The Rising of Tanaka - 14 part 2

Onward to the North

「…I get it, alright, that there’s no way the world would ever be kind to me… But still, you know, what’s so bad about letting me see a dream even just for a bit?! I also want to see a dream where I can become strong!」

In the tavern, Tanaka was complaining. It was almost dusk, so customers would be flocking in before long. However, currently there was only a single customer, Tanaka. The tavern old man listened to Tanaka’s complaints as he prepared the drinking snacks.

「Old man! Are you listening? Hey? I’ve been working really hard, you know, even when I was once told that I was only at the level of a baby. But why is the world so unwilling to let me feel great even just for a bit?」 Tanaka had tirelessly hunted fire lizards while sleeping outside in the wilderness for a whole week straight. He repeatedly lured the fire lizards, only to get surrounded by them, and then performed suicide technique for numerous times. As a result of his so much of a painstaking effort to hunt the fire lizards in such a manner, his Dragon Slayer skill had improved by nil. After returning from the hunt with his shoulders slumped down, he had a rest for the night, and then headed to the tavern early in the morning, and began to whine there ever since.「Old man, refill….」

「You better stop there. Otherwise, you’ll have a hard time tomorrow, you know?」

The tavern old man, who was surprisingly kind, was concerned about Tanaka’s health. However, Tanaka didn’t seem to be concerned about his concern at all.

「Refill! I’ve got plenty of money anyway. I’ve hunted a lot of fire lizards, after all. That’s right, it’s not like everything I did was for naught or anything. I’ve obtained plenty of money as a result! So I can drink as much as I can!」

The old man had no choice but to pour more milk into Tanaka’s cup. Tanaka was gradually getting more and more carried away.

「Hahahaha! What’s wrong with being weak! I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to be a crazy rich person! I don’t have to be strong myself. I can just hire strong people. Dahahaha!」

Thus, Tanaka continued to drink until night, and the next day he had to stay in bed due to an upset stomach. ◇ ◇ ◇

A certain room in the guild. Echigoya was reading through certain documents. Those were reports from the guild members who participated in the dragon slaying operation. The contents of the reports from all of them more or less matched with each other. So he concluded that the matter stated there should most likely be the truth.

Echigoya put the documents down and sunk into thought. There were two major problems in this dragon slaying operation. The first was the transformation of the dragon. The fact that it transformed into jet black and got stronger as the result in the middle of the fight. He’d never heard of such a thing before. If this sort of things were to continue to happen from then on, it would be a dangerous matter for the guild members. This time, three talented guild members had actually perished.

「Is this a one-time thing, or will it continue to happen in the future? Even if it were to continue to happen, it would be a bit more manageable if it happened naturally, since the damage could be controlled by informing the public about it and how to deal with it. But if it were man-made….」 That was only a hypothetical story, but if there were someone who did actually pull the string behind this incident, and that someone was also intending to continue to do the same thing from now on, it would without a doubt be a serious threat. For the time being, Echigoya decided to include this possible danger into the report and notify the rest of the world about the matter.

Then came the next problem. Why did this jet black dragon suddenly explode? One possibility was that, while this transformation brought about power to the dragon, at the same time, it also brought about its destruction. That might be a bit too much of a convenient theory, but if it were true, then things would be more manageable. Because if such a transformation were to occur in the future, they would be able to deal with it by stalling for time, and waited for their opponent’s demise.

Echigoya wondered how much less of a headache he would have to endure if that were the case. However, it might only be a hunch, but he thought that that wasn’t the case. Moreover, there was another matter that bothered him more than anything else. It was about the thunderous roars they heard just before the dragon exploded. There came the possibility that the dragon didn’t explode because of itself, but because it received some sort of external attack. If that were the case, that meant there existed a powerful existence that could easily slaughter such a strengthened dragon. Which also meant, there existed an even more dangerous threat.

He’d considered the possibility of Tanaka being the culprit behind this matter, but he thought that was unlikely. Because no matter how much Tanaka boasted an unfathomable strength, it would still be impossible for him to kill a strengthened dragon in an instant, or so he reasoned. Moreover, he’d already subtly talked with Tanaka about this time’s dragon slaying incident. After associating with him this whole time, he saw him as the type of person who was easy to understand. Given the fact that such a Tanaka didn’t show any noticeable reaction when he talked to him about the incident, he concluded that there was a little possibility for him to be related to this matter. Above all, Tanaka seemed to be too absorbed in hunting fire lizards recently, as though he couldn’t care less about anything else. 「Well, I don’t think I’ll get an answer to this question anytime soon. Anyway, my top priority is to inform the other about this incident as soon as possible.」

Echigoya decided to stop worrying about it, and focused on handling everything within his reach first for the time being.

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