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Chapter 14: A merchants viewNotes:

Don´t worry if this chapter is a bit on the shorter side. It will not be the last time we see their POV´s.

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

Chapter Text

Chapter 14

Anastasia had to respect Tanya´s strategy. To use the mystery around her person to make herself memorable in the eyes of the nobles was indeed an ingenious tactic. It practically guaranteed that everyone would pay full attention to her while she gave away minimal information.

The optical trick she used to create moving pictures in the air was also quite useful to add more emotion and drama to her speech. Could she do more with these illusions? Probably. Was that an ability of hers or did she perhaps us a special metia? If so then she wanted one.

Her every move seemed controlled and looked far too rehearsed for a girl her age. Had she been in the military? The uniform she wore suggested as much. She also carried a sabre with her. Was it just for show or was she that paranoid? How intriguing...

All in all, Tanya von Degurechaff was an anomaly. She could feel it. Her "merchant senses" as Ricardo had called them tingled in excitement. This theory proved correct when she announced that she had in fact not been born in Lugnica, but instead beyond the great waterfall. Apparently her homeland had been ravaged by war, but that only meant it would be easy to plunder. Even these ruins must still hide a few things that could be worth selling. Perhaps the blond girl had even brought some with her?

Their land had looked different to Lugnica. Very different. She had seen no demi-humans in Tanya´s memories. And no ground dragons. And no swords, now that she thought about it. How did they fight without swords? Only with magic perchance? Like the one Tanya had used so liberally?

Anastasia idly wondered if she could learn that kind of magic. It seemed really useful. Above all else, could others from Tanya´s land come here too? If yes, then she could hire them to teach some of her men. How much money she could make with all the different things from this new, untapped country! It was an ocean of opportunity. Maybe she could get some more secrets out of Tanya tomorrow at her little tea party. Before she could plan anything though she was unfortunately reminded that this meeting was not over yet.

"Reinhard van Astrea, is it true that you have become Lady Degurechaff´s personal knight and support her claim for the throne?" asked one of the elders.

"It is indeed true Lord Helikas."

Whispers went through the crowd. To have the backing of the swordsaint was invaluable. All of Tanya´s enemies were basically doomed to failure in an open confrontation.

"And why have you chosen to lend your support to her?"

"I met her while she defended herself from some thugs and simultaneously helped a complete stranger out of the goodness of her heart. She showed me in that moment that she is not only strong, but also compassionate; even if she does not see herself that way. Later I learned that Tanya von Degurechaff is really a woman without compare. Her true skill in combat for example is currently unknown to me, but if she has indeed been holding back quite considerably in our sparring sessions then her destructive potential can only be rivalled by me."

Holding back? Against the swordsaint? How powerful was that girl? This was ridiculous!

"She has managed to impress me in so many ways since we crossed paths that I could not imagine to follow a more amazing leader. I wholeheartedly believe that her brilliant mind paired with wisdom far beyond her age will not only be able to heal our country, but also make it greater than ever before."

"Quite the glowing praise Sir Reinhard. We will have to wait and see if she truly deserves it though." mocked another council member.

"I will just have to give my best to not let you down then." smiled Tanya sweetly while her eyes flashed with blue light.

Anastasia would have happily paid twenty gold coins to know what went through her head in that moment. Perhaps tomorrow she would catch a glimpse of the mystery girl´s true nature behind all those masks. She could only speculate what Tanya´s price for that kind of information would be.

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Al felt like a ground-dragon carriage had just hit him full force when the blond girl told everybody that she did not come from this world. His outlook on life was basically changed from one moment to the next.

He was not alone!

Then the sober realization set in. If she was summoned from another world then most likely not from his. On his earth they didn't have magic, he was pretty sure. Also, there had not been a world war going on...

Oh no! Had earth fallen into chaos? Had his homeland, that he barely remembered, been sucked into another great war? Wait! Maybe she was from the past... Travells through time and space were a bit funky. The uniform looked vaguely familiar. Was she from one of the two world wars? No, he reminded himself that that was impossible. Where she came from they did have magic after all.

Now he understood at least what the weird pocket at her side contained: a gun! The girl had guns! What were all these knights in heavy armour supposed to do against somebody with a gun? Could Priscilla´s luck save them from a bullet? He really hoped so.

Even if she did not come from his world, hers did look at least more similar to earth than Lugnica. Maybe they could talk about... Well... Damn it! He remembered absolutely nothing of interest that they could talk about. Had movies even been invented when the First World War came about?

More importantly, why would she even talk to him? Not to mention that his princess would probably be pretty pissed if he spoke to one of her rivals. Al would have to keep an eye on her and eventually warn Priscilla about guns. Hopefully she would listen to him when the time came.

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Priscilla meanwhile was very much entertained, even though she showed no outwards reaction to the events that played out before her. This Tanya-girl looked rather interesting. Not that she had even the slightest chance of succeeding should she herself try to stop her, but it would definitely be amusing to watch her struggle. Regardless of how many passionate speeches she held or how much powerful magic she commanded she could never win against Priscilla, simply because Tanya was not favoured by the gods like her.

Still if any of these fools had a theoretical chance to harm her magnificent self then it would be that girl. With the knowledge of fighting an actual war and the backing of the swordsaint she could prove a decent distraction. If she deemed her worthy enough to entertain her.

Ah, sometimes being perfect and all-powerful was really bothersome. Barely anything became compelling enough to spend time with and even the most exotic experiences became dull quickly. So a small trip to the swordsaints domain tomorrow didn´t sound too bad.

Priscilla smirked to herself:

"Come little Tanya... Alleviate my boredom for a short while."

Notes:

To add to the question from last chapter:

Which deadly sin is the most opposed to Tanya? Which fits her personality the least?

Lust? Sloth? Gluttony? Envy?