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The Rising of Tanaka – 63 Part 1

Pasifista

Well, That’s What People Usually Call The Moment We Have To Display Our Might

　In front of the mountain ranges, a group of more than a thousand demons were preparing to set up camp. Their dirty, worn-out clothes told of the long and arduous journey they had taken to get there. However, disproportionate to such appearances of theirs, their expressions were bright.

Once they had crossed the mountain ranges in front of them, it could be said that there were no longer any obstacles standing ahead of them. Everyone must have sensed that the end of the journey was near. They were doing what they could do at the moment in high spirit, believing that Tanaka and the others would come back with good news.

However, perhaps it was a twist of fate. At this timing when their wish was about to come true, it appeared.

The first one to notice was the youngest Black Demon brother, Orangetto, who was standing as the lookout. Orangetto, looking at the hills with his back to the mountain ranges, perceived a sense of discomfort at the corner of his field of view.

Orangetto then turned his gaze toward that side– at the hill that stood to the south. However, perhaps it was just his imagination, as there didn’t seem to be anything particularly different there. A lush and green land was spreading there as usual.

He looked around for a while longer at the place he perceived the sense of discomfort earlier, but as expected nothing seemed to be there. Pulling himself together, Orangetto was about to take his eyes off that place to resume the lookout. At that moment, however, he caught sight of a flicker of change in the tranquil landscape. It was a slight change, as though the greenery was shimmering in the wind. However, it was an earth colored directional movement.

The eyes of the Black Demon tribe, with their outstanding physical abilities, saw through that it was a cloud of dust that was being raised by someone. They were right in the shadow of the hillside, so he failed to notice them right away.

「Abort the camp! Repack the luggage! Hurry up and start preparing to move!」

Orangetto shouted, as he rushed to the center of the camp site. Toward the spot where Curryman and his elder brothers would be….

◇ ◇ ◇

「That’s, perhaps a cavalry I guess…. It looks like they’re coming straight at this direction, though.」

「No doubt about it. Looking at the shadow moving far behind them, that would appear to be the main force. In other words, that cavalry is moving ahead to hold us back, I guess.」

At Kugel’s words, Curryman’s face darkened.

Speaking of the cavalry, they were for sure regular soldiers of the kingdom. The problem was the fact that groups who were blocking the border were mainly composed of infantry, and did not have a proper cavalry force. Considering the condition where the blockade was mainly stationed at the mountain ranges with rugged mountain trails, such a lineup could be said to be only natural.

In other words, the kingdom soldiers that were currently heading towards their direction were a force that had a different mission than sealing the border. Considering the fact that they even deployed a cavalry unit, they ought to be a force that boasted a certain level of ability. At the very least, it was easy to tell that they were of a higher level than the soldiers sealing the border.

Even though this side was numbered slightly more than a thousand, it was a number that included women, children and elderly people. Speaking of those who could properly fight, there were only very few of them.

They were at an overwhelming disadvantage in terms of both quality and quantity. It was not a situation where they could put up a proper fight.

And above all, since their opponents were Kingdom soldiers, the end that awaited them would range from being captured at best, to being annihilated at worst. No matter which expected future you looked at, they were full of bad things.

「Geez, talk about the worst timing of all. If only the three of them were here….」

Looking at their dire situation, Curryman couldn’t help but think as such.

「Indeed… But there’s no point in saying that now, is there? He said it, didn’t he? That he would leave the rest to us. Then we have to live up to that expectation of his. If nothing else, we’ve been devoting ourselves in training in preparation for this kind of situation, after all.」

「You’re right. We can’t afford not to live up to his expectations.」

Curryman floated a fearless smile. That face of his was that of the face of a veteran warrior. Changing his gear, he began to ponder what they should do from then on.

Unfortunately, however, it didn’t seem to be possible for them to escape. The kingdom soldiers’ movement was way faster than those of women, children, and elderly people. Above all, the moving ahead cavalry unit would catch them in no time at all.

In that case, they have no choice but to put up a fight. However, as mentioned earlier, they were at an overwhelming disadvantage in terms of both quality and quantity. They needed something to make up for it.

「Anyway, let’s start moving. First, let’s head for the mountain ranges. We need to slow down the cavalry, no matter how slightly it may be.」

「All right. Madpie! Orangetto! Lead the way! Stay calm and make sure to kill any monsters you come across!」

「「Yeah!」」

「Everyone follow them and move!」

Kugel gave instructions one after another. As soon as receiving such an instruction from him, the gathered tribal patriarchs also promptly moved into action.

In the meantime, Curryman continued to rack his brains. His line of sight was pointed fixedly at the spreading mountain ranges which was their destination.

What they needed was a secluded and elevated place enough to hold more than a thousand demons. It would be ideal if the place was steep, with a narrow base, and was impossible to invade through other routes than there. Curryman picked out a certain small mountain and made a decision.