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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21: REIN’S PAST

Before we even knew it, we were able to finish the request and reported back to the Guild.

And it just so happened that when we did it, the sun was already starting to set over the horizon, so we decided to go straight to a restaurant after we exited the Adventurers’ Guild.

「’Nyaaah♪ Meat~♪ Meat~♪ This here’s my meat~♪!」

「What’s that stupid son even supposed to be?」

「Ahyoh!? Nyaah…… Tanya, you’re so horrible! Rein! Tanya is being mean to me! Please tell her something!」

「H-Hey…… Certainly, I didn’t go that far with it, did I? Don’t say things that can easily be misinterpreted! Also, don’t turn to Rein for every single little thing!」.

I see that both of them are in really good spirits today.

They seem to have a good relationship with one another all things considered, and they are constantly smiling.

These two might be able to call themselves best friends in no time at all.

Or at the very least, that was the feeling I was getting from watching them interact with one another.

「By the way, Rein. There is something that I wanted to ask you.」

Tanya looked at me as I dipped my bread into the soup and snacked on it.

「Hmnh?」

「Have you ever gone to school before?」

The school Tanya was most probably referring to was the ‘Adventurers’ Training School’.

As its name implies, it is an institution where students learn the skills and knowledge necessary to become Adventurers in the future.

Aspiring Adventurers go to school in order to acquire strength that they would need to get their jobs and requests done..

Then, they learn more skills in the profession that suits them the best.

Then, after becoming full-fledged Adventurers, they graduate and walk the path of the Adventurer for real.

Half of the Adventurers out there in the world are graduates of such schools.

The other half are people like me who just jumped into the profession completely out of the blue, hoping to make a name for themselves in the Adventurer profession.

「No, I did not. I just happened to jump right onto that opportunity, and things just kept on happening from there.」

「So, in that case, where did you learn how to tame animals and beasts?」

「Oh, yeah, that;s right! I’ve been wondering about that myself for a while now!」

Kanade also used the opportunity to jump into the conversation.

「Where did you learn those absurdly strong and potent powers of yours? I’m really curious.」

「Absurd? Potent? Aren’t my powers as a Beast Tamer something you would consider to be normal and ordinary?」

「No. No, they are not!」

The way in which both of them denied my words at the same time was once again in perfect sync.

I guess that when they both are saying that, then this must really mean that it’s the truth.

However, I’m not actually considering myself to be so special or anything like that.

「Well, I mean, it’s going to be a little bit of a gloomy story. Are you sure that you don’t mind?」

「Gloomy story?」

「It just means that whatever the story will be, it won’t be pleasant. I don’t know about you, but I would rather not discuss such topics while we are having our meal together.」

「It’s okay. You can talk to us.」

The two of them gave me a look that said they still wanted to hear my story, no matter what it was.

I thought back to my past and told them about myself.

「I’m originally from the southern continent.」

「Oh, really? Then why are you here, in the Central Continent?」

「Well, I came here as I was traveling with Arios’s group.」

「Nyah…… That Hero, huh?」.

Kanade looked visibly annoyed.

Tanya, on the other hand, looked puzzled.

「Hm? What’s the matter? What about the Hero?」

「Ah, that’s right. We are yet to tell you about this, aren’t we, Tanya? You see, I used to be a part of the Hero’s Party.」

「Hoo, I see.」

「Somehow…… You don’t look all that surprised?」

「It’s something that would make sense if you are as good as you are, Rein. But it’s different now, isn’t it?　How did you part ways?」

「Well, not really part ways, but I guess I actually got kicked out.」

「Say what now?」

I then proceeded to explain the sequence of events that took place before I was able to meet Kanade and our encounter with Tanya.

For some reason, Tanya was silent all this time.

「……………」

「……Tanya?　What’s wrong? Why so silent all of a sudden?」

「That Hero…… IS HE ACTUALLY STUPID OR WHAT!?」

THUD!!

Tanya slammed the top of the table with great force.

I could see that at the current moment she was acting on waves of uncontrollable frustration.

「Rein, you have a tremendous amount of power, and yet you were banished for something as stupid as that……!? Weren’t you in charge of supporting and supplying them in the first place!? And yet, what kind of idiots those guys have to be, to look down on you and call you useless!? This is just…… I don’t even know what this is!! Gaaah! It’s so frustrating! And irritating, to boot!」

「Well, I don’t what to say, so…… Thank you very much.」

「Why would you even thank me now?」

「I am just happy that you would get mad on my behalf like that, Tanya.」

「I-It’s not like I did that for you or anything like that, Rein! I just heard something so ridiculous and got annoyed by it…… And anyways, it wasn’t for your sake, you hear me! Don’t get the wrong idea here!」

「Yes, duly noted. I won’t.」

Yes, but I don’t that I was getting the wrong idea here.

Deep down inside, Tanya is really a sweet girl.

It’s hard to find a girl like that who can really get angry for others so genuinely.

「Say, say, Rein? If it wasn’t from the Hero’s party, those jerks, then when did you learn to tame animals like that?」

Kanade’s question finally managed to put the derailed conversation back on the right track.

「Ah, yes, that’s right. About that…… I first learned to tame back in my hometown.」

「Your hometown?」

「My hometown was a special village where Beast Tamers would gather. It was a small village that didn’t have a name of its own, but…… if I had to name it anything, it would be the home of the Beast Tamers.」

「Home of the Beast Tamer……」

「Wow. I didn’t know there was even such a thing. I’ve never heard of that place before.」

Thinking back to the old days, I continued my story.

「My family consisted of me, my Father and my Mother. Of course, they were both Beast Tamers as well. So, as long as I can remember, I was learning the art of Beast Taming naturally almost every single day. I didn’t even think about doing anything else, to be honest.」

「Ooh, you’ve taken over from your mother and father, haven’t you? Rain, your parents must be so proud of you! Talk about a real Parent-Child bond!」

「Was that supposed to be a food pun here? Just how gluttonous can you get, huh?」

「Unyaah…… I guess this must have slipped, because we are in the middle of having diner . I’m so embarrassed now……..」

It’s been a while since I last thought about my hometown like that.

I was close to my parents and I was close to the people in the entire town.

I can’t say that I had any bad memories connected to that place, but……

But when I think back to that town, I automatically think back to ‘that incident’ as well.

So I naturally avoided talking about it.

I thought I couldn’t talk about it calmly anymore.

But……..now that we are talking about my hometown in a calm manner, as if it was not that big of a deal.

It’s probably because of those two being here with me.

I feel at ease just by being with them.

「Thanks a lot, you two.」

「Nya? What are you talking about? We didn’t do anything?」

「Well, you know, for a whole lot of things……」

「So…… Rein learned about taming from his Mom and Dad, right?」

「Yes, that’s right. I got all my skills from my parents. Oh, but it’s not like my parents were the only ones who taught me useful things. I learned the Insect Taming technique from my neighbors. There were a few people who had other skills like that.」

「What?　Insect Taming…… Does that mean that you can use insects, too?」

「I most certainly can. Didn’t I mention that before?」

「You most certainly did not!」

「It’s amazing, isn’t it? Nyahaha!!」

「Hey, Rein. You don’t have anything else to hide from us, do you?　In fact, please don’t tell me that you also have the power to tame monsters and Elementals as well!?」

「Well, if you are wondering about that, I was given a crash course on those techniques as well, but……」

「Yeah, go figure……」

「I just didn’t get around to learning it all that much to be able to use them effectively. The only ones I’ve mastered are the Beast Taming and Insect Taming, and the Insect Taming is still an incomplete technique. But still, it’s somewhat easy for me to do. We didn’t have enough time, and that proved to be the limit of teaching me new things.」

「Still, it’s a hell of a thing to be able to use techniques like that……」

「I’m not sure if my hometown was special, or if my skills are all that special to begin with. Apparently those are the techniques that were being passed down from one generation to another…… So what you two call ‘greatness’ was only a matter of course to me. I don’t know if there’s something different about me from the other Beast Tamers, but I really am not sure. For starters, I’ve hardly ever seen or interacted with any other Beast Tamer.

「Ahh, I see…… so that’s why.」

「Nya. It just occurred to me that Rein should be able to learn even more techniques in a place like your hometown. So why didn’t you? Surely time was not something that was the cause here……」

「Ahh…… 」’

Is it really okay for me to talk about this right here and right now? Especially since I knew where this was going?

The conversation was going on so peacefully until now, so do I really want to throw a damper on it just like that?

Now I was at a loss.

Kanade and Tanya said that they both didn’t mind if my story was a dark and gloomy one.

After talking so much, I don’t think it’s a good idea to hide things from them anymore. There would be no point to that.

Besides…… Since we are comrades now,. they should know everything about me, as I know a lot about them as well. At least that’s what I think.

「You might have noticed that already, but when I talk about my hometown, it’s all in the past tense.」
.
「Nyah?」

「……………」

「That’s because my hometown…… It does not exist anymore. It’s gone for good.」