It was such a swift movement that any ordinary person would not even have been able to perceive it. That attack, which should’ve reaped the life of its target, tore apart nothing but air. It was no wonder, however, because its opponent was the furthest being from ordinary.

And then, the conclusion was settled in the instant that the attack cut through the air. That was because Tanaka, who moved around at a speed unperceivable by the eyes, had mowed down the consciousness of his opponent with a chopping attack.

「Phew, as expected of me. It’s simply too cool.」

The way he feigned calmness despite how wild his heart racing was worthily the little man among little men. It was the figure of a man that couldn’t help but move everyone to tears.

「I see…, so that’s the case, huh.」

「What is-degozaru?」

Suke-san inquired Kaku-san, who was convinced by himself.

「I’ve never sensed this kind of presence before, so I wondered what it was, but it’s probably a berserk beastman.」

Berserk — It was extremely rare for a wielder of this skill to appear, so although Kaku-san the spirit had had the knowledge of their existences, this was the first time he had actually encountered one.

It was said that this was a skill that allowed you to obtain great power in exchange for your soul. However, compared to the advantages it offered, the disadvantages of this skill were too great. It was the side effect where should you activate it even once, it would trigger on its own every time you lose your reason. Moreover, it was a total support skill where the more it was activated, the easier for you to lose your reasoning, until eventually it would continuously be in effect and couldn’t be deactivated. And should that happen, you’d continue to rampage around until your soul was completely consumed which led to your death, making it an extremely dangerous skill for both you yourself and the people around you. Due to such a disadvantage, it was hard to imagine anyone would purposely activate the skill even if they possessed it. So it was no wonder Kaku-san had never encountered one before.

「That’s hella scary! But wait, wait, wait. That means this guy is dangerous, right?

「Yeah, he might start rampaging again.」

「That’s dangerous then! All right, let’s finish him off…. Wait, wait, for him to activate such a skill, just what in the world happened? This guy is actually quite pitiful, right…?」 Silence took over the place. It was the air that Tanaka, the little man among little men, was most bad with.

「Tanaka-dono, won’t you be able to cure it with you recovery magic-degozaru?」

「Hell yeah! My turn has finally come!」

「It’s impossible. Berserk is neither an injury nor a disease. It’s not something that can be cured.」

Silence reigned once again. This was the air that Tanaka, namely the king of little men, hated the most.「That’s right. Grand Magic, you know, Grand Magic! I…, am impossible, so I’ll leave it to you, Kaku-san.」

Tanaka, who still couldn’t master grand magic even now, asked Kaku-san for help. However…

「It’s impossible even with Grand Magic. It was surely something he chose for. Attaining power in exchange for his soul. I’m sure that’s all there’s to it for him. Even if we could somehow return him back to normal, as long as the memory remains in him, it’s nigh impossible for him to prevent this skill from triggering. This guy is already doomed to fall into ruin sooner or later.」

Kaku-san had been speaking in such a cold tone for a while now, but it was not that he didn’t want to save him. It was just there was simply no way to.

「Or by any chance, are you intending to erase his memory altogether? In that case, the possibility of saving him maybe not beyond impossibility.」 It was too heavy of a decision for Tanaka the little man to make. He was of public bath race that detested shouldering something heavy the most. It was a choice that Tanaka, an elite of the race, could not afford to make. By the way, while they did like public baths, there was no particular meaning to it.

While Tanaka was struggling with the matter, the beastman in question woke up.

「This place is….」

The beastman looked around. What he was currently seeing should have been quite a gruesome scene, but he didn’t seem to be particularly concerned about it. Then his and Kaku-san’s eyes met.

「You’re Lord Spirit!」

Maybe it was a beastman’s intuition or something. As soon as the beastman realized that he was in the presence of a spirit, he instantly straightened up his posture and bowed his head. His humble figure was like a complete turn that none would ever believe that he was the same man who had previously attacked them madly.

「It is true that I am a spirit, but… we have never met before, have we? So why are you acting so respectfully toward me?」

Kaku-san asked the beastman curiously. 「We white wolves tribe worship the Lord Spirit of this mountain and have been guarding the forest for many years. Even if you are not the mountain Lord Spirit, you are still someone whom we should pay our respects to, Lord Spirit.」

Tanaka was somewhat distracted by the man’s overly drastic change.

「Somehow, Kaku-san looks more radiant than usual, don;t you think so too?」

「Yes, that’s right-degozaru. How enviable-degozaru.」

Seeing such a Tanaka, the beastman’s eyes suddenly turned sharp.「What’s your deal?」

「W, well….. Even if you ask me what.」

Tanaka was perplexed by the sudden change in attitude of the beastman. Rather, he was screaming ‘So scary’ in his mind.

「Oh, that man is my master, his name is Tanaka.」 「Master of Lord Spirit…. That means, you’re also Lord Spirit, Milord?」

The beastman respectfully bowed his head once again. Talk about an ever-changing beastman.

「No, no, no, I’m not. I’m just a normal human, alright.」

「What? Huh….」

A human who was the master of a spirit. Facing such an impossible to comprehend being, unsure of how he should interact with the man, he fell into confusion.

「By the way, likewise, who are you?」

Hearing this question from Tanaka, the beastman stood up and answered with pride.

「I am a proud warrior of the White Wolf Tribe, Black Mikeneko (Calico Cat)!」

Toward the beastman who showed a somewhat satisfied expression upon declaring that, Tanaka couldn’t resist giving him a retort.

「Just how many contradictions do you want to carry?! Make it clear whether you’re white, black or calico! Rather, you call yourself a cat even though you’re a wolf? Say? That’s a huge loss of pride, isn’t it?」 The first setback Tanaka experienced in his younger days. ‘The era of retorting is now over. From now on, I’m going to shed my joke self and be popular with women’. He could still vividly recall that day when he vowed as such under the legendary overgrown tree in the schoolyard–. Even while being preoccupied with such a reminiscence, Tanaka couldn’t help but let out his retorts.

「As expected even I’m going to lose my temper too! I’m really terrifying when I lose my temper, you know? I was once so close to destroying the world, you know? No, it’s true, really. If you had called yourself ‘Warrior of the White Wolf Clan, Black Mikeneko Wizard!,’ I would have surely destroyed the world! Rather, doesn’t ‘Black Mikeneko Wizard’ have a kinda cool sound to it? It’s somewhat frustrating that it seemed to would be popular as a special effects hero or something!」

To Tanaka, who was in indignation by himself, Black Mikeneko’s face was like, ‘What are you even talking about?’. Once Tanaka had calmed down, he spoke.

「’Black Mikeneko’ is an honorable name that has been passed down by the warriors of my family—」

With a proud look on his face, he continued.

「In the ancient language, it means ‘the strong-minded one’.」

「… Oh, I see.」

The world was as cold-hearted as ever towards Tanaka. Why did it continue to torment him to such an extent? This trivial mystery only deepened even further.