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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 228 Part 2

CHAPTER 228: THE BEGINNING OF THE EXAM PART 2

A special guest?

Could this be the thing that the old man at the food stall was talking about just the other day?

「I don’t think that there is anyone in here who wouldn’t know who he is already, but just for formality’s sake…… Let me introduce you to Arios the Hero.」

「…… So it’s really going to be like this, huh?」

After Cell was done with her introductions, Arios himself emerged from the inside of the makeshift tent that was placed behind Cell.

Of course, the moment I saw Arios, I started to have a really bad feeling about this entire situation.

Naturally, Arios was followed by his usual cronies: Aggath, Rin and Mina.

「Huh? What’s this?」

Incidentally, there was also a woman there which I did not recognize.

She was dressed in a knight’s armor, but who was she, exactly?

「This time around, we have asked the…… Great Hero and his Party to join us in the Promotion Exam as special examiners. Let me just say here that because of that fact the judging criteria won’t be any more stricter than usual, but you still need to brace yourselves and to be on your guard.」

「Oh wow. Just like the examiner lady said, my name is Arios and I am the Hero. But perhaps “Hero” would be the title under which I am known best. This time around, together with my comrades we have been given the opportunity to participate as examiners in this year’s Promotion Exam. I wish you all the best of luck. I am also looking forward to see your performance with my own eyes. Thank you for having us here.」

Arios greeted everyone gathered here with a refreshing smile on his lips and……

When the others heard him and saw that gesture, the crow erupted in enthusiastic shrieking and shouts of admiration.

To be personally encouraged by a Hero who everyone admired so much.

People simply couldn’t believe that the Great Hero would be one of the examiner’s for this year’s Promotion Exam.

Just how lucky they all were to witness something like that?

There was no way that they would fail this exam after something like this.

They simply HAD to do well now and show their best performance to the Hero.

…… I was sure that this was what everyone gathered were thinking about.

「Nyaaahhh…… It’s really disgusting just how high and mighty that lousy Hero is behaving. I mean, why is that guy even standing there with that look on his face, as if he belonged there in the first place? Shouldn’t he be more pissed off than anything else?

「Yeah, I thought so too, but……」

During my talk Thalia-sama I have heard that Arios was summoned to the royal castle and was reprimanded for his disgraceful and problematic behavior during the Iris crisis.

I have also heard that he was punished for that quite severely.

But I did not hear what kind of punishment was inflicted upon him, nor did I hear that he was stripped of his Hero status.

I’m not sure if it was because of his position as a Hero that even the King couldn’t do anything to punish him, or was there some other factor at play here?

Or could it be that the punishment was in fact so severe that Arios decided to turn over a new leaf because of that……?

「…… No, of course not.」

Kanade was the first one to deny that suspicion of mine.

Everyone else agreed with her right away.

「Maybe serving as an examiner is a part of his punishment?」

「Nyah? What do you mean by that?」

「Minor offenders can sometimes be ordered to do some community service as their punishment…… Like volunteer work and so on. In that exact sense, Arios might have been ordered to do some different jobs all over the royal capital. If you look closely at the members of his Party, there’s one person I don’t know who joined them…… So I guess that this person is someone who is supposed to watch over them and make sure that they behave throughout their punishment?」

「Well, that is just not nice, in more ways than one……」

「I suddenly feel like all of my motivation is slipping away from me……」

「Can we go home now?」

「Or rather, want me to blow that chump and his cronies to bloody bits with my magic? I can do that, just say the word.」

Everyone was suddenly feeling demotivated.

Well, it couldn’t really blame them for that.

Arios’ encouragement was really counterproductive in our case.

There’s no way I was going to get motivated because of someone like him.

「Oh, I see. So that’s how it is, huh?」

Tina made a gesture as if she was thinking deeply about something…… And after a while, she patted the palm of her hand with a satisfied look on her face.

「What’s wrong, Tina?」

「Oh, it’s nothing, really. I was just thinking about the reason why Axe isn’t there right now…… But with our lousy here taking the stage, I guess it makes a whole lot of sense.」

「You think so?」

「For better of for worse, Axe is a pretty honest and straightforward kind of a guy, right? And since he has such nasty history with the Hero that he used to admire so much, most probably he doesn’t even want to stand on the same stage as him. That’s because Cell is here on her own, because someone has to act like a responsible adult. Certainly, she has her own opinion about the Hero, but she chooses to keep it all to herself.」

「Hmm, I see.」

That was actually a rather accurate explanation.

Maybe, just as Tina said, Axe doesn’t like Arios anymore and doesn’t want to be on the same stage with him, so he chose to not participate in this Exam.

And I know how he must be feeling all too well.

After everything that has happened……
.
If we were to be together in the same place, I’d probably hit him on the spot. Surely Axe felt the same way.

「Fufun.」

Suddenly, Arios looked directly at me.

He then smiled provocatively.

「Hey, hey, Rain. I’m sure that this chump is plotting something yet again! I’m sure of it!」

「Should we crush him once and for all right here and right now? While we still have the chance?」

It was very tempting to say yes here. But……

「No, we can’t, I’m afraid. If we were to do that, it would only make us look bad.」

「We do know about the misdeeds of the Hero and everything that he had done in the past, but the general public doesn’t even have a clue about any of that. As unfortunate as that is, the Hero’s good reputation still far outweighs Arios’s misdeeds.」

「Besides, who knows what would happen to us if we were to openly go against the Hero here? I’d say that getting disqualified from the Promotion Exam would be the least of our worries.」

「Yeah, you can say that again. But should the worst come to pass, we would just need to deal with everyone here and be done with it.」

「Hey, I was just joking. I didn’t really mean that.」

「Y-Yeah, of course. I was also joking. It was a joke.」

I don’t know why, but I was under the impression that Kanade and Tanya were deadly serious here.

「We can’t eliminate the possibility that Arios and his Party will try to pull some stunt here, but that doesn’t mean we can pull out of the Promotion Exam, either. So let’s be careful for the time being and just do it.」

「Yeah, okay!」

「Let’s give it our best!」

It is very possible that Arios is up to something here.

It was just too good of a coincidence that we have run into him right here and right now.

But even so, we can’t just run away from here, so……

If they try to pull any stunt here, we just have to brave right through it and press on.

「Well then, let us commence the Exam.」

After the greetings were finally over, Arios moved back to the tent and……

Instead, the one to stand before us was once again Cell.

Finally.

What kind of test awaited us here?

I was nervous right now, but also slightly excited.

It was actually surprising that I felt so at ease now that the time has finally come.

Could it be because I knew that everyone else were here with me and that they had my back?

If this was the type of exam I would have taken alone, I would have been filled with anxiety all the time.

But I am going to be okay here.

If I’m with everyone else, I know that I can do it.

Let’s do everything in our power to pass this exam with flying colors.

「The first test is going to be…… A marathon run.」