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Mein Krieg (Youjo Senki/Tanya the Evil OC)

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Realistically they should end up in different units, but I'm thinking that Frederic will be Tanya's second-in-command (or possibly the other way around) because that makes more sense storywise.

Besides, we know that they both will have Silver Wings Assault Medals and Type 95s, which presumably means they will be send to that research project together. And if the brass thinks that their prodigal flight mage duo are sweet on each other, they might actually conspire to keep Tanya and Frederic together.
 
I have a question: How long will it take for the two cadet groups (Tanya's and Fred's) to have a code for "The couple is fighting, again"? It just sounds too plausible. Heck, I'm even thinking that the whole Academy hierarchy will join in the joke.
 
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Chapter 9: Going psycho
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    • Chapter 9: Going psycho​

    The next day, I was very determined not to lose the competition. For this reason, I had decided to subject the recruits to training slightly heavier than usual

    Now, don't think too harshly of me. I intended to do only what I needed to in order to win the competition, not start issuing beatings for every infraction. And I was only going that far because I knew that Tanya would not spare her subordinates.
    I had had the opportunity to discover, thanks to some "informants", the way in which Tanya treated the cadets under her command. Apparently, Tanya had become a real sergeant from Hell: the cadets under his supervision were forced to take longer shifts for heavier exercises, with fewer opportunities to rest. A heavy and draconian training, which however would not fail to give results against my cadets. I knew that, unless a miracle happened, I had little chances to win our little competition.

    To remedy this, however, I could try to regain points by timing. If, for example, I had been able to prepare and deploy cadets under my command before Tanya did the same, I would have been able to put myself in a good light and consequently gain a sufficient advantage to be able to give myself a chance.

    For this reason, I decided to wake up my cadets personally.

    When the Academy reveille sounded, I was already inside the dormitory.

    To be honest, I had been there for several minutes, and I had looked at the men under my command with an omnipresent question in mind: could they help me to win this challenge?

    I looked at them again. They looked more like a team of sloths than a group of army cadets. To carry out this transformation, I would have to put a lot of effort into it.

    Therefore, I took a trash bin and beat it with all the strength I had. The noise that I produced in this way was very loud and annoying.

    "Wake up! Wake up!" I shouted as loud as I could "Put your pants on and slip into your uniforms! Today we have a great joint exercise, and we are the star attractions!"

    The men, albeit with a few mumbles, got out of their beds and began to get ready.

    Slowly. Too slowly.

    I hit the trash bin again with force, producing more noise. Some of the cadets covered their ears with their hands, trying to protect themselves from the sound.

    "Faster, faster!" I screamed. That was not the time to be kind.
    ​

    For all the time necessary for the cadets under my command to prepare for training, I was there, encouraging them to be as fast as possible. It was a race against time: even one second could make the difference.

    In the end, however, all the men were ready, in shiny uniform, at attention from the inner courtyard of the academy. To make it sweeter, only a part of Tanya's soldiers were present as well. Questioning one of Tanya's subordinates, I had known that there had been a "little problem" and that Tanya had to come back to deal with it. In my mind, this meant that Tanya would have arrived "slightly" later.

    While the soldiers waited at attention, I was constantly looking at the time on the Academy clock, which was placed just above the main entrance to the courtyard. Externally, I tried to give an image of myself worried and impatient, but deep inside was an explosion of joy. Every second that Tanya accumulated of delay was a point that was added to my personal score for our little challenge.

    I rechecked the clock. There were five minutes to go and Tanya had not yet appeared. I know I should have worried, and yet the thought that something bad might have happened did not touch my mind.

    I still remember seeing Major Von Rerugen at one of the side entrances to the courtyard. He was conversing with another officer (I do not know about what: it was too far away) but for a moment, just for a moment, he moved his head and our eyes met. He smiled for a second, before resuming his conversation.

    And then… it happened.

    I was looking at my cadets when I heard the explosion. My first thought was that we were under attack. Whose? I did not know it, but I was afraid I would understand it soon. Perhaps some Empire power enemy had decided to hit the Academy with a betrayal attack, Pearl Harbor style? But then, why hit the Academy? It did not have such a high strategic value.

    At least, not in itself.

    I looked up. An Academy window had disappeared. In its place, there was now a steaming gash, from which came a smoke so thick that you could not see beyond.

    "What's' going on?" yelled someone I did not recognize.

    Surely not an enemy attack, I thought silently. But then what had happened? An accident? Alternatively, a fool who had stuffed himself with explosives without thinking about it?

    A scary thought crossed my mind: had it been a kamikaze attacker? So far, nothing had suggested that they could exist, but only because I did not believe they were there did not mean that they could not really exist.

    On the courtyard floor, a few meters from the exploded window, were lying some cadets, apparently intact but badly battered from the explosion. Quickly, I ran to the nearest. I toppled him to his back, and put my fingers on his wrist to check his pulse.

    "Cadet, are you OK?" I said without hiding my fear "What happened?"

    In response, he raised his arm and pointed to the gash. It was then that I realized that something, or rather someone, was emerging from the smoke of the explosion.

    Someone I knew very well.

    "What's wrong?" said Tanya in a very intimidating tone, made even more frightening by the fact that he was holding a rifle "You're twitching like a shrimp."

    "Tanya, what the hell?" I said, realizing what just happened "You just used a bombardment spell inside the Academy?"

    She ignored me, preferring to concentrate on the cadets on the ground a few feet away from me.

    "Want me to feed you to the pigs, you maggots?" she said almost with a snarl.

    I was shocked. I never saw her so much angry. Moreover, seeing her in this mood made me shiver on my back.

    "Wh-why is this happening?" another cadet with dirty blond hair said. It was evident that he, like me, could not believe what had just happened.

    Tanya flew down from the gash, landing a few inches from the cadet. I had a bad feeling about it.

    "Why?" she said looking at the cadet "You can't be ready five minutes before is time to go, and you don't know why the Fatherland is better off without you?"

    "Y-you little brat…" the cadet said, trying to get up. But as soon as he noticed it, Tanya hit him with the butt of her rifle, making it to fall to the ground again. The cadet hit the floor with his head, and this must have hurt, because I saw him shelter his skull with his arms.

    "You're free to hold whatever opinion of me you like, but resisting a superior officer should be harshly punished."

    "Tanya, stop. That's enough!" I shouted to her, trying to draw her attention. However, I got nothing.

    Tanya aimed the rifle barrel toward the cadet's head. What if she decided to stick him with that?

    "Tanya, you're going to far!" I shouted again, with no avail.

    "I'll open that brainless skull of yours and carve the damn rules inside!" she shouted, looking at the cadet with a very determinate face.

    I was afraid. Was he really doing it? Was she going to kill that cadet for real?

    I saw the Tanya rifle trembling. One, maybe two seconds, and she would do what she had just said she would do.

    I do not know what I thought at the time. Maybe it was fear, or anger, I do not know exactly.

    But I know what I did. Without thinking twice, I magically thrown myself toward her, my hands pointing to her rifle to deflect it and save that cadet. It was an impulsive move, dictated by emotions and made without any weighting on the consequences.

    My hands grabbed the rifle just as Tanya was about to push him forward, applying new inertial energy that led the bayonet to stick into the ground, a few millimeters from the cadet's face.

    "Tanya, what the hell are you trying to do? Kill him?" I hissed in a disconcerted tone.

    "Frederick" she hissed looking at me with a terrible gaze "Get out of the way. I have to discipline a disobedient recruit."

    However, I did not move.

    "Are you damn insane?" I hissed back, trying to apply sufficient force to the rifle to push it away from the cadet "We cannot kill our subordinates!"

    Technically, I was wrong on this point: insubordination was a crime that was punished with the death penalty in the army, usually applied by firing squad. You always had to obey your superiors, in any condition and situation, even if your superior had less years than you did.

    Of course, however, there was a certain line between what the rules said it was allowed to do and what a man was willing to do. No officer, no matter how hard and loyal to the rules, would have executed or tortured his own subordinate in cold blood.

    This was something that I called Humanity.

    "Cadets Degurechaff and König" said an approaching voice "What happened?"

    Taking care not to divert too much attention from Tanya (in case she tried again to kill the cadet below us) I looked in the direction of the voice.

    It was the Major von Rerugen. And he didn't look very happy.

    "Sir, we…" I tried to say as I saluted

    "Sir, Cadet Frederick König is interfering in my duties as a senior officer by preventing me from punishing an unruly cadet" Tanya beat me on time.

    "Really? It seemed to me that he was trying to stop you from executing him on the spot!" von Rerugen practically yelled.

    "Sir, the cadet Simon ignored my order to prepare twice, and resisted my authority. According to the military code, I am authorized to punish him as I think best"

    In the meantime, I realized that Tanya's "outburst" had attracted many people around us. Most were cadets, but there were also many officers. Some, who were not present in the courtyard when the event had occurred, desperately tried to acquire information by asking them in a whisper to the presumed "witnesses".

    In a second, I realized that the moment was terrible and delicate: it was necessary to immediately give the right impression, before men could get their own ideas wrong.

    What could I do? I certainly could not deny what had just happened, moreover in front of a senior officer.

    Suddenly I had an idea.

    "Sir" I said trying to gain the attention of Von Rerugen "Please do not blame Tanya. The fault of what happened is mine!"

    Silence. Tanya and von Rerugen had stopped arguing, and they looked at me now with an uncertain look.

    "Yours?" asked von Rerugen gazing over me "Why do you say this?"

    "Sir, because it's true!" I said standing in attention, "Tanya and I had made a bet the other day, on who would have achieved the best result today, and I think this has stressed her. I think it could be a symptom of a nervous breakdown, and with your permission, I ask permission to conduct Degurechaff in the sick bay!"

    It was a very risky move, but sharing the responsibility for what had happened between Tanya and me, maybe she could get a lesser penalty. At the same time, removing Tanya from von Rerugen with the excuse of bringing her to the infirmary, I could prevent the situation from escalating further.

    The greatest risk was that Tanya was thrown out from the Academy, and I with her, since I had said that part of the responsibility for what happened was mine. If this had happened, our chances of finding a safe place in the rear would have ended.

    But before von Rerugen could speak, a voice of greater weight was heard.

    "Konig! Degurechaff!" Brigadier General Christof Weitz shouted immediately saluted from everybody "Would you please tell me what the hell is happening here?"
    ​

    "How much did the general give you?" Tanya asked looking at me.

    "A formal rebuke and one week of service" I answered her without looking up from my chocolate.

    Tanya sighed, making the chocolate in the cup tremble.

    "Yourself?" I asked with a bitter tone.

    "Same" she responded to me in annoyed tone.

    I grunted, trying to drown my anger in chocolate.

    "Frederick?" said Tanya looking at me "Are you ok?"

    "I'm perfectly fine, Tanya, no need to worry about me" I said lying.

    "Frederick" Tanya said with her face full of determination "Do not try to lie to me. You are clearly angry. It's true?"

    I reflected for a few seconds, looking for an answer that could satisfy Tanya, but there was too much anger in me not to tell her the brutal honesty.

    "Yes, I'm angry, and I'm angry with you" I said, looking directly into her eyes "They could expel us from the Academy for what you did!"

    "Hey, it did not concern you. You could stay out of it for me." She replied as if to defend her conduct.

    "Maybe I should have. At least now I would not be here thinking about the shifts in the kitchen that I have to do!"

    I tried to look the other way, trying to suppress my anger, but Tanya suddenly grabbed my hand, making me turn around again

    "Listen to me, doll-face: I know you're probably scared, but..."

    "Scared!" I said glaring at her "Of course I'm scared. With this little action of yours you may have compromised everything we have built up to now. And if Von Rerugen would send a report demanding an investigation into the matter?"

    "He won't" she said, taking me by surprise.

    "What?"

    She smiled again, making me shiver into my chair

    "Believe me, I know how HR works. And I know that we are too precious and irreplaceable to be severely punished. As long as we keep bringing good results, they will close an eye on matters such as this".

    I stopped talking, to focus my mind on what she has just said.

    Tanya's words were not too far from the truth. In almost any type of organization, individual results tended to be placed before personality defects. The big guys in charge did not really care who you were as long as you did your job well and did not disobey them.

    In fact, I remembered more than one occasion in my previous life when I had seen this happen.

    "So, do you think they'll let the whole thing go smooth?" I asked

    "Yes, absolutely. I think they will value two first-of-the-class wizards above one lowly regular human cadet," she said giggling.

    "Ok then" I replied "But let me tell you one thing: next time something happens like that, I will not help you!"

    "Never expected it".
    ​
    Dear friends and fellow members of Sufficient Velocity,

    It is me once again, Trunko. I am sorry to disturb you the reading of the story with this message of mine, but I have a very important news I have to share with you.

    I need a new beta for my story.

    Until now, I have worked with a very experienced member of the site, who helped me very much with the grammar and logical problems of my writings. Thanks to him, the quality of my current text is much improved compared to the original, and I will never be able to thank him enough.

    However, since a few days, this close friend of mine suggested me about finding someone else to be the beta for my story. Therefore, I want to take advantage of this space to ask anyone if he/she could be interested in becoming my new beta.

    The right beta, in my opinion, should preferably possess the following qualities:

    • He/she has enough free time to be able to correct a chapter in less than a week.
    • He/she has a good knowledge of English/American grammar
    • He/she is a very experienced fan of Youjo Senki/Tanya the Evil (enough to catch possible errors of continuity of mine in the story)

    If interested, please contact me through a private message.

    I thank you in advance and embrace you wholeheartedly. Thank you for your steady support, which gives me the strength and the will to keep working on my fic.

    Trunko.
    ​
     
    Last edited:
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    • Trunko said:
    Tanya aimed the rifle barrel toward the cadet's head. She had the bayonet plugged in, so she could not shoot, but if she had decided to stick him with that?
    Click to expand...
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    Unless they are using strangely archaic weapons (i.e. early model musket and arquebus), the weapon will not be using a plug bayonet that is held inside the muzzle of the weapon but instead a socket bayonet, which uses a locking ring to fit around the muzzle and allow the weapon to be fired and reloaded, or a sword bayonet which makes use of a similar locking ring incorporated into the handguard or quillons of a long dagger or shortsword. Images of bayonetted weapons in the manga and anime more closely resemble the sword bayonet design.
     
    Akritedes said:
    Unless they are using strangely archaic weapons (i.e. early model musket and arquebus), the weapon will not be using a plug bayonet that is held inside the muzzle of the weapon but instead a socket bayonet, which uses a locking ring to fit around the muzzle and allow the weapon to be fired and reloaded, or a sword bayonet which makes use of a similar locking ring incorporated into the handguard or quillons of a long dagger or shortsword. Images of bayonetted weapons in the manga and anime more closely resemble the sword bayonet design.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Thank you, fixed!
     
    God Tanya is an idiot.
    In the story she had no competition for loyalty, but here? Here she just made the protagonist a hero to everyone at that base. Everyone there knows exactly what he does, and self sacrifice is a higher caliber of virtue in that sort of society than ruthlessness. He is now almost certainly going to be promoted above Tanya simply because people will actually want to follow him.

    It's an accidental but absolutely genius move on his part, as he has just made himself the perfect exemplar of an officer's behaviour in this case. If he just maintains that reputation he may well be able to climb up into high-command.
     
    If I remember correctly, the intake age for cadets is at 18, give or take one year or two (at least, it is the same on our real world). The cadets are somewhat more responsible than the teenagers, but they are still unruly and have quite an imagination.

    How long do it take them to create nicknames for the two protagonists?

    Considering that we are in the military...

    "Code Tango-Berserk" Tanya is showing her evilness and sadistic side. SHIT IS ABOUT TO HIT THE FAN.
    "Shortie Knight": Call in Frederick. NO MATTER THE COST.
     
    Well, this was more or less expected.

    Charlezany said:
    God Tanya is an idiot.
    In the story she had no competition for loyalty, but here? Here she just made the protagonist a hero to everyone at that base. Everyone there knows exactly what he does, and self sacrifice is a higher caliber of virtue in that sort of society than ruthlessness. He is now almost certainly going to be promoted above Tanya simply because people will actually want to follow him.

    It's an accidental but absolutely genius move on his part, as he has just made himself the perfect exemplar of an officer's behaviour in this case. If he just maintains that reputation he may well be able to climb up into high-command.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    "The soldiers look up to this boy, they'll do anything for him."
    "Good. He'll be able to motivate them to hold even in the face of certain death. Assign him to the Rhine front."
     
    JuliusClonkus said:
    "The soldiers look up to this boy, they'll do anything for him."
    "Good. He'll be able to motivate them to hold even in the face of certain death. Assign him to the Rhine front."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    <At the Front>

    "Sir! We are surrounded!"
    "Good, then we can shoot in all direction."
    "But they outnumber us by a factor of ten, sir!"
    "You mean that we are put in a target-rich environment?"
    "... Sir, with all due respect, you should be an even head, not..."
    "A jealous, bombass, up-bity, and a full bitch like Tanya the Fucking Devil Degauchaff?"
    "... Yes?"
    "Pillow talk. Don't ask me how, when, or why."
     
    Chapter 10: Reassigned to Norden
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    • Chapter 10: Reassigned to Norden​

    Five weeks had passed since the incident and many things had changed at the Academy.

    To mention one: von Rerugen had been promoted to the Strategic Headquarters, and therefore he had been forced to leave his post as Chief of Personnel Affairs, so his position had been taken by a new arrival, Major Wolfram Springer, from Berun. Although Major Wolfram was very scary-looking, he was also an honorable man, who firmly believed in order and discipline. Besides, he was the father of two children, and perhaps it was for this reason that he held a paternal attitude towards Tanya and I. Thanks to this, the dossier that von Rerugen had opened on "The Incident" had quickly disappeared in the archive of the Academy. Even today, I am happy that this happened: In my opinion, it could have ended a lot worse.

    The fear of receiving a Court Martial was over, but that did not mean I was not troubled now. The countdown to our graduation had officially started, and we were increasingly busy. The short time that we did not have to devote to training the cadets under our command, we devoted to our studies. And we used it well, to ensure that our vote average does not fall. There were days when I felt like a zombie, after fourteen hours of study and training I could not wait to get back to my cot.

    Mentally, I counted the days that separated us from graduation.
    ​

    "Norden?" I said with a mix of amazement and surprise, "They are sending you to Norden?"

    Tanya and I were once again in the cafeteria, reading the operational orders of deployment that had reached us. From these documents, we learned that Strategic HQ had decided to let us perform joint exercises before graduation.

    At the Academy, it was a common topic of discussion to ask oneself what their destination would be: naturally, everyone hoped to be assigned to a quiet sector, where, in the event of an outbreak of hostilities, the chances of being on the front line were low.

    "Yep" said Tanya in front of me "Apparently, someone at High Command must have been positively impressed by my skills"

    I exhaled deeply.

    Tanya had been lucky: the northern border that the Empire shared with the Entente (a kind of united Scandinavia derived from what must have been the local equivalent of the Kalmar Union) was considered one of the best postings for a warrant officer in training. The Entente was a very hostile nation. However, from what information I was able to gather, it was currently going through a very harsh economic crisis, that (in the eyes of many) made new territorial disputes with the Empire very unlikely. Moreover, their army had a reputation for not having fought in a war for many years.

    "And you?" she said "Where will you undergo your training exercises?"

    I looked down, looking at the sealed envelope with a mixture of fear and nervousness. A part of me did not want to open it, so much was the fear of being reassigned to a dangerous front like the border with the Republic or the Federation. Even so, I could not keep the envelope closed forever: according to regulations, it would be the same as "not following orders".

    Therefore, I took a breath of courage and opened the envelope.

    Please not the Rhine, please not the Rhine, I thought in my head as I pulled out the envelope and ran the text in silence.

    What I saw left me speechless.

    "Wow…" was the first thing I was able to say.

    "Wow?" asked Tanya coming nearer "Do not tell me they reassigned you to the Dakia border?"

    "No." I said with a very smug smile "Better."

    Within seconds, Tanya had already grabbed the letter and was reading what I had been reading a few moments ago.

    "What?" she exclaimed, "You're being assigned to Norden too?"

    "Apparently, yes." I said looking at her "Someone at High Command thinks we work well together ..."

    She glared at me "Please tell me that was a joke and not a very stupid attempt at flirting…"

    "What do you mean?" I said chuckling sheepishly.
    ​

    The following day Tanya and I left the Academy, albeit temporarily, and we went to the nearby station to catch the train that would take us to our new base of operations.

    Since we both remembered the "risks" of being too close to the edge when the train arrived, we waited for the train sitting on a bench along the platform. This way, even if someone had decided to push us, the chances of ending up under the train would have been minimal.

    "Do you really believe that such a thing can happen again?" I asked looking at Tanya, who was busy gazing at the station.

    "What I believe does not matter when you're dealing with someone like Being X," she said with anger. "I do not know if he would be bastard enough to repeat the trick, but I clearly remember the last thing he told us before he let that train hit us!"

    I sighed, while the words of Being X came back to my mind.

    "Try to live as long as you can. If you will die again, there will be no second reincarnation, for both of you," I repeated almost verbatim "Yet I still have not understood what he meant."

    "Is not it logical?" she said looking up "It means that if, for one reason or another, we should die, he will not give us the luxury of a new life again!"

    I froze, thinking about it. The life that I live now was not exactly Paradise, but it was still a life. If I had died and had not received another, what would have become of me?

    The first thought that came to me was that I would probably have ended up in Hell, or at least in its local version, considering the way Being X had behaved towards me.

    What could have been my punishment for eternity? Having my intestines devoured like Prometheus? Torture of the most unequal fate? Would I have kept this aspect forever and would he have locked me in a kindergarten? Any choice would have been pure torture.

    And yet… There was a worse possibility.

    Being X had also said that he was responsible for the reincarnations. What if he simply decided to let us disappear?

    The idea of being tortured for eternity was horrible, but the idea of ceasing to exist was worse. To be tortured, you at least had to be still "alive", from a metaphorical point of view.

    But, disappear into nothingness; as if you had never existed ... I believe there was no worse fate.

    As if to distract me from those terrible thoughts, a piercing whistle echoed along the platform, informing us of the arrival of our train. It took a few moments before a large black steam locomotive stopped along the platform, pulling behind itself a dozen passenger wagons.

    Almost immediately, the people standing on the platform with us got up from their seats (if they were seated) and lined up in front of the train, waiting to get on board. Each of them had the same frenzy of getting on the train that I also had in another life, that which had been the basis of my downfall.

    "Time to move, princess." I said, "Let's go to Norden."

    We lined up behind a large group of people (including other soldiers) who were waiting to get up. Unfortunately, because of our still short stature, we could not clearly see beyond the people in front of us, and this put us at disadvantage.

    Destiny, however, still had a bad joke in store for us.

    As we boarded the train, I noticed the controller for the first time. He was a tall, austere man with a mustache that in my old life had gone out of fashion almost half a century ago. I know he had noticed us, because at times he looked at us with stern glances.

    "Tanya, that man is watching us." I said, a little worried.

    "I know," she replied with nonchalance "I've been keeping an eye on him for a few minutes,"

    Reassured by her words, I tried to think of something else and not look at the controller. The latter, however, was moving away from the platform, and was heading for a station office that I could not identify.

    I did not know yet what would happen soon, but instinctively, I felt a chill on my back.
    ​

    "Are you sure you want the place near the window?" I asked.

    Tanya turned to me with an irritated look "I'm sure. I do not like smoking and unfortunately, it seems that there is still no distinction between smokers and non-smokers," she said, looking along the wagon, where some men were already pulling out pipes or cigars.

    In some ways, I could not blame her. I did not like being too close to people who smoked too, both out of respect for them and for my lungs.

    "As you wish, princess." I said siting down on my seat "By the way, do you think we will have free time between exercises?"

    "I do not think so. Why do you ask?" she said, still looking out the window.

    "Well, from what others told me at the Academy, in Norden it snows nine months out of twelve. We could… you know… do something together… for fun, of course!"

    "Fun? Are you planning to build a snowman? No chance!"

    "No, I was planning more of…"

    "Tickets and documents, please!" suddenly a gruff voice resounded from above our heads.

    We jerked up. It was the controller from before. And he seemed very angry.

    Almost instinctively, I took the leather case where I kept all my personal documents and I pulled off my military recognition document, along with my ticket. Tanya, with a few seconds of delay, did the same.

    The controller took our documents and looked at them very carefully. I did not notice at first, but I realized his jaw was grinding in a grimace of rage.

    "Come with me." he finally said, putting our documents in a pocket of his jacket.

    "Why?" Tanya asked with annoyance.

    "There is some problem?" I asked

    "Yep, two unaccompanied children trying to get on a train with false documents. You must come with me."

    For a few seconds, I was stunned. Was he talking about us?

    "I'm sorry officer," I said, believing that I was facing a trivial misunderstanding "But I can assure these are genuine. I am warrant officer Frederick König and this is my fellow officer Tanya Degurechaff. We are taking this train to reach our new deployment area at Norden"

    "Yeah, right." he said looking at us with a very smug look "You think you're smart, but you made a very simple mistake: there is no way the military would even accept two children young as you two!"

    Once again, I cursed Being X for this extra-cute body "We are. Even without the documents, you can understand from our uniforms that we are telling the truth."

    The controller went closer, grabbing each one of us for one arm.

    "You are just a couple of brats who believe they above the rules just because your mother bought you a pair of fake uniforms, they! Get out of this wagon, or I'm calling the station security!"

    Now I was definitely angry. Being grabbed against my permission was not something I liked, and from the gaze in her eyes, even Tanya did not like it.

    "First:" I said pulling my arm free "Do not touch someone unless they allow you to do it. It is very rude. Second: I can assure you that we are both warrant officers at the Academy for Officers of the Imperial Army, here in Berun, and that we are wizards!"

    I realized then that our little argument was causing some confusion on the train: more than one passenger had turned to look at us.

    "Third:" I kept up "if you do not believe me, you can contact our superior the Brigadier General Christof Weitz, chief of the Academy. He knows us, and he will be more than happy to make you look bad with your superiors! And Fourth: if you try again to grab us by arm, I'll kill you!"

    I looked around. It was evident that the other passengers were disconcerted and did not know what to think. Mentally, I hoped that my "outburst of anger" would be enough to make that idiot controller withdraw his accusations.

    But I was wrong. Very wrong.

    "That's it!" The controller said, grabbing both of us and pulling us from our seats "I'm reporting you to the purser!"

    We protested, shouted, and in general, we got angry, but the controller dragged us from our seats, leading us forcibly away…
    ​

    We were now in large room of the station illuminated with an oil lamp, which generated a gloomy and quite scary light. To make things worse, the ceiling was crumbled and full of cracks, creating shadows that increased my anxiety.

    Inside the room, there was a wooden table, in front of which Tanya and I were currently sitting. The controller was standing behind us, as his current task seemed to be to prevent both Tanya and I from doing something violent.

    In fact, he could not have done anything if the "princess" or I really decided to use our powers, as we had threatened. However, if I used my powers against a railway officer, I would have risked going to the wrong side (as Tanya had not hesitated to warn me in a low voice), so I kept my anger inside and tried to focus my mind on other things.

    In front of us, sitting on an old creaky chair, was the station commissioner: a short, plump man who would probably spend the rest of his life keeping order in the station.

    "So you continue to claim to be wizards of the Imperial Army, and that you are being redeployed to Norden for exercises?" the commissioner said, letting the smell of his terrible breath reach our nostrils.

    "Yes." Tanya said a very sharp tone of voice "You checked our documents. You have inspected our equipment. You even sent a relay to the Academy to verify our identities. Why do not you let us go then?"

    "You will not go anywhere!" repeated the controller behind us "As soon as we find out who you really are and who are your parents, you are going to get a big spanking!"

    Mentally, I appealed to all my strength not to attack him. Was he "helped" by Being X or was he this stupid by himself?

    "Useless fatigue." I murmured, "Just because you know it, neither me nor Tanya have parents..."

    "Oh. So you two are orphans?" the controller said "Even better: this means that once we have finished here, I will be free to send you to the reformatory!"

    Tanya and I shared a look. Yep, he was an idiot.

    "Sir!" said a young low-level station employee entering the room "Here is the official report on missing children in the last 24 hours!"

    The commissioner grunted, grabbing the papers without even bothering to thank him.

    "Very well." he said kept exchanging glances between Tanya, the papers and me "This is your last chance to tell me the truth, children. Who are you? Who are your parents? And how we can contact them? I am warning you: if you still refuse to answer, I will have to examine all the papers until I find you. And when I find who you are really, you'll get a severe punishment!"

    I looked at him maliciously. If he really wanted to read all the sheets of the report in a vain attempt to find us, worse for him.

    "Okay, you won," said Tanya with a very melancholic voice.

    I jerked up and watched her. She did not had her usual look; instead, she looked frail… and innocent. What was she playing now?

    "We do not want to cause a mess." Tanya kept up with her cute child voice "If you want, we can give you a phone number to call. Tell them that we are here and what happened, and they will be happy to tell you who we really are and what we we're going."

    "Ah!" said the controller with a very smug smile "I knew it. I knew you little rascals were just trying to deceive us!"

    I was astonished. Why was Tanya telling this idiot that he was right?

    The commissioner leaned forward and placed a piece of paper and a pencil before Tanya

    "Please, write down the number we have to call!"

    Tanya quickly grabbed the pencil and began to write a telephone number on the piece of paper. Instinctively, I leaned forward to see what number she was writing.

    I saw it and realized…

    "Very well." said the commissioner getting up and taking the sheet of paper on which Tanya had just finished writing. "Now I'm going to call this number and I will tell them everything that has happened. Controller, please watch over the kids while I'm outside!"

    The commissioner then left the room, leaving us with the idiotic (and now smug) controller.

    "Tanya!" I hissed trying to not get caught by the idiot. "That was the Academy number, right?"

    "Yep!"    ​
     
  • Threadmarks
    • i honestly feel sorry for him as i do the same thing, in his situation

    because other wise it means my country uses child soldiers
     
    Last edited:
    Warlord D Thoran said:
    i honestly feel sorry for him as i do the same thing, in his situation

    because other wise it means my country uses child soldiers
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    I honestly believe it's their status as mages that even got them that far. Mages are rare, after all.

    And, well, with how consistently uncomfortable everyone in the show is with Tanya in combat, I'm pretty confident that she wasn't even meant to fight. Nobody really wants her at the front. It is not regarded as normal. I imagine the two of them are wards of the state, enrolled in a military academy and the goal is to keep them there until they're adults.

    But Tanya becoming an instant ace and war hero made her indispensable for an increasingly desperate war effort, and even then she is pulled off the frontline for things that would normally be considered safe if it weren't for Being X meddling on a somewhat regular basis.

    Ironically enough, if Tanya hadn't made herself famous in Norden they'd probably have put her in a safe location away from the front.
     
    SirBearington said:
    Somebody's going to get fired~
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    Unlikely. They will probably get reprimanded half-heartedly by their superiors, but that will be all. The simple fact is that most people are going to agree that Tanya and Frederik are too young and thus will have little interest in punishing those who treat them as children.

    The funny thing is that if Tanya wasn't so adamant about always projecting a gun-ho attitude, she would have gotten the posting in the rear she so desired. People didn't really want to send her to the front lines and she had to repeatedly accidentally convince them otherwise. it wasn't until after she got her reputation (of being ultra-patriotic battle-nut) that her superiors started to purposefully throw her into the thickest fighting.
     
    Random Shinobi said:
    Why would that help? If wearing uniforms, carrying military-grade equipment and having official documentation doesn't prove their case, I don't think them using magic would change anything.
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    Clearly, it was Being X clouding their perception so they didn't notice the seals/stamps used on official military documents, but that's just a theory.
    Still, with the amount of subtle mindfucking that Being X does in canon (the two Sues/Siouxes come to mind) to Tanya's longest lasting opponents, I can't help but think of that as the go-to explanation for most stupid/questionable choices people make when it comes to Tanya.
     
    Random Shinobi said:
    Why would that help? If wearing uniforms, carrying military-grade equipment and having official documentation doesn't prove their case, I don't think them using magic would change anything.
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    You can fake papers, he probably doesn't have the skills to discern a milspec computation orb, and uniforms are just clothes. Flying up 50 yards under your own power is harder to fake. And flight mages have an uncrossable gap.
     
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