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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 208

CHAPTER 208: BECAUSE YOU WERE THERE, BY MY SIDE

「W-What the…… P-Please, raise your head!」

I did not know how exactly I should feel about someone bowing their head to me completely out of the blue like that, so I would much rather want her to not do that.

Milua-san might have looked like a child on the outside, but on the inside she was way more mature than I was, so……

And that was without mentioning that she was also Tanya’s mother.

Yes, so when a person like that was bowing their head to me seemingly without any reason for them to do so, I was really at a complete loss.

「Thank you for saving Tanya-chan. Thanks to you, Rein-kun, my Tanya-chan was safe and sound.」

「It was not me exclusively who saved Tanya from that Dragon…… It was through our combined efforts. Besides, it was nothing special, really. I just did what every friend and companion would have done in that exact situation.」
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「No, no, no. I don’t think that there are many people out there who would be ready to do things that you did, and do them so willingly and without much thinking.

Milua-san finally raised her head and she smiled warmly at me.

It was a pretty child-like smile, but……

Being able to see it made me feel kind of strange.

It was so warm and calming……

All of a sudden, a distant memory of my own mother flashed inside of my head for some reason.

「Also, there is one more thing that I think I should be thanking you for, Rein-kun.」

「Huh?」

One more thing, she says. But if you were to ask me……

What would that thing be? I really wasn’t able to tell.

「Thank you for being there by Tanya-chan’s side all this time.」

「What?」

For some reason, Milua-san said something I did not really expect her to say to me.

Being together with Tanya……

What does that mean?

Could it be that she was worried about Tanya this whole time? Because she was traveling around the world all on her own?

So when she heard that Tanya managed to find some friends who would be with her and who would adventure together with her, she was relieved?

But if that was the case, shouldn’t Milua-san also be thanking everyone else in our group, not just me specifically?

Hmm…… Yeah, no matter how hard I tried to think about the meaning behind her words, nothing would come to my mind.

「Oh, oh my. I’m really sorry for that. It must have been so sudden that you did not even understand what I was talking about, right?」

「Umm, this is…… Yes, I am very sorry for that.」

I only nodded my head in complete honesty, as there was no reason for me to even try and hide that fact from her.

「Oh no, don’t worry about it. The fault is entirely mine here, as I seemed to have skipped way too many steps in this conversation. You see, Tanya-chan has always been annoyed with me, or my way of being, specifically. She used to tell me all the time that she did not understand what I was saying most of the time, because my words are always so sudden and so over-the-top.」

「Hmm, I see.」

Somehow, I was able to picture that exact scene inside of my mind.

And as I did just that, I couldn’t help myself but to smile.

「But you know, hear me out. You have been there for her ever since you first met Tanya-chan, right? So for that, you have my sincerest gratitude…… or something like that♪ 」

But be that as it may, I don’t think that I have done anything that was all that noteworthy here.

Since Tanya was my dear friend, wasn’t it completely natural for me to be there by her side and to help her out whenever she needed it?

Apparently, Milua-san was able to sense that doubt inside of my mind.

Because when she spoke to me in the next moment, she had a really distant look in her eyes.

「We are the members of the Ultimate Species, right? And the thing is, amongst the Ultimate Species, the Dragon Tribe are the ones who possess the greatest amount of pride to ourselves. And as sad as it is for me to admit that, there are quite a few Dragons in our Dragon Tribe who look down on humans and other species. Just like that pair from that incident that was just resolved.」

「Well, that’s just the way it is for some species, I suppose. So it cannot really be helped.」

When compared to the Dragon Tribe, we humans really might seem like nothing much.

Our physical abilities and magic power are vastly inferior to every other species out there.

So it’s not really all that unbelievable that some of the strongest species out there would simply refuse to look at us as equals.

「That is why I think that being with Tanya-chan can sometimes be really hard for other people. You see, Tanya-chan was never as prideful as those other two culprits from this incident, but that being said, she also possesses a fair share of pride as the Dragon Tribe to herself.」

Yeah, I could totally see that.

From the first time we met, she was somewhat bossy and had a really nasty competitive streak to her.

Thinking about that made me feel strangely nostalgic for some reason.

「But you see, I honestly think that holding onto a stupid pride like that is a really bad idea. I honestly think that it would be for the best if we could all get along with one another in this world. That’s why, when she was still in the village, I tried to talk about that to Tanya-chan on multiple occasions, hoping that it would change her attitude towards others, even if it was only for a little bit……」

「And let me guess: she didn’t want to listen to any of that?」

「Yes,that’s exactly right. And just like that, when she decided to venture outside of the village, Tanya-chan did so in accordance with the rules of the village…… which honestly made me worry about her a whole lot. Every day I was praying that she wouldn’t do something stupid because of that pride of hers, or if that pride wouldn’t get her in trouble with others.」

「Well…… I guess that every parent out there would feel worried about their child under those circumstances, right?」

「But fortunately enough, that wasn’t the case here. Getting to know you and spending time with you, Rein-kun…… It is because of that that I think Tanya-chan managed to grow a whole lot…… And I am not talking purely about physical strength here, but also about her mind as a person.」

I think that I was able to understand what Milua-san was trying to say here.

「It’s because you were there by her side, all along, Rein-kun. It’s really important to always have someone by your side…… Someone who is going to direct you in the right way. After all, no creature on this earth can live on their own and grow up without the influence of others. So thank you very much for doing that for my Tanya-chan. Thank you for being there, by her side.」

「You’re very much welcome.」

「But……」

Milua-san paused for a moment before she continued speaking. But before she could do that, I……

「Since we are already talking about things like that, there is something that I would like to thank you for, too.」

「Huh?」

「You know, I once had a group of companions, but I have lost that group. And it was then, when I was in a pretty dark place, I happened to meet Tanya, and her joining my party really saved me.」

I spoke while recalling those days in my head.

I felt warm and the words naturally poured out of my mouth, without even me having to look hard for the right ones.

「It’s just like you said, Milua-san. It’s important to have others by your side if you want to grow as a person. So when you say that Tanya managed to grow up as a person, then I guess that the same thing can be said for me…… Because of Tanya’s presence, I have been able to change in a whole lot of ways. I’m the person I am today because of Tanya. At least that’s how I feel about it.」

「I see.」

「So I thank you, too, for……」

「Hm, hm, hm. Sweetie, you have to say those words to Tanya-chan and not for me……」

「Well, I guess that’s true, too.」

「I know that if you do that, Tanya-chan is going to be really happy.」

「Is she going to be happy, really?」

「Oh, I’m sure of it. Don’t worry about that.」

Yeah, and with that, Milua-san has kind of lost me.

「I have said something really similar to her a bunch of times already, but it is only in those situations that Tanya’s mood turns for the worse, and she even becomes strangely aggressive for no reason at all.」

「Fufufun.」

Milua-san grinned for some reason.

「That’s just Tanya-chan’s way of showing that she’s really shy. But I see…… Fufufu…… Is that how it is, huh?」

「Milua-san?」

「Oh, nothing. It’s nothing, really. No need to worry.」

She looked as if she had just realized something, but she wouldn’t tell me what that something was.

Does that mean that it was something that I would need to realize on my own?

It was because of that kind of thing that Milua-san seemed to be really childish.

…….. Not that I could tell her that right into her face, of course.

「Say, say, Rein-kun? You’re not getting sleepy by any chance, are you?」

「Hm? No, I’m not? Why do you ask?」

「Then can we talk some more?　I’d love to hear all about Tanya-chan from you.」

「Sure thing.」

「In return, I will tell you all the things about Tanya-chan that you had no idea about. Mainly, I will tell you about Tanya-chan when she was a little girl. For example…… How old was she when she stopped wetting the bed? And how was she trying to cover it up?」

「…… Is that really something that you should be sharing with others?」

I have a feeling that if Tanya was here, she would be so angry that her face would be red and fuming.

「Don’t worry, it’s A-OK! Because! I’m Tanya-chan’s mom after all!」

Milua-san said that while puffing out her chest with pride.

I don’t know why, but it was a really persuasive argument. One that I wouldn’t dare to question.

But yeah.

I still think it would be a bad idea for me to ask about Tanya’s past without her permission.

「Well, leaving Tanya’s past aside……. Let’s talk about a lot of other things, shall we?」

「Yeah, I guess so……」

Under the starry night sky.

Milua-san and I would smile and talk about all sorts of things.

***

「…… Aaahhh! My gosh, Mom! You big dummy!」

I just so happened to see Rein talking to my Mom in the garden.

Even though I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on them, I just stood there and continued to do it, and……

At some point I just started to feel some mysterious, indescribable feeling inside of my chest, and I just left the place at that moment, thinking that if I were to stay there any longer, that feeling might actually get worse.

「Thank you for being there by my side…… Hm? Fufun, I guess that saying things like that is SO like Rein’s character.」