Using the contact address Gael had provided, Altaïr smoothly met Lambert's parents.
Unlike their neurotic daughter, her musician parents were perfectly normal, friendly people.
When they learned that their daughter wanted to graduate early from the training camp and become an official Hunter in the near future, both of them were visibly distressed.
They gathered around the wide-eyed Lambert, trying to talk her out of it for a long time, but they simply could not change her mind.
Watching the couple grow frantic with worry, Francesca leaned close to Altaïr's ear and whispered, "The same thing happened back when she said she wanted to enter the training camp to become a Hunter. Her parents were exactly like this: worried, opposed, arguing with her, but never managing to persuade her.
"If you ask me, her parents are just too soft. This is clearly what happens when you don't give her a good smacking often enough when she's little. A few good slaps across the face, and the little thing's eyes would clear right up."
Altaïr nodded, deeply in agreement.
He too had once been a troublesome rebellious youth, but Teacher Karin had never indulged him. Ten years of education, and the little brat who used to toss mud clods into the item box had now become refined and courteous.
"Alright, her parents have pretty much used up their whole bag of tricks. My turn now. Wait here." Francesca chuckled and walked on up.
Francesca had received special training in communication. You might say she had a real way with words.
With just a few simple sentences, Altaïr's standing in that couple's minds shifted from "a strange Hunter making their daughter restless" to "the sole guarantee of their daughter's life and safety."
Her father even strode up quickly, grabbed Altaïr's hand, and thanked him repeatedly while asking how much the annual protection fee would be.
Of course, Altaïr had no intention of actually collecting any so-called protection fee. Truth be told, he didn't entirely see Lambert as a burden.
She had trained for less than two years and already possessed the strength to earn the Head Instructor's approval. She had even caught the eye of a High Rank Hunting Horn user, who willingly offered to take her as a disciple.
There was no need to question this girl's talent. As long as she didn't get herself killed halfway, in a few short years she would become an outstanding combat asset.
His earlier cooperation with Kagetsu had made him realize the importance of a support role in team combat, not just during the fighting itself, but throughout the entire Hunt. Someone like that could be a tremendous help.
He had actually considered whether to invite Kagetsu to become a partner, but after working together later, he found that she was a little too pure as a support type.
A support system built around the two cores of Wide-Range and Kinsect could integrate seamlessly into any team, making her a universally applicable, supremely versatile support.
But correspondingly, her combat ability was too poor. In high-intensity operations, they'd even need to assign someone specifically to protect her.
This made her more suited for joint operations with multiple squads, or even large-scale corps operations like the Defense Corps. In a standard four-person team, her effectiveness was actually limited.
Lambert, however, was different.
The Hunting Horn could be said to be the only weapon among all current Hunter weapons designed primarily with "support" in mind.
A seasoned Hunting Horn user, through various combinations of melody soundwaves, could provide the team with extremely clear and highly targeted buffs.
As for combat capability, wasn't there that saying about a "long-handled hammer" anyway?
What was more, Lambert was no ordinary Hunting Horn user. According to Gael, she was especially adept at using various offensive soundwaves, so aggressive she hardly seemed like a Hunting Horn user at all.
This made Altaïr very interested.
Theirs was an offense-oriented team. Everyone had their own specialties, and none of them were bad at attacking.
He was a skirmisher and attacker, and when needed he could also fill in as support with a Sword and Shield. Isis was a Tank and attacker. Nymera excelled at reconnaissance and was also an attacker.
Once Lambert grew into her role, whether as a long-term partner or an occasional collaborator, just imagine it: she would start with a round of buff melodies, then swing her Hunting Horn and charge right in with everyone else. Sounded pretty thrilling, didn't it?
But that would have to wait until they met up with Isis and Nymera for a proper discussion. In any case, there was no way this girl's abilities would let her fight alongside them anytime soon.
A Hunter wasn't just someone who could fight. There was still so much she needed to learn, and offering some guidance and help in his spare time was hardly a burden.
Under Francesca's verbal coaxing, Lambert's parents were smoothly led into saying things like "that child really does need straightening out" and "please discipline her well for us."
Lambert, standing nearby, curled her lip at what she heard. Altaïr glanced over at her, and she immediately looked away.
Altaïr smiled. From the fact that she didn't jump up to argue back, he could tell that with her rebellious nature, forget about being taught a lesson, even if someone bullied her, she'd never come running home to complain to her parents. She'd just find her own way to get revenge.
After bidding farewell to the mild-mannered musician couple, Altaïr dropped the girl back at the training camp. As for whether she could pass the promotion exam or how she'd manage it, those were her own concerns. No need for him to get involved.
With a rebellious teenage girl of this age, too much concern might just earn you her contempt anyway.
At last, having wrapped up this whole string of miscellaneous affairs, Altaïr plunged headfirst into the training area in the basement of Isis's house. Time was limited, and he had to master the Tempered Spirit Blade as fast as possible!
—--
While Altaïr was entrenched in his grueling practice of the Tempered Spirit Blade in Dundorma, Isis was journeying over mountains and rivers with the Estrellian herd.
Sea transport was indeed not slow. In just three or four days, the herd of Estrellians was carried from Metapetatto Bay in the western Jungle to the vicinity of Meruchitta Port in the Schrade western region.
No matter how docile they were, Estrellians were still Large Monsters, so it was impossible to disembark them at a city port. The transport team therefore found a suitable inlet, and it took considerable effort to get these several large creatures back onto dry land.
Although Estrellians were quadrupedal, their foot speed was not something that slow-moving creatures like Aptonoth or Popo could match.
The gradually familiar environment made the Estrellians excited, and their pace quickened steadily.
A land journey originally planned to take about a week took only roughly half that time to reach the final destination at Esther Lake, where they joined up with the Guild team waiting there.
Among those people, Isis was surprised to spot two familiar figures.
She jogged over. "Senior Karin! Senior Haifa!"
The two, who had recently been ostensibly guarding the smith team while secretly monitoring that fissure at the bottom of the lake all along, looked over in surprise.
"Oh! If it isn't Little Isis!" Haifa, tall and powerfully built, was about the same height as Isis and slung an arm over her shoulder with practiced ease.
"Long time no see! Where's Altaïr? You two didn't have a fight, did you?" Haifa teased.
Isis answered honestly, "No, not at all. I'm in charge of leading the Estrellians back to their habitats. Altaïr was called over to Dundorma."
Haifa clicked her tongue. Kids who were too earnest were no fun; her teasing had fallen completely flat.
Compared to the jovial Haifa, Karin was far more serious, prioritizing the immediate business at hand.
Once the handover was complete, Isis no longer needed to worry about much of anything. These Estrellians would each return to their familiar territories on their own.
The Guild had also dispatched Palico teams to track them, confirming the exact territorial range of each Estrellian for future monitoring and study.
The mysterious fissure that had appeared at the bottom of the great lake had earlier been sealed using blasting methods. After a period of water accumulation, the level had risen back by nearly half, restoring some of the picturesque scenery of clear waters and green hills.
Out of personal bias, Isis had reserved the best territory for her good friend, near the terraced Mirror Lake.
The Guild had also released large quantities of local fish fry into the surrounding waters for the Estrellians to feed on, so the creatures wouldn't wander off to who knew where if they got hungry someday.
Of course, everyone understood that this stability and harmony was only temporary. Perhaps one day in the future, evolutionary instinct would once again drive them toward unknown regions.
After all, any Elder Dragon in this world could show signs of sudden abnormalities without warning.
But at the very least, before any of that happened, a little more time for peaceful coexistence wouldn't hurt.
"Anyway, that's about the gist of things here."
Haifa, still with her arm draped over Isis's shoulder, glanced at the Glavenus Gunlance on her back. Her tone suddenly shifted, and with a half-smile, she said, "Well, aren't you something, Little Isis? Already wielding a Glavenus weapon? Guess your hunting career's been pretty intense, huh?"
"No, no! Altaïr is the amazing one!" Isis waved her hands frantically. "He's already switched to a full Regios Armor Set and Seregios Long Sword! Our local Guildmarm even called him the King of Jumping the Gun."
Karin: "?"
(Translated by yourtl.app)