Thanks to Nuri's introduction, and to the clearly displayed star rankings on the covers of the Hunter's Notes carried by Altaïr's three-person group, joining the escort fleet went very smoothly.
No high-rank Hunter was idle enough to take part in this sort of escort mission. Considering the cost, most of the Hunters accompanying the supply ships and the Loc Lac Rangers assigned to them were only 2★ or 3★ in strength.
4★ and 5★ Hunters already counted as top-end combat power. Even if they encountered a Diablos, known as the "Tyrant of the Sand Sea," they had the strength to fight. Naturally, the escort fleet wasn't going to pass up such powerful reinforcements.
As for Lambert, who had only a single star, she was brought along as well under the pretext of being the apprentice of Nymera, the 5★ Hunter. No one had any objections whatsoever.
Lambert got the location of the competition organizers from the escort fleet staff.
She was well aware that, given her age and her status as a 1★ Hunter, anything she said would be hard-pressed to be taken seriously. So she brought along Isis, who was just as eager, as well as Nymera.
Altaïr was a bit exasperated, but in the end, he said nothing. If they really had the skill to persuade the competition sponsors, then let them make a fuss.
After the trio left, brimming with fighting spirit, Altaïr held back Nuri, who was preparing to return to patrol. "Nuri, did you bring only your own people this time? Where's Asa?"
During his time with the Loc Lac Rangers, the ones responsible for guiding him had been the two brothers, Nuri and Asa. Compared to the steady and serious Nuri, the hyperactive and talkative Asa, with whom he had a smaller age gap, was closer to Altaïr.
"Has Resha come too, meow?" Sajji also came closer to ask.
A hint of a smile appeared on Nuri's face. "They've all come, but..."
"But what?" Altaïr couldn't understand why Nuri was being so cryptic.
"Anyway, they didn't come as members of the Loc Lac Rangers. If you see a small Sandship painted entirely red, that's Asa's ship."
"Well, would you look at that. So he's competing." Altaïr couldn't help but laugh too.
Although his personality wasn't as steady and reliable as his elder brother Nuri's, Asa had completely inherited their father's talent for piloting Sandships. And it was with this skill at ship-handling that he had replaced their aging father and joined the Sandship fleet.
When he first heard about this speed competition, Altaïr had thought that if that guy Asa came, he would at least make the rankings.
He hadn't expected the guy to actually show up, much less with a completely red Sandship. Could it be the one they'd encountered on the road earlier?
"Resha, meow? Resha, meow?" Sajji was hopping up and down nearby, pressing for an answer.
He had worked as Resha's partner for quite a long time.
Back then, when his tribe was annihilated and he was wandering the desert, he had been fortunate enough to be taken in by the Loc Lac Rangers. Newly arrived and unfamiliar with the people and place, the very first person to show him kindness and guide him in understanding human society was Resha.
Emotionally, Sajji even saw her as an older sister. On this trip back to the Great Desert, he and Altaïr also planned to pay a visit to family in Loc Lac.
Neither of them had true blood relatives left alive. Altaïr intended to visit Marydan and Lamarck, while Sajji simply wanted to see Resha.
"Oh, Resha." Nuri scratched his head. "She's been a little under the weather lately. We just happen to have a group dinner tonight, so you'll see her then."
"Under the weather? Is Resha unwell, meow?" Sajji looked deeply worried.
Altaïr, however, had already guessed something. He let out a soft "Ah," a hint of amusement in his eyes, but said nothing.
—--
"I absolutely cannot accept this, meow! Meow!!!"
Baring his fangs, Sajji flailed wildly with his little claws, wanting to scratch the infuriatingly smug face across the dinner table.
But he couldn't move. Resha's arms around him weren't holding him too tightly; with a little more force, he could have broken free. But Resha was already visibly pregnant, and he didn't dare struggle hard.
Clawdia watched in astonishment as Sajji seemed ready to shoot flames of fury from his eyes. It was the first time she had ever seen Sajji so angry.
If that guy hadn't always neglected his Spirit training, he'd probably have activated Beast Mode by now.
"Is it really that big a deal, meow?" Clawdia popped a piece of fish sausage into her mouth, licking her claws as she asked.
Lambert leaned close to her ear and murmured in a devilish whisper, "Imagine this: you go away for two or three years, and when you come back, you find out Senior Isis is pregnant with..."
A red gleam flashed in Clawdia's eyes. She glared viciously at Altaïr at the other end of the table.
Sensing this hostility, Altaïr was a bit baffled, but upon discovering it came from Clawdia, he paid it no mind. That little cat just had random fits of madness.
Looking over at Asa, whose face was flushed from drinking, Altaïr teased, "I did catch a tiny hint of something back then, but I never thought you two would move this fast.
"Married at the start of the year? Why didn't you tell us? And in the blink of an eye, a child's almost here..."
"You think we didn't tell you?!" Resha, still hugging Sajji, first shot Altaïr a sidelong glare, then started tugging at Sajji's ears.
"We sent a letter to Val Habar half a year in advance inviting you all back for the wedding, all right? But we never heard back from you, did we? We asked around, and only then did we find out you'd left Val Habar ages ago and gone off who knows where."
Altaïr opened his mouth, then closed it.
Married at the start of this year... the letter sent to Val Habar half a year before... that would have been right around the time he and Isis were traveling everywhere, building up hunting experience.
If letters sent to Val Habar arrived to find no one there, Guildmarm Sophia and the others might have forwarded them to Dundorma. But once a letter was forwarded to Dundorma and found no recipient again, the chances of it being forwarded further were extremely slim.
It was almost inevitable for ordinary personal letters to get lost after being forwarded two or three times, especially since during that period, they rarely stayed in one place for more than two weeks. After settling down in Metapetatto, troublesome incidents had come one after another, and they hadn't thought to send a letter to Loc Lac either. So for Asa and the others, he and Sajji could be said to have been completely out of touch for these past few years.
"Sorry!" Altaïr pressed his palms together in apology.
Then he rummaged through his luggage again, eventually digging out a large gold bead the size of a knuckle and tossing it to Asa. "Consider this a belated wedding gift from me and Sajji."
"It's this heavy?!" Asa was startled and instinctively tried to return it.
"Give it here, meow! It's not for you, meow!" Sajji snatched it with a swipe, huffed at Asa, stuffed the gold bead into Resha's pocket, and gently patted her protruding belly.
Resha could only sigh and accept it, rubbing Sajji's cheeks with both hands. "Where are you two based now? At least give me a mailing address. Don't go out of contact again."
Sajji thought for a moment. "Send letters to the Metapetatto Guild Hall, meow. You can add a note saying that if we're no longer there, it can be forwarded to this address in Dundorma, meow.
"This is Isis's home address, meow. It'll always reach us, meow."
"Miss Isis's home?" Resha was taken aback when she heard this.
She glanced at Isis, who was wolfing down food nearby, then glanced at Altaïr, and a hint of mischief spread across her face. "Will we be able to return the favor with a congratulatory gift very soon?"
At that, Asa, Nuri, Nymera, and even Lambert, who rarely spoke, all shifted their gazes over. Only Isis remained immersed in enjoying the desert cuisine.
"Don't talk nonsense." Altaïr waved his hand with an expressionless face. "Isis's grandfather is my swordsmanship teacher. She can just help forward letters, that's all."
Asa and Resha let out a chorus of strange "heh heh heh heh" laughter, but they also knew when to stop and didn't continue joking about the matter.
The table fell silent for a moment, leaving only the sound of Isis wielding her knife and fork.
"Ah, right, I have some good news for everyone." Lambert, who had eaten less food from start to finish than Isis could swallow in one bite, raised her head.
"We discussed it with the organizer in charge. After listening to our performance, he was very impressed and invited us to play aboard the ship during the competition to stir up the atmosphere."
Nymera beamed as she waved the document stamped with a wax seal in her hand. "It's official, yes. Our current identities are musicians specially invited by the organizer!"
Isis forcefully swallowed the contents of her mouth and raised a thumbs-up. "He also agreed to reimburse the Shells and Bowgun Ammo we use for our performances!"
Lambert raised both arms high. "We can decorate the lead escort ship however we want! Chains! Bones! Flaming Ammo! Yeehaw!! We're going to blow up the Great Desert!"
(Translated by yourtl.app)