Omens

Southward of Nanashi town. Further south from Echigoya town, which appeared to be in the territory of the Empire. In a forest slightly distance away from the highway, Tanaka was there.

「Haa, haa, not good…. I can’t recreate the feeling from back then.」

Kneeling down on one knee, Tanaka was having a rough breathing. He was carrying out training by himself along the way to the Imperial Capital.

What he was challenging was the Grand Magic ‘Harem Creation’. It was a miraculous work that would light a ray of hope to the unrewarded men.

Tanaka had been trying to realize a harem in a straightforward manner recently, but now that he had obtained the opportunity to travel alone, without hesitation he laid a hand on the evil way. Moreover, it was supposed to be a challenge with high chances of success.

The omnipotence sensation he experienced in his previous battle against the Part Timer Warrior. He had the confidence that he had mastered the powerful Grand Magic at that time. That was why he held quite high hopes in the Grand Magic ‘Harem Creation’, but….

「Kuh, just why. Even though at that time, I was surely able to control Grand Magic freely…」

Placing both of his hands on the ground as he was, Tanaka blurted out his frustration. As usual, he was a man who was renowned for his frustrated figure.

However, the rotten fish-like eyes were not dead yet. He was still barely managing to hold on with only a fatal wound. It was because once he arrived at the imperial capital, a get-together hosted by Echigoya was awaiting him.

「Just a bit more and I would have gotten crushed by the malice of the world…, that was a close call. I sure can’t thank Echigoya-san enough.」

Tanaka-san stood up and put his appearance in order. Thus emerged the circle of flowers.

「Echigoya-san’s invitations should have been sent to all beautiful women in the Empire right about now. Kukuku, this might work. The ratio of beautiful women to Tanaka will exceed one hundred to one, right? Like this, riding the momentum and completing a harem is already a matter of course, right?!」

He continued to soak in happiness while letting his delusion grow by himself.

「Oops, not good, not good. My time is limited, after all. There’s more or less no doubt that my harem will be realized in the imperial capital, so let’s focus on training for now.」

It’s been a while since Tanaka had acted alone, so he involuntarily went out of control. As for why Tanaka was acting alone without regard to danger. There were several reasons for it, but the biggest reason was that it was what Echigoya had requested.

It was because he said that as this request was highly confidential, he wished Tanaka to take the work on his own.

In Nanashi town, including the hero, there were many high ranked powerful people gathered. And Tanaka’s friendship with them was uncannily good. If he were to take the work with them, they would surely attract too much attention and hinder the mission. That was right, Echigoya’s concern was something understandable.

However, this concern was nothing more than needless anxiety. As Tanaka-san wished to avoid Hero-chan from catching wind of the get-together, this time alone, the option of acting together with her was nonexistent.

In addition, it was absurd to expect Tanaka, who in order to get the attention of the beautiful women would always move separately from Suke-san and Kaku-san, to ever take Curryman and the three brothers, who possessed handsome men attributes, as well as Uesama, who possessed special kyoot attribute, along with him.

At a glance, the Great Sage might seem to be the only option here, but Tanaka considered this man to be the most dangerous one. Despite being an otherworlder, he had discerning eyes that could see through the mystique of sailor uniforms. Tanaka was wary as this man was without a doubt the one who could become his rival in this other world.

Therefore, the interests of the two sides coincided, and Tanaka decided to head to the Imperial Capital by his lonesome. He was arranged to meet up with Echigoya at his acquainted company later, and he would receive the specific details of his actions in the Imperial Capital after that. It was clearly a work with a pungent scent of danger to it, but for Tanaka-san, it was most likely nothing but a trivial matter in front of a get-together.

「Now then, Ol’ man also said something dubious, after all. So I guess let’s use this opportunity to power up a bit!」

Tanaka took a cool stance. The crisp expression on his face temporarily boosted his battle power up a level. Moreover, as his contour became darker as if were drawn with a thick touch, his battle power increased by a level.

「Kohooooooo!」

And then, breathing. Riding the sound effects that he was somehow in the mood to ride, his battle power finally increased to total a level. Such an extent of jokes in a situation where he was alone in the forest. One could see Tanaka’s seriousness at this training.

「I’d like to train in this power of the God or something, but at the moment I can’t even use the Grand Magic, which is its downgraded version, after all. I have to reach the level when I can use this one to a certain extent first. Now then, what to do, I wonder?」

If he was going to make use of it in the end, he should probably create something useful out of it. Tanaka thought as such–.

「I guess I’ll create a new trump card in case I got to face against an opponent with perfect anti-magic measure. As I’m currently acting alone, having nothing more than a single option of strategic retreat is way too risky, after all.」

Of the Team Tanaka so far, Suke-san’s physical attack opened up the battle. Tanaka’s magic attack restricted the opponents. Then Kaku-san’s firepower wiped them out. Finally, Tanaka-san’s signature pose wrapped everything up, such was the flow of strategy Team Tanaka adopted.

This was a formation to prevent the overwhelming firepower of magic, which was their strong point, from turning into a double-edged sword. It was because in case that a magic reflection or such magic countermeasure were to be employed, it was quite possible for them to reach the end of self-destruction with their own firepower in an instant, after all.

Up until now, almost all cases were settled with Suke-san’s preemptive attack, but let’s put that aside for the time being. In case that before they could wipe out their opponent with their firepower, the rear squads were to be entangled thus firing out magic was deemed to be impossible, then they’d have no choice but to push forward with Suke-san’s physical attack alone. If that was also impossible, they would have to make a strategic retreat. Such was the unspoken rule of Team Tanaka in regards to battle so far.

「We can’t afford to leave such a defect as it is forever, after all. In that case, I have no choice but to complete that…. Great Sins Triad Annihilation Formation.」

It was one of Tanaka’s WIP secret sorcery techniques. It was the perfect technique for the current Team Tanaka, borrowing the power of the three archdevils of hell, he’d be able to unleash an attack that was impervious to magic reflection.

The ones Tanaka borrowed the power from was the archdevils that reigned over ‘the grief you felt when you hit your little toe on the corner of the dresser,’ ‘the despair that came when you noticed that there was no paper when you did your business,’ and ‘the wailing that echoed when you woke up with a cramped leg’. We had no choice but to admit that it was one hell of a terrifying idea, as it had an eye on these negative energies that were said to be feared by people the most.

The moment Tanaka completed this technique, people would surely come to know what true fear was.

◇ ◇ ◇

Around the same time, Oedo Imperial Capital–. The main street that crossed the largest market in the Empire was crowded with people coming and going. In the midst of all this, two men were looking around the street as if they were sightseeing.

「The last time I was here was more than ten years ago, but compared to back then, it sure is a lot more crowded now.」

「At that time, the effect of the war against the Kingdom was still lingering, after all. It’s changed a lot, hasn’t it? Well, the four-yearly festival is coming, so perhaps it’s also affected by that, though.」

Hero Yashichi and Toby had arrived at the Imperial Capital after traveling from various place to place.

By the way, due to various complications of the incident in the Kingdom, Toby was dismissed from the company he once belonged to. After belatedly making his guild debut, he had turned into a respectable daily hired merchant now.

The reason why he was able to lead a reasonable life despite the unfavorable conditions he was in was perhaps mostly due to the existence of the long separated friend who was currently walking next to him. And then, Cursed Sword of Despair – Scream Vaster, an enormous power which was entrusted to him by an eccentric person he got acquainted with during the incident in the Kingdom. Right now he was also a guild member whose name was relatively well-known.

「But still, always promoting my name, are you sure about it?」

「Yeah, the title of hero will draw nothing but unnecessary troubles, after all. Especially in my case, as the Kingdom has their eyes on me.」

「That may be true. But I think it won’t be a problem if you stay in the Empire, though.」

「That’s not the case at all. Catching the eyes of influential people and getting involved in various troubles, it also happened all the time in the past, you see.」

「Uwa….」

The two of them continued to move around the stores while chatting casually. All of a sudden, however, Yashichi turned around. Sensing how unusually tense he was, Toby also raised his vigilance.

The point of their sight was far ahead. There was someone who was standing while staring fixedly at the two of them amidst the passing by people.

It was a large man with a well-built physique. His eerie conspicuous pale skin made him stand out even in the crowded street.

For a while, they stared at each other in silence, but the man suddenly walked away without doing anything at all. The magnificent sword enshrined on his back told them that he was no ordinary man.

「Somehow, it was hella scary, though…, was he your acquaintance?」

「… No, I don’t know him. Such a distinctive man, you won’t be able to forget him once you come across him, right?」

「I wonder who he is. He seemed to be quite a powerful one, though.」

「There’s no use worrying about it now.」

The two returned to sightseeing again.

「Now then…, I hope nothing occurs, though….」

Staring at the bustling street, Yashichi quietly murmured as such.

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