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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 188

CHAPTER 188: HOMECOMING AFTER A LONG ABSENCE

「We are back~~!!!」

Kanade shouted loudly, while smiling brightly from one ear to another.

Now that the Iris case was done and over, we were able to finally return to Horizon……

So, in other words, we were able to go back home.

We might have been away from our home for about a month or so, but……

That was only physically. Because psychologically, that time felt WAY longer than a month.

It was only proof that so many things ended up happening so fast one right after another.

「Nyafuuh! I’m first one home~!♪」

「Ah, hey! Wait just a moment!」

Kanade entered the house in good spirits, followed by Tanya.

「I see that everyone is doing well, huh?」

「Don’t sound like an old man! Even Rein is still young here, isn’t he?」

「But the current Rein feels more like a grandfather watching over his grandchildren, you know?」

Sora and Luna exchanged remarks between themselves like that.

Seriously now?

Am I really like a Grandfather in their eyes……?

「There…… there.」

Nina patted me on the head, sensing that I was getting more and more depressed by the moment.

I won’t lie, that sensation was a little bit soothing.

「Hey, come on now! Let’s stop standing in front of the door like that. Let’s go inside already, Master.」

「Yeah, you’re right.」

The rest of us then followed Kanade and Tanya into the house.

「Fuh.」

The kettle on top of Nina’s head made a buzzing sound as she entered the house.

From there, Tina appears in front of us in her usual maid’s outfit.

She must have been able to go outside of the kettle now that she was finally inside the house.

「Finally, I’m able to go outside! It’s a weird sensation being stuck inside of the kettle all the time like that.」

「I wonder…… how exactly…… that feels……?」

「But come to think of it, isn’t the house just like a kettle, but bigger? Something like that?」

「Hmm…… Hmm?」

Nina tilted her head slightly, as if she didn’t quite understand what Tina was saying here.

After laughing at Nina like that, Tina floated up in a fluffy way.

And then…… Her eyes opened wide.

「Ah!」

「What’s wrong, Tina?」

「Oh my gosh! Just look at all this dust! The entire house is practically covered in it!

Tina was right, there was dust all over the house, as far as the eye could see.

Well, I guess it was something that couldn’t be helped.

That’s what happens when you have been out of the house for a month and haven’t done anything when it comes to maintenance and cleaning.

「Well, I wanted all of us to take it easy for the time being, but it looks like we are going to do some much needed cleaning first before anything else.」

「Cleaning…… Yeah, I’ll do my best.」

Nina was really enthusiastic to start cleaning, but……

「No way. You two stay put.」

For some reason, Tina stopped us from doing a thing.

「Cleaning around the house is supposed to be my duty. You must be tired from all of that traveling and fighting you did recently, right, Master Rein? Nina? I will clean up the living room in a flash, and you can rest there then.」

「No, I understand what you mean, but that doesn’t work like that, you know? I can’t push all of the work on Tina alone.」

「It’s really okay, Master Rein. I have spent most of my life as a maid, so I am pretty proficient at cleaning. Besides, I’m not getting tired like you humans do because I am a Ghost, so there’s no problem.」

「But still……」

「Yes, yes. it’s alright. Now, please have a seat and relax for the time being.」

Tina magically maneuvered the broom around and quickly cleaned the chairs with said broom……

Then she made Nina and I sit on the chairs while she got ready there.

「Well then, let’s get started, shall we?」

Before we could intervene, Tina began to clean up on her own.

Using her magic power, she operated multiple cleaning tools at the same time.

Flapping the dust off the shelves and other surfaces with extreme proficiency……

Then she swept the floor with a broom.

Then she wiped the floor with a wet rag.

「Oh yeah. That should cover the entirety of the living room.」

It was actually amazing.

In the blink of an eye, Tina made the entirety of the living room shiny and spotless.

Even if we wanted to lend her a hand here, there was literally nothing else for us to do at the current moment.

「Tina…… You’re amazing. Clap, clap, clap.」

Nina was also as impressed as I was.

「I would also like to clean up everyone’s rooms, but it looks like everyone is resting for the time being…… So next, I’m going to make the kitchen nice and spotless as well. Then there will be the bathroom and, if there’s time left, the garden. I’m getting all fired up to do this!」

Could it be that it was at times like this when Tina’s soul of a true maid was allowed to shine the brightest?

Being so motivated to do this, Tina proceeded to clean some more with great enthusiasm.

***

It has been about two hours since Tina started cleaning?

There were still our individual rooms that needed cleaning at a later point in time, but……

The rest of the house seemed to be pretty much done, and every single room was shiny and clean.

「Great work out there.」

「Ah, Master Rein.」

After Tina was done with her cleaning, I greeted her back inside of the living room.

Nina, by the way, started to sway groggily from one side to another some time ago, so I told her that she should probably go to her room and rest for the rest of the day.

I guess she must have been as tired as everyone else was, if not even more.

「Thank you for your hard work, Tina. Thanks to you, everything looks nice and spotless now.」

「Haha, I’m a little embarrassed when you say it like that.」

「And I’m really sorry. We ended up pushing all of the work onto your shoulders without even lending you a hand to help.」

「Oh, please don’t worry about that. Didn’t I tell you? I used to be a maid when I was alive, so doing this much is really fine with me.」

Tina folded her hands on her chest and puffed out her cheeks with a slight scowl.

While staring at me, she talks about the thoughts in her heart.

「You chose to accept me the way I am, Master Rein, in spite of the fact that I am a Ghost, and you treated me as if I was a member of your family. That made me really happy, you know? And besides, you avenged my grudge and I owe you more than I could possibly count. That’s why I always felt that I wanted to do something for Master Rein, to return all of that favors…… So really now, don’t worry about it.」

「I mean, even if you say that……」

Tina might have said so, but……

But we couldn’t possibly force everything onto her shoulders like that.

Because Tina was not our maid. She was our dear friend.

Seemingly seeing through my hesitation, Tina opens her mouth after thinking about it for a bit.

「Hmm, well then…… Would you like to help me make dinner, Master Rein? It’s been a long time since we have been home, so I was thinking of making tonight’s meal a little more luxurious than before. But it is going to be a little bit difficult for me to do it all by myself, so……」

「Yeah, sure. I will be more than happy to do that.」

「Fufu, much appreciated.」

And that was how I got to cook together with Tina.

We stood side by side in the kitchen.

When it comes to me, I am not bad at cooking, but I am not also all that great at it.

Not to mention that I was a man, so my cooking…… Yeah, it might actually lack some of that finesse and sophistication.

That is why I wanted Tina to take the lead here.

I decided to be nothing more but an assistant here.

「Oh, can you pass the salt over there?」

「Here you go.」

「Great.」

「Tina, how much do I have to stir this?」

「Hmm, just enough to make it a little bit thicker, I suppose? Just drop the chopsticks into the mixture and see if it forms strings the moment you pull it out.」

「Yes, ma’am.」

I followed Tina’s instructions and we proceeded to cook without interruption.

「Funfu~~n♪」

I looked to the side and I could see Tina right next to me, humming some melody in a good mood.

What can I possibly say about that……

This situation made us look exactly like a pair of newlyweds.

But I couldn’t possibly talk about something so embarrassing with Tina.

Also, Tina might actually feel revolted by this idea.

「Oh, you know what, Master Rein?」

「Yeah?」

Suddenly, Tina looked at me.

Her cheeks were tinged with a slight hint of pink.

「I don’t know what else I can say here…… I mean, this doesn’t mean all that much, but……」

「Hm? What is it?」

「Umm, well, this is just…… When we do things like that…… Doesn’t it seem like we are a pair of newlyweds?」

「Huh?」

「Oh!　No, no, no, no, no, no, no!　It’s nothing! It’s nothing, really! Please pretend you didn’t hear me say that!」

Tina’s face turned bright red with embarrassment.

She then held her head with both of her hands, all the while leaking some pretty illegible noises from her mouth without stopping.

「Uwaaah!!! What a thing to say! How could I even say something like that!? I’m so ashamed…… Hawawawah, I can’t even look you in the eyes right now, Master Rein……!」

「W-Well, I don’t really think that this is something to be so embarrassed about, honestly……」

「B-But still! I’m pretty sure I said some pretty crazy things right now!　And look! It even made you yourself utterly speechless and dumbfounded, Master Rein!」

「That’s not true. I was surprised to hear that, for sure, but that’s only because I was actually surprised that you were thinking the same thing as I was, Tina……」

「…… Huh? But that’s……」

「You see, I have been thinking of something very similar. It’s only natural to think that way when you’re doing this sort of thing together.」

「N-No way…… You too, Rein-sama……」

Tina grinned happily at me and then……

In the next moment, she turned her gaze away from me, as if she was unable to to stand looking me in the eye right now.

「Hm? What’s wrong?」

「N-No, it’s just that…… I am sure that I am making some incredibly weird face right now, so…… I would really appreciate it if you refrained from looking at me at the moment, Master Rein.」

「I mean, you say that, but……」

「I-I will be…… I will be fine in a moment! So no need to worry about me! I will get back to cooking right away. I just need to calm myself down somehow and……」

When Tina said that, there was a different atmosphere to her, and it was something that I could only describe as refreshing.

It’s been a long time since I have had such a peaceful time with everyone.

Although the atmosphere in the kitchen was still a bit strange……

I thought to myself that it was actually a very nice thing to have for a change.