Okay, so, I've noticed the complaints about recent plot holes in the story, as well as general dissatisfaction with the way things were headed. I've been brushing up on my knowledge of the setting by rewatching the anime and have decided to rewrite the last few chapters to take the story in a different direction, beginning where Chapter 18, [Looking Up] left off.
Hopefully things will end up being more satisfying. If you'd like to read the chapters that I've rendered non-canon, you can find them in the scrapped collection. As a side note, I'm also working on something else featuring Tanya that should begin releasing soon.
Anyway, that's all! Thanks for your attention!
~~~
[A Worrisome Encounter]
It was astonishing how easy it was to make money when you didn’t have to worry about a debt drawing away every cent you made. It almost made Tanya pity those fools in her original world who managed to find themselves down that hole.
Tanya’s saber ripped through a lunging Kobold, scattering its remains about her feet. Another tried for a swipe at her exposed flank and she turned to meet it. She didn’t need to worry however, as an arrow tore through its neck before it even got close.
Its shooter was a Pallum with dusty hair and narrow face set in a lazy expression despite the melee. He nocked another arrow and loosed it in the same motion, sending another monster to its doom.
Across the cavern, a similar melee was taking place. Licia was being accosted by a rather large group of Needle Rabbits and managing to fend them off quite admirably with the help of her own, spear-wielding companion, who seemed a bit out of his depth at the moment.
This excursion was ostensibly training for the gangly teen. Though both he and the Pallum had joined the Loki familia around the same time as Licia, it was clear to see that he had quite a bit of catching up to do in regards to combat.
The hoard thinned and soon cleared, leaving a scattering of monster stones amid the dying wails of the creatures who laid them. The Pallum wasted no time in stowing his bow and sweeping up as many as he could carry, only stopped by Tanya’s hand on his shoulder.
He gave her an annoyed look. “What?”
“I saw you slip that one into your boot. It’s not a good idea to try and cheat your help out of their day’s earnings.”
He opened his mouth to argue or complain, but Licia’s voice broke in.
“Rann, I told you to watch it. You won’t be able to sneak anything by Tanya,” she scolded, wiping blood off of her blades and sheathing them. The Pallum scoffed but unfurled his pants leg to reveal a finger-sized stone lodged between his sock and calf.
“I thought she was too busy watching you and Artus to notice.” He tossed the stone to Tanya who caught it deftly. From its weight, it would be worth quite a bit.
“I’m more than capable of keeping track of multiple things at once,” she said dryly. “Maybe if you tried it with something smaller, I wouldn’t have noticed. I guess your greed got the better of you.”
Rann gave her a childish look at his tongue and Tanya rolled her eyes as she pocketed the stone. Meanwhile, Licia sidled up to Artus’s side, looking over the tall teenager with a critical eye.
“You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
He shook his head, seeming a bit nervous at the attention. “N-No miss Licia! I remembered what you taught me. They were fast, but I managed to keep them away with my spear.”
Licia smiles, patting him on the shoulder. “Good. I know you’re prone to panic, but keeping a level head and remembering your spacing is the key to getting out of tough situations like that.”
“That, and not screaming your head off every time one of them almost hits you,” Rann snickered as he shoved a fistful of stones into his pouch. Artus deflated and Licia glared at him but he ignored it.
They set about gathering their spoils. They were splitting everything equally so it didn’t matter who grabbed what, only who had more room in their pouch. Tanya made sure to keep half an eye on Rann for any more sneaky maneuvers, but he seemed to realize he was being watched and didn’t try anything else.
By the time everything was said and done, they each had a good amount of magic stones weighing them down. Tanya hefted her pouch, feeling for its weight. “I think we should stop here.”
“What? But we’ve only been down here a few hours. My pouch isn’t even full!” Rann complained.
Licia shook her head. “Tanya’s right; this is more than enough for one day. We still need to factor in the stones that we’ll get on the way back up.”
Rann huffed but didn’t argue. They gathered their bearings and began the journey back to the surface.
A few straggling monsters crossed their path but nothing that warranted a real stop. Artus managed to kill a War Shadow on his own which seemed to boost his confidence the rest of the way.
Licia fell into step beside Tanya, leaving Artus to Rann’s not-so-gentle tutelage up ahead. The auburn-haired girl had a contemplative look on her face as she watched the two.
“Something on your mind?” Tanya asked.
“I was just thinking,” Licia started slowly. “It’s kind of strange being the one teaching instead of learning. I never thought I’d be in this position when I first started adventuring.”
“You’re doing a good job, from what I can see. I doubt I could do better myself.” It was a small lie, but Tanya doubted that Artus would take to the same training she used to whip the 203rd into shape.
Licia glanced at her, a small smile gracing her face. “I honestly can’t see you training anyone, Tanya.”
Tanya’s lips quirked. “You’d be surprised. I’ve had some experience with instruction in the past.”
“Really?” Licia’s eyebrows rose. “When?”
“There was a... specialized unit,” Tanya hummed, choosing her words carefully. “I was tasked with bringing new recruits up to standard. A rather eclectic group, if I’m being honest. It felt like half of them had never held a weapon before in their lives.”
Licia looked genuinely intrigued now. “How’d that go?”
“They became a very effective force under my tutelage. Though I received several complaints about my... intense methods.”
“Intense how?”
Avalanches, live fire exercises, hikes over several dozen miles, take your pick, Tanya thought dryly, while out loud she said, “Let’s just say that Artus would not have enjoyed the experience and leave it at that.”
Licia laughed softly at that. “Somehow I believe you.” She was quiet for a moment, her gaze drifting back to the two figures ahead. “Still, it must have been rewarding to watch them grow.”
Tanya considered her friend’s statement. The 203rd had been a tremendous success by any metric, and watching those hopeless fools transform into one of the greatest and most effective forces on the planet had been satisfying. Professionally speaking, of course. She wondered how they were doing without her. Weiss would lead them well, assuming they weren’t broken up and scattered into the Empire’s ranks after her death. Even then, she imagined they’d be fine after everything they’d been through,
“It was.”
They reached the surface in a matter of hours. As they crested the steps to the Dungeon, Rann stretched his arms wide, tilting his face toward the sun with a groan of pleasure. “Gods, I missed this. I swear the Dungeon gets stuffier every time I go down there.”
“If you hate it so much, why do you keep going back?” Artus asked.
Rann shot him an incredulous look. “Duh! To get rich!”
“You’d need to go pretty deep for that,” Artus pointed out. “The upper floors don’t drop much.”
Rann sighed and reached up and hooked an arm around Artus’s neck, dragging the tall teen down to his level with surprising strength. Artus let out a startled noise but didn’t struggle, apparently used to this sort of treatment by now.
“Let me tell you about the lazy man’s treasure. The key to a payday unlike any other…” Rann said, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper that was nonetheless perfectly audible to everyone in the group. “The Jack Bird.”
Artus blinked. “The what?”
“Jack Bird!” Rann repeated, as if the name itself should inspire awe. “See, most of the good stuff is way down where the monsters’ll eat your face before you can look them in the eyes. But the Jack Bird spawns on the upper floors, and if you manage to catch one, it’s got a guaranteed drop worth a million Valis a pop!”
“No way. They can’t be worth that much if they’re on the upper floors. People would just hang around waiting for one to show up,” Artus said doubtfully. Tanya turned halfway toward him.
“The Jack Bird is a rare monster and extremely quick besides. It isn’t aggressive, but there’s plenty of stories about adventurers who lost the opportunity for a payout because it disappeared before they even knew what they were looking at.”
Tanya had been lucky enough not to have such misfortune fall upon her, though that was mostly because she hadn’t been lucky enough to actually find one. Granted, she hadn’t been looking especially hard; she wasn’t one to risk her livelihood on gambling for something she might never find.
Rann continued to regale Artus with increasingly outlandish stories about Jack Bird sightings while Licia and Tanya walked in comfortable silence. The auburn-haired girl seemed content to simply enjoy the afternoon air after the stale atmosphere of the Dungeon, and Tanya found herself appreciating the quiet.
The Guild hall was bustling when they arrived. Adventurers of all stripes milled about, and Tanya made her way toward a familiar figure behind one of the counters. Adris looked up as they approached, her expression brightening considerably as she recognized Tanya.
“Well, well! The Little Devil graces me with her presence again. I was thinking I’d miss you today,” the half-dwarf called. “Glad to see you all in one piece.”
“We try our best,” Licia replied with a warm smile.
Rann slapped his pouch onto the counter. “Less talking, more paying. I’ve got a date with a hot meal and a soft bed, and I’d like to get to both before the sun sets.”
Adris rolled her eyes but began sorting through the stones with admirable speed, separating them by type and quality.
“This is a decent haul for the upper floors,” she commented, making quick notes in her ledger. “Someone’s been busy.”
“Four heads is better than one,” Licia said. “Or, well, swords, I suppose.”
Adris finished tallying the last of the stones and slid a pouch across the counter toward Rann, who snatched it up with undisguised glee. The others received their shares in turn, and Tanya was a little richer.
“Not bad,” Adris said, leaning against the counter as she watched them pocket their earnings. “A few more runs like this and you’ll be able to start thinking about better equipment. Or a vacation, if you’re feeling fancy.”
“Vacations don’t pay for themselves,” Rann grumbled, though his mood had improved considerably now that his pouch was weighted with coin. He gave it an appreciative jingle before tucking it securely into his belt. “Alright, I’m leaving. Artus, you coming?”
The taller boy looked to Licia, who waved him off. “Go ahead. We’re done for the day.”
“Have a nice evening, Miss Licia!” Artus said with a small bow before herry after Rann who had left him behind.
Licia watched them go, a fond smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “He’s going to be a great adventurer, I think.”
“He’s eager,” Tanya allowed. “That counts for something.”
Nodding, Licia stretched her arms above her head, working out the stiffness from the dive. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Want to grab something to eat?”
“The Hostess, perhaps?” Tanya suggested.
Licia made a face. “Can we go somewhere else? The food’s good but I think I could recite the menu backwards at this point.”
“Fair point,” Tanya conceded, before shrugging. “Let’s just walk and see what we find. I’m sure something will present itself.”
Licia agreed, and the two set off into the greater city. They wandered without any particular destination in mind, passing by several establishments that either looked too crowded or too expensive for a casual meal. Tanya was content to let Licia take the lead. Food was food and she had never been particularly picky so long as it was edible and reasonably priced.
“So,” Licia began. “How are you doing now that the debt is taken care of? Financially, I mean.”
“I’m making ends meet,” Tanya replied honestly. “I’ve managed to secure a partnership that should prove lucrative in the long term depending on how things play out. Short-term, however...”
She frowned slightly, considering her words. “Grinding the upper floors is sustainable in the sense that I won’t starve, but the risk-to-reward ratio leaves much to be desired. The monsters there simply don’t yield enough to suit me, even on an exceptionally good day.”
“You could go deeper,” Licia suggested. “The middle floors pay much better.”
Tanya shook her head. “When I joined you, Asterin, and Dorian, I could barely keep up. I don't fancy my chances alone.”
Licia nodded slowly, her expression thoughtful. “That’s true... I guess if you want to make the Dungeon your main source of income, the only real way to do it would be to get a blessing and join a Familia. You’ve done well by yourself but there’s only so far skill can take you.”
“I believe I’ve made my opinion abundantly clear,” Tanya replied not unkindly.
Licia sighed but didn’t press the issue. They walked in silence for a moment before she spoke again.
“I know you’ve had bad experiences with Apollo and... whatever happened before you came here. But not all gods are like that, you know?”
Tanya only half heard her, taken as she was with a familiar sight near the end of the street. She smirked at the irony. “Perhaps not. Come this way; I think I found something we can snack on.”
She grabbed Licia’s hand and pulled her forward through the crowd, ignoring the young woman’s noise of surprise. Hestia was busy with a customer as they approached, the diminutive goddess chatting animatedly with an adventurer perusing her store.
“Believe me sir, these are absolutely the best potatoes in all of Orario! Grown in the finest soil, bathed in the gentlest sunlight. You won’t find anything better!”
The man nodded in interest, but his eyes were focused on anything but the goddess’s face or the wares she was harking. Hestia seemed oblivious to his leering, or perhaps she was more intent on the sale than Tanya realized.
Tanya interjected herself into the conversation with a quick, “Good afternoon, Hestia.”
Hestia’s head whipped around at the sound of her name, her twin ponytails bouncing with the motion. Her eyes widened in recognition before crinkling into a bright smile.
“Tanya! It’s good to see you!” She said, immediately giving Tanya her full attention. The adventurer who had been leering at her moments before shot Tanya a sour look, waited all of three seconds to see if he would be acknowledged, and then stalked off in a huff. Hestia didn’t seem to notice his departure at all.
Hestia’s gaze strayed to Licia. “You brought a friend.”
Licia offered a small wave. “Hello, Goddess Hestia. I’m Licia, of the Loki familia.”
Hestia smiled. “It’s nice to meet you! Are you two hungry? I just made a fresh batch!”
Tanya glanced at the steaming potatoes arranged on the stand. “We’ll take two.”
“Coming right up!”
Hestia bustled about her stand, garnishing and plating the potatoes before handing them over with a flourish. Tanya didn’t hesitate to bite into hers, relishing the soft crunch and explosion of buttery salt across her tongue
“This wasn’t really what I had in mind when I said we should get something to eat, Tanya,” Licia said as she eyed her own morsel.
Licia took a tentative bite. Her eyes widened, and she hurriedly took another larger one.
“Okay, I take it back,” she said around a mouthful of potato. “This is really good.”
Hestia beamed at the compliment, her chest puffing with pride. “Thank you! I’ve been doing this for a while so I’m pretty good at it!”
“They’re certainly better than most street food I’ve eaten,” Tanya said, which from her was practically a ringing endorsement. She took another bite, chewing thoughtfully as she studied the goddess before her. “Though I’ve been wondering, what is a goddess doing selling potatoes on the side of the street?”
Behind her, Licia made a strangled noise, but Hestia didn’t seem to notice. The goddess planted her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest with pride.
“I’m helping my child, that’s all!” She said, “It isn’t fair that Bell is the only one working hard to support our Familia. He’s down in the Dungeon every day, pushing himself to the limit. I can’t just sit around and make him take care of everything all on his own. Making a little extra money is the least I can do.”
Licia had recovered from her near-choking experience and was staring at Hestia with an expression caught somewhere between admiration and disbelief. “That’s... really admirable, Lady Hestia. Most gods I’ve met wouldn’t dream of doing something like this.”
Hestia waved off the praise with a modest, if slightly flustered, gesture. “It’s nothing special! A god has to look after their children, right? It’s part of the job description!”
“Some might disagree with you on that,” Tanya said mildly as she polished off her potato. Hestia paused, a sad look on her face, and shook her head.
“Some gods can be nasty, but I’d like to think most of us want what’s best for our children.”
Tanya saying nothing to that, but her expression must have spoken volumes because Hestia’s gaze softened with something uncomfortably close to pity. The silence stretched for a moment before Licia stepped in.
“Well, I think it’s wonderful what you’re doing,” the auburn-haired girl said warmly. “Your child is lucky to have you.”
Hestia’s cheeks flushed pink at the compliment, her twin ponytails bouncing as she ducked her head. “Thank you. Bell really is the best. He works so hard, and he’s always so kind. I just wish there was more I could do for him.”
Tanya finished the last of her meal and wiped her hands on a cloth Hestia offered. “We should be going. Thank you for the food.”
“Anytime, Tanya!” Hestia called as they moved away from the stand. “Come back soon, okay? And bring more friends!”
Tanya raised a hand in acknowledgment but didn’t look back. Licia waited until they were a respectable distance from Hestia’s stand before speaking.
“You just asked a goddess why she was selling potatoes on the street,” she said, as if she was worried Tanya hadn’t noticed.
“It was a legitimate question,” Tanya replied. “The idea of a divine being harking potato puffs is a little strange to say the least.”
“That’s not the point!” Licia’s cheeks puffed out in a way that reminded Tanya of a small animal. “You can’t just... you know what, never mind. I should be used to how you are by now.”
Tanya allowed herself a small smirk. “Hestia took no offense. I fail to see the issue.”
Licia opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again before finally sighing in defeat. “You’re impossible.”
“I’ve been told.”
They walked on, looking for something of substance to fill their stomachs. Hestia’s food was good, but it did little to sate. They eventually settled on a small pop-up stand selling food from the Far East. Tanya purchased a noodle dish that reminded her somewhat of yakisoba, an old favorite that she hadn’t had the pleasure of tasting in two lifetimes. The taste was a bit off as this land didn’t have the same spices as back on Earth, but it was still rather good.
“I should get back to the Twilight Manor,” Licia said as they finished their meals. “I’m joining a small expedition tomorrow and I have to be up pretty early.”
“Then I won’t keep you,” Tanya said. “Good luck on your expedition.”
“Thanks!” Licia smiled, then hesitated. She glanced down the street toward the Twilight Manor before looking back at Tanya with something approaching concern. “Will you be alright getting back on your own?”
Tanya raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been navigating Orario by myself for some time now, Licia. I think I can manage the walk home.”
“I know, I just...” Licia trailed off, biting her lip. “Be careful, okay? Apollo might not be able to come after you directly anymore, but that doesn’t mean he’s given up.”
A fair point. Tanya had no illusions that the sun god had simply accepted his defeat gracefully. Men like him—gods like him—didn’t take humiliation well, and she had humiliated him thoroughly.
“I appreciate the concern,” Tanya said, and meant it.
Licia nodded, seemingly satisfied, and with a wave, she headed off toward the Twilight Manor. Tanya watched her go until she disappeared around a corner before turning her own feet toward the Hostess of Fertility.
The afternoon was waning into evening, and the streets had begun to thin as people retired to their homes and taverns. Tanya walked without hurry, taking in the sights as they were; the city was rather beautiful in the twilight of the day.
Around two blocks away from her home, she turned down a side alley that she often used as a shortcut. She made it around halfway through before a figure blocked her path.
“So, you’re the one who’s been causing all the commotion. You don’t look like much”
Tanya stopped, her hand straying to her saber as she took in the figure before her. He was not quite as short as her but still rather small. A pair of cat ears emerged from the top of a spikey head of black hair, and Tanya spied the tip of a tail just behind him, mostly hidden, leaned against the wall as he was.
His eyes were yellow, slit-pupiled, and they fixed on her with an intensity that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. His features might have been attractive under different circumstances, but the sheer menace radiating off of him rendered them anything but.
He wore barely any armor—just a single silver shoulder protector on his left side and silver leg protectors from the knee down. He also had no weapon, but somehow, Tanya didn’t think that would matter much.
Tanya’s eyes narrowed. “And who are you?”
He didn’t answer, and Tanya tensed as he languidly pushed himself off of the wall to face her fully. His eyes swept over her, assessing her armor and bearing. When they landed on her saber, half drawn from its scabbard after he moved, he sneered.
“Go ahead; make my day,” he said.
Tanya’s fingers clenched around the hilt of her sword, but something stopped her from pulling it entirely. It was a prick on the back of her neck, an old instinct that had served her well in the Empire and even a few times here. If she drew her weapon, she would die.
Her saber slid back into its sheath with a click. The cat-eared man’s sneer deepened, but there was a flicker of disappointment in his expression that indicated Tanya had made the right choice. He took a step forward, his demeanor loose and unconcerned.
“You’ve got some brains after all. Or maybe you’re just a coward.”
Tanya’s lip curled. “Drawing a weapon indicates I intend to fight, but I can tell that’s exactly what you want and I’m not very inclined to give it to you.”
The man’s eyes narrowed and he took another step forward. Tanya held her ground, though her muscles tensed imperceptibly. Already, she was trying to think of some way to get out of this situation. This man was dangerous. Far too dangerous for her to deal with on her own.
We’re still near the main street. If I make some commotion, someone will hear it and come running, she thought, but just the same, she knew the idea of such an action resulting in her death was just as likely.
“I wanted to see for myself what all the fuss was about,” he said, his voice carrying a sharp, almost bored quality. His yellow eyes roved over her face, cataloging, dismissing. “The little girl who humiliated Apollo without a Falna and got the attention of gods all across Orario. Everyone’s craning their neck to get a good look at you, kid. Everyone.”
He leaned in, and Tanya fought the urge to step back at the anger in his eyes.
“I’ve gotta say...” He spoke softly. “I’m not impressed.”
Tanya met his gaze without flinching. “I wasn’t aware I was supposed to be performing for anyone.”
“Maybe not. But you’ve been drawing attention anyway.” His tail flicked behind him, an agitated motion that belied his casual tone. “People are whispering about you all over the city, and it pisses me off.”
“I fail to see how my existence impacts yours in any meaningful way.”
“She’s got eyes on you now. Just like that other kid. Too many of you upstarts are making noise,” he sneered, seemingly ignoring her. “You got lucky with Apollo’s brat; a real adventurer would’ve wiped the floor with you. Yet here you are, strutting around like you actually matter and getting attention you don’t deserve.”
Tanya noted the pronoun and the emphasis levied upon it. He was referring to someone specific, likely someone very dear to him. He was jealous, and Tanya had experienced something like this before.
“Many would kill to be in your position, yet here you stand, trying to find a way out of it.”
This one is just like Apollo’s captain, Tanya realized, and with that realization, came a sinking feeling. Don’t tell me...
The cat-eared man’s lip curled into something that might have been a smile on someone less threatening. “You’re nothing special,” he said, his voice dropping low. “You’d be better off just dying in the Dungeon somewhere. Save us all the trouble.”
He stepped past her, close enough that she could feel the heat of his body. Tanya held rigidly still, every fiber of her being screaming at her not to move... And then he was gone.
Tanya spun around, her cloak billowing in the silence The alleyway was empty and the street beyond that flowed naturally with traffic. The wind hadn’t even stirred to mark his departure. It was as if he had simply ceased to exist the moment he left her field of vision.
Tanya let out a breath, the air escaping her lungs in a slow hiss. Her heart was hammering against her ribs, a traitorous reaction that she hadn’t experienced in quite some time. She looked down at her hand, still resting on the hilt of her saber. It was trembling slightly. She clenched her fist, forcing the trembling to stop through sheer willpower.
“Ridiculous,” she muttered, stepping out of the alleyway and back onto the main road. Yet even as she resumed her journey, intent on taking a warm bath and heading straight to bed, the pit in her stomach gnawed at her.