Ted and Malika gave Altaïr strange looks.
Never one to mince words, Ted blurted out without a second thought, "So what exactly is your relationship?"
Malika smacked her husband in exasperation. How could he ask them that?
Caught off guard by the blunt question, Altaïr instinctively glanced at Isis. When he saw her gaze darting about, he chose his words carefully. "For now, we're hunting partners and teammates."
"Ohhh... All right, I get it. Everyone starts out as companions."
Ted drew out the words, then began counting on his fingers. "Look, Malika and I started that way. So did Ursula and Az, and your parents too. Gael and... no, never mind. Those two started out as enemies.
"All a relationship needs is the right opportunity to grow..."
Malika finally lost patience. She kicked Ted hard behind the knee, then mouthed through clenched teeth: Shut up! If you try to force it, you'll kill the sapling!
Ted shrugged, unconcerned.
If that was enough to kill it, the sapling was never going to grow anyway.
Malika was not nearly as shameless as her husband. "Enough nonsense! Get on with it! Isis wants you to teach her the Gunlance!"
Ted dropped his broad backside onto the edge of the bed, making it groan and creak beneath him.
He folded his burly arms, planted his feet wide, straightened his back, and assumed an invincible air. Unfortunately, his enormous belly badly undermined the imposing presence he might otherwise have projected.
"My Gunlance has only one core principle. Master it, and you'll be unstoppable!"
"Mm-hmm!" Isis nodded rapidly, her eyes sparkling.
Had she shared Altaïr's habit of carrying a notebook, she would already have been taking notes.
This was the secret of the "Iron Wall"!
"Perseverance! As long as the Monster goes down while you're still standing, you're the victor!" Ted raised his thick chin, his booming voice and overwhelming presence filling the room.
Isn't that just stating the obvious? Altaïr thought. On second thought, however, Ted might mean something deeper by "perseverance."
Isis fell into deep thought.
She knew her own shortcomings. Her way of thinking was relatively straightforward, unlike Altaïr, whose mind moved quickly enough to draw ten conclusions from a single clue.
She was not stupid, but she was not as adept as he was at learning and understanding complex subjects, such as the obscure secret swordsmanship scroll her mother had left her...
Ironically, that very trait let her follow Ted's peculiar train of thought, one that most people would have struggled to comprehend.
She seemed to have grasped something important.
After delivering that imposing summary, Ted relaxed completely.
He no longer held his head high. His tone softened, and as he looked at Isis, his gaze held a tenderness at odds with his rough appearance.
"I understand you. Those aren't empty words of comfort. I've lived through exactly what you're going through."
Ted looked down and rubbed his large belly. "I've told you plenty of stories about how the 'Alcohol' Hunting Party was formed, the powerful Monsters we hunted, how we became famous across the continent, and even how we saved the world.
"But I've hardly ever told anyone what happened before all that."
With that, he suddenly turned and fixed Altaïr with a hard stare. "These stories stay between us. If I find out you've let anything slip, I'll beat you!"
Altaïr hastily assured him that he could keep his mouth shut.
Malika rolled her eyes and mercilessly undercut her husband. "Oh, please. Do you still think this is twenty years ago? You've been retired for so long that hardly anyone even remembers you now.
"You could post those old stories on a notice board and no one would bother reading them. And you're worried about word getting out..."
Ted grunted a couple of times. Rather than answer her, he merely patted the bed beside him, signaling for Isis to sit down.
"I was born into a Hunter family too. My father was the best Gunner in Minegarde at the time, and my mother was a famous Dual Blades user. Almost every Hunter active in the northern Old World knew their names.
"Everyone assumed I would follow in their footsteps. Even my parents believed it."
Altaïr cast Isis a discreet glance.
Ted's family circumstances really were quite similar to hers.
"But as I grew older, it became clear that my eyesight wasn't good enough to be a Gunner. I wasn't flexible enough for Dual Blades either.
"My parents never said anything, but I could feel their disappointment."
He fell silent for several seconds before continuing. "Then my mother died on a Hunt, and my father sank into despair for a while.
"I was only in my early teens. What kind of resolve could I have had? Of course I considered giving up on becoming a Hunter, but somehow, I kept at it.
"Once I hit my growth spurt, I ate more than anyone else and grew faster too. My father had to pick up his weapon and start hunting again, or there wouldn't have been enough food at home to satisfy my appetite alone.
"That was when I realized I had talent too!
"I didn't need my father's marksmanship or the swordsmanship lessons my mother had left behind. I could forge my own path!
"I tried the Hammer and the Great Sword. After going back and forth, I eventually settled on the Gunlance, because the Gunlance..."
"Because the Gunlance and its large shield are the heaviest combination. You can swing the shield like a Hammer and bring the Gunlance down like a Great Sword!" Isis finished for him without thinking.
"Exactly!" Ted broke into a broad grin. "From that moment on, I became a Gunlance user, and my strength began improving by leaps and bounds!
"Within a few years, I had made something of a name for myself in Minegarde. I advanced to 4★ at twenty-four or twenty-five, and everyone called me a genius!
"And then..."
Ted's mouth twisted. "Then I met your father. He had just turned eighteen, was only 2★, and had recently come to Minegarde from the countryside.
"He challenged me to an arm-wrestling match in a tavern, and I lost. It was the first time I had ever met anyone stronger than me.
"Not long afterward, I met your mother too. She was still an apprentice then, learning the fundamentals from Senior Amos.
"To me, your parents were just a pair of rookies who needed looking after."
"What happened next?" Isis pressed, unable to resist. She had almost never heard anyone talk about her parents' early days.
Ted covered his face with one large hand and rubbed it vigorously. "I kept hunting and training. Two or three years passed, and then I ran into your father again.
"By then, your father was already 4★, and I was still 4★. I told him I was preparing to advance to 5★, and he said he was too...
"Some time later, we met again on a quest. I had managed to reach 5★, but your damn father had already shot straight up to High Rank at 6★. Your mother was with him too.
"She was already 5★! And she was only twenty years old!"
Ted let out a long, heavy sigh. "Haaah..."
"That was when I learned that no matter how hard you try, no matter how desperately you hunt and train, someone will always come from behind and overtake you."
Isis gave Altaïr a deeply sympathetic look.
Altaïr spread his hands, baffled. Why are you looking at me? It's not as though I've left you far behind. Haven't we always taken turns pulling ahead of each other?
"No matter how hard you chase, watching the other person pull farther and farther ahead... it doesn't feel good," Ted continued. "I got anxious too, so anxious I couldn't fall asleep without drinking..."
"Oh, bullshit! You just love to drink!" Malika cut in mercilessly.
"But I kept going anyway!"
Ted stepped in front of Isis, seized her shoulders, and stared into her eyes. "There is no shortage of techniques, combat experience, equipment choices, or weapon modification tips I can teach you. I'm sure you can learn them all.
"But it may not produce the dramatic improvement you're hoping for.
"A Gunlance user grows strong over time. It isn't like the Long Sword, where a breakthrough in swordsmanship can send your strength soaring overnight.
"You have to set your jaw, hold fast, and keep moving forward one step at a time."
Ted released Isis's shoulders and straightened. "That resolve is the single most important thing for a Gunlance user!
"As long as you hold fast and keep driving forward behind your large shield, nothing in this world can stop you!"
(Translated by yourtl.app)