3 bar menu

Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 166

CHAPTER 166: ‘TIS I!

We moved to the base of the mountain and found a small cave there.

It was hidden by tall grass and trees, and the entrance was in a place that was not obvious at first glance at all.

「It’s so small here……」

「Nyah!? Who touched my tail just now!?」

「I’m sorry, it was me. Of course it was nothing more but an accident.」

「So…… It was totally on purpose.」

It was hard for us to venture deeper into the cave, as it felt like there was just barely enough space for one person to walk through at any given time.

Even so, there was no turning back for us, as Sora and Luna said that there was definitely a path leading to the Spirit Tribe’s Village at the back of this cave.

So we proceeded carefully forward, being careful not to get ourselves injured.

And so we walked forward for about an hour or so……

Right about now we should have been reaching the very depth of the cave.

「This place is……」

The deepest part of the cave was unlike anything we had ever seen before, and it was so large that we couldn’t believe that this was actually inside of a cave.

It was large enough for us to be able to actually perform some sports activities if we really wanted to, and high enough for us to not to worry about hitting our head into the ceiling.

「I wonder if this is actually some natural formation?」

「Hmm…… No, I don’t think it is. At least, it would be really hard to imagine. How often do you get such a perfect spherical shape so deep underground?」

As Tanya asked that question, Tina shared her insight onto the subject at hand.

I had to agree with Tina here.

The shape of this space here was way too regular and way too beautiful to be something that was formed naturally. So this had to be a man-made space for sure.

No, that’s not it.

To be more precise, this had to be created by the hands of the Spirit Tribe, right?

「Is this supposed to be the entrance to the Spirit Tribe’s village?」

「Umu. That’s right.」

「But that’s funny. I don’t actually think there are any guards stationed here.」

Sora was right about that, as there was no one in sight.

But was there really no gatekeeper here?

Or could it actually be that we were just unable to see them? This could always be a possibility here.

Especially since I was feeling this weird kind of oppression in the air.

That, and there was also…… a feeling of someone looking at me.

It was the kind of feeling as if someone was staring at me rather intently, and it was the kind of feeling that would not simply go away on its own.

「Sora, are you absolutely sure that there’s no one else here?」

「What?」

「What’s going on, Rein? As you can see, there’s no one here at all.」

「Yeah, but I think…… You know, I think I have got this weird feeling about this place.」

「FUMUH. THE MAN PASSED THE EXAM WITH FLYING COLORS.」

「What!?」

Suddenly a voice rang out all around us.

I looked around in a hurry, but there was no one else here but us.

And yet……

The voice continued to speak.

「I THOUGHT THAT I DID A REALLY GOOD JOB WITH MASKING BOTH MY APPEARANCE AND PRESENCE, BUT YOU WERE STILL ABLE TO SENSE ME HERE…… ON THAT FRONT, LET ME COMMEND YOU. AS FOR THE GIRLS AROUND YOU…… FOR THEM TO NOT EVEN NOTICE ME EVEN THOUGH I WAS SO CLOSE TO THEM, THAT’S QUITE SHAMEFUL.」

「T-That voice……?」

「Mother!?」

Sora and Luna shouted in surprise.

As if reacting to that response, the space in the center of the cave shook a little, like a mirage.

What appeared from within that mirage was a figure of a Spirit Trib member with wings of light sprouting from her back.

That woman was short and small, as if she was an even more compact version of both Sora and Luna.

She looked like a child to me, but……
.
But strangely enough, I didn’t feel the aura of a child coming from her.

It was a weird contradiction, but that person felt much older than anyone else that was currently in the room.

She had flax-colored hair.

Her skin was pale-white.

Her eyes were positively sparkling.

She looked just like Sora and Luna to a certain extent.

If someone told me that she was actually their triplet sister, I would definitely believe that claim.

But I knew that she was not their sister at all.

She was their mother.

「Mother……」

Luna rolled her eyes in disbelief.

「‘tis I.」

Seeing their daughters’ surprise, Sora and Luna’s mother nodded her head, looking somewhat satisfied.

「Long time no see, my dear girls. How have you been?」

「U-Umu. We were doing good. Right, Sora?」

「Y-Yes. As you can see, we’re doing fine, but……」

「That’s good to hear. I was worried when I heard you had abandoned your duties as the gatekeeper for the merit of going to see the outside world, but it seems that you have met a good match for you.」

Saying that, Sora and Luna’s mother cast a quick glance my way.

She seemed to have some idea of what exactly our relationship was, at least to a certain extent.

There’s no way that they could talk to her beforehand about it, so……

Maybe she observed us when we entered this place and came up with an answer right away.

She seemed to be a really quick thinker.

「Umm……」

「Are you perhaps their guardian, young man?」

「No. I’m not their guardian, we are companions. My name is Rein Shroud. I’m an Adventurer.」

「My name is Kanade.」

「I’m Tanya.」

「M-My name is…… N-Nina……」

「Tina Holly, at your service, ma’am. I might look like a kettle right now, but I am actually a Ghost.」

Everyone greeted Sora and Luna’s mother in turn.

「Hoo, what’s this……? The Cat Spirit Tribe and the Dragon Tribe. And we even have the God Tribe, all together in one place. And a ghost as well…… Hmm, this is an unusual Party you have here for sure. And they all seem to be connected to each other with this boy at the center.」

「You say that as if you were able to see it all.」

「That’s just a theory that I just came up with. Please correct me if I’m wrong here, but each and every single one of you here would be ready to move at a moment’s notice to protect the boy from harm, right? So, that is why I just thought that the boy might be the center of you all. A simple deduction, don’t you think?」

She seemed to be a really smart person.

「Umm……」

「Oh yes, that’s right. Come to think of it, I haven’t even introduced myself to you yet, right? I’m terribly sorry about that.」

When I wasn’t sure what to call this person, Sora and Luna’s mother bowed her head as if to apologize for her rudeness just now.

「My name is Aru, and I am Sora and Luna’s mother. I also serve as the gatekeeper of the entrance to the Spirit Tribe’s village here.」

「Okay. Aru-san……」

「You can just call me Aru-chan. No need for formalities.」

It’s true that if it were talking about just the matter of appearance, I think the ‘-chan’ designation would be appropriate here, but…….

As expected, I can’t call Sora and Luna’s mother in such a way. It would be largely disrespectful.

「Aru-san……」

「What? So that’s how it’s going to be? How boring. I personally think that I’m still relatively young, but…… Don’t you think so too, Sora and Luna?」

「Mother is Mother to me. And surely you are wise enough to know that you need to act appropriately to your age.」

「I mean, I know that we are more than one hundred years old at this point, but it’s a bit of a stretch to call my own Mother in the same way I am referring to Sora and my other friends.」

「Muguuh…… I can see that the two of you have managed to grow quite some cheeky mouths during the time we last saw each other.」

Aru-san pouted her cheeks childishly.

She was so mature, but she was acting so childishly……

I had no idea how exactly I should even be approaching her.

「But anyways.」

「Fuwah!?」

「Hyah!?」

Aru-san hugged Sora and Luna close to her chest.

As it was, she put her face close to theirs, soaking in their warmth.

「I’m relieved to see you’re doing well.」

「…… Mother……」

「…… Mom……」

Tears welled up in Sora and Luna’s eyes.

「It looks like you were in a lot of trouble when I wasn’t around. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you. But I’m glad to see you’re doing so well regardless of that.」

「Ugh.」

「…… High!」

Finally, as if they couldn’t hold back their feelings anymore, Sora and Luna burst into tears.

Just like that, they both hugged Aru-san really tight……

「How about we give them some privacy for the time being?」

「Yeah, I guess so.」

Everyone nodded their heads to my suggestion, including Kanade.

We then watched as the three of them spent some quality mother-daughters time together.