Chapter 1: Tanya Forger

After years of war, and despite their great military accomplishments, technological advancements, and fantastic military minds, the Empire still found itself defeated in the Great War. The use of the nuclear bomb on Imperial soil greatly contributed to the total and unconditional surrender of the Empire to the Unified States, Albion, Francois, and the Russy Federation. The Empire was divided, and much of its land lost to newly established independent states out of minority groups such as the Poles, Hungars, etc.

 

The main nations formed out of it were Polonia, the Lowland Confederation, Hungaria, Danmark, and of course the division of the main Germanic portions of the Empire into Westalis in the west, Ostania in the east, and Sudstria in the south. Immediately after the war, the continent was divided between the Communist east made up of puppets of the Russy Federation, Ostania being one of those, becoming a Russy puppet state while Westalis quickly aligned with the Unified States. Sudstria was left as a neutral state, independent from both sides and acting as a buffer between them.

 

Eventually however, around two decades after the war, the costs of it all as well as its massive casualties caught up with the Russy Federation, which, in an attempt to fuel an international cold war against the Unified States, had gone effectively bankrupt and was gradually forced out of Eastern Europe. In Ostania, the Russy Federation’s puppet regime was ousted by a nationalist movement which eventually organized under the ‘National Unity Party.’

 

Seeking to reunify all of the Empire, the National Unity Party began a war with Westalis. This war lasted a few years and just months into it, a stalemate formed which lasted for the rest of the war. Fearing escalation of the war as well as the prospect of one side successfully unifying the Germanic portion of the Empire, the international community forced a white peace between the two sides, restoring the former borders. Ostania only agreed under the condition that the divided capital be fully in their hands. Conceding to this demand, the ‘Imperial Unification War’ ended with no clear victor, though the National Unity Party began calling it the ‘Berlint War’ and claimed the war was over the city. ‘Berlint’ being the name for the Ostanian portion of the city, renamed from ‘Berlun’ in order to separate themselves from both Westalis and the Empire. When the capital was reunified, the whole city retained the name ‘Berlint.’

 

With the war ending in defeat, the National Unity Party effectively collapsed, and a democratic system rose out of it, with many seeing this as the true end of the ‘Iron Curtain.’ While the loss of the war ended the National Unity Party’s power, the nationalism that caused its formation initially remained, and the democratic government not only quickly turned Authoritarian once more, but also opposed Westalis still. The National Unity Party would eventually rebound under new leadership and a new face, though with much of the same goals of reuniting the lost Empire. For the time being however, the two nations are divided in a localized ‘Cold War’ of espionage and intelligence wars with the fragile peace remaining.

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They say the third time’s a charm right? Frankly I should’ve had one try and that was it, but that damned Being X… I can only wonder what mess he’s dragged me into now but… Strangely he’s been silent. Its been what… 6 years now? I haven’t heard anything from him. In fact his last message to me before I died gave the fairly obvious impression that I was done and that there were no more reincarnations. He said the same thing when he reincarnated me the first time, that there would be no third chance. Yet here I was again. 

 

Originally I expected to be hurled into another war, likely some form of this world’s World War Three, however given the nature of how that war ended, there’s no way World War Three could occur. With the invention of nuclear bombs, a new period of proxy wars and alternative means of settling disputes arose. Strangely though the Russy Federation seemingly lost their Iron Curtain pretty early, which is good for me cause it means I don’t have to live under a Communist dictatorship. But all and all, to be born in what is a fairly peaceful period is a shock. 

 

War is certainly not entirely avoided yet, and the tensions between East and West seem palpable, with signs of peace talks, there is a chance, even if it's in jeopardy, I’m certain there will be people who seek to protect it as much as there are those who seek to destroy it. No matter, I can’t still assume I’m free from X yet, however I can’t shake the feeling that he doesn’t even know I’m still alive, mostly since my birth was unnatural.

 

I have no idea who my birth parents were yet again, and I currently find myself in an orphanage, however I was rather born and raised in a lab of sorts. Initially I had no idea what they wanted, but I found out quite quickly… They were trying to “recreate” the Mage.

 

Strangely enough, in the years following the war, Mages began to lose their magical abilities until after just a decade and a few years, all mages had lost their magical power completely and mysteriously. On one hand, Being X is a strong candidate for that, on the other hand I heard some of the scientists speculating that it might be something from space such as from the sun that affects it. They mentioned a failed subject which had developed unique abilities which weren’t originally intended and had a weakness to days and nights of a New Moon.

 

If I had to guess why I was brought back with my memories at least somewhat intact, though some details have grown fuzzy, it would probably be the Type 95. Somehow, some way, my memories and perhaps my soul had been ingrained into the Type 95. Maybe it was because I was the only one who could use it and it became binded with my soul? If such a thing even exists. I don’t remember ever actually going to hell, so perhaps that's it, or maybe I’m a recreation with some of her memories and the real Tanya ended up going to hell actually.

 

I doubt the last one, given how I’m able to regain some of my memories, gives me the impression that I’ve not just been given a copy paste of my own memories. Rather something in the jewel has kept my mind alive and dormant and has since been reawoken. As for now, I seem to be the only mage remaining, and my magical capacity that I had in my past life carried over, and the main reason I believe Being X isn’t here is the fact I can use my Type 95 without praying, which is a major advantage. No longer shall my mind be under constant corruption from that cursed thing.

 

Unfortunately not all is perfect, for one not all my memories have returned. Only fractions, slivers, periods of years or sometimes just months, weeks, days, hours, some glimpses are just mere minutes. It varies. I know for a fact that I’m originally from another world in another country called Japan, however I know nothing of any of the finer details in that life, rather I have seemingly this basic knowledge of things that I learned from it, but no knowledge of how or when I learned it. I recall both of my deaths vividly however. My first death was being pushed into an oncoming train by someone who had been driven mad because I had told him he was fired. The second involved a much longer fight which I only know in a blur, however I know the last seconds clearly, being pushed down, without mana, and falling to the ground before… something… kills me almost instantly. This time though, the person was driven by a religious fanaticism caused by Being X most likely, blaming me for the death of her Father. It was the moment before the blast that Being X had spoken to me. All the times Being X spoke to me I remember vividly as well, and just as vividly I can remember the anger I felt and that I still feel just thinking about it. 

 

Regardless, not much of that helps my current situation. However to be fair it's far better than how I started my past life. Run down orphanage, but definitely not one completely starving on funds. We have enough food to eat so I dont need to do child labor in order to make enough food for the orphanage. Outside of that though, there wasn’t much going for it. Unfortunately going into a well-off orphanage has its own drawbacks and complications, especially should they try to find any documents on me, not that I believe any even exist, but I don’t want to risk anyone finding out I’m a Mage. Luckily I can get away with saying that my mother was a mage, hence the Jewel. Since the Empire’s mages seemingly are shrouded in mystery, nobody can recognize that this wasn’t one of the standard issue mage equipment.

 

There have been a few people who come in to adopt, but none of them suit my needs. I need a nice, stable family in order to prosper. I may be asking for too much, but in this world, which is growing closer to the modern civilized world I was used to in my past life, even if I don’t remember it in much clarity, I need certification. Regardless of my past life’s education or military experience, none of that applies in a new life, and while I can easily pass school, I still need to take it for the sake of getting the proper documents needed to prove my skill and achieve a nice, stable job. A poor, unstable family won’t be able to provide that for me, but in this orphanage, finding a stable family seems like an impossibility.

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Donovan Desmond, the leader of the National Unity Party… The party formerly faded into relative obscurity, even fracturing as a result of it losing the war. While the current National Unity Party is very much different than the old one, it seems there’s a chance it's similarly gearing up for war. To find out more about this is the reason behind Operation Strix, the mission I, as a spy of WISE must complete. In order to get into contact with him and extract information from him, it's necessary to meet him in a social interaction or event, of which he only attends at special gatherings of Eden Academy. While I’m certainly a master of disguise, pretending to be a small child stretches into the whims of impossibility.

 

The first step of Operation Strix is to gain a family. Since the operation doesn’t take over 6 years for me to get married, have a child, and raise it to get into Eden Academy, I had little choice but to obtain one from an Orphanage. Based on how the first child, Anya, has reacted so far gives me the impression that getting a second child to act as their “twin” could prove beneficial as a backup plan. There’s little reason to rely on just one child.

 

Since I have my doubts on the actual intelligence of this child, I need to be thorough with my search and make sure that it's no fluke, if this child can’t get into and do well in Eden Academy, Operation Strix will be in jeopardy. None of the children from the orphanage where I got the other child, named Anya, were all that special looking to me. None of them gave any demeanor of intelligence, maturity, or any sort of upper-class ‘elegance’ as seems to be common with the school. While that can be taught, its impossible to tell someone’s ability to learn it from outside appearances, instead I can’t take any chances and must find a child that looks like they’ve already got it handled to a degree. While that may prove difficult by only going to shady orphanages, I’ll struggle to forge backgrounds should I go to more well-off locations, and so I’m stuck with the cheap of the cheap.

 

Of the suitable locations in Berun I have located 5, including the one where I obtained Anya. In order to not risk suspicion I cannot go to that same orphanage, leaving 4 candidates within Berun itself. I’ve gone to three now already, not finding anyone I was willing to take my chances on. This leaves only the last orphanage in Berun, if this fails I’ll either have to look beyond Berun or ask WISE to provide me with a child, though where exactly they’d find one is beyond me.

 

This last orphanage is on the outskirts of Berun, hence why it came last, primarily as I was hoping any orphans of rich parents would be more likely to originate near the heart of Berun, however there are some larger properties on the outskirts that these orphans might have originated from, however much like every other location, I doubt they would end up in a poor one like this, if they even ended up in one at all.

 

Going in, the person who manages the orphanage is seemingly as negligent as all the other owners, mostly not caring for the children and likely leeching off of government funding and donations, spending the minimum needed to keep the children well-fed and distracted. None of the children were actually starving, but they were far from spoiled either.

 

Again, however, none of the children impressed me. Most were what you’d expect and what I for the most part have been seeing in each orphanage. That was at least until I saw a blond haired girl reading at a table near the back. Every orphanage often had a shy book girl who, while oftentimes smarter, were far too shy for them to be fully useful, and I didn’t have enough time to help them develop social confidence. That's not to mention that usually, while they do enjoy reading, their skills don’t extend much beyond a heightened reading skill. 

 

While I initially shrugged it off as that, they were reading quite a large book, which itself may have intrigued me if it weren’t for the title of the book which seemed to imply it was about… The socioeconomic situation of Ostania?! Where the hell does an orphan get a book on socioeconomics?! Surely they don’t know what they’re reading… Maybe they’re trying to impress me by trying to look smart. At the very least that means they might have a greater ambition to study and improve, which would be a step up from Anya. Either way it was worth a shot to at least try talking to this girl…

 

“Excuse me little ma’am what's your name?”

 

If this child really is some sort of prodigy or is just weird enough to enjoy reading about socioeconomics, there’s a chance they’re inspecting me as much as I’m inspecting them, I need to make myself look good so that they’ll cooperate with my goals.

 

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“Tanya.”

 

Of course they have similar names…

 

“Well Tanya, what are you reading?”

 

Time to see if she really knows what she’s reading or if it's just an attempt to impress.

 

“Hm? It says it on the cover, but I suppose I can elaborate. It's a book that discusses the social changes from Ostania’s independence from the Eastern Bloc up to the rise of the National Unity Party and the aftermath of the end of the Imperial Unification War and the fall of the National Unity Party and how the economy has changed over time because of these major events. It also has a brief beginning chapter about the economic situation of the former Empire before and during the war as well as an excerpt on how each separate state created from the Empire’s collapse rebuilt and how it has left a lasting mark on the economies of each.”

 

Alright then… She’s definitely actually read it. The fact that she’s so confidently explaining events which happened long before she was even born definitely confirms it.

 

“That's quite a big book, are you sure someone your age should really be reading it?”

 

She has to have some reason for reading it. It could be that she read it just to impress me still, however even if that's the case, the fact that she can read and actually comprehend what the book is talking about shows a good level of intelligence regardless, at this point I’m just curious on how the mind of this child works.

 

“Probably not, however society works on experience and certification, you need valid certification to rise up in the world, and to get proper certification, you need a good education, and to gain access to a good education, you need to have a good level of intelligence from the get go.”

 

I think I see what she’s doing. She’s testing me much like I’m testing her. She knows of her own intelligence, and since she’s in a poor orphanage such as this, is likely making sure whoever wants to adopt her will help her with her ambition of rising in the world, rather than just being some poor or lower-class family. Her words are meant to scare off families that care more for getting a loving child and meant to attract those who want one which will succeed. How this child got so smart in an orphanage such as this is beyond me, but her past doesn’t matter, because a child who will succeed is just what I need for Operation Strix.

 

“Well then, if you’d like a good education, if you let me adopt you I can make sure you get into Eden Academy, one of the best schools in the country. Of course, you’d have to do well to stay in.”

 

The girl smirked, it seems this was precisely what she was looking for, though her face was fairly creepy for a little girl. It was also then I noticed the necklace she had. It looked like the Computation Jewels that used to be used by mages, before all the mana in the world vanished that is. Her mother or grandmother must have been a Mage during the Great War, interesting, although not that important.

 

“Of course, that's to be expected, but I’ll be sure to prove my worth to society.”

 

With that we seemed to have established a mutual understanding, or rather a sort of silent agreement of sorts. I wanted a child in Eden Academy that would do well, and she seemingly wanted to obtain a high standard of education for her future. She’s smart, I’ll give her that. Honestly it makes me question if I even need Anya, but of course Anya still has potential. Having two children thrive in Eden Academy will garner me more attention by Desmond most likely, so having Anya isn’t a detriment, though to say I have more faith in this child over Anya would be an understatement, even the way this one talks is smarter.

 

With that it took me only approximately five minutes to obtain Tanya, considering the owner of the orphanage didn’t seem to care about paperwork much like the last one. With that I brought Tanya home, now worrying about how her and Anya would interact. The last thing I needed was for them to despise each other and to constantly fight, and considering the grand contrast in their personalities, I recognized that as a possibility.

 

For now though, I need to leave Tanya alone at the apartment with Anya, hopefully they can bond or something, I just need to make sure I can get some papers forged indicating she was Anya’s twin sister.

 

“You’re going to have to stay at the apartment for a short while so that I can get your paperwork sorted. If anyone asks, you and your sister have always been my daughters and you two are both twins.”

 

“Other daughter?”

 

“Her name is Anya, do your best to get along with her, she was adopted just like you were.”

 

“I see… and you want us to pretend we’ve always been your daughters because you want us to attend Eden Academy?”

 

Clever girl.

 

“Yes, they greatly believe in family values, so if they found out you two weren’t my biological daughters, they might not let you two enroll.”

 

“I understand.”

 

This girl is more confusing than the last one, however at least this one is confusing in a way that's beneficial, it just feels like this child acts far older than she is. I suppose it doesn’t matter so long as she gets good grades.

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