Hot Springs Resort

Tanaka returned to Hazama town in leisure while casually hunting any random monsters he encountered along the way.

Arriving at the town, he immediately headed to the guild to hand over the monsters he had accumulated on his journey and complete the request as usual.

The receptionist, Jody, spoke to Tanaka without pausing her work.

「Come to think of it, we’ve received a designated request for you.」

「Oh, for there to be a designated request for me, I guess I’ve gotten pretty famous, huh.」

Heaving out a sigh, Jody presented the request to Tanaka without even looking at him.

「Yes, you’re right. You may not know it, but people used to call you the ‘Rabbit Slayer’ around these parts for a while.」

「When did people start calling me that?! Also, don’t give me such a nickname!」

The nickname was unforgivable to Tanaka, who now had rabbits as his followers. Tanaka was overcome with anger.

「I’ve made peace with rabbits and decided not to lay a hand on them ever again.」

Staring far into the distance, Tanaka was intoxicated with himself. He bathed in his own afterglow for a while, but as he suddenly remembered about it, he took a look at the request paper.

「I never expected that you would get angry for that kind of reason.」

Jody never ceased processing her work, even while being exasperated by Tanaka’s reaction. 「Hmm, Echigoya is working as a temporary guild staff, huh. He’s short on people, so he wants me to come to Nishi (west) town, huh? The west town? … Purin Kingdom?」

Tanaka took out a map from his item box and began to look up the geography of the Purin Kingdom.

「Ah, it’s a city to the north from here. It’s located further north than the Fugu town.」

「So misleading! Why is it even called Nishi town then?!」

Tanaka retorted to the world, which never failed to disappoint him.「Who knows, isn’t it because it’s located westward of the imperial capital?」

「Hmm… Indeed. Well, for sure they’re free to name the town however they want, but… isn’t that too simple? I’d like a little more of a twist here….」

He then recalled Japan and realized that it was not that strange to name a place after a direction.

However, Tanaka still couldn’t accept it.

「Well, there are many newly developed towns in the western region, after all. Perhaps they just casually decided the name of the town as they reclaimed the land, and then it somehow turned into its official name, something like that I guess? It could be the name of a local specialty, or a name based on the geography.」

「I see… But it seems to be quite a long trip, huh. I guess… I’ll have to decline this request.」

Tanaka confirmed the location on the map and then casually decided to decline the request. 「Why? It’s rare to receive a designated request you know, why not just accept it?」

「I’ve finally gotten my hands on a new magic book. So for the time being, I ought to take some time off from work to pursue the truth of magic.」

Tanaka showed a smile, as he began having chuunibyou delusions.

「Echigoya-san is a prominent merchant and also quite an influential person in the guild, you know? So I think there is no harm in accepting his request, though?」

Upon hearing Jody’s mundane statements, Tanaka ceased his delusions and declared.

「How ridiculous! I shall bend to neither money nor power. My path is nothing but a straight path to heaven!」

As Tanaka was intoxicated with himself again, Jody’s words drifted toward him.

「Near Nishi town, there is a hot spring resort which is famous for their beauty treatments. It’s the kind of place where young women tend to hang out. Echigoya-san has vast connections, so if you help him out, he might arrange a special reward for you, you know?」 「Humph! That’s why I’m telling you, I shan’t give in to such mundane matters.」

Our Tanaka resolutely dismissed Jody’s words of temptation.

And then, he turned around and bam! With a spirited look on his face, Tanaka declared.

「However, I’m the kind of man who can never leave anyone who is begging for help! Wait for me, Echigoya-san. I’ll be there in a minute.」

Once the request completion procedure was finished, Tanaka excitedly left the guild. He seemed to be intending to depart that very day.

.「Ah right, I also heard that the hot spring resort was recently attacked by a dragon, so you’d better stay away from there for the time being.」

Jody added after confirming that Tanaka had completely disappeared from the guild.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tanaka was humming and skipping as he arrived at Nishi town in two days, a process that would normally take a week to complete.

He must have been too absorbed in delusion, as he was completely oblivious to his own abnormality. Tanaka hurriedly headed to the guild to look for Echigoya. However, the guild seemed to be pretty well-informed, as they immediately showed him the way to Echigoya’s private room.

「I never expected you would come so soon.」

Echigoya welcomed Tanaka with a smile.

「I’m very eager to work! Feel free to leave any kind of job to me!」

Tanaka could no longer focus on anything but the matter after he’d done with the job.

Whether he realized Tanaka’s thought or not, Echigoya smiled and nodded before beginning to give Tanaka the details of the job.

「I see, glad to hear that. There seems to be a dragon that has been rampaging around here lately, you see, let’s have you subjugate it, then.」

「……」

Tanaka froze.

「It was about half a month ago, the hot spring resort was attacked by a dragon that appeared out of nowhere, and it turned into a total disaster. We’re currently sending people to help with the reconstruction work there, but the works in this town have been left unattended instead. That’s why we called you here, Tanaka-san. But as you seem to be very motivated, do go ahead and use that motivation to quickly kill the dragon.」 Echigoya talked about such a heavy matter in such a light-hearted manner.

「As if I would be able to do something like that! Just what are you expecting from an E-ranker?!」

Tanaka rebooted and, without reservation, retorted at Echigoya.

「Haha, just kidding. Tanaka-san, you will be filling in for the people who are helping out with the reconstruction of the hot spring resort. Your job will be mainly to hunt monsters around this town.」

「… alright.」

The slightly tired-looking Tanaka and the smiling Echigoya chatted briefly about the town and work afterwards before concluding the meeting.

Tanaka asked to be introduced to an inn before then taking a rest right away.

The next day, his new life in Nishi town began. All he had to do was still monsters hunting, but he had to be cautious, since the monsters that appeared there were different from the ones around Hazama town.

Since it was the first day of the hunt, he decided to take it easy and finished the hunt early, then handled the completion procedures at the guild, before returning to the inn. At any rate, the first day’s results had given him a peace of mind as it seemed that he’d be able to do the job safely.