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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 185

CHAPTER 185: IN THE DEPTHS OF DARKNESS

I was lying on my back…… and then I slowly woke up.

「……???」

Where am I? What is this place?
　
I understood that this was some sort of room……

…… But there was hardly any light in it.

The windows were open, and moonlight streamed into the room, illuminating it ever so slightly.

I could see a row of glittering, ornate furniture all over the place.

Other artworks such as paintings and sculptures were also there.

There were also swords and armor on display in the corners.

It was probably the room of some human aristocrat. That was my guess here.

However, there was no sign of human presence anywhere nearby.

To be more accurate, there was no sense of life around me.

Why am I even here, in a place like this?

Wondering about that, as I tried to sit up……

「Ugh…… Ahh!!」

I felt an intense pain in many places all over my body.
　
I couldn’t help but let out a short and quiet scream of pain.

「Haah…… Haah……」

The pain was so unbearable and I felt as though I was about to pass out from it at any moment now and fall onto the floor.

What the hell was that pain just now……?

「Yeah, I would refrain from making any sudden movements like that if I were you, you know?」

Suddenly, a voice rang out across the room.

There should have been no sign of a human presence in this room, but……?

I forced myself to sit up, ignoring the pain once again.

And then, when I turned around……

There was a woman standing right there.

「Oh my! Are you able to actually get yourself up, even while being in that poor condition? That’s actually great!」

My guess was that this woman was in her mid-twenties at best.

She was tall and had a clear, well-defined body.

That being said, she was wearing some very revealing clothes, as if she was used to selling her body out there on the streets.

And then…… The thing that was catching the most attention about her was her eyes.

Her eyes were blood red in color.

When I looked at them, I just couldn’t help myself but to feel as if I was getting sucked into them ……

It was a very strange kind of a feeling.

「You…… You’re not human, are you?」

「Correct. Was it really that obvious?」

「No. It’s only because…… You don’t have that nasty human smell on you that I hate so much.」

Once I managed to get up, my body gradually got used to the pain.

Or at the very least, it was no longer so unbearable that it made it impossible for me to move.

Granted, the pain was still there when I would make even the smallest of moves, but at the very least I was no longer chained down by it.

I couldn’t bring myself to show this woman that I was weak and vulnerable right now, so I forced myself to stand up.

「Whoa there. You shouldn’t push yourself like that.」

The woman said such a thing as if she was able to gaze right into the very depths of my mind.

「Isn’t it hard for you to just stand up right now? How about you have a seat right over there?」

「……………」

I was trying really hard to get a read on that woman from her words alone.

But I was unable to do that.

That woman seemed genuinely concerned about me, and……

And yet, it was like she was making an observation to see how far she could push me.

「Well then, since you are so graciously offering, I will take you up on that offer.

If she could see right past me like that, then there was no point in me pretending to be strong.

Also, it was true that I was still in what was basically agonizing pain, so being offered to sit down like that was literal godsent.

「So then…… Who are you supposed to be?　That smell on you isn’t human, but rather…… It’s demonic, isn’t it?」

「Oh, dear. How do you know that much?」

「I can just sense things like that. You would do well to not underestimate me too much.」

「Fufu…… I’m sorry for that. I didn’t intend to do so, but it looks like I unknowingly did something to offend you.」

Oh yeah? I wouldn’t be so sure of that.

Because surely enough, this woman was capable of lying through her teeth as naturally as she breathed.

I wondered just how much I could really trust her.

「My name is Risu. And just like you said, I’m a Demon.」

「So you are going to admit it just like that?」

「I don’t believe that there is any point in hiding it right now.」

「It’s good that you’re honest about it, but is it really okay for you to admit that you are a Demon just like that? Aren’t the Demons supposed to be the natural enemies of all living things?」

「Well, yes. But…… You do not count in that category anymore, right?」

「……………」

「I’m sure you and I can build a good relationship between ourselves from now on. That’s what I thought, so I honestly revealed myself to you as a Demon.」

「…… What are you expecting from me?」

「Nothing. For now, at the very least.」

The Demon woman laughed.

She might have been using some sort of magic to disguise herself as human up until now, but……

Her smile was so malevolent that it was hard to believe that she was human, even with that camouflage.

「Why did you save me?」

I’m almost certain that it was this woman that saved me from my perilous situation.

However, I did not understand why she would even want to do such a thing.

Originally, the Demons were supposed to be the nemesis of every single living creature in this world……

「You could say that I did that in hopes of recruiting you.」

「Recruiting me? You want me to be a pawn of the Demons, is that it?」

「Hmm, close, but not quite. I can’t have someone as good as you to serve the purpose of a mere pawn. You see, I’m trying to form a partnership here with you.」

「Partnership, you say?」

Could I really trust a Demon when it was saying something like that?

With each passing moment, more and more questions would pop up inside of my mind.

However, it was an undeniable truth that this Demon saved me from a certain death.

So maybe actually listening to what she had to say would not be so bad of an idea?

「You see…… I have been watching this entire thing unfold from the shadows. And man…… I did not expect such a result! It was actually amazing to see that a mere human was able to take you down like that. You know, I was so shocked and surprised that I almost gave in to those nasty intrusive thoughts and almost left you to die there.」

「You were watching this entire time?」

「Well, duh! You know it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to help you just in the nick of time as I did!」

「…… I believe that peeping on someone is in extremely bad taste.」

「Welp, sorry if knowing that made you feel uncomfortable.」

The woman then gave me a very theater-like bow.

「Haah…… That’s enough. More importantly, what do you want me to do?」

「Yeah, about that……」

「Could it be, you can’t actually answer me that unless we form a bond of partnership? With that kind of attitude, I cannot possibly agree to anything that you would like me to do for you.」

「Hmm, I see, I see.」

「So, tell me what you want from me first. Then we can talk about whether or not I am going to help you.」

「Fine by me.」

The woman laughed again.

This time, it was a laugh that was laced with a tinge of madness.

「You do know what the general purpose of us Demons is, don’t you?」

「You Demonkind do not have a “purpose” in the individual sense, right? So if I had to choose one thing, I would say that your general purpose is to follow the Demon Lord. That’s the purpose of you, the Demonkind.」

「Yes, that’s correct. We are ordered by the Demon Lord to act according to its wishes. And as such, the goal of the Demon Lord is to…… eradicate the human race. No, the incineration of the human race. That is our first and utmost priority.」

「I know that fact.」

「However, the current Demon Lord is still in its dormant state, and it doesn’t maintain its proper consciousness. Therefore, we won’t be able to carry out its will until that state changes. Or rather, if we choose to act on our own, it might get angry with us later and we might get cruelly punished. In fact, there have been such cases in the past. Well, if it’s only for a little while and not on a huge scale, then there’s generally no problem, but after all, we are not allowed to make any big moves of our own volition.

「That’s an interesting story.」

「It’s just that……」

The woman……… Risu laughed.

「You see, I’m someone who you people might call a contrarian. When people tell me that I shouldn’t do something, it only makes me want to do it even more. Because I don’t know when the Demon Lord will wake up, wouldn’t it be boring to sit around on my ass and wait for that to happen?　So I want to play to some extent in the meantime, to make the waiting period a little bit more tolerable, you know?」

「So……?」

「I said I wanted to play and fool around, but I’m not that strong, you see. If I was alone, I’d get beaten up pretty quickly if I would get to some…… minor mischief here and there. That’s why I need a strong companion. That’s why I saved you.」

「……………」

「As a demon, my purpose is the same as the will of the Demon Lord. I want to kill humans. We have the same interests in this regard, don’t we?」

「This is……」

For some reason, I couldn’t answer her right away.

I hate humans.

They are the object of my revenge.

But the image of that man came to my mind at that exact moment……

And so, my hatred didn’t burn with as much passion as it did before.

「Well, for the time being, the first order of priority is to heal those wounds of yours. You don’t have to answer me right now. Just take your time and get back to full health.」

And with that being said, Risu disappeared from my sight as if she just happened to melt into the surrounding darkness.

I was left alone and I gently put my hand on my chest.

If I accept the bait of that woman, I can continue to take my revenge on humans…… So why am I not happy with that?　Has something changed in me?　If that’s the case, then it would be because of Rein-sama……

I walked to the window and stared at my reflection in the glass.

「What do you want to do now…… Iris?」