First Growth

Tanaka was headed for the Haru Empire. That was what he had decided in his discussion with General White. He began to head eastward along the highway that ran from east to west through Purin Kingdom.

However, Tanaka was already at a standstill at a place not too far away from the capital.

This place was as ordinary as the other part of the highway. However, currently this place was brimming with tension as though war was about to break out. Tanaka was standing still with a solemn expression on his face. In front of him was the chief offender who stood in the way of his journey. Its tongue was dangling sloppily and its breathing was wild as it stood silently oppressing Tanaka’s mind. Furthermore, its tail was wagging wildly as though to make sure it wouldn’t miss every bit of Tanaka’s action.

「Kuh… I’d have never expected for the plan to face a setback so quickly… My battle power is on the same level as a baby. Currently, I’m in no state to deal with any kind of monster, no matter how much of a small fry it may be… But still, no matter how I look at it, this monster sure looks no different from an ordinary pup.」

That was right, the one currently standing in front of Tanaka and blocking his path was none other than a pup. It was originally a pup that was kept inside the capital, but as it happened to lose its way and accidentally went outside, it turned into a vagabond pup which wandered around the capital. Naturally, there was no way Tanaka could have known that. Moreover, as someone with no knowledge of monsters whatsoever, Tanaka couldn’t help but to raise his guard up, even if the one appearing in front of him looked no more than just a pup. It was because Tanaka was currently in a place quite a distant away from human settlement, in a world where monsters freely roamed about.

Tanaka was a cowardly person by nature. Not to mention the fact that he was told that his current power was on par with that of an infant. So it was only natural that he would be on his highest alert against the pup.「But still, there’s no sign the scent bag is working on it at all… Don’t tell me! It may look weak on the outside, but it’s actually a Boss class!? 」

Based on his personal knowledge and experience, Tanaka found himself with such a conclusion. His knowledge spurred from the chuunibyou which he’d been suffering even at his age, while his experience was obtained from anime and games. As a result, it was inevitable that he arrived at such a deplorable conclusion.

「It may look weak but it’s actually very powerful, that was quite a common pattern, after all. However! Such kind of deception won’t work on me!」

Tanaka confronted the puppy and boldly claimed his victory in their battle of wits. And then, he began to gradually inch his body away, ever so slightly to avoid being noticed. Tanaka began to lay down the groundwork for his survival. It might have been a moment when his exceptional ingenuity showed a glimpse of itself to the world. The standoff continued for a long time, until Tanaka finally managed to move to the edge of the road. Not wanting to waste all of his effort in the quiet battle up to this point, Tanaka swiftly made his move.

「It was one of the fiercest battles I’ve ever experienced in my life….」

Staring fixedly at his opponent without letting his guard down, Tanaka reminisced at the fierce battle and spilled out those words overflowed with emotions.

「However, I have no time to accompany you right now. So let’s leave it at this much for today!」 Soon after saying that, he swiftly departed the place and sped off along the highway.「The next time we meet, we shall make it clear who is better than whom! Farewell, O King of Beasts, the guardian of the gate of hell — Cerberus! You were quite a formidable opponent! Fuhahaha!」

Tanaka headed eastward through the grasslands along the highway and ran off at full speed. The pup was simply seeing off the strange human with its round and cute eyes in silence.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tanaka ran at full speed eastward through the grassland. He’d intended to get back on the road right after, but somehow he felt that his body was in a very great shape. Now that he got to run through the grassland and found it feeling pleasant, he decided to continue running through there as he was. He kept on running while maintaining a steady distance from the highway so as to not have himself stranded. That was the sad nature of a cowardly person he was.

As he kept on running in that manner, Tanaka passed by towns and villages along the way. However, as he didn’t want to deal with the entry and exit procedures, as it might cause troubles, he decided to avoid them altogether. In the end, he opted to keep on running and detour around those places as he passed by. He had lost count as to how many times he had done so, and before he knew it a gate-like object eventually showed up in the distance.

「Hmm? There seems to be some sort of inspection being performed over there… I wasn’t told about such a thing! Or rather, I’m already at the border, huh. What a small world this one is! … Oops, now isn’t the time to be retorting to myself, I wonder what to do now? … Should I choose the safest bet and take another detour?」

Tanaka thought about avoiding going through those annoying procedures by taking another detour, just like how he’d done it up until there as he passed by towns and villages along the way. However, a problem appeared here. Up until now it had been nothing but open grasslands, but up ahead of him was a forest which got denser the deeper he went. And farther beyond the forest, from what he could see, there spread a mountain range. If he decided to go through this option, it would most likely be a very dangerous journey. However, it was unlikely that the guards would allow him to pass through the inspection that easily, either. Thus, with no other choice, Tanaka decided to avoid the gate and went through the forest.

It was a considerably dense forest which gave off an eerie air. Naturally, the cool Tanaka continued to make his way through such a forest, no matter how much he trembled in fear and strained in vigilance he was. The ones he’d relied upon were none other than the scent bag as well as the short sword strapped on his waist. Overcome with tension, god knew how many days had passed as he continued to press forward through the forest. However, as though betraying Tanaka’s nervousness, he managed to arrive at the mountain ranges without any accidents.

He had managed to get out of the forest. Feeling relieved, Tanaka was finally able to relax his mind. However, a black shadow suddenly appeared in his field of vision. As though to mock his negligence, it charged straight at Tanaka. The black shadow moved swiftly as it aimed at Tanaka’s throat.

「Ahya!」

All of it happened so suddenly that Tanaka involuntarily let out such a strange cry. At the same time, though, he succeeded in protecting his throat and deflected the black creature. He wasn’t intending to hit it so strongly, but the black creature was somehow split in two and rolling on the ground.