Embrace That Ugly And Twisted Faith And Go–

「Hebushi!」

Tanaka woke up in a stylish manner, sneezing like a certain brand of soft drink. At any rate, it only sounded like this brand-name, the way he stopped himself there showed the quality of a small man who feared the authorities, worthily the possessor of exquisite sense of balance.

While rubbing his eyes, Tanaka looked around. The bonfire they had lit was already almost out.

「Oh, I must have fallen asleep along the way, huh….」

He stood up and stretched out amidst the mess of utensils around him. The sun was already high in the sky, telling him that it was almost noon. For the time being, he decided to ask Suke-san and Kaku-san, who were in the middle of their posing training nearby.

「Huh? Where is he?」

「You’re awake-degozaru. That man is…」

At that moment, a howl echoed through the sacred mountain. It was without a doubt the howl of Black Mikeneko, similar to one they heard the other day.

「That guy!」

The three of them rushed out at once. Kaku-san, who immediately looked for his presence, shouted.

「Oh no! I can sense the presence of humans near him! The number is around is twenty!」

「Tsk!」 Black Mikeneko had apparently descended the mountain to pick up firewood, concerned about the dying out bonfire.

「Don’t worry about such a thing, just tell me where he is!」

Tanaka complained as he ran. While he was a member of the ‘None shall be allowed to disturb my sleep except women’ faction, as the self-proclaimed leader of said faction, as expected he was very tolerant.

The three of them, with their power that could overwhelm anything and everything in the world, arrived at the scene in no time at all. There, what greeted them was the figure of Black Mikeneko, pierced by the lances of several kingdom soldiers. Black Mikeneko then slowly collapsed.「Kaku-san!」

「On it!」

The third-ranked magic, Shackle of Mountain and Water, was immediately unleashed by Kaku-san. A high-order magic that was already lost to humanity. In a wide area of effect, it restricted the movement of all of the humans there. There was also restraint-type magic at sixth-order, but the power and scale were overwhelmingly different. Moreover, as the one unleashing this magic was Kaku-san whose power was comparable to that of superior spirit, there was no way for any of the humans there to resist.

Normally, the going berserk Black Mikeneko should have no problem trampling down even twenty kingdom soldiers. However, it was a different story when a powerful magician was added to his opponent. Restraining him by firing off attack magic from afar, increasing their power with support magic, and then barraging him with beyond normal magic from the rear. While each of those might not have necessarily had enough power to take him down, they were still enough to fulfill their due purpose.

Among the kingdom’s soldiers, whose movements had been restrained, there was a particular one who stood out like a sore thumb. The one adorned with flashy ornaments was said powerful magician, a priest of Purinism. As they were all excellent magic users, in terms of magic level, their power was comparable to that of B rankers or above of the guild. Black Mikeneko wouldn’t have stood a chance with someone like that as his opponent.

However, those people, who had just defeated even Black Mikeneko, were completely helpless in the face of the three newly appearing men. Deprived of their ability to move, all they could do was await the unfolding situation while being overwhelmed by surprise and fear. Suke-san and Kaku-san were on their guard, while Tanaka rushed up to the Black Mikeneko.

◇ ◇ ◇

I saw a dream–.

Popotan flowers were blooming all over the place.

My daughter was making a merry in delight. And beside me was my wife with her gentle smile.

My comrades from the village were also watching over us from a little distance. It was a dream I hadn’t seen in a long time. It was a somewhat nostalgic dream.

◇ ◇ ◇

「Hey! You alive?!」Black Mikeneko, held by Tanaka, slowly opened his eyes.

「Wait a bit! I’m going to heal you right away!」

He held out his hand to Black Mikeneko and was about to invoke healing magic. However, before the magic could even be invoked, Black Mikeneko’s hand grabbed his arm.

「It’s…, all right now….」 「What are acting all cool now for?! I can heal something on this level with my healing magic in an instant!」

Despite what he said, Tanaka couldn’t invoke his magic. That hand which was grabbing Tanaka’s arm. It was so frail that Tanaka couldn’t even sense any power from it. However, there was a will in it that could not be brushed off.

「You see, I had a dream… My family was there… And my comrades too….」

「I’ll listen about it later, alright?! No, I’m serious! I’ll listen without falling asleep, alright?!」

Black Mikeneko’s hand that was grabbing Tanaka’s arm. Tanaka could do nothing to shake off this hand, whose power had almost completely drained.

「I’ve finally remembered them… I wonder what I was doing… Even though I forgot everyone’s face… To give myself into revenge….」

「No, no, no, you can’t help it, alright! Everyone would surely have done the same!」

The light of life in the Black Mikeneko was rapidly fading.

「Please let me rest as is….」

It might have only been for a short while, but as long as it was someone you knew, their death would surely weigh heavily on you. For Tanaka the little man, such a heavy feeling was something that ought to be avoided at all cost. 「Even though I’ve finally remembered them… If I were to forget about them again, I won’t have the face to meet everyone….」

However, being a little man he was, Tanaka could not ignore the words of the man upon his death.

「… Got it. I’ll let you rest as is. So don’t push yourself anymore.」

The hand that had been grabbing Tanaka’s arm finally fell down. In contrast to the grief-stricken face of Tanaka, Black Mikeneko had a somewhat relieved expression.

「I have a favor to ask you….」

「What a selfish guy you have been for a while now… All right! Now that it comes to this, I’ll listen to whatever you’ve got to say! Do you want me to destroy the kingdom? If you want, I’ll even take down that angel with one punch!」

He was getting desperate. That showed how heavy this situation was for the little man that was Tanaka. And then, the whispered wish of Black Mikeneko.

「Let me rest next to my family…, close to my comrades.」