Chapter 426 - My OC Stash #26 - The General's Child by Watchinkid (YoujoSenki)

-No matter what Erich does, Tanya's just inevitable/

Synopsis: The world has come crashing down. Yet Erich von Lergen finds himself in the most peculiar place, back in time. There are so many things to do. So many things to remember. Perhaps things wouldn't be so bad if one of the key people tied to all that's happened in his memories is put through different circ.u.mstances?

TL;DR Timetravel!Lergen adopts Tanya.

Rated: ???

Words: 24K

Posted on: forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-generals-child-youjo-senki.868318/ (Watchinkid)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

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Chapter 1

Erich von Lergen:

Dying painfully wasn't something he would've wanted to properly put into words. No doubt there was a sensation he would've been able to describe if he had the time and proper place. But as things were, Erich von Lergen wasn't in such a position.

No, he remembered a sting, one that grew, one that came to encompass. Then nothing. Just blackness. It was almost as if something was over his eyes, preventing him from seeing anything.

Eternity looked to be even bleaker really, all of that, for an endless void? It was quiet. Too quiet. There was no eeriness, not even dread. It reminded him of the quiet between volleys, or between the shellings. A negative calm. A negative sense of peace.

Still, he supposed that such things were things he was supposed to take comfort in.

Then the sound of chirping birds came. That was odd. Erich made to move, realizing that indeed, he could feel his arms. He shot up, the pillow covering he eyes had fallen to the side. And he scrambled first to check the place where he remembered the distinct pain that led to the darkness came from.

Only said pain wasn't there, There wasn't even a blemish. He turned to the right, with his hands idly reaching for his spectacles.

Once the blur had faded and his eyes had adjusted the first thing through his mind was that he hadn't remembered the last time he saw this room as tidy. The sun was out and up, he could head the faint sounds of the hustle and bustle far away.

His gaze turned to the clock and to the calendar. At first glance, he thought that the numbers at the top weren't right. When was the last time he changed it? The whole thing was all wrong. Had he neglected this place that much?

Upon closer inspection, and the gradual clearing from grogginess, he then noted the lack of extremely important doc.u.ments on his desk. Only forms that looked rather familiar. He inched toward them, thumbing at the papers.

I haven't needed a use for these since… He thought, he looked again, to another set of papers. He read the date. "August, 1919," The words came out, almost in disbelief.

He looked again, first out the window, then to the doc.u.ments. This didn't seem to be some sort of purgatory. And even if it was, he wondered if anything he'd heard the priests and preachers say had any connection to what he was in now. Surely the afterlife wasn't some arbitrary point in his youth?

A flick of the radio switch said enough. There was news, the expected announcements, and a little song he hadn't heard in a long while. The man speaking through was chipper and optimistic, in contrast to the rather dread-filled tones he remembered the man barely hid.

"Sir Erich, is everything alright?" He heard the knock on the door. A voice he hadn't remembered hearing in a very long while. "Sir Erich?" The knock came at the door.

The head maid of the house peeked in, he remembered her from when he was younger, She looked worried, "We heard heavy footsteps from downstairs, is there anything wrong?���

He didn't have a reply at first, if this was some sort of post-death illusion. Then whoever was in charge of it was doing a very good job. "At the risk of sounding mad Helga, what Day, month and year is it?"

"The tenth of August, 1919," the old lady spoke, "Are you feeling well young Erich?, you seemed to be in a daze the previous night, none of us thought to bother you on the way up."

He nodded slowly, "It's nothing Helga, I've just been thinking about some things. See if you can have old Hans bring my food upstairs."

The old servant chuckled, "You haven't asked him to do that in years Erich, what's gotten into you? Oh nevermind then, I'll head down to tell him." The door closed after, and the steps echoed in the distance.

Fifteen minutes later Erich von Lergen sat down and took stock of his options. All the while his mind raced to remember key and crucial details as best he could.

The war, they had lost the war. Far too much had been lost, and he doubted that the victors would've been all that lenient to the defeated. Not after all the blood spilled, not after all the shells and broken lives.

Where had it all gone bad? He wondered, where was the single point where things would've pivoted the right or wrong path? He looked as some birds flew by, Degurechaff, the words came out. Yes, he supposed that was where things might've started.

But then again, there were probably a dozen other factors that could've been all contributing to their slow decline. The problems borne of Degurechaff's victories notwithstanding.

The world was already primed for disaster, 'a powder keg ready and waiting' part of his mind echoed. He ignored that part. The hopelessness always had a way of gnawing at him, no matter how small the morsels he allowed it to bite at.

He wrestled those particular thoughts down. He had a chance.

He looked to the side, his uniform tunic had been haphazardly discarded on the floor. Erich sighed, well, at least he had the chance to go through it with all he'd learned. Perhaps he'd rise through the rank faster this time.

Even so, there was the issue of Tanya Degurechaff. Her inclusion in all of what happened was key to why and how they got to where they were.

Even if he had all the things in line, even if he was able to reach his former rank sooner, he wasn't sure about how she would factor into all those events along the way. Or if she would simply go about doing things the same way they did before.

No… He needed a way to keep an eye on her, perhaps a way to ensure that the path of the bayonet and rifle wasn't something she'd head towards.

Gears turned, and for a while considered what could be done. There was the matter of the orphanage, He remembered hearing about it once, it was a rather underfunded place, Degurechaff had even admitted to going hungry more than once. Had that factored into her choice? He didn't remember.

And even then he wasn't sure if he could justify any sort of surveillance over the place either. She'd still find herself at a point where the recruitment office was preferable.

Unless… Erich thought, he spent the rest of the day like that, The Sunday passed, he hadn't left his room at all.

...

He left his home the next morning. He'd stopped at a bank halfway. After walking out he checked his timepiece, It was late in the morning. That left him with enough time to remember just exactly where Degurechaff had been raised.

"Now… where is it?" He muttered to himself. A few minutes later, there were a lot of orphanages in Berun, he remembered it being somewhere in the outskirts. "Well, enough to narrow it down I suppose."

…

It had taken a while to find the orphanage. There weren't that many of them in the outskirts, and so he'd gone looking. The other ones didn't match the description he remembered. This was the last one on the list.

He knocked at the church door, noting the sorry state of the wood. The nun who answered and opened it looked like she'd seen better days. She probably cut down on her own eating to make room for the children.

...

It was lunchtime he noted, from what he could see, it was probably one of the few times the orphanage could afford to have a lunchtime anyway. His eyes scanned the room, two boys fought over a loaf of bread, one complaining while a more well fed one gloated.

Had it really been that bad? He thought. His mind went through the motions. The strain at the end of the war hit everyone. Yet her eyes didn't flag or waver. No complaint came, only perseverance. Maybe she remembered this.

The children paid him no mind, eating and eating away. The nuns apologized for their behavior. His guess was right, this was one of the few times they could afford to feed everyone.

His gaze settled on a table at the far corner, illuminated by a window. She was there, and she was small, smaller than he remembered ever seeing her. She had bags under her eyes. And much like the child clamoring for his stolen bread, didn't seem to be eating anything.

A few seconds later her hand came up, if only for a moment, and a piece of bread came with it. Her eyes shifted again, taking note of the other children. Waiting for their gazes to avert, or waiting for them to take another bite out of their loaves before she deigned to repeat.

"That one," He muttered, just loud enough for the Sister to hear. "The little blond girl at the corner table."

"There's three of them at the corner table good sir," The nun spoke,

"The clever one, hiding her food." He answered. "There,"

The nun turned to him nodding. "Tanya?" The nun spoke, he nodded, his guess was confirmed at least. "Oh she's a quiet little dear. Worry not sir Lergen, she's not the type to cause a fuss."

Oh if you only knew Sister. He was tempted to say. A few signatures on paper and he was off to a side room, waiting.

There was no recognition in her eyes at least. He wasn't sure if that was a relief.

The little girl walked into the room in what the nuns must've thought to be her best dress. It was a little dirty, there were small patches the nuns must've hastily sewn on.

She was hardly the hellion he remembered in his nightmares.

They left the orphanage shortly after. The nuns were surprised at the sum he left behind. It was best to set an example, especially if she was watching.

…​

Lergen Residence,

An old manservant and a maidservant stood at the bottom of the stairs, it was well past the time Sir Lergen was supposed to come down.

It had been that way the previous day too with him asking for his food to be brought up to him.

They waited, an unsaid bet stood between them on whatever reason the young man had to be so worried.

Then down he came, steps echoed as he rushed down the stairs and almost headed for the door.

"Your coat sir," The manservant spoke, Erich stopped and gave his thanks, taking said coat from the nearby rack and heading for the door.

He turned to the servants, "I'd hate to rush you all on such short notice, but would you and the others mind fixing up the room next to mine?" He asked,

The shock lasted but a moment, both servants bowed, with the maidservant heading to inform the few others of the request.

The manservant looked to Erich and asked, just as he reached for the front door. "Might I ask whats going on sir?"

Erich von Lergen took a deep breath, and looked back, eyes somewhat heavier now. "I'm simply making up for some mistakes Hans," He said, not a moment later he was out of the house.

The door came shut, and old Hans was left to mull over what he was told. Young Erich didn't seem to be the type to cause trouble. He was a model student, and that carried over as the years went on.

Near the end of the day he came back with a little girl in tow, the girl was introduced as his daughter, the rest of the servants weren't sure about how to react to the situation.

But Hans knew better, Erich wasn't the type to let the results of past mistakes go.

…

August 11, 1919

Berun, Saint Otto's Church and Orphanage

Tanya:

They had enough bread for all of us that day. Most of the children were happy at that news. But I could tell, Sister Therese had been looking worse for wear for a while now. From what I could tell her and the other nuns had decided to forego some meals for our sake.

I looked to the table a row or so away. Just like last time, Jan and Bernard were fighting over bread. I hid the loaf beneath the table, taking from it when I was sure that everyone else was preoccupied.

It took a while, and although I wanted to get said mealtime over with, I didn't want to risk having to wrestle for my food as well.

Once the mealtime was over I headed out with the others, Mother Olga walked towards me, pulling me aside and towards the stairs to their quarters. "It's a blessed day dear," she spoke. "Someone's come to adopt you."

I… I didn't know how to react to that, five years in this place had be thinking that it'd be my due for a bit longer.

I found myself quickly bathed, Sister Therese was busy fixing one of the nicer dresses they had in storage. It all happened so fast really.

I didn't even have enough time to speak.

Mother Olga gave me one last look, brushing away what little dust was left on the dress. "You're going to be adopted by the nice man over at the next room." She spoke, "Are you prepared to say your goodbyes later?"

I nodded, then headed past the door. The man on the other side had that look in his eye. Almost as if he recognized me.

Food for thought then, there were a lot of ways you could interpret that. I could think over the implications some other day.

"Is there anything you want to know?" I asked, "There's supposed to be an interview whenever this happens." I said, I'm pretty sure it was that way with the older children.

The man answered " I already know most of what I need to." His demeanor changed though, he knelt down, "Though just for the sake of it, I'd like to ask your name?"

From the look he gave I was pretty sure he already knew. Maybe the nuns told him, maybe he was aware before that.

"Tanya."

The man nodded and stood up, "Well then Tanya, are you hungry?"

I nodded, though I was unsure of what else to say. We headed down. After I gave my goodbyes we outside the orphanage.

My new father stayed behind though, he was speaking with the nuns, He fished an envelope of sorts from his pocket and handed it over.

Mother Olga received it, a few moments later she thanked him profusely. Father tipped his hat and walked to me, then we headed off.

...

He bought a few new dresses on the way, a few bags later and father felt rather hungry. I tugged at the new dress, at least it wasn't all rough like the one I left the orphanage in.

"Did we have to buy so much?" I asked, by the end of it, the rest of what was bought had to be sent to his home directly. Well, at least it meant he didn't have his hands full.

"I thought it would be better to get all of it over with." He answered, "I hope you're hungry, we have one last stop before we head home."

There was a restaurant he frequented, it was a modest little place.

One of the men sitting at the corner moved, he pushed his chair back and got up from his seat when we entered. I paled for a bit, he was headed right for us. From the look of it, he was looking straight at my father. He stood still once close enough, then saluted. Father saluted right back. It seemed father was a military man.

After that we headed right to one of the available tables. I let him choose what to order for me. Mostly because I wasn't all that familiar with what was offered.

One ride later and we found ourselves at a rather... I couldn't say it was opulent. The residence was all together in a better part of the city. One of the head servants was waiting outside, probably making sense of the packages we'd sent ahead of us earlier.

"Ah, Sir Lergen," The man spoke, he had a few other servants handle the other boxes, "We were wondering when you'd return."

Father nodded, "Hans, I hope there hasn't been too much trouble?" He asked,

The manservant shook his head, "Aside from moving some cabinets out and around there isn't much else to do. The bed inside has been cleaned, the mattress replaced, new sheets and such. Though perhaps we might need one last sweep for the dust left behind." He spoke.

"I knew I could count on you then." Father said, then picked me up. I would've protested, but then again I was small enough I suppose. "This... this is Tanya, my daughter." He spoke, "I'm sure it's quite obvious that I need not say anything else?

"Of course sir," He said,

I looked to the side, noting that some of the other maidservants were peeking through one of the front windows. A few looked to be whispering among themselves. It seemed that my arrival was unexpected. This was a surprise adoption.

...

Eventually... we managed to settle on a routine. I wasn't sure what was expected of me. Father seemed to come from a well to do family. My new name having a 'von' attached made that clear.

"Tanya, are you listening?"

My mind returned to the current issue at hand. It had only been a few weeks, but it seemed that I was being thrown right into the gauntlet. One basic dictionary later and I breezed right through the children's books.

My reading however, didn't match my handwriting. He took one look at it and decided that he would 'see if he could help me improve.'

Father had taken some time off today, He took it upon himself to see me through this particular lesson. I'd managed to get my lettering down just fine, at least so long as I stuck to the basics. It wasn't my fault that a fountain pen was a lot more tricky to use.

I kept by hands steady, I had to admit, a writing desk did make this a little bit easier, I could see why letter writing was something that took up so much time. Father watched from the side, carefully noting my movements.

He nodded, and left once he was sure that I did well enough. Once that was over I breathed a sigh of relief. A few lines were down. I had at least two or more pages left to go.