The Rising of Tanaka – 106
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Pasifista
Wind
The day after the historical major incident — the Imperial Capital of Haru Empire, Oedo.
The arena that was supposed to have been destroyed had miraculously regained its original appearance. And then, the spectators’ seats were densely packed with crowds at the moment, watching attentively the ceremonial hall that was stationed above. At the center of their gazes was the procession of the unveiling of the Guardian of the Empire, which had gone obscure due to chaos the other day.
The pillar of light that rose up in the ceremonial hall – after this light of blessing fascinated the people with its fantastic sight, it then disappeared after a while.
As if to replace it, the one who appeared in front of the crowd was Imperial Princess Karin, who had become the Guardian of the Empire. Her outfit was not that of the other day’s tournament, but the formal attire of an Imperial Princess. It was by no means glamorous in any way, but as it suited the pure Karin very well, not only the fans, the whole crowd raised boisterous cheers.
Basking in the cheers of the crowd, Imperial Princess Karin responded with a wave of her hand.
Slightly on her rear stood Vinta Haru XIV, the emperor of this country as well as her father. Perhaps satisfied with the procession of the final event of the festival that was being redone, his sticking out chin was shining brighter than usual.
For the Empire, this event that was currently taking place held more meaning than a simple do-over. In the course of this ceremony, they announced to the whole of the imperial capital, and by extension, the whole Empire, about the general outline of the recent incident.
However, they decided to keep the conspiracy of the Purin Kingdom from the public. It was partly due to the Empire not wishing to exhaust themselves in conflict between two major powers, but mostly because the apostles of Morinaga were very cooperative. Not only was it the apostles who speedily repaired the buildings, they had also promised that the Purin Kingdom would bear all the compensation for those who suffered damage.
With the death of Princess Lala, who had held the real power of the kingdom, and the sealing of Morinaga, the main God of Purinism, the kingdom had lost the foundation of its hegemony. With the will of the God of Creation, most likely the kingdom would also shift to a more cooperative policy from now on.
In place of the kingdom, it was the nobles of the Empire who had to bear the full brunt of the incident. After witnessing the strength of the demon race and getting aware of the supernatural existences, they had already lost the will to rebel. In the near future, it was arranged that they would be stripped of their power as the ostensible ringleaders. The fact that a certain amount of their wealth would be left behind was an amnesty in light of them becoming the scapegoats in place of the conflict between two major powers. The former nobles, who had become nothing more than somewhat rich people, would most likely be buried into the populace over time.
And then, the demons involved in this incident would be charged with labor in accordance with the laws of the Empire. As there were a lot of demons living in the Empire, and they seemed to be considerably careful not to leave any seeds for future problems, the demons were merely sentenced for violating the laws, and were unrelated to this incident.
The case was thus over.
And the mode chosen to clearly demonstrate all of it was this Guardian of the Empire event. It was a false ceremony done by the apostles of Morinaga, but for the sake of the Empire, Imperial Princess Karin readily consented to act as a clown. Perhaps it was somewhat similar to how Tanaka-san would tolerate all predicaments for the sake of a laugh. What an irony.
And so the event proceeded without a hitch, and the Imperial Tournament Festival safely closed its curtain. Tanaka, who had witnessed its procession until the end, moved to leave the arena. He quietly walked down the corridor for the use of the authorized people by himself.
「Are you leaving already?」
The ones that made Tanaka stop in his tracks were the words of Echigoya, Tanaka’s self-proclaimed best friend.
「My duty is over—am I right?」
「If you wish, the Empire will surely be happy to welcome you. Moreover, with treatments that will be enough to fulfill any wish you may have…. Even then, are you still going to go?」
It was the kind of offer that the usual Tanaka would have happily jumped at. However, he didn’t turn around.
It was because right now he was also a popular cheat sure win protagonist that wouldn’t ease a crying child. It was only natural that he would be able to handle something on this level with ease.
「Hmm, your ability to entice others is as great as usual. But don’t you think you’re underestimating me a little too much? In this incident, I’ve keenly perceived it, you see, Echigoya-san. How much of a folly the so-called power struggle is. I’d like to refrain from partaking in such an act from the bottom of my heart. That’s why, I guess with this it’s a goodbye with you, Echigoya-san.」
Leaving those words behind, the man stepped forward again.
As he watched his figure off, Echigoya had mixed feelings in his heart. He had been through a lot since his encounter with Tanaka, but what he had gained was more than worth it. He was a little lonely to lose that relationship.
「—But still, we’ve been long acquainted with each other, after all. If you are in trouble, feel free to give me a word. And if it has to do with beautiful women, I’ll happily rush over.」
In the end, Tanaka left such a smart remark behind. Without looking back, he held up two fingers for a snappy farewell and departed as he was. You were too cool, Tanaka. Did that mean the experience of a get-together enabled a man to grow to such an extent?
「It looks like you failed to hold him back.」
The one who appeared there was Vinta Haru XIV, father of Echigoya, who had concluded the event.
「I would have liked to by all means welcome him to my country, though.」
「It’s impossible.」
Echigoya responded, still staring in the direction which Tanaka had departed to.
「In the end he left without even accepting my thanks, after all. What he wished for was no compensation. He simply fought for my wish – his friend – for the sake of this country.」
A shocking fact came out of Echigoya’s mouth. Unexpectedly, it turned out that Tanaka hadn’t experienced the get-together—the unification get-together. In that case, then what in the world was that cool reaction of Tanaka’s from earlier? Could it be that he had awakened to the mission of a hot-blooded hardliner protagonist at this late of the game?
「However, he is a man of such a caliber. As expected, it’s a shame…. He’s your friend, isn’t he? Can’t you do something about it?」
「Please don’t be unreasonable, dear father.」
The one who answered in Echigoya’s stead was Imperial Princess Karin, who had been following behind Vinta Haru XIV.
「He is a wind. A very strong, gentle, and refreshing wind–. A wind that blows away the stagnant air of misfortune that pervades the world. He is certainly attractive to those engaging in a state, but taking a hold of him is impossible. He is a wind because it’s impossible to be grab ahold of him, after all.」
Hearing the words of his little sister, Echigoya somewhat agreed.
「She may be right. There are surely still many people in the world who need the wind of his, so we mustn’t really keep it all to ourselves in our country, right? Besides—」
Echigoya paused his words there. He thought for a moment whether he should tell them more about it or not, but then decided to continue as he was.
「There’s something he once told me. That he has a mission…. Considering his power, I think he most likely is shouldering a very great mission. That is, a mission so great that even overshadows the framework of a nation….」
「Hmm.」
As expected, even Vinta Haru XIV couldn’t say anything more after being told as much by his children.
「However—if possible, I’d like to meet him again. This time, it’d been very hectic due to all sorts of things, after all. So I’d like to have a chance to talk with him at ease next time.」
With eyes gazing at the direction where Tanaka disappeared to, Imperial Princess Karin said as such.
For a while, the three of them continued to see off their benefactor who had disappeared.
◇ ◇ ◇
And then, speaking of Tanaka-san in question….
After rushing out of the arena, just as they said, he turned into wind and dashed northward.
As for why Tanaka had betrayed the readers who were expecting the long awaited debauched night of kyakya ufufu unification get-together. It all came down to the matter after he got in touch with Echigoya to deal with the aftermath of this turmoil.
Echigoya, who was as capable as ever, displayed his ability and got things under control in no time at all. This was due to the fact that Echigoya was a former member of the Imperial Family as well as the cooperation of the apostles who possessed supernatural powers, but I shall not go into details.
At any rate, sensing that things had been settled with exceeding ease, Tanaka-san promptly started to move toward the unification get-together. That was right, Tanaka had moved just as everyone had expected him to.
However, the God of Creation-slash-tavern old man timely appeared in front of Tanaka and informed him. About a serious fact that made Tanaka have no choice but to give up the unification get-together–.
「Damn it! Even though my dream was finally about to come true! Why do I have to go through such a hassle…? Goddamn… God damn it!」
Until the effect of the emergency barrier arranged by the God of Creation disappeared, there was only–.
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