In The Ancient Language, It means ‘The Strong-Minded One’

Purin Kingdom was surrounded by mountain ranges on both its east and west sides. However, the majority of the Kingdom’s territory consisted of terrains with gentle undulation. Although the kingdom had such geographical conditions, there were still several famous mountain ranges other than the ones at the border regions. The Holy Land, the headquarters of Purinism. Mount Poterongo, which had turned into a den of monsters. And then the sacred mountain Chocoboro, which was said to be the treasure trove of nature.

Year 5964 of the Creation calendar, early winter, Team Tanaka was standing in front of said sacred mountain.

「One for gold, five for silver, I suppose….」

For the time being, Tanaka tried to act cool by muttering such profound words.

「Why is it-degozaru?」

「What are you even talking about?」

While it might not be to the extent of the sealed land where Tanaka previously attained the power of God, this sacred mountain Chocoboro was also a land where magical energy was easy to gather. Perhaps influenced by it, even though it was already winter, the trees that covered the mountain were all huge, and the greenery was profoundly thriving. When you looked at it from the entrance of the forest where Tanaka was currently standing, the depths of the forest looked somewhat eerie, as though being dyed with darkness.

「S, somehow it looks a little sca…, No, nothing at all. Well, interesting events and stuff seem likely to occur in this kind of place, so it makes your heart involuntarily beat faster, right?!」

As expected of Tanaka-san. Such composure even in the face of such scenery that would scare anyone. He radiated airs befitting the leader of Team Tanaka.

「I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen-degozaru.」

「Let’s get going at once!」

Suke-san and Kaku-san moved their legs into the forest, seemingly also eager to see what it had in store for them.

「Ah…, no. Look, the beautiful women who adore me in Nanashi Town, you see, I think they are surely worried about me. So I think we should hasten our journey here….」Tanaka-san’s kind words of concern for everyone also then disappeared into the forest.

Team Tanaka proceeded through the forest. It was very quiet in the forest, and the occasional sounds of birds and insects were pleasant to the ears.

「It feels quite nice, doesn’t it? Phew, I feel like my battle-weary soul is being soothed here.」

Tanaka’s mood rose as it seemed safer than he had expected. He decided to enjoy immersing himself in the forest with peace of mind. In the toilet of his mind, his bad memories ought to be grandly being flushed away.

「What a nice place-degozaru.」 「My heart muscles are tingling!」

The Sukekaku duo seemed to like it as well. Team Tanaka made their way through the forest in leisure. After enjoying a transient relaxation time and regaining their energy in such a manner, the warriors departed the sacred mountain without incident. As if such a lukewarm development would ever await them, because as Team Tanaka was walking through the forest, a gruesome scene unfolded before their eyes.

The area, which was slightly open, was stained with a large amount of blood. The originally vivid green forest made the color of the blood stand out even more.

「How horrible….」

It was so gruesome that Kaku-san could only say those words. What appeared before them were human bodies lying on the ground, numbered around ten. All of them had already ceased breathing. The crest on the armor they donned showed that they were soldiers affiliated to the Purin Kingdom. However, those very trademark armor of theirs all, without exception, had traces as though they had been repeatedly torn apart by something.

「What kind of traces are these-degozaru? As expected, was it the work of a monster-degozaru?」

Suke-san scrutinized the traces left on the armor of the kingdom soldiers. But what should be noted was the fact that all of the corpses were cruelly mutilated. Shredded body parts were lying here and there. 「I sense no presence of such a powerful monster, though.」

This sacred mountain was filled with quite a lot of magical energy. These kinds of places were often inhabited by powerful monsters. Moreover, it was also not impossible for not that threatening monsters to mutate into powerful ones. However, even after walking thus far, no monsters had been caught in the detection of Kaku-san, who was a spirit. So Kaku-san was not quite sure what to make of this.

While the two of them were investigating the situation as such, our own Tanaka was…

「Oeeeeee!」He was refreshing himself a little further away from the other two. The danger level of this place had increased. His figure as he’d arranged everything so that he could deal with no matter what would happen all of a sudden was truly awe inspiring.

「… What the heck is this? Is this on purpose? Did they do this on purpose to surprise me?」

Just as he had let his guard down while refreshing himself, he was suddenly shown such a gruesome scene. That made Tanaka angry at the yet unknown culprit.

「… This is indeed unnatural.」 Seeing Tanaka’s indignation, Kaku-san realized something. From the traces left on the armor, he realized the fact that they all had received numerous attacks that could be said to be excessive. In addition, limbs that were scattered here and there. They were simply lying around there with no traces of being devoured at all. One thing for sure was that this scene was not caused due to food chain related reasons. And then, the most apparent part was the blood that had stained the greenery. This gruesome scene looked as if it had been created by beating and dragging around the already dead kingdom soldiers over and over again. There was something there that couldn’t possibly be a monster. He felt that the laid out scene there was there for a certain yet unknown reason. Nevertheless, for Tanaka-san to instantly notice all of this, all could be said was as expected of him.

「At any rate, things seem to be getting dangerous here, so let’s leave this place as soon possible.」

And then, such an astute judgment. For sure it was not that he was scared and trying to run away. There was no way Tanaka-san would ever do something like that. Everyone would definitely agree that this choice of action was based on his sense of responsibility as a leader combined with his calm analytical ability. However, even such a decision of Tanaka was already too late. Kaku-san sensed the abnormality at once.

「Something’s coming!」

Kaku-san scanned for the presence with a serious expression.

「Wha! Can you stop it? I’m not expecting for anything like that this time!」

Perhaps it was because he had just witnessed such a gruesome scene. In a slightly pitched tone, Tanaka-san screamed. In spite of Tanaka’s request, Kaku-san’s expression became cloudy.

「What’s wrong-degozaru?」 「I don’t know… But I’m feeling that something is not right.」

「It’s not good, alright! I only accept events like stumbling upon beautiful women bathing in a creek, alright!」

And then a shadow appeared, jumping over the bushes.

It was a large wolf. No, a werewolf to be precise. It was a white wolf walking on two legs. The eyes, where reason couldn’t be seen, perceived its prey. In that moment, maybe in delight–

「Gugigigi…, guoooo!」

Rising such a howl, it pounced on Tanaka. Its tough body seemed as though wholly made of spring. There, it closed their distance at once using the brought forth explosive power. And then, riding the momentum, it unleashed its robust arm. The sharp nails at the end of the arm descended sharply in order to behead its target.