3 bar menu

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

CHAPTER 2: A FATEFUL ENCOUNTER

「Now then, whatever it is I should do……?」

The next morning.

After checking out of the inn where my former Party was staying, I was sitting on a bench in the town square, relaxing and sunbathing in the morning sun leisurely.

Incidentally, the Hero’s Party left early in the morning to challenge the nearby dungeon called the ‘Lost Forest’, to the west from here.

Did they even greet me?

Of course not. There was no such a thing.

Oh well, it’s not like I was going to bother myself with the Hero’s Party anymore from today onwards.

The important thing here was what I was going to do from now on.

「When it comes to money…… I have none.」

The total amount of funds I have on me at the moment is five silver coins and thirty eight copper coins.

One silver coin equals about one hundred copper coins.

When it comes to the town’s inn, it is fifty copper coins per overnight stay, so a simple calculation was telling me that at least for a while I would not have to worry myself about finding a place to stay.

But the real question was, what would I do after that time?

For me, a person without a steady and regular source of income, eventually I won’t be able to stay at the inn.

I won’t be able to stay at the inn sooner or later, and I won’t have enough money to buy food to sustain myself with.

So I had to find a way to earn a living for myself for the foreseeable future.

「So, what do you want to do today?」

「Well, let;s see…… How about we go into the plains and hunt some Hornboars? I hear there’s also a Killer Tiger out there somewhere, so we should also stay away from the swamp area.」

Suddenly, a pair of Adventurer-looking people passed right in front of me.

「Adventurers….. huh?」.

People who live and die freely, just like migratory birds.

It’s a profession where everything you do is your responsibility and you have to live by your own skills and abilities alone.

「Hmm, this might actually be a good idea……」

Ever since I joined the Hero’s Party, I have been fighting with a sense of mission to defeat the Demon Lord, but now……

I have lost that sense of purpose as well.

In a sense, I was just like an empty shell……

But I guess that in a sense it was also a kind of freedom.

Being an Adventurer was probably the best possible career path for me right now.

「…… Alright, then! Let’s give it a try!」

I then stood up cheerfully and headed towards the entrance to the Adventurers’ Guild.

***

So apparently, not everyone can become an Adventurer.

There are no restrictions on age or gender when it comes to that profession.

Children can become Adventurers if they want to, and even old people can become Adventurers.

However, there is an exam that one needs to pass if they want to become one.

Unless you are recognized as someone having a certain level of ability, you are not allowed to register with the guild as an official Adventurer.

This system was designed and implemented to sift out reckless challengers and daredevils who lacked the necessary power and abilities.

Apparently the exam did not exist before, and anyone could become an Adventurer.

However, thanks to this, there were many incidents where new adventurers were acting reckless and irresponsible, not only failing the requests that they have picked up, but some Adventurers even died as a result of various mishaps.

And with more and more requests being failed, the Adventurers Guild started to lose credibility with the people.

They were also said to have been audited by the government for causing a large number of deaths at one point.

Since then, an exam was said to have been set up as a necessary precaution.

「Hunting down ten Goblins…… huh?」’

That was the content of the exam that was presented to me.

Goblins are F-ranked monsters. They are very weak creatures that can be effectively repelled by any adult male with sturdy enough weapon.

However, just because they are weak monsters, this does not mean that you can underestimate them.

It is precisely because they are so powerless.

That’s why they always work in packs of at least five or so.

And if that’s the case, you have to defeat at least two packs of five goblins with precision and without injuring yourself in the process.

Those who can accomplish this task are the one who are deemed being “above the required level of competence” to become Adventurers.

As an exam to become an Adventurer, this would be the most appropriate way of seeing if the candidate actually has what it takes.

And while goblins might be easy opponents, it is also quite easy to run away from them in case you are going to deem it impossible for you to accomplish the task.

And since you can easily retreat if you feel threatened, it is the kind of exam that has zero mortality rate up to date.

In the worst case scenario, you will only suffer a broken bone or other small to mid injury like that.

Yes, the goblins really seem to be the perfect opponents for an exam like that.

「’Well, as one might have expected, this is still relatively easy as far as exams go.」

I might have been banished from the Hero’s Party, but that doesn’t change the fact that up until the other day I have fought against the Demon Lord’s army.

Even though I’m a Beast Tamer, I’m not going to lose to some mere goblins.

So right away I went out to the plains in front of the city in order to hunt down those ten goblins.

When you kill a monster, its remains turn into a gemstone called a ‘Magic Stone’.

By taking this stone, you can take it as proof that you defeated the monster in question.

「Alright, then! Now that I have hunted down those ten goblins, let’s get back to the Guild, on the double! And after that, I can finally become an Adventurer!」

Just like that, my new life was officially about to begin.

After everything that had just happened to me, I was honestly really excited about it.

「Hmm?」

Just now…… Was that a scream I just heard……?

It was coming from the direction of the swamp at the end of the plains.

Maybe it was just my imagination…… but a part of me got really curious about it.

So I decided to just have a quick look at it.

***

Huh? Is that……!?

A little while after entering the swamp, I found a girl being attacked by a Killer Tiger.

Killer Tigers are classified as D-ranked monsters.

It is a troublesome existence with its swift movements and sharp claws and fangs that can cause the death of its prey in a matter of seconds.

Many lower-ranked Adventurers have been caught by surprise by it and have lost their lives to it as a result, hence the name with which it was dubbed: ‘Adventurer Killer’.

‘「Oh no!」’

Killer Tiger was about to sink its razor-sharp claws into the girl who was laying on the ground

I rushed over to it and slashed at it with the dagger I still had on me.

「GUUUAAAHHH!!!」

It was only a cheap dagger for self-defense purposes, bought with nothing more but ten copper coins.

It couldn’t possibly penetrate the skin of a monster such as Killer Tiger’s, which was like thick plates of steel armor.

The best thing that this action could hope to accomplish was to draw the monster’s wrath towards myself.

It seems that this strategy worked like a charm, as the monster changed its target from the girl to me, and Killer Tiger glared at me with fury in its eyes.

Yes, that’s good.

「Hey! Can you move!? Run while you still can……!!」

「Ugh…… Nyah…….」

The girl sluggishly stood up.

I think that she will be able to get out of here just fine.

But as for me, well…… I guess that there is nothing that I can do here.

Without any animal or beast for me to tame, there is no way that I can possibly compete with the likes of Killer Tiger on my own.

And to top it all off, the dagger that was my only weapon was broken in half by that earlier attack.

「So, it’s a hopeless situation, is that it? But at the very least I will buy time for that girl to escape from here!」

Bracing myself for what was to come, I raise my fists into a battle stance..

And then.

The girl leapt in the air.

Far higher than it could be humanly possible.

She jumped as if she was about to reach the clouds themselves.

And then…… She dropped back down.

Aiming at the Killer Tiger facing me, she flew like a released arrow.

GOGAAAHHH!!

There was a loud sound of forceful impact.

The earth shook so hard that it almost knocked me off of my feet.

How much power was contained in that one drop kick just now?

So much of it, apparently, that a small crater had been created in the place where the girl landed.

Naturally, there was no way a D-ranked Killer Tiger could withstand such a ridiculously powerful blow, and his neck was broken instantly and it perished on the spot.

「You…… How did you even……?」

「Nyafuh…… Ahh, I can’t take it anymore….. I’m at my limit……」.

The girl stumbled on her feet and fell over.

I rushed over to her side and picked her up.

「Hey! Are you okay!? Are you injured anywhere!?」

「N-Nyaah, hungry…… so hungry……」

In the exact moment that a silly and cliched like like that escaped from the girl’s mouth,

The cat ears on top of the girl’s head twitched adorably and her cat tail flicked and swayed weakly.