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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 174

CHAPTER 174: RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER

Just like that, a week has already passed.

Sora and Luna’s training was completed, just like Aru-san said it would.

As a result of it, the two were able to successfully learn and master the Sealing Magic that we needed to seal Iris away.

And, just as promised, we were able to receive the Legendary Item from the Village Elder.

It was called “Crimson Tears”.

It was a gemstone of a deep, crystal-clear red color.

Now, even though it looked like a plain and ordinary gemstone, it was supposed to be a catalyst for casting powerful magic.

We have also been informed that it should be more than suitable enough of a vessel for the purpose of sealing Iris away.

We now had both the Sealing Magic and the vessel that would contain Iris inside of it. We had everything that we needed to confront Iris once again.

This also meant that we were all ready to go.

「Thank you very much for everything.」

Right away, we all moved towards the gate that connected the Spirit Tribe’s Village to the outside world.

I bowed my head to Aru-san and the Village Elder who came to see us off.

「Because of what’s going on in our village at all times, I’m afraid that I cannot actually go with you. But that being said, I’m more than sure that you will be able to pull the Sealing Magic off. I wish you good luck in your future struggles.」

「I don’t really care what happens to the Humans here, but, well…… Good luck with the sealing of that Celestial Tribe. But! Since you are bringing out one of the treasures of the Spirit Tribe’s village, I’m sure that you are bound to achieve whatever it is that you set out to do with splendid results!」

「Yes, sir.」

We even received encouragement from both of them, and that was in itself really motivating for us to push forward.

「We are going to stop Iris for sure.」

「Yes, that’s the spirit.」

With those parting words coming from Aru-san, we then left the Spirit Tribe’s village……

「…… You said your name was Rein, right?」

We were about to leave, when all of a sudden I was stopped by the words of the Village Elder, who approached me for some reason.

「Yes, what of it?」

「If there ever comes a time when you will feel as if you have lost your bearing in life, come visit our village again. Maybe I can help you answer at least some of the questions that you might have at that time.」

「Umm…… And what is that supposed to mean?」

「If you do not know what that means, then now is not the time for those questions to be answered. Just remember these words as you go on.」

Losing my bearings in life……

What kind of situation would that even be?

I was not sure what’s going on here, but…..

Those were the words of the Village Elder of the Spirit Tribe village.

I’m sure that there must be some deeper meaning behind those words.

So I firmly imprinted those words onto my heart.

***

Just like this, we were finally able to leave the Spirit Tribe’s village behind……

We left the cave at the foot of the mountain and we moved on to the ruins of the village of Pagos.

「Hmmm, it’s been a while since we last were here, huh?」

Kanade giggled as she was finally able to straighten her back.

Everyone else felt the same way, feeling the touch of fresh air on their skin for the first time in a long time.

「What are we going to do now?」

「Of course, we are going to find Iris.」

And then we will seal her away for good.

「I wonder where Iris even is?」

Tanya looked around lightly as she said that.

Of course, there is no way that we would be able to find Iris simply by blindly searching around.

There were only rundown houses lined up in front of us, and there was no one to be seen here but us.

「Could it be that she is still recuperating, hiding somewhere?

「I don’t know about that…… It’s been a week since then, so I feel like she should have healed her wounds and be ready to move out once more.」

When we fought before, we managed to deal a fair amount of damage to Iris, but……

The member of the Ultimate Species as powerful as Iris would be able to completely heal from injuries like that in a week’s time or so.

Considering that, it wouldn’t be surprising if she had already resumed her quest to seek revenge on humanity.
　
「For the time being, let’s just go back to Jizu village. Right now, that should be the front line, so we should be able to hear all the details of the current situation from the people stationed there.」

「Yeah.」

「Are you guys okay with that?」

「Roger that!」

Everyone nodded their heads, including Kanade.

Once I had the approval of the entire group, we headed towards Jizu village.

***

Due to the fast pace of our travel, we were able to reach the Jizu village in about half a day.

The village was the same as before when we left it…… No, that’s not it.

「Are there…… fewer people here than before?」

There should be original Jizu village inhsabitants here, as well as the refugees from the destroyed Pagos village.

Other than that, we could see that there were fewer Adventurers here than there were before.

Also, I couldn’t see the members of the main Strike Force anywhere.

And it would seem that the entirety of the main Strike Force was gone.

All of them couldn’t possibly fit inside the houses here, and they should be camping outside, but……

Their tents and the makeshift encampment was also nowhere to be seen.

I had a really bad feeling about this.

「Excuse me, do you have a moment to spare?」

I approached one of the Adventurers who was standing guard at the entrance to the village.

「Wasn’t there a group of Adventurers and Knights here who came here to slay Iris…… I mean, the Devil? Where are they now?」

「…… Hmm?　What, didn’t you guys know?」

The Adventurer explained to us what was going on, and his story was exactly what I was afraid of.

「There are some really old ruins just to the East of here. It was recently discovered that this is the place where the Devil lurks. Once they learned of that fact, the Strike Force moved out at once to subjugate the Devil.」

Yeah, it’s just as I thought!

「When exactly did that happen!?」

「What?　Hmm, that was about half a day ago or so……」

「I see…… Thank you for telling us!」

I cut the story short and went back to my party.

「Did they perhaps find Iris?」

「She is supposed to be inside some ruins to the East of here. However, it seems the Strike Force has already left there about half a day ago.」

I replied to Tanya’s question, looking and sounding all impatient.

「Wawah! B-But that’s bad! That’s really bad, nyah!?」

「How far is it from here to those ruins……?」

「I have only heard that it is about half a day from here.」

Nina’s question was answered by Tina as she crunched the lid of her kettle.

「About half a day, huh……? So it shouldn’t be too late for us, right……?」

「Yeah, if we hurry, we can still probably make it!」

「Everyone, let’s go outside of the village for now!」

It would seem that Tanya had something in mind.

At Tanya’s urging, we moved out of the village, out of everyone’s sight.

「Nya, what do we do now?」

「Here’s what we are going to do.」

Saying that, Tanya’s body shone bright and was then surrounded by blinding light.

Eventually, the light would grow larger and larger……

When the light finally stopped spreading and died down, a huge dragon appeared in front of us.

「Nyah…… Is that you, Tanya?」

「Come on, everyone! Climb onto my back!」

Tanya said as she barked in a loud voice.

「I see. That should allow us to catch up with the Strike Force!」

「But still…… Muuuh, it’s tough to ride like that. Hey, Tanya? Don’t you have some seats on your back or something? It would be much more comfortable that way.」

「I’m not a freaking carriage, you know!?」

Sora and Luna quickly climbed onto Tanya’s back.

Then Nina and Tina did the same.

Then it was my turn.

Finally, Kanade climbed onto Tanya’s back as well.

「Hold on tight, everybody!」

Tanya flapped her giant wings……

She then jumped up into the air at once.

「Whoa!」

She was going so fast!

It was like she was flying on the wind itself, and I was sure that if we were not holding onto her for dear lives, we would have ended up being thrown off of her back in a matter of seconds.

But that was only showing just how fast Tanya was flying.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be all that impossible for us to catch up with the main Strike Force.

For the first time in a while, there was something like a glimmer of hope shining for us.

「I’m counting on you, Tanya!」

「Yeah! Let me handle this and…… Hold on tight, guys!」

Tanya warned us all of a sudden, her voice laced with a sudden sense of urgency.

Reflexively, everyone clung onto Tanya’s scales.

Tanya made a sharp turn in the air.

Shortly after that……

A sharp line of light rushed through the place where we were earlier, at high speed.

「W-What the……!? What is going on, nya!?」

「T-This is……!?」

And once I looked down……

Ax and Cell were standing there.