If You Want To Survive, Take Up The Sword.

「–Old man is dead … You say…?」

The person mentioned in the previous battle, General White. The casual remark from Toby, who recalled the matter, sounded like a thunderbolt to Tanaka. To the unexpected news of General White’s death, Tanaka stood in a daze.

Although Tanaka won the battle brilliantly, he’d allowed warden Muchisuki to escape and was now in pursuit of him. Of course, that was Tanaka’s plan. Yes, it was a part of his meticulous plan, as there was no way that Tanaka-san would ever have accidentally let him escape while he was busy putting on airs thus letting his guard down.

However, leaving that aside, Toby panicked when Tanaka suddenly ceased moving while they were in the middle running through the underground passage.

「What are you stopping there for? We’re going to lose sight of him!」

And yet, Tanaka was merely standing still there in shock. Unlike the flustered Toby, Yashichi calmly ascertained the situation. 「No, as long as the magic is still in effect, there should be no problem. My friend, you can still sense him, can’t you?」

「… Ah, yes. No problem there.」

For Tanaka who had unleashed the lost technique, Absolute Overdrive Zero Formula, the air was as good as under his control. In other words, Tanaka, who had unleashed tenth-order magic – Airflow – to control the air on an extensive scale, was able to precisely sense the whereabouts of warden Muchisuki through the movement of the air.

「That’s quite a magic technique.」

Yashichi was impressed by the unknown magic Tanaka wielded. However, Tanaka’s expression was still as dark. Was this really the same man who was feared and referred to as a dragon that soared through the heavens when praised? His current figure would surely raise such a doubt to anyone who saw him. There was no trace of shadow of the man who once would soar fifty centimeters vertically into the air when praised.

「… Old man was my benefactor. If I hadn’t met him, I would have been dead a long time ago.」

Tanaka reminisced. The good spirited old man he met soon after arriving in this world. They were in contact only for a short time, but for some reason they strangely got along well. He recalled each exchange with him as if everything occurred just yesterday. 「We made a promise… When we meet again, he would buy me drinks to my heart’s content… He promised that he would introduce me to a lot of beauties of the capital and let me have fun with them! Damn….」

Memories were truly a beautiful thing.

「Hou, he seemed to be quite a great man.」

「…..」

Next to Yashichi, who honestly expressed his thoughts, Toby felt as though he caught a glimpse of a phantom. A phantom of a stocky old man who was saying ‘Wait, wait, I never made such a promise, alright?!’ in denial of Tanaka’s speech… Toby, a man who could read the room, pretended he didn’t see anything. –Tanaka, finally managing to somehow collect himself, and his merry band of friends, promptly chased after the running away warden Muchisuki. A long staircase appeared in front of them once again. Aiming at the light that could be seen far ahead, they rushed through the stairs. And then….

「An arena,… no, and execution hall, huh.」The three of them proceeded forward while looking at their surroundings. What spread around them was a circular square. And then, as if to surround it, tall walls and rows of spectator seats were erected.

「We’ve been waiting for you.」

A figure appeared from the spectator seats just across from them. It was General Red, an influential person at the Ketavanagh-O metropolis and the master of the great prison. Moreover, as if pre arranged beforehand, numerous kingdom soldiers appeared from the spectator seats that surrounded the three. From the entrance on the exact opposite side of where Tanaka and the others had come in, Kingdom soldiers also came out one after another and surged into the square.

「I see, your countermeasure against prison break is flawless, huh.」 Surrounded by kingdom soldiers, Yashichi calmly observed their situation.

「Hiii! W, we are done for….」

Toby fell into despair. And then–

「’The cell was somehow not working properly, you see! I tried to ask them to fix it, but they misunderstood!’ … Nah, that’s not good. It’s too unrealistic. ‘I’m on your side! It’s indeed true that I’ve experience in farting in public when I couldn’t hold it in! However, in case I failed to suppress it and ended up making a noise, I spared no effort in my endeavor to cover it up by clearing my throat or coughing! Do you honestly think someone like me is your enemy?! For sure I’m your comrade, aren’t I?!’ … Alright, this should do!」

Truly, what a terrifying man he was. He had already come up with a countermeasure for this crisis. This was an advanced technique to make people think that you were on their side by making them feel sympathy for you. It was an ingenious move that leveraged his profound understanding of his opponent’s mental state. However, as if to trample on Tanaka’s efforts, the situation took a sudden turn as if he had no turn in it.

「Even if he’s a hero, in a state where he’s only just started to recover his power after having it deprived for so long, he won’t be able to put up much resistance. Give him a good beating along with those small fries!」

General Red issued an attack at once. Receiving his order, the kingdom’s soldiers promptly closed in on the three men.

「Phew, I sure as hell am being looked down upon here. I originally lived in a place where there was neither magic nor divine protection, you know. Even if those power are deprived from me, it won’t prove to be any problem to me.」

The moment the closing in kingdom soldiers stepped into his attack range, Yashichi unleashed his fist. The kingdom soldier who became the target of his first got his armor shattered, before the person in question got blown away by the shock along with the loss of his consciousness. At the same time, Tanaka’s opportunity to unveil his brilliant plan had also been blown away along with it. Perhaps this was for the best, however.

「As weak as I may be, I’ve never skipped my training, you see. It is true that my hero power has yet to fully recover, but this much is more than enough—」

Suddenly, another kingdom soldier was blown away in the same manner, as if repeating the previous scene. The one there was as expected Yashichi’s figure as he’d just unleashed his fist in the same way he did previously.