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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 160

CHAPTER 160: BUT THEN, EVEN SO……

What am I supposed to do now?

Am I going to fight Iris?

I do feel sorry for Iris’ situation after hearing about her circumstances. I really do.

But that folly was done by people in the past.

Those who live in the present are not guilty of the crimes that their ancestors had committed.

It’s not even a revenge like that. Iris was just lashing out her own anger on those people.

So, can I just let her do that undisturbed?

Or should I maybe put a stop to Iris’s rampage right here and right now?

…… Is fighting Iris my only option here?

Or. Or maybe……

Do I want to help her out?

Even though it was something that took place in the distant past, it doesn’t erase all of humanity’s sins.

There are things that have been accumulated until now across history.

If we people were able to gain strength and survive by using the power of the Celestial Tribe after making the test subjects out of them……

It is actually a “sin” that was carved into our very cores.

It is something that can never be wiped away, no matter what we do or how hard we try to change that.

In a sense, Iris may have every right to purge humans from the face of the earth.

Therefore, it may not be wrong to cooperate with Iris in exacting her revenge.

「I……」

What am I supposed to do?

What should I do?

Which choice is the right one? And which is wrong?

「…………」

Think.

Think.

And so I thought long and hard about it.

What would be the right thing for me to do?

What would be the right thing to do in order to help Iris?

…… No, no. That’s not it.

If I keep on brooding over those things in the “Right” and “Wrong” categories, then I am never going to arrive at the answer.

The Celestial Tribe was betrayed by going down a path that they believed was right.

Humans have betrayed the Celestial Tribe by doing what was wrong.

So if I were to think of those things in the same categories, I might end up repeating the same kind of mistake.

So what I should be thinking about right now is……

What is it that I WANT to do?

I need to search inside of my own heart. Then I should be able to arrive at the answer.

「If possible, could I hear you answer right now, Rein-sama?」

「I……」.

I still don’t have an answer that I could give her.

In the meantime, Iris threw the following words my way.

「Do you think that this kind of thing could be forgiven?」

「…… No, I don’t think so.」

「Do you think my revenge is a wrong thing?」

「…… No, I don’t think so.」

「If so, then why don’t you just stay out of my way and let me do what I think is right?」

「……………」

I had no words that I could say to her in return to that question.

Iris then gave me a small smile.

「Please, there’s no need for you to worry. When I said to you that I have come to be quite fond of you, Rein-sama, that was the truth. Those are my honest feelings. Which is why, I do not intend to lay my hands on you, or your companions for that matter. After all, they are not humans, so they have nothing to do with my revenge. As the fellow Ultimate Species, I have no intentions of picking conflict with my own people. Well, there is one person who is an oddity, as she is a Ghost, but…… Oh well, let’s just let her be an exception that affirms the rule.」

「……………」

「How does that sound? Not all that bad of a proposition, if I do say so myself. Don’t you think?」

Yes, that sounds really good, indeed.

However……

「…… For how long do you intend to continue with your revenge, Iris?」

「Hmm, yes, that’s right. Let’s see……」

Iris said so and then she placed one of her fingers on her chin, seemingly deep in thought.

「Until the day I die, I suppose.」

As expected of her.
.
For her, the answer might have been completely natural.

For her, this might have been the only truth in the entire world.

Iris said those words without any kind of hesitation.

And now she was waiting for me to answer her.

But on the contrary, that certain determination of hers allowed my own determination to become even more strengthened.

Finally, I was able to find my answer.

「I…… What I want to do……」

「Yes, what is it, Rein-sama?」

「…… I’m sorry, but I cannot accept your proposition.

「Oh my.」

There was a haunting light in Iris’s eyes all of a sudden.

「…… You do not wish to accept my offer?　So, does that mean that you are going to fight me on this one? Does that mean that you want us to kill one another?」

「No, that’s not it, either.」

「What?」

Curiously, Iris paused while staring at me.

「I cannot allow you to do as you please, Iris. But at the same time, I do not wish for the two of us to kill each other.」

「What does that…… even mean?」

「I will stop you, Iris. I will stop you without killing you.」

「……………」

For some reason, Iris made a really disappointed face.

Then, she let out a sigh in disbelief.

「In a certain sense, I feel kind of amazed…… Rein-sama, could it be that you are unable to see the reality right in front of you?」

「Oh, believe me, I can see it quite clearly.」

「No. No, you do not see it. You can trust ME on that. You still want to make peace with me, don’t you?」

「I don’t want to. I will.」

「Haah…… Have you been listening to me properly?　If you’d listened properly, you’d at least know that reconciliation with me is impossible.」

「Yes, I admit that it could be tremendously difficult to achieve.」

「Then why……」

「But still.」

I interrupted Iris’ words and said in a strong tone.

Allow me to tell you my decision.

Allow me to tell you my exact thoughts.

I looked firmly into Iris’s eyes and spell out my thoughts…… forging them into words.

「I will not give up.」

「……………」

「I have no right to stop you from getting your revenge. If anything, I feel like Iris’s revenge is justified.」

「Well, In that case……」

「But still, it’s no good.」

「And what is so wrong about it? Could you tell me in such a way that I would be able to understand?」

「That’s because…… You are going to die, right, Iris?」

「……………」

There was no response.

That’s precisely what I meant.

「Iris, you only care about your revenge, not living your life. You think that as long as you can get revenge, everything else doesn’t matter…… Even your own life, right?　Isn’t that right?」

「I…… I’m not going to deny it.」

「Now, if you are sure of it and you know that this is the course that you are set on…… There is no way in hell that I can leave you alone and allow you to go down that course.

「Rein-sama, people like you are exactly the type……」

「If you only wanted revenge, I wouldn’t have stopped you from doing that. But if you are going to die for the sake of achieving your revenge, that’s where I need to step in and stop you. I will do whatever it takes to stop you. Because I don’t want you to die, Iris.」

I want Iris to live.

This is selfishness on my part, for sure.

Because I’m a selfish person.

Nevertheless.

I’m going to push through with that selfishness of mine, even if it goes against the wishes of the other party and stands in the way of their freedom.

Whether or not Iris’s revenge is the right thing to do.

It’s a difficult question and one that I can’t justify in one word.

But I think it’s wrong to let Iris die for the sake of something like that.

So I will do my best to resist it.

「Please pardon my rudeness, Rein-sama, but what right do you have to interfere with my life?」

「Well, I don’t have any such right.」

「Then, would you kindly stay out of it, please?」

「No, I won’t. Because you see, I’m a very selfish person.」

「……………」

Iris seemed about ready to start pouting at any moment now.」

「Fu…… Fufufu!」

But instead, she giggled happily.

「Truly, you are a very intriguing kind of person, Rein-sama. And maybe it’s that stubbornness of yours that I really like about you.」

「Well, I really appreciate it that you think so highly of me, Iris. It really makes me feel happy. But still, I have decided that I’m going to stop you from going down that path.」

「…… I understand.」

Iris pulled away from me at that very moment.

Then she stood up and turned away.

「I am really sorry to say this, but it would seem that there is no other way to solve this dispute of ours but to fight.」

「Yes, I suppose so. But still, we are not going to kill each other.」

「Oh my, oh my. You’re so sweet, Rein-sama. I won’t go easy on you, you know? Even though I like you so much.」

「Yes, I expected nothing less of you. But I’m not going to kill you, Iris. Even if my life was depending on it.

That was my decision.

I believed in those words, and I had hoped that they would resonate with Iris, even if only a little bit……

That is why I had to be so confident in them.

「Fufufu…… Do you think you can stop me?　Do you really think that you can stop me while keeping me alive, without us killing each other in the process?」

「It’s going to be extremely hard, but I promise you that I am going to make it work nonetheless.」

「Well then, I am looking forward to it.」

Iris laughed one last time……

And then she was gone.