful laughter echoed in Tanya's head, and his smile grew. "Well," he said to his companions, "I'm sure you heard me. Follow me to the hospital, and please keep Mitsurugi and the mage restrained?" he asked.

He waved a hand flippantly. "Sure, sure. Now, the bunny girl, Lorelei, you said?" He had, repeatedly. "I need to know, does she own a leotard? Or anything made of spandex? If she doesn't, what color do you think she'd want one in?"

Tanya resolves to research whether Orichalcum had a melting point.

-OxOxO-

Eventually, they put everyone to sleep. They did their best to close up the town – they didn't know if any adventurers were out of the town, but they weren't going to risk letting monsters in. They should be able to last a day or two. Kazuma and Tanya's parties went to the hospital, Aqua healed Mitsurugi of his deeper wounds and the other three of their scrapes and bruises, Tanya striped the mage his clothes in case he had some way to Teleport, and Aigis sexually harassed every female present, though he seems instinctively wary of Aqua.

In the end, Tanya's party stayed at the hospital to keep watch, while the others went back to their mansion.

They slept for four hours.

Then, the screaming started again, and they were back out, helping the Succubi put everyone to sleep for a second time before crawling back into bed to try to get some more sleep before morning – or everyone's screams – woke them.

"Wha… Aigis? Where-"

They only got two and a half hours of sleep.

"GET ME OFF! WE'VE GOT TO FINISH IT! AIGIS, HEED MY-"

Even if they were a few rooms down from his room, his shrill screaming echoed through the unmoving building, rousing them. Tanya couldn't help the growl crawling out of her throat. "That brat…"

"Tanya," Visha replied, "He's probably pretty panicked."

He just groaned. "I'm sure Aigis will calm him down. Or maybe he'll scream himself hoarse."

"Tanya."

He sighed. "I know. I just-"

She gave him a peck on the cheek, and he found his resistance fading away. "Fine, fine," he acquiesced. It would be better to get this over with sooner rather than later, after all.

Reluctantly, Tanya began the process of unentangling himself from her, snaking his limbs away from her body and wondering if he really should get up-

Then Viktoriya did some unentangling of her own, and they were both sitting up. Tanya hid his look of longing – at the bed and at Visha – better, but neither really wanted to leave the warmth.

Still, the world turned, and they had business to attend to. They got dressed in yesterday's dirty clothes and trekked down the hall to where Mitsurugi's party was being held captive.

The room was like some of the other rooms in the building. Two rows of three beds lined the walls, lots of white paint everywhere, and a reflectively clean floor.

Tanya's brow furrowed. Did they know about germ theory?

After a moment, he shook his head and withdrew the key to the room from one of his pockets and opened the lock. The crucial difference between this room and the others was that this one had no windows, which meant that no one would escape.

Not without Aigis's help barreling through a wall or something… or if the Mage could teleport. Could he Teleport, with Aigis keeping a hold on him?

They went into the room. Mitsurugi's allies were still sprawled out on a pair of beds, asleep. The mage was bleary-eyed and unhappy, his gaze flicking between them, Mitsurugi, and the gauntlet grasping one of his wrists.

Mitsurugi himself seemed to be trying his best to move, let alone sit up on the bed. He shook the bed frame, but he utterly failed to move Aigis. Tanya slipped his ring off-

"Oh, finally. Do you know how boring it is to lay here for so long with nothing to do?"

"YOU!"

His voice was muffled by the armor. Tanya glanced to his right at Viktoriya, who was grimacing at Mitsurugi. Tanya looked away and strode forward. "Yes, me."

"TRAITOR! AIGIS, I'LL BEAT YOU INTO SCRAP!"

"Yes, yes. Your insults need some work – I've certainly heard worse from the Demon King's Army. Perhaps-"

He screamed impotently and continued doing his best to shake the bed.

Tanya and Viktoriya shared another look. "Should we come back or-"

"Please don't leave me here with them," the mage grumbled. "He was bad enough to listen to when he wasn't mad."

Tanya glanced at him. "He's not the only one screaming. The entire town went through something similar while we were gone. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

He opened his mouth to answer. Mitsurugi spoke first.

"I WON'T BETRAY THE KINGDOM, YOU HEAR ME? I'D DIE BEFORE-"

"Shut UP!" Viktoriya roared, silencing Mitsurugi. He stewed, his displeasure palpable in the flaring of his nostrils, even beneath his mask.

Speaking of, Tanya stepped over and removed the mask.

He had improved, slightly, since yesterday, but he still looked like death warmed over. Tanya ignored the vitriol that began to leak from his mouth. "Aigis, sit up, please."

He did so, struggling against Mitsurugi as he did. The hero candidate quieted as he realized he wasn't accomplishing anything and settled for glaring at him. Tanya turned to Viktoriya. "Would you go get the thing we picked up before coming back here last night?"

She gave a curt nod, while Tanya looked dispassionately at Mitsurugi's smoldering expression of fury. "Remind me," he began, "why are you helping him, Aigis?"

Mitsurugi's expression barely flickered as Aigis spoke. "Well, I was a bit, ah, tied up when Lady Eris found me," he started. Tanya wanted to interrogate that statement, but he wanted him to finish his story first.

Interspersed between ramblings about various feminine features and body types that he'd contemplated while he was stuck in the room not doing anything, he told the story of his rescue, buried in which was the answer to Tanya's question. He was only helping Mitsurugi and Eris because Eris claimed she'd find him someone gorgeous for him to be the armor of, while Mitsurugi had promised to only use him for a month, and that he'd let him go after that.

Tanya nodded, and Viktoriya returned to the room with the truth-telling bell Gerald had given her for her birthday. His gaze didn't leave Mitsurugi's face, who still looked blood-boilingly furious. "I've got a few more questions. What do you mean when you said she found you?"

He shrugged. "I was captured in a town to the south of the capital for, um…" he trailed off and then cleared his throat. "Expressing my desires. Among other things."

Tanya refused to contemplate just what his idea of expression was, though he had a good enough grasp of what he meant by 'desires.' "And then?"

"Well, I was, ah, pretending to be someone wearing a suit of armor and had racked up something of a debt. I was sold off in place of the person who'd supposedly worn me. I changed hands once or twice and then ended up in some rich guy's vault. Then, after some time, Eris broke into the vault and freed me."

Tanya nodded slowly. "Alright. When did Mitsurugi first become convinced I am a Nazi?"

"You are," he grit out, "You piece of-"

Aigis slapped a hand over his mouth. "Well, pretty much right from- yeah, don't try to bite my fingers, current wearer. That'll only break your teeth. Anyway, he was convinced from the begin- EW! Don't LICK me! I'm not into guys, especially ones like-"

"Then let me out," he repeated, his eyes still trying to bore a hole into Tanya's forehead.

Tanya just hummed while studying Mitsurugi's face. "Why do you think we're nazis?" Tanya asked.

"Because you are," he said emphatically. "You both speak German, but you speak Japanese. A regular soldier wouldn't need to do that, and a little kid wouldn't have either. That you can means you had a reason. Japan was allied to the nazis, so you learned both languages."

Tanya blinked and looked at the bell. She already knew, but she supposed it was good to get confirmation that it was more of an intention sensing bell than a truth sensing one. "Well, we're not," she said, "I hope you didn't try to kill us over just that."

He grinned viciously. "Of course not!" he snapped. "I went on a date with you," he spat at Viktoriya, "to confirm what I suspected."

Viktoriya's eyes widened. "What?"

"It wasn't easy," he smirked, "but oh, was it so rewarding when you spilled your guts and talked about how she," he spat at Tanya, "was reincarnated accidentally, how she never would have made it if it weren't for a mistake, you ditz."

He kept going, oblivious to their mounting anger. "You sabotaged the war effort by holding up the others here because they were sent to kill you. Obviously, you're a threat on the level of the Demon King. Why else send other reincarnates? Why else would you become a governor if not to amass power? Why else would you not get reincarnated? They have reincarnated some truly useless people before, so you have to be a horrible, rancid person, and when I get out of here, I'll fucking KILL YOU!"

Tanya blinked languidly. Mitsurugi began to try and throw his weight inside the armor, rocking back and forth, but Aigis wasn't budging. "So," he said, his anger slipping into incredulity, "your decision to kill me is based on the fact that I speak two languages, and that you assume I must be reprehensible if I wouldn't have been reincarnated here. That's it?"

"That's enough," he snarled.

Tanya pinched the bridge of her nose. "Alright. How about this: I am not a nazi."

The bell on the table that had been at the bed's side obviously didn't ring. Mitsurugi didn't glance at it. "It could be fake."

"Yesterday was Monday." Ding. "Your name is Kazuma Satou." Ding. "The armor you're wearing is made of adamantite." Ding. "The name of the town we are in is Alcanretia." Ding.

"Programmed!" he said. "You've done something to it. It's not real. You're a fucking NAZI BITCH!"

He was breathing heavily again, the crazed look in his eyes somehow intensifying. "How about," Tanya said, "I give you a more rational explanation than the one you've concocted, hmm?"

He didn't say anything, choosing instead to sit there, practically vibrating. So instead, he told him what he'd told Lorelei and Lolisa, laying out the basics of his and second lives. He went into much less detail than he had with them, but enough that it would have been very hard to come up with it on the spot.

The bell didn't ring once.

Mitsurugi glanced between the bell and Tanya multiple times, the rage on his face calming into mulish contemplation.

"I won't say we didn't do some things we wish we hadn't had to," he said as he ended on a summation of his second death, "it was a war. We're not… hellbent on the subjugation of the planet or something."

He was quiet for a moment. "I-"

He sucked in a breath, and Tanya's eyes narrowed slightly. He didn't sound nearly as angry as he had.

"Give me that bell. I want to check it."

Tanya nodded. He held up the contraption to Mitsurugi's gaze instead of handing it to Aigis. He turned it every which-way as he looked for some kind of flaw. "It looks real…" he trailed off. "Set it down," he said despondently.

Tanya did as asked, and then he folded his arms. "Well?"

"What if I don't believe you?" he asked. Tanya rolled his eyes, but Viktoriya stepped forward. "There's another reincarnate you could ask," she said. Tanya shook his head.

"Whether or not you believe me, I could have you put in prison for a long time for trying to kill me, among a number of other crimes I'm sure the police will find in relation to your new friends," she said, gesturing towards the still-conscious mage in the bed next to his.

He had started staring off into the distance some time during her story and didn't respond to them now. Mitsurugi stared at him for a moment. Tanya cleared his throat, and looked at Mitsurugi pointedly. "Of course, I'm sure you have influence you could use in an attempt to secure your release. I have no desire to go through such a process when we have so much else to do. Visha, Aqua, and another reincarnate can vouch for the veracity of what I've said. What else do you need?"

The anger was almost entirely gone, the empty pond of emotion being steadily filled with pallid desperation. He looked between him, and Visha, and the mage, and his companions, and the door, and the bell, and the ceiling several times as he thought. "I-"

He gulped and looked down at the bell again. "I am straight."

Ding.

His head slumped forward as much as it could while trapped in the armor. "I… I believe you. For now."

Tanya sighed in relief. "Finally!" Viktoriya grinned at Mitsurugi and let out a sigh of her own.

"I…" he mumbled to himself. "I don't understand. It all seemed so obvious…"

"Take it from me," Tanya said with a glance towards Visha, "sometimes, the human mind will go to extraordinary lengths to avoid the truth."

-OxOxO-

They left him pretty soon after that with a promise to come back later. Aigis had let the boy go and was now acting as the shackles for the still silent mage, while Mitsurugi and his party would stay there. Tanya wanted all of them looked at, assuming the doctors had the time.

That wouldn't be a sure thing. Reports were filtering into their residence and workplace, and few of them were pretty.

-and ten adventurers sent out of the city yesterday remain unaccounted for. Permission to send whoever can muster the will to go looking for them is requested, with rewards provided by the city and the guild. Furthermore-

-forces are currently split on how to address the situation. No less than a fourth of the police want to simply fortify the station and ignore the rest of the town-

Eris Cult followers have been giving me contradictory reports, Tanya. A fourth thinks Eris wants them to shun 'the heretics,' while a sixth thinks Eris is… dead. The rest aren't convinced one way or the other, but people are apparently drawing lines. I personally don't know-

-five massive… processions(?) have formed around the city! None of them have applied for any permits. Do I arrest-

Surprisingly, the Axis Cult is helping to keep the peace, for once. They've been very smug about it, but at least they aren't partying anymore after that Archpriest talked some sense into the rest of them. Makes me-

Governor, we at the Greater Guild Group are sad to announce the impending economic depression sure to follow the impairment (in whatever fashion) of Eris, on whose Luck the health of the economy heavily relied. Undoubtedly, a great many people will end up impoverished, starving, or dead. With that in mind, I think there might be an opportunity for the implementation of-

Tanya looked up from the most coherent of the papers and then at Viktoriya descending from upstairs. "Is she up?" They'd heard her scream sharply once since waking up an hour ago, but she'd refused any attempt to come in to see her.

Visha nodded once. "She asked for some coffee. Wanna come up?"

Tanya nodded in reply. "Yes. It's better than trying to make sense of these."

There were a few coherent missives inside the mass of paper, but most of them were near-gibberish. If nothing else, talking to Lorelei might give them an insight into what exactly happened yesterday.

The coffee was made quickly and they rose up to Lorelei's room just as fast. When she groaned affirmatively in response to their knock, they slowly pushed in the door.

She looked just as insane as everyone else in town sounded. She sat on her large bed, knees hugged to her chest as she shivered. Her sheets had been thrown to the opposite side of the room, while sweat had soaked her clothing. Her ears twitched rapidly, and her breathing was erratic.

Her gaze snapped to them, her gaze fixed somewhere far off in the distance. "Coffee?" Viktoriya offered, doing her best to put on the appearance of being alright.

She nodded jerkily. "I- yes. Coffee."

"Are you sure?" Tanya asked as they stepped closer to her bed. "You don't look like you need the caffeine."

She shot Tanya a stink eye. Tanya merely raised an eyebrow as she snatched the coffee from Visha. Well. Far be it from him to restrict the distribution of Visha's coffee.

She drank deeply, and, somehow, that managed to calm her down somewhat. She certainly got less twitchy. "Thank you," she said with a sniff.

Viktoriya nodded. "Lorelei, what's going on?" she asked. She looked at Viktoriya, utterly confused. "What? How… how could you not…"

She looked between them a few times, her brows drawn together in concern and confusion. Then, her eyes widened, and she began nodding to herself. "I… right."

She sniffed again, and took a long, long breath.

"I… It was the most horrible thing I've ever experienced," she said hauntingly, haltingly. "I- I heard… burning, and I saw a great tapestry being burnt to cinders and it fell through the air. Then the remains caught on fire, again and again and again until…"

She sniffed again, and then she coughed. "What was left hit the ground like rain. Then… the screaming started."

She shivered again. "I heard so many people screaming. I- I heard my parents-"

The sniffling cascaded, and Viktoriya darted to the woman's side, hugging her as she began to break into tears.

Hesitantly, Tanya reached forward and placed a hand on Lorelei's unoccupied shoulder. "I-" she tried to finish. Viktoriya hugged her more fiercely, whispering nonsense to her. Tanya recognized it as a Russian lullaby Viktoriya had taught them.

The sniffling stopped again. "She…" she took another rattling breath.

"I think Eris died."

-OxOxO-

The pair of them were waved into the police station with barely a whisper. The officer at the door had a haunted look on his face that was shared with just about everyone else they'd run across on the way there from the hospital.

Their follow-up conversation with Mitsurugi and Aigis had gone relatively well.

Aigis hadn't taken the death of Eris well, though it was clear from how he'd talked that he didn't really care personally for her and mostly bemoaned the loss of her physical attributes and her inability to uphold her part of the bargain.

Of course, that hadn't stopped him from, yet again, trying to get either of them to 'set him up' with Lorelei, though he was cagey about what, exactly, he wanted set up between them. He refused to confirm or deny that he wanted a date.

Regardless, they weren't having it.

Mitsurugi, on the other hand, had a much worse situation. He needed time to heal from the wringer he'd put his body through in his preparation and scheming to kill him, yes, but it was worse than just that. He'd apparently signed a self-enforcing contract with the Yatagarasu's Lieutenant. Obviously, he had no desire to work for them and asked them to look into how to get rid of it, and Tanya was obliging him.

Tanya wanted to interrogate this 'Yak' person regardless of whether he was helping Mitsurugi. Not that helping Mitsurugi and getting him further in his debt after everything he'd pulled was a bad thing.

They traveled quickly through the barely-manned police station, ducking quickly down the stairs that lead to the high-security ward. It wasn't a large part of the facility – most of the place was meant to house rowdy drunkards and delinquents, juvenile or otherwise.

This far down, however, was where the bars were thicker than Tanya's arm, chains hung from the walls in each cell, and walls that were supposedly reinforced to hold dangerous enemies of the kingdom. Tanya nodded appreciatively at the guards standing outside the cell – they either weren't followers of Eris or were that much more disciplined than…

They approached, and Tanya saw that they weren't that much more disciplined. Their eyes were haunted by the shadow of Eris's apparent death. Still, they did their best to snap off a salute. She certainly would have punished anyone in the 203rd for something so sloppy, but she had more important matters than discipline to attend to.

The door opened, and they stepped into the cell. The hulking, muscled, tanned man covered in geometric tattoos was slouched against one wall. He wore only long, light pants that flared greatly at the end and nothing else. His beard was wild and twisted, and he seemed inordinately concentrated on rubbing a hand over a spot on his chest.

He hardly registered them coming in.

"You are Yak?" Tanya asked. If he'd heard her, he didn't respond in the slightest. "We have some questions we'd like you to answer."

Again, no response. Tanya frowned. He would really rather not have to resort to torture, especially not so early. He opened his mouth again-

"She wasn't there. I died, and there was… nothing," he murmured to himself. Tanya's lips thinned.

He took in a heavy breath, and then he straightened, his back resting against the cold stone walls and his face now mostly inscrutable.

His eyes were shadowed and haunted.

"As a member of the Yatagarasu, I cannot divulge any information covered by my employment and non-disclosure contracts," he intoned. Tanya raised an eyebrow and cast a quick glance back at Viktoriya. "You're welcome to try to resist, but we will get the information we want."

He shook his head again. "You won't. I am bound not to reveal anything. Have you heard of self-enforcing contracts?"

Tanya's expression soured. Whenever someone contracted with heaven thought of nullifying that contract, they were warned with a sharp, shooting pain in their chest. Theoretically, such a contract could have been set up to kill whoever signed it instead of inducing pain.

"My advice to you, governess," he rumbled, "is to send me back where I came as a gesture of goodwill. The Yatagarasu as a whole has no intention of expanding this far north anytime soon."

"Then why are you here?" he asked. "Who sent you?"

"The internal affairs of the Yatagarasu are unknowable to outsiders," he responded stonily. Tanya's grimace deepened.

Torture was unlikely to help in this case – he knew he was at their mercy already. They'd killed him and brought him back to life with Aqua's help. Perhaps they could get him to lie and then get a vague idea of the truth that way?

"Death doesn't get rid of the contract?" he asked. Yak's countenance broke at that as he let out a shaky sigh. "I thought it was a bit ridiculous too, but those who came up with the contracts were very thorough."

"Naturally," he continued, "That applies to the contract the one who killed you tried to sign… though if you're here, I suppose it doesn't really apply," he said morosely.

"If I wanted to get you out of your contract," he asked, "how could I do it?"

Yak blinked slowly, and then he looked up at the ceiling, thinking. Then, he shrugged. "Through the Pantheon, all things are possible," he said. Then, he grimaced and rubbed the spot where Visha had shot him. "I'll not say more than that."

Tanya nodded curtly and then spun around.

"I really do suggest you release me," he advised as they left. Tanya ignored him, for now.

-OxOxO-

The other adventurers that Viktoriya and Yunyun had taken down yesterday were clueless. Some had owed massive debts, some had been imprisoned for crimes ranging from petty to heinous. Some were gamblers, some were paupers. The only thing that bound them together was their being adventurers or former adventurers, and that the Yatagarasu had taken on their debts or used their connections to free them or otherwise aid them in exchange for their service.

Their contracts hadn't covered death, but most of them would obviously be serving time for what they'd done. They had one more interview left.

The hospital was much busier this time, though the malaise that clung to everyone, nurse, doctor, or patient, was palpable in the unwashed sweat and dirty clothes and the stale air. It didn't help that quite a few people had been hurt, their actions interrupted regardless of what they were doing, and that the Eris Cult was having trouble providing any Healing of its own.

The receptionist, eyes just as haunted as everyone else, directed them to a new room.

They might have been able to find it on their own.

"You- you IDIOT!"

"I can't BELIEVE we tried to k- to do that because of nothing!"

There was a pause. Tanya and Visha picked up their pace slightly.

"No, it was NOTHING! You are on thin fucking-"

Viktoriya knocked on the door loudly, and the voices cut off. A female voice told them to come in.

Mitsurugi was laid out on a bed, shoulders hunched and body turned away from one side. On that side, his teammates stood, their shouting frustration visible as twin frowns of scorn, as they looked between them and Mitsurugi with unshadowed gazes. On the bed opposite of his, Aigis stood in a corner, one arm crossed over his chest and another grabbing the wrist of the mage from yesterday.

The mage was struggling to hold in his laughter.

The eyes of the women widened as they looked at them. "Oh! Uh," the one on the left with blonde hair stuttered, while the other with the red hair bowed low. "We're sorry!"

The former followed the latter in bowing low. They both shot back up. "We had NO IDEA his reasoning was that flimsy. We- he just seemed so convinced, and when he explained what you were, we were scared, and-"

"It's my fault," Mitsurugi croaked. They whirled back around. "It sure was! SHUT UP!"

He flinched away again, but he said a few more words. "Punish me if you must, but leave them out of it." That, it seemed, managed to soften their scorn.

They turned back around. "Please don't throw us in prison!" the one with blond hair said as she bowed. The redhead did the same.

Tanya let their words hang in the air for a moment. "That probably won't happen," Tanya eventually said. They breathed a sigh of relief, and Tanya's attention turned to the Mage.

"Mitsurugi said you are Enji Lox?" he asked. The smirk on his face faded as his attention was pulled back to her. "Yes," he said slowly.

"Are you bound by a contract not to spill any secrets if captured?" he asked. The man looked between her and the bell that Viktoriya had placed on one of the tables in the room. "No," he grumbled. Tanya didn't smile.

"Do you know anything about the internal operations of the Yatagarasu?"

He looked very discomforted by that question. "I'm just a contractor. A worker."

"For who?"

"The Yatagarasu."

"Yes," Tanya replied, "and who represents the Yatagarasu during the course of your employment?"

"Just Yak-" Ding.

He licked his lips. "I can't-" Ding.

He sighed, "Fine, if I tell you anything, they'll know it was me!" he insisted. "Yak's in way too deep to spill the beans, and the rest of them don't know what I know. I- I don't wanna get hurt!" he shouted as his breathing picked up.

Tanya allowed the mage to wonder, for a second, if he might actually consider such a thing. Then, he said, "I'm sure Mitsurugi told you the kind of person I am?" he asked.

"Well," he began, "Sure, but you told him about how he was wrong, so I thought-"

"Oh no," Tanya said, "I may not be a nazi, but there's very little I wouldn't do to achieve my goals."

He gulped, and Tanya grinned. "You're not going to remember it, of course. I'll use a memory-altering potion to ensure your silence, meaning you won't have to lie. Because you won't know."

He quivered slightly. "If you act on the information, they'll know."

Tanya shrugged. "Then I'll give you enough money for you to flee as well. I don't imagine they're quite so powerful enough that relocating across the country wouldn't protect you?"

Finally, he nodded. "I- I don't know a lot. I'm not in. I think I would have been brought in if this had gone… better," he finished lamely. Tanya didn't move an inch. "I hear some rumors on the outside, and I see some stuff on the inside, and, even if I'm not supposed to, I put a few things together."

"Good," Tanya said. "Now. Start with how Mitsurugi can get rid of his contract."

He gave him short, jerky nods. "Right. I've heard that the leader of the Yatagarasu has the right to release everyone in the organization's contracts. Maybe there are others, but they're the only ones I think for sure." His words were a mumbled whisper, but Tanya heard them all the same.

"And where would the contract be? Yak didn't have it, nor did any of his subordinates."

He told them the address where he and a number of other members, including Yak, had been staying. If they were lucky, it'd be there. He was smart enough to warn them that it might have already been taken away from Axel.

Tanya told him they'd probably have more questions later and turned away from the mage, towards Mitsurugi, who was still looking rather browbeaten by his teammates. "What's your plan if it is gone?"

He grimaced. "I… don't suppose they'll just let me go, and I don't imagine they'd forget to put a clause disallowing betrayal."

He looked up at her and sighed. "I know I just tried to kill you, but… could you help me? I-"

He cut himself off with a wince. "I'm already feeling like I need to leave. It's… pushing me."

Tanya hummed, considering his request. "In exchange for?" Tanya asked. He was supposed to work for them for well over a year, according to what Mitsurugi hazily recalled. Tanya was sure the clause about betrayal probably lasted longer, though she'd eat her hat if he wasn't blackmailed with evidence of his having helped them to sign another contract.

He looked down glumly. His teammates had little sympathy, but Tanya already had something in mind. "Promise you'll help me kill the Demon King, and that you won't kill steal, and that if you do end up killing him, you'll wish for what I want."

He winced… and then he sighed. "If you're talking like that, I suppose you've already got a plan on how to do it?"

Tanya waved a hand. "The beginnings of a plan. I'll need quite a bit more data to give you a timetable, but I have no intention of taking something ridiculous like a decade. A few years at most."

He blinked owlishly. "I-" he stopped himself and shook his head. "I hope you're right." He was silent once more, and Tanya turned to look at Visha. "Anything else you can think of?"

"Well," she said, "What's your idea for keeping him for helping the Yatagarasu?"

"Continuously applied Sleep spells?" he suggested. Visha turned to Mitsurugi. "Why don't you see if you can think of another way?"

He nodded, and then Tanya asked. "Right, can they be trusted with the knowledge of what we talked about?"

"Hey!" one of the two girls said, "we're right here!"

"Yes," Tanya replied, "I trust Mitsurugi to be more objective, considering it's also information about him."

"They can keep a secret," Mitsurugi said. "I trust them."

He looked between him and them, and then nodded. "Alright. If you think they can't, tell me soon. I imagine I'll get a better price for buying more of the memory potion at once." With that, he turned, giving them a wave.

-OxOxO-

Vanir chortled as the besotted pair wandered off, only to run into Aqua. He took in a deep breath and wafted their disappointment as the Goddess began to talk their ears off about their upcoming wedding. They were trying to politely get away from the useless blue thing, but she just wasn't taking the hint.

Ah, young love!

He couldn't wait to screw with them more.

Still, as delightful as it was to savor their emotions, he had other business to attend to. He spun around, making his rounds and doing his best to uplift the spirits of the people of Axel.

It couldn't have been a better day. The sun was shining down afternoon light on the city, the birds were chirping, and nearly every single person in Axel was feeling down in the dumps.

It almost brought a tear to his eye!

So, he made his way through the town, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips. He was distributing cookies at the moment. Could one honestly say there was a better way to build up some goodwill for their shop at a time like this? Besides, it gave him an excuse to be out, so it barely mattered.

He couldn't help but notice where the maelstrom of emotions clinging to everyone coalesced. Anywhere more than one person got together, for the most part. Every one of the town's Eris Cult Churches. In taverns and bars and restaurants. At intersections and bazaars and the gates to the city. It hung over everyone, clinging to them like slime in a pond.

It was wonderful!

Especially when he picked just the right cookie that, through the design in the frosting or the flavor, reminded them of something that only made their days worse, but they still felt an obligation to take, their embarrassment and shame and delicious emotions bubbling like a boiling pot.

As he passed by the Adventurer's Guild – usually far too cheery for him to bother with anything more than a glance at – he felt a particular snarl of emotions walking out the door. It wasn't someone he recognized, but that hardly mattered. In the guise of a good samaritan, who would deny a bit of conversation?

"Wayward adventurer!" he called out. A few people looked up, but Vanir was very clearly beelining for the downtrodden near-child coming out of the establishment.

He analyzed them, though not with his Divination. Working so thoroughly for his own gain would see his machinations backfire on him if he wasn't careful, and in a case such as this, he hardly needed it. Vanir was billions of years old – if he couldn't read a human who was so obviously emotionally vulnerable, he might as well give up being a Duke of Hell now and save everyone the trouble.

He flinched at Vanir's wide grin. His words had inspired a flash of discomfort across his face before trying – and failing – to hide his malaise. His shoulders had been hunched, but, after a moment of indecision, he straightened them out to a degree. His eyes were not quite as drawn into the distance as almost every other worshiper of the puny Eris he had thus far seen.

So, her Break had caused him some very real pain, but there was something deeper eating at him that this was exacerbating. Perhaps the two were intertwined? A bit of interpersonal disagreement? Everyone was reassessing their priorities. What to choose…

Vanir introduced himself – not as Vanir, of course, but simply as a citizen of Axel. He had a few scars, but his age meant he probably hadn't been an adventurer for long or hadn't been serious until relatively recently. He kept rubbing the one on his face as he attempted to introduce himself. Ah! He'd stuttered when talking about his party. Very likely interpersonal problems, then.

Vanir explained what he was doing, and then offered him a tray of cookies he'd hidden behind his back despite speedwalking over. He blinked, perplexed, at Vanir's rapid words and odd way of speaking and the sudden appearance of baked desserts. Vanir tracked the way his eyes lingered over each of the simple symbols for a fraction of a second. The bastardized sigil of Eris was glazed over painfully, the clover and coin were outright ignored, as was the sun, the tree, the clasped hands-

Vanir's grin didn't waver in the slightest, even with the sudden spike of regret, shame, and frustration that poured off of him as his eyes focused on the heart.

Hook.

Vanir picked up the heart-shaped cookie and offered it to the boy to allay his indecision, who's polite expression tightened and another wave of mingling forlorn emotions cascaded off of him. Vanir pretended to only now notice his expression and, reluctantly, he began to put the cookie down.

The child objected, emotions swirling with his sense of civic duty, and Vanir very-nearly sighed aloud in joy. He probed a bit deeper into the boy's feelings, as any concerned neighbor would, tiptoeing around the subject of the goddess.

He was quiet and he slowly chewed the cookie that must have tasted like ash in his mouth.

That was fine.

Vanir retracted his offer. It had only looked like he could use an impartial ear to speak to. He didn't mean to tread on his privacy, after all.

Line.

He repudiated Vanir's words, and asked if he would mind walking for a bit. Of course Vanir wouldn't mind!

So he listened to the boy as he talked, and Vanir feasted on the boy's lingering feelings. There's an undercurrent of puppy love beneath them, which is a sweet aftertaste Vanir doesn't care for, but then he recognized a name, which he so rarely bothered to do among such weak humans.

Tanya. He asked an innocuous question and confirmed, yes, he meant the Governess.

He continued on. This… whatever has happened, to Eris. He's unsure of the future, for him and for her. His party might fall apart. Should he even be bothering to consider asking someone like her to… to…

Vanir silenced him. He spouted off some saccharine words about love and friendship triumphing over all. He implored him to reconsider every look he'd ever been given by the object of his affection.

And then.

He said that he would actually be having a meeting with that person, being particular about his exact wording, tomorrow. He could come then! Vanir would ensure he had Tanya's undivided attention.

He wasn't entirely sure, and more words flowed from Vanir's mouth, poisoned instead of honeyed. Haven't Tanya been hanging out quite a bit with that Hero Candidate fellow? He doesn't recall the name, but this boy certainly does. Vanir advises him to take his chance now, before it's too late.

As if he ever had a chance.

There is only a moment more of indecision, and then-

He thanks Vanir and says he would like to go with Vanir.

Sinker!

Of course! He'd be more than happy, ecstatic, even, to help out a new friend bond with an old one. He gives him an address, and the boy thanks Vanir for his help.

Vanir accepts it, of course, though he brushes off the boy's emotions as he leaves with a spring in his step. All of his emotions are still resting atop a current of puppy love, a crush of sickly-sweet emotions Vanir doesn't care for, except perhaps his nervousness.

He tastes it before frowning. No, far too sugary.

The boy rounds a corner, and Vanir makes his way back to the shop. Putting up with such lovey-dovey emotions will be laborious, but the payoff of standing next to him when all of them twist into a writhing, festering ball of disappointment and shame that will stick in his memories for weeks or maybe months to come?

If he had saliva, he might've drooled.

-OxOxO-

Yesterday had ended with them talking to some of the more concerned among their contacts at the Greater Guild Group and reassuring them that the death of Eris wouldn't have an outsized impact on their plans. They weren't utterly convinced, but it wasn't as if they had much of a choice, considering they'd already been seen by everyone else at that meeting.

Tanya and Viktoriya's attempts to do so had, of course, gone better than one might have expected thanks to their conversations with Vanir and Aqua. Contrary to the raving of one of the splinter groups of Eris's followers, both were quite certain that Eris wasn't truly dead.

Vanir claimed her followers' beliefs wouldn't let her die.

Vanir seemed certain that whatever had happened was due to the differing beliefs of her followers and that they had changed her irrevocably. Aqua balked at his ideas and thought it had something to do with overwork and that she'd be back to normal in no time. Her assertions that her coworker was 'probably fine' rang a bit hollow, but neither were about to call her on it. They told everyone else an amalgamation of their two stories, said they were given the information by 'scholars,' and begged off any attempt to determine the identity of those scholars by claiming they didn't want to face persecution.

Overall, it had been a very productive conversation.

Their first conversation of today promised to be much less productive.

BANG BANG BANG

Tanya resisted the urge to scowl as the banging on their front door began. He gave a look to Visha, who let out a sigh of her own. "I suppose we can take our break early," she pouted. Tanya nodded his assent.

Their breaks were just a different kind of work, with so much going on. His afternoon break would be dominated by a meeting with Vanir and Kazuma. Their morning break, however…

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG

Attempting to work through what was banging on their door was a fool's errand.

"Hello!" the voice barged through the unlocked door. She was brilliantly happy to a degree that Tanya almost had to look away from how she appeared to be – literally – glowing.

"Aren't you in too good a mood considering whatever is happening to Eris?" Tanya sniped. Aqua pouted, "Hey, I already told my followers not to celebrate too much. What more do you want? Now!" she declared, spinning on the spot and thrusting a hand into the air, "let's start planning your wedding!"

Somehow, she either hadn't heard or hadn't remembered they were getting married for long enough to bring it up with them before. They'd mentioned it yesterday, and Aqua was adamant she would be involved.

"Maybe we shouldn't bother getting married after all," Tanya muttered with a grimace.

She spun towards Tanya. "No way! You have to get married! What better way to cheer up everyone's spirits than a super-giant wedding?"

Tanya pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you going to try to involve yourself whether or not we agree?"

"No," she lied, drawing out the word like a child.

A number of factors rose in his mind to consider. Having her officiate the wedding would give the Axis Cult more social prestige. It would lend credence to the rumor that the both of them were Axis Cultists. They would need to have someone to notarize their documents and bring them to the records office and a church, and they didn't know any other Priests well. The whole of the Eris Cult undoubtedly didn't have time to spare on a wedding at the moment.

Tanya sighed. "I suppose, as long as you don't do or suggest anything too outrageous, you can help with the wedding. Unless you have any objections?" he asked Viktoriya. He almost hoped she did have a good reason.

She shook her head, and Tanya sighed louder. Aqua did a little cheer to herself, and Visha chuckled – whether at Tanya or Aqua, he couldn't say.

"First thing's first," Aqua said, "Do you have any preference on when?"

"Soon," Tanya said. "We've got a lot to do and won't be able to make time after this month. We're already swamped with work as it is."

Aqua tapped a finger to her chin and flopped down into a plush seat in their parlor room. "Hmm. Well, the winter festival is at the end of next month, so you should probably do it within two or three weeks."

Tanya nodded that made sense. "With… whatever happened to Eris, we won't be doing it this month. Perhaps the first week of next month?"

Aqua shrugged. "That doesn't give you a lot of time to plan… but I think we can pull it off! Besides, it just feels right to do it then."

Tanya nodded in agreement. Yes, they'd do it at the beginning of next month, approximately. "That sound good to you, Visha?"

She nodded. "I'm not totally sure, but if we're going to do it, you're right that we should do it sooner rather than later, and," she added, "I'm sure whatever date we pick will be fine."

Aqua shrugged. "The world's not going to end just because a few of Eris's followers say it is. You guys can do… whatever it is you do-"

"Paperwork."

Her face scrunched up. "Ew. Why would you want to do that?"

They both rolled their eyes at the supposed goddess. "Anyway, just because they think the world is ending doesn't mean it is. Someone always thinks the world's ending, and if it were, there would definitely be signs."

"Right," Tanya nodded, dismissing the matter of the Eris Cult for the moment. "Now. Guest list? Venue? Any preferences, Visha?"

"Oh! I know just the-"

"I know you wouldn't change your name, Aqua, so why did you answer?"

"C'mon, I've seen thousands of weddings from up in Heaven. How many have you seen? You should trust me!"

-OxOxO-

The day bled by, hour by hour. Lunch was consumed in a rush to get back to reports and paperwork and allaying fears that the world would fall out from under very worried people. Tanya did his best to project concern and confidence, but he was sure that his grim hope that heaven would be unable to interfere with him shone beneath his words.

Still, no one they talked to seemed to suspect that the hope was for anything besides the future stability of Axel and Belzerg, so it hardly mattered for the meetings he'd had.

The knocking on their door as they began their afternoon break was far less loud than the knocking from that morning. It also wasn't what they expected from either Vanir or Kazuma. It was at least five minutes before they'd asked either to show up.

They glanced at each other and shrugged. A quick Observation spell told Tanya Vanir was outside, though there was someone else there Tanya didn't immediately recognize. His brows furrowed as he opened the door. Had they somehow gotten a meeting mixed up?

He blinked as the door opened. "Rex!" He greeted. Rex nodded slightly. Tanya frowned.

Now that he took a closer look, he looked lost and nervous. His shoulders were hunched a bit, and one of his hands was balled into a tight fist.

Tanya's eyes narrowed. Vanir was the very picture of innocence, which made little sense from what he knew of the demon. He'd barely been able to speak two sentences with Tanya without calling him names or bringing up his past in an attempt to elicit emotion from him.

A sinking feeling began to grow in his gut as Rex looked over his shoulder at Vanir, who gave him a wide smile and a thumbs up. "Remember what you told me, scarred adventurer, and tell her!"

He nodded to himself, closed his eyes, squared his shoulders, and took a deep breath.

"Tanya?" Visha asked. He held up a hand behind the door where Rex couldn't see it. He had a feeling where this was going. A sinking feeling. A feeling that only grew as Vanir's smile gained the barest hint of anticipation at its edges.

"I…" he began, "a bit over three months ago, you saved my life from a Rookie Killer," he began, and the pit in Tanya's stomach began to deepen. "Since then, I've seen you take on things I never thought I'd see as an adventurer. The demon Hoost, the Undead Mage, and two of the Demon King's most powerful generals."

Completely unbeknownst to Rex, one of them was standing behind him.

"You're an amazing fighter and adventurer."

Tanya blinked, and he buried the feelings bubbling up in his stomach and made sure his face displayed the passivity he wanted to embody at the moment.

"But… it's not just that! You've run Axel like a saint, and you're always concerned about the safety of Axel and its people. I… I admire you," he said, eventually. Tanya nodded in response, the cogs in his brain turning as he tried to figure out the best way to defuse the situation, the confession that Rex was building towards.

"Tanya, would you… go on a date with me?"

There it was. He wanted, very badly, to glare at Vanir, who looked to all the world the epitome of a supportive friend. There was absolutely nothing that betrayed that he'd clearly set this up for his own benefit.

Oh, he doubted Vanir had manufactured Rex's… crush – he hoped it was just a crush – but putting Rex up to this when he had a front row seat? Vanir had done absolutely none of this out of any sense of altruism.

"Rex," he began, just to fill the silence. His eyes widened, anticipation and worry mingling on his face.

Momentarily, Tanya wanted to say yes, just so he could undermine Vanir's ploy and deny him his emotions. Unfortunately, he'd then have to explain to Rex why he'd done such a thing, which meant either accusing someone who was quickly becoming quite the model citizen of being some kind of sadist or outing him as a Demon.

Tanya doubted, after this humiliation, Rex would take either explanation well.

His eyes flickered to Vanir one last time, and then he sighed aloud. Best to get this over with quickly. "I… thank you for the offer, Rex, but… I am not attracted to men."

He stood completely still. "Uh… huh." He blinked slowly. His eyes widened.

"Also, I am a man now. It's a long story," he said, forestalling any questions. They both stood there. Rex's face seemed to be having a hard time deciding whether the blood should drain or flood to his face, while Vanir's grin only widened.

Tanya's eyes narrowed.

His face settling on bright, glowing red, Rex began to stutter out a mangled apology, but Tanya just held up a hand and smiled at Rex genially. "Rex, it's fine. You didn't know!"

"B- but," he stuttered. Tanya laughed good-naturedly. "It happens! This isn't the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last."

Despite looking directly at Rex, he noticed Vanir's smile became a fraction less intense.

"There's no need for you to freak out about it. You just made an honest mistake – and considering the lengths I went to to hide the truth, I don't blame you in the slightest," Tanya continued. His face began to steadily regain its normal color. Vanir's smile had completely disappeared.

"You… mean it?" he asked. Tanya nodded. "Of course! I couldn't possibly hold something like this against you."

He smiled nervously, and then he grimaced. "Oh, Eris, I can't believe-"

"Like I said," Tanya said, "don't sweat it."

Rex nodded once, and then thrust a hand forward. "Friends?"

"Please?" he added desperately.

Tanya chuckled again and shook the offered hand. "Of course. Sir?" He asked.

Vanir stepped forward, his smile just as it had been. "Yes, vile war criminal?"

Rex startled at the name-calling, but Tanya just rolled his eyes. "Are you still going on about that? Come inside already – I'm sure Kazuma won't be much later than he currently is."

Vanir nodded, brushing past her without another word. Tanya smiled out at Rex. "Have a good one – I'll tell you some of the things we did while we were gone next time we're both at the guild."

He nodded, waving a hand. He heard him mutter something about his teammates under his breath, and then he was gone, barreling down the streets of Axel and through the crowds of still-slightly-shocked townsfolk. Tanya smirked and turned back inside to find Viktoriya chuckling and Vanir hunched over in a chair in their parlor.

"How COULD thou?! Moi thought thou and Moi were friends, insane salaryman without a bone of compassion in thine body!" Tanya just rolled his eyes.

"I don't appreciate being used when I'm not getting anything out of it, Vanir," he snapped back. The demon sniffed imperiously. "Moi will have revenge upon thee… or perhaps moi shant involve moiself with thee if thou continue to be obstinate."

"Vanir," Visha replied, "Don't you know? Obstinate is Tanya's middle name."

He grumbled some more. "That brat whose desire for money is only outstretched by his laziness, where is he?"

Tanya hadn't the foggiest. It took another fifteen minutes for him to finally show up. He didn't even bother apologizing for wasting their time, and Vanir mocked him as retribution.

"If we could get to the point of this meeting?" Tanya asked the two of them. Kazuma looked away from Vanir and scoffed, while the Duke of Hell simply sat back down on the plush sofa opposite the windows of the parlor. "We have two orders of business. Kazuma, you first."

He nodded and then began laying out his plans. He had ideas for a variety of goods from Japan that he wanted to make money selling. As he finished explaining what a kotatsu was, Vanir's devilish grin was back in full force.

"You really think people have enough money to buy those sorts of things?" Tanya asked Vanir. He waved a hand through the air. "But of course. Moi wonders why thou art getting involved in a matter between moi and the boy thou finds so disappointing."

Kazuma flinched at that pronouncement, but Tanya merely raised an eyebrow. "All three of us are partners, Vanir. I don't understand why you think something so frivolous as a kotatsu will sell."

Vanir chuckled darkly and smirked at Tanya. "Moi thought thou knew better than that, man who decided thine body and pronouns weren't correct but couldn't be bothered with a name change. Just because thine surroundings do not resemble thine precious twenty-first century does not preclude the toiling masses from acquiring disposable income."

He continued. "This Kingdom's upper classes have been raised on tales of the faraway Japan for centuries from thou reincarnates, and have demanded many a magical contraption to recreate such wonders as refrigeration. The lower and middle classes have endeavored to fulfill those dreams and earn a quick eris, and have bought such products to emulate the rich and wealthy in the hopes of achieving such status using blood and sweat rather than generational wealth."

He turned to Kazuma. "As Moi told thee, moi would like to purchase the intellectual rights to thine ideas and resell them to the nobility at a markup."

Kazuma nodded slowly, while Tanya frowned. "You don't want to make them yourself?"

The demon shook his head. "Though might possess the capital, moi has not the connections, labor, or desire to produce such frivolities. Moi shall not leverage mine position as Duke of Hell to acquire such trinkets either, and moi knows better than to divine mine way into wealth that will surely be frittered away by that Lich who must be allergic to making good investments."

"Although," he muttered, "perhaps with that goddess indisposed at the moment…"

Tanya shrugged. "Lucky for you that I do have access to connections, labor, and capital," she said. Vanir scoffed. "Thou possesses such on the scale of the rinky-dink Axel. Thou could not protect thine claim on the scale of the country," he said, though even as he said them, he seemed to doubt his own words.

Tanya smirked. "I actually have a wonderful working relationship with the princess. I'm sure I could ask her for a favor – or, better yet, an endorsement."

"The princess?" Kazuma said, stepping towards Tanya and past Vanir. "Belzerg has a princess? Is she younger than you? Than me? What does she look like?"

Tanya glanced briefly at Vanir. He looked between the pair of them rapidly and then, as obviously as he possibly could, he mouthed the word 'PLEASE' at Tanya. He smiled at them both, and lied as he described the red-head of Mitsurugi's two companions as far as looks went and then Iris's actual personality. Vanir dipped his head in thanks and then leaned back into his chair.

"Having thoughts of adding to thine debaucherous harem, fool?" Vanir asked. Kazuma muttered under his breath about his friends' deficiencies. Tanya mouth 'YOU'RE WELCOME' as Kazuma walked back to where he'd been standing in one of the corners.

"Anyway," Tanya said, "With Iris's protection and endorsement, the prices of the goods we sell will be driven up without anywhere else producing them, bringing business to Axel in general and profits to Wiz's shop in particular. Or, if Vanir won't help, my contacts." Vanir frowned slightly. "Moi was hoping to use this deal to have an 'in' with the nobility. Besides, thou would break thine ideals of government meddling with private affairs?"

Tanya raised an eyebrow. "You've seen inside my head, Vanir. If it means the advancement of my goals, yes, I'll do things I find personally distasteful. Besides, that's only if you just want to sell them to some rich nobles who are just as likely to sit on the patents as they are to use them. We'll be getting far more money in the long term."

"Thou doesn't know how much moi knows he can get," he said. Tanya frowned. "What, you wanted money for a dungeon, right?"

He sneered, this time. "Moi wanted this money to build a casino to begin making enough money for the dungeon. Moi has no intention of building anything less than the most impressive dungeon seen on this ball of dirt!"

Tanya raised another eyebrow. "Do you really think you could compete with Elroad? Their status as a tax haven means more than their gambling." Vanir frowned at Tanya.

"Perhaps a compromise, then?" he offered. "We'll look at what he makes. I'll pick the ones Axel will be best suited to making in the near-future while you can focus on finding buyers for the others. Or you could keep them and let other businesses use your IP for a fee."

Vanir looked between him and Kazuma for a few seconds. "And if moi would rather not?"

Tanya blinked, and then he shrugged. "Well, you've already offered to buy them from Kazuma. I'm sure I could find some interested parties in Axel who might want to outbid you. Or perhaps," he continued, "I'll find the nobles you're thinking of selling to and cut out the middle man."

"Art thou undermining a Duke of Hell, man whose atheism defies all reason?"

Tanya smiled. "Of course not. I'm giving my friends and potential business partners advice." He turned to Kazuma. "You could probably find people to outbid him on an item by item basis, but be aware he might not be happy with you trying to undercut him."

Kazuma looked from Tanya to Vanir, whose grin had taken on a malevolent air. He hadn't released a speck of mana, which made it even more disquieting. It was honestly impressive.

Kazuma nodded shakily. "I- I'll keep that in mind."

After a moment's more consideration, Vanir sighed. "Moi shall ruminate on thine ideas and discuss it with our other partner – though Moi is sure no good will come from involving that woman whose real power is making money disappear."

"Alright," Tanya said, clapping her hands together. "With all of that out of the way, I wanted to run an idea by you. Have you heard of the Crimson Demon's Cultivation Technique?"

Vanir tilted his head, and, after a moment's consideration, said, "Moi recalls such information from thine head hazily, and Moi could learn by looking in thine supremely underachieving companion, but moi won't. Waste thine breath."

Tanya rolled his eyes at the pettiness, but he explained anyway. "The first part of my idea is to basically recreate what they made in their village. Hire mages to go use spells to paralyze or incapacitate monsters, bring them back to Axel, and then kill them."

Vanir motioned for him to continue. "The second part is to utilize level-reset potions in order to constantly reset our levels and gain as many skill points as we desire. Once we've got as many as we want, then we utilize the main technique to level up rapidly." Vanir was quiet, and he seemed to be considering his words carefully.

"It sounds like a great idea to me," Kazuma said. "I've seen a lot of skills that could be useful to learn, and-"

"Truly," he interrupted, "humans come up with such interesting ideas. Why would anyone desire to do as thou suggests?"

Tanya's brow furrowed, while Kazuma squawked. "It's infinite skill points! Why wouldn't someone want that?"

Vanir chortled, and Tanya fought to keep a frown off of her face. "Thou art both lacking in information. It is a wonder the secrets of thou reincarnates were not spilled long ago."

He cleared his throat and looked at Tanya. "Thine method has no appeal. Those with the ability to readily acquire an illegal potion like that – the nobility and Crimson Demons – may obtain levels and skill points in easier ways, and though thou care not a whit for it, quite a few would find such a method dishonorable."

Tanya almost rolled his eyes at the last word, but he continued the conversation instead. "I've already gotten permission from Lord Dustiness to try it out myself. I suppose you are correct that no one has had the ability to do this before, but… even then?" he asked.

Vanir nodded once more. "Thou art still lacking information, shorty. People in this world are born with a certain amount of 'natural talent,'" he said. Tanya opened his mouth, but Vanir continued, "Thou had some skill points upon thine arrival here, did thee not?"

"But I didn't have… any…" Kazuma said, trailing off. Vanir smirked cruelly at the boy and then turned back to Tanya. "Furthermore, by the time one is a veteran, with a veteran's levels and the stat buffs that accompany such, one has little need for more skill points when they've already obtained the best skills they might need."

"Finally," he said, "the only reason thou may consider becoming weaker is thine experience with dying. People growing up in such a dangerous place would not desire to become weaker, for even a second."

That left both of them at a loss. Tanya wasn't sure he could wrap his head around logic like that. Extra skill points could be put into admittedly fringe but still useful ancillary effects of most skills, and while becoming weaker wasn't great, if one had assurances they would regain their former level…

"Ah," Tanya said. "And because of people's innate fear, people don't gain levels very fast, yes?"

Vanir gazed at Kazuma once more. "Unless one has no talent, in which case their level grows rather quickly." He flinched again.

"Being risk averse, they also aren't likely to seek out strong monsters with lots of experience to regain their levels quickly," Tanya muttered.

"As an addendum," he said, "Moi very much doubts some method such as this would work on a large scale. The village of crimson idiots is already placed on the land with the strongest monsters in Belzerg. Experience acts much like energy; the monsters at the top with the most experience are few and far between. Thou idea to make an army via thine method is doomed to failure."

Tanya frowned. That… would be a problem. Perhaps it would take a decade.

"I'll do a survey of adventurers or see if I can't access the records of the Adventurer's guild to confirm that," he said. Vanir could, after all, just be trying to demoralize him to get some food, and Tanya wasn't convinced that infinite skill points weren't useful.

The Duke of Hell shrugged, and Tanya sighed. "Well, I will be using this method for myself and my party. Will you and Wiz be able to provide the potion when we come knocking?"

He waved a hand flippantly. "But of course. Is that all?" He asked if he could also provide some memory-altering potion, which he could.

"That's all I have to say," Tanya said. Vanir looked at Kazuma, who shrugged, and then the demon nodded sharply. "Thou hast deprived me of a meal most delicious, and moi must now go search for another."

He rose from the chair, and Tanya nodded. "Thank you for your time, gentlemen. Have a good evening."

They left, and Tanya was left alone, for the moment. He would rest, for a bit, until he and Visha and, assuming she was alright now, Lorelei could have dinner.

Then they would continue their work, and, with copious amounts of elbow grease, get enough done in under two weeks that they could have their wedding.

Tanya smiled and took a deep breath. He certainly hadn't planned for all of this, when he'd first been reincarnated by Aqua. He still wondered if he'd made the right decision, to spurn the Demon King.

He shook his head. Thinking about it anymore wouldn't help anything right now. It was time for dinner!

-OxOxO-

This meeting promised to be more interesting than the last. He'd spoken with those tasked with the internal security of his castle already this week, and everything was just as impregnable as it had always been. Of course, they were now working to make it at least twice as hard to get out, in the wake of her abscondence, which had made the meeting slightly less boring.

No, this meeting was supposed to be more interesting. It showed promise of being such.

But it wasn't. Because despite everything he had deployed, despite the piles of money and legion of demons he'd figuratively pushed out of the door, there was still no sign of her.

"…Moving on to foreign intelligence, there's been an update on the status of the Kingdom as a whole, as well as an explanation for the sudden reprieve along the frontline," Ragcraft reported. The Demon King blinked, turning his head away from the mural on the wall of the meeting room – the mural that showed the planets drifting ever closer into alignment.

Ragcraft continued his intelligence report. "Something has happened to the Eris Cult and, perhaps, Eris herself." The black silhouette of a gangly human didn't sound the least bit perplexed.

The Demon King blinked. What? He did not allow his confusion to show on his face as he bade Ragcraft to continue.

"Reports vary, but Eris's followers seem to think she has either died, been incapacitated, or been… reborn. Most of our informants among the human population had shared visions of some material or object – stone, glass, fabric, wood – breaking into pieces, followed by shared pain of… all of her followers."

Right, he remembered. "I presume, then, that that is the reason the enemy collapsed during their pushes in the south and southeast?" he asked. Ragcraft nodded. The Demon King steepled his hands, glancing up and down the table.

His generals – barring her – were all in attendance. Where before Sylvia had been picking at a nail, and Hans had been trying not to quiver in fear, and Celestina had been pouring over yet another religious text, they now sat straight up, attentive. Verdia and his daughter, who had already been paying attention despite the drudgery, looked contemplative.

"If we take advantage of their weakness," Verdia began, "what could we accomplish?"

He gave the idea some thought. If the enemy was weakened, they could use their stockpiled supplies and make a push for the capital. Break their morale even further with the capture of that city, and take out one of their largest logistics hubs. The east and west parts of the Kingdom would not be entirely cut off from each other, but they would be able to send little between them.

The Fean woods in the center of Belzerg made ferrying supplies directly hazardous and expensive, the Free Cities of the Southern Coast ensured that any goods passing the sea would be either tied in bureaucracy or expensive, while the Qualei river could be harassed and raided.

On the other hand, they did not have the manpower to make such gains last, not without the Anniversary, and attempting to do this beforehand would require sending Generals away. They might die, dooming or at least weakening the ritual, even if Wolbach suddenly showed up.

Besides, cutting the country in two was the best case scenario.

"Too risky," he declared lowly. The more impatient generals all groaned, bored of having to stay in the castle with little interesting to do for weeks on end, while Verdia and his daughter just sighed in exasperation. "Attempting a push will no doubt convince our enemies that, whatever their internal squabbles, the threat we pose is greater, and few of our troops will be happy to march, even on a weakened enemy, when winter is pressing down on us."

Silence reigned for a moment.

"Sir," a voice said, "should we perhaps abandon the Anniversary ritual? If Wolbach is not here…"

The Demon King blinked rapidly and then, realized, yes, Verdia had spoken and was contesting his decision.

He looks, his blank expression twisting into a sneer. "You doubt my judgment?" he asked frostily.

He understood. He really did. Was putting their hope in the Anniversary really the best idea if they weren't going to get everything they needed out of it? Because if Wolbach wasn't there, then they wouldn't be getting what they needed out of it.

They did not have the resources to just abandon their work. At the very least they had to break even on all the years of work, the decades of playing defensive while waiting for this opportunity. If they didn't break even…

If Hero Candidates, if reincarnates kept pouring down from on high to batter his forces, and he didn't recoup even just the energy put into this project, then he was not sure they would be here in a decade. Their enemies – that fucking King – were too powerful-

BA-BANG!

The doors to the room flew open and bounced off of the stone walls.

Wolbach prowled in.

The Demon King sat back in his chair.

She rounded the table, her stride elegant and refined. She passed behind Sylvia and Ragcraft and Celestina without so much as a glance, her eyes trained on his.

The power had struck him first. She was whole, then. Before him was not the half-complete whelp that had sought his protection and an opportunity for revenge.

Before him, rounding the edge of the table, her lips forming a thin, cold line and completing the detached, superior way she was looking down her nose at him, was Wolbach, Dark Goddess of Violence and Sloth.

She also looked like complete shit.

Her clothes were torn and covered in grime of all kinds. It was a minor miracle her clothes were still together – at least the worn, tattered straps she insisted on attaching to her clothes now served a purpose. A long gash on one of her legs was partially bleeding and had been mostly cauterized. She had no staff.

That was not the worst of it, however.

The woman's ears were gone, with hideous, warped growths poking out of the sides of her head while a pair of malformed cat ears poked out of the hair on top of her head. Said hair was no longer a pure, vivacious red, but mottled black and red. Around the wound on her leg, twisted muscle and fur made it clear that the leg would be highly unlikely to support her weight.

On her forehead, the elliptical dot had been exchanged for a cross. He was fairly sure that her neck had gained an inch or two, along with double that in her legs.

She stopped before him, crossing her arms, tail flicking out from behind her back. Her fleshy left hand was shaped entirely like a cat's paw and would be useless for holding anything in its current state. Her right hand, while shaped normally, was covered in fur. The tips of her digits seemed engorged – perhaps for claws?

Her legs were shaking. She looked exactly how he'd expect someone being hunted by the entire Kingdom would after day after day without the slightest bit of support, regardless of her demeanor.

Despite it all, she looked down her nose at him with mismatched eyes that told him she either thought he was nothing, or that she wanted him to think she thought that.

"Wolbach." He injected a measure of warmth and relief into his words, but only a measure. "I'm glad you've returned in one piece. My men have been searching for you without rest since your disappearance."

Her smile was all teeth. Her canines had seemingly grown. She needed dental work. "Indeed. I was almost cornered by Belzerg's King and his spawn upon my making it to the front lines, but I was saved by some of our forces."

He didn't react to the information. He hadn't heard of her entering his castle, which meant he either had people loyal enough to her embedded in his forces that they wouldn't report her, or that she had been convincing enough upon meeting whoever had saved her…

…and had continued being convincing all the way from the frontlines until he'd gotten into this room.

"Well," he said, "I have gotten some information about your actions in Axel," he continued, voice still slightly warm and relieved. "But I would like to ask you: What do you have to say for yourself?"

His voice was not harsh or cruel. He was not demanding supplication or genuflection.

She inclined her head slightly, closing her eyes. "Undoubtedly, our attack on Axel should rightly be considered a failure."

"Oh?" he said. He gave no hints for how he felt about her admission.

"Indeed," she said. "Degurechaff wasn't recruited, can't be considered even a tentative ally, and still lives. Most of my forces were killed or scattered to the wind, and Vanir's death means there is one less General maintaining the barrier around our base of operations."

He nodded. All of that was true. She shouldn't know what had happened after leaving, and yet she did.

"But," she said, "I have regained my other half and stand before you with my full, unbridled power. In that, at least, I have achieved victory. Nya."

"What was that last part?"

"N- nyathing."

He looked down at her, mimicking her attempt at imperious self-assurance with an ease she didn't have, in her current state.

The Demon King disdained Wolbach.

She was a Goddess, dark or not. She was a creature guided by the whims of her being, and if those whims told her to laze around or brandish her magic about seeking wanton destruction, she would not 'deign' to listen to his orders. She'd gotten hundreds killed in her efforts to strengthen herself.

Despite it all, Wolbach was competent. Wolbach was popular in the army – her making it to his castle was a testament to that.

Her making it to this room without his being notified meant much more. This was a test, from his nation and his protectors, of his capabilities. Of his title as Demon King.

So. He could discipline her for ignoring his orders, getting an army killed, losing the help of Vanir, and not Teleporting directly here, regardless of the pain she was in or the retribution she feared. Perhaps strip her of her rank or responsibilities.

Or. He could commend her for having escaped Axel, having avoided the attempts by Belzerg to find and kill her, and for becoming whole once more.

The former would enrage a Dark God and upset all who called themselves followers of Wolbach within his domain.

The latter would prove to those within his castle that he was growing weak.

As always, compromise was the best solution.

The Demon King lunged from his chair, fire crackling in his palm. "INFERNO!" A dervish of flames wheeled towards her. He heard scrapping chairs and curses from the others, but paid them little heed – he focused just enough attention on them to assure himself that if they were trying to betray him, he would end them.

She was already gone by the time the flames scorched the wall opposite the mural, but he already knew where she was. He lunged forward, muttering the words to cast a spell and building the electrical energy in one hand, the other hand extended forward.

She stepped out from behind a pillar, magical power the likes of which not even he could achieve already building in her palm. Their battle venue restricted both from using their most powerful spells, but they could definitely still both kill each other.

"Cursed Lightning!" he shouted. She dodged behind the pillar again. She sprang forth-

His hand brushed her arm. "I revoke," he said as she stumbled, "my protections and boons. Suffer for your treachery."

She fell to her knees, away from the pillar, and the power in her palms twisted.

"Fireball." A burst of flame he dodged. "Fireball." Another. "Create Earth Wall."

Magic rained down on his barrier, but he bestowed to it protection and strength as befitting a Demon King's shield. He took a breath as the temperature steadily increased, and he began chanting.

Against a swordsman, use a sword. Against a spellcaster, use spells. That was his motto. A bit clunky, and a relic of his early reign.

Neither fact made it less true.

As the Demon King, he would prove his superiority over everyone, and he would do it using their own specialities. Over his allies, his enemies; he would prove his superiority above everything, until he stood atop the world itself and remade it in his vision.

As it was meant to be. As it should have always been, even-

His eyes flared with power. "Silent. Light of Reflection."

"Fireball." A pause, a second long, to chant. "Fireball." Another pause. "Fireball." Now!

He rolled away from the barrier, invisible to the world, brushing a hand against the cracking earth as he passed and withdrew his protection, as was his right as Demon King. It crumbled into ash and revealed his disappearance.

Wolbach didn't fall for it. He strode forward silently.

"I am no simple Archmage, Demon King!" she shouted, unable to rise to her feet yet still casting her eyes around her in search of him. He ignored her flailing.

"I am a DARK GOD! Eyes of Providence-"

His hand lashed out, grasping her by the throat and yanking her to her feet. She struggled.

An Inferno bloomed in her hands, and he ignored it with Fire Resist. Acid, Water, Ice, Electricity clawed from her frenzied palms, and he nullified each one in turn. They scraped at his arms with power unimaginable, and he dealt with each and every one.

It hurt.

He was above such pain.

She struggled, and despite his age, despite her new biology, he still had the height, the strength, to hoist her above his head and nullify her magic. His bones creaked and his muscles ached, but he demanded they obey the Demon King, and, as all must, obey they did.

She began the chant for an Explosion. The Demon King squeezed, and Wolbach choked, the fight driven from her for a moment. "You did well," he said loud enough to ensure everyone in the room – his Generals and the guards both, "to obtain more power."

He slammed her into the ground, forcing whatever air was left in her lungs out. "But no matter your power, you SWORE yourself to my service, Wolbach. You-"

Somehow, she still managed to speak. "If I were adapted to my power, I could kill you," she choked out.

He sneered derisively. Instead of telling her that he doubted it, that her having become even more vulnerable to physical attacks, and erratic to boot, meant the power was squandered, that if it really came down to it, he would call upon his subordinates and allies and friends to beat the ever-loving shit out of her, he said something else.

"Perhaps."

He released his hold on her throat and scowled at the deep wounds she'd left in his arm with her claws. She was panting deeply, but he paid her no more mind. He held the arm out and glanced at Celestina.

She stumbled over herself to reach him, but she did. Her head held low, she healed his arm. He flexed it, and he did not scowl at the lines carved into his flesh.

Yet more scars. Yet more signs of his age.

Finally, he looked down at the panting Dark God. "Heal her," he murmured to Celestina. She did as she was ordered, and the Demon King placed his hands behind his back as he stared down at her.

"In twelve days," he said, "the Anniversary comes. On the seventh day of the last month, all that exists, on this world and on all others, will acknowledge the Anniversary. On the seventh day of the last month, all of reality will recognize Heaven's failings."

He took a deep breath and looked down at Wolbach, every inch the person Wolbach had tried to pretend to be. "Renew your fealty to me, and I shall restore my boons. Swear fealty to me, and in twelve days, we shall reap the rewards of the discord Heaven has sown."

"In twelve days, the end of the Kingdom of Belzerg finally BEGINS!"

-OxOxO-

A/N 1: Nearly there! My apologies for not posting last week, I got sick. Look forward to the Anniversary next chapter!

A/N 2: If you'd like to donate to support me monetarily, search for Sugarcane Soldier on the website of the Patrons.

Thank you to WarmasterOku, Afforess, UNSC_Kawakaze, Theewizzz, Vee, malenkaya, and Saito Tachibana for supporting this story and everything else I write. Make sure to vote if you haven't yet!