Stepping foot in this grand continental city after so long, Altaïr felt rather wistful.
It was here that he first met Master Amos, whose careful guidance laid a solid foundation for his Long Sword swordsmanship.
Precisely because that foundation was so sturdy, his Weapon Arts and swordsmanship were able to advance by leaps and bounds over the course of more than a year of frequent hunting and real combat, never becoming shallow or unsteady.
Therefore, upon arriving in Dundorma, the very first thing Altaïr wanted to do was to pay a personal visit to this mentor, even setting aside the fact that Amos was a senior figure of Isis's family, it would be the same.
Noticing that Altaïr seemed ready to leave, the Professor didn't try to stop him. He merely instructed Altaïr to stay at the Guild Hall around noon the next day and not wander off, as Guild staff would come to guide him.
Altaïr agreed earnestly and noted the matter down in his personal memo. After bidding farewell to Fabius, Olivia, and the others, he promptly left the dock where the large airship was berthed, taking Sajji with him.
Man and Palico were walking along the street. Noticing Altaïr's somewhat hurried pace, Sajji tugged at the hem of his coat. "Boss, aren't we going to prepare a souvenir?"
Altaïr stopped abruptly and smacked his own forehead. "I knew I was forgetting something! Good thing you reminded me.
"So, what kind of souvenir would be best for Master Amos?"
"Master Amos is getting on in years, meow. Maybe a refined piece of art, or some kind of health supplement, would be more suitable, meow?" Sajji tilted his head as he spoke.
"That makes sense. I remember there's a pretty big store on this street. Let's go take a look."
Altaïr had a decent memory. Even though he'd only lived in Dundorma for a month or so over a year ago, he'd still managed to familiarize himself with the city's main districts fairly thoroughly.
Before long, they arrived in front of that large-scale shop from his memory.
Looking at the sign above the entrance that read "Sterling Department Store," Altaïr and Sajji exchanged a glance. "Sterling Department Store... a shop under the Sterling Merchant Guild, huh?
"If I remember correctly, isn't that part of Senior Francesca's family business?"
Sajji's ears twitched. "It should be, meow. Lady Francesca's family owns such a huge house, meow; their business has to be everywhere, meow."
The clerk greeting customers at the door had sharp ears. Hearing their conversation, he personally ushered them inside.
"What are you two looking for? Jewelry from Volcano, medicinal herbs from Furahiya, crafts made by the aboriginals of the Fonron Great Forest, we even have specialty selling Abalone from the New World!
"So long as you can think of it, there's nothing our establishment can't find! And if it's not in this store, we can have it brought over from another branch or our warehouse!"
Glancing at the clerk, whose face was wreathed in smiles, Altaïr more or less guessed the reason for his overwhelming enthusiasm.
He had no intention of leveraging his status as a "friend of the young lady" to get any special treatment, but it certainly did make things much more convenient for them. Once he briefly stated his need for a gift, the other party immediately rattled off a long list of recommendations.
Things like scroll paintings by a master artist from Kamura Village, medicinal wines and nourishing herbs, silk shirts from Loc Lac, and so on and so forth.
Altaïr was still agonizing over the choices when a sudden "Hey!" rang out from behind him.
He instinctively turned around.
"It really is you guys!"
Following that lively female voice, Altaïr lowered his gaze slightly, then politely dipped his head. "Francesca, it's been a long time."
Seeing the young lady come out, the enthusiastic shop assistant tactfully withdrew.
Francesca put her hands on her hips. "Tsk, barely over a year and you've changed so much. And what's with that gear you're wearing?!
"The Seregios set? You're already 5★?!"
"4★. This gear... well, there was an accident."
"Oh, why so wishy-washy about it? If you snuck ahead, just admit you snuck ahead, what's the big deal!" Francesca chuckled, reaching to sling an arm around Altaïr's shoulders, but her hand lifted and then pulled back.
"What the heck, how did you get so much taller? Nearly twenty and still going through a growth spurt?!"
"Maybe," Altaïr shrugged.
Francesca ground her teeth. "Then is Isis shooting for two meters?"
"Nah, that won't happen. She hasn't really grown these past few months, pretty much stopped at 193, 194 centimeters."
"Is that supposed to be human speech? Give me ten of those centimeters!" Francesca looked indignant, then immediately stood on tiptoe and peered behind Altaïr.
"Why don't I see Isis? She didn't come back with you? Did you guys fight? Break up?"
"..."
Altaïr was at a bit of a loss with this chatty, nonsense-spinning senior. "No, I came to Dundorma for something. Isis couldn't get away, so she didn't come back."
"Fine." Disappointed at learning she couldn't see her close friend, Francesca sighed. "Oh right, you're here buying stuff?"
"Yeah, I'm visiting Master Amos, bringing some gifts."
"You know what's up, young man!" Francesca winked at him. "Lucky you ran into me. Whatever you're eyeing, I'll give you a discount!"
Altaïr picked through the items the shop assistant had recommended and eventually chose that hanging scroll, supposedly the work of a master from Kamura Village, with a distinctive art style, along with a bottle of aged medicinal wine brewed from Snowy Mountains herbs.
Francesca leaned closer for a look and nodded. "Good eye, this painting is great! But I'd suggest swapping the medicinal wine for tea. Amos doesn't like drinking."
Altaïr readily took the advice and decisively exchanged that bottle of liquor for several packs of tea. When settling the bill, he indeed got quite a substantial discount.
"Thank you, Francesca," Altaïr said earnestly, carrying the two souvenirs.
"No big deal. Ah, right, Altaïr, how long do you plan on staying in Dundorma this trip?"
Exchanging a glance with Sajji, Altaïr replied honestly, "Not sure yet, but probably not too long. Isis and I agreed to meet up in Metapetatto half a month from now.
"Is there something you need, Francesca?"
"Hmm..." Francesca looked Altaïr up and down several times, then nodded to herself. "Feels pretty fitting, actually?
"Well, here's the thing. My mom, er, my mother, is an Instructor at the Dundorma Hunter Training Camp. You knew that, right?"
"I know, Isis mentioned it to me."
"Here's how it is: if the trainees at the training camp want to apply for graduation and take the promotion exam to become an official hunter, they usually do it between April and October, to avoid the Breeding season, you see."
Altaïr nodded.
Though he had never actually spent time in a Hunter Training Camp, he wasn't entirely clueless.
Unlike grammar schools, the Hunter Training Camp doesn't have rigid grade levels. As long as your skills meet the standard recognized by the instructors, you can apply for the promotion exam to become an official hunter. Passing the exam means graduation.
And the content of these promotion exams is usually the most basic slaying quests, slaying five Bullfango or three Velociprey.
This type of slaying quest is mostly concentrated in spring, summer, and early autumn. After that comes the Breeding season. Unless absolutely necessary, the Guild generally won't issue similar hunting requests anymore.
This means that if you can't graduate before the Breeding season begins, you'll have to wait an extra half a year.
"So, you see, this time of year always has the highest number of applicants for the graduation exam. Plenty of them have absolutely no clue about their own actual abilities, and Mother gets very irritable."
"Yeah." Altaïr nodded.
"So Mother brainstormed and came up with an idea. She wanted to find a young hunter, young enough but far stronger than his peers, to go to the training camp and do a demonstration.
"To make those delusional fellows realize the gap between themselves and a real hunter, so they'll settle down and train properly.
"It's that whole 'Look at someone else's kid!' 'You are the worst batch of trainees I've ever taught!' kind of meaning, you get it?"
"Uh, I think I get the idea."
"My first pick was Isis. I wrote her a letter before but got no reply. Then you happened to show up, what a coincidence, right?
"Here, young man, take off that helmet and let me see your face.
"Yeah, shave that stubble clean and you wouldn't look any different from those seventeen- or eighteen-year-old trainees, really.
"Well, I guess you are only nineteen anyway." Francesca clapped her hands in satisfaction.
"Drop by sometime in the next few days, will you? It's not exactly a proper quest, but there's pay for it, you know. My mother is paying out of her own pocket, and she's loaded!"
"No need for payment. It's a trifle," Altaïr thought it over briefly and agreed.
Aside from going to the Elder Hall for questioning tomorrow, he didn't have anything particularly urgent to do. Even if he planned to use this period to seek Master Amos's earnest instruction, he wouldn't miss this half day or full day.
"Great! A real sport! I'll owe you a favor."
"Lady Francesca looks very young too, meow," Sajji, who was beside Altaïr, looked up at her. "Small in stature, everyone would believe you if you said you were seventeen or eighteen, meow."
"Little kitty, you know how to talk." Francesca happily ruffled Sajji's head.
"Then why doesn't Lady Francesca demonstrate personally, meow? Your strength is clearly amazing, meow. Sir Pawdrick is already a 7★ Palico, meow!"
"Uh..."
Francesca maintained the smile on her face, without the slightest crack showing. "I'll pass. I've long outgrown the age of seeking the spotlight. Hehehe."
Me? Demonstrate? Demonstrate what? Rapid Fire slingshot?
(Translated by yourtl.app)