The Rising of Tanaka in Another World

The supernatural battle that took place on the sacred mountain of Chocoboro. The victor was the apostle of God. The spirit of the sacred mountain of Chocoboro disappeared, and the apostle in question also soon departed somewhere, leaving behind only the White Wolf Tribe, who had lost their object of worship.

And then, as though they had been waiting for this exact moment, the Purin Kingdom army showed up. Before they could even put up some resistance, their village was already raided, and numerous people lost their lives. Among them were the wife and children of Black Mikeneko. At that moment, Black Mikeneko accepted the choice of ‘Berserk’ and fought hard against the Kingdom’s army. However, unable to overcome the violence of numbers, the White Wolves tribe had no choice but to flee. The White Wolves tribe wandered aimlessly through the mountain while putting up resistance here and there. As seasons passed, one by one, his comrades fell, and the only one left was Black Mikeneko.

「There was already nothing I could do, other than passing my days at a loss. And then, before I knew it, I was already gathering the remains of my family members…. and my comrades, before giving them a burial. And that place is here.」

As they talked about what happened after the disappearance of the spirit, they climbed up the mountain from the village that was at the foot of the mountain. It was a dying land with the surface of the mountain exposed. A number of human-sized stones stood in line desolately. When they reached a certain one of them, he placed the flower he had been holding.

「Popotan flower. The one my daughter loved… I think.」

Perhaps it was the after effect of getting his soul consumed. His memories seemed to have become fragmented. But even so, seeing his praying figure, Tanaka remained silent. The mood didn’t seem fit for him to say ‘You have a daughter?! Go explode yourself, you normie!’ there.

「S, say. If you want, should we help you bury them? Having more hands would surely make things easier, right? We are pretty much an idle group anyway.」

Unable to stand the mood any longer, Tanaka tried to lend him a hand. It was an act worthy of being titled the little man among little men.

「Thanks, but, no thanks, I’ve buried all of the remains in the village, and I think I’m also mostly done with searching and burying all the remains of those who fell while we were on the run.」

「Oh, I see….」

So awkward. It was just too awkward. This kind of situation, there was no way for the delicate Tanaka-san, who would rejoice at every minute action of a high school girl who happened to be in the same train as him, would be able to bear it.

「Fu, fuoooaaaaa!」

「What happened-degozaru?」

As soon as he suddenly let out such a shout, Tanaka took out various items from his item box. Various items, which had been crammed into his item box in an enormous amount, rolled on the ground in great amounts. Seeing such an action of his, Black Mikeneko was dumbfounded instead.

「… Just, what in the world is going on with him?」

As expected, even Suke-san and Kaku-san could not answer this question.

「What the hell are you doing, dude?」

「I bet you haven’t been eating well, have you? I’m going to let you indulge yourself in a bit!」

Tanaka grabbed a large pot and began to stew the ingredients that were scattered about. They were all extravagant items that normally could never be enjoyed during a journey. It was an extravagance that was only possible for Tanaka who boasted an overwhelming item box capacity. And then, into the wooden cups he had pointlessly carried, Tanaka poured some sake that he’d also pointlessly stockpiled, even though he couldn’t even drink them, and offered one to him.

「Come on, you drink, too. Drink, eat, and let loose!」

The wooden cup that was thrust out at Black Mikeneko. High quality sake was poured into it to the brim. Swallowed up by Tanaka’s momentum, Black Mikeneko couldn’t help but accept the cup. Tanaka then swiftly returned to tending the hot-pot he was cooking.

「… What am I supposed to do?」

Black Mikeneko asked Suk-sane and Kaku-san with a puzzled look on his face.

「Beats me. At any rate, he’s quite the strange guy, after all. Well, why don’t you just drink and eat like he told you to?」

「He’s right-degozaru.」

The two of them, who didn’t even need to eat, had already begun to relax and made themselves at home. Their teamwork was as outstanding as ever. After a while, Tanaka served them small plates brimming with hot-pot dishes.

「… It’s good.」

「Right? As someone who has mastered rice with egg (tamago-kake gohan), I’ve overcome yet another wall. So there’s no way it’d ever taste bad.」

Tanaka, with a smug look on his face, served some freshly cooked hot-pot dish as well, and finally began to eat it himself. Truly a true and tested little man.

「In my hometown, at times like this we let ourselves loose by eating and drinking with smiles on our faces.」

Saying that, Tanaka immediately put it into practice. The act of him shrewdly getting himself alone some milk to drink showed how fearsome of an Emperor of Darkness he was.

Afterwards, the four of them continued to chat merrily while eating and drinking. Most of the conversation was about team Tanaka’s adventures so far, but Black Mikeneko was enjoying it in its own way.

「The Promised Land, huh….」

A topic that came up in the tale of team Tanaka. It also existed in the corner of Black Mikeneko’s fragmented memory. It was something he had heard from traveling demi-humans. At the time, he had passed it off as a bogus tale, but after hearing it from team Tanaka, he found it believable.

「That’s right, various people have gathered to build a new town in the north of the Empire. By no means bragging, but I hold a considerably high status in this Nanashi town. No, maybe it is not an exaggeration to call myself the number one person there… phew.」

One of the folks who worked by accepting requests at the guild sub-branch. To be able to exaggerate such a fact into this kind of story, truly a man of excellent presentation as usual.

「Is that right-degozaru?」

「Rather, isn’t Echigoya the number one person there?」

「Silence! Echigoya-san and I are the best of friends. In other words, I’m practically number one too.」

This was an equation that even a multitude of wise men found impossible to solve. To be able to easily solve and declare it with a smug look on his face, as expected of Tanaka-san. And then, like a typical small man he was, he then reservedly made a suggestion.

「So, umm, you too. I know you have a lot on your mind, but you should quickly sort out your feelings. It’s not a bad idea to start over in a new place, right?」

Staring at the sake in his cup, Black Mikeneko leaked out his words.

「Start over, huh… Maybe that’s not a bad idea….」

The lively, noisy, and somewhat lonely night continued to deepen.