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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 197

CHAPTER 197: THE WHEREABOUT OF THE TRUE CULPRIT?

I left the Knights’ Order’s headquarters and then I got in touch with everyone else from my party. We decided that we were going to hold a meeting at one of the city’s many squares.

We then discussed the current situation regarding Tanya.

「Nya, nyah……! Someone is impersonating Tanya, ruining her reputation!? I will never forgive them for that! I can’t believe that someone would actually go around the city and outside of it, committing crimes and putting the blame on our innocent Tayna!」

「Well, while we do not know what kind of intentions the culprit has behind committing those actions, it is most certainly true that this is something utterly inexcusable.」

「We are going to find the real culprit and then we are going to beat them into a bloody pulp!」

「M-Mhm…… For Tanya’s sake I…… I’m going to…… do my very best……」

「We need to show this bastard that we are not to be taken lightly! Count me in! We are going to make them regret what they did!」

Everyone seemed to be as angry for Tanya’s sake as I was.

They are a truly dependable and reliable bunch.

But at the same time I was actually growing kind of worried. Seeing just how fired up everyone was to catch the culprit, they might actually end up overdoing it at some point.

「Alright, everyone! Let’s do this!」

Kanade stepped forward, pumping her fist in the air, just as she gave everyone else a signal to depart who knows where and to do God knows what.

So I hurriedly stepped in and put my hand on Kanade’s shoulder to make her calm down a bit.

「Stop right there, Kanade. You said that you are going to do this, but what are you going to do, exactly? And where?」

「We are going to look all over the city and its premises, and if we happen to see a Dragon somewhere out there, we are going to beat the stuffing out of it!」

Yes, see? You are being way too rash about this.

「And what’s so good about just walking around aimlessly, not even knowing where to look or who to look out for? Doing that kind of thing is only going to consume your energy and precious time, and that is a waste that is completely unnecessary here.」

「N-Nyaah…… Now that you mention it, it really feels like this is going to be the case here……」

「So then, what exactly are we going to do?」

Tina asked, tilting her head slightly.

Her body now changed from a kettle to that of a doll, she was able to make such more detailed gestures and express her emotions more clearly.

「First of all, let’s go talk to the victims and eyewitnesses of the Dragon’s attacks. Maybe they will be able to give us some much needed information.」

For that exact purpose, I asked Stella to compile a list of victims and possible witnesses.

It was not yet a publicized case, but there were about ten victims and eyewitnesses total.

Now, ten might seem like a small number, but we should be able to get some really concrete information out of them if we are lucky enough.

「I don’t want to spend too much time on this, so let’s split into three groups and interview the victims and eye witnesses at the same time.」

「Right, right! Well then, I volunteer to go together with Rein!」

Kanade was the first one to raise her hand in the air.

Seeing Kanade act so eager to be together with me, Sora and Luna both looked at her with a strange look on their faces.

「Oh my, the way in which you volunteered to go with Rein so quickly and without much thinking…… Is it just me, or is there some sort of ulterior motive behind your actions just now, Kanade?」

「Come to think of it, these days Kanade often wants to be with Rein on various occasions. Honestly, that makes me feel kind of jealous, you know?」

「N-N-N–No way!? There are no ulterior motives to my actions!? Not at all!? What are you even suggesting here!? It’s just that…… You know…… I would really like to help Rein out any way I can here……」

Being teased about her behavior, Kanade quickly panicked and fumbled on her own words.

「「So suspicious.」」’

Seeing that, both Sora and Luna looked at Kanade in suspicion, their eyes narrowing down into tiny slits.

Being stared at like that by the two of them, Kanade would become even more flustered……

「You know, I think that we are getting more and more off topic here.」

Anyways, it was good that everyone managed to calm down a little bit.

「As for the groups that are going to investigate the Dragon attacks, they are going to be as follows: Kanade and I, Sora and Luna, and Tina and Nina.」

「So I guess it’s the same old combination, huh?」

「I will…… do my best here…… I promise.」

Nina clenched her small fists and got into the swing of things right away.

「Let’s meet back here in an hour or so, I’m sure that nothing is going to happen during our investigation, but just to be on the safe side, watch yourselves out there, okay?

「Yes, no problem! If anything happens, I’ll use Luna as a shield and get away from there.」

「Using your sister as a shield!?」

「Well then…… off we…… go……」

「I shall show you just how easily maids can acquire all sorts of information out of people.」

Like this, everyone quickly dispersed, leaving Kanade and I alone.

「Well then, we need to be on our way, too.」

「Yeah, let’s do that…… Oh.」

With a face as if he had noticed something, Kanade stopped in her tracks.

「…… I know that this is rather sudden, but…… Right now I am all alone with Rein…… And opportunities like that do not come your way all that often, right? So…… Does that mean that I should switch my strategy and focus on the offensive here!?」
　
「Kanade?」

「Nyauh!? U-Umm, this is not…… This is……」

Kanade’s eyes darted all over the place in response to my voice……

Also, for some mysterious reason her face would tinge beet-red every time she would look my way.

「Umm…… listen…..? Umm, ahh, this is…… Do you mind if we…… hold hands while…… we walk around town……?」

「Hm? Hold hands?」

Does she mean…… so that we won’t get separated?

I mean sure, there seem to be a whole lot of people around the city for some reason.

Besides, I DO have a history of Kanade and I getting separated in the dense crowd, so her request was entirely justified here.

「…… Alright. Sure. Here.」

「…… You really don’t mind?」

「Why are you surprised?　It’s okay, that’s all.」

「Nyah♪」

Kanade happily held my hand.

Her tail wagged restlessly from side to another as we started to walk forward.

「I’m really sorry for Tanya, but I’m so happy right now……♪」

「I’m not really sure why, but stay close to me, alright, Kanade?」

「Sure thing!」

With a very upbeat Kanade, we set off to ask around about the Dragon.

***

One hour later.

The interview was over and we met up at our original location.

「According to what Sora and Luna heard, the Dragon was seen flying off into the mountains to the north.」

「Same here. There have been many reports of its sightings up in the mountains to the north.」
.
「That checks out with what we have heard as well. What we heard was that someone saw the Dragon flying into the mountain after one of its attacks.」

We each exchanged the information that we have gained and summarized what we knew so far.

「So with that being said…… I guess that it is quite safe to assume that the impostor claiming to be Tanya lives somewhere in the mountains to the north of here.」

「Well, I think that’s the right thing to assume, yes.」

「Yeah. I didn’t hear anything else that sounded like it, so I think we’re good to go with that direction.」

No particular objection has been raised to that idea.

Besides, it’s not that we actually had some other promising leads at the current moment.

So it was unilaterally decided that we were going to investigate the mountains to the north, next.

「Well then, let’s get going!」

「Stop.」

Kanade said cheerfully, but once again, I had to stomp on her breaks here.

「Nyan?」

「Since we are going into the mountains, we need to make sure that we are ready. Trips like that can last for days, so we need to make sure that we have enough supplies with us.」

「Nya, nyah…… I-I guess that’s true.」

「But it’s just so frustrating that things need to take even more time, especially since we want to settle that matter as soon as possible.」

「I guess it’s something that cannot be helped. If Sora and the others fail because of their recklessness, it will be all for naught.」

「Nnh…… We are going…… to be okay……」

Nina said with certainty shining in her eyes.

「When it comes to…… preparations, then…… is this going to…… be enough……?」

「Hmm?　What do you mean?」

「When we heard that the culprit impersonating Tanya might be located in the mountains, we decided to buy some camping supplies in advance.」

Nina opened the entrance to her Dimensional Storage.

A quick look inside revealed a full set of climbing and camping equipment, including food and water.

「When did you……?」

「Fufun! Nina is getting better with every single day, I see.」

Tina siad proudly, as if Nina’s accomplishment was her own accomplishment.

Maybe she thought of Nina as a buddy because they were always together as of late, but……

I guess it’s a good thing that the two of them are so close with one another.

「Huh?　But what did you do with the money?」

I am in charge of all of our finances, so then how exactly……?.

「They said that we can…… pay them later……」

「They didn’t charge you at all…… Good grief.」

I will have to thank the people in town later.

「Umm…… Are you mad, Rein?」

「No, not really. It’s just that buying things without paying is something that you shouldn’t do, so you only need to do it in case of emergencies like this one. Can you promise me that?」

「Sure thing!」

「Good girl.」

I patted Nina’s head and……

Then I looked at everyone else.

「Alright then, let’s get going. We can’t keep Tanya waiting, you know.」

「「「「「YEAH~~~!!!!!!」」」」」