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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 178 Part 2

CHAPTER 178: THOSE WHO HIDE INSIDE OF THE RUINS PART 2

「Sora is really worried about you, Rein! You tend to be overly reckless, and you don’t even realize that yourself!」

「I want you to to think long and hard before you act rashly, okay?」

「H-Hang in there…… Okay?」

「I’m rooting for you!　Also, I’ll be there to help you out if you need anything else!」

With everyone cheering me on like that, all of a sudden I felt strangely empowered.

I’m going to make this mission a success for sure!

***

The space in front of the ruins became more noisy by the second now.

Perhaps the diversion carried out by Kanade and Tanya had officially begun.

Their current opponents were going to be both Adventurers and the Knights of the Order. Some of those people, we might have even fought alongside with in the past.

So I really hope that the girls won’t take things too far with their actions……

「I mean…… This is hardly the time for me to be actually worried about other people here.」

Before I can worry about others, I need to make sure that I can take care of myself, first and foremost.

Because if I fail here, the whole Iris is going to be a bust, and the casualties are going to be numerous.

「And besides……」

As I entered the ruins themselves, I was struck with a rather strange sensation.

I felt like I couldn’t put any strength into my body, and I couldn’t force it to move properly, no matter what I tried to do.

「“Boost”.」

I tried to cast my physical abilities enhancing spell, but……

「…… Nothing, huh?」

Nothing ended up happening.

No matter how many times I tried to cast it, my magic would simply not go into effect.

Just like Sora and Luna said, it seems that I was unable to use magic spells and abilities within the ruins’ confines.

On top of that, it seemed that my physical abilities were going to be limited to some extent as well.

The power I got from the contract with Kanade was also limited……

The way that I was right now, I was only a little bit above the average person, I guess?

「Well, this is bad.」

I don’t know if I will be able to take Iris on in this situation, even if I happen to find her.

「…… But if that’s the case here, then what about you, Iris? Are you perhaps affected by the ruins as well?」

But if that was indeed the case here, then where exactly was she hiding?

To me, coming here was more or less synonymous with driving herself into the proverbial corner more than anything else.

「Oh well, I guess I will just have to ask her about it once I manage to find her.」

Just like that, I headed deeper and deeper into the ruins.

Fortunately enough, their layout was not all that complicated, so I didn’t actually get lost in them or anything like that.

Soon after that thought, I managed to emerge into a large hall of some sort.

Was that perhaps…… a Throne Room of some sort? It certainly looked that way to me.

At the back of the room, there was something that bore a huge resemblance to what I assumed would be a desolated and ruined throne.

It was there that I was finally able to spot the figure of Iris.

「Good day to you, Reine-sama.」

「You look much better than I thought you would, Iris.」

「Yes. You see, a certain persistent gentleman gave me a really hard time, but I’m feeling much better now after getting some much needed beauty sleep.」

「Well, what a coincidence. We actually also had a really hard time with some persistent woman, and she really made our lives much more difficult than they needed to be.」

「Fufu.」

Iris chuckled slightly.

There was no hidden meaning behind that smile and giggle of hers.

It was just as if she just happened to hear something really amusing.

「Fufu, you really are quite a unique person, aren’t you, Rein-sama?」

「Hm?　Where did that come from, all of a sudden?」

「Because we tried to kill each other before, remember?　And yet, here we are, talking to one another like this in such a swallowing manner, as if nothing had happened. Normally, you would think that a reunion of this nature would invoke a little bit more…… rancor, let’s say?」

「Well, now that you mentioned it…… I guess that this really might be true, but, well…… Let’s say that I had hopes that it wouldn’t come to this. At least not right away. Or rather, I had my reasons for believing that it won’t be like that.

「A reason? Can I ask you what that reason is?」

「Because no matter what, I just can’t bring myself to hate or despise you, Iris.」

「……………」

For a moment out there, Iris’s jaw was left hanging wide open……

「Ahahaha!」

And then, she burst out laughing.

「You really are a truly strange person, Rein-sama…… To think that you would be able to say something like that to me, a creature that proclaimed itself to be the absolute enemy of the entire humankind…… Not to mention that you are not lying out of desperation here, but rather speaking from the bottom of your heart…… Fufufu. I’m becoming more and more interested in you by the moment, Rein-sama.」

「Yes, and while I would love for us to just stay here and talk about many different things, I’m sorry. I’m afraid that I cannot do that. We simply don’t have time for that.」

「Are you perhaps talking about the people gathered outside of those ruins?」

「Did you notice them?」

「Why, of course. They were making so much noise, like annoying little flies, so it was hard not to notice them.」

Iris said, her voice tinged with annoyance.

But, hmm…… so she DID notice them.

But if that is indeed so, then it’s even more strange.

Why is Iris holed up in the depths of the ruins where she can’t use her magic and her abilities should be severely limited?

「You look as if you were wondering why I am here.」

「How did you know?」

「Oh, you are just so straightforward, Rein-sama. It’s so easy to know what you’re thinking at any given moment.」

「Is that so……?」

Occasionally, people have said something similar to this to me.

Should I undergo some sort of training because of that? A training that will allow me to maintain my poker face?

「But oh well, I really think that being so simple and straightforward is part of your charm, Rein-sama…… So please, stay just like that and never change.」

「I’m not really sure if I should take that as a compliment, or maybe as a ridicule.」

「Fufufu. Rest assured. That was indeed a compliment.」

Iris gave a small laugh and continued, her expression changing to a sharp one.

「But well, since you are already here, I might as well answer any questions that you might have for me, Rein-sama.」

「That’s a very generous offer.」

「That is why I am a very generous person at heart, didn’t you know? And of course, I won’t ask for anything in return for my answers, so rest assured about that.」

「Well then, since you are offering, let me take you up on that offer of yours: why are you here, Iris?」

「The answer to that question is fairly simple: this is a place where we can use our powers to the best of our abilities. Because this place is the ruins of the Celestial Tribe capital.」