NOVEL NEXT Chapter 39: (2)
「I’m sorry, but there something I’d like to ask you about.」
「What is it?」
The beautiful girl replied with an imposing attitude. She seemed to be in her later teens. This definitely wasn’t the attitude of a female student towards a middle-aged man over thirty. Her reaction was totally different from the female students Tanaka knew of. Tanaka was relieved that the conclusion he’d arrived at appeared to be not wrong. As expected, Shangri-la also existed in another word….
「That sailor uniform you’re wearing. Can you tell me where should I head to obtain it?」
The girl showed a dubious expression as she heard his question. Witnessing her reaction, Tanaka immediately realized something. He realized that the words he’d just said were the likes to cause misunderstanding in various ways. Tanaka quickly corrected himself.
「Ah… Wait, wait, wait! Actually, I may not look like it, but I’m extremely fond of traditional clothing, you see. A great merchant who runs a clothing wholesale store in the Empire, Echigoya, that’s me. I’m genuinely interested in that unusual outfit of yours. No, I’m definitely not thinking about something like looking forward to visiting some shady shop to have some girl cosplaying or anything, alright?」
Tanaka showed a serious look as he tried to convince her, even as his eyes darted around ceaselessly here and there. He also didn’t forget to slickly mention Echigoya’s name as a cover. Truly a cool man who would stop at nothing.
「… Fufufu, what a weird person you are. Very well, I’ll tell you.」
「Oh!」
Tanaka struck a guts pose in his heart at the success of the operation. However, his joy was blown away right away by her following words.
「But unfortunately, there is no way to obtain these kinds of clothes. Because these clothes are not from this world, after all.」
「What… the….」
Tanaka failed to react properly to her unexpected answer. And then, words that added to Tanaka’s confusion followed right after.
「I’m a hero summoned from another world.」
Tanaka fell into confusion. However, that was inevitable, as the winning pattern his genius brain had come up with was overturned from its very root. However, he wasn’t a man who would give up merely due to a setback of this level. The fact that he had been dancing with the world’s malice for over a year was nothing to trifle with. Tanaka racked his genius brain even furiously.
The girl in front of him was without a doubt a beautiful girl, not at all similar to the boy he saw on that fateful day. Tanaka pondered over this matter while desperately trying to calm his mind down. Thinking it over, he couldn’t even recall the boy’s face clearly. And then, he felt a chill as he realized a certain possibility. Tanaka, sensing imminent danger, coolly jumped back to take some distance at once.
「You bastard, you’re cross-dressing, aren’t you?!」
「How rude! How come you arrive at such a conclusion?! No matter how you look at it, I look totally like a woman, don’t I?!」
「What? What the hell is going on here?」
It was a mystery that even Tanaka’s genius brain could not solve. It was the beautiful girl who solved it.
「Ah, so that’s the case, huh. You must have mistaken me for the kingdom’s hero. I’m Mikoto, the hero summoned by the former Republic of Gokuri.」
「What?! There are two heroes?!」
A shocking revelation. That was definitely an answer which was more reasonable than cross-dressing, it could be said that Tanaka’s overpowered imagination ability had backfired him there.
「Well, yes. To be precise, I am the original hero. The kingdom’s hero is an irregular.」
Hero summoning rituals had been passed down in Gokuri ever since its founding days. Since then, they had summoned heroes for generation after generation. And then, around two years ago, the one summoned as the hero of this generation was the beautiful girl in front of him, Shikishima Mikoto.
Fearing that she would be made use of in the war, she escaped from the country with the help of the few remaining decent members of the upper echelons, and had been moving around from place to place ever since. Then one day she came into contact with a certain rumor. She heard that the kingdom seemed to have summoned a hero as well. Thus, she decided to give this country a visit to find out the truth.
Completely unaware of her hardships, Tanaka’s chuunibyou relapsed.
「Hou, the Kingdom’s hero is a fake one, huh…. Truly, what a sinful world this one is.」
A fake God and a fake hero. Tanaka keenly sensed how crooked the world was. And then, at the same time, he was convinced that reigning over the world and building a harem was on the side of justice.
「What do you mean?」
Mikoto honestly took to heart the words of Tanaka, who had been carrying himself in dubious speech and conducts. She might turn out to be a nice girl actually.
「Hmm… It’s not yet the time for you to know. Right now, you’d better focus on strengthening yourself as fast as you can. O hero.」
Tanaka showed the right path to the hero with his usual cool pose. As expected, any more than that would seem to be over the top. Mikoto replied to him with eyes as though staring at a fishy person.
「… I appreciate the advice. But worry not. We, heroes, were strengthened upon summoning by absorbing magical energy provided by numerous magicians. Because of that, I’ve been treated like some sort of inhuman monster. Haa…, now that I’m reminded of it again, it sure is a shock.」
Mikoto replied, even as she leaked out a sigh at the end. Possessing overwhelming power seemed to be not something appealing for a woman such as herself.
「What are you even talking about when you’re merely on the same level as A-rankers. It’d be troubling if you don’t get any stronger than that.」
The person who appeared there was the one she had been waiting for. He was an old man in a pointy hat and robe, the very definition of a wizard. He’d been working with Mikoto for the past two years, and was said to be the strongest magician in the Western region. He was the Great Sage Merlin.
Mikoto protested against her partner’s absurd request.
「I’d rather refrain myself from being subjected to any more strange looks than I already am. More importantly, we should recruit the kingdom’s hero as our comrade. His power is dangerous…, and if he continues to be manipulated by the kingdom, things definitely won’t end peacefully.」
This place was within the territory of the kingdom. What she’d just stated could be said to be something very dangerous to say. The last part was said in a whisper, as she suggested it to her elderly partner.
「Well, leaving that matter aside, what is the deal with that guy?」
Merlin pointed with his chin at Tanaka, who was frozen in place. Although it might’ve been too late, he was just reminded of the fact that heroes possessed extraordinary power. Moreover, as she appeared to have already grown to the level of a monster, it was a small wonder that he was stunned.
Not to mention, the conversation the two just had. They were clearly the kind of people who would lead you into nothing but trouble should you be with them. The emergency buzzer inside Tanaka continued to ring furiously.
「Ah, he’s Echigoya-san, a merchant from the Empire. I had quite some time on hands so I had some small talk with him.」
「Hmm….」
The two’s gazes pierced Tanaka. Even while beset with terrifyingly heavy pressure, Tanaka brewed a plan to somehow escape the place.
「Ah, looks like the person you were waiting for has come. I don’t want to impose myself on you any further, so I guess I’ll take my leave here. Hahahaha….」