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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 88 Part 1

CHAPTER 88: DOUBLE BOOKING PART 1

Once we managed to get our equipment all sorted out, we headed out of the city to complete our assigned request.

Leaving the city’s limits, we went straight towards the specified part of the forest.

According to the information Natalie-san had told us beforehand, the smugglers were over-hunting the forest animals in the nearby forest, mainly those who were already deemed to be endangered.

According to the information we received, the one species in particular that was targeted by the smugglers was the Horn Wolf, a species the number of which was growing sparser and sparser by the day.

The Horn Wolf, as its name suggests, is a member of the wolf family.

Once they reach full maturity, those wolves grow magnificent horns at the top of their heads.

Although they are wolves, they are a relatively docile species, and as long as they won’t be attacked by people, they tend to stay away from human settlements.

Now, the horns of the Horn Wolf are a very valuable material that is also easy to process.

Their fur is also of extremely high quality, and they were targeted by many humans in the past because of those very characteristics.
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Because of this, their population has declined so much that they are now an endangered species.

Once an animal is deemed as endangered, this means that they are banned from being hunted, no matter the circumstances.

So if you were to hunt down the Horn Wolf, you could get heavily penalized for that, or in the worst case scenario, you could even be sent to prison.

This meant that the population of the Horn Wolf should have been relatively safe, but unfortunately……

That’s not how things tend to work in this world. Because there were still those who wished to exploit them, even under those circumstances.

Because of their continuously dwindling numbers, the Horn Wolf’s horns and fur have become even more valuable than ever before……

That meant that the number of poachers also increased substantially, as hunting for those materials was a surefire way to earn yourself a quick coin.

「Alright! Let’s do this thing! We must protect the Horn Wolves, no matter what!」

「…… Yeah! Let’s do our…… very best here!」

Kanade and Nina were full of motivation right now.

It was a perfectly normal thing for Kanade to be motivated for work, but to see even Nina like that, that was actually a first.

Well, I guess that this is actually a good thing, but……

Since Nina was usually so timid and quiet, this only meant that the situation was really serious. Otherwise she would never be so fired up..

「You seem to be oddly motivated to do this, huh?」

「Of course we are!」

Kanade replied instantly while puffing her chest with enthusiasm.

「To us, the members of the Cat Spirit Tribe, animals like Horn Wolves are kind of like relatives, you could say! So if they are in trouble, it is only our duty to go and help them out!」

「I feel…… the same way……」

Hmm, I see.

The Cat Spirit Tribe and the God Tribe are very close to the Beast Tribe, it would seem.

This must mean that they feel a sort of affinity for the Horn Wolves..

「Well, if that’s the case, let’s just punish those criminals so severely that they won’t be able to even think about doing something so stupid ever again!」

「W-Well, when someone like Tanya was saying that, it really sounded as if she meant something else entirely by it. It was actually kind of disturbing, I’m not going to lie.」

「W-What do you mean by that?」

「Precisely what I said just now?」

「While Sora doesn’t like smugglers and poachers in general, Sora has to agree that this solution is a little bit much……」

「Oh, come on now……」

「Alright, everyone! That’s more than enough chatter for the time being!」

I said while clapping my hands together, tuning everyone’s attention towards me.

「From here on out, we are going to be entering the Horn Wolves territory. We must stay vigilant at all times, since there might be poachers or smugglers around. So let’s try to stay quiet, so that we can avoid detection for as long as possible.」

「Roger that!」

「Kanade! Please keep your voice down!」

「Oh dang it! Sorry about that!」

…… I get a feeling that sneaking around and keeping a low profile might actually be impossible to do here.

I look at Kanade and I just can’t stop myself from thinking that.

Oh well.

I might as well do some exploring while I’m at it.

After thinking that, I tamed multiple small animals in our vicinity and I scattered them around to do some recon work ahead of us.

I could also assimilate my senses with some birds flying above our heads and look for the smugglers from above.

「Rein, Rein!」

As I was trying to figure out which way to go from now on, Kanade got a serious look on her face and tugged at my clothes with a slight squeak.

「I think I can sense people approaching.」

「Huh?」

「There, over from that direction…… About two people, I think? I can hear footsteps approaching fast.」

Since I had absolute confidence in Kanade’s sense of hearing, I knew that she was telling the truth and that her estimate was correct.

Does that mean that we would run into smugglers so soon all of a sudden?

「…… Everyone, get ready for battle.」

I said while assuming the battle stance myself.

Nina also seemed to plan to fight on her own this time around, as she assumed the battle stance as well.

I’m a little worried about her joining the fight, but……. Oh well, if it’s against a normal person, then I guess that it won’t be that much of a problem.

Nina might have been a child still, but she is also the Ultimate Species.

「Whoa, what is it?」

「Who are you people?」

A pair of people, a warrior-looking man and a wizard-looking man, appeared from behind the bushes in the very next moment.

They also seem to be on guard, but I couldn’t really feel any hostility from them at all.

And they certainly did not look like smugglers or poachers to me.

I signaled to everyone to let down their guard and stepped forward with my hand up in the air.

「My name is Rein, and I’m an Adventurer. Everyone here is a member of my party.」

「Oh, seriously? A colleague of the same profession?」

「Does that mean that you two are also……?」

「We sure are. My name is Ogg, and I’m a Warrior. And this guy right here is my partner, Kreutz the Wizard. We are the C Rank Adventurers. What about you?」

「I’m also a C Rank.」

「What?　Seriously? What are the chances?」

「Hmm…… It doesn’t seem that you are lying to us, but to think that someone as young as you would be able to attain C Rank in the Guild…… Color me surprised.」