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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 161 Part 1

CHAPTER 161: MY OWN WAY PART 1

「…… Fuh.」

The night breeze was so cool brushing against my skin.

I didn’t even realize it, but I was apparently sweating profusely this entire time.

I knew I’d be nervous to talk to Iris one-on-one like that, but it was only right after our talk was over that I have come to realize just HOW nervous I really was.

But at the very least I was able to get something out of this conversation.

Until now, I didn’t know much about Iris, and there was a part of me that wasn’t sure of my own feelings towards her.

I was feeling somehow lost in the middle of all those things.

But right now I was no longer lost or anything like that.

I needed to believe in the path that I have chosen and just push forward that way.

「But I don’t know if everyone will agree with the decision that I have made……」

「Who is this everyone that you are talking about?」

「Well, that of course would be……」

All of a sudden, I was drenched in cold sweat.

I have become nervous once again, although right now I did that for an entirely different reason than before.

「That voice…… Is that you, Tanya?」

「Nyah! And I’m here, too!」

「So is Sora.」

「And so is Luna!」

「I…… I’m here as well.」
.
「And don’t forget about yours truly!」

It would seem that my entire party managed to come here to my side without me even realizing that fact.

And since it was already nighttime, Tina was floating around in the air in a fluffy fashion instead of possessing the kettle.

「Why are you guys even……?」

「Did you honestly think that you could sneak out of the inn completely unnoticed by everyone?」

「…… Yeah, I guess so.」

I might have been able to fool Sora, Luna and Nina, but it would be impossible to ‘sneak out’ in such a way that both Kanade and Tanya would not even realize what was going on.

And also there is the matter of Iris making her appearance here once more. There was no way that they, as the fellow Ultimate Species, would not be able to feel the presence of someone as strong and powerful as Iris.

「You really thought that we would simply ignore that outrageous presence that appeared in the village completely out of the blue?」

By “outrageous presence” you mean Iris, am I correct?

「Was it really all that obvious?」

「Not really. Her power was brought down to the level where you wouldn’t even notice her in the first place if you weren’t paying attention.」

「But once you become conscious of its presence, it’s really hard not to notice it.」

Kanade said, looking somewhat angry.

I have no idea why she would even be angry at me in this situation, but……

Oh well, I guess it’s best not to really think about it all that much.

After all, I most probably could fathom a guess as to why they were all so angry with me: it was because I have snuck out on my own just so that I could meet with Iris.

「Rain, Rain! Are you okay?　Did she do anything to you?　Do you still have your arms and legs where they should be?」

「I-It’s nice that you worry about me like that, but as you can see, I am unharmed and Iris did nothing to me…… I still have both my arms and legs, and I’m not injured in any other way.」

「Nyafuuh…… That’s a relief……」

「So…… Mind explaining to us what were you doing with that Celestial Tribe just now?」

Tania turned her sharply squeezed eyes on me as she asked me that question in a rather inquisitive tone.

At the same time, everyone else turned their eyes towards me, doing precisely what Tanya did just now.

This situation…… It doesn’t seem that I am going to be able to get out of it so easily, huh?

「W-Well actually……」

So I had no other choice but to tell everyone what this whole Iris ordeal was all about. Without hiding or omitting anything.

***

「I…… I see…… So that’s why……」
　
Everyone else seemed to have more or less of the same reaction.

I could see their sympathy for Iris in their eyes.

「But still, I don’t think that what Iris is doing is right.」

Moments later, Tanya said so to herself as if to cut through her own hesitation.」

Nina, on the other hand, looked really sad.

「Tanya, don’t you…… Don’t you feel sorry for her? Even a little bit……?」

「…… I do, as a matter of fact. I know that it is technically someone else’s business, but I just…… I can’t help it but to feel angry at myself for their sake. At least a part of me feels that way.」

「T-Then……」

「But still, what Iris is trying to do here is just plain old wrong. There is no such thing as right when your goal is to eradicate an entire species just like that. And killing people back then, or killing people right now, has nothing to do with it.」

Tanya said in a way as if she was trying to reassure not only us, but herself as well.

With those words of hers, I…..

「Regardless, I’m sure that’s not the kind of logic that could stop Iris from doing what she is doing any longer.」

「She…… can no longer be stopped……?」

Nina said so in a mixture of both sad and frustrated tone.

I patted Nina’s head and told her what I thought of Iris’s state of mind.

「For Iris, it doesn’t really matter of it’s the past or the present. She just indiscriminately lumps all humans together and hates them all the same for betraying the Celestial Tribe and murdering her friends…… Not to mention, for killing and taking her family away from her.」

「But…… the people who were so cruel towards Iris and the Celestial Tribe…… They are no longer here, right……?」

「But even so, Iris can’t stop what she has set out to do. Or rather, she WON’T stop.」

「Why…… is that……?」

「I can’t really explain it in words all that great, but…… It’s because there are many things about the human heart that cannot be divided by logic, you see.」

「Hmm…… Maybe you’re right.」

She seemed to be convinced in her own way that what she was doing was the right thing, and yet she still had that sad look on her face. It was a mistake that I didn’t ask her any more questions. That I didn’t pursue the matter further.

「Nyah…… So, what do we do now?」

「Obviously, we are going to fight her, no?」

At Kanade’s question, Tanya. made a rather difficult face.

「I mean, yeah, but still…… It’s going to be a rather difficult fight. And we can’t possibly expect that it will go nearly as well as that last one. It would be more than foolish for us to assume so.」