Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 22 Part 1
CHAPTER 22: THE TRAGEDY OF THE PAST PART 1
「It got…… destroyed?」
Kanade muttered with her head hung low, her tone of voice really solemn……
Eventually, she seemed to have understood the meaning of my words and started to visibly panic.
「I-I…… I didn’t know…… I had no idea that something like that happened…… I-I’m really sorry to hear that…… I… I’m sorry for asking such insensitive questions without knowing anything! R-Rein! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to! Ahh, b-but it sounds like I’m making excuses here……」
「You don’t need to worry about that.」
I put my hand on top of Kanade’s head and gently stroked her hair to calm her down.
As it is, it might have been a small and insignificant gesture, but it should be more than enough to get my feelings across.
「I know that you meant nothing bad with your questions, Kanade. In fact, you’re always looking out for me. And there is no way that you could possibly know about this, since I never told you anything. So I could hardly blame you for anything.」
「I-I know, but……」
.
「That is why, there is no need for you to look as if you were about to cry. I really like it when you are smiling, Kanade. You have no idea just how many times that smile of your managed to save me.」
.
「My smile……?」
「When I see your smile, Kanade, somehow it always makes me feel really energetic. That smile of yours makes me feel like I can keep on pushing forward, no matter what happens. …… It’s such a powerful feeling I am getting from it. I can’t tell you how many times that has helped me now. I know it’s only been a short time since we’ve met, but I can’t stop thinking about it. I’m really grateful to you for that. So I hope that you will continue to smile for me from now on, Kanade.」
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「Nyaaah~♪! Rein~♪!」
Just as I requested her to do, Kanade smiled at me brightly.
It was the smile that still had a trace of awkwardness to it, but……
It was the same smile that I was always looking forward to..
「……………」
Suddenly, I noticed that Tanya was getting meeker than her usual self.
She looked somewhat down in the dumps, and awkwardly averted her gaze from us.
「Could it be…… Tanya, were you also concerned about that matter?」
「N-No, like hell it would bother me! It’s not like I care, it’s just…… It’s just…… Rein…… I don’t… really……」
「…… You really are sweet, Tanya.」
.
「W-What’s that supposed to mean!? And so completely out of the blue!?」
「I mean, if you really did not care about Rein in the slightest, you wouldn’t be making such a face right now, would you?」
「Ah……!」
「Thank you. I’m glad that you are also worried about me, Tanya.」
「I-Is that so……? Well, I’m glad you’re not as depressed as I thought you’d be……!」
「When I was all alone, I used to think back to the old days and get depressed a whole lot because of it. But now I’ve got Kanade and Tania with me, so it doesn’t bother me nearly as much.」
「…… Geez, if you keep saying things like that so casually, you’re going to make people’s hearts race for nothing!」
「Huh?」
「N-Nothing! It’s nothing!」
「Say, Rein?」
Kanade opened her mouth with a sense of trepidation.
「Umm, this is…… I mean…… How? How did that happen that your hometown…… If you don’t mind me asking?」
「This is…… Yeah, actually, it’s making me curious as well.」
「O-Oh! and just to be clear, it’s not for the sake of curiosity itself…… I’m only asking because it is something that is connected to you, Rein. I just want to know everything about you that there is to know, Rein…… Unless it’s something that’s bothering you?」
「That is…… You don’t really have to tell us anything if you don’t want to do it. We do realize that it is going to be really hard for you, so there’s no need for you to remember some painful things just for our sake……」
「No, it’s okay. It’s just something I’ve been meaning to tell you at some point, but I guess that time arrived sooner rather than later.」
It was not a lie, and it was not just me trying to be clever with my words just now.
I won’t go so far as to say that since we are comrades we should have nothing to hide from one another, but……
I thought I should at least tell them something about my past.
In order for them to understand.
In order to help me come to terms with it.
For the sake of mutual understanding.
Because I think this is what we need to do in order to truly become friends and trusty comrades.
「That being said…… Although it’s not all that big of a story, it’s the one that tends to be all over the place at times.」
「But still, I would love to hear it from you.」
「Tell us all about it, Rein!」
The two of them then looked at me with expectations shining in their eyes.
Their gazes were filled with a sincere desire to know more about their dear companion.
「…… If I remember things correctly, it was something that happened when I was twelve-years -old or so. As usual, I was training to be a Beast Tamer on my own. My parents were busy at the time, and I happened to be on my own for the entire day. So I decided to go out of town, and I would go to a training ground a short walk away from it, and I would practice there until nightfall.」
「Nyaah, I see that ever since you were little, you were a real hard worker, huh, Rein?」
「Staying outside to train until the sun goes out, that’s not something a whole lot of twelve-year-olds would do. I wonder if that discipline has led to you gaining such ridiculous amounts of power?」
「Well, that I don’t even know myself. As far as I was concerned, it was something completely natural to practice so hard…… Now, when the sun went down and I decided it was time to go back, I noticed it. I noticed that the sky was getting redder and redder, which was even weirder since it was already night.」
「……………」
The two girls raised their eyebrows in a wordless manner.
They could have anticipated the words that followed, at least to some extent, I’m sure of it.
「Something’s wrong. Very, very wrong. That’s what I thought, and I rushed back to town…… but it was already too late. The town had been attacked by a swarm of demons and was in flames completely.」
I still remember the scene at that time.
Every single second of it was actively burned into my brain.
Everyone in the town was dead……
Bodies lying motionless, not even twitching.
The blood gushing from the bodies spread far and wide, like a crimson pond.
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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party
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Thanks for the chapter!
Is there a reason Tanya’s name switches between “Tanya” and “Tania”? Translation error or proofreader error or author error?