Published: September 10, 2025
"Hagu hagu hagu— as expected, whale jerky is delicious!"
At the seaside where the Red Smoke Island, a difficult area in the western countries, could be seen, a young adventurer-like figure—or rather, a child—was munching on something like dried meat.
The child's fine yellow cloak with a hood bore the crest of a dragon carrying a pen.
"Surely, that must be the Black Smoke Island where the samurai captain is!"
Unfortunately, that was Red Smoke Island.
"Just a little bit further. If I run across the sea, I should be able to arrive by evening!"
Ordinary humans can't run on water, but perhaps this child possesses the Water Walking Skill or the Float Walk Skill.
"From here begins Pochi's legend."
Pochi, the child, struck a spirited pose with a sharp look and took the classic dash-ready posture reminiscent of Showa-era manga.
"Departure, advance!"
"Nooo! Let me goooo!"
A scream from beyond the windbreak forest stopped Pochi’s start.
"It's an emergency! I heard a scream like silk tearing from over there!"
No one was around to insert an idiom like "like silk tearing."
From the shadow near Pochi’s feet, cat ears popped out and twitched.
"I'm coming, Pochi!"
With a woosh cutting through the wind, Pochi sprinted off.
"Please, I beg you. My daughter—only my daughter—please forgive us."
"Shut up! Don’t get in the way!"
"Daddy!"
When Pochi arrived, a scoundrel-like man was grabbing a woman’s arm, while several other men were violently beating a man who seemed to be her father trying to stop them.
"That’s enough!"
Breaking through the brush, Pochi appeared, and the scoundrels hurriedly took defensive stances.
But when their hoods slipped back and they realized the intruder was a small dog tribe child, they relaxed and sighed heavily as if ashamed of themselves.
"What? Just a kid?"
"Pochi isn’t a kid, Pochi is Pochi, okay?"
Pochi tilted his head.
"Shut up! Don’t interrupt our work!"
The thugs furrowed their brows deeply and yelled at Pochi.
"Working, huh?"
Pochi glanced around curiously.
"But the lady is in trouble."
The woman grabbed by the thug was frozen, unsure how to respond.
"Enough noise! You guys, punish this brat."
"Yes, boss!"
A particularly burly man stomped toward Pochi.
"Fly away!"
A fist swung down but missed as Pochi swiftly dodged.
"Don’t dodge!"
"But it hurts if I get hit!"
The man swung his arms violently, but Pochi dodged with an air of ease.
"How long will you play around! You guys, attack!"
"I might kill him!"
"Don’t care. Tear him apart quickly!"
Five men drew weapons and charged at Pochi.
Expecting Pochi to be brutally cut to pieces, the girl and her father closed their eyes and turned their faces away.
"Boom!"
As if to demonstrate perfect ease, the men were blown away with a single strike.
In Pochi’s hand was a sheathed sword.
"W-what the hell is going on?"
"If you slash with a sword, you must be prepared to be cut as well, Arisa said!"
Pochi said with a smug look.
The fact that Pochi didn’t unsheathe the sword to attack was probably out of kindness.
"Damn it! You monster!"
The man whistled and about twenty scoundrels rushed over from the village.
Apparently, they had been pillaging the village.
"How about this! You won’t win against this many by yourself!"
Feeling the situation reversed, the man spat and gloated.
At that moment, several shadows shook the bushes.
"You’re not alone, Gau!"
"The bears are here too, Kuma!"
"Looks like we got caught up in the trouble after all."
"Pochi-san, we’ve been looking for you!"
"It’s Usasa and the others!"
The six who had chased Pochi all the way to the western countries were the first generation of "Pandora": rabbit tribe Usasa and Labibi, dog tribe Gaugal, bear tribe Kubea, and human tribe children Ninin and Hitona.
"You chased Pochi all the way here?"
"Of course!"
"That’s cold, Gau."
"We can’t worry about you alone, Kubea."
"We had the count’s airship bring us up to this country, though."
Pochi and Usasa rekindled their old friendship.
"Everyone! Think about the situation!"
"It’s tough with just two! Usasa, help!"