Interlude 2: Tomori Tanaka I

…

Hi, I'm Tomori Tanaka. For the past month or so, I've been the Blade Hero. I was summoned when I was reading about this one book called "The Record of the Four Cardinal Heroes: Centurion". And I was summoned to this world to fight as one of its heroes against this natural phenomenon called "Waves". But…

Growl* Growl* Growl* Growl* Growl* Growl*

Why am I surrounded with the sounds of hungry, growing kids?!

"Niichan… I'm hungry…" Kyrie, one of Ivaran's friends, said to me.

She's like the head of the slaves, or I rather said kids (if not, Ivaran's gonna bash that shield of his onto my head). I bought up a few slaves from that penguin-wannabe of the slave trader named Hrafn since I need manpower. So, I have lots of kids under my wings here.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I'm a part of nobility of this country, Welle, who's main religion tried to offed me out cuz I'm apparently the "demon" or something. Idk, I literally killed their pope.

Either way, the reason I'm feeding them food continuously is because of this weird demi-human gimmick, where they will have their body growth to suit their combat capabilities as they level up. As I know of that, I asked my fellow heroes and their companions to level them up slowly, but…

Growl* Growl* Growl* Growl* Growl* Growl*

I underestimated the numbers of kids that I have to feed. I'm a hero, damn it! Not a damn personal chef.

"Tomori, this dish is done!" A grey haired girl with wolf's ears and tails said as she turned off the heat.

"Okay, Riri. Serve it up!"

"Alright!"

That's Riri, a Spirit Beast and my first companion in this world. She appears after I almost got killed by that minotaur that the church had kept. Apparently, it's an ancient guardian of this one country that I'm affiliated with. But more on that later.

Despite Riri's appearance looking like a wolf demi-human, she's actually just a tiny, cutie patootie wolf cub. And to be honest, I'd prefer her to be in her Beast Form rather than her Human Form. For what I know, I'm not a furry. But I like to snuggle with animals.

And the most weird part of her is that she resembles my little sister, Tomoka. Their hair is of course in different colours. But it's a weird coincidence if you asked me. Other than that, she sometimes resembles… Me. Like, in terms of fighting style, she literally fights like when I don't wield any weapons. The reason I know that is because I used to get into fights a lot during High School. And that similarity literally proved it now, since she can literally cook the same food as I did, and the taste is uncannily similar.

"Tomori-san, we need more food." A tall elf with black hair asked me with a worried face.

The Mr. World of this village is Ivaran, my second comrade. And also the newly selected Vassal Hero, the Shield Hero. He's from this village, which crumbled apart after getting hit by the wave. He and his friends had been captured by slave hunters and sold to slavery. Luckily, he's with his friend, Liyana, at the time.

However… That bastard, Cunningfield, caused her to develop a curse that can't be easily healed. If only I came to save them much earlier, she wouldn't have died…

"Tomori-san?" The voice of Ivaran wakes me up from my daydreaming.

"Oh, sorry! Take this and bring it to them for refills." I handed him a large pot filled with delicious soup. He then carried it towards the munching kids.

Speaking of Cunningfield, I remembered about Bradforde. I only knew his man-child son, and the soldiers that violated Azamiere's kids.

I wonder if Azamiere is actually the one who cast that cursed skill… Or it's my inner desire to do that.

He said that I'm a kind kid, but I'm far away from kind. If I'm kind, then the rest of this world is hell.

And there's the pope… I did kill him, but I don't feel anything. All I felt was "Ah, all of this is over". I wonder if that counts as feeling anything. I mean, I unintentionally killed hundreds of people, which just made me tired.

Seeing all of this just made me realise that I'm just a heartless guy who pretends to have emotions. Maybe it's just a coping mechanism just to make people pity me. Idk.

"Hey, Tomori. Is anything wrong with you? You're kind of off…" A blonde haired girl said to me as I cooked more dishes.

"Nothing unusual, princess. I'm completely normal."

"Alright then." The girl then walked towards the other kids to oversee them.

That girl's is Miya S Welle, the lil sis of that b*tch that tried to screw everyone's life, and the next heir of this country's royalty.

Unlike her sister, she's okay. Though she sometimes throws gentle banter, she's matured enough to handle it. Aside from Riri, Vadge, Rheat and Ivaran, she's one of few people that I can truly trust in this world. She may be a lousy and sassy teenager, but she's smart and fun to hangout with. It's just that it's not fun to tease her anymore. I need to find new insults to tease her with.

…

A few hours later…

…

" Sigh* So tired…" I later lay down on the sofa inside my house.

I wasn't this tired when preparing the surprise for Ivaran. What I do for these couple of days is feeding those glutinous kids that eat everything like an endless black hole. And unlike the others, I haven't trained that much with the granny. Heck, even Akira, the damn Magic Hero, is learning kung fu sh*t. And I don't think that benefits her in any ways whatsoever.

Creak*

I heard that the doors opened. I took a peek to see who entered.

"Ah, Tomori. Here you are." A blonde haired man taller than me with a spear on his back gets closer.

"Ah, Tadashi…"

Tadashi Kaneshiro, the Shaft Hero. He and I had some beef due to the red haired b*tch, but he and I are chill now. He's one of the guys that I can be open with, as Flan is not the kind of person who's the talkative side.

"You looked busted, man."

"Yup. All I've been doing this morning is cooking, get ingredients, fighting that megalomaniac tree plant for its fruit. It's a neverending task for me." That's true. Using the Bio-Seed that I got from Armorian, I planted it at the outskirts of this village. Audrey did mention that I be wary of it, since the plant is sentient. But I take care of that. A Pyro Edge or Frost Edge, or a herbicide is enough to take care of it. "Btw, how's your training with granny?"

"She kicked my *ss. And it's literally that this time."

"Huh… Like usual." There's no way he could defeat the granny. She's the goat!

"Care to give me a word of encouragement?"

"Who do you think I am, your therapist?"

"Hahaha, very funny."

Tadashi then walked past me upstairs.

"Hey," He stopped and turned to me. "I got a few messages from Akira and Reika about you. Well… Not just from them, but the second princess, that knight and from your companion as well.

"Don't do everything by yourself and just rely on us a bit, will ya?"

After that, he continued to walk upstairs.

What did he mean by that? Of course I relied on them. Since then I have done everything alone… Right?

Even if I don't, I prefer to do it my way. Tadashi, Akira and Reika, and to some extent, Ivaran. Even though they're heroes, they're still just teenagers. If I let them do everything, this village will crumble apart again. It's not that I don't trust them. Aside from battle, their political abilities are much worse than mine. Maybe not Akira though. I think that she might be the smartest among the four Cardinal Heroes.

I need to have Miya to teach her about things or two about handling a territory after this. But now… It's time for the late night work, which is preparing ingredients for tomorrow's breakfast, lunch, high tea and dinner.

I woke up from the sofa and started organising the ingredients through my Inventory setting.

…

A week later…

…

A week has passed, and I'm proud to say that I'm not that tired anymore. Why? Because I'm not the one that's cooking this time.

The kids had fully grown up, meaning that I won't have to keep feeding them anymore. So, I used up a day to drill every cooking skill to the kids that's interested in taking the chef role of this village.

And now, I'm holding a plate of my own to receive my own food. It feels weird being in this position, since I'm obviously used to being the one who's serving others. Not the other way around.

"Here's your food, Blade Hero." One of the kids who's serving the food said to me, as I extended the plate towards her.

"Thanks." I said to her.

"Y-Your welcome…" She said as there's a tint of pink on her cheeks.

Sigh*

I remember her clearly. What I mean by that is she used to be scared of me when I taught her how to cook. And now, this? I don't need any teenage girls crushing on me. Like, you're seven years younger than me. Pick up someone your age, for goodness sake.

Thinking about this makes me remember about Liyana, who says that she wanted to go on an adventure with the Blade Hero and eventually marry them. Like girl, you're dreaming too high, especially if you have me as the Blade Hero. I ain't going to date a teenager. I have standards, you know?

But who am I kidding. Love is something that never crosses my mind, especially in this world. I even failed at my OWN world, and how can I even succeed here?

I know that the reason these kids hold up to me is because I'm the Blade Hero, and not some random person with power. But that's good enough for me. As long as this place prospers, I care about what methods I used. It's much better than being on a run like before.

I turned to the left, seeing all of the kids chatting with each other without worrying anything about the world.

"Well, I guess that this is okay… For now, at least."

I take a seat and eat my food, before being jumped by Riri. Followed by Ivaran who sits next to me, and Miya, who sits next to him.

"I don't like socialising, but… Being smush like this isn't bad either…"

I am Tomori Tanaka, the Blade Hero. I may have some questionable motives, but I just want one thing. A peace of mind for myself, and for those who believe in me for who I truly am.