Watching Archi as if his soul had left him, Altaïr sighed silently.
All these days, revenge had been this guy's entire life; it was what carried him out of grief, the only drive that made him grit his teeth and push forward.
Now, suddenly telling him that all his efforts were meaningless was no different from breaking his spine.
Someone with a slightly weaker spirit might well spiral into self-destruction from this; it wouldn't be strange if they took the chance to follow their father to the grave.
If Archi had truly lost everything, Altaïr would never have dared to lay the matter of Arbiter Estrellian out before him like that.
Having a foe that no longer existed was still better than having no attachments left at all.
But Archi still had a little sister. With hatred gone, the existence of family would become his sole support.
At just sixteen or seventeen, Archi had dared to infiltrate a Monster Den alone to rescue his father. He was absolutely not a fragile, cowardly person. Once he weathered this spell, he would surely stand again.
Gael hauled the dazed Archi up from the floor, then gave him a hard kick to the rear, booting him straight out of the office.
"Alright, you brat, you've got no vengeance left to pursue now, and graduating early or whatever doesn't matter anymore either. Take a few days off, pack your things, and get lost. Go find your sister.
"After that, whether you bring her here or go there to look after her is up to you. Don't just sit here spacing out. You're an eyesore. Get lost!"
Having shooed away the stupefied Archi, Gael bared her teeth in a grin at Altaïr. "Not bad, kid. A few words, and you've solved the biggest headache around here."
As she spoke, she glanced over at Lambert standing nearby. "What about this little animal here? Wanna take a crack at settling her too?"
This was, of course, just a joke. She was about to assign Lambert some self-reflection reports, homework, and the like, then chase her off too, when the latter raised a hand and declared:
"I've decided! I'm going with Senior Altaïr! I feel like Isis, Senior Altaïr, and I will definitely get along great!"
Gael froze, pointed a finger at Lambert, and turned her head toward Francesca, who had usurped her throne. "What happened before I got here? Which screw in her head came loose this time?"
"Ah, in short, she figured out that Altaïr and Isis are companions, then decided she's the same kind of person as them, so she wants to latch onto them," Francesca summarized.
Gael laughed in exasperation. "Seriously? You know how strong Altaïr and Isis are? And you want to become their companion?"
As if aware that her own smile made her look unhinged, Lambert pressed two fingers to the corners of her mouth, forcibly shaping a grin. "Going by what Instructor said earlier, they're 'newbies who only recently became official Hunters'?"
Gael: "..."
"Come on, I'm not an idiot. I soloed a Khezu over a year ago, and just now I mentioned I Hunted a Nerscylla a few months back.
"So they're 4★, right? But wild ones like you wouldn't be content quietly Hunting ordinary 4★ Monsters. You've taken on plenty of 5★ Monsters too, I bet, so your strength should be around 5★?"
Gael choked, then snapped irritably, "If you know that, why are you still talking nonsense here?"
Lambert hopped onto the windowsill with a little "heave-ho." "First of all, I said I'd go with them, not fight alongside them. I told you, don't treat me like a lunatic. I'm not arrogant enough to think I can join a Hunt of that level right now."
That statement caught not only Gael off guard; even Altaïr and Francesca looked slightly stunned.
"Then what do you mean by 'go with them'? Spell it out. What exactly are you trying to do?"
Lambert put on an expression that said dealing with blockheaded adults was such a pain. "To put it simply, wherever they set up their base, that's where I'll go too. But I won't Hunt with them, at least not for now. I know I'm not qualified yet, so I'll take care of my own training and growth. Once my strength roughly catches up, then I'll consider becoming a companion."
Altaïr listened, his mind full of question marks. If that really was the case, then she indeed had no need to seek their consent, because practically speaking, where she chose to develop was her own freedom. Even if this character simply followed wherever they went, they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Such behavior didn't violate any rules; they'd just have a stalker trailing behind them.
"What? What's the point of this?" Gael wondered if she'd gotten old and couldn't keep up with the younger generation's train of thought anymore. "If it's all solo training anyway, what difference does it make where you train? Why must you follow them? Are you some kind of pervert?!"
Lambert's expression turned solemn, and her tone grew utterly serious. "Because they're different. They carry that wild melody with them. Senior Isis is like the roar of a cannon, pure and fervent. Senior Altaïr is the howl of a great gale, and also the wail of a vengeful spirit. The people in this training camp don't have that. They're all dull hums, like slack strings. Archi's a bit special, but he's just a screeching noise, like nails on a blackboard. Unpleasant."
As she spoke, she stared at Gael for several seconds. "Instructor, you're special too. You must have been a real powerhouse before. I don't know why you've turned so bland. Do people really get boring once they're past their prime?"
"Are you fucking asking to die?" The veins on Gael's temple throbbed visibly.
"What about me? What about me?" Lambert's method of describing people as sounds struck Francesca as immensely interesting, and she couldn't help pressing the question.
Lambert shot her a sidelong glance. "The noise of countless things jumbled together, drifting with the current."
Francesca: "..."
Sajji was also curious. "And meow? Do Felynes have a sound too, meow?"
Lambert fixed her dead-fish eyes on Sajji and watched him for a moment. "Pulsing, yet orderly. Like the sound of turning gears. Not my type, but still quite interesting."
Altaïr's gaze toward the girl gained a touch of surprise. This one seemed to have something going on.
Lambert looked back at him. "So, take me with you. I won't need any help from you, nor will I cause you trouble. Speaking arrogantly, two or three years? Three or five years? I'll eventually become a super-strong Hunting Horn user. When that time comes, I can be of real use. Interesting melodies attract each other, just like you and Senior Isis. If I stay near you, interesting people will surely gather little by little. I don't want to endure those boring sounds anymore."
Altaïr frowned, deep in thought. In truth, he was already inclined to agree to the girl's request, because whether he agreed or not, the outcome would be the same.
His movements and Isis's were hardly secret. Even if he refused, this one would likely find her own way to them.
After a long silence, Gael seemed to give up as well. She let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. If you're dead set on leaving, instructors like us can't stop you even if we try. If I forcibly hold you back from graduating, you'd just sneak off and slip away anyway, wouldn't you? Damn it. Now that I think about it, I really do know a guy who left the training camp midway and went on to become a high-rank Hunter all on his own."
(The protagonist of the 2G official novel, Kio, seems to have dropped out of the Dundorma Training Camp.)
"I would slip away, but don't worry, I won't do anything stupid."
Lambert pressed her finger to the corner of her mouth again, pushing out a smile. "I'd probably go find that Hunting Horn user uncle named Ferdie, say I want to become his disciple, and get him to write me a letter of recommendation. After I'm promoted to official Hunter, I'll use solo training as an excuse to head out on my own."
"...You really are something else." Gael jabbed Lambert's forehead hard a few times. "Get lost and go prepare properly. I'll let you know when the assessment quest comes down in a couple of days. You only get one chance. If you fail this time, you'll obediently stay here for the full three years before you can leave!"
Having said that, Gael looked at Altaïr. "Looks like this one's latched onto you and Isis. I know it's unfair to ask this of you two, but I can only trouble you to keep an eye on her. At the very least, don't let this kid die out on the hunting grounds too soon."
Lambert bared her teeth, offering Altaïr a twisted, crumbling sort of grin.
Altaïr glanced at her, then spoke up to ask, "Lady Gael, do you have contact information for her parents?"
"I do, yes. What about it?"
"I intend to take some time to visit her parents and explain the specifics of the situation to them. For the sake of her life and safety, I hope to obtain 'disciplinary authority' from her parents."
"Wh-What do you mean?" Lambert's smile stiffened.
Altaïr pressed his hand down atop Lambert's head, leaned in close to the girl's ear, and bared his teeth in a grin equally twisted. His other hand clenched into a fist before her face. "If you mess around, your Isis, the one you just compared to a cannon, and I will beat the crap out of you, y'know. It'll hurt. A lot."
(Translated by yourtl.app)