Propositions 2

Darkness sighed, once more disliking her noble heritage.

Oh, it had its uses; if she hadn't inherited her mother's magical resistances, she was sure that Tanya's spells would have killed her during the Eris Thanksgiving Festival, and she would never have been able to deal with the punishment she took from monsters.

Her father's insistence that she get married was grating, however; she liked punishment, and her father knew this fact.

Instead of settling on punishments she would like, he got creative. This time, she'd been told by her father to sift through piles of birth registries if she wanted to find Tanya's family.

That hadn't been enjoyable in the least.

It was, however, very effective, since her father was getting closer to just ordering her to sit down for a meeting with some nobles son. Maybe even Alderp's.

She shuddered at the thought, and made her way through Axel even faster. Some adventuring would be calming, and then she could try to help her father with the latest crisis: the appearance of some sort of Archpriest.

A massive Heal had been used four nights ago, and while no one knew who had used it, the effects were far reaching. It had managed to cure the wounds of people in a mile radius from it.

If the Priest had come forward, or if the churches didn't have a monopoly over who their adherents were healed by, there wouldn't have been a problem.

However, no one had come forward and the churches did have a monopoly, which meant both the Eris cultist and the very small number of Axis cultists present had decried the other, spouting that the other was overstepping their boundaries and that they should be punished. Hopefully, a few hours adventuring would take her mind off things.

Finally, she burst into the guild, and made her way to the table Tanya always sat at – right in the center, equidistant from the counter, the kitchen, and the front door. She made to sit down, but she paused.

Chris was standing, staring at the back of Tanya. Darkness couldn't blame her as she walked forward and stood next to the Thief.

Someone was sitting next to Tanya, conversing amiably. Long brown hair that drifted halfway down her back and clothed in a green jacket, her tone suggested she was happy. Darkness wasn't sure if she was, because the words flowing out of both of their mouths were utterly incomprehensible to her.

She looked at Chris, who didn't react to Darkness's added presence. Sighing, she tapped Tanya on the back warily. Tanya turned around, stopping her conversation.

She looked annoyed, for a moment, and then she loudly exclaimed, "Oh, Darkness and Chris! I kinda forgot you two existed. Come sit down, I can introduce you!"

Darkness moaned a bit, getting a rather alarmed look from the new addition. Tanya spoke more rapid-fire nonsense at her, until the woman gave a Darkness a look that spoke equally of confusion and judgement. Darkness sat down, soon followed by a golem-like Chris.

"Darkness, Chris, allow me to introduce you to my…" she trailed off, apparently confused about how to introduce her. She introduced herself. "I'm Viktoriya Serebryakov. I'm her friend."

Darkness shook the woman's hand. "I am Darkness, Crusader of the Eris cult," she provided simply. She was thinking too much for any superfluous introductions.

She was trying to figure out how this woman played into Tanya's history. She was older than Darkness was – maybe in her early twenties. Was she some sort of trainer or protector? Someone who had taught Tanya?

Chris also shook Viktoriya's hand, providing even less than Darkness had. "Chris. Thief."

Tanya, about to talk more, was cut off by the sound of a bell echoing through Axel. She stood. "Sorry you two, but we've got places to be. I've been showing the ropes to Viktoriya for a few days, so we're going to take a break. Have fun!"

Without another word, the two left. Darkness felt incredibly lonely, for a moment, before shaking her head. It was fine.

With Chris there, Darkness could still get some experience. Even if she wouldn't get scolded for being pathetic by Tanya in the process.

Chris stood, ignorant of her surroundings and of Darkness, and Darkness let out a small whimper at the thought of being cruelly abandoned. Chris turned to her, about to say something.

Then, she thought better of it. Maybe Darkness could help?

"Say Darkness? Isn't it sort of suspicious that Tanya suddenly has a new friend?" she asked. Darkness nodded slowly. Chris smiled, but then frowned as Darkness began to speak.

"Well, I guess… but we really don't know everything about her, right? It's not like we've been adventuring together for years. I'm sure she has her secrets. Let's just go on a quest."

Chris scowled. Even if she didn't exactly like it, she couldn't take down tons of money from Heaven, and she did need to earn more. With Darkness, however, she wouldn't need to worry about being kicked out for loitering; no one would dare touch her with how much money the noble had.

She smirked. "I've got a better idea. Want to hear it?"

Darkness nodded hesitantly, and Chris began to talk. She didn't have access to the millions of languages she could usually access when she was in Heaven, but neither of them had been speaking this world's language. That meant a Reincarnate had come to her side, instead of only being deprived of their relic. She needed to figure out what had happened.

-OxOxO-

Both women tried their best to be unseen. However, Darkness was very recognizable.

Chris did her best to change that – armor was stashed at the guild, and her long hair was put in a bun. Her Lurk skill made most of that moot, but an emergency wasn't out of the question.

Unseen, they stuck close to walls, attempting to follow the pair.

Chris scowled as they trailed behind. Axel wasn't as populous as many other cities, but it was nearing midday and people were beginning to do their daily tasks. Going to market and selling what they'd made, or trying to get passing adventurers to buy their supplies. It wasn't easy.

They managed to keep travelling, ducking and dodging, and attempting to keep sight of them. Tanya had thrown up her hood, but the woman with her – Viktoriya – was tall.

They followed, followed, and eventually found their way to what appeared to be Tanya's place of work.

She claimed to have worked for a Blacksmith, and Darkness had claimed to see some of her work. Chris thought it was rather obvious; she was nothing without her modern weapons, and believing The Atheist would adopt the ideas of her situation was a bit naïve, seeing as she was still denying her actual gender.

They didn't dare go in; that place didn't look big enough to remain unseen for long, even with Lurk. Despite the warnings Chris had given on the way there, Darkness still attempted to make small talk.

"Who do you think she is, Chris? She must have to do with her past, if they can both speak whatever that language is," the Crusader mused. Chris shrugged, trying to ignore her; she was trying to think on just how this had happened.

Soon enough the pair came out again. Only this time, both were sporting upgraded equipment.

Now, both of them had pistols strapped to their waists and rifles slung across their backs. Chris searched her mind furiously. What Japanese reincarnate looked like that and could use weapons? Some sort of foreigner?

"Did she teach her how to use those?" Darkness suggested. Chris froze. No, they couldn't have taught each other, even if-

Chris gasped. Could they have served together? In that war?

Oh no. Chris turned white as her thoughts began to spiral downwards. Now she had two relics and one of her sycophantic subordinates? This was bad.

"Chris? Hey Chris? Do you… what's wrong!" she said, getting louder and louder. Chris shook her head.

She could have a mental breakdown once she was back in Heaven and had taken a closer look at those papers Aqua had so flippantly signed.

They were off again, and Chris worked to shut out Darkness's questions about what she was scared of. Winding through streets and pedestrians trying to keep up, Chris was still trying not to panic, and she was able to manage that much.

She cursed herself under her breath. Why could she only manage? She was a Goddess; why hadn't they beaten this maniac already?

Finally, they caught up again. Now, they were stalking down an alley in one of the dingier parts of Axel. Chris smirked. Whatever dirty dealings they had with a shop down here would turn Darkness to her side, at least. The pair stopped at a shop, and Darkness and Chris jumped behind a pile of trash.

Trying to ignore Darkness's cries of pleasure as she was pecked by Crows, Chris looked through the open door, at the two people inside talking to someone else. She seemed to be the shop owner, seeing as she was standing behind the counter.

They were talking with the owner of the shop. Animated discussion was taking place, and it seemed that they were learning some sort of skill from her.

Or, at least The Atheist's lackey was. A gust of cold air blew the door shut, and Chris swore.

She turned around, and shooed the Crows away. "Stop messing around, Darkness. This is serious."

Darkness, seemingly put out for some reason, stood from the ground. "I don't get it. Why are you so scared? Is that woman dangerous to Tanya?"

Chris's eye twitched, and she was tempted to say something she'd probably regret. Then an idea came to her.

She nodded slowly. "I know of that language they were speaking. It's a harsh language used by a warmongering nation in a faraway land. They're even more militant than Belzerg."

Darkness's eyes widened.

That was a shocking statement, since Belzerg was… quite militant. Their royalty were referred to as 'Barbarian brutes' by their detractors in the surrounding nations, and for a nation to somehow be even more militant was…

Darkness nodded, and Chris thanked the Crusader for being so curious about her party leader's history. She cleared her throat, wondering how to word this.

Driving away support from The Atheist was the best she could do, since Chris couldn't exactly come down and do battle with the girl. Heaven needed all the mana it could get.

Slowly, she began to speak. "I think that that person might have tricked Tanya, somehow. She's obviously much older than her, but Tanya acts as if she's her leader, with how she's catering to her desires to show her around. That's awfully suspicious. It's entirely possible that this Serebryakov is trying to use Tanya."

Darkness's eyes widened, and Chris only felt a bit sorry for using the Crusader's suspicions that Tanya was a noble against her.

She shook her head. Chris was her Goddess, after all… it was only right.

"Then… what should we do? Tanya doesn't strike me as someone who's easily tricked, so she must be powerful. And if the rumors that they killed ten Tranquility Girls are true, then she might have pushed Tanya into doing something that cruel…"

Chris just nodded along. This was perfect! Darkness would help her drive a wedge between the two, and then Tanya would spurn Darkness for trying to do so.

Her faithful Crusader would be saved from their influences, and The Atheist would get deprived of help.

Both waited, staring at the shop. Another fifteen minutes passed, during which Chris had to 'save' Darkness from the Crows more than once. Then the pair came out again. Viktoriya seemed to be pocketing her Adventurer's Card, while Tanya was skipping. Both watched, concealed with Lurk.

"Skipping? She definitely did something to Tanya. She's never that carefree."

Quietly, both continued to follow after them, but nothing else seemed to happen. They visited a restaurant, had lunch, and then just… walked around, conversing in that language of theirs.

Soon, Chris and Darkness stopped, ducking down an alleyway. Chris wasn't weak, but keeping up Lurk for hours at a time was not exactly easy work. They rested in the shade, thankful that the sun had begun to dip down in the sky.

Soon enough, Chris was rested. The pair stood from where they had been sitting, making their way through the streets and asking people if they'd seen two people with odd staffs walking about. They caught up to them just in time.

People were shouting. Whether they were shouting to run, or for the police, Chris wasn't sure which was more prevalent. It seemed that someone had made trouble.

In the middle of the street, it seemed they were surrounded. Six people, four male and two female, were staring at them angrily. Serebryakov seemed wary, but The Atheist hadn't even taken up her gun.

"What do you all want?"

All of them had black hair and dark eyes. Most of them were sporting regular clothing, but some hadn't yet given up the clothing that marked them as being from Japan. All of them were holding weapons – a spear, a wand, a staff, a pair of knives, a sword, a bow.

Chris was confused. They were alive?

She scowled. How had she taken their weapons from them, then?

She shook her head. She really needed to begin looking through some of those files. Maybe The Atheist had some sort of power that could do that? She didn't know.

Regardless, she needed to begin acting. Maybe she should try and diffuse the situation-

"You can probably guess, Degurechaff! You took our weapons and got us stuck in this backwater instead of going to the capital like all the others! You're going to pay for that!"

Then they all readied their weapons. "Did the other…" she trailed off, counting off her fingers. "…Three people not think you could do it?" she asked, apparently unfazed.

Their leader, the one with a pair of knives, growled. "No. Those cowards don't think we can take you. They're scared of your weapons, but we know the truth."

Tanya readied her mana, and Viktoriya did the same, both ready to respond in an instant. Darkness made to jump out from the small crowd that had surrounded them, but Chris held her off with an arm. "If we let them attack, we might figure out how Serebryakov is controlling Tanya. Patience."

Darkness shook her off. "No. I'm not convinced that Viktoriya is doing something. We should stop this before things become dangerous."

The leader continued to monologue, drawing all of their attentions. "The truth is, that for all of your power, you're a pathetic fool! You've relied far too much on your technology, when we have magic at our fingertips!"

With that, the two mages – the ones with a wand and a staff – began chanting. Tanya almost just put up an Active Barrier, interested in what the weaklings thought they could do, but she wouldn't allow herself to be caught off guard just because she was curious.

Maybe she'd extract information later. For now, it was time to fight.

"Engage!" Tanya shouted. As one, the pair of women jetted off, moving faster than either Chris, Darkness, or the crowd could follow.

The effects of their movement were much more obvious than their movements.

Both the mages doubled over, holding their stomachs. The leader, blades in hand, rushed towards the repositioned Tanya, as did the one holding a short-sword in her right hand. The apparent Ranger held back, while the one with a spear moved towards Viktoriya.

Darkness moved forward, breaking through the crowd, and Chris followed, scowling all the while. She needed to keep up the illusion that she was Degurechaff's ally, for now.

It appeared neither were needed. From the time they'd pulled their eyes from the pair to focus on getting through the crowd, both had already begun fighting physically.

Tanya ducked a frenzied blow from the one with the sword, pulling her rifle from her back. She jumped back from the pair, hanging in the air for longer than normal thanks to the barest hints of a Flight spell. All three of her opponents scowled at her, and Tanya smirked right back.

Above all else, this was a good stress test for their new equipment. Not the guns; Tanya had already tested those.

No, a pair of Type 97s, hanging from both of their necks, were the real reasons they hadn't just run away and let the police handle them.

It had taken her a few days, but with the Type 95 and a few more points into Smith, it wasn't extremely difficult. Both had one in the past, and the Type 97s were made using the Type 95 as a template anyway.

However, Tanya wouldn't have been able to make it without Viktoriya's help. Her skill had been the ability to gain an intrinsic understanding of weapons, armor, or anything that could be considered an 'item.'

Upon her arrival, she had immediately used that skill to learn the inner workings of the Type 97s. She was probably nearly as good as Schugel had been, and Tanya had been immensely thankful.

Regardless of their new equipment, these attackers weren't stupid; or rather, they weren't in their preparations.

They were stupid to try and fight her.

The probable-Warrior and the probable-Thief closed in on her, while the ranger nocked an arrow on his bow. Tanya, finally having landed, shouted, "Active Barrier!" and waited.

They came forward, striking her shield, and doing nothing to it. Arrows, knives, and swords; nothing was really doing damage. They were draining mana, of course, but Tanya didn't much care. She needed to demoralize them, since it would be annoying if they kept attacking her.

Besides, the Type 97 made it so that she didn't have to do nearly anything to simply stand there and revel in how much more efficient her spells were.

Slowly, the hits let up, and they just stared at her shield, unnerved. "Damn you! Let's get out of here, before the police get here!" the Ranger shouted. The other two seemed to think it as a good idea, but Tanya quickly burst that bubble.

She aimed her rifle, and shot each person in the leg. They were only twenty meters away, so she was sure that the wounds hadn't hit any bone and had gone clean through.

Their screams reminded her that they definitely still hurt, though.

Tanya looked to Viktoriya and her opponent. His leg was encased in ice, and Tanya sighed appreciatively. Learning a bit of this world's magic wasn't bad, and Viktoriya had expressed an interest.

Tanya was just happy Wiz had been nice enough to teach her 'Freeze' and 'Freeze Gust'.

She had also confirmed the existence of a gender-swapping item, after phrasing an interest in the limits of magical items and referencing the Shapeshifting 'Hero Candidate' that had tried to kill her.

Portions of the crowd began to move, and police started to close in. Tanya cursed; as much as she'd like them behind bars, she was sure they'd reveal some things she really didn't want known.

Blindly, she cast 'Heal' on all three of the people she'd shot, and dragged the two mages who had just started to recover towards them. Viktoriya dragged the one encased in ice over, and all eight of them presented themselves to the rapidly assembling police.

"Gerrard!" Tanya cried amiably. The thinly-mustached man smiled weakly as Tanya walked towards him, shaking his hand.

They hadn't met since their last interaction, and he was glad for it. He just wanted to be the Head of Police in a relatively quiet town; dealing with nobles was not his idea of a good time.

"Miss Degurechaff. I suppose you can tell me what's going on?" he asked hesitantly.

Tanya beamed at him. "Of course! These adventurers are all upset about a… trade they had with me in the past. They decided that they wanted to try and take their revenge, but I and my friend Viktoriya were able to handle them."

Gerrard looked at the group. All six likely had dark eyes, in addition to their dark hair, but he couldn't tell, since all of them were staring at the ground mutely.

He didn't like where this was going. "Well… what would you like me to do with them?" he asked. He was praying to Eris that she wouldn't ask them to be executed.

"Oh, I don't want you to do anything. Let me and the guild handle this one. Those are within the rules, right?"

Gerrard gulped as he looked down at the noble. Well, it wasn't horrible…

Unless she meant she was going to do something like have them fight in the fighting pits that wealthier nobles were rumored to have, never to be seen by the outside world again. Then it would be decidedly less not-horrible.

One of the kneeling adventurers shouted, and the others followed suit, attempting to decry Tanya.

"She's pure evil!"

"She's lying!"

"She killed ten Tranquility Girls!"

He blinked at the last accusation, and then he suppressed a gasp of surprise.

Nearly frozen, he looked down at Tanya, a question shining in his eyes. She shrugged. "I killed three, Viktoriya killed seven. They're a public menace anyway."

Gerrard gulped, mind suddenly focused on a building far away from his current location and situation. "You can do what you wish with them. You've proven yourself to be a capable adult, so I think you can handle them. Just don't be too rough."

Tanya spoke to him. "Oh, I'm not going to hurt them. I don't want them to attack me, so-"

A cloud of dust interrupted her.

Tanya looked around, and realized that a large portion of the crowd had disappeared suddenly. Tanya shrugged; she got what she wanted. She turned to the six people – prisoners might be a better word to describe them, but she wasn't going to be keeping them like this for long.

Tanya picked up their weapons, and began to walk. "All of you, come on," she ordered. They began to march towards the guild, all six of them glaring daggers at Tanya and the mystery woman at her side.

"We'll just make a run for it; you can't catch all of us…" muttered the man who had held a spear. The other five seemed to think it was a good idea, so Tanya stopped, fixing them all with a dangerous glare.

They were subdued by that, for the most part. Tanya hadn't healed up the legs of the people she'd shot entirely, and sprinting would likely tear their wounds open again.

She looked at the two that had been damaged the least; the Mages.

One – a short girl who had decided to adopt the stereotypical attire one often imagined mages wore – was sniveling. The other – a tall man who was still wearing a t-shirt – was stone faced. She looked back to the girl. Tanya would try her first.

"What was your plan? It's obvious that you were going to try some sort of magic. If you two teach it to us, we'll let you go, no further punishment needed."

The girl perked up, but the tall, stone-faced male was the first to speak. "It's a deal."

The other five looked at him, betrayed, but he shook his head. "I spent two weeks saving up for that staff; I'm not gonna risk losing it. Come on, Shizuka. We need to live to fight another day."

"Rin…" she trailed off, looking at the others. They were glaring at the two, but the girl caved to her fellow mage. "We… we were going to use paralyze on you two. After that, the others said they'd take your money and weapons…"

Tanya nodded slowly. "Alright. Teach us the skill and you're free to go."

Rin smirked, and Tanya, hands full with their weapons, said, "Viktoriya, aim." She did so without question, and the group jumped backwards.

"Not here. We'll be going down this alley." They moved, a group of eight varyingly dressed people filling into a dark alley. Some of the pedestrians thought it was somewhat comical, but the shock of blonde hair, not hidden by a hood, told them it was noble business.

They ignored them.

Tanya handed the girls wand back to her. "Use it on your friends. If you turn on us, you can be sure to get a bullet in the leg for your trouble," Tanya said. The girl whimpered, but she took her wand and leveled it at the group of four.

They were protesting, but the blade of her gun weighed more heavily on her mind than their pleas.

"Paralyze!"

Their movements stopped, all of them frozen. Only their mouths could move, and they were all cursing Tanya, who shook her head. Of course they would blame her when it was their own fault they were in this situation.

"Alright. You two can go," she said, handing the man his staff back. Both Mages, conflicted about what they had done, quickly left, avoiding the gazes and remarks of their friends.

Tanya, meanwhile, looked at the rest. All of them squabbling among each other about who was to blame for their failure, since their plan was obviously foolproof. It seemed they had reached the consensus that their Mages were to blame.

Tanya shook her head. "I could do whatever I wanted with you all."

With her declaration, their squabbling ceased. She took the respite to illustrate the possibilities.

"I could shoot all of you and Heal you. I could take all of your clothing, weapons, and money, and then I could leave all of you in this alley. Or I could have let the police have you."

All of them were silently staring at her. "I told each and every one of you that your lives were built on the fact that as long as you weren't threats to me, you could do whatever you wanted."

Tanya muttered, "I knew I shouldn't have let people who wanted to murder me go free…"

One of them spoke up. Their probably-a-thief leader. "Not all of us wanted to kill you."

Tanya froze, and then fixed him with a glare. "Explain."

He looked entirely uncomfortable, but he continued to talk. "You just assumed that we'd take up arms against you, but we didn't have to-"

Tanya cut him off. "The possibility was still there, and I can't take the time to get to know you all. One of you come in every week, and I don't have the time to make friends with all of you and kill the Demon King."

Tanya shook her head, dropping their weapons in disgust. "We're done here. I'll let you live. You all are young, and-"

The other female – their warrior – interjected. "We're older than you are, loli."

Twitch.

"She really does have an ahoge."

She shook her head, staving off her anger for a moment. "Idiots. I've been reincarnated before, so despite my appearance, I'm closer in age to fifty than five."

All of them looked rather shocked, except for the man who had had the spear, who looked… intrigued. Tanya quickly realized why he might feel that way, and fought down the urge to end him for thinking things like that about her.

She sighed tiredly. They had tested their Type 97s, and they had gotten an extra spell out of it. Tanya and Viktoriya better things to do that to lecture lackluster losers. "Whatever. Next time I'll steal your stuff. You all really need to learn not to mess with someone stronger than you."

Tanya walked off, turning her back towards them and heading towards the guild. Viktoriya followed, and the four people, trapped in an alley, were left to think for the few minutes that the Paralyze spell would last.

-OxOxO-

He was sprinting, attempting to push his body harder than the four younger men he'd brought with him and a number of other male adventurers that had heard her words. All of them were heading towards one place.

Last night, the Succubus had said they weren't doing any dreams, full stop. Nothing for anyone. After everyone at the staff meeting the police were having mentally acknowledged that everyone else there hadn't reported the Succubus, including himself, they had asked the girl why.

She'd said something about celebrating the death of the Tranquility Girls, but he hadn't cared about that. He was much more interested in their description of the one they wished to thank.

They had claimed that the slayer was blonde, worked with another female, and was probably a noble. Everyone in that room had thanked the Succubus for the information and thought the same thing:

Degurechaff.

She worked with that heir of the Dustiness family and she was almost definitely a noble, even if no one had found her name in the registry.

Before leaving, the Succubus had promised them, if they could find the person, free dreams for three months. Straight.

And Degurechaff was that person.

And so, they were fighting to get to the shop. The small, unassuming shop where dreams were made.

It wasn't like Gerrard didn't dislike himself for breaking the law partaking in their wiles, but he was a man with urges that he couldn't resist forever.

His wife of nearly thirty years had been dead for five, and with their help, it was almost like she wasn't gone.

In the dreams, he didn't even always have sex with his wife; sometimes, he just talked with her, desperate to have even a piece of her back.

Three months, free of charge, was more than very tantalizing.

He was lagging behind, gulping in heavy, frantic breaths. Gerrard cursed. He looked to the adventurers that were pulling ahead, fighting against the more able men he'd brought with him, and saw that they were pushing down pedestrians and carts in an attempt to slow each other down.

An idea came to him, and Gerrard smirked.

"Hale, Michael, Fischer, Gabriel; as the Head of Axel's Police Department, I order you to stop the adventurers who are causing property damage," he panted out.

All four men paused their running, for a moment, but continued to sprint forward, uncaring of his orders. "Sir, we're sorry, but we won't!"

He continued smirking despite the pain in his lungs. "If you don't do it, I'll be assigning you to night duty for six months. With oversight from the female policewomen!"

The implication was obvious: if you got the reward, you wouldn't be able to enjoy it, and wouldn't get to make usage of the shop for another three months. The female policewomen were also very hardworking and wouldn't allow them to slack off.

All four paused again, and then began to shout as they tackled adventurers to the ground.

"Goddamn it!"

"I'll get you for this, Gerrard!"

"You better enjoy yourself, you bastard!"

"FUUUUUUCCCCK!"

He pulled ahead of them, panting for a different reason now. Free dreams for three months!

The idea tantalized him, and he continued to push forward. Just a few more buildings, and then…

It came into sight, and began to walk more slowly, assured of his victory. He reached the door, and reached out a hand to turn the doorknob.

He paused as his hand touched another. Blankly, he turned his head to his right, and stared right into red eyes and blond hair.

"Why hello, Mr. Police Chief! Fancy seeing you here."

It was Dust.

Judging from his tone, the color of his cheeks, and the way he was talking to him as if Gerrard didn't despise Dust for abusing their kindness by using their prison as a free inn, he was drunk. Very drunk, if he was judging the stink of vodka correctly.

Gerrard was still wearing his uniform, giving up all pretense that he was just another citizen making use of the Succubi. He grit his teeth, and gave an angry smile to Dust. "Hello Dust. If you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to."

He attempted to remove Dust's hadn't from the doorknob, but it stayed firmly in place. He looked back up, to see Dust's smug, smirking, satisfied face. "Now, now, old man. We can… can negotiate. I'll let you take their prize, as long as I can use the police station as my personal inn for the next year."

He weighed his options in his mind. A year of having to put up with Dust for three months of dreaming of his wife and having sex with her.

"And don't threaten me with an extended jail stay; I'm giving T- Tanya lessons, and she'll be very, very upset if I can't attend them anymore," he claimed.

Gerrard doubted it – what this petty criminal could possibly teach Tanya, he hadn't the faintest idea of – but even the threat of a noble wasn't something one took lightly.

He glared at Dust, and let out a single bark of laughter. "Cunning, Dust. Real cunning. But you forget: the police of Axel don't deal with criminals!"

With that, the figure of a small, aging, only slightly emancipated man, with tanned skin, small, shrewd eyes, and a thinning, graying mustache, burst through the window of the door, sending glass across the interior of the room and ruining his uniform.

Uncaring of the incredulous Dust – "He's dealing with Succubi; of course the police of Axel deal with criminals" – Gerrard shouted at the top of his lungs to the crowd of shocked customers, surprised at seeing the chief of police in an illicit shop.

"It's Tanya! Tanya von Degurechaff is the Tranquility Destroyer!"

-OxOxO-

They all sat around a table in one of the more secluded corners of the guild. They had banded together loosely, a team of four and a team of five. Earlier that day, they had attempted to extract revenge. But they had nothing to show for it.

"Why did you two help her? She gave us back our weapons anyway, and we wouldn't have been restrained if it weren't for you two," Kei said.

He was, nominally, the leader of the nine of them, and a Thief. He wasn't exactly the best planner, but he was willing to mediate between all of them if it meant he moved closer to getting revenge against The Atheist.

Shizuka was reserved, but Rin tried to make excuses. "I didn't know that! I wasn't losing something I've worked for two weeks to get."

All of them glared, but none of them said anything after that, or, almost nothing.

There were three there that hadn't helped in the assault. One couldn't care less – she'd help if she thought they had a chance, but she didn't think that would be happening, since Tanya had guns. The other two had the gall to defend the loli.

"What did we tell you would happen? Trying to fight her is stupid, and with her experience, we should be working with her," spouted off the tallest among them. He'd given up all of his old clothing for the stuff they had here, despite him being one of the newer recruits.

Kei slammed his fist on their table in the guild. "Why do you insist on defending her, Takashi? She almost killed you-"

Takashi cut him off. "She saved my life by using her own skills. She didn't have to, and could have left me to die. No one would have known, but she decided to save me. And she has helped all of us!"

All six of them who thought she should be punished looked down, while Aya pointed out, "He's right."

Hiroshi, the spearman among them, glared at the woman who thought they shouldn't be involved with Degurechaff at all. "Can it, Aya."

She laughed to herself, and everyone else rolled their eyes. They'd grown used to each other's bickering, and the only thing that really united them was their similar origin and how all of them had been beaten down by The Atheist.

Just as it seemed Shizuka was about to speak, someone cleared their throat. All nine turned towards the noise. They didn't draw their weapons – they were in the guild, and none of them had seen The Atheist come in.

It was someone they didn't recognize – which wasn't just possible, it was likely, since all of them were rather bitter about their experiences and had acted very much like brats to whoever had a good opinion about Tanya.

Tanya, while not a paragon of moral fortitude, did give people free alcohol and was polite. Subsequently, she had acquaintances and drinking buddies, and they had no one.

"Yes. I assume you all are Hero Candidates?" she asked, a confused and hard look in her eyes. All of them were shocked, for a moment. No one had asked them that question, since none of them had an overtly powerful weapon, despite their odd appearance.

Aya spoke first. "We don't have weapons. What'd lead you to that conclusion?" she asked. While the girl wasn't convinced about getting revenge, she was surprisingly protective of them.

The person smiled. "Let me make myself clearer. You all are Reincarnates?"

That really got their attention, and even Aya couldn't speak immediately. This was, apparently, to the silver-haired person's design. She wanted to talk.

"I have a proposition for all of you. It involves getting revenge on The Atheist and the relics she unjustly robbed from you. Would you like to hear me out?"

One by one, the people there agreed to hear her out. Slowly, as the silver-haired thief spoke, matching grins broke out on all their faces, all of them eager to complete her tasks.

Kei the Thief, Rin the Mage, Hiroshi the Spearman, Saki the Warrior, Jin the Ranger, Shizuka the Mage, Aya the Mage, Evan the Priest, and Takashi the Warrior. All of them, despite their misgivings about fighting Tanya, agreed to do so, if they were reunited with their possessions.

Chris smiled as she watched the group of nine rejoice, thankful that she had finally figured out how to best The Atheist.