The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet

Chapter 289 Each person's thoughts

(TL:By Rafael,valhallatls.blogspot.com)

On that day, Our party accepted a request to subdue a Minotaur that appeared on the plains near the town.

With some household chores to attend to, I decided that Kanade and Tania would handle the subjugation together with me.

A Minotaur is a creature that looks like a two-legged walking bull armed with weapons.

It's categorized as a B-rank monster and is known as a formidable opponent.

However...

"Kanade, it went that way!"

"Leave it to me!"

The Minotaur swung its giant axe, but it didn't hit Kanade. Kanade's figure became a blur, and the axe passed through empty space.

"Meow!"

As if teleporting, Kanade circled behind the Minotaur.

She delivered a powerful blow to the back of its knee.

Perhaps because it walks on two legs, the Minotaur's weak points are similar to a human's.

The Minotaur screamed and fell to its knees.

"This should be..."

"The end!"

Tania kicked the ground and leaped up.

She smashed the Minotaur's jaw with her knee.

Then, she rotated in the air.

She swept her tail, striking the Minotaur's face fiercely.

There was a cracking sound as the Minotaur's neck bone snapped, and it sank to the ground.

Soon after, its body disappeared, turning into a magic stone.

"Hehe, if it's me, it's nothing."

"What!? I was about to deliver the finishing blow!"

"Early bird catches the worm."

Even a B-rank Minotaur was like a piece of cake for Kanade and Tania.

I think we used to have a harder time...

Perhaps because of various experiences, everyone had grown considerably.

I also feel like I can't afford to lose.

However...

"Hey, hey, Rain. Say something to Tania. She's trying to steal my credit!"

"Rain will understand, right? It's not my fault, it's that sluggish cat's fault."

"Sluggish cat!?"

Although they both talk to me, I'm thinking about something else.

"Rain?"

"Huh?"

"What's wrong? You seem absent-minded... are you lost in thought?"

"Oh, no... I guess I just relaxed a bit since the subjugation went smoothly. Sorry."

"Come on, pull yourself together. Remember what Rain said before, you can't afford to let your guard down."

"Yeah, sorry."

While apologizing, I'm still thinking about something else.

...The other day, I heard from Al in the spirit tribe village were not two but three stories.

The third story was uncertain, so... it wasn't an urgent matter for now, so I put it aside.

That third story was...

"Iris..."

The strongest species we once opposed.

We managed to understand each other after countless attempts to communicate, but...

That's where the end came.

That's what I thought, but...

It might not be the case after all.

I found something strange about Al's incident.

How did Al and the others know that Kanade and the others were about to be executed?

Milua is very fond of Tania, but she doesn't watch over her 24 hours a day.

If the story spread, Al and the others would eventually know...

But their actions were too prompt.

When I asked about it, Al said this:

"The celestial girl contacted someone from our village, and that's how we got the information."

The celestial race is extinct, and there shouldn't be any survivors.

Maybe there were survivors of the celestial race that I wasn't aware of.

Or... was Iris still alive?

If possible, I want to meet Iris again.

And...

"I want to have a relationship where we can laugh together this time."

――――――――――

"Welcome back."

"Thank you."

Iris returned to the mansion and headed straight to the living room. As if anticipating her return, tea and snacks were prepared.

"Were you monitoring me?"

"No, I simply thought you would be returning soon... although it took longer than expected, so the tea has cooled."

"That's fine. I'm tired, so I feel like drinking cold tea now."

Iris traced the air with her fingertip. Small ice crystals were summoned and dropped into the teacup with a soft plop. She stirred with a teaspoon, turning it into iced tea.

"Ah, refreshing."

"It was just an errand... were you really that tired?"

"Well, you see... even if it's just to deliver a message to the one who once sealed me away, it's mentally exhausting. And the content of that message is just meant to stir up trouble. What's the point of doing such a thing?"

"Of course. If it goes well, it could lead to a full-scale war between the strongest species and humans... isn't that quite exciting?"

"That plan seems to have failed, though."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"I was curious, so I watched for a while... but Rain-sama intervened and resolved it."

"I see, how disappointing."

Despite saying it was disappointing, Reez didn't seem disheartened. Her attitude seemed as if she knew it would fail from the start.

Iris asked incredulously, "Did you anticipate this too?"

"To some extent."

With a cool demeanor, Reez replied.

"I'm not satisfied. If you anticipated it, why didn't you take action?"

"I didn't have high expectations, and it wouldn't matter if it failed."

"...What are you trying to accomplish?"

"Of course, to annihilate humans. Fulfilling the Demon Lord's will, granting wishes, that's our mission as demons."

"Despite that, your actions seem rather half-hearted..."

"I can't go all out yet. As I mentioned before, if we cause too much trouble while the Demon Lord is in dormancy, we'll surely incur his wrath. So I execute plans with low success rates... If it works out, well, that's fine. Even if it fails, we can still stir things up. That way, I'm currently sowing seeds here and there."

"...You can really go that far."

Reez spoke as if playing a game.

Iris sensed something precarious about Reez's enjoyment of risky games. It was as if she indulged in danger and thrill, like walking on a tightrope blindfolded without a safety net... reveling in the ecstasy of danger and thrill. The only destination is... inevitable destruction.

It was out of the question to indulge Reez in such a game. Though Iris used to be consumed by thoughts of destruction... meeting Rain changed her, made her face forward.

How should she live? She's still unsure, but... she's determined not to squander life like Reez.

What should she do?

Iris hesitated.

Even if she had no destination, leaving Reez now would be the right thing to do.

There's no need to feel indebted for the help received.

After all, Reez is an enemy from the start.

However... she reconsidered.

Reez is inviting her into her fold.

Why not take everything she can get?

For instance, Reez's future actions, the overall movement of the demon tribe... Gathering such information and then handing it over to Rain might be a good idea.

Iris wanted to meet Rain again.

But she didn't know how she should face him.

It might be too late.

Then, why not bring information about the demon tribe as a souvenir?

Suddenly, she thought of that.

"What's wrong?"

"...It's nothing."

She gave up on revenge against humans.

However, she had no intention of being an ally to humans like she used to be.

But... she felt like she could be Rain's ally personally.

It's not set in stone yet, but Iris has somewhat defined her path.

"And... is my job done here?"

"Oh. Could it be, are you prepared to join us?"

"No, not yet. But... I thought it might be good to cooperate a little more to figure out what to do."

"That's a welcome proposition. While I won't be relying on Iris-san's power for a while... I'll ask for your help when the time comes. I have my own affairs to attend to."

"Are you planning something new?"

"Yes. I plan to completely corrupt a hero and make them an ally of the demon tribe."

TL Note- Gotta catch'em all.

Next

Prev