17

Chapter 17: Uneven meetingNotes:

I am not writing that stupid accent for both Priscilla and Anastasia. Its way too hard for someone who is not a native speaker and looks ridiculous when done wrong. It´s not like most people will miss it anyway.

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

Chapter Text

Chapter 17

The first guest to arrive was Emilia. Without a carriage and without a bodyguard as well! How careless was that girl? It looked like she wanted to get murdered! She came into the domain of her enemy completely unprotected and didn´t even try to impress with wealth or status! Only dumb luck could be the reason why she had not already been murdered in the streets if the general populace reacted to her visual appearance the same way the nobles did.

Or maybe the girl was more powerful than she looked? To survive in a world that instinctively hated her must have been no easy feat. Was she concealing an enormous magical aptitude perhaps? Or were her bodyguards so good that Tanya had not even noticed them? Instinctively she checked all corners of the room and enhanced her senses to spot even the faintest of movements in the air.

Nothing. She would have to keep an eye out for these invisible protectors if they even existed.

The silver-haired girl looked friendly enough when she went to personally greet her, but something seemed off about her. She would just keep staring and smiling at Tanya (especially her hair) when she thought she wasn´t looking. One time when Tanya stared back she blushed and averted her eyes to the floor. How strange.

Nonetheless Tanya gave her best to entertain her first guest with seemingly meaningless banter while she secretly hoped to gain valuable information from doing so.

"So Emilia where do you live? I am quite thankful that Reinhard has let me stay here or else I would have to rent a room in a hotel or something like that."

Slowly, she wanted to ease the shy girl into a conversation. The low self-esteem was probably the result of years of discrimination now that she thought about it.

"I, uh, live with Roswaal. He lets me stay at his mansion. It is very, uh, nice from him."

"What made you choose Roswaal of all people? From what I could see at the royal selection he appears to be a rather eccentric man."

"He kind of is? But he was kind enough to help me out in a sticky situation and he is really powerful, I believe."

"Oh, so I heard. The margrave is supposedly the strongest magician in the country. Is that true?"

"Yes? I mean he has control over all six elements which is extremely rare. I haven´t seen him use his powers much though."

All six of them? Interesting. That also meant that he knew shadow magic. Perhaps he could teach her? That would mean she owed him a favour, but the result of possessing a whole new set of abilities that provided her with a crucial understanding of this world´s magic system could be worth it.

"Which affinity do you have?"

"Ah, ehm... Fire and water. And you?"

She had of course expected that question, but giving away this information was meaningless to her. Answering this enquiry would only confuse her enemies more, because they would think that she had used shadow magic when in reality her magic formulae functioned completely different.

"Yin. My element is shadow."

"Wow! That´s also super rare. Say, uh, Tanya... when you came here from your homeland did you bring anybody with you?... Ah, you don´t have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable or anything..."

Her voice trailed off at the end and the poor thing looked rather embarrassed.

"No, it´s quite alright. I came here alone."

"Oh, you must be so lonely then. You surely miss your friends..."

"I never had many friends. When you are in the military you don´t have much time for such things. But yes I miss a few of my comrades."

Was that pity in Emilia´s eyes? No... There was no way that her rival was taking pity on them! Did she really think Tanya´s situation was that hopeless without more allies by her side? Was she already writing her off as unthreatening? How dare she! Well, it was actually good if her opponent underestimated her.

After they had both exchanged a few more pleasantries, a servant approached Tanya to inform her that Lady Karsten had arrived together with Lady Hoshin. Both of them understood at least the importance of a proper entrance, because they reached their destination in splendid carriages drawn by clearly very expensive ground dragons. In contrast to Emilia they also brought their knights with them which should have been common sense.

Crusch was accompanied by a petite and overly friendly cat-girl who Tanya recognized as being called Felix. (This land was apparently strange enough that even a woman could have a man´s name.) Anastasia had Julius with her who matched the stereotypical "knight persona" far better than his demi-human counterpart. Reinhard was there to greet them and went off to entertain them while she was busy with the candidates.

"Well, then it is late enough already. We will have to begin without Lady Barielle."

Just as she was uttering those words the door burst open and Priscilla entered the room with her chin held high and lips pressed together in a condescending smirk. Without saying anything she grabbed a chair and sat down as if was the most natural thing in the world. How had she even gotten into the mansion and found this room without Tanya being notified? Could she teleport?

"That was most fortune timing if I say so myself." she commented drily.

Priscilla only scoffed.

"Of course it is a given that I arrive at the perfect moment. You would have been unable to begin with me otherwise."

Tanya had to fight an internal battle of epic proportions to keep her polite face from crumbling away. This woman was already insufferable even though she just arrived!

"In that case I am very thankful that all of you have accepted my invitation and have graced me with your presence. I am new to these lands as you all know, so it is of huge benefit for me that you are willing to teach me more about our... situation. But enough about my selfish desires, do you have any questions you want to ask first?"

If she wanted them to open up then she needed them to feel like they were in control. Naturally they were not. All who stepped into the same room as the Argent left only because they could be useful for her in the future. Had it not been political suicide to do so, then Tanya could have easily ended all their lives in a heartbeat.

"Yes, I would like to know why you brought a weapon yesterday to the royal selection. It seemed rather strange to me, especially after the guard at the door made it very clear that only knights were allowed to carry them inside the throne room." said Crusch with a stern face.

Her voice was polite, but she seemed slightly upset about the topic. Understandable. Rules were there for a reason and to disrespect them meant to fall outside the boundaries of society.

"Around a week ago I was still fighting a war. Forgive me for my lack of trust, but old habits die hard. To answer your second question, it was allowed to keep it because this blade holds symbolic value for me since my knight presented it to me as a gift."

Crusch nodded sharply. Nobody even looked at the appetizing delicacies on the table, but instead solely at her. To manipulate four attentive and mistrustful people at the same time would be hard, but the Angel of the Reich specialized in the seemingly impossible. So she pulled up one corner of her lips into a cheeky grin and reached for her teacup.

"You should drink something. We have much to discuss."

Notes:

What do you think is the most overpowered authority in Re:Zero?

Which sin archbishop will be the most troublesome enemy for Tanya?