The First Trial…, I Guess

–The base of the Purin Kingdom army in the entertainment city of Ketavanagh-O. In the basement of said base was an underground prison that stretched out like a labyrinth. Sorrow, hatred, and madness. This place, a prison that was supposed to be engulfed in such airs, a peculiar air was drifting around at a certain part of it.

「–Oh. Looks like you’ve gone through quite a hardship there.」

「Yes, I totally have. Toby is useless, and the beautiful woman I was about to get close to is now gone. It’s so much of a mess, big bro.」

「Was that all you thought about during the game?!」

The men were chatting merrily. How could they be so carefree in such a situation? This was most likely the first question that came to everyone’s mind when they saw them. However, to those who knew of Tanaka, they’d probably be beset with a different question. How could Tanaka associate with a handsome man in such a friendly manner?

However, the answer was actually pretty simple. Tanaka was a man who prioritized his own safety above anything else. In this situation where he was locked in a prison, the person who appeared in front of him was a hero. Moreover, he was the hero among heroes, who was widely acknowledged as the strongest hero of all times. There was only one course of action Tanaka could take in the face of such a mighty being. Tanaka would follow and take hero Yashichi as his big bro and then put on airs utilizing the power of the strongest hero as his backing.The flexibility of mind where he could even tolerate such a dangerous situation of associating amiably with a handsome man in order to protect himself. There was no doubt that he had engraved his name as the great little man in the Akashic Records, which was said to have recorded all little men since the age of origin.

So after this and that, Tanaka and his merry band of friends, who had been wrapped up in a lengthy conversation, were still chatting merrily. And by now they were well aware of their respective circumstances.

The Hero Yashichi–. He was concerned about the condition of the demi-humans in the Purin Kingdom and would rush over to help them at any given opportunity. About five years ago, the Kingdom found his actions displeasing. Through a despicable trap, they captured and sent him to this prison. However, as expected even the Kingdom couldn’t lay a hand on the hero who was bestowed with the divine protection of the God of Creation, and he’d simply been continuously imprisoned up until now, such seemed to be hero Yashichi’s circumstances.

Toby Saar–. He was a member of a certain company in the Haru Empire, and had been working within the kingdom to expand their sales channels. However, he seemed to have caught the eye of a certain kingdom’s company. When he was playing around in the casino, he was captured for an unknown reason. Falsely accused of being a spy of the Empire, he was forced to accompany General Red in his game of public execution. And then, after Tanaka, who happened to pass by, messed things up, he was thrown into this prison, such seemed to be Toby’s circumstances. And then Tanaka–. He was a man overflowing with overwhelming coolness that had attracted the attention of all the beautiful women in the casino. Feeling jealous of it, it could only be said as an inevitable occurrence that General Red would treat him as an enemy. As a result, Tanaka was forcibly dragged into the game stage, defeated through a despicable trick, and thrown into this prison. Such was the point of view of Tanaka himself. By the way, we accept no objections about this point of view of his.

「Nevertheless, big bro, why are you staying in a place like this? There should be no way for you, the strongest hero, to be unable to escape such a place, right?」

「Phew, you’d better stop overestimating me. There are also things beyond my control, you know? And that’s also the reason why I’m unable to escape.」

Saying that, hero Yashichi pointed out at said reason with his eyes. The one there was a sorcery-like pattern engraved on a certain part of the wall. The pattern that was also engraved on the wall of Tanaka and Toby’s cell which was on the opposite side of hero Yashichi’s, continued to provide faint light in this dark prison. 「Those things, which are engraved in the whole prison, are suppressing the power of anyone inside the cell. In this place, even a hero is nothing more than an ordinary man. Moreover, they also have an additional effect of obstructing all magic activation except their own. Because of that, let alone magic or magic tool, even item box is unusable in this place.」

「What… the…?」Tanaka was overwhelmed by the harsh reality. At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to live in luxury there utilizing the goods he’d stored in his item box. Rather, this place was a prison, so there was no way such a convenient situation would be available for Tanaka from the beginning. After going this far, Tanaka finally realized the gravity of the situation. Such was the side effect of being overly positive thinking.

And this fact also meant that his plan of escaping by borrowing the power of the hero had already fallen apart. Inside Tanaka’s mind, an emergency meeting was hurriedly held by the hamsters.

「What should we do now?! Do we have no other choice but to wait for our execution?」

Toby, with a pale face, clung to Yashichi. As Yashichi was in the cell across theirs, Toby couldn’t really reach him, though. 「As imperfect as I may be, I’m still a hero. As expected even they have no galls to execute someone possessing the protection of God of Creation, but as for the two of you….」

「No, no way….」

Realizing the desperate situation, Yashichi grieved.

「Stop displaying such disgraceful behavior in front of big bro. That’s you’ve always been called Toby!」

「Toby is not a mockery! It’s a normal name!」 Toby was ruthlessly brought back to reality. He no longer had any trace of easiness as he was forced to make retorts to Tanaka’s idiotic remarks.

「Well, calm down alright. It may be true that we’re in a desperate situation as our power is suppressed, but that’s not the only weapon we humans have, right?」

Uttering such remarkable words for once, Tanaka struck a cool pose while pointing at his own head.

「It’s here, you know, here. At times like this, you have to use your head.」