As Altaïr opened his eyes, fragments of memory flickered through his mind: the dim cavern, the searing pain throughout his body, and Sajji crying out "Meow!" as he pounced on him... For a moment, he could not tell whether any of it had truly happened or had merely been a vivid dream.
Then Isis's worried face came into view.
"This is..." His voice was as hoarse as before.
"You can still talk, so I guess you're not dying, meow." Clawdia's face crowded into his field of vision as well.
Once she was certain he had regained consciousness, the concern in Clawdia's eyes gave way to her usual biting sarcasm. "Good thing Isis had a Max Potion with her and used it to keep you alive, meow.
"Nearly getting yourself killed along with a crab? Impressive, meow."
Altaïr propped himself up on his elbows and tried to sit, but sharp pain and spasms seized his muscles.
In the end, he managed to sit up only with Sajji's help, then leaned against the rock wall beside him.
Only then did he realize that he was back on the surface.
This was the miners' temporary camp where he and Sajji had stayed before the hunt began. The sky outside the cave was pitch-black, and with no campfire burning inside, the camp was especially dim.
Isis silently handed him a Potion, then began tending to the campfire. On the other side of the firepit, Hibiki lay dozing.
Altaïr looked at Sajji, silently asking what had happened.
Sajji lowered his voice. "I ran to the surface and fired an SOS flare, then went back to the bottom of the cavern. That's where I found you, Boss, lying beside the Taikun Zamuza's corpse, meow.
"I could barely feel your heartbeat, meow. Even feeding you a Potion didn't help, meow.
"Luckily, Isis arrived later on Hibiki, meow. She gave you a Max Potion, and you slowly began to come around, meow.
"Once your condition stabilized a little, we carried you back to the surface, meow."
After speaking, Sajji stole a glance at Isis as she lit the fire, then turned and mouthed to Altaïr, "Isis is really angry, meow!"
"Uh..."
The cave fell silent, broken only by the scrape of Isis working the fire striker.
Sparks soon caught, and bright flames drove the darkness and chill from the camp. The oppressive atmosphere, however, remained.
Isis put away the fire striker, walked to the edge of the cave, and picked up a large, heavy bundle. She dropped it at Altaïr's feet with a thump. "Your armor. I brought it back for you."
"Thanks."
"The Taikun Zamuza's corpse is still in the cavern. I didn't have time to carve any materials from it."
Altaïr gave a rueful, self-deprecating smile. "I was going to bring you back a pair of crab claws to make up for the birthday gift I still owe you–"
Isis cut him off without a trace of expression. "I don't want them. You can go get them yourself once you've recovered."
"Besides, those pincers don't look like they have much meat on them, meow," Sajji suddenly added.
"..."
Altaïr and Isis both looked at Sajji. He drew his head back. "Sorry. I was only trying to lighten the mood, meow."
Whether or not it had lightened the mood was debatable, but Sajji's joke did at least break Isis's silence.
"Why did you take off your armor and fight a Monster to the death?" Isis asked Altaïr coldly.
She sounded nothing like her usual mild, unhurried self. To Altaïr, the Isis before him was even more frightening than Teacher Karin when she was angry.
Altaïr grew serious. "That Monster can release incredibly powerful electrical currents, far stronger than those of a Khezu or even a Lagiacrus.
"The Regios Armor Set has terrible Thunder Resistance and even draws electrical arcs. It was only weighing me down. Considering–"
"The point isn't why you took off your armor to fight." Isis cut off his explanation. "It's why you fought the Monster to the death.
"Without your armor, you must have been much faster. Couldn't you find an opportunity to disengage?"
Altaïr paused.
Truthfully, there had been opportunities to disengage...
Not from the very beginning, of course, but during the fight, he had gained the upper hand several times and had even knocked the Taikun Zamuza down once.
If he had wanted to, he could certainly have broken off the fight safely on more than one occasion. In the heat of such a blood-pumping battle, however, remembering that he could simply flee had been difficult.
Of course, he could not admit that. Just as Altaïr was considering how to gloss over the truth, Sajji spoke up again.
He waved his two little paws. "That Monster covers its whole body in electricity and flies into the air, meow! Then it darts around up there as fast as a cannonball, meow!
"When Boss and I first tried to escape, it stopped us with that move, meow! It crossed the entire cavern in less than a second, meow!"
"A crab can fly, meow?" Clawdia looked at him suspiciously. "Are you sure you weren't dreaming, meow?"
Sajji huffed indignantly. "It's true, meow! That move knocked Boss out once, meow! It also left those straight, scorched tracks across the cavern floor, meow!
"You saw them too, Isis. There were lots of those marks, meow. Boss must have tried to retreat again and again, then risked his life fighting only after he had no way to escape, meow!"
Sajji meant every word. He truly believed that was what had happened.
Isis froze. Sajji had defended Altaïr with wild, impassioned gestures and had bristled when Clawdia questioned him. He did not look as though he were inventing a lie.
Isis had indeed seen those straight, intersecting burn marks. Perhaps Altaïr really had tried to retreat repeatedly and had been forced to fight the Monster to the death only after every escape route failed.
She looked up at Altaïr almost without thinking. Altaïr silently averted his gaze.
He looked away out of guilt, of course.
Everything Sajji had said was true, but Altaïr had already found a way to counter the electromagnetic charge. He had failed to look for an opportunity to retreat simply because the thought had never crossed his mind... Or rather, because he had become caught up in the heat of battle.
From Isis's perspective, however, Altaïr seemed to be sulking because she had misunderstood and unfairly accused him.
Then she remembered that Altaïr had accepted this mission in the first place to prepare a birthday gift for her. In other words, he had ended up in danger because of her.
He had risked staying behind to cover Sajji's retreat, and his fight to the death against the Monster had been a desperate struggle for survival.
If Hibiki had not carried her there so quickly after they saw the SOS flare, and if she had not happened to have a Max Potion with her, Altaïr might already have...
Isis could not help glancing at Altaïr again, her gaze passing over the Potion bottle in his hand.
He had only just awakened from a coma caused by his severe injuries, yet here she was, suspecting him without reason.
The thought made her want to slap herself.
I'm such a jerk!
Isis sprang to her feet, walked over to Altaïr, and bowed deeply. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have doubted you!"
Altaïr had been trying to decide how to bluff his way... how to explain a few things to Isis, but he promptly closed his mouth.
Never mind. Better not say anything else.
The cave fell silent again. Compared with the oppressive atmosphere from before, however, the silence was now more awkward than anything.
Just as the two of them were searching for some topic that might dispel the awkwardness, voices sounded outside the cave.
Still at a complete loss, Isis seized on the interruption. She sprang to her feet, blurted, "I'll go take a look!" and hurried outside.
At the same time, a massive shadow swept over the mountainside where the cave camp stood. Isis reached the entrance, looked up, and saw the Pioneer slowly descending.
Nymera leaned over the Airship's deck and shouted a question. The night wind was too strong for Isis to make out her words, but she could hear the urgency in her voice.
A moment later, Morgan, Dawn, and Nymera, all fully armed, slid down the ropes one after another and hurried toward the cave.
Isis's expression froze.
Crap. She had been so busy worrying about Altaïr that she had forgotten to fire a signal confirming they were safe.
Altaïr, one of the strongest Hunters on the advance team, had fired an SOS flare. Then Isis had ridden Hibiki out to help him at full speed, only to go silent as well.
Now every 5★ Hunter at the outpost had rushed over...
(Translated by yourtl.app)