Discussions for Moving Forward Pt 2

"That…" Rimuru leaned back, trying to think of a tactical way to respond. "…must have really sucked."

Internally, he panicked.

That was so insensitive!

Luckily, Tanya seemed to take it in stride. She chuckled.

"That is an apt descriptor of the situation. In fact, our second meeting took place at the tail end of a battle that had at that point gone on for 18 hours." Tanya went on, still keeping her gaze on the doorway. "At the end of the battle, I shot her 5 times at close range with my Luger. One of them went through the middle of her chest. I imagine it only barely missed her heart." She shook her head, "And yet she survived and continued to pester me up until my second death. I don't know if anyone else could have survived that. Not in that world at least."

5 times? And this was after they'd fought a while. That's crazy!

"Rimuru, are you alright with this?"

What? Rimuru blinked. "What do you mean?"

Tanya sighed.

"I'm telling you about war. Real war. Humans duking it out to see who can waste the highest number of resources in the shortest amount of time. The worst invention of humanity- well, of sapient races, I suppose. From what I understand, you've had a much more peaceful isekai experience than I. Do you take issue with what I've mentioned? I don't have any problems with what I've done, but I recognize that others do not view things the way I do. It's a lesson I've been forced to learn time and again."

Rimuru thought about it for a minute.

"I mean, sure it's bad and all, but," He began, crossing his arms. "I've had to kill here as well you know. Recently, we fought against a Demon Lord Seed called the Orc Disaster. He caused a lot of destruction of pain, but he was also just trying to look out for his people. And I devoured him, and his sins along with. Sometimes, you have to look out for yourself and yours, yeah? Even if the other side feels the same way."

Tanya was quiet.

"You say that now, but I wonder if you'll feel the same when it's a human enemy."

"Huh?"

"Monsters and humans don't naturally get along. At least, not commonly. And here you are with this bustling city of monsters, yet not a single one of them regarded me with anything beyond mild curiosity. So, I have to wonder if you're letting your bias show, Rimuru. At your core, you still think of yourself as human, don't you?"

"I-"

"Well, in any case I'm not here to psychoanalyze. I'm sure you have your own justifications for doing things, just as I have mine."

It certainly feels that way! Rimuru mentally exclaimed. Is she right though? I think the last time I was this confused was when I'd first reincarnated and didn't know how to move!

Tanya slowly pulled her legs from under the kotatsu and got up.

Rimuru snapped from his daze. "Ah, Tanya? Where are you going?"

"Hm?" Tanya glanced at him. "Mary is awake again. Has been for a while now. She's stewed long enough, I think, so I believe it's time I discuss something with her. If that's alright with you."

"Oh, yeah sure." Rimuru spread his senses outside with Magic Sense, noting that yes, Mary had indeed awoken and was struggling very angrily against her bonds. Not that it mattered; she had no chance of breaking Rimuru's Sticky Thread wrap. "Just ah…"

How was Rimuru supposed to say "please don't kill your hated enemy" without sounding ridiculous?

Tanya paused in the doorway. "I'm not going to kill her."

Is she a mind reader? Rimuru narrowed his eyes. Tanya, why did the chicken cross the road?

Tanya did not respond. Either she wasn't secretly a mind reader, or she was smart enough not to make it known.

Notice: The likelihood of Tanya von Degurechaff possessing a Skill capable of reading others' thoughts is extremely low.

Well, there's some hope at least.

Rimuru really didn't need Tanya knowing exactly how often he thought about elf girls. Or more specifically, E.I.L.F.'s-

"Rimuru?" Tanya glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, sorry! Yeah, go ahead. We can talk about your living arrangements afterwards."

"Living arrangements?" Tanya blinked. "Alright then. This won't take long anyway."

-=-

"Okay, Mary Sue. Are we going to talk like civilized people, or are you going to forever snap at my heels like an irate dog?"

"How dare you talk about civilized, you Devil!" Mary thrashed in her bonds, nearly toppling over.

-=-

Art by (@tanjaded)

-=-

Tanya shook her head. "Funny how you say that, yet you're the one they were forced to tie up."

"I hate you!" Mary spat.

Literally. It missed, given her awkward position, but the attempt was there.

She slumped back against the front wall of Rimuru's house, hatred contorting her expression.

"Tell me something I don't know." Tanya rolled her eyes. "It's a waste a time to continue like this, so I'll just cut to my point right away. Why do you hate me so deeply? Specifically, I mean."

"Don't play dumb with me! You destroyed my homeland! You killed my father!"

"The Empire destroyed your homeland. Which invaded us first might I add. Meanwhile, I was just along for the ride, doing my job as a soldier." Tanya tilted her head. "Just like you, actually. After all, you've killed 4 of my subordinates since we first met."

"That's-" Mary blinked, momentarily taken aback. "That isn't the same!"

"Sorry, but you don't get to say that. It isn't the same? Those men were my brothers. My comrades-in-arms, the closest thing to family an orphan like me had." Tanya faked a threatening step forward, then stopped as though she had only just remembered where she was. She breathed in deeply, holding it for several long moments, then letting it out through clenched teeth.

I should win an Oscar for this.

"From what I've gathered, you seem to have this conflated sense of importance about yourself and your father. But you're nothing more than a mage with an above-average level of mana. A tool of a self-proclaimed God. A tool with a sharper blade than most admittedly, but a tool all the same."

The Argent crossed her arms.

"You're also a shit soldier. And while your father was formidable, and though I'm sure you'll tell me he was a great man who didn't deserve his fate, he was also just another soldier. At the end of the day, we were on opposite sides of the war. There is no such thing as humanitarianism on the battlefield. He did not hesitate to try and strike me down, and I responded in kind."

"I- no, you killed him!" Mary's shoulders trembled, her face shadowed. "God won't let you-"

"Wake up, Mary Sue!"

Mary froze.

"This isn't a fictional story from your hypocritical religion. This is real life, so it's about time you open your eyes and see the world in the shades of grey it actually is rather than the stark black and white you stubbornly insist on."

Fuck, she's got her head so stuck in the sand she might as well be a crab. Being X, your influence will never fail to piss me off. It's so blatantly obvious just how badly Sue was poisoned by him. She's a victim of his irrationality just like her father. And me. I have every right to hate her, and to an extent, I do. But... I understand her position, somewhat. We were on opposite sides in both war and ideals. Our only option was to fight.

"By the way." Tanya paused.

But that option doesn't need to exist here. We're free from his influence. So, I think I'll treat this a bit more sympathetically.

"You should know that I didn't actually kill your father."

"Huh!?" Mary's head snapped up, disbelief and anger clear in equal measures. "You damn- don't try to twist things!"

"No. I need you to really listen to me this time." Tanya looked away, "Ugh... please."

Mary's vitriol froze in her throat.

"I tried to tell you before, but you would never listen, always prattling on about 'God' this and 'vengeance' that. Well, here's the truth you probably never wanted to hear: during a battle, Anson Sue overloaded his computation orb and blew himself up in an attempt to take my life. You don't have to believe me, but it's the truth."

"You- you're a liar!"

"Oh, am I? I don't think so." Tanya gestured vaguely to the side, "Why would I lie to you right now? We died. Congratulations, Mary Sue. You won."

"Don't patronize me. This is just some trick, isn't it?"

"Use your brain for once and save me some trouble. I could have just killed you again, but here we are having this discussion." Tanya gave her an annoyed look. "If you really want to talk about tricks, how about I point out the fact that your commander, Lieutenant Colonel Drake, knew the truth behind your father's death the whole time. Awfully ironic, when you think about it."

Mary tensed up, eye widening in disbelief.

Tanya nodded.

"Yes, I'm sorry to say it's true. It was his uncle that led that attack on my battalion, after all. The one your that your father took part in. And died in." She let that sink in a moment, noting the slight shake to Mary's expression. "That's right. Isn't that the worst part? Instead of going to be with his family, Anson Sue decided that trying to kill me was far more important. Then a year or so later, you come along and join an international mage volunteer group led by Lieutenant Colonel Drake, who would certainly have known of your father's fate. Especially once he learned about you in particular."

The best part of all this was that Tanya didn't have to lie at all. Everything she'd said thus far had been true, as far as she was aware. And really, it was a simple jump in logic to assume that Drake and his uncle had talked about Anson Sue. The fact of the matter is, Anson Sue's death more than likely led to Mary Sue's placement on the younger Drake's mage group. That was just a common sense assumption, considering everything else.

"I wonder if you suspected as much? It doesn't matter. Not anymore at least. Oh, but I don't think you should blame your father or anything. Really, you should be blaming Being X, that God you're so fond of singing praises for. It was his influence that drove your father to attack me. Like father like daughter, I guess."

"Shut up." Mary muttered.

"Oh sorry, did I touch a nerve?" She definitely had.

"Shut up!"

"Fine. Just think about it for a while." Tanya turned and made to walk away, leaving the other woman to stew in her emotions for a bit. "If nothing else, please think thoroughly about the fact that you've died, and instead of finding yourself in Heaven, you ended up in another world. With me. Ciao."

Tanya left her then, noting the sound of a body slumping over.

And also crying. Very angry crying.

I might feel bad for anyone else… no, that's a lie. The truth should be hidden or altered occasionally, but certainly not to spare feelings. And I definitely still dislike her. She embodies so many things that I can't stand. Prioritizing emotion over reason, touting praises for that abusive Devil claiming to be God... but she's still a victim of circumstance. It's likely that without Being X's influence, our conflict would have never come to pass. Or at the very least, Mary wouldn't have survived our first encounter.

She paused in the doorway, sparing a final glance backwards. Almost as an afterthought, Tanya threw a mild sound-targeting interference spell over the doorway. No need to hear those angry tears while she was in the midst of an important discussion.

At this point, killing her gains me nothing. Vengeance is a fool's errand; I would find little to no satisfaction in her death. Not anymore. And besides...

Tanya suppressed a smirk.

Mary has the potential to be very useful to me. It'd be a waste for her to die. Resources should be cultivated rather than wasted, after all. It's one of the reasons I hate war so much. Waste is counterproductive to a rational, functioning society. So, I refuse to let Mary be wasted. Not when she's such a potentially useful human resource. Aren't I such a good person, saving her from the corrupted mentality inflicted by Being X?

She paused, her eyes widening slightly as she slammed the mental brakes at that.

Whoa, hold on a minute. Time to tone down the god complex. It's dangerous to think so arrogantly. Let's step back from that mild case Machiavellian of philosophy and take more calm, rational approach to this, shall we? Mary has the potential to be useful, but only if she allows herself to be. I'll start there. I've already planted the seeds of doubt. Let's see how this next part plays out.

Outright manipulation left a bad taste in her mouth after Being X's years of bastardized interference. Besides, it'd be much easier if Mary convinced herself.

I wonder what this world has in store. Ah, it's a shame, really. I'd built up so much capital in the last world, and now I have to start all over again. Being X hasn't shown up, so that's a plus. But still… I wonder how Visha, Weiss, and the others are doing? I'm not one to dwell on sentimentality, but honestly, I think I'll…

Tanya mentally shook herself.

Well, even if I miss them, they're gone. No reason to agonize over the things you can't change. Just move forward now. Ever forward. Let's see just how far we can go in this world.

-=-=-=-

Meanwhile...

Winter

Kruskos Army Air Corps Testing Lab

Southwest of Berun, Empire

"Achoo!"

"Bless you." Weiss blew into his hands, fingers of cold still lingering despite his gloves. "My, is someone talking about you Lieutenant? I think- ah, achoo!"

Visha wiped her nose with a handkerchief. "Well, if they are then they must be talking about you too."

"You think?" Weiss raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, who would be talking about the both of us? You think the Brass wants to send us out again?"

Visha glanced inside the Lab's main warehouse, noting the activity and construction being done. Whatever they were working on, it was big. And shiny, though she imagined that would go away after a few tests.

"…Maybe. Though if anyone were to be talking about the both of us, my first guess would have been-"

She cut herself off. Weiss sighed.

"Yeah, that was my first thought as well."

~END: NEW BEGINNINGS ARC~

-=-=-=-=-=-

Known Skills List

Tanya:

Extra Skill: Magic Sense

Extra Skill: Magic Aura

Extra Skill: Voice of the World Communication

Unique Skill: Formulaic Casting

Unique Skill: Tetrabattery Limit Enhancement

Mary:

Skills Unknown