LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 71: (1)
Brat, What Are You Misunderstanding About?
「Hahaha, as expected of you! Geez, what the hell is going on here?」
Curryman began to run while laughing. The injured Kugel also trudged forward with a smile.
In front of them was a gigantic ice statue. And then, Tanaka, who had settled their fated battle, slowly descended from the sky.
Those who survived there could do nothing but stare at such them. And their eyes were filled with various thoughts.
Astonishment, relief, excitement, and fear.
Purin Kingdom soldiers, whose troops had been almost completely decimated by All Biter, were particularly leaning toward the negative emotions. They might have managed to survive for the time being, but as such an abnormal existence was now right in front of them, that was only natural. They were tormented by despair as their fates were still in the hand of this existence. Hero Kamui and Tetsujin were no exception.
On the other hand, Mikoto and Merlin were simply astonished. As the figure of that overly dark man had once been firmly etched onto their minds.
「He’s the person we once met before, isn’t he?」
「He seems to be…. I hardly got to talk to him, though. I think you should know him better than I do.」
「That may be true, but it’s not like we had a particularly deep conversation or anything, after all….」
Above all, the air was too different from when they met previously.
An overwhelming presence who didn’t waver in the slightest even in the face of All Biter. And the absolute power that was displayed.
It was so different from the idiotic air he had radiated previously that they couldn’t help but doubt if it was really the same person.
「Well, that appearance is without a doubt that person, though….」
Even while pondering how she should address the man, Mikoto began to slowly move forward.
Completely oblivious to such various thoughts whirling in the people around them, Tanaka and the others were in delight for their reunion.
「Oioi, what’s going on? Aren’t you two in tatters there…. Geez, why do you have to go wild so recklessly?」
「As expected, surviving was the best we could expect against that thing.」
「It was a tough battle, but to think it would be treated so lightly.」
「Ah, got it, got it, alright? I’m going to fix you up now, so wait a bit.」
Tanaka-san plastered the mask of a broad-minded leader. It was none other than because he had sharp-eyedly noticed that hero Mikoto was also there. He was still such a swiftly-changing man as usual.
Tanaka held out his hand toward the two. Enveloped in light, Curryman and Kugel were healed in the blink of an eye. The change in Kugel, who had been seriously injured to the point of on the death’s door, was particularly remarkable, as he displayed regenerative powers that would put All Biter to shame.
Curryman was exasperated by Tanaka’s magic, which was out of the norm as usual.
「Geez, what ridiculous magic. It’s like looking at the regenerative power of the monster from earlier.」
「Dahaha! Kugel, he says you’re a monster.」
「No, I think you’re the strange one, sir.」
「Huh?」
「Huh?」
An awkward air drifted around. However, promptly regaining himself, Tanaka continued the conversation to lighten up the mood. This was also wholly in order to make an appeal to Hero-chan. You could see the fearsome plan of Tanaka-san to show off his communicative ability as well as appeal of adult charm.
「Well, it’s that. You two are receiving training from Suke-san, so you have to at least reach the level where you can swiftly defeat an opponent like the one just now.」
「No, it regenerated like crazy, so we won’t be able to defeat it since we mainly use physical attacks.」
Hearing this answer from Curryman, Tanaka let out a sigh in a good grief manner. He didn’t forget to vaguely send sidelong glances toward Hero-chan.
「You just don’t get it, do you? That kind of opponent tends to have a small core that sneakily moves around within its body. If you want to defeat it with physical attacks, the basic is to first cut apart its huge bodies and then find the core that serves as its command center.」
Monsters with regenerative abilities were very common in manga and anime that this kind of subjugate strategy was akin to a common sense among otaku. Was that really true, Tanaka?
「Well, if it were Suke-san, without finding the core, he’d end it before saying ‘I seemed to have cut the core to pieces, so in the end I couldn’t find it-degozaru’.」
「Haha…, that’s so likely that I can’t laugh at it.」
「You’re right….」
Perhaps because the two had gained experience from their repeated mock battle training against Suke-san. They could clearly and realistically imagine Suke-san’s triumphant figure.
「You were close to smearing mud on the face of your master, Suke-san. The training from tomorrow on will be tougher, so you better prepare yourselves.」
Just as he was sharply pointing out two fingers toward the two and appealing his coolness, hero Mikoto finally arrived at where they were. No one could blame Tanaka-san, who had continuously and thoroughly been betrayed in this world, for having his nostril largely expanding in excitement and expectation.
「It’s been a while, Echigoya-san. Do you remember us?」
「Of course I remember you, Hero-chan. By the way, Echigoya is my incognito form to hide from the world.」
Tanaka coolly and sharply extended his left arm at forty five degrees angle downward, making his cloak flutter at the same time. And then, abruptly holding up the extended left arm to cover his face, his dead fish-like eyes were peeking out of the gap between the fingers.
「My real name is Tanaka. A man who’s grieving at the chaos-laden world. I’m currently traveling around the world to expand my connection with promising people, but I have a plan to start my own company and use my connections and experience to develop businesses that transcend national borders someday. Once again, pleased to meet you.」
Did you get it? In order to secure this opportunity for sure, this time he finally stepped into the forbidden domain of ‘self-conscious type’.
It was a crafty method of trying to win over an innocent former high school girl with little life experience using adult charm. The fact that the parts of his face seemed to assemble in the middle was the embodiment of Tanaka-san’s confidence. One could strongly feel his maturity as he meaninglessly tapped on his computer keyboard in the office with a ‘Clack!’.
「In the end, what are you going to do?」
「Come to think of it, we know nothing about the Lord.」
He could hear the voices of bystanders, Curryman and Kugel, but Tanaka-san magnificently ignored them.
「Ah, come to think of it. I’m sorry that I seemed to have snatched your prey earlier. I’ve got some history with that monster, you see. So I kinda took the liberty to settle it there.」
And then, he apologized where he should apologize. That was amazing, Tanaka. You were more reliable than ever, Tanaka.
「Umm, rather, you saved us there. Thank you very much.」
This short remark, as expected it made even Tanaka-san’s heart skip a beat.
A sailor uniform high school girl hero who possessed even humility. ‘Just how many attributes do you want to stack before you’re satisfied, damn it! Only this time, my gratitude! Other world-san!’ or so Tanaka thought while boisterously dancing in his mind. For him to thank the world that had betrayed him on countless occasions, it was easy to tell how great Tanaka-san’s happiness was.
「Well, chatting while standing in such a place is a bit. My comrades are resting over there, so let’s go over and talk there.」
「Is everyone all right?」
「Yeah, we happened to run into each other while they were running in panic, after all. I’m leaving them in the hands of Suke-san and Kaku-san at the moment. Uesama is also there, so there should be no problem.」
Curryman had stepped into the conversation, but in the presence of the Hero, let alone showing dissatisfied expression, Tanaka performed something resembling a reliable leader. He was unusually playing well.
「As expected, Uesama really exists, huh! With this we can finally cross the mountain!」
While Curryman and Kugel were rejoicing, Mikoto showed a curious expression, ‘Uesama?’
「Well, as I alone felt some sort of fate here, I decided to take a look. It looks like I was right.」
Sending flirtatious glances intermittently toward Mikoto, Tanaka-san showed a smug face. That was not good, Tanaka. You were beginning to return to your normal self, Tanaka. One win one lose, the sweat dripping in hand battle continued.