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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 196 Part 2

CHAPTER 198: WHAT ARE THE CULPRIT’S TRUE INTENTIONS? PART 2

Oh well…… I know that we might all be friends here, but even amongst friends there are things that you just can’t help but to keep for yourself, unable to talk about them with anyone else.

And personally, I don’t mind that at all.

Especially that Kanade did not seem to be all that seriously worried about whatever it was that was on her mind right now…… So it was probably okay for me to just sit and wait until she would feel comfortable enough to talk about it on her own.

「By the way, Kanade……」

「「U-Um, yeah? What is it!?」

「I have been meaning to ask you this for a while now, but…… What do you think about this entire incident?」

「……………」

For some reason, the moment I asked her that question, Kanade looked to be extremely disappointed.

「Kanade?」

「Oh yeah, that’s right…… I guess it’s just like Rein to just switch the topic of the conversation to something like that at a time like this…… So why am I even surprised here…… Nyafuuh……」

「Umm……?」

「No, it’s nothing. Nothing, really. I was just talking to myself out loud, that’s all. So please, pay that rambling of mine no mind at all. Umm, but more importantly…… You want to know what I think about this entire incident right now?」

「Yeah, because I mean…… For someone impersonating Tanya to appear completely out of the blue like that…… It’s just……」

「Yeah. No matter how you look at it, it’s just plain old weird, isn’t it?」

As she said that, Kanade tilted head slightly while her tail was swaying gently from side to side.

Apparently, she was lost deep in her own thoughts right about now.

「That other member of the Dragon Tribe has used Tanya’s name and committed evil deeds all over the place. Normally, if you stop and think about it, they would be trying to pin the blame for those crimes onto Tanya……」

「Yeah, exactly. But the question here is: why would they even want to do that in the first place?」

I thought that the members of the Ultimate Species were supposed to have good relations between different species, but also between the members of the same tribe.

Although, unlike other Ultimate Species, members of the Dragon Tribe tended to have very noble and competitive spirits to them……

But there was also another reason for that state of affairs. Namely: their numbers. Because the Ultimate Species were not all that many when compared to humans, they simply couldn’t afford to fight amongst themselves and risk reducing the number of their population even further.

So if the members of Ultimate Species started to fight between themselves for some petty and trivial reasons, that could lead them straight towards extinction.

That’s why they are all told that infighting is strictly forbidden, and they had friendly relations with one another…… Or at the very least that was the version that they were pushing.

I have heard this from everyone else before, so I don’t think it’s actually a wrong statement.

Although they may have some light fights and scuffles from time to time, they never seriously go into conflicts that might cost them their lives.

That’s why the bonds within the Ultimate Species’ tribes are so strong.

But even so……

A member of her own tribe was actively trying to push the blame for their own misdeeds and crimes onto Tanya.

So that someone was actively doing something that might cause harm to their own comrade and member of the same tribe.

Why? Why would they ever do such a thing?

I tried thinking about it, but I couldn’t possibly come up with an answer to that question.

「What do you think about that, Kanade?」

「Hmm…… Since this is without a doubt some other member of the Dragon Tribe that we are talking about here…… While it is extremely hard to imagine, could it be that there is some sort of internal rift between the Dragon Tribe? But that being said, under any normal circumstances that shouldn’t be possible. Aside from some light fights that tend to happen between Ultimate Species all the time…… a conflict of this caliber is definitely way too much to be considered as “nothing serious”……」

「Besides, if we won’t hurry up and resolve this issue as fast as possible, Tanya might actually take the fall for the culprit and end up being imprisoned for their crimes.」

「Yes, that’s the part that is the most confusing here. Because it doesn’t make that much sense to me. Even though they must know full well the consequences of their actions, they are still pinning the blame onto Tanya without the slightest bit of remorse. …… It’s impossible that one Ultimate Species would willingly do something like that to the other member of the Ultimate Species. Could it be that there is something going on behind the scenes that we are not aware of? Or could it be that they are holding a grudge against Tanya or something else like that?」

「Fumuh.」

「Either way, this incident is likely to be a way bigger of a deal than we might have initially thought it to be.」

「We have to pull ourselves together and make sure that we succeed here no matter what.」

Although I am confident that we have already been through some rough times, we still had something even more rough waiting in front of us. And in order to succeed we can’t let our guard down.

We have to prove Tanya’s innocence, so we can’t afford to fail if we want to do that.

So let’s never let our guard down and work extra hard to make that a reality!

「Nyaah……」

Kanade’s ears fell flat for some reason.

「Hm? What’s wrong?」

「W-Well, the thing is…… It’s my first time doing something like this, so I’m a little bit nervous.」

「…… I see.」

「I’m sorry. I know that by saying something like that, I will only make you feel even more uneasy, Rein.」

「No, that’s perfectly okay.」

「Funyah!?」

I patted Kanade on the head while she was still sitting right next to me, hoping that this would make her feel a little bit easier.

Since it was a sudden action, Kanade let out a shriek of surprise out of her mouth……

And next, her tail stood straight up.

「If you are worried or you are feeling anxious about something it’s okay to just say so. You might feel better.」

「B-But……」

「I’d be happy if you didn’t keep secrets like that from me. We’re friends, right?」

「…… Rein……」

Kanade’s eyes became strangely moist.

Those eyes were staring right at me.

Could it be because of the bonfire?

Kanade’s cheeks looked really flushed.

「Then…… I guess I will indulge myself just a little bit.」

「Sure thing. Come right at me.」

「W-Well then…… There!」

Kanade then quietly approached me.

Her shoulders touched mine.

Kanade’s smooth hair touched my cheek.

「Is it okay if I stay like this for just a little bit……?」

「Are you fine with doing just that?」

「Yeah….. This is more than enough for now♪.」

Kanade purred happily.

Just like that, we passed some time in peace and quiet.

「Nyah~♪」

I accepted the comfortable weight of Kanade’s shoulder……

All the while listening to Kanade’s purring voice, which sounded like soft music in my ears……

We watched the bonfire flicker for a while.