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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 183

CHAPTER 183: FOR YOUR SAKE ALONE

The scaffolding under my feet started to collapse and various debris got sent into the air.

A large hole has been drilled in the floor right where we stood.

Iris was about to be swallowed up in it.

I……

「No! Iris, don’t do it!」

I ran towards Iris.

Whipping my screaming body into shape, I ran forward as fast as I could……

I grabbed Iris’s hand as she was about to fall into the bowels of the earth alongside the various debris.

「Gah!?」

「Rein-sama?」

I barely managed to hold Iris from falling down the seemingly bottomless pit.

I lay on my stomach on the floor, supporting myself with one hand while my other hand grabbed Iris as she was dangling in the air like some sort of rag doll.

The hole in the ground that Iris was about to fall into was so deep that I couldn’t see the bottom of it.

No matter how strong Iris might be as a member of the Ultimate Species, if she ends up falling there, there is no way that she would be able to survive that fall.

「What the hell are you doing, Rein-sama!? For you to try and save me……!?」

「Of course I’m going to save you!」

「I don’t know what you mean by that!　We are enemies, aren’t we!?　Why would you even try to save your enemy!? When I die, everything will come to an end!」

「How come that you are unable to comprehend something so simple!?」

Ahh, geez!

I know that Iris is a smart girl, but she’s so twisted that something so painfully obvious seems to be well beyond her comprehension.

How come she’s so incapable of understanding my intentions here?

Then, I guess that I will have to tell her that over and over again, until she finally understands me!

「I’m trying to save you, Iris!」

「Wha……?」

「You did not intend to stop with your vengeance, right? and surely at the end of that road, you were planning on taking your own life, right? That is why I was trying to stop you from going through with this! I wanted to seal you away so that you wouldn’t have to die a pointless death!」

「T-This is……」

「Because I want you to live, Iris! Because I can’t accept that you are going to die just like that! Things just cannot end that way…… I won’t accept such a sad outcome! That’s why I’m, so desperate here! That’s why I’m doing this!」

「……………」

Connected by one hand and floating in the air, Iris seemed to be thinking about the words that I just shouted to her.

Eventually, she chuckled slightly.

「Truly…… Your actions simply escape the frames of common sense, Rein-sama.」

「You would be surprised just how often I am hearing those exact words.」

「But it’s because of that, Rein-sama……」

…… that I find myself to be so attracted to you.

Iris said so in a quiet voice.

「Kuh……!」

I couldn’t muster all of my strength right now, because the entirety of my body seemed to be screaming in pain.

I couldn’t pull Iris up, and the best thing that I could do here right now was to simply prevent Iris from falling to her death.

Furthermore, the ruins were collapsing all around us.

The vibrations were getting louder and louder as debris would fall at greater quantities in different places.

From the looks of things, it would take about ten minutes for the entirety of the ruins to collapse……?

「Iris, come on! Come to me!」

「But……」

「You can’t just die here and be done with it…… That’s something I won’t allow!」

「Rein-sama……」

「When you die, it’s the end! There is nothing more! Everything will be gone! I know it’s not fair for me to be saying this, this but I’m sure Iris’s friends and family would like you to live, no matter what! They surely wouldn’t want you to waste your life away! So, for the sake of your family and your friends… Live, god damn it!!!!」

「Huh……!?」

Iris opened her eyes wide.

She then grabbed my hand tighter.

「And that’s alright!」

I tried to pull Iris up.

But I was still not strong enough to pull her up.

「Damn it…… Iris, you have to fly your way up……」

「I’m really sorry, Rein-sama, but…… I’m afraid that I also have no strength left in me anymore……」

「Alright, well…… Just hold on tight to my hand! I’ll take care of the rest!」

「Rein-sama, what are you……?」

「Yeah?」

「Why do you try to save me so much?」

「Well, I have lots of reasons to do so, but…… If I had to describe it in one sentence, it would be: because I’m human.」

「Because you’re human?」

「I just want you to live, Iris. That’s what I thought. I just wanted you to be alive and that’s how I felt.」

「But that’s…… That’s absurd…… There is no logic behind that reasoning……」

「Yeah, I know! and that’s what the human heart is all about!」

「The human…… heart……?」

Iris repeated my words, making a look that I have never seen before on her face.

「Kuh!」

Finally, the rumbling of the ruins had become more intense.

The ceiling was collapsing and the walls started to fall apart.

The hole in the floor was gradually getting bigger and bigger, and was about to swallow us up.

「Rein-sama, that’s enough……..! If you don’t let me go, you will surely……」

「Listen here! I am definitely…… going to save you! I came here because I wanted you to live, and I’m not going to give up on that after coming this far!」

「Rein-sama……」

Suspended in midair, Iris stared at me for a moment and……

Eventually, she smiled gently.

「You really are…… A strange individual, are you not?」

「Iris……?」

「I have never seen such a person try to help me before, Rein-sama. A foolish person. A naive person.」

「You can call me an idiot all you want, but that won’t make me stop doing what I’m doing!」

「Fufufu…… I could never say such a thing. It’s because…….. I’m very happy to see you feel that way, Rein-sama.」

Iris was still the same, smiling in a gentle and warm way.

What is it?

For some reason, I had a very bad feeling about this.

「It doesn’t matter if it is illogical, we just do what we think we should do…… That’s what the human heart is. It’s a little bit much, but I think that I am able to understand that concept.」

「What are you……!?」

「When I think about it, this is the first time I have ever done something like this……. to do something for someone else. I have lived for a very long time…… But this is really, really the first time I have ever done something like this……」

「Iris, what are you talking about?　More importantly, make sure that you hold on tight to my hand and……」

「Rein-sama.」」

Interrupting my words, Iris said in a strong tone.

「I want you to live, Rein-sama…… That’s what I think.」

「This is……」

「I have lived my life for the sole purpose of revenge up until now…… But to think that very last thing I had in mind was for you to be safe…… Fufu, very interesting, don’t you think?」

「Wait…… Wait! No! Don’t! Don’t you dare!」

I raised my voice, understanding what Iris was thinking right now.

But……

Iris had already made up her mind as to what her answer would be.

She was ready for it.

So there was nothing I could do to stop her……

「Rein-sama…… May I have one last selfish thing to say, right at the very end?」

「Don’t you dare to say “the end”!　Here, I am going to save you right away and……」

「If we happen to ever meet again…… Would you be willing to sign a contract with me then? Or could it be that you can’t sign a contract with someone as despicable as myself?」

「No! That’s not it! I will! I will…..!」

「Fufu, I’m glad.」

Iris laughed quietly……

…… and then she shook off my hand.

「…… Goodbye, my kind and gentle Beast Tamer……」

Iris’s body floated in the air for a moment……

And then it started to fall.

I reached out towards her, but I was unable to catch her.

「IRIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSS ————————!!!!!!!!!!!!」

Iris had a smile on her face up until the very last moment……

And just like that, she disappeared into the bowels of the earth.