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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 80

CHAPTER 80: THE HAUNTED HOUSE

The house in question was built on top of a hill overlooking the city.

It was a two-story wooden house.

The property itself was really large and apparently had over ten rooms inside of it.

It had a fairly spacious bath. And it came with a fully equipped kitchen.

As an added bonus, there was even a garden where you could plant some plants or even play sports if you’d like.

The price for such a magnificent-looking piece of property? Only ten gold coins.

And just to be clear, it was not the price of rental. It was ten gold pieces to buy it as our very own

It was a very nice property indeed.

…… Well, except for one fairly crucial thing.

Except for the fact that this place was apparently haunted.

「Is this place……?」

Kanade, while holding my hand really tight, looked at the house with a sense of dread in her eyes.

Her tail was quivering really hard.

Could it be that she was sensing that something was amiss in the air?

「Hee, this place isn’t half-bad, if I do say so myself.」

Contrary to the scared Kanade, Tanya seemed to be pretty impressed by what she was seeing.

She was smiling as if she couldn’t believe that such a nice house was available for only ten gold coins.

「Certainly, it is fairly far away from the city center…… No, actually, it might be more accurate to say that this house is closer towards the outskirts of the town than anywhere else.」

「But in this case, isn’t that a positive thing?　What’s with all the noise in the city, anyways?　Also, I like the fact that there’s a lot of nature out here!　Mmmm, that sounds really good.」

「Yes. Sora also thinks that a place with a lot of nature and green is really good for us.」

「I would like my room to be located on the second floor. It’s on top of a hill, and the view from upstairs must be really spectacular.」

Both Sora and Luna liked the house, too.

Not to mention that I hadn’t signed the contract yet, but they were already talking about the room placements and other stuff like that.

Seeing them being so quick on the uptake, it was something that made me chuckle.

「What do you think of it, Nina?」

「Umm, umm…… I…… I think it’s really nice……」

「Do you like it?」

「…… Yes.」

Nina agreed while nodding her head.

So that would only leave Kanade to voice her opinion. However……

「Ugh……」

Maybe it would be a better idea to ask her about her opinion only AFTER we have resolved the ghost problem……?

I’m not sure I’d be very keen to hear Kanade’s answer in her current state of mind, but I was sure that she would not have anything that nice to say about this place.

I’d like to get a proper opinion out of her after we manage to get rid ourselves of the ghost problem, because only then I think she will be able to give us an honest and unbiased opinion.

Because if there really is a ghost in here, it’s not an individual problem, but a problem that all of us would have to face.

But I, for one, think that this house is a pretty nice place.

But if Kanade will think that it’s bad and she doesn’t want to be here, then we will not get it. I don’t want to force her.

「It’s all right, Kanade.」

「Nyah……?」

「I’m here for you. So no need to worry.」

「…… Yeah.」

Kanade smiled as she seemed to be a little bit relieved by my words.

「…… Yeah. After all, you are way cuter when you smile, Kanade.」

「Funyah!? C-Cute, you say…… Ahhh, auhhh!」
　
「Hm? What’s wrong?」

「What’s going on…… N-Nothing, really. It’s just that…… Geez, Rein! It’s only because you can say things like that so readily and without hesitation!」

Well then.

Let’s take a look inside the house for the time being, shall we?

「…… Huh? Umm, Natalie-san?」

I tried to get into the house, but……

Natalie-san didn’t move from her spot as she was actively looking away from us.

「What’s going on, Natalie-san?」

「No, it’s just that…… I personally think that we should refrain from looking inside of the house for the time being.」

「Huh? Why?」

「Well, it is true that there is a ghost hunting this particular property…… So I think that when it eventually DOES end up appearing, my presence will only be a hindrance and will slow you guys down. So I will be waiting outside for the time being, I guess.」

「I-Is that so……?」

「Well then, take your time!」

Natalie-san seemed to be somewhat frightened herself.

Maybe she had seen the ghost that inhabited the house before? Was that the reason why she was so afraid of entering the house?

But if that was really the case, we decided to have her wait outside the house for the time being.

We walked into the house, wary of what might happen inside.

「Ohh, it’s really spacious inside!」

「You’re right!　Isn’t it similar to the Lord’s house the other day?」

「It might not be NEARLY as big or as wide as the Lord’s mansion, but…… its structure might actually be really similar.」

We walked through the door and found ourselves in a fairly large room.

In the back there was a kitchen-like facility.

Passages extended to either side of the room, leading to even more rooms.

At the end of it, we could see the stairs to the second floor, respectively.

「Echoo!」

Nina sneezed adorably.

「Are you alright……?」

「…… Y-Yes. My nose is…… just a little bit itchy…… that’s all……」

「I mean, that’s understandable, since it’s so dusty in here.」

「Looks like this place hasn’t been cleaned in a long while. I wonder how long it’s been neglected like that for?」

「But in spite of that fact, the building itself is surprisingly undamaged. See, these pillars have just a few minor scratches and stains, but otherwise they’re completely fine.」

「…….. Nyauh!?」

While we were all looking at the building, saying this and that, then all of a sudden, Kanade beamed and turned her tail in a stiff and straight line.

Her ears were all pointed and she was twitching and trembling impatiently.

「What’s the matter, Kanade?」

「I think…… I think there’s something strange inside of this house, nya……」

「Something strange? I don’t really feel anything, but……」

「Well, I am! I am feeling it! Something’s coming up!」

「…… Everyone, stay close. Be on your guard at all times.」

These were the words of Kanade, a member of the Cat Spirit Tribe, a race with a keen intuition and the ability to detect signs that normal people would usually omit.

I can’t just assume that she’s scared and making stuff up, and I can’t take her words lightly.

Everyone seemed to understand that as well, and they soon formed up around me and stayed vigilant.

We then decided to form a protective circle around Kanade.

The front, the back, the left and the right right, we had every possible direction covered.

With this, we should be able to deal with any threat that would try to sneak up on us, no matter where it would try to appear from.

「……………」

We then could do the only thing that was available to us: we held our breaths and waited.

Then, a chair that had been covered with dust at the back of the room suddenly started to shake and clatter loudly.

「W-What was that!?」

「W-We aren’t doing anything, you know!? Even for us, a prank like that would be in an extremely bad taste!」

「S-So what is it!? I-Is it a poltergeist or something like that!?」

「Funyaaah……」

One after another, the chairs started to flail around, and even the table started to shake violently.

We just stood there and watched, not doing anything.

Kanade looked like she was about to cry, and it was then that she saw a real monstrosity right in front of her.

「…… OUT……」

「Huh?」

「Hey, Rein? Did you say something just now?」

「N-No, I didn’t…… Wasn’t that you, Tanya?」

「I didn’t say anything, either.」

「I…… also didn’t say…… anything at all……」

I then looked at Sora and Luna.

They both shook their heads together in unison.

So that means……..

Det……….

　It’s like a voice crawling out of the ground.
　It was indistinguishable from a man or a woman.
　A voice that made me feel a chill echoed through the house.

「…… GET…… OUT……」’

With a voice reverberating around the room, the chairs and the table trembled even more violently.

「Nyahhhh!!! T-there it is, there it is!!!」

「K-Kanade! P-Please try to calm down!」

「Uhhhh, R-Rein! I-I think that I’m going to lose my mind here!!!」

「It’s okay. Everything is going to be fine. See? I’m here with you.」

I then grasped Kanade’s hand firmly to ease her fears a little bit.

That seemed to calm her down, even if it was ever so slightly.

Even though her legs were trembling, Kanade maintained her sanity.

……..but that didn’t last long.

「GET THE HELL OUT!!!」

A distinctly strong voice rang out.

As if on cue, the empty space in front of us became squishy and distorted.

Something like white smoke swirled around and gathered in one place.

And then………

A woman appeared in the air, her body translucent and transparent.

Looking around sixteen or so, she wouldn’t be so different from us age-wise.

However, her skin color was morbidly white and her body was translucent.

She was wearing what looked like a maid’s outfit……

But contrary to such a cute outfit, her face had the shape of a monstrous demon.

「…… Afuh……」

「Kanade!?」

At that exact moment all of the remaining strength fled from Kanade’s body and she fell down onto the floor.

Apparently she just couldn’t take it anymore and she ended up passing out.

Well, that’s not good!

Kanade, if you do something like that right about now, there is no way that we will be able to escape from here!

And needless to say, we can’t just leave the passed out Kanade all on her own, but I also don’t think that she would be waking up anytime soon.

And I honestly don’t think that our pursuer would be willing to wait for us until that happens.

So, it seems like we were currently pretty much trapped in this unexpected situation.