Interlude III Pt 2

Shuna paused, the faintest trickle of a familiar energy crossing the limit of her Magic Sense.

"-find Hakurou and the others and start directing people from there." Shuna turned, calling over her shoulder as she began to walk away. "I'll meet up with you all later on. Make sure he doesn't slack off anymore, okay Shion?"

"Of course, Lady Shuna."

With a groan, Rimuru got to his feet, brushing himself off.

"Ugh." He tilted his head and shook it, trying to get snow out of his ear. After a moment, he stopped, straightening up. "Is it just me, or has she picked up some of Tanya's mannerisms?"

Shion put a hand to her chin. "Has she? Lady Shuna's always been a good influence."

"Good influence?" Rimuru murmured. He raised an eyebrow, glancing at her, "And hey, how come you were listening to her orders so readily? Aren't I your actual boss?"

"Of course, Lord Rimuru! I'm sorry about that!" Shion nodded emphatically, "However, Lady Shuna is much scarier than you are, so I couldn't help it."

Rimuru blinked.

"Ah. Okay."

-=-=-=-

Afternoon

Tanya's Home

Tempest, Jura Tempest Federation

Tanya slipped through the front door to hers and Mary's shared house, sliding it shut behind her before making her way towards her room on the right.

Man, that onsen really hit the spot after a week away. No matter how surprisingly nice the bath was at our inn, it was still an inn's bath. Not at all the blissful burn of mineral hot spring soak.

She and Mary had quickly made their way back here after arriving, seen and heard by no one – except a short mental conversation with Souei, who Tanya had promised a full report and discussion with after a day or so of rest – as they walked through and sometimes flew over the massive layers of snowfall blanketing the city.

After a taking a short while to unpack, change clothes, and eat from the small store of both unperishable and magically preserved foods Tanya kept well stocked, the two had made their way back across the city, over towards the private hot spring facility afforded to Tempest's highest ranked members.

Which led to this moment now, wherein Tanya had decided she'd finally had enough time in the onsen. Mary, on the other hand, elected to stay a little longer, to relax more and the chat a bit with Shion, who had arrived just a few minutes before.

Which meant Tanya was returning home alone.

Fine by her.

Honestly, Tanya was happy to see the other girl make an attempt to be social with someone else. Not that Tanya minded Mary's company, really (and wasn't that such an odd thing to admit). It's just that it certainly wasn't healthy or productive for Mary to limit herself in her interactions, especially considering her future position as a member of Rimuru's Executives.

Not that Tanya had outright told Mary she was expected to reach that point, but it was a foregone conclusion, an obvious eventuality at this point, such that it didn't really need to be said in her eyes.

Otherwise, she won't be allowed to use the onsen anymore. Ha.

It was for high-ranking Tempest members only, after all. Technically speaking, Mary didn't have a job or actual, Rimuru-denoted role in Tempest. She was Tanya's ward, essentially, for as long as Tanya intended to keep things that way.

If I actually had to worry about rent and such, I might actually care. But I suppose letting the bird fly from the nest too early can be a detriment to its growth.

Tanya yawned, stretching her arms above her head as she made her way through across the living room and to her door. Her eyes shut as she kept one arm up in her stretch, reaching down with the other.

Then, it's a good thing the bird Mary Sue has fully functional wings of her own now, right?

Her hand rested inside the door's indented handle, quickly sliding it open and stepping inside without aplomb. Her eyes lazily slipped back open as she made her way in.

Well, mostly functional. Let's not be too hasty-

Tanya blinked.

For a second, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.

They weren't.

"Shuna?"

Shuna stared back at her, gaze half-lidded and expression holding nothing short of heat.

"Hello, Tanya."

Other than the covers to Tanya's futon, the only thing she appeared to be wearing was a smile. As if on cue, said cover fell from her shoulders, pooling around her waist. Tanya stared, almost subconsciously sliding the door to her room shut behind her.

"I've missed you." Shuna smiled at her. It was not something that could be described as nice.

Hungry fit it much better.

"O-oh." Tanya felt a burn across her cheeks. She cleared her throat, her mouth suddenly dry.

Perhaps she was more tired than she thought, to be so openly slipping up like this.

"Well?"

"Well?" Tanya echoed. She couldn't help but stare for another moment, before shaking her head, "Ah, Shuna? You remember when we agreed it would be better to not get too close, right? To keep a, ah, comfortable distance no matter what… intimacy, may have previously happened between us?"

Truth be told, Tanya was having quite a difficult time herself remembering that agreement of theirs.

"No." Shuna stood, slowly, allowing the rest of the futon's covers to fall fully away, "No, I do not."

Aaaaand… it was gone.

Tanya's breath froze in her chest. Like many before her, Tanya had a serious weakness towards beautiful women. Especially ones that looked at her like that.

"Damn." She exhaled slowly, "Neither do I."

It seems it was still impossible to deny a woman who wanted her so thoroughly.

In this life, and her last.

Not that she'd ever regretted it.

-=-=-=-

Same Time

Tempest Executives' Private Hot Spring Facility

Tempest, Jura Tempest Federation

"You know…" Mary put a hand to her chin, staring across the onsen pool during a quiet moment, "I never really thought about it before, but Rimuru's pretty short, huh?"

Everyone else – that being Rimuru, Milim, Shion, Souka, and Haruna – froze, each turning to give Mary some sort of look.

In Rimuru's case, disbelief with a slight tinge of betrayal. For the others, it was bemusement.

Mary blinked.

"Oh, I guess I said that out loud."

Not good!

With all the attention now turned on her, Mary quickly tried to think of a way to turn their attention away. Even friendly, she wasn't quite a fan of having so many curious eyes on her, especially when her katana was back at home.

Not to mention, the fact that her existence was being openly acknowledged could logically lead to the fact that her existence had not been a factor over the previous week. Tanya had explicitly stated to keep their mission under wraps, and any chance of things getting out was heightened in any situation Mary happened to be involved and under pressure in.

It should be stated that she was certainly overreacting just a bit, and that most people's logic was not nearly as well defined and efficient as one Tanya von Degurechaff's. Really, she hardly needed to worry… not that she was aware of this.

"I mean…" Mary glanced across the area, "It's odd, right? Do you think you're feeding him enough?"

This question she directed to Shion, specifically. The Kijin tilted her head.

"Really, that only makes sense. You should try to cook more for them. I bet the extra will make up the difference."

Shion blinked, slowly nodding as if that make complete sense. Meanwhile, Rimuru's stare slowly melted from slight disbelief and betrayal into one of full-on horror.

Rimuru, I am so sorry.

Now, for the nail in the coffin.

"Or at least, I think I remember Tanya telling me something like that. And she's usually right about things like these, so," Mary shrugged, "Take that how you will."

"She's right!" Shion yelled, jumping up in the bath and generally creating exactly the sort of commotion and redirection of attention Mary was looking for.

Though, Mary did blush slightly and look away, as Shion's generous… personality traits bouncing up with her.

I am a genius.

It was perhaps the first time Mary had ever thought this and been at least somewhat close to correct about it.

-=-=-=-

A Few Days after Scylla's Attack

Temporary Office Space, Xerxes Military HQ

Xerxes, Eastern Empire

"So, let me get this straight." A cold, high voice echoed through the room.

High heels clicked on tiled floor, black fabric swishing about almost daringly as the tall, blue haired figure paced the length of the office. In front of her, General Garmstrong, Colonel Charger, and what remained of Garmstrong's still loyal and highest-ranking subordinates kneeled in deference.

"Xerxes, one of our Empire's most crucially placed cities, has been under siege by a variety of unidentifiable 'shadow creatures' for the past several months. Yet, no word is sent to the capital. No requests for aid, hardly even a footnote in your regular reports, and certainly no admittance of weakness or any kind."

She reached the end of the office, languidly spinning on her heel and resuming her pace.

"Then, at the peak of this siege, a group is made known to the highest authority in Xerxes. An insurrectionist party, who appears to be inducing this siege. A group with apparent ties within high command of Xerxes itself. Yet, again, there was, at best, a footnote of a word sent. The capital… indeed, the high office of the King himself is left almost completely in the dark as to the desperate dealings of a key city under his illustrious reign."

The woman continued to pace, not looking directly at any of the room's other occupants.

"This group, after completing some sort of objective of theirs, promptly moved to achieve another. This being the sacrifice of the population of Xerxes in a gaudy, hasty, poorly thought-out grab for the top rung of the world's ladder. They incited a veritable civil war within the ranks of the Xerxes military. Approximately half the soldiers in this very headquarters were inspired to turncoat."

She stopped in the middle of the office, turning her golden glare on General Garmstrong.

"I will give you credit. All of those soldiers are either dead, or captured and wishing they were dead. But that is a small consolation. As is the fact that this little rebellion failed utterly and miserably in their goals. Because, General, not only was this group able to operate under your nose for several months up until the very day of their open action, but they also were not even quelled by your efforts alone."

The woman paused, her gaze searching. Garmstrong chose then for a response.

"My Lady, I assure you that this rebellious fire was stamped out by my forces alone. To say otherwise is a great disrespect to those who gave both valiant efforts and their lives to protect and save our glorious Empire's ideals."

"Hold your tongue, lest I cut it out. You would dare lie to my very face? Me, a True Dragon? The only reason I allow you to still live despite your failings is because I currently lack critical information regarding the situation at hand. Continue to test me in this regard and that too shall be forfeit."

The woman, the True Dragon Velgrynd, narrowed her eyes.

"You wish to speak of respect? Where was your respect for the chain of command, of reporting to your proper superiors? You speak of the ideals of our glorious Empire? Where was your love and deference to the emperor's guiding hand as is the first and most important of all ideals? Perhaps- no, not perhaps. It is a certainty that the leadership of Xerxes has been given far too much leeway in their dealings. I've had enough."

"Enough? My Lady-"

"Quiet. I've made my decision already; you have no influence over it. I have been given orders to handle the situation in Xerxes however I see fit. And, in my eyes, I don't believe a group of incompetent buffoons such as yourselves should be allowed to escape this unpunished. I believe starting over may well be our best option now. Oh."

Velgrynd looked down at her nails, either not noticing or uncaring of the shocked and horrified looks she was receiving.

"Don't worry; your families won't experience any penalties. There's no need for the bloodshed to spread into the civilian sector, after all. You will take your sins along with you into the afterlife, of this I can assure you."

You could hear a pin drop.

"My men have done nothing wrong."

Velgrynd gave an annoyed sigh.

"I don't care, General. Really, your death, the death of your men, it's all meaningless to me. I stopped caring the very second you all-"

She looked up, just in time for Garmstrong's glowing saber to slash at her neck.

Fool.

Velgrynd swiped up casually with a hand, faster than the eye could see.

CRACK!

The blade shattered.

"Hmph. Runes for durability, magically-enhanced sharpness, and compulsive truth?" Velgrynd smirked, flexing her hand idly, "How cute."

Her arm shot forward, stabbing through the side of Garmstrong's chest.

"Finding a suitable replacement for you will be a pain. But I'd argue cleaning my glove after this will be an even greater one. Oh well." She yanked her arm back out, watching carelessly as Armstrong slumped to the floor, "Red is such a lovely color, I will admit. Perhaps a change of wardrobe is in order soon, hmm?"

A wave of lightning engulfed her position. Over the sharp buzz and electric atmosphere, she continued to speak.

"You know, I'm actually… well, happy isn't the right word. Neither is proud. Delighted is almost correct. I am delighted you decided to fight back."

The lightning dispersed, revealing Velgrynd no worse for wear.

"Because, at the very least, it means you all stuck to your guns. That you truly believe in your ideals. That's a level of conviction I can appreciate. It's just too bad you couldn't dedicate that conviction to the proper place."

She held out a hand, pointing a sharpened nail at the now standing group of uniformed soldiers.

"I am also delighted, you may say, because now I have an even greater reasoning behind eliminating the entire worthless lot of you."

-=-

It wasn't even a fight.

"How uncivilized." Velgrynd brushed soot off her shoulder. Someone else's blood, staining her hand, smeared against her skin. She grimaced. "And gross. Must I always get my hands dirty? What do we even have elite soldiers and sleeper agents for if they can't do their jobs?"

She sighed, giving up for the moment on anything resembling clean.

"Speaking of which, I suppose that is my next stop, isn't it? Let's see why Xerxes' was so unprepared for this rabble."

She left the ruined office space then, not looking back.

-=-=-=-

Evening, Same Day

Free Guild Headquarters

Kingdom of Ingrassia

"So, Scylla's plan ended up in a failure, did it?"

"Aah, it's so frustrating too!" Tear flailed her arms dramatically, "If only I'd been there! We had everything set up perfectly. I definitely could have kept those bugs from interfering!"

"Hm, it's true that it's a shame your bold gambit did not pay off. Over 100,000 lives at least, all for each Head to make use of however they wish."

The young man, with a face almost appearing too young to even consider alcohol, raised his glass to his lips, taking a leisurely sip.

"Truly unfortunate. But, I wouldn't say such an outcome is one to shed tears over. Scylla itself had its ranks filled with odd characters. Strange personalities, wide ranging abilities and experience, conflicting goals… few of them could truly be controlled at the level necessary, before or after the success of Scylla's schemes. Yes, perhaps this is for the best."

"But Yuukiiiiii," Tear stretched out the last syllable until she ran out of breath, quickly pausing to inhale before speaking again, "We could have been done with everything! So many plans and ideas, ruined! Set back! Never to see success in the slightest! AAHH!!"

"I'm not so sure." Yuuki Kagurazaka frowned thoughtfully, well used to her theatrics, "That vampire friend of yours, Octavius Valentin. He was fairly strong, wasn't he?"

Tear, apparently calm again, strolled over, laying her arms and head on his desk.

"Yeah, for sure. He was definitely above Demon Lord Carrion's level, or something like that." She tilted her head side to side, "Uh, but I don't really know who'd win. Carrion's probably a better fighter, but Octavius could really push his own strength to the max. It might make up for that skill difference. Hmm… power scaling is weird…"

"Well, it doesn't really matter. Either way, he certainly wasn't a pushover. By most standards, at least." Yuuki leaned forward, "And to stop Scylla, someone would have had to defeat him. Not only that, but they'd also have to have beaten the other present Heads as well."

"Which means they'd have to be super strong!" Tear jumped up, leaping on top of Yuuki's desk. "Right?"

"Right," He nodded, taking another sip from his glass, "And then there's Octavius's Demon Lord Seed. I think it's likely to assume this mysterious person didn't already have one, which means…"

"They should have one now." Tear leaned forward, until her mask was just centimeters away from Yuuki's face, "Someone strong enough to beat a Demon Lord Seed like Octavius. Someone who probably only just now got one."

"Someone like that would make a fine new piece to wrap strings around." He smirked, "Or, a brand-new neck to string up, to keep from interfering. Either way, I'm finding myself excited for the future."

"So, what do we do now?"

"Now?" Yuuki leaned back, draining the rest of his glass without flinching, "Now, you bring in your friend Drake, and we have a little chat with him about what happened in Xerxes."

-=-=-=-

Meanwhile, in a different world…

Summer

Kruskos Army Air Corps Testing Lab

Southwest of Berun, Germanian Empire

"Doctor! Doctor Schugel!!" An aide burst into the office, hunching over and gasping air.

"Hah? What is it, you idiot?" Schugel gestured across his desk, at the seated Weiss and Viktoriya.

The two mages shared a glance, both secretly relieved from the interruption.

How did the Colonel deal with this man so often and not kill him?

…was the thought running through both of their heads.

"Can't you see I'm busy?"

"We've- we got something! Something big!" The aide straightened up, gesturing wildly. "The sensors went haywire! The readings they picked up are the clearest we've seen yet!"

"IS THAT SO!?" Schugel grinned maniacally, "HA! HAHA!"

Viktoriya and Weiss sweatdropped.

Schugel suddenly turned.

"You two!"

"Yes?" They responded blandly.

"You understand what this means, yes?"

"Yes."

"No."

Weiss and Viktoriya glanced at each other.

To tell the truth, neither of them had been listening. Not even the yelling had reached them, the duo well accustomed by this point to ignoring the scientist's mad ravings.

Weiss said yes to save face, and Visha simply disliked Schugel and didn't really care what he thought of her. His only relevance to her was what his experiments might bring about.

Or rather, who they might bring back.

"This means," Schugel continued, seeming to not care about their responses. Go figure. "That we are that much closer to our ultimate goal! The next phase of testing shall soon begin! HAHAHA!"

The next phase of testing?

For the first time in a while, a spark of something other than irritation appeared at Schugel's words.

It was truly a miracle, wasn't it?

Ah pay no mind to it. Truly.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Known Skills List

Tanya:

Common Skill: Thought Communication

Extra Skill: Flames of Babylon

Extra Skill: Magic Sense

Extra Skill: Magic Aura

Extra Skill: Voice of the World Communication

Unique Skill: Tetra Breaker

Mary:

Extra Skill: Magic Sense

Extra Skill: Magic Aura

Extra/Intrinsic Skill: Physical Enhancement

Unique Skill: Ability Severance