Meeting and Growing 2

Soon enough, they arrived at the guild. A subdued atmosphere brought on by the lack of people greeted the pair of Reincarnates as they strode into the guild. They were ignored by most – it was morning, but the rush of adventurers preparing for quests had already passed, leaving only timid, new adventurers that had only joined recently and people like Dust, who were only too happy to be drunk for as much of the day as possible.

Tanya walked purposefully up to Luna, who seemed curious at the presence behind Tanya.

Whenever she got quests, she was never accompanied by the silver-haired Thief or the Crusader. Who was this person that Luna had never even seen?

Uncaring of her inquiring smile, Tanya introduced her companion. "We're here to get her an Adventurer's Card, if you would please."

Luna's face lit up, and she brought out the device that allowed for new cards to be created. "Wonderful! I'll give you the introduction."

After that, a whirlwind of instructions and facts passed, making even Tanya blink. She'd come a long way since that first night, when she'd gotten her own introduction.

"Any questions?" the receptionist asked.

Viktoriya seemed like she had questions, but, in response to her questioning look, Tanya shook her head. She would explain everything if she had any questions.

"If you'll just hold your hand above the crystal?" she asked, gesturing towards the device. Skeptically, Viktoriya placed her hand above it, and gasped as it swirled to life. Tanya smiled nostalgically as she thought back to her own introduction.

Wait…

Tanya's eyes widened. Right, Viktoriya had killed people as well, which probably showed up on the card. Tanya searched her memory, confused.

Had she failed to check if the card showed the number of humans you killed?

She sighed. She'd been putting it off because she was just a bit scared of the number of people she had killed – it was over two hundred, at least – but she needed to know now.

She looked at her card, tapping the small box that said 'KILLS.' This box was checked by the machine in the back automatically whenever Luna pushed a card into it when she was confirming quests, but Tanya knew that that information was mainly stored on the card. Dust had taken the time to boast about the number of Goblins he had killed, and he had presented his card as proof to his drinking buddies.

She looked at the list. Slimes, Giant Toads, Squirrels, Goblins, and numerous other low-level monsters that were easily killed, if one knew what they were doing. Finally, she reached it.

Humans…

Tanya blanched as she read the number next to it, and then she felt a bit of bile building up in the back of her throat. She'd killed… how many people?

No matter how many times she blinked, or rubbed her eyes, or waved the card around, the number didn't change.

Tanya let a hiss of air out between her teeth. This was… ridiculous and, quite frankly, disgusting, but she didn't doubt it was possible.

She had never thought about who she had killed beyond the Aerial Mages she fought. She had expected it to be in the hundreds, not…

She sighed. With what they had been forced to do in Arenne on the Eastern Front, however…

She shook her head. The Adventurer's Card couldn't be forcibly altered, as far as she knew, which meant she knew exactly how many people she had killed during the war.

Hand shaking, she tapped the minimize icon on the square of text, and stood abruptly. Viktoriya hadn't killed that many people, obviously, but the risk of being tried and executed for mass murder was high.

The card finished, and Tanya tapped her foot as Luna began to read out the woman's stats. "Wonderful! You have pretty good stats all around, with a large spike in your Magic-Power and Intelligence, and Below Average Agility."

She nodded, and Tanya swiped the card from Luna, presenting it to Viktoriya. Tanya began to distract Luna, hoping to play off the action.

Luna was staring at her, annoyance present in her smile, and Tanya waved her hand. "Sorry. I remember what it was like to have you talk about that stuff without being able to see it."

Luna, mid nod, had her gaze dragged to Viktoriya, along with Tanya's. The woman was blushing and had just made a rather loud exclamation in Russy that Tanya wasn't familiar with, which meant she had just said something very bad.

Tanya, about to ask, stopped. When Tanya had been looking at her own card, the description it had decided to provide about herself had surprised her. That was it, then.

Tanya ignored Viktoriya. "Now, I was wondering if you have any quests you'd like us to take care of. I can get Darkness and Chris, so party size isn't the question, with all four of us."

Luna looked down at Tanya appraisingly. "She still needs a job."

Tanya waved her concern off. "She'll be an Adventurer."

Luna's shrank back for a moment, and Tanya prepared herself as she saw an eye begin to twitch.

Luna didn't like that idea. "Absolutely not," she bit out, her smile now plastic and in place.

"I might have lost you to that weak, stupid job, but I'll not lose someone else. If you have so much confidence in her and if she has a lot of the same skills you do, she's close to you in ability, right?" she asked, gripping Tanya's shoulders.

Tanya brushed the woman's grip off easily, pulling Viktoriya towards her. "She'll be taking the Adventurer job, Luna."

Tanya heard a foot stamp from behind the counter, and Tanya shrank back. She'd never done something so childish. "No! Please, Serebryakov, think about this decision. Becoming an Adventurer when you could become an Archmage, an Archpriest, a Ranger, or even an Enchanter is ludicrous! Don't listen to her!"

Viktoriya tilted her head, and Tanya began to speak in Germanian once more. "We need that job. Everything we do – from cast spells to shoot guns – is intrinsically linked together. If you choose a single class, you'll lose access to important skills."

Viktoriya nodded, and, in whatever the language of Belzerg was called – Bezergian wasn't likely an option, since the people here expected foreigners to be fluent in the language as well – replied to Luna's questioning glares that were Tanya for speaking a language she didn't understand. "I'll be an Adventurer, please."

She presented her card, and Luna groaned, pressing down on the box in the right-hand corner, selecting Adventurer. Tanya smirked, and Viktoriya quickly snatched her card back.

Tanya and Viktoriya beamed at each other, and Luna interrupted their moment. "You said you wanted a quest, right? How about one of the durians?"

"Durian?" both adventurers echoed.

Luna smirked, and an uneasy feeling settled in Tanya's gut. The woman was obviously mad at her for making another person take the path of an Adventurer.

"They're quests no one wants to take for… whatever reason. We've either put a low amount of money on them to dissuade inexperienced adventurers, they contain unspeakably strong opponents, or they have some possibly immoral actions that need to be done."

Viktoriya backed off, but Tanya only tilted her head in thought. She was sure they could take anything this odd world could throw at them. And if they couldn't, they'd just refuse. "Sure thing! What have you got?"

Luna's eye twitched at Tanya's jovial attitude, but she retrieved a clipboard from underneath the counter. "Take your pick. If you can't do one, I'm sure both of you could take a different job and take on any quest easily."

Tanya began to cycle through them, unaware of how Viktoriya was looking between her and at the description of herself on her Adventurer's Card.

A Griffon and a Manticore seemed to be a bit too strong, even for her. She'd definitely have to use the Type 95, and Viktoriya could get seriously hurt.

Exorcising a spirit was out, since neither of them had any skills that affected spirits and Tanya wasn't about to pick up any.

Do reconnaissance on the Tranquility Princess…

"Tranquility Princess?" Tanya asked the receptionist. Luna smirked.

"Yes. Tranquility Girls are high-experience plant monsters that take on the appearance of girls in order to lull their prey, humans, into staying by their side. They'll feel attached to the girl, and won't attack it. Most can't even bring themselves to think of harming them, while those worst affected by their charm either carry out the plant's will or become its fertilizer," Luna explained, smirking.

She probably thought that the two girls in front of her would be overcome with emotion, but Tanya thought this sounded pretty good. If looking human was their only defense they were going to be very easy pickings for two veterans of World War One.

"Additionally, they provide food for their prey. It isn't, however, something you want to eat. It'll wreak havoc on your central nervous system, making you lose all pain and hunger."

Tanya blinked at the suddenly advanced terminology, but she was soon considering the task once more. Viktoriya, head tilted, asked, "Why don't people exterminate them, then? There have to be some people that will do anything for money."

Luna scowled, and then sent a speculative glance over Tanya's shoulder. She followed her gaze and found that Dust was begging his friends for money.

…Yeah, he might do it.

Luna sighed. "The elderly and terminally ill will often seek them out, wishing for an easy death, and this particular monster has been interviewed by numerous adventurers, and all of them swear that it only wants to kill those that seek it out. We're still not convinced, and this one's forest has become a suicide hotspot."

The anger and desire for revenge that had been present slowly drained away, leaving only resigned acceptance in the receptionist's voice. "It's decreasing the reputation of the guild to have a monster that close, and the logging guild is getting… insistent that we kill it."

Tanya nodded, and then smirked wickedly. "We'll take it. Don't worry, you won't have to worry about it again."

Luna blinked, suddenly looking at Tanya nervously. "Act- actually, we just want you to go and interrogate it. If it's true to its word, then we don't really want to remove it, since older adventurers only have a violent death to look forward to."

Tanya froze. "Uhh…"

Attempting to ignore the problem – she had just admitted to being very okay with killing something human-shaped, if she got paid well – and knowing that Luna would probably never forget this, Tanya handed the clipboard back to Luna and then muttered, "Can we have a map?"

Luna nodded, bringing out a compact map of Axel and the surrounding land. A key in the corner told her that the shaded regions were their breeding grounds – deep inside forests, close to a water source of some sort, and close to smaller trails, while there were several red marks in the shape of an 'x' told her where ones had probably been defeated.

"The one you're going to interview is west of Axel," she said, pointing towards a large swath of land that was entirely shaded. It seemed to be a noticeable fraction of the size of Axel, at least one-tenth of its size.

Tanya nodded. "Are there any other ones you want us to look into?" she asked. Luna pointed to several spots on the map.

"There's rumored to be one on the road from Arcanretia and the Crimson Demon Village, and there are a few other places that might have one. Otherwise, we don't know for sure," she said, pointing to a section of shaded forest near the edge of the map.

Tanya blinked. "Crimson Demons?"

Luna interpreted her expression. "Crimson Demons are a type of modified humans, despite the name. No one's sure how, but all of them have a massive amount of Magic-Power – rivaling yours – black hair, and red eyes. Some think they're all crazy, while others believe that a town full of Archmages couldn't possibly be as eccentric as a scant few people claim they are."

Tanya nodded. That seemed interesting, but going at least one town over from Axel seemed to be a long way, with how their Flight spells now acted. She'd get that one later, when she had other business or when she finally figured out a way to get the Reincarnates to stop coming after her permanently.

"They have clearings around them, right?" Tanya asked, moving on. Luna nodded slowly, squinting at Tanya. She just smiled.

She wasn't about to tell the receptionist that they could survey the land from above and find them that way.

"Alright then. We'll be off!" she said, leaving the guild. They began to walk back through Axel, when Viktoriya, walking reservedly by her side, piped up. "I don't have many bullets left…"

Tanya spun around, scowling. "Where's your rifle? You said you died fighting the Cordiale, right? I don't think you did it with that peashooter," she said, pointing to the pistol Viktoriya grasped in her right hand.

Viktoriya shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't been able to find my Type 97 either," she admitted. Tanya scowled, and then looked at the woman's clothing.

Sure enough, while the white undershirt that she wore was intact, the outer clothing she hadn't shed yet seemed a bit tattered. "Maybe the Type 97 detonated?" Tanya offered. Viktoriya nodded slowly.

It was an explanation both were willing to accept, and in no time at all, they had reached the gates of Axel. "What about your friends?" Viktoriya asked.

Tanya turned to her, a question on her face. "You said something about a 'Chris' and 'Darkness,' right?"

Tanya nodded. "I did. Unfortunately, we're going to be using our magic to complete this. I haven't been able to find any hints that the people of this world have figured out how to fly, so we probably don't want to broadcast that we can," she said, flashing her Adventurer's Card to the guards by the gate. They both waved her through amiably, gazes lingering on Viktoriya.

Tanya scowled at them, but she moved on. They had a quest to complete, and these quests were probably very profitable. This would be a good score, and their spells ensured that anything plant-based wouldn't survive for long.

-OxOxO-

If it were ever seated at a table – not that anyone had ever done something as stupid as to bring one of those this deep into the forest – many would mistake it for human, at first glance.

By design, it looked very much like a beautiful human woman: flawless, pearly skin, long brown hair, a piece of clothing that showed a large amount of skin while also hiding anything too risqué, and a few accessories, like a flower in its hair and three gold bands on its right arm.

But the similarities ended when one looked closer: its hair looked thicker than any hair could actually be, and the clothing looked too good, too perfectly maintained, for someone this far in the forest. Two triangular lines – a deep, dark green that no one could tell was anything other than black – rose from its jawline and ended near its eyes. Its ears were pointed, peeking out of its hair, and the flower in its hair looked far too healthy to have been picked and used as some token of affection.

Still, people could easily mistake it for a human, or some sort of crossbreed between a human and a beastman.

Of course, if one looked below its waist, they would discover the falsehood of its appearance: it had nothing but roots. Younger tranquility girls took the full appearance of a human, but it had no need to look weak. It had several humans who took pity on it and helped it keep the forest clear.

It smirked. Yes… the 'forest'. It was amusing that they thought of the surroundings as anything other than an extension of itself.

In truth, it could probably leave the human-looking portion of its body dormant and solely subsist on the light of the sun, leaving behind any resemblance to a monster they recognized.

But while it might be able to feed like that, without the reputation of a suicide hotspot keeping away loggers, it had no doubt that she would be torn down or infested with monsters.

Besides, becoming a bunch of trees was so boring.

It smiled. And how entertaining this would be. Being the forest, it knew that two people were approaching its human portion, coming from the direction of the nearest town. It was sure that it could convince anyone into leaving itself be, at least.

The last few people that ineffective guild had sent to determine her intentions had become quite willing to do as it wished, after a few moments of reasoned thought and, in one case, bribery.

Voices floated on the wind, drifting into the things that resembled ears on its head. "…keep your spells active. It seems we're getting close."

It smiled. A female; this would be all too easy. They were usually at least somewhat moved by its 'duty'.

"Welcome, travelers. Have you come seeking an easy death, or are you lost?"

No one was lost. The road that did go through this forest was clearly marked, and it would be almost impossible for them to somehow wander off of it.

Unless it was feeling bored and obscured the path using the forest; that was fun.

"Or have you come to see… me?" it asked. The dark-haired, dark-eyed adventurers that could never kill it and always helped the most in clearing its woods had said this line would entice any who had heard it. She was knowledgeable about humans, and that line worked a lot, for some reason.

It smiled bashfully, staring right at the pair.

Tanya smirked. She loved being right. "As you can see, it's already trying to entice us. Just keep your Oxygen Conversion spell active; I know it's somewhat taxing without a Computation Jewel, but even if we'll only be here a few moments, the chances of it having some sort of airborne poison or drug or aphrodisiac are high."

Tanya ignored its words, its body, and the way it was staring at them. She knew better. "Hello. As part of a quest by the guild, we are here to conduct an interview to ascertain your intentions. We are also authorized to exterminate you, if need be, so please don't act aggressively."

It nodded. This one seemed sharper than most. "Of course! Just don't touch my roots; they're deadly to humans and oblivious to my feelings," it said, staring down sadly. Tanya nodded quickly and set down the backpack the guild had foisted upon her.

It sniffed, but said nothing else, studying the two woman. They were both using magic – the air was different around them – and it didn't know what it was. More importantly, it was trying to figure out how to convince them to leave it be.

It turned to the brown haired one. Unlike the short, mean one, she seemed to be more curious instead of wary.

That was good; it could build on that.

Turning to the taller, plumper woman, it beckoned closer with an arm. "Don't be shy; I don't harm anyone who doesn't desire to be released from life. Just mind the roots."

Slowly, the girl approached, looking curiously at the roots and tree trunk that made up her lower body. It smiled.

The woman paused, casting a glance at the turned back of her superior, before pointing towards its roots. "How far do those extend for? Do you have to…" she paused, making an uncomfortable expression, "help many people?"

It laughed lightly, smiling warmly. It was time to figure out how far it could take this. "Quite a way. Thank you for being so concerned with my health." The woman nodded, and the small one turned around, carrying something.

From within, she brought out the magic item she had seen on the inside of the police station, and held it flat in her palm. It tried to feign ignorance. "What is that?"

Tanya smirked. "Oh, you don't need to be concerned, unless it rings," she said.

The plant nodded, smiling. "Okay. I'm just a monster, so I know that you don't trust me."

Its eyes hadn't moved from the thing held in her palm, and Tanya was sure it knew exactly what the item was. The chance that the thing didn't know what it was was small, but Tanya would be even happier.

Tanya narrowed her eyes at Viktoriya deliberately. "Come over here. We're not fraternizing." Viktoriya nodded, falling in line behind her. Tanya was hoping to use the patented good-cop bad-cop technique, making it trust that Viktoriya wouldn't kill her.

They had already rehearsed what would happen, and Tanya had been holding up the magic item when Viktoriya had asked those questions.

They needed to know how best to get rid of it, after all.

Viktoriya looked troubled, and the plant smiled. "Don't look so depressed, ma'am. As soon as we're done, you'll be able to trust me."

Viktoriya brightened up, and Tanya hid a smirk. It was time to begin.

"First question, Tranquility Princess: what do you think of humans?" this one was easy, and Tanya didn't really care about this one; she was going to ask it very pointed questions later on that would be much harder to weasel out of.

It pause, and then said, slowly, "…humans are incredibly important to me; I don't think I could live without them."

Viktoriya shifted, and Tanya nodded. Viktoriya was supposed to look conflicted, in the hopes that it would rely on her when they moved to end it, if it turned out to be hostile.

"Do you absorb the humans after they die?" she asked it, tone just as even as before. The forest around them began to quiet down, and Tanya raised an eyebrow. It was attempting to simulate tension by manipulating its environment; a good move against rookies.

Viktoriya exclaimed "Tanya!" while the Tranquility Princess reacted. It seemed taken aback at first, but then tears began to form in the corners of its eyes. Viktoriya stretched out a hand, and Tanya swatted her hand out of the air. It didn't answer.

"I'll ask again; did you decompose and absorb the bodies of the adventurers?"

Looking lonely and staring at the ground, it answered. "Yes, they became my food. They've become a part of me… they'll live on inside my body… I'll-"

Tanya cut it off. "Your first answer was satisfactory. Now-"

Viktoriya turned on Tanya, cutting her off as planned. "What's the big idea? It's said its answers; we should leave it alone."

Tanya sighed, glaring at her. She looked actually hurt by the glare, and Tanya almost apologized. The woman was very reliant on her approval.

Still, she pushed on, and Viktoriya knew that it was all an act.

"You can wait, if you're uncomfortable. I promise that I won't kill it, alright?" Tanya offered, sounding annoyed and keeping an eye on the Tranquility Princess. Its eyes seemed to light up when the magic item didn't ring.

Viktoriya scowled and stomped out of the clearing, while Tanya turned back to the Tranquility Princess. "Now, you have no support. We'll be getting to the interesting questions, so consider your answers."

It smirked, and Tanya gave it a smile that matched. It seemed that it thought it was safe. "Interesting? Like these?" it said as it cupped its breasts. Tanya stared at them, for a moment, before looking away.

"Yes, it must be embarrassing to be so flat; no man will ever want you when you have that cutting board strapped to your chest," it goaded. Tanya played into its expectations, glaring down at her body and trying to ignore just how… bouncy the Tranquility Princess was.

It thought she was unsatisfied with her development, but she just hated the entire damn thing.

"So what are you going to do? Despite your hard exterior, you won't kill me; you just said so," it said, crossing its arms over its chest. Tanya stared at them for a second, mouth opened a fraction of an inch, before she clicked her mouth shut.

She smirked, trying to ignore the worrying lust she felt. Was puberty about to start hitting her harder, now that she had real food and a much less stressful environment around her? "The quest the guild gave me was to do reconnaissance on the Tranquility Princess; I don't have to kill you," she said.

It smirked, but its expression turned quizzical when Tanya smirked back. "Of course, if I report that you lied to us, and that you should be exterminated, someone will come along who's brave enough to do so."

It scowled. "I help you humans; this forest remains cleared of monsters because adventurers fall over themselves to help me, I help the aging and the sick and the suicidal pass on to your so-called Gods, and all I receive is their bodies and a bit of help from those willing to do so."

Tanya wasn't moved in the slightest, and she was honestly pissed that it assumed she had a god. "Well, considering I would like to have more areas to kill monsters in, I'm not particularly moved."

It glared now, and Tanya almost laughed at how innocent it had seemed earlier. "I've been here for over a hundred years; do you really think no one else has figured me out?"

Tanya shook her head. She knew that; she was sure this thing had another trick up its sleeve, if what it had said earlier didn't register as a lie. It probably had some sort of incentive.

It smirked. "What do you think happens to adventurers who die here?" she pointed at the ground, likely referencing the equipment buried underneath.

Tanya scoffed. "Why would elderly adventurers come here with a bunch of worthwhile equipment if they're trying to die? Unless you have good equipment from not-so-elderly adventurers you murdered?" she countered.

This brought it up short, and Tanya chuckled. "Well, I think this interview has been telling of your true nature, but I'll ask some more questions," she said as it seemed to be panicking. It was probably trying to search whatever it had that counted as a brain for answers.

"By the way," she added, sitting on the ground and grinning, "I'll be taking silence as an answer I don't like, since you do seem to know what this thing is."

She began. "Have you ever killed anyone maliciously?"

It grit whatever it had for teeth – if it had anything but half-truths and lies in its mouth – and Tanya continued on. "Let's try again. Have you ever convinced adventurers to become suicidal through association with you?"

It blinked again, and it answered. "No."

That brought Tanya up short. It hadn't? The thing smirked, and Tanya clicked her tongue. So much for that…

Wait. She looked behind it, at the large tree. She could see some sort of fruit on it. Tanya snapped her finger, smirking.

"Have you ever provided that dangerous fruit to adventurers, aware of the effect it has on them? Aware that they'd die if they ate too much and that you could claim their dead body afterwards?"

Its eyes widened, and Tanya smiled pleasantly. When it continued to say nothing, Tanya stood up and stretched. "Well, I think that's all. We're done here."

It began to sniff, and tears welled up in its eyes. Tanya shook her head. So unbecoming.

And it didn't even realize what was about to happen.

"I'll save you the energy. Viktoriya! You can come over now!"

The woman ran over, darting out from the tree line, and Tanya sighed happily. It was nice to have backup she could trust completely. Sure, Darkness and Chris were fine, but she was sure that they wouldn't have been able to do it.

They just weren't cut out for this type of thing.

It cried out. "Help me! Please don't report that I'm evil to the guild!"

Tanya chuckled. "We won't have too; you'll be dead."

It blinked, too surprised to keep up its act. "Huh? But you said…"

Tanya pointed towards Viktoriya with an outstretched thumb, handing the woman her rifle with the other. "I said that I wouldn't kill you. She said nothing of the sort."

It looked to Viktoriya, emotions flashing across its face.

Viktoriya displayed none of her earlier sympathy.

It was confused.

Viktoriya shrugged, an apologetic grin on her face. "Sorry. Tanya says I need experience to defeat the Demon King, and you Tranquility Girls are apparently very full of it," she said, readying Tanya's rifle.

The forest around them shifted, the trees becoming a wall, and light dwindled. The Tranquility Princess rose, its small, human portion now being dwarfed by the roots surrounding it.

It was mad.

"I may not be especially good at fighting, but I'm sure I can take out a pair of under-leveled worms like you! And you'll never kill all of me; this forest is my domain!"

They both shrugged and then shot into the air, rising passed the tree line and into the sky. "You heard her; burn the forest to the ground. I'll put up this item. If you need any help, just holler!"

Viktoriya waved her off, ignoring the faint shouts below her. "Don't worry. A couple Napalm-Type Combustion spells should do the trick."

Tanya nodded, and rose higher still as shouts of 'Napalm' and the frustrated obscenities echoed beneath her. They had at least three more spots to hit that they had seen on their flight to this forest, and they could probably find more if they expanded the area they could search.

Of course, Viktoriya would get tired quickly; Tanya wasn't sure how to make a Computation Jewel that wasn't a Type 95, and without one of the devices, Viktoriya would get tired from fighting quickly.

Tanya would have to carry Viktoriya to the next spot.

Tanya smiled. Somehow, she would have to bear carrying Viktoriya around like she was some damsel-in-distress for a few days.

She giggled to herself as the sounds of battle faded. She was sure she would find some way to cope with such a 'burden.'

-OxOxO-

As the sun sank into the horizon, two women wore pleasant smiles as they walked into the guild. There hadn't been anything all that dangerous – the Tranquility Girls were stronger than them physically, but Reinforcement spells and lots of Napalm more than made up for the difference.

As they walked in, Tanya held out her hand. "Alright, I'll take your card. We need to show proof to the guild that we killed them, and these things confirm that."

A questioning look from Viktoriya meant Tanya had a chance to explain what the cards were, what they recorded, and how their skills and Skill Points worked. Viktoriya nodded along, flashing her card looks of unease from time to time.

Tanya still hadn't lowered her hand. Viktoriya, casting one last look down at her card, waved her off. "Oh, I can do it Tanya. I need experience with this world, after all."

Tanya squinted at the woman, but relented. She didn't want to show Tanya her card, obviously, and Tanya wouldn't begrudge her that because she totally would have looked at it.

It wasn't that Tanya didn't respect Viktoriya's privacy; it was just that the looks she had been shooting her seemed odd, and Tanya had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with either Viktoriya's stats or the description on her card.

Tanya gave the bag the guild had given her – filled with that truth-detecting magic item, a copy of that map, as well as some shovels, for if they killed the Tranquility Princess and needed to move it – as well as her own card, and walked further in.

Tanya sat down at a table, offhandedly ordering a bit of food as she thought. Viktoriya was as patient as Tanya was, but she was probably very interested in all the secrets Tanya hadn't told her. Tanya needed to figure out how she would be wording everything.

She was going to be offloading some of her less… harrowing… baggage; that took quite a bit of mental and emotional preparation.

Just as she was about to start, however, a strangled gasp echoed from the counter. Tanya swerved around, eyes searching for Viktoriya. She was standing there, looking rather confused. From there, Tanya looked around her.

Luna was… staring… at their cards…

Uh oh. Had she found out?

Tanya jumped up, rushing over and ignoring the curious gazes that attached themselves to her and the rapidly developing scene near the counter. She hoped she could smooth this over, but they might need to leave Axel if she had looked at the cards and figured out just how many people they had killed.

"Is there a problem?" Tanya asked, staring at the cards grasped in Luna's shaking hands. Tanya gave Viktoriya's hand a quick squeeze of reassurance.

"Y- Yo- You- You killed ten Tranquility Girls?!" Luna nearly screamed, terrified. Tanya breathed a sigh of relief, and then smiled. It was just that.

"Yes. We investigated the Tranquility Princess, found her to be evil, killed her, and then moved on to some other ones. Is there a problem?" she asked.

Sounds of outrage came from behind the pair, and both turned around. Tanya finally realized that everyone was staring at them, rage, shock, and fear on their faces.

Tanya was mystified. "Were we not supposed to kill them?" she asked, turning to Luna.

She shook her head hesitantly. "We- Well… nearly every adventurer has some reservations about killing something that looks so human, and there are mitigating circumstances that most might consider…" she trailed off.

Tanya felt the stares pounding into her as she surveyed the crowd, but she didn't cave to the pressure and start apologizing. "They are monsters, they kill tons of adventurers, we get good experience and money for it, and they all had some half-decent loot buried underneath them. Why wouldn't we kill them?" she asked, looking into the crowd.

The stuff they had found underground hadn't been good, by any means – most of it had been burnt a bit or damaged from exposure to the elements – but the general store manager had taken most of it, and Tanya had dumped the rest in a trashcan, besides a small, thin knife. She wanted to put it in her glove.

Speaking of money…

She turned around to Luna. "By the way, the Tranquility Princess claimed she controlled the entire forest, so we burnt down a large portion of it. You might want to look for her roots, just in case," she said. Luna looked rather faint, and whispers broke out in the crowd.

"So cruel and heartless…"

"If she killed the Demon King, she'd probably take over from him…"

"I don't care if she's legal, that loli is dangerous…"

"She really is 'Tanya the Evil'…"

The first one wasn't objective – she was ruthless and efficient, not cruel, and the 203rd proved she had a heart somewhere in her chest. The second one seemed like it might be an interesting proposition, but those last two hurt.

Her reputation, that was; her enemies and Being X had called her worse names.

The crowd withered away, and Tanya admitted that maybe she had glared at them a little bit too much. Or a lot.

She wasn't exactly a good judge of these things; the glare she'd sent might have made some of her soldiers pause for a moment, but that lot would have required some berating before they actually cringed.

Tanya scoffed. "Besides, I only killed three of them; Viktoriya killed seven," she said pointing to Viktoriya. She waved pleasantly, and the murmuring started up again.

"I don't believe her."

"She probably got forced to do it."

"Maybe we should save her from the loli."

Twitch.

Tanya ignored their comments and rolled her eyes. She turned to the receptionist. "Luna, our compensation?"

Torn between thanking her for taking out so many menaces and alarm that someone was so blasé about killing things that resemble humans, Luna ducked into the back.

Soon enough, she brought out a copy of the durian quest, a book, and the map from earlier. "If you could, please mark this map with the locations of the ones you subjugated while I calculate your pay."

Tanya nodded, easily marking the area of each spot with a red 'x'. Then, she waited, eyeing the adventurers who were still staring at them. She scowled. She really didn't get it; why were they so mad?

Luna still seemed pretty torn, but she put the book below the counter. She then popped back up.

"In addition to the durian quest, you cleared out a number of outstanding quests put up for any Tranquility Girls. If you would sign here…" she said, holding out a number of pieces of paper. Tanya was about to sign them, when something at the bottom of one caught her eye.

She pointed out what looked to be smudged dirt to Luna, who shrugged. "These ones are probably stained from the months and years of being incomplete. We haven't always had the best places to store this stuff."

Tanya nodded, and then signed them all one by one. Luna went into the back once more, and came back out, bearing a serving tray, and, like usual, it had what was probably money on it.

But it wasn't anything Tanya had seen. She'd seen tons of copper, iron, and, and even a handful of gold Eris. But on this one, a single, shining coin sat.

Voice shaking, Luna said, "This is a Mithril Eris. It is worth… one million Eris!"

The guild quieted down, and the derisive muttering about her suddenly stopped. Tanya looked at it, and then at Luna. "Please break this up. I'm going to be spending some of it, and carrying around something so Steal-able is asking to get robbed."

That it might be made of that most despised metal was also part of it, but she wouldn't be telling anyone.

Luna nodded, bringing the tray behind the counter. Tanya turned to see the guild looking at her differently. "Well. It seems we've earned quite a bit from this endeavor," she said, rubbing her chin. She smiled, and looked up at Viktoriya.

"Why don't we go get you looking like a real adventurer? These schmucks obviously don't know a thing about being courteous to those stronger than them." She smirked, but no one moved.

Tanya raised an eyebrow. The single instance in which Tanya had seen Dust earn more than 100,000 Eris, the people who had been calling him a waste of space that morning had come back to him, begging for a couple of drinks.

It seemed that even wealth wasn't good enough for them in this instance.

Just as she was beginning to doubt whether or not they should have killed those things, Luna came back, holding a huge bag larger than Tanya's head and Luna's bust combined.

She smirked lecherously as she took the money. "Luna. Pay for everyone's next meal, and put it on my tab. I'll be back in a bit," she said, activating a bit few Reinforcement spells to support her struggling arms. She walked out, closely followed by Viktoriya.

As soon as the doors closed, shouting and laughter erupted from behind the closed doors. Viktoriya seemed a bit put off, stopping to stare at the guild, but Tanya just kept walking.

"It's a sort of tradition that people who get huge scores pay for everyone's food. Otherwise, we would have kept it. Now come on!" she said, taking off in the direction of the Tailor's shop.

Viktoriya's clothing was sort of out of place, and Tanya was looking forward to a night in an actual bed, if she let her money talk for her.