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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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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

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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:99,104

Tanya starts from Zero

A_Morte_Perpetua_Machina_Libera_Nos

Chapter 46: Pressured actions

Notes:

EDIT: 19.000 Hits!

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

Chapter Text

Chapter 46

Tanya felt refreshed. Well, she was still fatigued, but she felt leagues better than when she had pushed her magic to the limit a couple minutes ago. Now after her fresh restart her energy reserves were not as empty and as a result she was thinking more clearly. The difference was stark compared to the exhaustion which had become very noticeable in the last moments before her demise.

Her demise...

What a weird thought. Being X had promised her that no further reincarnations would be happening after her second death in the empire. Of course he was a manipulative egomaniac who couldn´t be trusted, but he had also never directly lied to her about his intentions. It would be highly unusual for him to openly adapt to change and alter his "infallible" plans this desperately. So it was logical to assume that she either hadn´t in fact died or everything she saw and felt was not actual reality. (Both of which had pretty disturbing implications.)

Of course he had only talked about reincarnation and not resurrection which meant that the cheeky bastard might have pulled an underhanded manoeuvre based on a wording error. If he simply reversed time and threw her back into the fray until she believed in his nonexistent divinity then that would not qualify as a new life. This way he wouldn´t have to openly admit his fault and accept criticism. Typical!

All in all, there were too many improvable possibilities for what her supernatural tormentor could have done with her that it was best to ignore them all for now. Tanya had no intentions of purposefully dying to test her theories, because she would never throw away her most valuable possession so easily for potentially little gain. Her life might suck, but it was all she had. (Not to mention that it was unknown at the moment if she could even repeat this phenomenon.)

Back to the here and now...

The wind was whipping through her hair as she propelled herself forwards with maximum force. Last time she had been too late to save the villagers by an estimated three hours. If she pushed herself to her highest speed and kept low to the ground then she would be perhaps just in time to defend some of them. But did she even want that?

They were secondary targets at best. She would gain nothing from their survival. Distracting and/or eliminating the cultists long enough for them to evacuate the village and find shelter in the mansion would waste precious time and was nigh impossible for her to accomplish alone. Their lives were not her responsibility and it would take considerable effort on her part to intervene, so she could theoretically just let them die and focus on the real VIP of this mission.

Except that she had made a contract with Emilia that established a pact of mutual military support in times of crisis. Undoubtedly Roswaal the sly fox would use her supposed inaction to demand compensation for this breach of conduct should it be revealed that she had been able to save the villagers. At least a token effort was required.

Damn it! The treaty was supposed to protect her and indebt the strongest magician of the country to her! Not the other way around. It had only been one day since she had signed that stupid piece of paper and Tanya was regretting it already. Half a life time of war had dulled her sense of office politics it seemed.

At least (unlike before) she now had Crusch´s army as backup, even though they would only show up in a few hours. It was like her first deployment in Norden all over again. She was outnumbered and outgunned by enemies that should logically be more powerful than her with backup that would arrive far too late. Being X would certainly prattle on about some shit involving "poetic irony" or "fate" right now.

She could make it work.

She needed to make it work.

She was the Argent! The imperial Symbol of Victory as some fools called her. (Without the logistics division even her battalion wouldn´t have been able to beat back the communist menace. Those brave officers who procured her coffee and bullets were the real heroes! And if she had supposedly been so important then why had the general staff tried to kill her on every occasion? What a poor publicity sham.)

Her brain was pumped up on artificial combat drugs and her muscles were taut with tension. Somehow she began to relish the challenge as the "battle high" catapulted all her senses into overdrive.

It was good to be alive.

So good.

Those that threatened her wellbeing would be shown no mercy and be allowed no shelter. They were already dead without them knowing. Petelgeuse was a lunatic and a sadist on top... She would enjoy his suffering.

Deception had worked well on him in their past – or should she say future – engagements. Now she was informed about his secret abilities and could counter them.

If anybody in the village had looked up and been able to discern the face of the small blur in the sky then they would have immediately lost control over their bladder. The cheek-splitting grin that cut into Tanya´s adorable face was like the maw of death itself.

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

Crusch was internally cursing and screaming. She had assembled an army to take care of the White Whale only to find it already defeated. Then Tanya had apparently identified the thread to the Mathers estate as witch cultists and openly pressured her into assisting her. How her diminutive, blond rival had known this information was strange, but Crusch´s Divine Protection registered her words as the absolute truth.

Had she declined her plea then she would have lost much respect from her men on top of returning home empty handed. Refusing assistance was well within her rights, for they both were of equal standing in the royal selection, but it would make her look cowardly and petty. There was simply no other choice but to agree with Tanya, despite the possible political provocation that invading another´s domain with military force could entail.

On the other hand she also felt a little bit thankful for the opportunity to bring glory to her camp. Eliminating the witch´s cult was something she had planned for in the future anyways, so doing it now only served to speed things up. Considering that her greatest opponent had slain the White Whale nearly on her own she needed every image boost she could get.

Who knew? Maybe she would even show the citizens of Lugnica with her actions that she was well capable of defending them where the Margrave and the Emilia camp had failed. Another few votes could make ultimately the difference between winning the throne and barely missing it.

Furthermore Tanya would hopefully feel indebted to her which she could use to form a temporary alliance between their two camps. "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." was something she had learned at an early age after all. (Secretly Crusch also considered that good relations would do her well in case that Tanya took the throne. She was a far better candidate than either the half-elf or Priscilla.)

A problem that arose quickly on their journey was that the wagons with the heavy equipment were too slow if they wanted to arrive at Margrave Roswaal´s mansion before dawn. They had been prepared to hunt a single, massive target, not a group of dangerous criminals. As a consequence they were ill-prepared and had to leave a couple of men behind.

But her warriors were nothing if not adaptable. The old veterans who had volunteered to take revenge on the evil that had plagued their country for as long as they could remember still had the skills to fight cultists drilled into their bones. In a way nothing had really changed for them.

Crusch could see that especially her butler Wilhelm was eager for battle. Despite the fact that he had been unable to deliver justice upon the killer of his wife he was all the more excited to show his gratefulness to Lady Degurechaff. She would need to carefully observe his behaviour in the future, for while she would never assume that he would betray her for one of her enemies, he might accidentally let his judgement of Tanya´s character be clouded.

Her intuition estimated that the trip would only take two more hours until they reached the village that the blue-haired maid had described. Idely she wondered what Tanya was doing right now.

Regardless, with her actions today she would bring honour to her name! For Lugnica!

Notes:

Who would be your favourite character (from Re:Zero) to marry and who would be your least favourite?

Beatrice? Reinhard? Otto? Ram?

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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:99,104

Tanya starts from Zero

A_Morte_Perpetua_Machina_Libera_Nos

Chapter 47: Crushing evil

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Chapter 47

The village was in chaos. People were running around screaming in obvious terror, but so far only a dozen or so casualties had occurred. At least that was what she was able to observe in her few seconds flying over the buildings. It was entirely possible that a large number of villagers had been murdered indoors which she couldn´t see, but the witch´s cult was not particularly inclined to subtlety and covert warfare.

In fact the most cultists that she could see were standing guard around the whole settlement in a perfect circle formation. Not only was that wasteful, but also incredibly stupid for a multitude of strategic reasons, mainly that one targeted assault could break their ranks. Perhaps they recruited only crazy morons after all?

Naturally, where the band of brainless puppets went their mentally unstable leader was not far. Petelgeuse stood in the middle of the market square and preached about his pseudo religion, a.e. his obsessive idolatry of the witch of envy. His insane nonsense was getting old pretty fast. The cultists were probably only positioned outside to keep the villagers inside and force them to listen to his never-ending yapping. In a way the situation reminded her of the communists who compelled their citizens to consume their state-approved media regardless of how harebrained it was.

"And so rejoice in the knowledge that your sacrifice will greatly please her and strengthen her love for us all."

She needed to intervene fast. If she could keep him occupied for long enough the majority of the civilians could be saved. A more than acceptable outcome in her opinion.

"Ehem - Hello there. Have I been too late for the ordeal? Could you please stop and listen to me first before we begin the fun?" she grinned while floating above the sin archbishop.

"Huh? Who are... that smell... You are loved! Clearly her love clings thickly to you! Oh, how joyous, how wonderful, how EXHILARATING!"

"Yes isn´t it fantastic to see each other again?" she grinned, her mouth impossibly widening even further.

He furrowed his brows and gripped his chin in thought.

"Pardon me, but I do not recall meeting you. On second thought... I don´t even know who you are!"

"Really, Petelgeuse Romanee Conti, sin archbishop of the witch´s cult representing sloth? Are you sure about that?" she purred while leaning forward.

"Oh how slothful, of me to forget our acquaintance! How terribly foolish, inconsiderate, ignorant!" he screamed.

Tanya wondered if he had perhaps been a librarian before becoming a member of the witch´s cult. Because he sure seemed to love enumerating synonyms. Anyways it was time to move the plan along before he could make up some new brain-dead idea while beating his own body to death for a supposed failure. How had he called his underlings? Fingers?

"Could you stop wasting time please? Call your fingers all here so that I may officially introduce myself to them. We both have a mission after all."

He stopped mid swing and his eyes grew comically large.

"Yes, yes, yes, of course! The ordeal must commence! Come here you useless lot! Don´t keep her waiting!"

Hundreds of robed figures seemed to grow out of the ground in an instant. This kind of coordinated mass teleportation was a very frightening ability. Could they do that everywhere? Was there a range limit? Tanya dearly hoped so. After this whole mess was cleared up she would never leave the safety of the capital again to avoid such ambushes. If Petelgeuse had a shred more competence than he could have brought the entire country down in a few years through the use of guerrilla tactics and rapid strike manoeuvres, but thankfully he was as mad as Mary Sioux. (Well, he was even worse in some aspects, but less deranged in other so it evened itself out.)

"Are these all of your minions? I would hate to repeat myself to them at a later date. Such tardiness would waste much time we do not have!"

"Yes. Obviously! They all are here and listening closely! Now tell us, are you the one who was awaited?"

He was bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Glad you asked I - hrhgh." she coughed dramatically before continuing in a weaker voice. "Can you can –hrrr – come closer please..."

The green madman eagerly called his cultists together so that they were now standing shoulder to shoulder in a big uniform mass of purple and black. Perfect.

"Am I correct in my assessment that –hrghr..." she continued while tilting her head down so that her hair would fall over eyes.

"Huh?" asked Petelgeuse, obviously confused.

"...ahem - ... you believe in miracles?" she spoke barely audible.

"Of course! The witch´s love for us undeserving sinners is the greatest miracle there is! Nothing can compare to her majesty!"

She sighed.

"Then be amazed by our Lord´s true power."

"YES! Show us her love! How blessed we are!"

"He speaks in divine tongues to lead us to victory and cleanse our souls of the infernal taint."

"He?"

"His every word is justice and wisdom made manifest,"

"I don´t..."

"To guide us through the darkness of temptation."

"... understand?"

Pure golden light illuminated the surrounding houses despite the day being far from over.

"Fear the Lord."

It was in this moment that Petelgeuse knew he had made a critical error by trusting the blond, floating person who had interrupted the ordeal so unexpectedly.

"For the burden of your sins might be too much to bear."

"Get aw-"

"Ul Vita!"

Gravity increased by a hundred fold on the entire plaza and stomped every living being into the ground. Flesh practically liquefied as hundreds of cultists turned into red smears on the stone, completely flattened by the sudden increase in gravity. Bones horrifically broke and blood pressed itself into the earth as quickly as possible to escape further downwards.

Meanwhile Tanya´s golden gaze feasted on the evidence of god´s might in front of her. She hummed contently as she analyzed the human puddle with satisfaction. Her saviour never failed to amaze her.

Absent-mindedly she noticed that something was trying to invade her mind, but the power of god that was pleasantly flowing though her and warming her core was much too strong to allow a heretic entry into this divine servant. Tanya laughed in joy as the mysterious force receded as if burned.

What a beautiful day to do the Lord´s work...

Wait...

Ah, damn it! The cursed orb had taken control of her again! Using the disgusting thing twice in a day was taking its toll on her.

A check of her mana reserves revealed that she was down to roughly ten percent. Had the yin spell she cast not been made more efficient by the use of a computation jewel she would surely have expended all of it. To further preserve precious energy she cut off the flight formula she had been using and plummeted a few meters to the ground. This had unfortunately the effect of splattering her in the gooey remains of cultists from head to toe.

"Ugh- I will need an extra hot bath today."

Her feet were wobbly and she nearly tripped over an arm (or at least what she assumed had been an arm) before she could right herself. Everything below her neck was dripping red and sticky. Seldom in her life had she felt so repulsive. She was so distracted by the uncomfortable feeling of being covered in viscera that she rubbed her face without thinking only to realize a second too late that she had probably just worsened her appearance even further.

A curious (and very stupid) kid looked out from behind a barrel he had used to hide and saw her walking along the street. He did what any normal person in his age group would do and ran away screaming.

Tanya just shook her head and went on the arduous walk towards the mansion. If Petelgeuse had lied for some reason and had more troupes hidden around the area than they would either flee (which was far too logical for these fanatics) or attack the mansion with everything they got in a last ditch effort to fulfil their mission. So she needed to check on Emilia and make sure that everything was alright on her end before she could declare the operation a success.

Last time Ram and Emilia had been able to hold off hundreds of attackers for hours without her intervention. Therefore she was not concerned for their safety. But never say that thoroughness was not a staple of the Argent´s work ethic.

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

Rem anxiously watched the village come into view. Had Tanya really sensed witch cultists? How? Highly suspicious.

But if she was right then had she been able to defeat them on her own? Ram was alright as far as she could tell through their emotional bond which most likely also meant that Lady Emilia was unharmed as well. Her brave sister would never neglect the duty that Lord Roswaal had given her. They were both fine. (That was at least what she desperately tried to convince herself.)

No amount of speculation could have prepared her though for the absolute carnage that they found in the middle of the settlement. The ground was soaked with blood and the remains of purple-hooded corpses were smeared along the ground in such masses that it took her breath away.

And in front of it all stood a utterly viscera drenched Lady Tanya with a bored look on her face as if she had just finished airing laundry! What in Shaula´s name was happening?

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

Tanya had rolled the barrel she had seen earlier over into the middle of the plaza to sit on and wait. She had chosen the spot in the middle with the least amount of body parts in hopes of not freshly soaking her socks again.

Time flew by as she began to doze off until loud noises coming from the main road put her in high alerta again.

Ah, that must be Crusch´s army. Well, better late than never. She took a step into the direction of the sounds, but actually slipped this time for real and landed face first in the red mush. Damn it! All her effort of changing into some of Emilia´s spare clothes had been for naught! Nonetheless did she decide to continue her walk with as much dignity as she could muster in her gory state to welcome her rival with respect.

Multiple riders visibly flinched upon seeing her and her surroundings. Why? Those dead people were witch cultists. Their annihilation was absolutely no loss for society!

"A-a m-monster! Y-you a-are a monster!" a random soldiers cried despite the harsh glare that Crusch sent him. What an idiot.

"You haven´t noticed until now?" she replied sarcastically. Her tolerance for bullshit today was exhausted beyond belief. It wasn´t even funny anymore.

Without missing a beat she asked the most importantr question right now: "Rem, can the ground dragon make the trip back to the capital?"

"I believe not Lady Degurechaff. I pushed its limits too much today."

Great. Simply great. Pinching the bridge of her nose between two fingers she turned her attention to Crusch.

"Lady Crusch would you be willing to exchange one of your mounts for mine. I would be willing to pay any price as long as it can pull my carriage home before midnight."

"Yes, of course. There is no need to monetarily compensate me. See it as a sign of good will for our upcoming negotiations."

YES! She could bath today!

"You have my thanks Lady Crusch. Rem, make it happen. And before you ask, your sister and Emilia are fine and perfectly healthy. I will get some sleep in the cabin."

Tanya´s arms felt like lead as she ripped open the door and hastily shooed the occupants out. Subaru stayed seated, but her two useless bodyguards promptly left the interior.

"Ah... You aren´t dead." she noted dully as she identified the guard whose head had been blown off before her recent death. Although the fact that the worthless man had not been killed this time around filled her neither with relief nor disappointment; just indifference. His value as a human resource was astoundingly low.

With her last bit of willpower she thanked Crusch for her assistance, despite being ultimately unneeded and warned her of possible remaining cultists in the woods. She couldn´t bring herself to care that she was showing weakness in front of enemies and allies alike, because the hard bench inside the carriage pulled her in like a magnet. The thin padding of the seat became the most luxurious bed on earth for Tanya as her eyelids drifted shut. Finally...

Tanya´s dreams were filled with coffee, hot water and, most importantly, peace.

Notes:

Don´t worry :) More POV´s about what is happening will come.

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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:99,104

Tanya starts from Zero

A_Morte_Perpetua_Machina_Libera_Nos

Chapter 48: Bloody peace

Notes:

I hate Puck :(

EDIT: 1000 comments! (Well, half of them are my own, but it is still cool imo)

EDIT 2: 69 Bookmarks! Nice.

EDIT 3: 20.000 Hits!

EDIT 4: 21.000 Hits!

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

Chapter Text

Chapter 48

Emilia softly whimpered as she begged for Puck to come out of his crystal, only for nothing to happen. Silence. Why wouldn´t he answer? He must be resting to preserve his energy in the event that a fight broke out! Yes, surely! Puck would never leave her alone without a good reason! Whatever he was doing inside that crystal was extremely important!

Nonetheless could she not shake the awful feeling that Ram and she were hopelessly outmatched. From what the maid had told her, there had been too many cultists to count. Her contracted spirit was not showing himself and she had no idea where to find Beatrice. They were all alone...

"S-somebody... please help us..."

As if her prayers had been answered a loud knock resounded from the door.

"Lady Emilia it is safe. You can come out now. The witch cultists have been dealt with." said a muffled sounding Ram.

"Wha... R-really?"

"Yes. Lady Durgenshaft claims to have eliminated them."

"Uh... You mean Tanya?" she clarified. Ram had a funny habit of getting the names of guests wrong. She had mispronounced hers wrong at first too until Roswaal had explained it to her. Emilia pitied the girl. It must be hard to live with such a mental disability.

"Of course. Whoe else could I be referring to?"

"Riiiiight... But... uh... why is she here?"

"I do not know Milady. Perhaps you can ask her yourself as soon as you step outside that room."

"Uh... Okay."

The half-elf hastily removed the small barricade blocking the door and stepped outside. She went down the steps to the entrance hall and... stopped.

There stood the dripping figure of Tanya, littered with cuts and covered in gore. Her bright blue eyes stood out even more against her red skin. She looked like she had been through hell and back.

Immediately she doubled her speed and rushed to her side, but noticed at the last second that a hug might not be appropriate. Both because of Tanya´s potential injuries and the coating of blood that would no doubt stain her dress.

"By the dragon... Tanya what happened? Are you alright? Should I heal you? I know I'm not the best, but it would help a little..." she trailed off in embarrassment.

"Thank you, but that won´t be necessary."

"Did you get wounded in your battle against the... uh... cultists?"

Emilia wanted to slap herself for the stupid and insensitive question. Of course she had been wounded by the-

"No."

But then, by whom? Who else had attacked her friend? For some reason the mere thought made her angry.

"Actually we encountered the White Whale on our journey to the capital."

Silence permeated the air. Emilia was speechless. Ram sneezed.

"Together we were able to defeat the beasts and wanted to continue our trip, but Rem sensed a disturbing emotion from you and persuaded me to check up on the mansion. Is that correct Ram?"

The maid seemed to be gnashing her teeth before responding "Yes. I may have been shortly frightened by their fashion style. These cultist robes were of horrendous quality."

Emilia was still way too shocked to properly scold her on her screwed up priorities. Fashion was not important right now!

When her mouth finally caught up with her brain she managed to stammer:

"T-the W-white Whale? You k-k-killed the White Whale?"

"Indeed. And it was easier than I expected. Subaru helped me greatly in conceiving a plan."

Ram sneezed again. Hopefully she wasn´t developing a cold.

"Afterwards he came to me and expressed his desire to become a knight and I fully support the idea of his training. If he manages to actually qualify is another matter entirely, but physical exercise and martial drills can´t be bad for him. Nonetheless do I have no authority to allow him his wish, so you should write Subaru a letter and tell him your opinion."

"As if. Barusu can barely peel tatoes (potatoes) in the kitchen. He will only endanger himself by swinging a sword."

"No!" Emilia yelled out with an intensity that obviously surprised Ram.

"Have you already forgotten how he save Rem and the village children last week? How brave he stood against those mabeasts? Subaru tries so hard for us all and believes in us..."

"Even in me." the mean part of her brain added. Despite the biting self-hatred a warm feeling spread through her chest.

"The least we can do is to believe in him and his dreams too!"

"Well spoken... Anyways..." said Tanya.

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

"I have ended the main force of the threat with a decisive strike. I have eliminated all available cultists in the area that I know about, but some could still be hiding out in the woods. That is why I would advise caution in the next forty eight hours and recommend the hiring of a dedicated team of bodyguards for Lady Emilia immediately. I am going to write Lord Mathers on the matter personally and I expect to find comprehensive security improvements upon my next visit. It is quite disturbing to find another royal candidate, especially my ally, so unprotected. For a Margrave he sure seems to be stingy with the budget if he can´t defend his mansion properly."

Ok, maybe the last comment had been unnecessary, but the longer she thought about it the angrier she got. To leave Emilia with only a maid as company was not only irresponsible, it was borderline maliciously neglectful! Although if Ram could fight as well as what Tanya had seen from her sister then smaller threats were no problem. Still, one person could neither be awake for twenty four hours every day, nor could be in Emilia´s vicinity to protect her.

A specialized team of people with patrol routes and actual weapons would be needed

Ram puffed her cheeks angrily at the perceived insult to her master before she began: "With all due respect, but how dare you question Lord Roswaal´s plans! He has his reasons for..."

After enduring Petelgeuse so much today Tanya just couldn´t take the condescending palaver that the pink-haired maid was letting loose.

"Frankly, I do not care for the reasons behind his shortcomings. I made a deal with Lady Emilia not him and for that reason her safety is my only concern. Have you seen how many witch cultists were out there?"

"... No, but I guessed a few dozen."

"More like a few hundred."

The half-elf gasped and Ram went the slighted shade paler.

"Mph. Against my amazing strength they would have surely been no match." she tried to reassure.

"I doubt it. Among them was a sin archbishop who possessed abilities the likes of which I have never seen before. Your combat prowess might be sensational, but you would not have been able to prevail against him."

Tanya left out that even if Ram had been managed to defeat Petelgeuse he could have just found a new body to continue the fight. Oh, yeah... She should probably warn them on the off chance that he had already possessed another vessel.

"In fact, I am pretty sure I killed him, but you can never be too sure. He might have escaped against all odds so be vigilant and stay away from any suspicious people. Should you encounter somebody who calls themselves ´Petelgeuse´ then run away and hide. You cannot fight him."

"A-and you killed all those b-bad guys and the archbishop? A-alone?"

"Yeah?"

...

The flatness of their stares made even Tanya slightly uncomfortable. She decided to back-paddle a little bit to not appear too powerful. Screwing their expectations of her up would only do more harm than good in the future.

"I'm nearly out of mana though. It was pure luck that they were stupid enough to stand all next to each other. Whoever has to clean up that mess has my heartfelt condolences."

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

Emilia was not sure what to make of that statement. Did she even want to know?

Wait... If Tanya was nearly out of mana then she was certainly exhausted. She would need to rest somewhere!

"Do you want to sleep here? After all the trouble you went through for us it would only be right if you could relax before travelling again."

"I'm fine, thanks. I have my own business that I need to take care of in the capital and Reinhard is surely worried sick by now. Besides, Roswaal explicitly told me to leave his home today and I have no intentions of breaking that promise if not absolutely necessary."

The half-elf was despirited to be refused again. She wanted to do more for the one person who for the first time had given her actual hope for winning the throne, or at least making Lugnica a better place.

"But I would be more than thankful for some clean spare clothes and a jug of water."

Emilia smiled. That was something she could help her out with easily.

"Ah and before I forget... I kind of stumbled into Lady Karsten´s army on the way here. They were on the hunt for the White Whale, but were a few minutes too late. I requested them to come here as backup in case that I couldn´t handle the threat myself. You should not be alarmed when a small contingent of soldiers shows up at the village. Please treat them with respect and perhaps even invite Crusch for tea? Who knows, diplomatic relations between her camp and us can only be beneficial."

Tea? Now? She didn´t feel like drinking tea after she had escaped death today. But she would not falter and bear this burden. Emilia owed it to her people to give her best!

"Ram, please prepare the tea salon. Tanya is right. We all need to do our best. Goodbye Tanya. I am going to write you a letter tomorrow."

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

Crusch had a bad feeling already when she entered the village. Her ground dragon had been in battle with her before and was used to the smell of blood, but now he was fidgeting and fearfully sniffing the air. Whatever he was smelling must be extremely intense.

Her worries were somewhat soothed by the frightened villagers which were watching her through the windows. That showed that they had not been massacred by the witch´s cult at least. Hopefully they wouldn´t mistake her for a hostile invader.

When the middle of the small settlement came into view a small "Ohhh..." escaped her lips despite her usually tight self-control.

Corpses. In such quantities that they filled the entire market square. Hundreds of black robes were the only discerning feature to indicate that the puddle of blood and flesh had once consisted of humans. True, these cultists could hardly be called human anymore after what crimes they had committed, but this was maybe going a little too far.

In all her years on the battlefield she hadn´t ever seen a spell that could do such a thing! It must have been a single attack like the one Tanya used against Hakugei, because else the victims would have been more dispersed by trying to run away.

And in front of the most brutal massacre that Crusch had ever the displeasure of witnessing stood Tanya. Equally bloodied from head to toe. With a politely bored expression that spoke of total familiarity with such situations.

Once again young Tanya had proven her terrific combat prowess and her scary ability to easily obliterate seemingly insurmountable forces. Such a talent for violence only appeared once a generation (with the exception of the sword saint). When Crusch became queen she would definitely need to keep her close. Maybe as a general? No, a bloodthirsty battle maniac would want a more hands on approach...

She couldn´t blame her men for thinking of Tanya as some kind of devil. ´Slaughter incarnate´ was what she would have called the girl after having seen what she had done the White Whale. Despite her hand sign to stay quiet Ulruf, one of her more religious followers, called her a monster. Had he no survival instinct? If Tanya wanted then she could do the same to them all!

Or not, as the monster instantly collapsed inside her carriage, obviously exhausted. She wanted a new ground dragon and how could Crusch refuse her? If there was one person in this country who she didn´t want to make an enemy out of then it was this little monster with the backing of the sword saint. Any battle against them was doomed to failure.

Negotiations for a non-aggression-pact couldn´t come soon enough! But how?

Luckily an opportunity presented itself in form of a pink haired maid with an offer for tea. The prospect of conversing with Emilia was too good to pass up. This way she would secure her good graces with the devil!

Notes:

Crusch goes through a little paranoid phase...

If you could kill any Re:Zero character who would it be? Who do you hate the most?

Satella? Julius? Petelgeuse? Elsa?

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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:99,104

Tanya starts from Zero

A_Morte_Perpetua_Machina_Libera_Nos

Chapter 49: Confession cut short

Notes:

I´m back! I will not lie and say that I have a good excuse, but I was preparing some interesting things behind the scenes in my absence...

EDIT: 22.000 Hits!

EDIT2: 22.222 Hits!

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

Chapter Text

Chapter 49

Rem turned her head to watch the small army riding behind her carriage. Most of Lady Karsten´s men had been ordered to return to the capital with her while only a dozen stayed with their liege. Master Roswaal would hopefully forgive her that she had let these invaders trespass on his land unpunished. The lives of the villagers and her sister were more important than honour in her opinion.

Lady Tanya was fast asleep in the carriage with Subaru watching over her. Ram would have certainly objected to leaving a young maiden alone with a fool like "Barusu" as she affectionately called him, but Rem knew that he had a far too pure heart to try anything untoward. Her sister generally placed not much trust in her hero, now that she thought about it. Although, despite all her demeaning jokes and insults she held no real hatred for Subaru and Rem could sometimes even feel a certain fondness for the boy through their telepathic link.

Speaking of Subaru she had no real time to worry about him until now, but there was definitely something wrong with hero. He had suddenly gone silent and was almost completely unresponsive. From one moment to the other he had changed his whole demeanour and it frightened her? What pained him so? What could cause her love so much suffering?

Lady Tanya had earlier been able to help him when he gotten into a panic episode (which only made Rem slightly jealous). His voice had been too quiet to understand most of the conversation, but she was sure that he had some sort of magical ability he had not told anyone about. Perhaps something similar to her sister´s clairvoyance? How else could he have predicted that they would meet the White Whale?

She hoped with all her heart that she could find a way to ease his suffering. No... she would! He had risked his live for hers and she would give her own in return if she had to! Ram would be sad, but when she found love the way Rem had she would understand.

For now though she had to steer the coach and keep an eye out for Lady Karsten´s men if they tried to stab them in back.

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

Tanya awoke a few hours later groggily and with aching limbs from the uncomfortable rest on a bench that was normally just used for sitting. Her mana reserves had refilled themselves more than half-way which officially made her combat ready. Unofficially she felt like shit. She was hungry and covered in dried blood. So it was a more or less usual work day for her.

She stretched her stiff joints and rubbed her arms to get the blood flowing before treating herself to a strip of dried meat that she had stowed away in her pocket. Its time in out in the open had made it flavourless and hard, but she didn´t mind. After all, most of the food at the eastern front had been worse.

Only when she had thoroughly cleaned her teeth from leftover meat did she look over at her companion inside the cabin who was blankly staring at his lap. She frowned.

"Subaru, what is it? Why are you looking so down? I defeated the witch´s cultists. Emilia and Ram are safe for now. Everything is going fine. You weren´t this gloomy the last time."

Oops. Tanya wanted to slap herself for letting that piece of information slip. Her time loop had given her much information about this world and raised many more questions. She wasn´t even sure if she was not just hallucinating all of this right now!

He looked up at her, but his eyes were clouded in a way that reminded her of that one young officer at the Rhine front who broke down after two months of service and hung himself in the crew quarters. While most people would describe that as tragic she had only contempt for that waste of a man.

Instead of dealing with his emotional problems in a mature way he had sought the easy way out. At least he could have led a suicide charge at the Francois trenches and serve his fatherland with his last moments. Then she wouldn´t have had to write a letter to his family detailing his end in a suitably tactful and discreet manner. (It had cost her a good night´s sleep and that was more than his miserable existence had been worth.)

What could have broken Subaru to the core? Which recent event could have traumatized him so much?

Tanya replayed the incidents of the last few hours in her head.

The fight with the whales...

The ambush on the road...

Her meeting with Petelgeuse...

How he killed her and probably her allies as well...

Wait a minute...

Subaru had talked about dying a few days ago. In his "vision" before her battle against the White Whales he had also only managed to foresee events until the point of his demise. He possessed knowledge he should not have access to and was a newcomer to this world just like her. He had never directly confirmed the exact the specifics of his strange ability to see the future, but the theory that began to form in her head seemed the most likely.

Ockham´s razor said that the simplest answer was the most likely one.

The coincidences were just too great.

Subaru almost certainly possessed the capability of rewinding time in case of his death.

Just like she had done.

If this was a reliable skill and not a one-time phenomenon then that made him potentially the most dangerous person in this world for Tanya. A potential enemy who could break time itself and discover all her future plans was an insurmountable obstacle. So it was now more important than ever to keep him close and forge a positive relationship with the boy. Despite all the trouble the irresponsible margrave had put her in she was thankful to have made an alliance with the Emilia camp so soon.

Nonetheless did Tanya need to confirm if her theory was correct before she could begin with making strategies to counter Subaru´s "reset". Should she just ask him?

If Subaru hadn´t already figured out that she shared his gift (curse?) by her different behaviour compared to the last loop then he discover it with time. The longer she waited to admit her own powers, the less probable it was that he would trust her after that. Most humans were irrational enough to misinterpret the withholding of information as a sign of disdain or ill-intent.

Giving away info that he maybe already knew would serve to make her appear more honest and open without costing her anything. And more importantly, by dictating the terms of their conversation she would remain in control and dissuade him from spreading her secrets uncontrollably.

She raised a sound suppressant barrier inside the cabin with a stray thought before yelling:

"Subaru! Focus on me!"

When his eyes stayed unfocused she reacted instinctively and slapped him. Hard.

"Aghhh... why?" he muttered dumbfounded. The light was returning to his eyes at the very least.

"Subaru! I need you to listen to me closely."

She leaned forward and looked him deep into the eyes.

"Have you ever died and returned to a point in time before that?"

"W-Wha... H... How..."

While that was not really an answer it confirmed her suspicions.

"You did. I know that because it happened to me too just a few hours ago."

"B-But... I... I... I CAN RETURN BY DEATH!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Tanya was glad she had magically soundproofed the carriage before this conversation. Else the blue maid and her useless bodyguards would now be privy to strategic information of immeasurable value.

Subaru seemed to wait for something as he looked around him. Strange. She would ask later.

"Yes."

Tanya tried her best empathetic voice paired with the saddest smile she could muster.

"It must have been hard to carry such a burden. All alone, right? You could not tell anybody about this, am I correct?"

Tears were welling up in his eyes and he wordlessly shook his head.

Good. This knowledge needed to be kept secret lest the whole world would be gunning for their heads. Turning back time was a boon greater than all riches of the earth and a weapon deadlier than a nuclear missile in the right hands. Naturally she intended for those hands to be only her own. She herself was the only one that she could trust with this power. It was for the best of both her and the boy if no living soul ever caught wind of this.

"I only experienced coming back to life once" she lied smoothly, "so I can´t say I know how terrible it must have been for you, but I am always willing to listen. Together we can maybe-"

Suddenly the coach stopped moving. The sound suppressing barrier worked both ways so she had no idea what was going on outside. She smiled apologetically at Subaru and motioned that they would continue their exchange later.

When she dispersed her formula and stretched her neck to look out the window she saw a tall man clad in white robes standing in the middle of the road.

Rem was shouting: "Move! Step aside or we will make you!"

"Hey, hey, hey! There is no need for hostilities! I am just a traveller upon the road. Are you usually this insensitive to peaceful innocents you come across?" replied the stranger.

"No, but you are blocking our way. We are travelling urgently."

"Yes I am too. Do I not have the same right as you to traverse this road? Are you denying my right for a nice summer stroll? My right to move freely through this supposed free country? Do you truly call me less than a human being by denying me the simplest rights?"

The weirdly white man continued to ramble on and Tanya lost her patience. On some level she could understand – appreciate even – a citizen standing up for their rights, but this was too much. The needs of the many outweighed that of the few. He was holding up their journey for no good reason, because he wouldn´t move despite being able to without effort.

A quick look behind her confirmed that Crusch´s warriors were watching so she would have to solve the issue peacefully.

"I am deeply sorry to interrupt you good sir, but I fear you might be misconstrue our intentions. We meant no slight against your person, but simply wanted to convey to you that we cannot move ourselves so it would be prudent if you could vacate the street, allowing us both to go our marry way."

Her stilted way of speaking had been chosen to communicate with the obvious lawyer more seamlessly. The man knew his rights and would hopefully adhere to common logic.

"While it was indeed rude to interrupt me I forgive you this once for being relatively courteous."

He did not move.

"Then would you kindly step to the side? Your time is surely as precious as ours."

This time she couldn´t fully hide the annoyance in her tone.

"Yes, my time is most sacred and valuable, but I have not only come here for a walk. I am on a mission of the utmost importance! I would not have left my home and my wonderful wives for anything less. You wouldn´t happen to be Tanya von Degurechaff, would you?"

Instantly she was on high alert. Was this a trap? An assassination attempt? A messenger?

"Why yes? And what would you do if I were this person?" she asked appearing totally unconcerned on the outside while reading a dozen combat formulae in her head.

"Oh, well. I do not think your likes deserve to hear this, but I am a most generous person and will let you partake in the honour of knowing my name. I am Regulus Corneas, sin archbishop of the witch's cult representing greed."

Oh fuck this.

Not again!

Notes:

Her luck is really terrible. Or is it? Stay tuned... hehehe

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Creator Chose Not To Use Archive WarningsGraphic Depictions Of Violence

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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:

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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:99,104

Tanya starts from Zero

A_Morte_Perpetua_Machina_Libera_Nos

Chapter 50: Generous fate

Notes:

Over 90.000 words!

EDIT: 23.000 Hits!

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

Chapter Text

Chapter 50

Astonishingly, Rem reacted before Tanya could and threw her Morningstar (where did she hide that?) at the sin archbishop. Tanya stalled her shot to observe what the man in white would do. Petelgeuse had an invisible force field that could block her bullets and rip people to shreds. Did Regulus have the same?

The spiked ball of Rem´s weapon closed in at blinding speeds, but to Tanya it looked like slow motion. Her target made no sign to dodge or acted startled in the slightest. Had she overestimated his abilities?

Then the heavy steel orb impacted him with the force of a train only to bounce off like it had hit a wall of stone instead of flesh! Not even his clothes appeared rumpled by the attack!

What?

There had been no shield to block that throw. Tanya´s magically enhanced eyesight had catalogued every detail of the collision and she knew that the weapon had not missed by even a millimetre. Was he invincible? Hopefully that was only temporary.

It looked like her theory was being tested by Rem who swung her Morningstar again and again, hitting Regulus each time, but failing to damage him at all. She studied his facial expressions carefully in search of any indication of fatigue or effort that could mark the limits of his invulnerability. Instead she saw only boredom and annoyance.

Finally he sighed and with one lazy hand movement the sin archbishop swatted the chain away which broke the thick steel apart like it had been porcelain.

"Hey! Stop this! I am a reasonable and collected person who despises senseless violence, but if you keep this up you are giving me no choice but to retaliate!" he scolded the blue-haired girl like one would do to a naughty child.

Physical attacks obviously had no effect on him. Had he some kind of magic spell to deflect any and all projectiles? Or was he just generally impenetrable? Was the super strength part of his ability or something different? So many unknowns.

Close range could perhaps be more effective to find a weak point, but she would certainly not risk coming closer to the terrorist. With some effort she could maybe create a ring of fire around him to cook him alive while depriving him of oxygen, but with all the people in close vicinity that would only end in disaster.

Peacefully deescalating this situation just like she had done with Petelgeuse was the best option. So far Regulus seemed relatively reasonable and calm after all. He was at least leagues better than that complete maniac Petelgeuse. If she could get him to go on another long tangent then that would buy her time to further scheme.

"Rem, stop this at once! You can do nothing to him. He´s invincible!" she ordered while stepping outside the carriage.

At first she didn´t appear to register Tanya´s words as she swung the remaining chain of her Morningstar wildly, but after a few seconds she huffed and reluctantly halted her assault.

"Mr. Corneas forgive us. We just had a run-in with another sin archbishop recently and that ended rather unpleasantly as you can see."

She pointed at her blood encrusted torso. Tanya consciously omitted the fact that she had most likely killed sloth and all of his followers. As a fellow member of the witch´s cult he would not react well to the news that she had eliminated his co-worker.

"Those fools can´t do anything right. Pathetic as usual, but I am neither petty nor merciless as I am completely satisfied with my life. Indeed, I am the most satisfied existence there ever was! So I forgive your fruitless attempts at harming me and come to the point. My time is not limited, because I am immortal and perfect and will persist long after all you far less satisfied lives have faded away. Nonetheless do I like to spend my precious, irreplaceable time in the comfort of my own home, for I have no real requirement to venture outside. I am completely satisfied after all and the world holds no wonders that could even compare to my own greatness."

Damn, if he had not introduced himself as the representative of greed then Tanya would have thought that he was the sin archbishop of pride! Regulus liked to hear himself talk way too much and boasted his ego with the casualness of someone telling facts about the weather. It was quite repulsive how someone could be so full of themselves.

In a way it reminded her of Priscilla who believed herself to be a goddess walking amongst mortals, but she had the decency to endlessly talk about her assumed perfectness. Tanya could respect her self-confidence at least, where Regulus seemed to try painfully to convince his audience that he was in fact awesome. A symptom of a fragile ego, not of untouchable superiority.

Tanya used his egotistical posturing and replaced her position with an illusionary clone in a quick moment of distraction. She slipped away behind the coach unnoticed, her footsteps silenced by another spell.

"But enough of that. I have come here to hand you this crystal which allegedly is of grave importance for the future. I seldom consult my gospel, because I am already satisfied with my life as any good human being should be, but fate was oddly insistent that you must receive this trinket."

He held up a necklace with a diamond shaped, golden gemstone hanging from it.

"Luckily for you I was in the area and could deliver it to you quickly. Is that not convenient? Is that not nice? As I am perfectly content with how I am and what I possess I naturally have no need to help others, yet I went out of my way to provide you with this artefact which holds no value to me. And what do I receive in return? I am attacked, belittled, insulted and looked down upon!"

Not wanting to interrupt him lest he would become angry Tanya loudly cleared her throat and raised the hand of her illusion. She needed to stop his rant before he could talk himself into a fit of rage and become even more mentally unstable.

It did little to quell his angry tirade, but the clone diverted his attention for long enough so that she had time to get into his blind spot and take to the air. Most humans made the critical mistake of never bothering to look up more than forty five degrees and the sin archbishop was no exception. Evolution had not conditioned them yet to look out for the ultimate predator of the air: combat mages.

"The misfortune and injustice I have to suffer on a daily basis is absolutely abhorrent! I give and give and give to this world and only earn scorn and disrespect! A less kind-hearted and generous man would have destroyed you all! You do not know how easy for me it would be to turn you to dust, but I held back! Even though you deserve punishment for attacking a peace loving, polite and perfectly reasonable individual like myself I will temper justice with mercy today."

Tanya couldn´t help but scoff quietly. What had he expected when he introduced himself as an enemy of the state and leader of possibly the most hated criminal organization on the planet?

Regulus gestured at her decoy: "Honestly, if I hadn´t wanted to confirm if you were a suitable candidate to become my eleventh wife after the spot had recently been vacated then I would not have bothered to walk all the way out here."

Wife? He wanted to take her as his wife? She was seventeen for crying out loud! Was he a disgusting lecher like that thrice-damned pervert Loria? Her trigger finger twitched erratically and she bared her teeth at the loathed memory.

"The other candidates were all disappointments so far. Well, maybe the half-elf could be different. Her beauty is rumoured to be extraordinary. You on the other hand are unfortunately also not what I am looking for. You must feel terrible right now, but do not worry! In a few years your body will certainly have developed and you will be welcome to seek out my judgement again."

She wanted to strangle that bastard! As if!

"Now I have to get going. My lovely wives are waiting for me and I have missed their company for too long already. Take the crystal and I can leave."

Tanya forcefully calmed herself down and projected her voice through her illusion to command one of her bodyguards to come and pick the item up. Her decoy could not interact with solid matter and she had no intention of coming close to that lunatic. (Not to mention the very real chance that the crystal was cursed or was another trap of some kind that could be dangerous to her.) The guard on the other hand was expendable and would not be missed by her should Regulus decide to turn him into minced meat.

He was too scared to move though.

A gentle burn from an invisible heat-ray formula (basically an overpowered laser normally used to start campfires) broke him out of his frightened stupor and sent him on his way. Every step towards the impatiently waiting Regulus made the man quiver in fear like he was approaching certain doom. An understandable reaction in Tanya´s eyes, but his low self-control showed his lacking training.

With trembling fingers he grasped the necklace and sprinted back to the carriage. Everybody watching let out a sigh of relief.

"Good enough I guess. If you will excuse me, I will be going now. Not that I would need an excuse, but in contrast to you I am polite."

The sin archbishop turned around and began to walk away at a leisurely pace without a care in the world. His back was wide open for an ambush, but his apparent invulnerability proved that he had no need to be cautious in this situation.

"We can´t let him get away!" yelled one of Crusch´s soldiers. Many agreed loudly.

Surprisingly Rem stepped in: "Fools! We can´t do anything against him!"

"We are knights of Lugnica! We cannot let evildoers go unpunished!" he replied.

"You are going to get killed! Think of what your Lady would say to that!"

Tanya´s opinion of the maid was rising. Overall she had very good head on her shoulders. Sadly the shouting idiot wasn´t half as sharp and recklessly charged forward on his ground dragon.

Notes:

Hmmmmm... Why could his gospel suddenly have changed? Hmmmmm...

Do you know what the gift could be?

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Chapter 1653 - 49