The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
"It's been a while, Rain. Have you been doing well?"
"Ah, yes."
Suzu looked as laid-back as ever.
She smiled brightly and gave a polite bow.
I bowed back…
Then shifted my gaze to Milua and the others.
"Um… why are Milua and the others here?"
"Tania-chaaaan!"
"Hug!?"
Ignoring my question—or rather, seeming not to hear it at all—Milua suddenly rushed straight at Tania.
Tania hurriedly tried to escape, but it was too late, and she was firmly caught in a tight hold.
"Tania-chan Tania-chan Tania-chan! Haaaah, it's been so long since I saw Tania-chan… Tania-chan, you're so cute. Haa haa."
Her face looked like one a woman probably shouldn't be making…
But she must simply be that happy to see Tania again.
"Yo, Rifa. Been doing alright?"
"Yeah, more or less. How about you, Mom?"
"Me? Of course I'm doing great."
"Thought so."
Rezona and Rifa were the same as always.
"Finia."
"Y-y-yes!?"
"Are you being helpful to Rain? Are you properly supporting him?"
"I-I-I-I'm doing my b-best!"
"From the looks of it, you still have a long way to go… goodness. Still, I'm glad you seem well."
Elfin somehow seemed softer than before.
The way she looked at Finia was much gentler than it used to be.
"Sakura. I do not oppose you going with Rain and the others, but if that is the case, you should have spoken to us properly. And yet you went along without permission."
"Kuuuun…"
"It is too late to drag you back now, but you will receive a lecture."
Sakura looked at me with eyes that seemed to say “Help!?”
Sorry. There’s nothing I can do about that.
"Why are you all here…?"
"I called them."
"Al did?"
Al puffed out her chest proudly with a smug hmph.
"To be blunt, the current Rain is stronger than an ordinary Ultimate Species."
"Really? I don't think that's the case…"
Whenever we had free time, I sparred with everyone…
But my win rate was below fifty percent.
I lost fairly often.
"My daughters are a bit of an exception. Before, they were not particularly remarkable, but they have gained considerable experience now. The three of them have awakened, and they possess power above the average."
"M-Mom praised us!?"
"Ah… so our journey ends here…"
"...My daughters. Shall we discuss that reaction later?"
"Eek."
Al gave them an intimidating glare, and Sora and Luna trembled violently.
If they were going to be scared, they probably shouldn’t have said it out loud…
But they probably just couldn’t help themselves.
Recently, I felt that Sora had been heavily influenced by Luna.
"If Rain is to become stronger than he is now, he must fight stronger opponents and absorb their techniques."
"And that's where we come in."
If Suzu and Rezona trained me, I would definitely improve by a huge margin.
Still… for them to go this far just for me…
"Thank you very much. I'm really grateful that you'd do this much for me. Though… I feel a bit bad since I don't have anything to repay you with."
"Good grief. What are you saying?"
Elfin said with an exasperated expression.
"We have already received more than enough from you."
"Indeed. If Rain had not been there, who knows what would have happened to the Phoenix Tribe and the Fang Wolf Tribe."
"Krios was in danger too. So stop worrying about strange things when we're finally able to repay that debt."
Elfin and the others smiled gently as they told me not to worry about it.
I still felt like I was the one causing them trouble…
But hearing that they thought this way made me really happy.
"Well? This is the training plan I devised. Don't you think it will lead to quite a significant level-up?"
Al looked extremely proud.
"Thank you, Al."
"Fwa!?"
For some reason she looked like she wanted praise, so without thinking, I reflexively patted her head.
At that instant, Al let out a strange sound and her body trembled.
"O-ooh…"
"Ah!? S-sorry. I did it without thinking…"
"N-no. I do not mind. In fact… you may pat me more."
"Like this?"
"Ofuu."
Al made an ecstatic expression.
All I was doing was patting her head… so why did it turn out like this?
"Grr… to think we'd have a rival appear in a place like this."
"We must not let our guard down. Sora and the others will have to be more aggressive."
I heard voices like that from behind me, but I decided to pretend I hadn't.
"Anyway… you must be tired after such a long journey. Welcome to the village of the Cat Spirit Tribe."
Suzu stepped forward with a warm smile.
Just seeing that smile alone was healing.
"First, please put your luggage down and rest for a while. Even if you came through the Spirit Tribe's village, you must still be quite tired, right?"
"Thank you very much."
"But we've got quite a lot of people here. Is there even a place for us to stay?"
Tina’s question was reasonable.
Since it was hard to imagine the Cat Spirit Tribe accepting travelers…
There probably wasn’t any kind of inn.
Suzu, however, looked completely confident, as if she had already anticipated that.
"There is no inn, but we have of course prepared a house where Rain and the others can stay. Each person will have their own room, so please don't worry."
"I want to stay with Mama…"
"Fufu, thank you, Nina."
Nina and Nokia showed a heartwarming interaction.
Meanwhile, Kanade was strangely trembling in shock.
"I-If it's a house big enough for that many people… then maybe… just maybe…"
"Yes. Just as Kanade-chan imagined, you will all be staying at our house."
"I knew it!?"
Which means…
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