The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 4: Dabit Deus His Quoque Finem Read online

  Copyright

  The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 4

  Carlo Zen

  Translation by Emily Balistrieri

  Cover art by Shinobu Shinotsuki

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  YOJO SENKI Vol. 4 Dabit Deus His Quoque Finem

  ©Carlo Zen 2015

  First published in Japan in 2015 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo.

  English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo, through TUTTLE-MORI AGENCY, INC., Tokyo.

  English translation © 2018 by Yen Press, LLC

  Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Zen, Carlo, author. | Shinotsuki, Shinobu, illustrator. | Balistrieri, Emily, translator. | Steinbach, Kevin, translator.

  Title: Saga of Tanya the evil / Carlo Zen ; illustration by Shinobu Shinotsuki ; translation by Emily Balistrieri, Kevin Steinbach

  Other titles: Yōjo Senki. English

  Description: First Yen On edition. | New York : Yen ON, 2017–

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Insert

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter I: A Long-Range Reconnaissance Mission

  Chapter II: A Goodwill Visit

  Chapter III: A Magnificent Victory

  Chapter IV: Reorganization

  Chapter V: The Battle of Dodobird

  Chapter VI: Operation Door Knocker

  Appendixes: Commentary

  Afterword

  Yen Newsletter

  [chapter] I A Long-Range Reconnaissance Mission

  MARCH 15, UNIFIED YEAR 1926, OVER THE EMPIRE’S EASTERN BORDER REGION

  Soaring inconspicuously through the sky above the Empire’s eastern border is a twin-engine transport plane. The workhorse of the Imperial Army Air Transport Unit is making a rare night flight.

  The navigation lights, normally set to be as bright and clear as possible in friendly airspace to avoid collisions, have been turned off…

  The camouflaged body of the plane flies leisurely toward its destination under the cover of darkness without a sound, save the slight drone of its motors. Ninety-nine out of a hundred people who glanced up at the sky would have no way of knowing that anything was there.

  Its paint job was designed for flying into enemy territory, making the nationality unclear.

  Originally a fighter, the craft has been outfitted against detection with every possible countermeasure available to the air command of a special operations group that, plainly speaking, didn’t hesitate to violate borders.

  Even if the controller at the Eastern Air Defense Combat Direction Center, organized under the Empire’s Eastern Army Group, reported that they’d seen something weird on the radar, it wouldn’t be noted officially in any report. If anyone there tried to file one, the visiting General Staff officers would simply stop by to insist, You didn’t see anything, and that would be that.

  The personnel on board this rather troubling craft can practically be called an imperial military secret. After all, the unit is the pet project of the General Staff, prepared to do even wet work in a pinch.

  Yes, inclusion in this type of special ops group is synonymous with acknowledgment as the Imperial Army’s cream of the crop. Most officers are unreservedly in awe of their legendary bravery and skill.

  …Of course, for the unit’s commander in question, awe is wholly unnecessary.

  All I want is for someone to trade places with me.

  Aware that she’s getting nowhere with this futile train of thought, the leader of the special ops group assigned to this long-range reconnaissance mission deep behind enemy lines, Major Tanya von Degurechaff, gives a small inward sigh.

  Looking down, I see my two tiny hands. No matter how you slice it, this is too heavy a burden for the fragile frame of a little girl. If I fulfill all the requirements of being a minor, then I’d like to request the appropriate protections. But no, even Tanya’s daydreams don’t include the possibility of leaving the front lines by suddenly pulling the child card and saying she doesn’t want to fight.

  The 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion is under direct command of the Imperial Army General Staff and, hence, is an extremely rare sort of battalion—it has the authority to act independently. Moreover, we’ve racked up a respectable pile of achievements. In other words, we made the mistake of proving ourselves useful. It also worked to our disadvantage that we were originally created through the good offices of the General Staff at home. To the higher-ups, we’re a very convenient tool.

  Thanks to that, we’ve been thrown onto every front, massaged into a band of veterans. From Commander von Degurechaff all the way down, every masterful officer in the battalion enjoys the reputation of being an elite.

  That’s why Tanya is cradling her head in her hands and lamenting, I don’t want to fight, but I suppose it’s hard to escape at the moment.

  Having thought that far, she mulls over the events of several hours ago—and how her happiness at landing back in the imperial capital was so short-lived.

  We’ll go back a few hours.

  Arriving over the imperial capital for the first time in a while, she noticed the sky felt cramped due to the dense interception line. She was thoroughly fed up with someone on the ground challenging her every time she passed through the multilayered anti–air defense zone.

  They may have doubled as patrols, but their need to greet her colleagues from the instructor unit, too, was often annoying.

  In the first place, humans aren’t built to enjoy being challenged at gunpoint, even by friendly forces simply doing their duty.

  Still, a few hours ago, as Tanya flew along the predesignated route over the capital, she was blessed with a sense of calm that was so total, the complicated procedures didn’t bother her one bit.

  After all, she’d finally managed to return to the capital. After the city they’d missed so much came into view from afar, the whole unit was in a good mood. It was impossible for the soldiers to conceal their delight at being summoned back to the home country and away from the southern front’s boundless, barren sand.

  Truly, the only word for the feeling was ecstasy. In the present, however, Tanya finds her optimism so utterly idiotic that she wants to literally curse herself.

  In her defense, though, at the time it was no wonder.

  Major Tanya von Deg
urechaff was sick of the battlefield, so any reason that granted freedom from the front lines was cause for genuine celebration. A summons to the home country was good news if there ever was such a thing, and she had no reason to be suspicious of the order.

  Until they touched down at their designated billet, Tanya happily believed it—that they had been called home for leave. It was so generous of command to properly rotate personnel, she was nearly impressed.

  Then her acquaintances Colonel von Lergen and Major Uger showed up to receive their report. For a returning unit, a greeting from familiar faces was undoubtedly a relief. The brass were being so considerate she admired their human resources skills.

  After allowing her troops to rest at ease, she instructed the officers to look after their men as she turned to Colonel von Lergen to give their report.

  “All members of the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion reporting directly to the General Staff, including Major Tanya von Degurechaff, have returned from the southern front with no one left behind.”

  “Good work, Major von Degurechaff. I’ve heard from the Southern Expeditionary Army about the magnificent things you’ve achieved. They said you really went all in, and when I looked at the combat reports, I was moved to find it true.”

  “Thank you, Colonel von Lergen!”

  “And you don’t have to worry about the decoration applications you submitted for your troops. I’ll do whatever it takes to get them through—think of it as my personal appreciation for your distinguished service in the south.”

  They exchanged salutes with the awareness and pride of professionals. It was reassuring that Lergen had stated he would see to the applications.

  It was the declaration of a career soldier—an officer of the General Staff, no less, so it probably wasn’t mere lip service. The weight of their achievements and his trust in them said his words could be taken as a contract.

  “Sorry, I would have liked to present them this very moment alongside my gratitude, but we only received the recommendations a few days ago. I personally tried to expedite them, but…apparently, the administrators need some time to get through the paperwork.”

  “No, I apologize that we didn’t maintain better contact. Military postal services were so limited in the war zone that I couldn’t even send a friendly note ahead.”

  It was a textbook exchange of politeness and regrets regarding the interrupted communication.

  Tanya would have liked to have kept better track of the situation in the home country, but…the only thing available was letters sent by ship, nothing so simple as telegraph or e-mail. And that’s why speaking face-to-face was so essential.

  She should have polished her nonverbal communication skills. Her guard should have been up. Instead…at that moment, she committed the grave error of letting the kindness of the General Staff toward her unit get to her.

  …I should have been more cautious, Tanya bitterly reflects aboard the transport plane. It would be impossible to regret that slipup more.

  Closing her eyes and recalling that moment, she could tell at the time that Lergen seemed strangely sympathetic and nodded in all seriousness. “That’s all right. I believe I understand the circumstances you were in.”

  Remembering what she said in response makes her sick. She had bobbed her head, thanked him, then asked about the general state of affairs in the capital and how things were back home.

  You would think they would have reacted by then, but it was when she saw Major Uger’s hesitant expression that she finally sensed something strange was going on.

  “Now then, let’s talk business. Major Uger has been in charge of this, so I’ll let him explain. Please tell Major von Degurechaff about the transport division.”

  “Yes, sir… I’ll explain once you’ve received the briefing documents.”

  “That’s very kind of you, Major Uger.”

  Now she can only regret how carefree she’d been. Did the southern continent dull my senses so much?

  How ironic that I refined my sensibilities for killing to the point that I now have a communication disability in normal society.

  Would things have turned out differently if I had hesitated when Lergen asked if I still had a full complement of troops? she had to ask herself.

  “Yes, we only suffered light casualties on the southern continent. General von Romel’s command was of great help, and we returned with no major losses.” She shouldn’t have dutifully reported few casualties.

  Hindsight is twenty-twenty, but I failed to sidestep a mission I probably could have avoided. Colonel von Lergen had found someone he could force into shouldering an impossible task, and his delight manifested in a lovely smile.

  This was the moment everything started going pear-shaped.

  It probably took only an hour.

  An officer from Strategic Reconnaissance in Operations appeared from nowhere with a smile and came jogging over at a wave from Colonel von Lergen. Tanya sensed definitively that something was off then, but it was far too late.

  She should have told the General Staff her unit was exhausted and unfit for combat. The 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion does report directly to them, after all. In most regional army group command chains, we have the privilege of choosing our own missions. That said…it also means we’re unable to reject orders from the General Staff.

  Sadly, whereas normally someone in the command chain would veto the idea as too reckless, internally at the General Staff, on the principle of confidentiality, this had to stay between the one giving the orders and Tanya.

  There was no opportunity for a third party to step in.

  I suppose we can say, Thanks to that…

  …Tanya is currently stuck commanding some mystery military group on a secret mission to cross the border.

  More accurately, she will be.

  Technically, Tanya and the others in the transport plane are flying over the empire’s eastern border region for an exercise.

  Even if that’s only the official pretext, that’s where they stand at the moment.

  Their orders are to conduct an exercise, supposedly. She had informed her subordinates, as instructed by the higher-ups, that these exercise orders arrived suddenly from the General Staff.

  But surely no one believed that.

  The moment they had arrived at the staging area, they were bundled aboard an aircraft the General Staff had waiting along with their supremely suspicious “exercise” orders, then took off without even being told where they were going.

  And on top of everything, the transport plane was a special ops aircraft equipped for night maneuvers?

  Everyone could tell there was more to the orders than it seemed. Even the credulous first lieutenants Grantz and Serebryakov could understand that much.

  In the short time before embarking, the seasoned officers had grabbed whatever they could get their hands on as if there wasn’t a moment to lose.

  Grantz, who had been assigned to handle weapons and ammunitions, hurled spare combat orbs and a full complement of ammo into the plane. Meanwhile, Serebryakov had become absorbed in inspecting a radio set she had skillfully appropriated from somewhere.

  As for Captain Weiss, who had been getting worked just as hard as Tanya, he had busied himself stuffing the long-range recon veteran favorite—chocolate bars—into his units’ packs.

  And as for where the hurriedly launched plane is headed—it’s technically a secret, but the members of the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion know how to navigate.

  In fact, they have experience navigating at night with nothing but knowledge of astronomy. A ripple goes through the group as they realize on their own that they are flying toward the eastern border. As soldiers, the self-restraint to keep quiet until something is officially announced is in effect…but their questioning eyes—seemingly asking, Aren’t the Eastern Army Group’s exercise ranges in a different direction?—are incredibly obnoxious.

  I don’t think there are any numbskulls who believe the pilot of a plane belo
nging to a special ops group would make a navigation error and take us away from the exercise ranges.

  Even if Tanya feigns ignorance and says, “The higher-ups must have added a creative twist for us,” loud enough for everyone to hear, all her subordinates already know she was deep in conversation with a communications officer from Strategic Reconnaissance in Operations about a “personal errand” right before they took off.

  As such, the most she can really hope is for her troops to play along… She should probably be thankful that inquisitive looks are all that came up.

  Either way, if she knew that this was how things were going to end up, she should have kept playing with that anachronistic colonial army in the wide-open desert.

  In a sense, it was like wanting to overpower the Netherlands’ colonial defense force with Zero fighters.

  Last September, I was filled with trepidation when I saw all that sand, but compared to the muddy eastern front, hooray for the desert.

  Major Tanya von Degurechaff is a veteran… She’s not green enough to find any romance in war. For someone with experience, assisting a powerful ally to crush a weak enemy is preferable.

  She cannot understand the appeal of voluntarily flying toward a dangerous front where tenacious enemies await and hoping the battlefield will experience shelling-with-a-chance-of-corpses. As is appropriate for a soldier, Tanya fervently wishes for peace. If possible, she would even like to work a nonviolent intelligentsia job while safe in the rear.

  And that’s why.

  I’m repeating myself, but when Tanya was told her service on the southern continent was drawing to a close less than six months in, she was thrilled. She jumped for joy when her mage unit was told to return home for a periodic assignment rotation.

  She had been moved by the General Staff’s splendid management and discovered newfound respect for General von Zettour’s impressive understanding of the troops’ feelings.

  The only unfortunate thing was that she had to part with General von Romel despite the fact that they finally, finally seemed to be hitting it off.

  “De Lugo will be sleeping easier with you gone.”

  “Ah yes, our dear friend—I’ll be waiting for the news that you’ve kicked away his pillow.”