The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
"Well then... now that we've found our prey, shall we hurry up and hunt it?"
"Hey, hey, before that, there are some weird people over there, though?"
The two of them looked toward us as if they had only just noticed us.
The moment I looked into their eyes, a chill ran down my spine.
What incredibly cold eyes.
It was as if they didn't see living creatures as living creatures at all...
They were dark, deep, and cold, seemingly filled with nothing but negative emotions.
The Cat Spirit Tribe girl had chestnut-brown hair, much like Kanade's.
Did all members of the Cat Spirit Tribe have similar-colored hair?
Her hairstyle, however, was rather unkempt. It was long, with strands sticking out here and there.
She had the appearance of someone who had grown up in the wild.
Her body was small, but the pressure I felt from her was as though I were facing a bear.
The Dragon Tribe girl had vivid black hair, like the night sky.
Her long hair was tied up on one side.
A side ponytail, I suppose?
Her clothes were similar to Tania's, although hers were somewhat more revealing.
Strangely enough, though, it didn't look indecent.
Rather, my impression was simply that the outfit suited her.
"You two are..."
"Oh. Looks like there are some humans here."
"And there are some of our kind too."
"Hey, hey, Arieile. Are those guys enemies too? Can I hunt them?"
"I wonder. I think that man is the other Beast Tamer Reinhardt mentioned, but I wasn't ordered to hunt him."
"Tch, how boring."
Were these two connected to Reinhardt?
Ordinarily, I'd assume that he was the one who had them under his command.
But could he really have multiple strongest species under his command, just like me...?
What Shigure-san had told me about Reinhardt being a member of a Hero party from several generations ago was beginning to sound much more plausible.
If he was capable of this much, it wouldn't be strange for him to have been part of a Hero party.
"My name is Rain Shroud. And you two?"
I deliberately spoke first, not wanting to let them take control of the situation.
Would they ignore me?
Or would they attack?
I had been expecting some fairly bad possibilities, but surprisingly, the two of them actually responded to my question.
"I'm Mitsuki. I'm from the Cat Spirit Tribe."
"Arieile. I'm from the Dragon Tribe."
With fearless smiles on their faces, the two introduced themselves.
They apparently already anticipated that a battle would break out, as both of them were releasing their fighting spirit.
An unexpected encounter with members of the strongest species.
It couldn't possibly be a coincidence, but...
Verg also seemed confused.
It didn't look like this was his doing.
At worst, I had considered the possibility that Reinhardt and Verg had joined forces, but that didn't seem to be the case.
"So, what did you come here for?"
"There's something I want to ask that demon about. Will you hand him over to us?"
Mitsuki glared at us sharply.
It was clear from her expression that if we got in her way, she had no qualms about using force.
"You want me to hand him over? We haven't even finished capturing him yet."
"You've practically captured him already, haven't you? We killed his companions, after all."
"What...!?"
Verg exclaimed in shock.
"Don't talk nonsense! Even if they're members of the strongest species, there's no way all of my companions were defeated!"
"You're so noisy... You don't have to believe us, you know? All that matters is that we know the truth."
"It wouldn't be conclusive proof, but shall we tell you the characteristics of your companions? That would at least prove that we encountered them, wouldn't it? And the ones who survived that encounter are us... What do you think?"
"Guh..."
Verg groaned, seemingly overwhelmed by the two girls' completely unshaken composure.
"...Getting back to the matter at hand, what do you want with Verg?"
"Mina Lusage."
"!"
"That demon knows where she is, doesn't he?"
"Reinhardt seems to have business with her. That's why I want to know where she is."
"So, Reinhardt is involved here too..."
Just who exactly was that man?
And what was he thinking?
I felt myself getting caught up in those deep questions, but there was no point thinking about them here. I wouldn't find any answers.
"Hah, so you want to know where that woman is? Too bad for you. I don't know where she is right now either."
"Right now?"
"That man over there abducted her."
"Oh..."
Mitsuki's piercing gaze turned toward me.
"Where is Mina Lusage? Give her to us."
"It would certainly be simple if I could just say yes..."
I readied Kusanagi.
"We went through a lot of trouble to capture her. I have no intention of handing her over to some guy who suddenly showed up from the side and demanded her."
"...You're pissing me off."
Mitsuki's fighting spirit suddenly surged.
It became sharper.
Denser.
It transformed into killing intent.
"Then I'll beat the answer out of you!"
"Just leave him half-dead. If you kill him, we won't be able to question him."
Arieile released her own fighting spirit and took a combat stance.
As if being drawn into the situation, Verg also shifted into a battle stance...
"R-Rain! In this situation, who exactly is our enemy!?"
"Luna, do you really need to ask?"
"Everyone except us!"
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