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Rating:

Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warnings:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive WarningsGraphic Depictions Of Violence

Fandoms:

Characters:

Tanya von DegurechaffEmilia (Re:Zero)Reinhard van AstreaFelt (Re:Zero)Roswaal L MathersNatsuki SubaruCrusch KarstenRem (Re:Zero)Petelgeuse Romanée-ContiRegulus CorneasBeing X (Youjo Senki)

Additional Tags:

CrossoverOpen for suggestionsOther Additional Tags to Be AddedIllustrationsMild GorePost-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSDPoliticsMagicCross-Posted on FanFiction.NetAuthor Is Sleep DeprivedOne Day I will probably rewrite this but who knowsCanon-Typical ViolenceMysteryMemory Loss

Language:

English

Series:

Part 1 of Isekai Adventures of a Salaryman Next Work →

Stats:

Published:2021-04-07Updated:2022-08-24Words:132,758Chapters:67/?Comments:1,654Kudos:1,699Bookmarks:279Hits:99,080

Tanya starts from Zero

A_Morte_Perpetua_Machina_Libera_Nos

Chapter 28: Dealing with wolves

Notes:

Was impatient so please forgive potentially more typos than normal.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Chapter 28

"What are you doing here, I suppose?" said Beatrice as she looked up from the book she was currently reading.

"I intend to honour our agreement of course. You helped me yesterday with discovering shadow magic and I was under the impression that you would appreciate me teaching you in return." answered Tanya with a charming smile.

"Mmph. If you are already here then get on with it, I suppose."

"Gladly."

A little under an hour later and she had clearly overwhelmed the poor girl with her descriptions of field regulation and vector calculation. It was pretty amusing to see how much Beatrice´s mindset struggled to accept the logic based magic that Tanya showed her. The alien concepts that her mathematic formulae provided her with must have looked like gibberish to any citizen of Lugnica.

When she felt like she had confused the pitiful librarian enough, she packed her sheets full of diagrams and calculations up and said goodbye.

"Oh and if you see Bubby on your way tell him that he should visit more often. Hmph."

"Forgive the question, but who is ´Bubby´?"

"You may know him as Puck, I suppose. Now leave I am not used to so many daily visitors. It´s distracting, in fact."

It was clear as day that her inability to comprehend Tanya´s teaching had deeply frustrated her when she still pouted like an angry child. Tanya congratulated herself for a job well done. Beatrice would not be able to use her own knowledge against her. Wonderful. A seemingly equivalent exchange from which only she profited.

Emilia was not hard to find. Mostly because she sat at the same spot as yesterday, but this time without Subaru. Only her weird cat spirit Puck kept her company as he watched her from a distance while she meditated on the front lawn. The strange thing was that she was surrounded by different coloured orbs of light that swarmed all around her. She looked like she was in deep in concentration so Tanya kept a dozen meters away from her to not disturb whatever she was doing.

Her annoying companion however had noticed her so she made an effort to engage in a polite conversation while she was mindful not to raise her voice unnecessarily.

"Ah, greetings Puck. I should say you that Beatrice misses your presence and you should pay her a visit once in a while. I am under the impression that she gets fairly lonely in her library."

"Yeah. Betty doesn´t come out of there very often. She not a very outgoing person. You could say she is quite the opposite of me even though we are siblings."

"Siblings?"

"Not real sibling, but more... you know... adopted in a sense?"

"But I thought you were a spirit that lived countless centuries? Beatrice is certainly younger than that."

"Didn´t you know? She is a spirit as well. A great spirit in fact."

"No, I didn't. Last time I saw her she appeared rather corporeal. I had assumed that she wasn´t a human from her demeanour alone, but I wouldn't have expected her to be a spirit. Are there more people that walk around who might be spirits in disguise?"

"Haha, no. Great spirits are rare and mostly take on animal forms. Well, I knew someone once who could fit that description, but... he is dead. I am sure."

A sensitive topic? Better draw the conversation away from it then before Puck became depressed and didn't answer her questions anymore.

"By the way... What are these lights that surround Emilia?"

"They are minor spirits that she is talking to right now. Normally she communes with them only twice a day, but because of her stay in the capital she has a lot to catch up to, you know?"

"Ahh... And what do they tell her?"

"All kinds of little secrets and events. What the birds in tree over there have been doing, how the grass grows, what the nearby villagers are talking about, what the new guest does in her free time..."

"What?"

"Haha! Only joking. Partially. They are not intelligent enough to understand real words or exact happenings, but it´s enough for emotions and general feelings."

That sounded insanely useful! She had read about the "spirit arts" in one of her books, but she hadn´t thought that it could be such a valuable tool. This simple meditation allowed the practitioner to basically employ invisible and untraceable spies that were also probably able to go through walls. With this at her disposal no enemy would be able to hide from her. It sounded too good to be true!

"How can you learn this technique? Do you need to become a spirit arts user?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it a technique... and you are not required to be a spirit arts user to accomplish this. A spirit arts user is someone who forms a contract with one or more spirits at a time, but in order to talk with lesser spirits you don´t need contracts. Just your affinity for spirits needs to be relatively high. If you are wondering, no you don´t have a particularly strong affinity."

"Would you be able to find out more?"

"Sure thing. Just let me touch your forehead real quick... AH!"

His miniature paw retracted quickly and he held it as if it was burnt.

"What just happened? Are you hurt?"

She was legitimately concerned for his well-being. It would leave a terrible impression of her if she accidentally hurt Emilia´s companion after all.

"Not only do you have no affinity for them, you actively repulse them. When I came into contact with you it felt like I was repelled instantly! It was really strange... I am a great spirit and as such I am way more resistant to these kinds of feelings, but the little ones over there would not even be able to go near you if you went to greet them. In all my centuries of being alive I have never seen something like this. Instead of a lacking affinity I would call it a ´spirit aversion´."

"Very funny. So there is no chance that can learn this?"

She pointed at Emilia who still sat motionless with her eyes closed.

"Nope. Not a chance in hell."

Tanya could only sigh in disappointment. She had been right; it was too good to be true. She nonetheless continued to watch Emilia determined to still discover the functionality of spirit communication. If she herself was unable to do so then she would just train some of her subordinates to do the job for her. The division of labour to share tasks between specialized individuals was one of the greatest strengths of mankind after all and formed the foundation for an effective, capitalist society.

"Ah, hello Tanya. Nice to meet you here. We didn't get to talk much during breakfast."

The silver-haired girl had finished her business with the minor spirits apparently.

"Yes that is true. I was just watching how you summoned so many spirits and was very impressed by how you did it."

Emilia blushed.

"Oh, it´s nothing really. Everybody could do that."

"Well, I certainly can´t." Tanya dryly remarked.

Seeing the half-elf´s questioning look she explained: "Puck assessed my affinity with spirits and found out that I seem to be utterly incompatible with them. It´s not all that surprising really if you consider that no such creatures existed where I came from. Spirits and ghost were usually reserved for fairy tales or the stuff of legends."

"But Subaru also said that his homeland didn´t have spirits and he gets along pretty well with them."

That was good to know. She would need to consider the possibility that he was also spying on her with the help of these spirits. So many potential security risks! It was nerve-racking. Was it possible to make a room for lack of a better word "spirit-proof"? Did some kind of magic exist that could lock out these pesky, invisible observers? Hopefully Beatrice knew the answer. As a magic user and spirit she was the most qualified expert.

"Interesting. Has he also learned any magic yet?"

If Subaru was an ordinary boy from the normal, non-magical Japan that she knew, then he was either totally inept in this field or a novice at best. Still, it was important to gauge his abilities.

"Yes. He can manage a few Shamaks and Minyas already. Sadly, his gate is damaged and is in urgent need of healing. That was something I wanted to talk with you about anyway."

He was a yin magic user as well? The suspicious coincidences certainly piled up further and further. What was her personal, supernatural tormentor planning with the boy? The fact that Being X hadn´t already shown himself to her in one of his demented speeches was unnerving her greatly. Each day that elapsed without his interference made her tenser. Something was brewing at the horizon and she didn't like it one bit.

"How could I possibly help with his gate? I am no healer."

"I know, but I would be grateful if you could take him back with you to the capital when you return home and bring him to Lady Crusch. She has the best healer in Lugnica under her employ and he is our best hope of restoring his health."

"That opens the question why Lady Crusch should do such a thing. He is a member of an opposing camp after all."

"Well... I might have made a deal with her that puts him under her protection until he is fully healed? Sorry, that I didn´t tell you beforehand."

"No worries Emilia. I trust you that you would not betray me."

The half-elf had already started to refer to her on a first name basis and now she tried the same. It was not the proper way, but she had long learned that strictly following the protocol often lead to disaster. To truly be successful you had to know which rules of society to bend in your favour.

This served to tighten their connection by pretending to be friends. Bringing her closer was easy, because Emilia was for some reason way too trusting for someone who was hated by the entire world.

Oh no! She nearly forgot that Puck was listening in. She needed to think something positive! Quick!

Emilia was a kind person who make a good (but not very trustworthy) friend. She would gladly help her reach her goals, because they were very reasonable and were "morally right". Tanya would even happily make her queen if she swore to always listen to her advice. (In this case Emilia would take the blame from the public if something disastrous happened and she would be the one who was targeted by assassination attempts.)

"Thank you Tanya." she smiled.

"I see... Have you thought about my proposal? Not the technicalities or the specifics, but just the general gist of our alliance."

"Yes, but... I don´t know. I don't know if I want to give up on becoming queen yet. I mean the royal selection has just begun and..."

"I understand." Tanya interrupted. The girl had still doubts that needed to be quelled. Luckily her experience of working in the human resources department would come in handy.

"I really do. This is a hard decision to make and it is very selfish of me to demand an answer from you in a few days, but know this..."

She tried her best to look as soft, but at the same time as serious as possible.

"Whatever you choose I will not hold it against you. Even if you decline my offer I hope that we can be somewhat friendly towards one another in the future. Just because we would be rivals then doesn't mean that we must hate each other. We both will be robbed of an opportunity, but that is how life functions. We can´t always get the things we want. You will have to brave to journey to the throne completely on your own and I will have to look for new allies to save this kingdom. Nonetheless will we prevail."

Tanya made it purposefully sound like Emilia would lose more than she if she refused the bargain. She also used what information she could gleam about the girl to make her losses seem more significant. For example, she knew that Emilia was lonely and understandably afraid of the world that despised her. By indirectly stating that this might be her only chance at gaining an ally she pressured her into accepting. Emilia wouldn't push the only person of importance (with the exception of Roswaal) away who extended a helping hand to her.

"Uhm... Thank you."

"No problem. I must be going now. I have much to study after all."

While she made her way to her room she allowed herself a feral grin.

Mission success. The girl was deceived without her ever having to lie. It wasn´t even a malicious act, because she truly wanted to help her. Alone Emilia would have no chance at rescuing her friends from the forest, simply because the people of Lugnica would never vote for her regardless of how many good deeds she did. Humans were mostly not very rational creatures and generally did not change that much in just a few years. The republicans in exile certainly hadn´t changed their minds in spite of the utter stupidity of their plans and their pathetic defeat. People were sheep.

And she was the wolf.

Notes:

What Youjo Senki crossover has not been done yet, but would be fun nonetheless?

Which universe/fandom has not been blessed by the glory of Tanya yet?

(I am not writing anything like this before I have finished this story! It´s just a question for fun.)

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Entire Work ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Chapter Index Edit Bookmark Mark for Later Comments Share Download

Work Header

Rating:

Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warnings:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive WarningsGraphic Depictions Of Violence

Fandoms:

Characters:

Tanya von DegurechaffEmilia (Re:Zero)Reinhard van AstreaFelt (Re:Zero)Roswaal L MathersNatsuki SubaruCrusch KarstenRem (Re:Zero)Petelgeuse Romanée-ContiRegulus CorneasBeing X (Youjo Senki)

Additional Tags:

Language:

English

Series:

Part 1 of Isekai Adventures of a Salaryman Next Work →

Stats:

Published:2021-04-07Updated:2022-08-24Words:132,758Chapters:67/?Comments:1,654Kudos:1,699Bookmarks:279Hits:99,080

Tanya starts from Zero

A_Morte_Perpetua_Machina_Libera_Nos

Chapter 29: Acquiring wisdom

Notes:

Would have written a longer chapter, but my family wanted to go hiking.´

EDIT: 7777 Hits!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Chapter 29

Back to sword training and magic studying. Oh joy. Well, there were far worse recreational activities. (Like burning dead bodies or digging a trench or doing extra paperwork, because everybody else was too stupid to handle it correctly.) At least she experienced a feeling of accomplishment when polishing her abilities that would ultimately ensure her survival.

Wielding a long blade was unusual for Tanya, but she got pretty decent with it. At least when you took into consideration that she had her cutlass for less than a week at this point. As long as you knew which end of the sword to point at your opponent and you were faster than them, the match was won. Technically it could be considered cheating if you stimulated yourself with artificial drugs and enhancement spells, but it had the effect that even her sloppy and untrained movements became faster than the normal eye could see.

She would need to practice more with Reinhard, but against anyone who wasn´t a sword fighting prodigy it would suffice. Her new magic abilities were similarly just brute forced to achieve impressive results in the least amount of time. (A staple of her military career.) For some unknown reason the magic in this world functioned based on a tier system of "El", "Ul" and "Al" that determined the power of a spell. As if it wasn´t bad enough that she had to openly announce what she conjured by loudly saying for example "Shamak", she also had to use these stupid prefixes.

Not even Beatrice had been able to tell her from which language these words were derived from, because they sounded unlike any other dialect in the world. How strange. Anyway, using these words in conjunction with a spell increased their power as well as their difficulty. Sometimes this could lead to nasty repercussions if the spell was not absolutely mastered by its user.

Her strategy of avoiding this consisted of simply pumping more mana into it, because she could afford it. The Type 97 reduced the energy cost around thirty percent after all, so she had plenty to spare. This heightened power output imitated the next higher tier of magic without actually using it. For example a simple "Shamak" would become similar to an "El Shamak" by utilizing more mana than normal without her needing to put any extra effort into it.

Sadly this worked not on "Al" tier magic for whatever reason, but she would need to test this at home. The destructive potential of some of these spells was pretty huge and she didn't want to damage Roswaal´s forest anymore than he already had with his mabeast purge.

Some of her favourite new tricks were "Jiwald" (the ability to shoot burning beams of light from her fingertips) which reminded her of her mage blades, but more distance oriented and "Minya" (the ability to summon and shoot crystallizing shards of purple energy) which would serve as her ranged attack until she found a way to replicate bullets for her gun. There were of course other, more exotic spells like "Nect" that allegedly allowed the user to connect the gates of multiple people and produce a form of telepathy, but to test those she would need willing participants. Risk of injury was too high for it to use on Subaru even though he probably wouldn´t refuse.

"Murak" was borderline useless to her, because she could already fly and reducing her gravity would only confuse her in a fight due to years of muscle memory that would be invalidated by having no momentum. Still, it could also be cast on objects which would allow her to transport heavy things easier and for longer distances.

Its opposite "Vita" increased the gravity of an object which could be insanely overpowered if used at the right moment in a fight. If cast onto an opponent mid jump then they would plummet down to the earth and be unable to move if they weren´t incredibly strong. Should they still be able stand then they would hopefully be slowed down enough to allow for a quick attack from above or behind.

Tanya gleefully imagined what would have happened if she could have used this back in the empire. Droves of enemy mages would suddenly stop moving and drop to the ground like dead flies, ready to be picked up like the cannon fodder they were. The very thought brought a wicked smile to her face. Anyone who would have looked in this moment at the seemingly cute girl would have felt a shiver running down their spine.

Of course there were many more spells, but they were either just worse versions of stuff she already possessed or were unbelievably tough to replicate. Beatrice used her "Door Crossing" to distort space itself which was a feat that awed Tanya. How was that even possible? Didn´t that break the laws of continuity? Magic was incredible, but it followed very strict mathematical and physical principles. To bend space and somehow even time like it was described in one of her books boggled the mind, because it nearly transcended these rules.

When she had asked the little librarian how she had done it, she had either given a none-answer or claimed it to be "Betty´s secret". As Tanya now knew she was a great spirit of yin and was likely one of (if not the) greatest shadow magician in the world, so it didn't bother her too much. The likelihood of Beatrice becoming her enemy was very low and she was so protective of her secrets that she would probably not tell anyone who could use such teleportation spells against her.

Yang magic in general was also hard to learn, because books on the subject were even rarer to find in the Forbidden Library than yin books. Furthermore she couldn´t ask anybody other then Roswaal for help in this regard. How was that even fair by the way? Why could the margrave control all six elements, but she couldn´t? Maybe the fame had gotten to her head, but she had been heralded as the greatest combat mage in the world two weeks ago and the thought of now sharing her fame left a sour taste in her mouth for some reason. Healing magic or throwing fireballs sounded so useful! She wanted it!

The world was unfair. It always had been. Crying over spilt milk wasn't productive in the slightest so she would have to work with what she had. She should almost certainly be thankful that she had affinities for two elements which was pretty rare. Being compatible with both light and shadow was practically unheard of! Even if a person was born with such a skill set they would probably not be able to make much use out of it, because both yin and yang magic required astronomical amounts of mana to cast compared to the regular elements.

All of that had required barely a few hours to find out and made Tanya feel very satisfied with herself. When she went on her way to the dining room for dinner she was very content with what she had managed to achieve already in her short time being here.

The first thing that attracted her attention when Emilia entered the room was that she looked rather glum. When the troubled look didn´t leave her face after several minutes Tanya decided to break the ice and end her silence.

"What´s the matter Emilia? Has something happened?" she asked worriedly.

She made sure to be actually worried in order to fool Puck again. The mood of her hostess and business partner was really important to her after all so it wasn´t too difficult.

"Oh, just... While you were away a messenger arrived and brought some... confusing letters. I am not sure what to make of it."

"If you want to you can tell me. I have a lot of experience with politics and these kinds of things. Perhaps I can help you."

Her desire to help was real. Taking this opportunity would improve Emilia´s opinion of her and would allow her to demonstrate her superior management skills.

She hoped this charade was enough to fool the cat spirit.

"Eh... it´s kind of embarrassing..."

"I swear I will not judge you before you have explained everything. Do I look like somebody who got so far in life just by making premature assumptions?"

"Well... some nobles... asked for my hand..."

"They what?!" yelled Subaru.

Honestly, the boy showed his childish emotions way too openly. And he was unnecessarily loud on top. He wouldn't last a second in any meaningful negotiation with this attitude.

"You know? They want to marry me..."

"Yes. I think we all understood that."

"Never! They won´t take my beautiful Emilia-tan away from me."

That was creepy. He should hide his possessiveness more. Ram seemed to agree.

"Pervert Barusu."

"Iiiiisn´t that wonderfuuuul?" added Roswaal.

Tanya decided to intervene before the poor girl got too flustered and died from a heart attack or something.

"No it is really not."

Questioning stares from all around the room followed and she felt compelled her to elaborate. Was it really so hard to understand?

"Forming alliances through marriage may sound compelling for some, but you have to be aware of your status Emilia. These people don´t see you as a normal girl or even a real royal candidate. They sadly only regard you for your influence and power. What you are trying to achieve is totally unimportant to them and they do not care for your personality. Even worse, when they look at you they will only see the witch of envy in their stupidity."

The silver-haired half-elf flinched at the mentioning of the name which caused her so much pain.

"When these kinds of people try to impress you then they don´t really mean it. Only your money is what counts for them. The council has prohibited the candidates to marry during the royal selection for good reason and the nobles know this as well. They have no intention of binding themselves to someone who looks - in their opinion - like the devil. They only want to manipulate you into deluding yourself that they care."

It was a bit hypocritical of her to lecture her about manipulative nobles, but it was true.

"Reply to them in a polite manner to not alienate them, but otherwise you don't need to waste a single second to think about such a ridiculous offer. Throw these letters in the trash. I doubt you would want to marry someone who you don't love anyway."

Subaru gave his unneeded opinion as well: "Exactly. There is only one right man for you."

She would have voluntarily prayed to Being X to avoid hearing him finish his little speech.

"Me!"

Both Tanya and the maid twins winced in pain for different reasons.

"As charming as you might be Subaru, I believe you should probably gain more of a social standing before you say things like this. Maybe become a knight or found a successful business."

If you wanted something then you had to also offer something in return. Preferably something of equal value. That was just common sense.

"Hmph. Even that will not be enough. Being Barusu is a curse in and of itself. No girl could ever want a loser like that."

The boy took the poisonous words in stride. He clutched his heart in mock-hurt and dramatically exclaimed: "You wound me Ram-chan! How will I ever recover from this? I will probably need much consolation form Emilia-tan to sooth my aching heart!"

"Really?" asked the innocent half-elf worriedly which contrasted heavily with the upset Ram´s next statement.

"What did I say? Don´t call me that! Or do you want to clean the attic again?"

"But I already did that..." he whined.

"Sister, you are being too harsh. Subaru is actually wonderful. He saved me and the children after all."

"Yes sister. I guess he was useful that one time. This shows that he at least qualifies as a passable meat-shield for my precious sister."

"As amuuuuusing at this iiiiiis, I agreeee with Lady Degurechaff´s assessment. You shouuuldn´t pay attention to thooooos offers."

Tanya wanted to use the situation in her favour. Now was her time to shine by distancing herself from the scheming nobles in the capital. Hopefully this would be enough to cement herself as "trustworthy" in Emilia´s mind.

"If somebody truly wants to establish an honest relationship with you then they will make an effort to meet you face to face. I realize that I am not necessarily in a position to say this, but it is true. I came here to this mansion to learn more about you, precisely because I was sincere when I offered you an alliance. As much as I like to mention that it is your choice to accept, it is mine as well. Had I found out during my stay that you were not the kind-hearted, honest, caring person that I expected then I would have retracted my offer."

That was the truth. If Emilia had turned out to be a sadistic bitch for example then she would have not affiliated with her. Her reputation was at stake!

"Only because I took my time to get to know you better I could be sure that you will be the right one for my plans and the opposite is also true. You best make a decision after you understand how your potential partner acts and thinks. Only sending a letter after they have met you once is not enough."

She hoped the message had been clear. Tanya von Degurechaff was a trustworthy individual with no bad intentions! Only she was trustworthy enough for Emilia! She gave her advice after all.

"Yes... I understand..."

Tanya smiled genuinely and thought about the most pleasant thing she could come up with at the moment. A happy memory of Visha´s coffee was all it took to deceive Puck´s mind reading. What a pleasant day.

Notes:

Spoiler:

How hard do you think fighting the White Whale will be for Tanya on a scale of 1 to 10?

1 is a walk in the park and 10 is killing fully powered Mary Sioux.

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Entire Work ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Chapter Index Edit Bookmark Mark for Later Comments Share Download

Work Header

Rating:

Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warnings:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive WarningsGraphic Depictions Of Violence

Fandoms:

Characters:

Tanya von DegurechaffEmilia (Re:Zero)Reinhard van AstreaFelt (Re:Zero)Roswaal L MathersNatsuki SubaruCrusch KarstenRem (Re:Zero)Petelgeuse Romanée-ContiRegulus CorneasBeing X (Youjo Senki)

Additional Tags:

Language:

English

Series:

Part 1 of Isekai Adventures of a Salaryman Next Work →

Stats:

Published:2021-04-07Updated:2022-08-24Words:132,758Chapters:67/?Comments:1,654Kudos:1,699Bookmarks:279Hits:99,080

Tanya starts from Zero

A_Morte_Perpetua_Machina_Libera_Nos

Chapter 30: The final offer

Notes:

Sorry if this flows kinda bad, but I am too tired to correct my mistakes now. Will probably edit this after I got a few hours of sleep.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Chapter 30

Reading about the same pseudo-scientific theories and instructions for spellcasting and the application of magic became boring quickly after Tanya had read all books about the topic that Beatrice was willing to lend her. Both yin and yang magic were not well researched fields of arcane knowledge stemming from the lack of talented mages with the necessary affinities. Therefore most works discussing them were riddled with speculation and guesswork which meant that Tanya would have to test them in detail herself.

It was not only a annoyance that she would have to waste time checking the work of others, because they had been unable to do their job correctly, but it also meant that she couldn't be sure about the exact nature of the high tier spells. They were much more potent and dangerous so they would require careful study before she potentially injured herself by using them. Her safety was paramount and would not be risked by trusting information from outdated books.

That left her with few things to do besides sword training. Even that was rather ineffective without a sparring partner like Reinhard. The only other obligation would have been teaching Beatrice, but the librarian spirit had refused any more lessons in advanced mathematics which filled Tanya´s heart with joy. Nobody could say that she hadn´t tried to uphold her end of the bargain. Now she wouldn't have to give away her secrets anymore. As inconsequential as they might be.

So, to not waste any of her precious time she began to catalogue and sketch the most useful inventions from both her previous lives down on paper. The majority of the really valuable ones were sadly beyond her grasp and were not something that she could replicate in a few years. Stuff like cars, electricity, plastic explosives, or vaccines required intricate manufacturing from trained professionals to produce. Her knowledge on these things extended no further than how to use them.

Still, she knew enough useful things to give her a head start by at least a few centuries. Her self-developed combat doctrines, knowledge on ballistics and guns and expertise in finances and economics would hopefully be able to revolutionize this medieval society. When she had asked Emilia if she knew what a "national central bank" or a "share price" was her answer had only consisted of confused head scratching which was already a bad sign. Or a good sign, depending on your perspective. In deficiency laid opportunity after all.

With all the money she would earn through introducing modern concepts like these into this world she could fund research projects to reinvent some of the machines that were beyond her grasp. Even with the limited knowledge on these subjects at least some ideas would certainly be developed for which she could claim ownership. Over the years she would modernize the land step by step and lead it to industrialization.

A process which would only become easier through the wide-spread use of magic everywhere. Mana was easier to find than coal. At the end Lugnica would be so far ahead of the metaphorical curve that the other nations would not even think of declaring war on her, but would instead beg and plead to be a part of the technological change until the whole world advanced to a more civilized level.

Her only concern was the environmental pollution that would be caused by this. Hopefully she would be able to prevent this from happening by teaching the people about the dangers of irresponsible resource depletion thereby stopping a ecological catastrophe before it even began. No need to repeat the mistakes of the past.

This and many more important thoughts about the future filled not only her head, but now also stacks of paper full of illegible glyphs and symbols. To anyone but her it would have looked like the work of a madwoman. Tanya knew better.

Now that she was aware of the possibility that invisible spirits were spying on her at every possible moment, she encrypted her notes and shortened longer words whenever possible. It was a bit paranoid considering that nobody here (even Subaru) would be able to read Germanian anyway, but one could never be too careful.

Aside from that she also prepared a few templates for letters that she would send once she arrived back at the capital. She needed as much support from the nobles as she could gather and that definitely required her to make visits to the most important houses and engage in discussions about her future plans with them. Tanya already dreaded the petty smooth talk and multi-layered speeches full of hidden agendas that such people would torture her with. Kissing up to one´s superiors wasn't something new to her by any stretch of the imagination, but it was still unpleasant.

Nonetheless was it a shame that she would have to wait until the end of the week before she could make her move on them. The other candidates were almost certainly gaining followers and forming alliances while she was stuck here in the middle of nowhere. If Emilia defied reason and rejected her proposal against all odds then Tanya would have wasted a crucial opportunity to secure her standing in the political landscape. This was the beginning of the royal selection after all.

Well, it wasn't like she could expect many nobles to swear allegiance to her right from the start. To invest into an unknown player like her was risky and rich people were usually pretty reluctant when it came to potentially wasting lots of money. Actions spoke louder than words, so her achievements and popularity among the proletariat would have to be enough to eventually sway them to her side, but that would require time.

Come to think of it, her mostly trying to appeal to the working populace might even be the better strategy in the long run. Crusch and Priscilla were only fixated on the nobles if her quick character assessment proved correct and Anastasia clearly targeted the wealthy middle class who could afford investing into her multiple businesses. Tanya´s only competition in winning over the hearts of the working and lower class was theoretically Emilia who wanted to improve the living conditions of the poorer people, but the girl was much too shy to openly show herself and properly capitalize on her good deeds.

This influence-vacuum created an exciting opportunity for Tanya to tap into an unattended audience of desperate and unheard commoners. A consumer group that would happily lap up even the smallest bones that she threw to them. Yes indeed, the seemingly powerless people that she had met on the streets of the capital and in the slums would be her greatest asset.

When she had declared at the beginning of the royal selection that she would lead Lugnica to greatness no matter the cost and potentially without the support of the nobles that had been a risky gamble. She still stood by her word, but at the same time she hadn't wanted to alienate the aristocracy. Instead she wanted to show her unwavering commitment to prove that they could rely on her to be a "winning horse" in this race for the throne. A driving force to be reckoned with was what she had wanted them to see. But now she thought about how she could build upon this and make herself out to be a fighter for the common folk.

Her hatred for communism was still brightly burning within her heart, but it couldn't be denied that this trainwreck of an ideology had been very effective in rallying vast amounts of human resources to its cause. Maybe she could do the same or at least make use of its methods?

She could already imagine the gigantic propaganda murals and banners with labels like:

"Vote for Tanya von Degurechaff! Bread and free education for all! The future belongs to all of us! Money, blood or birth do not determine your worth!"

Yeah, that would probably be effective to just directly appeal to the general public. If she really wanted to then she could even overthrow the current ruling system after she had seized power and build a democratic state in its place. Although the potential for this endeavour to escalate into a francois revolution was high and senseless bloodshed would only make things for her and the country worse.

What if the people started to turn on her suddenly? It happened often with emotional driven political campaigns. The leaders of the movement were blamed for all of the people's problems and either forcefully discharged from their position or just straight up executed. No, thanks. Better no revolution. Slow reforms were much more successful at inciting long-lasting change anyway.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not canon omake:

Two years later.

"Long live the revolution!" screamed Tanya from atop the smouldering ruins of the royal palace.

"LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!" shouted the mob filling the plaza from down below.

She increased the power of her sound amplification formula until everybody on this side of the city could hear her clearly.

"Today we freed ourselves from the shackles of the past! From the tyranny of the nobles who thought they could trample over us simply because they were born with power they didn't earn. But guess what? We now fought for this power! We bled and suffered for it! We EARNED it! Now it is finally within our reach. Everybody deserves a chance in this new country. No longer will our heritage or these false prophets dictate our fate. Only our hard and honest labour can decide our destiny and our worth. So, my people... I ask you... Who are we?"

"EQUALS! EQUALS! EQUALS! EQUALS! EQUALS! EQUALS!"

"Yes we are! Embrace your families; kiss your loved ones... for this day shall mark the beginning of a golden era of prosperity and freedom!"

"TANYA! TANYA! TANYA! TANYA! TANYA! TANYA! TANYA! TANYA!" chanted the crowd with glee.

Tonight The Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica fell and The Free State of Lugnica rose in its place.

Elsewhere, deep under the sea, Andrew R. smiled to himself. Something beautiful had just happened. He could feel it.

"No gods or kings. Only men. Indeed." he grinned.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tanya stopped her somewhat unrealistic daydreaming and got back to work. Farfetched fantasies had no place in her timetable while so much work had to be done.

"Huh... It really seems like the cushy life away from immediate danger has already gotten to my head. Maybe the good food and comfortable beds are beginning to make me soft." she murmured to herself with a dry chuckle.

Isolating herself too much from Emilia and her associates would not be a good idea if she wanted to appear approachable and relatable. Gaining the half-elf´s trust was imperative for her plan to work. With this alliance she would strengthen her own position drastically. Not only would she practically double the size of her camp, but also take out a possible rival.

So at long last she finally organized their first real negotiation since her proposal in the Astrea mansion.

"Thank you for coming Emilia. I am aware that we never really spoke about what I want from you while you already told me what you desire. That was not fair from my part so I´d like to correct this mistake now. What do you think I would demand in case that we form an alliance?"

The poor girl was clearly overwhelmed by the direct question at the beginning. Good. Catching her off guard had been intended. Furthermore it saved them both time.

"Well... uh.... based on what you said in the capital I assumed that you want me to resign from the royal selection and support you in your campaign, because you have a better chance at succeeding than I."

"Yes. That was how I worded it back then. And in return I would make your wishes come true that you were going to fulfil anyways if you were to become queen."

Tanya looked her deep into the eyes and let that sink in.

"Of course we will have to hammer out the finer details at a later date, but that was the general idea of our alliance. Do you believe our host here would appreciate that?"

"Eh? No, I don't think so."

"I suspected as much. Roswaal would understandably not be pleased with this arrangement. Giving up on ascending the throne would be a grave insult to him. He is your trusted sponsor after all. So I have a slightly different offer for you."

Roswaal was a powerful individual that Tanya wanted to rely on in the future. Simply destroying the Emilia camp by tricking the half-elf into being abandoned by her sponsor was not a desirable outcome. He would not spend his time and money on somebody who could not become queen after all. In order to control the margrave she needed him bound to Emilia so she had changed her tactic.

"If we signed the contract the way I described it then you would totally abandon your chance at the royal selection, but it does not have to be this way. What if we participate alongside each other?"

"What do you mean?"

"I am saying that we will help each other and share our resources to a certain extent, but it will not be possible for you to become queen. Every success you achieve will be credited to your camp under the condition that you mention my help should I have assisted you in the situation. In exchange I will try my best to publicly vouch for your name and present you in a positive light until the people of Lugnica no longer fear you. Wouldn't that be wonderful? If you become indeed more popular than my camp then I will advise my supporters to vote for you. The opposite is of course also the case. I expect your followers to support me should I win this bet."

This way the slim possibility existed that her partner could still uphold her promise to Roswaal. Tanya wouldn't let it come to that, but most likely the people would be too bigoted either way to see her as anything other than a witch.

"Do you want to what the best part about this deal would be? Our chances of winning the royal selection will increase drastically. Even if both of us would get less votes individually than the other candidates, together we will be nigh unstoppable if we play our cards right. Whoever of us both becomes the victor will have the votes of two whole camps behind her!"

"Lia, is that really the best decision?" asked Puck worriedly.

Before he could sway Emilia from her side Tanya intervened.

"It is the perfect proposal. This way you will not lose your pride and Roswaal not his hope of you succeeding in the end. We will benefit both and you will be secure no matter what happens. Either you become queen and fulfil your wishes or you are a close friend of the queen who will fulfil your wishes. You cannot fail with this method."

"...I think Roswaal would agree to this... I... accept."

Tanya grinned and stretched our hand to shake. It was not the final decision, but with these words the half-elf had basically sealed her fate.

"Excellent. We will be a glorious team."

Notes:

Did I just make a unnecessary Bioshock reference? Yes, I did. And I am not sorry.

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Tanya von DegurechaffEmilia (Re:Zero)Reinhard van AstreaFelt (Re:Zero)Roswaal L MathersNatsuki SubaruCrusch KarstenRem (Re:Zero)Petelgeuse Romanée-ContiRegulus CorneasBeing X (Youjo Senki)

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Part 1 of Isekai Adventures of a Salaryman Next Work →

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Published:2021-04-07Updated:2022-08-24Words:132,758Chapters:67/?Comments:1,654Kudos:1,699Bookmarks:279Hits:99,080

Tanya starts from Zero

A_Morte_Perpetua_Machina_Libera_Nos

Chapter 31: Sealing the deal

Notes:

I am very sorry for two weeks of silence. I just felt miserable and couldn´t bring myself to write more than a few sentences per day. My life is about to change pretty rapidly and I will have to learn how to cope with that.

My humblest apologies.

(Especially to "What a gamer" whom I promised a update sooner.)

EDIT: 8888 Hits!

EDIT 2: 9000 Hits!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Chapter 31

Now that she had gotten Emilia´s verbal agreement to their alliance she needed only to accomplish two more objectives:

Convince Roswaal and actually write the treaty.

Well, she hoped this wouldn't end up being too difficult. She had experience with legal documents and knew the required formal characteristics well. Nonetheless it took a whole day for her to come up with the exact ramifications of their contract.

Normally, in a more civilized world this process would have taken weeks of careful consideration and discussion from both parties, but Tanya doubted that Emilia was familiar with such office politics. Also this allowed her to build in some loopholes that she could later chalk up as "unintentional". Tanya truly wanted this relationship to prosper and to do that she needed trust, but always having a backup plan was a must for her.

The second she had reread her alliance proposal and checked for errors she made her way to Roswaal´s office door and knocked.

"Margrave Mathers?"

"Yes, Laaaady Degurechaff. Please enter."

"I trust that Lady Emilia has told you about our arrangement already?"

She presented it like it was already made official. This would surely force him to comply with most of her wishes if he didn't want to upset his chosen candidate.

"Not quite, but I have a vague ideaaaaa."

Roswaal´s smile was slightly unsettling as always. He almost certainly knew far more than he let on which was unnerving, because Tanya never knew if she had played him or he was the one playing her. Just like that bastard Being X.

"So you do know that we both plan to work closely together in the following years in order to achieve a glorious future for Lugnica. We will share information, resources and manpower between our camps to support each other as best as we can."

"Myyyy, how intriiiiiiiguing..." he drawled.

Tanya couldn't help but ask herself again why this clearly competent and intelligent man had to use that stupid accent of his. It sounded absolutely retarded!

She forced a smile: "Yes. It is a marvellous idea, isn't it? We both will be equals in this alliance who provide for each other. This way we can make sure that one of us wins the throne with near certainty. Whoever of us both gains more public support by the end of the royal selection also gains the votes of other; basically doubling their influence. A simple and fair system if I say so myself."

Both options were good for. It was not like she actually wanted to be queen of a medieval country so she would be more than happy to hand over the responsibility to someone she could indirectly control like the half-elf. Should the state of affairs require political intervention then she could probably move "her good friend" Emilia to follow the best course of action. Otherwise she would enjoy a more comfortable position as a noble with good relations to the crown. Maybe she could become a strategist in the army? Rerugen had loved his job after all. Food for thought.

"Of course to accomplish this we need your agreement as well Roswaal. Without your cooperation we will not be able to undertake this important endeavour. Your decision is going to shape our future."

Stroking someone´s ego to make them feel generous was a technique as old as time itself. Hopefully some good old fashioned bootlicking would do the trick to sway him to her side.

"I admit that I also seek your approval for selfish reasons."

She tried her best to look embarrassed by sheepishly fiddling with her hands and looking down at the ground.

"My wonderful sponsor in the royal selection is Reinhard van Astrea who is not only a incredible charitable individual, but also the current sword saint. I myself have been lauded as the greatest combat mage in the world in my homeland. You see... I do not question Lady Emilia´s skills as a spirit arts user, but I must sadly say that her combat capabilities unfortunately cannot measure up to my camp. You, Margrave Mathers, on the other hand are often called "the strongest magician in Lugnica" and are certainly quite adept on the battlefield."

Her piercing gaze met his and she smiled hoping that he got the hint.

"Indeeeed. It would only beeee fair if I participated in the bargain to properly cooooompensate you for your no doubt eeeeextraordinary abilities..."

Good. She wouldn't have to spell it out for him.

"Yes. That was the idea. Does that sound acceptable to you?"

"More than acceptaaaaable..." he laughed creepily.

"In that case I have already prepared a document in duplicate for you to read through and sign if you agree. It details the nature of our future relationship in more detail, but it is basically nothing I haven't told you about. Reading them will nonetheless take some time, because of all legal clauses, I am sure you understand. Perhaps I should come back in an hour or two to give you time? I wouldn't want to pressure you in any way."

"No, it´s quite alright. I have compleeete trust in you Lady Deguuuurechaff."

She suppressed a grin. What fool didn't read the contract he was about to sign? That was such an amateurish mistake to make. Didn't he realize that the future of this country could be at stake? He couldn't possibly already know what was written on the paper he just validated with his signature, could he? No that would be impossible.

Tanya promptly thanked Roswaal for his time and bid him farewell with two signed copies of the treaty in hand. Because the margrave was Emilia´s sponsor and de facto caretaker she technically wouldn't need the half-elf´s acknowledgement as well, but her signature would make it more official. It would irrefutably prove that the whole Emilia camp had unanimously agreed to Tanya´s terms.

So, her next destination was her new business partner´s study. She had originally sought out Roswaal first, because it would seem rude of her to not ask the lord of the house first, but it also served the function to pressure the half-elf into agreeing should that abominable Puck manage to dissuade her from the alliance.

No! Her thoughts were too negative! Tanya tried to slip into a more positive mindset to fool the emotion-reading spirit. If looked at objectively then his protectiveness of Emilia was admirable. Really. It was a good trait that would keep her associate safe from dangerous individuals which in turn would lighten Tanya´s workload. Puck was good. Nice even.

She forced herself to smile again while she walked through the seemingly endless corridors. The sweet, benevolent upturn of her lips was so unlike her normal persona that any knowing onlooker would have fled in fear if they had seen this smile.

One knock on the door was all it took for Emilia to call out to enter.

"Ah, hello Tanya. Did the meeting with Roswaal go well?"

"He agreed rather enthusiastically. Here see for yourself."

She handed her the signed contract.

"Would you please grace me with your signature as well?"

"Lia, shouldn't you read it first?" said the - lovely - spirit.

"The margrave already gave his consent, but if you doubt me and his judgement then go on and read the treaty thoroughly. I will be back in an hour, because I do not wish to sit here idle and twiddle my thumps during the duration of your study."

If the trick had worked on Roswaal who was a far more conniving individual than Emilia then she could try it her too. Implying that the act of checking the contract was not only a breach of trust, but also boring would hopefully be enough to deter the girl from trying. Even Tanya herself had not always been immune to such guilt-tripping. (Only if her adjutant had used her adorable puppy-eyes had she fallen to the temptation. It was hard to say ´no´ to Visha.)

"Oh, no! Sorry. I didn't mean it like that." she cried followed by the furious scratching of a quill on paper.

The girl was so pathetically easy to manipulate that she couldn't help but intensify her smile. The slipup from angelic to predatory only lasted a few heartbeats, but was noticeable to any perceptive observer.

She imagined that the currently invisible Puck was glaring at her in this moment, but he obviously didn't interfere or else Emilia would have stopped putting her signature under the document. What a relief. Still, it was not good that she had to depend on the – wonderful – spirit´s complacency. Beatrice would surely know of a way to protect one´s mind against spirits. Immediately after this whole ordeal was over Tanya would need to ask her.

Indeed it took only a short conversation and a warm handshake to seal the deal after which she excused herself again and went to her room. It was done! The alliance was officially made and she had secured herself not only the help of the court magician Margrave Mathers, but also basically unlimited access to the Forbidden Library and two great spirits! Her odds of survival were going up! A time for celebration would come later though, at the Astrea mansion.

"Ah, Rem! Good to see you. I was wondering if you knew where I could find Subaru? I am in need of his assistance in finding the library again."

"As far as I know Subaru decided to go to the village earlier, Lady Degurechaff. He wanted to play with the kids one last time before we depart to the capital tomorrow."

"Mmh, that is troublesome. Also you said ´we´? Will you accompany us?"

"Yes, Milady. Rem shall drive the coach."

"Two coaches? There is no need. Subaru can ride with me. Seeing as both our camps are now in an alliance I am going to provide the means of transportation for his return of course."

"I am terribly sorry Lady Degurechaff, but those were Lord Roswaal´s orders. Also with which carriage do you plan to depart in anyway?"

"With my own of course. The one I came here with."

"Pardon this Milady, but it seems as if the driver that brought you here has not returned from the capital as of now."

Indeed. Or else he would have reported to her already. What was going on? Her instructions had clearly been for him to return the day before her departure. Well, the day wasn't over yet so maybe he was just late and would show up soon. Nonetheless was it good to plan for the eventuality that he didn't return from the capital altogether.

"Then I am to assume that I will be travelling with you should my servant not show up here in time?" asked Tanya.

"Yes, that is correct Milady. Rem will deliver you home as per her master's orders."

Speaking of yourself in third person was never a good sign. Tanya hoped that the poor girl had no personality disorder.

"How perceptive of Roswaal to notice the absence of my staff before me. I am glad that he keeps such a close eye on my wellbeing. Give him my thanks."

Inwardly she was fuming. Had the man arranged for her driver to disappear on the way here? Was this a elaborate trap for him to get rid of her? Tanya could already imagine dozens of scenarios in which Rem "accidentally" drove the carriage away from the main road deep into the woods and tried to assassinate her there away from any potential witnesses.

But no. That would make no sense. He had just agreed to their alliance and had no reason to make an enemy out of one of his most important allies. Killing her now was foolish and extremely dangerous. If he wanted to finish her off then he would do so himself. Only powerful magic really worked against powerful magic after all. Such an important duty would not be left to a mere maid and a childish butler.

Maybe he wanted her to know that he was in control of their relationship by demonstrating that she was at his mercy. If so then she was not impressed. Should he be the culprint behind the disappearance of her driver then he would pay for that. Wasting human resources like that was unforgivable.

Before Irlam village was even visible to her she already heard Subaru´s voice.

"Victory!" he shouted.

"VICTORY!" answered the crowd.

"And don't forget to do this every morning! Radio calisthenics is important to keep your bodies healthy and your minds focused. When I hear that you have diligently followed my instructions then I will even bring you a gift from the capital! It will be super cool!"

"Yaaayyy!" howled the kids that surrounded him in apparent glee. For this backwater village the largest city in Lugnica was probably an exotic place.

Physical training was indeed an important part in keeping yourself in shape and enshouring optimal work efficiency. Even in her first life as a salaryman she had exercised daily to stay fit and minimize sick days. A healthy mind needed a healthy body. Long years of sitting behind a desk and working on a computer back then had prevented her from ever becoming "buff", (as Neumann would have called it) but she had been not unmuscular. Of course that had been when she still had a male body so it had been easier to get strong in contrast to being a malnourished little girl. Course you Being X!

If Suabru understood this then perhaps they could get along better than anticipated.

"Hello Subaru. Are you finished with your business here?"

"Oh, hey Tanya! Yes, I am. Nice of you to visit me. I knew you couldn't go a single day without me!"

Perhaps not.

"No. I require your help in finding the Forbidden Library. Again."

"Oh? And you walked all the way out here just to fetch me? I don't know if I believe that." he teased.

"What other option did I have? Opening every door in the mansion is hardly a better alternative."

"Really? I am flattered that you trust my ability to find her so much, but have you not asked Beako how the door crossing works?"

"No? What does that have to do with anything.

He looked at her like she was stupid. She didn't like that. It made her wish to bring out her shovel.

"Beako is connected to every door in the mansion. She can feel them all! If you want to talk with her then you just need to open one and ask her to put a portal there, you know?"

She gave him a long, deadpan stare before she finally broke the suffocating silence.

"Really."

Her tone was so completely flat and not amused that Subaru visibly cringed away from her.

"Y-Yes."

All secrecy and subtly be damned she suddenly pushed mana into her computation jewel and took off like a flash of lightning, leaving a shaken Subaru in the dust.

Notes:

Shit is going down. Soon a lot of exciting stuff will happen.

50.000 words and the action hasn´t even started yet. What am I doing with my life XD

I am neither talented nor patient enough to write a 300.000 story so there will probably be great time skips after the sanctuary arc. (I also only really know the anime so what happens after that is relatively unknown to me.)

EDIT: I looked it up and this is apparently only one of 21 Tanya fics on this site that goes beyond 50.000 words. Such a shame. If you are reading this, ask yourself:

"Why aren´t you writing for Youjo Senki?"

Go on and spread the glory of Tanya! For the Empire!

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Creator Chose Not To Use Archive WarningsGraphic Depictions Of Violence

Fandoms:

Characters:

Tanya von DegurechaffEmilia (Re:Zero)Reinhard van AstreaFelt (Re:Zero)Roswaal L MathersNatsuki SubaruCrusch KarstenRem (Re:Zero)Petelgeuse Romanée-ContiRegulus CorneasBeing X (Youjo Senki)

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English

Series:

Part 1 of Isekai Adventures of a Salaryman Next Work →

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Published:2021-04-07Updated:2022-08-24Words:132,758Chapters:67/?Comments:1,654Kudos:1,699Bookmarks:279Hits:99,080

Tanya starts from Zero

A_Morte_Perpetua_Machina_Libera_Nos

Chapter 32: Brewing storms

Notes:

I had my english oral exam today and I nearly got all points! I don´t know why I was worried, but it seems this writing practice here has paid off. So, thank you all for motivating me to continue with this fic! It has helped my greatly.

EDIT: Wooooo 10000 Hits! Incredible.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Chapter 32

The day of parting had come. After a night of copying as many books from the library as possible with a combination of her computation jewel and good old-fashioned notes Tanya was rather exhausted. An old saying in the command staff had been:

"Sleep is only for the dead. So better work hard and earn your right to die."

While she had never fully agreed with the sentiment, because proper rest was essential for a good work mentality, she could understand where the other officers had been coming from. She certainly felt like dying after two nights without sleep. This got only worse with each day that passed without coffee. When breakfast was served she would have gladly sacrificed an ear or a finger for just a single cup, but alas this underdeveloped, barbaric, unenlightened country had not been blessed by the wonders of caffeine yet. No doubt Being X was resposible to spite her.

It was no wonder that as a result of all these unfortunate factors she barely registered the heartfelt farewells from a certain half-elf. Emilia´s tearful separation from Subaru went also unnoticed by the grumpy Tanya. The worst part of the morning though, was that her driver had still not shown up. A highly suspicious event that made her extremely uneasy. Thanks to her missing coacher she needed to drive in Roswaal´s carriage just like Rem had predicted yesterday. The whole affair just reeked of a thinly veiled assassination plot, but she had no choice but to comply, because Roswaal had made it quite clear that he wished for her to leave now and straining their budding relationship so soon was not an option.

Her two bodyguards helped with stowing away her belongings on the carriage. Tanya had honestly kind of forgotten these two even existed, considering that she hadn't needed them for anything and they had stayed mostly in their room. Regardless of their actual usefulness though, having a meat-shield just in case was always good.

One of them positioned himself on the back of the carriage and the other on the front besides Rem. Officially this served the purpose to make more space indoors for her and Subaru, but her real reason had been to provide her with a lookout on the road behind them and a surveillance of the blue-haired driver. After the mysterious disappearance of her original coacher she was understandably paranoid. Well, more paranoid then usual.

With the last of her energy she put on a (what she liked to call) "salesman-smile" and thanked her business partners for the stay, before she boarded the carriage and dozed off as soon as they left the gates. Her fellow passenger, Subaru, wouldn't have noticed this though, because she remained seated upright and had an illusionary formula layered over her eyes to look like they were open. This useful trick had saved her many times during "important" staff meetings in the past when she had been forced to attend after just dropping out of an active combat zone. Sometimes a fifteen minute power-nap was all it took to restore a minimum of much needed energy and she could record and replay everything that was said during her sleep anyway, so it wasn't like she missed anything by doing so.

Yes, it was dangerous for her to sleep inside the carriage that she suspected to be a trap, but she was pretty certain that Roswaal would not let anything incriminating happen to while on his territory. Subaru was also a negligible threat that she didn't need to worry about. He was a soft boy form an industrialized age of reason and progress, so he wouldn't resort to random murder all of a sudden. He had no weapons on him anyway. She checked. Nonetheless, she slept with her strongest passive barrier activated. You never knew when someone decided to snipe you from a distance or drop a bomb on your head after all.

Afterwards she felt a little bit better and decided to engage her temporary companion in conversation to form more of a personal connection with him. His knowledge and access to Emilia made him valuable enough to spend her time on him despite his annoyingly unprofessional behaviour. Dealing with real children without either a propaganda camera team or a gun on hand was not her strong suit.

"And then the massive beast stared at me like it was gonna eat me, but I still had a trick up my sleeve. I cast my last Shamak and jumped just in time to..."

Suddenly Subaru stopped mid sentence and became deathly still. His once joyful eyes glazed over and he began to shake.

"What´s wrong Subaru? Can you hear me?" she asked in worry.

When he didn't respond her reflexes took over and she instinctually fell back into combat mode. Tanya had seen this look of shock and distress on the faces of many young recruits. Whatever trauma had gotten ahold of the boy warranted immediate treatment.

"Come back to me soldier! Focus on me! Yes. Now look me in the eyes and follow my instructions. I am here and I can help. Breathe in slowly, just like that, and breathe out. You are doing fine. Keep focused soldier! Calm breaths! And stay focused!"

"What is going on back there, Lady Degurechaff? Is Subaru alright? Should I stop the carriage?" asked a distraught Rem from the outside.

"Everything is under control. He just had a panic attack. There is not much that we can do for him right now, so I am going to find out what caused this."

She gripped Subaru´s hand while still fixating his gaze with her own.

"Subaru, if you understand me please nod."

He nodded slowly with his empty eyes still staring unblinking into the distance.

One thought and a myriad of micro-calculations was all it took for her to produce a small, bright light on her fingertip which she used to test his pupil-afference. This was standard medical procedure to check the responsiveness of the optical nerves and by extension the nervous system as a whole. So far his irises contracted adequately when she exposed them to the light. Physically he seemed to be fine.

"Can you tell me what just happened?"

"N-Nothing to worry about. I just had a... very bad dream." he answered lamely.

Tanya frowned. She needed his honesty to assess what was wrong with him. It would be extremely troubling after all if a servant of her business partner suffered a mental breakdown while in her care. That would reflect badly on her overall competence.

"You need to tell me Subaru. Keeping quiet about your problems makes the mess others have to clean up later only worse. You wouldn't want to burden your superior like that, would you?"

"Emilia-tan?"

"Yes. I am sure she would want you talk about your problems. She seems like that kind of girl."

Truthfully, Tanya couldn't care less about the aches and pains of the boy in front of her at the moment (she was way too tired for that), but emotionally manipulating him into opening up would only benefit her in the long run.

"Ehm..."

Abruptly his expression of confusion shifted quickly to one of horror and then of determination. How intriguing.

"Oh... yes... I remember now. Tanya, something terrible will happen soon and we need to be prepared for it. In guess that in... about half an hour we will reach a fogbank and there is something inside..."

Subaru shuddered.

"And how do you know that? That seems awfully precise for a guess."

"Well... I can´t really talk about it..."

"Can´t or won´t?"

"I... can not." he reluctantly stated.

He appeared comletely sincere which was strange.

"Is it like a curse?"

"Yes. Every time I try to tell someone about it, it feels like my heart is going to explode."

The magic in this world was retarded! If not surprisingly useful. Perhaps she could curse her subordinates as well to force them into secrecy? It sounded unethical, but very effective.

"So this happens more often."

"...Yes."

"Can you see the future?"

It was the only logical conclusion, regardless of how asinine it may appear at first glace.

"...In a sense... Yes. Yes I can see the future."

That was incredible! Tanya was now more glad than ever to have the Emilia camp on her side. This was a unbelievably powerful ability to have at your disposal. Even she would be hard-pressed to compete against a foe who could accurately divine the future. How that was even possible in the first place was anyone´s guess. Being X for all his supposed power had never been able to do so after all. Otherwise he would have noticed long ago that he wouldn't be able to break her.

All of that was of course only correct if Subaru spoke the truth and was not simply lying or hallucinating. She had met enough raving madmen in her last life and didn't need more. No thanks.

"If I give you the benefit of the doubt here and choose to believe what you are saying then that means that you just saw half an hour into the future where we travelled through some fog and met something or someone inside, correct?"

"Correct."

"Do you have perhaps more details?"

"Ehm... There was a giant eye and then whatever it was it was gonna eat us! And you made a huge explosion, but it was still going. It... It almost looked like a really creepy whale? A white one."

"The White Whale?!" screamed a guard from outside.

Out of two things which disappointed Tanya in this moment she knew not which was more of a disgrace: That the carriage walls offered no privacy or that her own bodyguards possessed so little self-control.

If the description of a white whale could drive the normally stoic men into such frenzy then the beast must have quite the cultural significance. What could inspire a reaction of fear like this?

Oh, no! She had read about the three demon beasts that periodically plagued Lugnica, but she had written them off as an overdramatized legend. One of them was the White Whale Hakugei who was said to live within a dreadful fog. Everything matched Subaru´s description perfectly.

"Do you know what else the monster did? After I caused the, quote on quote, ´huge explosion´?"

"It could fly, I think. Because you were evading it in the sky and it followed you up."

"A flying whale does indeed sound ridiculous, but it makes somewhat sense. How else would the beast move over the land without legs?"

"But that´s not everything. I-I am not sure about this... but I believe it wasn't only one whale. I mean in one moment it was alone, but after the smoke had cleared from your explosion it looked like there were three of them."

Now that made matters much worse. If a beast that couldn't be killed for four hundred years was not already bad enough then they stood no chance against three of them.

"We have to stop the carriage!" yelled a guard as if mirroring her thoughts to which the other responded: "This is suicide!"

Tanya leaned out of the window and created an optical formula to enhance her eyesight. A holographic display of green numbers and lines formed in front of her face and focused on a spot in the distance. A gigantic wall of white mist was indeed obscuring the horizon and approached them rapidly.

"Rem can you please turn the coach around. We are going back to the mansion."

"I fear that is impossible without stopping Milady. The road is much too narrow for that."

"What´s the problem. If we just stop and slowly turn around then that shouldn't be an issue."

"Lady Degurechaff, the Divine Protection of wind evasion will not be able to be used again by this ground dragon if we were to interrupt his run. We would have to travel at a much slower pace for several hours before he can recharge it."

So, the choice was either to turn around at a comparatively glacial speed and hope that Hakugei wouldn't catch up with them or keep going in its direction. Wonderful.

"Subaru, did we make it out alive?" she whispered in order to not frighten the guards.

"I have no clue... At least I didn't." he said gloomily.

Tanya couldn't afford to lose such a valuable resource. Not now when she had just discovered his incredible potential. With his help she could discern threats before they even became reality. Subaru was invaluable. To save him she needed more information.

"How big was the explosion you saw me create?"

"Pretty big. Like at least a dozen meters in diameter."

That meant she had been serious in Subaru´s vision, but it had apparently not been enough. Had she been desperate enough to...? No, hopefully not. She had to find out.

"Did anything unusual happen before I cast that spell?"

"No? You just... flew up and shot at it."

That was a relief. Sadly, she hadn't brought her gun. Only her pistol could be used as a catalyst for her magic. As a result she practically had no ranged combat options. Tanya would need to fight tooth and nail if she wanted to accomplish the impossible. Her mental boosters kicked in and her bloodstream was flooded with artificial drugs. The only visible sign that she was nearly overloading her brain with enhancement magic was that her eyes began to glow an eerie cerulean blue.

A small eternity of six seconds was all it took for her to work out a strategy. This was going to suck, but she now had a plan of action.

"Rem, drive as fast as you can! We are going through the fog. I have plan."

Notes:

Next chapter will be number 33 and that is not unintentional...

Also, who spotted the Game of Thrones reference? (Tip: It´s not actually said in the show.)

EDIT: Due to feedback I received I need to think over my immediate plans for the story which will take time. It could be a while before the next update, because I want this to be the best quality I can achieve. Thank you for your criticisms.

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Chapter 1649 - 35