Toward Their Respective Tomorrow

Nanasi town, as lively as ever, was expanding its living area under the leadership of Omoi-shi. The fact that the Ganash and Torte factions, the two major forces of the demon race, had made this town their base had also contributed to the expansion of the town. As the God of Creation regained his power, the wasteland in the northern part of the continent would surely recover its natural beauty in time. At that time, Nanashi town would become even more prosperous, and the day it turned into the capital of the Kingdom of Demon might eventually come.

In the Haru Empire, Imperial Princess Karin was gaining public favor as usual, but in the background, a certain prince who had returned to the Imperial Family was exhibiting his skills in domestic affairs. For the time being, it didn’t seem like the throne of the greatest power on the continent would be shaken.

In the Purin Kingdom, as Princess Lala, who had been the head of the Kingdom, had gone missing, a distant relative had assumed the throne. Perhaps due to the recoil of the hegemony that had prevailed until then. The country had turned into an administrative monarchy and the power ended up falling on the hands of the governmental office. The country had weakened and turned into a weak nation, but as two heroic figures, Muchisuki and Nawasuki, were supporting the king, it might eventually be reborn as a strong nation.

In the western part of the continent, the scars of the civil war were rapidly recovering, and an economic bloc that would strengthen the economic ties of the small and medium-sized countries was about to be born. This economic bloc, once it took off, would surely show no less prosperity then the western part of the continent back in its prosperous days. It was rumored that the ones who played the central role amongst the small and medium-sized countries were the royal family of the Torochi Kingdom, which was once destroyed during the civil war period.

The world was steadily heading for a new era.

And today, in the wasteland close to Nanashi town, there were those who were about to embark on a new journey.

「Looks like I truly have caused a lot of trouble to you otherworlders.」

The God of Creation apologized to the heroes.

「No, if we hadn't been able to stop the God of Destruction here, for sure the day our world got destroyed by him as well would eventually come. Ultimately, this battle was never just a problem of this world.」

Yashichi responded as such to the God of Creation. Perhaps they shared the same feelings. Mikoto and Kamui also nodded their heads.

「If you’re taking it that way, it gives my conscience a bit of relief. Thank you.」

「Rather, did I even prove to be of any help at all? I'm actually more concerned about that. Most of the paths I've walked have been driven by someone else's agenda, after all….」

Kamui confessed as such.

「That’s not the case at all. You are definitely the key to saving the world. At the end, he left me with words to send you guys back to your original world. That's proof that you guys had formed a strong bond with him. It was because of that strong bond that he fought. Until his life was burned to nothingness….」

「…..」

Kamui’s eyes were overflowing with tears.

「Even so, I do still have regrets…. I may have called him my friend, but all I’ve done was owing him one after another. I hoped that I was able to pay him back at least once…. That’s one thing that I’m regretful about, my friend.」

「Yashichi-san….」 Yashichi muttered as such while gazing at the sky. Perhaps he was looking at the figure of his friend, or perhaps he was trying to hold back the tears from overflowing. He was unable to respond back to Toby.

「Mikoto-dono, this was the object left in Tanaka-dono's room-degozaru.」

Suke-san moved to Mikoto’s side and held out a single pendant. It was the gift Tanaka had created in order to be kyakya ufufu with Hero-chan.

「Until Tanaka-dono headed to battle, he had been creating this Talisman of Magician King – Amulet of Irugu for you-degozaru, Mikoto-dono. In the end, we didn’t get to use it in the battle against the incarnation, but please accept it-degozaru.」

「…What a terrible taste as usual.」

Even as she said that, Mikoto accepted the pendant and carefully held it on her chest.

「Thank you….」Was it for the gift? Or was it for sacrificing his life to save the world? It was unknown, but Mikoto replied with a smile even as tears flowed down her cheeks.

「Now then, let’s get it started. Even for me, this is a promise that I have to fulfill no matter what, after all.」

The God of Creation activated the power of God.

A light of miracle that transcended the principle of this world appeared.

What took shape, there was a shining gate. It was a transfer gate that led to the homeland of the heroes.

「Take care! Otherworld heroes!」

The heroes, being seen off by the God of Creation as well as the comrades who had fought alongside them in the final battle, disappeared into the light. Surrounded by a somewhat warm and comfortable light, the heroes continued on their way.

As a nostalgic scent led them along the way.

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One was delighted to be reunited with their beloved families.

One was perplexed by their wailing friends.

One floated a smile at their unchanged hometown.

And then–

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At dusk–.

At a certain town–.

A man was awakened by the mocking caws of crows. 「…hmm. … Huh? What the heck am I doing?」

As he looked around, he saw a mountain of garbage. Right next to him was a desk with an oversized garbage sticker stuck onto it. And then, the chair he was sitting on was also an oversized garbage chair.

「Hwat?! What the hell am I doing sleeping here?! Oh, looks like it’s that, isn’t it? I guess the so-called fatigue of the harsh salaryman life must have piled up quite a lot, huh.」

He muttered as such as he stood up and dusted his pants.

「Hmm, I guess I’ve become this exhausted because I've only been able to have ten hours of sleep a day, huh. However, even I might become a cripple if I continue like this. I guess I'll have to revise my sleeping schedule to about twelve hours a day. I have to take good care of my health, after all.」

The man took off and flapped his suit to dust it off. He then put the suit over his shoulder and started walking as he was.

「But still, I feel like a lot of time has passed. Hmm…, I feel like I had a long dream. I wonder what it was like….」

The man continued on his way home, feeling somewhat nostalgic.

「Ah, I feel like I'm starting to remember it. I believe I was hit by a truck, and when I came to, there was God in front of me. And then, when I went to another world after receiving amoizing power, I became very popular and had a blast there, as expected of me…. Heck, what the hell is that?!」The man walked down the street while spouting such a creepy soliloquy.

「Mom, what is that?」

「Shh! You mustn’t look at anything strange!」

A mother and son pair whom he passed by with was hurriedly walking away. The man's soliloquy continued, oblivious of such an occurrence. 「Isn’t it just too novel, this scenario?! What am I, a genius?! This is crazy, if I turn it into a script and take it to Pollywood, it'll surely be a huge hit. Ah, my popular life is finally about to begin, huh. How troubling, even though I don't want to stand out too much.」

The boy, who was being walked by his mother, turned around with eyes brimming with curiosity.

What the boy saw was the disappearing figure of the man who was still spouting soliloquy as usual–.

As well as the suit on his shoulder that was fluttering grandly despite the fact that there was no wind whatsoever.

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Afterword

Thank you very much for reading.

With this 「The Rising of Tanaka in Another World」 is hereby concluded.

I would like to express my gratitude as it’s only thanks to the support of the esteemed readers that has allowed this slow writer of an author to continue this far. I've been writing for a long time, and the act of creating this story has been a way the author wishes to depict the image of a hero. This is a work with that in mind.

The author wants the hero to be a familiar figure.

It doesn't matter if they smell like a little man, love to have it easy, or have a closet full of erotic DVDs.

Even if they’re brimming with such worldly desire, it’s fine as long as they coolly settle everything should the conclusion time come.

Appearing out of nowhere in front of people who are suffering from misfortune,

Saving them without any reward,

When they have to, they will gallantly step up.

I believe those who could do that are heroes.

This work was intended to spread the image of such a self-serving hero, but if everyone was able to laugh and gain energy to live for tomorrow through this story of Tanaka-san, I couldn’t be any happier.

With this the series over here will be over, but there’s still another form of my work. I would be very happy if you could support me with that one as well.

That’s it, I apologize for the lengthy postscript.

Thank you very much for your support so far.