Explosions and Reparations

Groggy, foggy thoughts circled through Tanya's head. Well, she wasn't dead, then.

The last two times that that had happened, she'd been fairly cognizant of her surroundings. She was surprised, honestly.

The only people who knew serious healing magic were people with the Priest job. If Being X had just stopped them from healing her…

Well, she sure as hell wouldn't be feeling this bad, that was for sure. She'd be dead.

She opened her eyes, and looked around the room she was in. It was better than her stable, if the bed underneath her was anything to go by. No windows, very little in the way of physical possessions, besides…

Tanya glared. In an alcove on the wall, some sort of statue sat. It was definitely religious, if the wings on the back were anything to go by. Just under that alcove, Tanya's clothes, looking brand new, were neatly folded. Her hat rested on top of the pile, and the Type 95 sat next to it.

Sighing, Tanya began to run through what she liked to call her diagnostic check. The name was a bit of a misnomer – she wasn't a machine – but it reminded her of the technology of her first life, and it was much less disheartening than calling it a 'post-crisis checkup on her health and sanity.'

She tried to move her limbs. Each of those was working, even if they ached every time she even thought about moving them. Sitting up slightly, a peek underneath her sheets confirmed that she…

She frowned. She was naked, and her abdomen looked untouched, which would be bad ordinarily, but she was only confused due to the lack of even bandages.

She supposed in a world so replete with easy access to fast and efficient ways to fix people up, such things were unnecessary, but they did help to stop bleeding, at least until she got to the Priests.

She blinked. What if she made bandages?

She was making a gun, after all. There had to be a ton of things she could make to reap in a ton of cash.

Tanya filed the idea away for later and laid back down on the bed, glaring up at the wooden beams that held up the ceiling. At the very least, it was a good thing that this world wasn't practicing superstitious methods of bloodletting.

She laid there for an hour, thinking about trying to get up, regardless of the inevitable pain, when the door opened a crack. Tanya sent an inquiring look towards the door while simultaneously raising the sheet to cover her up to her shoulders, and a Priest peeked through.

"Hey, Degurechaff. I'm just here to cast a bit of healing magic," she said. Tanya raised an eyebrow at her.

She certainly didn't seem to be the type to be a nurse of some kind, with how… lacking her bedside manner was.

Tanya shook her head and refocused. She nodded hesitantly, her mind already conjuring the cost of repairing near-fatal wounds if a single broken rib had cost her 20,000 Eris. She would be paying this off for the next few months, at least.

The woman stepped in, and Tanya's brow creased. "You're the one who healed me a few weeks ago, right? What's your name?"

The woman nodded. "Ashley," she provided as she brandished her hand. Her hand glowed.

Tanya inhaled sharply at the squeamish feeling she felt as her insides… shifted. While decidedly uncomfortable, the fact that she didn't feel any pain meant she was probably close to being done recovering.

The woman got up to leave, when Tanya cleared her throat. The woman turned around, and Tanya asked the question that had been buzzing inside of her mind.

"Can you teach me a bit of Healing magic?"

Ashley seemed a bit surprised. "You're a Priest?"

Tanya shook her head. "An Adventurer, actually. If I'm going to get this injured, I should probably be able to heal myself, right?"

The woman looked thoughtful. She had every right to. There were very few people who could ask to be taught the magic instead of just being able to select the skill from a list.

She sighed. "Alright. As long as you can pay, I'm fine with whatever."

Tanya glowered at the woman, who raised her hands defensively. "Don't look at me that way. Organizing the Eris Thanksgiving Festival takes a lot of money in order to pay the guild to put out so many requests."

Tanya rolled her eyes and nodded anyway. It wasn't like she didn't expect it; she just did not have the money to be spending even more.

The woman smiled radiantly, and knelt at the side of Tanya's bed. Looking around, she picked up Tanya's scepter. "Hey, what are you-"

The woman poked the side of her own left arm with the tip, and a pinprick of blood formed on where it had touched her. "Now, what you're going to want to do is to focus on the mana in my body and guide it towards the wound."

Tanya, Adventurer Card in hand, stopped the motion she was making to learn the skill. "Wait. Does that mean you've been using my mana to heal me?"

She nodded. "You can only Heal others with your own mana if you have quite a lot of it."

Tanya nodded unhappily – she'd be bedridden for even longer – and chose the skill. She growled internally as the last two Skill Points she had disappeared.

Tanya held out a hand towards the woman, poking it above the covers. "Heal," she said as an odd feeling came over her. She knew where the mana of this woman was, and directed it towards the pinprick of blood.

Soon, the blood disappeared as it retreated into the body. The skin looked good as new, and Ashley clapped her hands.

"Wonderful! That you can control it to that degree already… would want to change jobs?" she asked, a hopeful expression playing across her face.

Tanya swallowed the acidic response she'd been about to spit out. The woman had taken the time to use Heal on her and teach her a useful skill, even if she was being paid. Tanya shook her head politely, and the woman sighed dejectedly.

She stood, making her way across the tiny room. As the woman left, she pointed to the dresser next to her bed. "By the way, the expenses for your treatment are there." She swiftly slammed the door shut.

Curiously, she picked it up. Her jaw dropped.

She saw red.

Any and all sympathy she'd had for Ashley evaporated. The injury she'd had last time, the cracked rib, had taken 20,000 Eris and a handful of minutes to heal.

The hole in her abdomen, by contrast, had been as large around as two baseballs and had almost went through her entire body, had taken over twenty four hours to heal, and cost her twenty times more.

She owed 400,000 Eris to the stupid church. She'd be paying that off for months. Maybe even a few years.

Ignoring the screaming pain in her legs, she shot from the bed, paper clutched in hand. "Ashley, get back here. How much did that skill cost? Ashley!"

Throwing her clothes on and ensuring both relics were secured in place, Tanya began hobbling along the short hallway of the church. She soon found herself in a large room dominated by pews with occupants sitting in them.

She scowled at them all, but shut her mouth. They wanted to worship some being in the sky they didn't even know existed? That was their problem.

She'd have no part of it though.

Hobbling faster, she walked down the aisles, searching for that Priest. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the entrance doors slowly gliding shut.

Grimacing at the pain, she hobbled faster, soon breaking into the bright light of-

Night.

It was night time. The streets were lit by magical means, providing the whole area with a more modern feel than she had expected. Of course, the huge bonfires and groups of adventurers could have something to do with the light.

Tanya didn't have enough mana. She'd miss out on the fireworks.

Tanya shook her head, searching for that priest. Ashley was nowhere to be found. She cursed under her breath. She must have slipped away while Tanya was dressing.

Dejectedly, she sat on the ground, back resting against a building. The crowds passed her by, heading towards the bonfires that had been lit. Tanya watched them pass, colors and sounds drifting passed her as she tried to think of a way she could get so much money.

"Tanya?"

She shook her head and looked up, only to see the legs of her teammate. "Oh, Darkness. Nice to see you." Tanya looked back down at the ground again. She really needed to figure out how to get that money. Maybe she could make something from her old world, like bandages, and sell it?

The sword in the Crusader's hands dropped to the ground, and Tanya looked up. "I knew you were a clumsy mess, Darkness, but really. We aren't even fig-"

She stopped short. While the Crusader might usually have enjoyed her scathing remarks, it didn't appear she'd even heard them. Her face, instead of blushing, seemed rather upset.

It seemed she'd been crying, as well. "Darkness?"

The Crusader knelt down and embraced Tanya. The next question she had died on her lips.

Well.

That was interesting. She had certainly felt a little touch-starved after a few weeks of interacting with her new assets and acquaintances in a professional and distant manner. This was…

This was nice.

Tanya shook her head. No, she had things to do, and waiting for Darkness to stop hugging her would probably take a while. Tanya continued to sit in her embrace for a little longer than was practical, but Tanya couldn't bring herself to care about practicality. Just for a moment.

Then she sighed. It was time to end this. "Hey, this is a bit sudden. We haven't even been adventuring together for a month and you're already making moves on me?" Tanya said. Darkness stiffened, and immediately stood, still holding Tanya.

"He- Hey Darkness. Why'd you pick me up? I'm not complaining, of course; everything still hurts. A little warning would have been-"

With that last remark, Darkness dropped Tanya like a sack of flour. Tanya swore as she hit the ground on her scepter. That would sting in the morning, along with all of her other injuries.

Picking her sword off the ground, Darkness readjusted her hair and said, "Honestly. We're having a moment, and you decide to say something like that and ruin everything."

Tanya stood shakily, ready to retort – everyone in the 203rd had made jokes that were much more crass – but then something caught Tanya's eye. A shock of the clothes of the Priests of this world. Tanya began to hobble after what she saw, and eventually tapped the person on their back.

"Hmm?" the person said as they turned around, dread leaching into her features as she realized who it was. "Ah… Degurechaff. We can't refund you, so please, leave-"

Tanya shook her head. "I'm not going to hurt you. Regrettably, it was you people who saved my life. I just want to know how much the skill cost."

Relief flooded the features of the priest, as did greed. "Another fifty thousand Eris, please."

Dread immediately resurface on the face of the priest as she saw the face Tanya made. The anger dissipated, replaced by a small frown. She still couldn't feel all that mad at the brown-haired Priest. She would have finally kicked the bucket otherwise. "Fine. How long do I have to pay?"

She told Tanya, who groaned. Darkness stood by, watching the interaction.

"Fine. I'll pay it off by then," Tanya said. She grabbed her bag from her waist, rifled through, and gave the woman all the money she had on her. It was everything she had saved, but it paid for three-quarters of the price.

With that, Tanya stalked away. Darkness, realizing that Tanya was leaving, shook her head and began to follow the diminutive girl.

Tanya was still focused on her bag. Where was the stupid-

"Aha!" she exclaimed, holding the red piece of Manatite she'd purchased at the Festival. "Why couldn't you show yourself back then? I'd have won handily if you'd just have shown up."

Darkness caught up to Tanya. "Tanya, I'm going to go home now."

Tanya turned on her. "Why? The bugs are going to be coming to town, right? There's a lot of experience to be had."

Darkness gestured around them, to the darkened streets located away from the main areas of the festival. "Well, you clearly aren't, and I can't hit anything anyway."

"Stupid knight," Tanya muttered under her breath. Said knight looked embarrassed and aroused, but Tanya ignored her. The stupid thing would have been a perfect chance to-

Wait. Tanya looked at the crystal in her hand and grinned. She could participate.

"What are you talking about, stupid knight? With this Manatite, I can throw one Explosive Vaporization out, at the very least," she declared as she drained the mana out of the thing. It felt much like how using Heal had, except she was directing the mana into her own body.

Revitalized, she set off towards the bonfire, Darkness following close behind. "To be surrounded and devoured by unfeeling insect monsters. Just the thought of it-"

Tanya turned around again, another idea forming in her head. "Hey Darkness. How'd you like to try something?" she asked, a malevolent smile tugging at her lips.

Darkness looked oddly apprehensive, but Tanya was sure she'd like it.

Probably.

-OxOxO-

The foreman looked surprised. "You're here?"

Tanya smirked. "Yeah. Sorry I wasn't able to get here yesterday. Something… came up."

The man nodded, and then gestured around himself. The adventurers who had been sedate yesterday were now all eyeing each other suspiciously. "As you can see, your suggestion has riled them all up. They'll compete with each other, driving up how many bugs we'll get and the price of admission as well."

Tanya's shoulders fell at that. She didn't have the money to participate anymore. Her own suggestion had come back to bite her.

"Say, what's wrong?"

Tanya told him she'd lost her money, and a troubled expression came over his face. "But aren't you…" he trailed off, glancing at her for some kind of confirmation.

Tanya still had no clue what he was talking about. "Probably not."

He seemed a bit troubled by this. He shook his head and said, "How about a bet?"

Tanya narrowed her eyes. She probably wasn't going to like this.

"I have the money I said I'd give you right here," he said, gesturing to a cloth sack at his waist. "You could take it now and be on your merry way. But," he said, twiddling his mustache, "if you kill the most bugs here, then I'll give you the profit and the largest prize. If you don't however…" he trailed off.

"You won't get any money."

Tanya's shoulders fell. Well, it was about what she was expecting. Tanya sighed.

First thing was first. "How much is in the bag?" she asked. If she could pay off her debts, then she'd take it.

"100,000 Eris."

Tanya opened her mouth, wanting to take it. If she gave most of it to the greedy church, then she could get a loan from the guild, and – if Dust was anything to go by – get a larger-than-normal loan if she begged enough.

Just then, a voice rang out from behind Tanya. "Are you ready? They're going to start soon, you know."

Tanya turned around and stared at Darkness. Right, the woman had been enthusiastic about Tanya's plans to use her as bait and to let her be engulfed in a fireball of power.

She looked at Darkness. She'd saved her life by distracting that Reincarnate, and Tanya had been able to go on harder quests, with her there. Plus, she'd get even more money.

Tanya shook her head. She needed the money now, especially if she was going to… reward Darkness…

She tried to repress the shiver. And, if she was rewarding Darkness, she would need to pay the money back for whatever new debts she would acquire.

Tanya sighed heavily. "Fine. I'll agree to your wager. But you're going to help me."

An eyebrow raised, the man agreed. "Darkness," Tanya said as the man walked away, heading towards the group of people holding torches, poised to drop them into the bonfire pits.

"The plan has changed."

-OxOxO-

This was stupid. Unbelievably stupid, in fact, but she had little choice.

Darkness was standing on the largest rock that the two of them could find around the bonfire, while the foreman was standing behind Tanya. The fire had begun to spread, igniting each giant log of wood.

"So, how are you going to do this again?" the foreman asked, sounding very nervous and skeptical. Darkness looked just as nervous.

"You said you want a large explosion, right? Well, doing it on the ground would be hazardous. I'll power up here, and then I'm going to send that rock, and Darkness on top of it, into the sky. She'll use Decoy, attracting all the insects to her, and I'll throw the largest spell I can at the rock," she explained to the man.

"And just how are you going to 'power up'? Or send her into the sky, for that matter?" he asked logically.

"And how am I going to survive the fall?" shouted Darkness.

"You just will, alright? Don't doubt me," she shouted while doubting the plan.

She wanted that money, and she needed to pay off her debts, and she wanted to pay back Darkness a bit, so she'd do what she had to. Besides, what was the worst that could happen?

She sighed. A lot could go wrong, up to and including her starting a cult to worship Being X. However…

She did need to see what using the Type 95 here was like. It still had its curse – she could feel that – but if it was less powerful, she needed to know now. Learning in a somewhat controlled environment was far better than suddenly figuring it out on the battlefield.

Still, this plan was stupid, and not, as her accomplices thought, because she was sending Darkness into the air; she was sure she could catch her before she hit the ground, as long as her stats were buffed.

Speaking of which…

"Hey Darkness. Do you want me to enhance you?" she shouted. Darkness, peering down from the one-story-building sized boulder, looked curious.

"You can…? Well, what can you do?" she asked.

"Strength, Dexterity, Agility, and Pain-Reduction," she replied. Darkness looked affronted.

"You would- would deprive me of the pain of a Detonation spell and hundreds of insects? How cruel!" the Crusader moaned. Tanya sighed.

"Reinforcement spell: Strength!" she shouted, pointing towards Darkness. With that done, Tanya pushed her hat down onto her head.

A great heat wave hit all three, and they turned to look at the bonfire. It was beginning, then. Tanya sighed, and turned towards the foreman. "Remember when I start chanting, I want you to brace my shoulders. Use all of your strength."

Without hearing his response, she fed a mote of mana into the Circlet, giggling as she felt her pitiful mana reserves swell. Twirling her staff – using magic; she had no strength to speak of – she planted the bottom of the thing into the flagstones, cracking them.

The faint sound of buzzing reached Tanya's ears, and she nodded. A quick adjustment of her scepter pointed it towards Darkness.

"He- Hey Tanya? I'm not sure about thi-" was all Darkness could say before she was sent hurtling into the air. The foreman muttered nervously behind her, but Tanya didn't have time to notice. She began chanting a prayer, activating the full power of the Type 95.

"Oh Lord, please grant this weary traveler in a land far from home and full of nonbelievers a boon with which to rain destruction on the mindless beasts of this heretical land."

With that, the intricate screen of an Observation spell bloomed to life in front of her, tracking the stone's every movement.

She began laughing.

She had way too much mana. It actually hurt a bit, to have so much energy available.

That was fine, however; as long as she was using the blessed Type 95, nothing could stop her in this uncultured land.

"Uh… are you sure that you can hit something that high up?" the man asked, firm grip still attached to her back. The other adventurers had turned towards them.

Soon, the rock reached the peak of its arc through the air, coming to a stop, for a moment. As it did, swarms of insects – beetles, mantises, anything that could fly – swooped down from the clouds, attracted to the flying Crusader and her Decoy skill.

She grinned, pouring more and more mana into her staff. It was glowing brightly at this point, and bright flares of mana lashed out from the top of it.

She inhaled, and as the rock began to fall, shouted. "Artillery Shot!"

The flagstones the scepter was embedded in cracked, she and the foreman were sent flying backwards, a globe of pure light shot out of the scepter, and the crowd of adventurers gasped.

She readjusted herself, righting herself with Flight spells, and watched as the spell traveled.

In the lapse where she had been sent end over end, the spell had already traveled a hundred feet towards the stone. Every other adventurer, those who had been staring at them and those who hadn't, now watched it make its progress. By now, it seemed as if the sun had risen again.

She sighed appreciatively. It sure looked nice, but so much of her precious, holy mana wouldn't have been leaked if she had her gun already.

The spell pushed upwards, streaking towards the stone. A brilliant flash erupted as it detonated on impact.

Billowing heat erupted from the sphere, growing, growing, growing. Expanding until it encompassed the rock, the bugs, the clouds. All of it was blown away in the heat and light, delivered to her.

Then the smoke. What little had survived the explosion – the bugs on the other side of the rock she had detonated – was swallowed up in the fireball of smoke.

Then came the sound. An all-encompassing roar as air was displaced, followed by the shattering of anything made of glass.

She grinned. Now, it was on to kill the Demon King!

Tanya frowned. No, Tanya had to save Darkness and then deactivate the Type 95. That was the plan.

But that plan was so boring! It would be much better to fight and kill and hurt and-

She shook her head and took a deep breath. No, she wouldn't be controlled by this thing. She looked up again.

Tanya sighed as she watched the explosion fade. No one could top that. The man who'd braced her against the force of the spell gasped, horrified. "What did you just do!?"

Tanya turned to him. "I won our bet. I'll be taking my money now, thank you very much."

The man, terror and anger on his face, grabbed two sacks at his waist and thrust it into her hands. "Here. Two hundred thousand Eris. Now leave!"

Tanya tilted her head, curious. "It's not my fault you weren't prepared."

The man, face turning an interesting shade of red and purple, began to speak slowly. "I was prepared for a Detonation spell. I wasn't prepared for an Explosion spell! That was completely overkill, and it damaged the town! Who's going to pay for all that, huh?"

Tanya shrugged. "I don't know. I gotta go catch Darkness, so… see you around!" she shouted, whispering a Reinforcement spell under her breath. With that, she ran off. She wouldn't want to be seen flying after all.

Leaving behind a crowd of angry adventurers and townspeople, Tanya made her way into a darkened alleyway. A quick Observation spell told her she was alone.

Tanya activated an Optical Decoy spell, and then took off from the ground, searching for Darkness. She had probably been launched even higher up. Another Observation spell was activated, and Tanya stretched it to her limits.

There.

Something registered, and Tanya flew towards it, soon arriving at the almost entirely de-clothed Darkness. Tanya giggled a bit as she applied a few Flight spells to the woman slowing her descent. She would have taken a moment to admire her, but she was cartwheeling towards the ground.

Assured they were falling at the same rate, Tanya grabbed Darkness in a typical bridal carry, and sped off towards the guild.

Darkness came to, and looked around. Tanya tried to ignore her inquiring gaze, focused on getting to the Guild.

"…Tanya?"

Tanya winced, but remained silent. She was running on fumes, and the Circlet could only boost what was already present. She blinked.

She hadn't deactivated that?! She was still being influenced!

She took a calming breath. If she ran out of mana, they'd both end up as pancakes. She would have to let it happen, and take whatever mana high this thing bestowed upon her as well.

A minute of howling wind filled the silence of their nonexistent conversation, and then they landed near the guild. Tanya set Darkness down, and sighed in relief.

She quickly undid her mantle and passed it to the girl, and she quickly covered what was left of her clothing in the thing. Tanya sighed.

"Well, it seems everything turned out alright. Darkness…" Tanya trailed off, looking at the woman's face.

Blushing, heated, and panting, Darkness asked, "Can we do that again?"

Tanya blinked slowly as the effects of the Circlet drained away. "No."

The woman groaned in pleasure, and Tanya shook her head. "Here, take these," she said, handing the bags of money to the Crusader.

She tilted her head. "What do you want me to do with these?"

Tanya rolled her eyes. "Pay off my debts, obviously. There should be two hundred thousand in those, so I want fifty back," she turned towards the entrance to the alley, when Darkness's voice rang out.

"Why- why won't you do it?"

Without turned around, Tanya said, "I'm too weak. And you can do it right? After all…"

Tanya turned her head to Darkness, smiling. "We're friends, right?"

She knew the line was cheesy, but Darkness didn't seem to get the concept of friendship yet.

She had saved her life without needed to. She was under no orders to protect her, like the 203rd, and she could easily have left her if she wanted to.

With one last smile, Tanya activated a burst of a Reinforcement spell and sped home. Weaving through street after street, stall after stall, knowing full well that she would be out for a nice, long while after all this magic.

Until she didn't.

She stopped in front of one. The sign above the small table had the words 'Magical Items' written across it.

Bottles, orbs, and other miscellaneous objects sat on the table. A woman with red hair and skin as pale as the moon was slouched over, head resting on her hand as she stared hopefully at passing adventurers. Each one took a look at her merchandise, and then made a hasty retreat. It was… what was her name?

Wiz, that was it!

"Hey Wiz!" Tanya greeted, walking towards the woman's stand. Said woman looked entirely too sad.

She perked up. "Tanya?"

Tanya nodded and walked forward. "Sorry I haven't been able to come over. I've had things to do," she said.

Which was the truth. The past few days had been hectic, and she didn't have the money to spend anyway.

Tanya looked at the various products. "So… you make magic products, right? Tell me about some." She had an extra fifty thousand, after all. She might be able to buy some.

"Of- Of course!" she said, rising from the sitting position. Bottles were displayed, with odd effects.

"This one, when drunk, will boost the power of the Paralyze spell, increasing its area of effect!" she said, holding a brightly colored yellow bottle under my nose.

She flinched away before I could back up, but hope was still alive in her eyes. "Er… sorry. I can't use that spell…" Tanya trailed off.

The woman nodded. Perhaps because Tanya hadn't fled immediately, she tried to get her to buy anything.

Potions that she couldn't utilize because she was an Adventurer, oils that enhanced the power of attacks at the cost of the users own health, even items that helped with daily conveniences. Nothing interested Tanya; she could already do most of that on herself, or she wasn't too fussed about convenience.

The woman fell to the table, dejected. Tanya patted the woman. "Sorry I don't need anything, Wiz."

The woman's form shuddered. "It's fine. I suppose I'm used to it by now, anyway…" she trailed off, resting her forehead against the table.

Tanya looked at the table, for anything that hadn't been shown to her. A rack of potions, all colored red caught her eye. "What about those?" she asked.

The woman looked up. "Oh, those? They just explode on impact with something."

Explode?

They exploded?

On impact?

Tanya's eyes grew wide, and a smile on her face began to grow wider. "How much are they?" she asked stiffly.

The woman looked up. "Sorry?"

Tanya bent over the table, gripping the woman's arms. "I said: how much for those? I'll pay anything."

The woman, surprised by her intensity, began to speak. "Well, since it is the Eris Thanksgiving Festival, I bought a lot of them, since there aren't usually many people who can use Detonation or Blast. But because someone killed almost all of the insect monsters, no one's come to buy them. I'm actually going to go over there, since they think someone cast Explosion, and they want and expert's opinion," she babbled.

Tanya tried to keep her face blank.

It seemed she'd deprived the woman of quite a bit of her money. Well, she was going to be helping out now, right?

"How much?" Tanya repeated.

"Each potion only costs ten thousand Eris…"

Tanya winced, but she nodded anyway. This was it. This was what could substitute for gunpowder. "I don't have the money with me, but I will buy five of them tomorrow."

The woman's eyes grew big. "Tha- Thank you. Could you please let go of me? Your grip is painful…"

Tanya immediately let go, apologizing profusely. Then she began to laugh. It was probably the exhaustion, but she didn't care. "Thanks to you, I'll finally be able to recreate gunpowder! Thank you, Wiz!"

With that, she turned around, and sped off towards the stables. She needed to get to sleep so she could get her money from Darkness.

Her… friend.

She sighed. Pretending that everyone always worked for their own personal self-benefit only worked in economics. Logic wasn't the only foundation of the world or of most people, even if it was her preferred one.

Tanya had opened herself to emotion, and emotion had driven her to get revenge on Being X for reincarnating her the first time and killing the Viktoriya and the 203rd. What was a bit of friendship, compared to that?

-OxOxO-