The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
"……"
Mina fell silent, clearly torn with indecision.
She couldn’t take Chiffon’s hand…
But neither could she bring herself to push it away. Her eyes wandered uncertainly, as though she had no idea what she should do.
The dignified figure I remembered was nowhere to be seen.
She looked like a lost child.
Helpless, frightened, and surrounded by uncertainty.
She looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
…Perhaps this was enough for today.
"Mina."
"Ah…!?"
When I called out to her, Mina flinched.
She seemed afraid that I might do something to her.
Of course, I had no intention of doing that…
Still, considering the relationship between Mina and me, I supposed it was only natural for her to reach that conclusion.
After all, she had been on the side that expelled me from the party, while I was the one who had been cast out.
"For now, you should get some rest today. Then take some time to think things over… Let’s talk again tomorrow night, shall we?"
"Huh? B-but…"
She looked at me as if asking whether that was really all right. I nodded in response.
"I don’t want you to simply go along with the situation. I want you to think carefully and make your own decision. Right now, Mina, well… you’re technically our enemy. But if you’re willing to become our ally, that would be all the better."
"…Rain-san, are you really all right with that?"
"Hm?"
"Could you really forgive me… if I became your companion?"
"I don’t know."
I had already come to terms with being expelled from the party.
Thanks to that experience, I had met Kanade and the others, so I didn’t dwell on it very much anymore.
However, if someone asked whether I had completely stopped caring about it…
Well, that wasn’t entirely true.
Naturally, standing face-to-face with Mina brought up some complicated feelings.
But the resentment and anger I felt were things I could afford to let go of.
They were my own feelings, after all. As long as I could come to terms with them, that was enough.
Of course, there were also kinds of anger and resentment that shouldn’t be forgotten. People like Iris carried the feelings and regrets of their companions on their shoulders, and those were not things they could simply let go of.
But in my case, it wasn’t anything that serious.
"I don’t know. But look at us now. We’re talking normally, without pointing our weapons at each other. We’re able to have a conversation. If that’s possible, then I think we can probably work something out, don’t you?"
"You’re being rather casual about this…"
"I think it’s better to be a little casual about things. If you’re constantly on edge, you might end up snapping sooner or later."
"I suppose… you’re right."
"Anyway, that’s how it is. Get some good rest today."
"…Thank you."
My eyes widened slightly.
I never would have imagined that Mina of all people would thank me.
It would have been absolutely unthinkable before…
But had things happened to change Mina, too, after I was expelled from the party?
If possible, I hoped she had changed for the better.
"May I ask you something?"
"Hm?"
"What about Verg-san…?"
"Ah, that demon."
I glanced at Nokia-san, who gave me a firm nod.
Apparently, the seal was working perfectly.
"We’re keeping him restrained."
"Could you… release him?"
"No, that’s out of the question. As I said earlier, I don’t trust Monica or Reez. In fact, I’m certain they’re our enemies. I think there’s still room for negotiation with you, Mina, so we’ve only sealed your magical power without restricting your physical movements. But that demon is a different matter."
"Sorry, but I agree with him. It has nothing to do with whether you’re a Hero or not. I think that demon is plotting something bad. Mina-san, you’re being deceived."
"……"
Mina wore an expression that was difficult to read.
She wanted to trust Verg.
However, after hearing what we had to say, her faith in him was beginning to waver.
That was probably what was going on.
"All right, then. I’ll show you to your room. Tina, could you take care of that?"
"Sure thing. It’ll be easier to handle all sorts of things if another woman takes her."
Following Tina’s lead, Mina disappeared into the back of the house.
Her back looked terribly small.
"Hissss…!"
"Mmmmm…!"
"Kanade, Luna, why are you both hissing at her?"
"Because, because she’s the one who treated Rain so horribly, right!?"
"I can’t forgive her! I want to make her eat my big sister’s cooking!"
"Luna, what exactly do you mean by that?"
Looking around, I saw that the others didn’t look particularly happy, either.
Tania, in particular, made no attempt to hide her hostility. She was glaring at Mina with all her might.
We had fought her before and won decisively, so I thought they might have gotten over it…
Apparently, seeing her again had reignited their anger.
"It’s all right."
I said that to reassure everyone.
"Mina did and said a lot of terrible things to me, sure… but she didn’t have any malicious intentions."
She had called me useless.
She had said things that were more or less equivalent to calling me a failure.
But whenever she said those things or acted that way, I had never sensed any malice from her.
She genuinely seemed to believe that what she was doing was right.
That it was all part of God’s guidance.
She appeared to believe those things with all her heart.
I didn’t know what had made her develop such a personality…
But she probably wasn’t a bad person at her core.
It wasn’t as though her fundamental nature was twisted.
So, even if it might be extremely difficult, I believed we could still find a way to join hands.
When I explained all that, everyone except Nina and Finia let out an enormous sigh.
Even Sakura made a dismayed, "Oofuu…" sound.
"Honestly, Rain, you’re such a hopelessly good-natured fool."
"Maybe I should bet on you getting deceived one of these days."
"But that’s one of Rain’s best qualities, isn’t it!?"
"Uh…?"
What exactly were they trying to say?
"We mean, ‘Rain, please stay just the way you are!’"
With that, Kanade gave me a bright, cheerful smile.
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