Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 159 Part 1

CHAPTER 159: IRIS’S PAST *3* PART 1

「T-This is……」

I was utterly speechless.

In the battle against the Demon Lord many years ago, the vast majority of the Celestial Tribe’s population died.

After that war, the Celestial Tribe was no longer the same as it once was, and now they had to not only protect the humans and fulfill their duty, but they also had the survival of their entire tribe to worry about.

And even though they were in such a sorry state right after the war with Demons ended, humans still asked them for protection from Demons, just like before, as if it never happened……

There is just no way that this could work out.

It was just way too absurd of a request, no matter how you try to think about it.

What were the people thinking back then?

Asking the Celestial Tribe to do something so outrageous like this……

Did they really expect that was going to pass?

Did they really think that asking something like that of them was all fine and acceptable?

And I wonder what Iris has thought when she heard them make demands like that?

And more importantly, what did the Celestial Tribe think of that?

「Now then, Rein-sama…… What do you think that the response of our Celestial Tribe was?」

「Did you perhaps refuse?」

「No, unfortunately, that is not the case here. Against all odds, we tried to do the same thing that we always did, guardian humans and protecting them from Demons.」

Those words were something I completely did not expect to hear.

「But…… But why?」

「Could it be that you think that such behavior is strange? Well, to be perfectly honest, it was strange for me, too. I like to think that because of all the horrible things that took place at that time, we have completely gone mad, all of us. I mean, the survival of our very tribe was in severe jeopardy, and yet we were still doing our very best in order to protect humanity……」

「Could it be that…… Is it because of this that the Celestial Tribe…… Is that the reason……?」

「Fufufu, yes, you are exactly right, Rein-sama.」

After saying that, Iris laughed out loud.

But this time around, it was a somewhat self-deprecating laugh.

「But unfortunately, that decision made sense to us at the time. After all, the Celestial Tribe was created to act as envoys of the Gods and to protect humanity. Sadly, we knew of no other way to live our lives.」

“We knew of no other way to live our lives”.

For some reason, I found those words to be extremely sad.

This situation seemed as if the Celestial Tribe actually had a choice in the matter at hand, but in reality they had no choice at all.

It’s like being a bird that was put inside of a birdcage.

While maintaining the illusion of freedom, you could actually only fulfill the role that had been given to you.

As I was all quiet while I was looking for the right words to say here, I must have appeared troubled or even broken to Iris.

「Rein-sama, what’s the matter? You look somewhat bitter.」

「Well, I mean……」

「So, now that you know about those events, what do you think of them? I would like to hear your honest opinion, if that’s not a problem.」

「…… Wrong. I think that it was all wrong. It’s unfair. It seems to me as if at the time you had no will of your own to choose your own path. Or maybe, for the lack of a better word, I feel like you were dependent on someone else to show them how you should live your lives.」

「Dependent on someone else…… Fufufu, yes, that’s right. Perhaps you are right to call it like that.」

Once again, Iris let out a self-deprecating laugh.

Seeing that lonely smile on her lips made my chest tighten in pain for some inexplicable reason.

「We, the members of the Celestial Tribe, were a race that was given our mission by the Gods themselves. And since our mission was given to us by the Gods themselves, we made sure to make that mission our very sense of being. But I guess that in doing just that, we have become unable to choose our own path in life.」

「That is…… That is really sad.」

「Yes, that is certainly a rather lonely way to live one’s life…… But even so, we did just that, believing that devoting our lives to fulfilling our mission was the best thing that we could have possibly done. Well, to be perfectly honest, part of the reason for us doing that was simply because we knew no other way to live……」

「By saying so, you mean that you have accepted the humans who wanted you to continue to protect them, right?」

「Yes, that right, we have accepted their request for protection. Even though our numbers had been drastically reduced as a result of the war with Demons, we still tried to fulfill our sacred duty. Now then, Rein-sama…… As a result of that, could you try to guess what happened next?」

Iris then asked me such a question.

What happened to the Celestial Tribe…… Huh?

If you try and think about it normally, there is no way that they would be able to continue being the guardians of humanity like that…… right?

Their numbers were drastically reduced by the war with Demons, and the only remaining members of the Celestial Tribe were women and children.

So it only stands to reason that they couldn’t fulfill their duty, for they no longer had the power necessary to do so.

「Could it be that…… You were unable to protect the humans as you were before?」

Even though I was still not really sure what to say, I gave Iris such an answer, thinking it to be the correct one.

「Hmm…… Let’s just say that you are half-right, Rein-sama……」

「So that’s not what happened?」

「Like I said, you were correct, but only halfway. It is true that we, the remnants of the Celestial Tribe, did not have that much power left to our name. So even if we tried to be the guardians of humans, like we used to be, we would be overwhelmed by their enemies, as we were lacking the necessary power and strength to do so. We were no longer able to protect humans from Demons and eliminate Demons like we used to.」
「Well, thinking about it normally, it would be the most logical outcome here, wouldn’t it……?」

But if that was indeed so then what did Iris mean by “half-right”?

What is the other half of the truth that I was unable to grapes here……?

「The correct answer is that as a result of not being able to fulfill our duties the same way that we used to, we, the Celestial Tribe, were denounced for it.」

「Wha……」

Once again, I have found myself to be at a loss for words as a result of listening to Iris’s story.