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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 86

CHAPTER 86: A NEW ADVENTURE

I woke up to the chirping of the birds and the morning sun streaming in through the window.

…… I can see an unfamiliar ceiling in front of my eyes.

Ahh, I see.

Come to think of it, we moved into a new house just yesterday.

It may be a bit of an exaggeration to say this, but right now I’m technically the Lord of this castle. Or rather, house.

My cheeks almost loosen up into a smile at that thought.

However, I can’t keep getting carried away because of something like that, can I?

I must continue to work hard to maintain this sort of life for myself and everyone else.

「…… Hm?」’

What’s that warm feeling right next to me?

I wondered about that and looked over to my side, only to witness…….

「*Suuu*…… *Suuu*……」

「…… Huh?」

For some reason Nina was laying right next to me, curled up in a ball, breathing peacefully in her sleep.

Huh? What the?

Why is Nina here……?

But contrary to my confusion, Nina remained comfortably asleep.

Her ears would twitch occasionally behind her eyelids, but that was pretty much it.

There was a smile on her face.

Was she perhaps having a good dream?

「…… Could it be that she was feeling lonely, having to sleep all on her own once again?

After all, Nina was still just a child.

Besides, she had been attacked and abducted by humans, and had been badly hurt by them before.

With all that experience happening to her, it must have felt lonely for her to be alone in a room once more and maybe she just snuck out to my room for comfort.

「…… Hey, Nina.」

「……………」

「It’s morning already. Rise and shine.」

「…… Hngh……」

I shook her shoulder gently, but even with that gesture Nina would simply refuse to wake up.

Could it be that she was really weak in the mornings, having trouble with getting up?

Well now, this is sort of troubling.

If someone was to see the two of us like that, they might actually get the wrong idea and……

「HEY, REIN! IT’S MORNING! RISE AND SHINE!」

With a loud bang, the door opened and Kanade entered my room cheerfully.

「Ah.」

「Huh?」

Seeing Nina sleeping inside of my bed. Kanade froze in place on the spot.

…… I get a feeling that this is going to be one heck of a noisy morning alright.

「NYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!??????」

Kanade’s high-pitched scream echoed throughout the entire house.

***

On the way out of the house to the Adventurers’ Guild……

「Nyauh……」

I could feel Kanade glaring daggers at me all the time since the early morning.

「Are you sure that nothing happened between the two of you?」

「Yes, I’m sure.」

「Really now?」

「Yes, really.」

「Really really?」

「Really really, I swear.」

「Are you absolutely certain of that?」

That kind of interrogation just continued on and on.

No matter how hard I would try to reassure Kanade, she just continued to doubt me.

…… Am I really that untrustworthy……?

I feel a bit depressed because of that.

「Listen here, Nina. A girl shouldn’t sleep with a man so easily, you know? Especially a young girl like you. Do you understand?」

Behind us, Tanya was lecturing Nina about the importance of not sneaking into other people’s beds in the middle of the night.

「Uhh…… Umm…… W-Why……?」

「That’s because you are really cute, Nina. And men are basically animals. Once they see cute girls like you, they can’t help themselves but want to gobble you up.」

「But Rein is…… a human……?」

「W-Well, yes, but…… That’s not what I meant here……」

「I was feeling…… so lonely last night….did I do something bad…?　I’m really…… sorry for that……」

「N-No, I mean…… Look, I know it was not your fault, Nina, alright? W-Well, what I’m trying to say here is…… How should I even put it……?」

Since Nina didn’t have any bad intentions behind her actions, Tanya had basically no idea how exactly she was supposed to handle her.

「No way, I would never expect such a bold move from someone as innocent-looking as Nina…… Talk about a trap in a place where you least expect it.」

「I guess we really need to keep our guard up at all times now.」

「Would you like to perhaps try sneaking into Rein’s bed at night? That would certainly even the playing field.」

「Wait. But wouldn’t using the same tactic as someone else feel rather stale, Sister Dearest? Maybe we should actually come up with something original, something that only we can pull off.」

「Hmm, I see. Well, it certainly helps that you are so reliable in times like these, Luna.」

「fuahahahahaha, I sure am, am I!? …… Hmm?　Wait a minute. The way you said it just now, you make it sound as if my normal self was pretty dang unreliable! The hell is that supposed to mean!?」

「Nothing. You just tend to read too deeply into pointless stuff.」

「Oh, is that so? Oh well, if you say so!」

Sora and Luna were talking about something I didn’t quite understand.

It seemed that Nina’s snuggling was having a stranger effect on them all than I thought it would.

「Say, Rein?」

「Yeah?」

「Can I sleep with you next time, Rein?」

「No way. That would only complicate matters even further.」

「Hueeeh!? Why not!? You are fine with Nina sleeping with you, but you don’t want me to do it!?」

「That’s because Nina is still but a child. And you are a fully grown woman, Kanade.」

「Nyauuuh…… It surely is nice being a child, huh?」

Kanade gave Nina a look full of envy, which she didn’t quite understand, and only smiled in return.

As expected, a child like Nina. She was pretty much oblivious to some of the more intricate ways in which the world tended to work.

While we were all discussing things like that amongst ourselves, we eventually arrived at the Adventurers’ Guild.

With my promotion to the C Rank, there might be even more requests that we can now undertake.

Besides, I haven’t been working properly as an Adventurer lately because of all the things that have happened.

I guess I came to the Guild today to sort of fulfill my original role.

By the way, it was decided that Tina would stay behind and guard the house.

Since she was a ghost, she couldn’t really go out during the day like we could.

She looked disappointed about it, but there was nothing we could really do about it, so while I was really sorry for that, she just had to bear with it for the time being.

「Hello.」

「Oh, well, if it isn’t Shroud-san and company. Welcome.」

When we walked in, Natalie-san greeted me with a smile on her face.

「So, what brings you here today?」

「I was thinking of taking on a new commission…… Do you have any suggestions?」

「Well, let’s see…… Hmm, hmm.」

Natalie-san pulled a file from the shelf and flipped through its pages really quick.

「Since Shroud-san just got a C Rank, and you have both Kanade and Tanya at your side as strong fighters. then the quest most suitable for you all would be…… Here. How about this one?」

「Catching smugglers?」

「Not long ago, there was an incident where some of the animals listed as officially endangered were brought into town. So we did some research, and it seems that there are people hunting and capturing these animals on purpose, which in and out of itself is a serious crime.」

「Hmm, I see. But isn’t that what the Knights Order is for?」

「Originally, yes, that’s true, but it seems that the Knights Order is short on manpower at the current moment. If it’s a case that puts people’s lives in danger, they will take care of it, but if only about endangered animals, they don’t have the time to devote wholeheartedly to it……」

「Uhh……」

Yes, the reason why the Knights Order was currently understaffed was because of that purge that we assisted with just the other day.

Stella said that the replacement knights would be sent from the royal capital as soon as possible, but……

It would probably take some time, and they probably haven’t come to town just yet.

And even if their ranks had been replenished, they would still be a major mess for the time being.

It would be difficult for a freshly reformed Knights Order to move quickly and effectively.

We did assist Stella in the purge with the best intentions behind our actions, but……

Still, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel at least partially responsible for that whole mess.

Besides, as a Beast Tamer, it’s a bit hard for me to just overlook the fact that animals that are designated as endangered are being harmed.

「Alright then, we are going to take on this request.」

「Thank you very much. Well, I’ll just go through the process of registering it really quick……」

Natalie-san started to sort through some papers and put a stamp on some others.

Then she handed me a form with information about this particular case.

「Speaking of which, what’s the reward for this request?」

「Kukuku, Shroud-san, are you seriously asking that question at the very end, after having accepted the request? That’s not something a C Rank Adventurer would normally do.」

「Please don’t tease me like that, Natalie-sann.」

「Anyways, the reward for the request itself is two hundred pieces of silver. Furthermore, for every smuggler you catch, you will receive an additional ten pieces of silver. And for every collaborator that you manage to catch, that will earn you fifty more silver.」

Sounds pretty good for a request.

It is safe to estimate that you can easily score over three hundred pieces of silver from this request, as a matter of fact.

And since we just happened to buy a house, this actually works pretty good for us.

「I’m pretty sure that since it’s you who we are talking about, Shroud-san, you will have no trouble with clearing that request. But still, please take care.」

「Thank you.」

As I left the reception area, everyone who had been watching the situation from a distance came over.

「Rain, Rain. What request did you take on?　All-you-can-eat fish buffet, perhaps?」

「How could anyone ask for something like that? How greedy can you get when it comes to food, Kanade?」

「Nyah…… I haven’t eaten any fish in such a long while…… I’m going to come down with a fish deficiency syndrome!」

「Can I see the job description…… Hmm, I see. Catching some smugglers? Sounds like a job for the Knights Order, if you were to ask me.」

「Hmm, animal trafficking….. I’m afraid that you are going to be the very first one to be targeted by them, Nina.」

「…… Hueh!?」

「Don’t scare her like that!」

「FUGYEAH!?」

Sora scolded Luna while also smacking her across the head.

「That being said, I want to get out there into the field right away…… I hope that no one has any objections to that?」

「None whatsoever!」

Kanade replied cheerfully…… and everyone else nodded their heads to follow suit.

It’s been a long time since we had a proper adventure like that.

Honestly, I was starting to feel a little bit excited about this……