Faced with Altaïr's puzzled stare, Haifa, who was already in her thirties, hurriedly composed herself and asked in a voice so steady it sounded almost forced: "What about Father and Mother? Are they not home?"
Still reeling from Haifa's cloyingly cutesy voice, Altaïr remained silent for a few seconds before reminding her, "That's not how you normally speak."
Haifa, her embarrassment turning to anger, grabbed Altaïr by both shoulders, spun him around, and kicked him through the doorway. "Cut the crap! Where are Mom and Dad?!"
Back to normal at last.
Staggering into the foyer, Altaïr pouted. "Madam Marydan led a team into the desert to investigate the Grimclaw Tigrex. We can't contact her at the moment.
Mr. Lamarck is probably at the Royal Paleontology Scriveners' Research Institute. Given everything happening outside the city lately, he's been very busy too."
"Hold on, hold on. What are you talking about? I don't understand. My mother's investigating a Grimclaw Tigrex? It appeared again? And why is she leading the team? Didn't she retire ages ago? And what's going on outside the city? Didn't my father retire too? Did they both suddenly get rehired?" A barrage of questions tumbled from Haifa's mouth.
Altaïr was equally stunned. "How can you not know any of this? Didn't you come back on the Guild Master's orders?"
He knew the mustachioed Guild Master had sent urgent recall letters to every Hunter stationed elsewhere or originally from Loc Lac, especially High Rank Hunters.
Most of those letters would fail to reach their recipients, but some were bound to get through. He had assumed Haifa had received one of those urgent messages and rushed back.
"I didn't know anything! What happened?!" Haifa, sharing her mother's fiery temperament, fired off another string of questions. "I thought something felt off when I entered the city earlier. So there really is a situation?
It's connected to that Grimclaw Tigrex you mentioned? I just took some leave to visit home, and I actually ran right into trouble?"
"Visiting home on leave... You came back alone? Teacher Karin didn't come with you?" Altaïr countered with a question of his own.
"No, just me. She went back to her hometown in Yukumo Village. She didn't know you were here either, or she might have come back to Loc Lac with me.
Forget that. Just tell me already, what's going on here?!" Haifa demanded impatiently.
Hearing that Teacher Karin had not returned, Altaïr was not sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed.
Seeing that Haifa was about to start throwing punches if he did not answer soon, he quickly launched into a detailed account, starting with the unexpected Tigrex Hunt and the discovery of the Grimclaw's claw marks, then moving on to the later appearance of the mysterious small Flying Wyverns.
Haifa's expression steadily darkened as she listened.
She had spent several years as a High Rank Hunter. Though she could not quite call herself a "veteran High Rank Hunter," she had plenty of experience.
Although the only Monsters to appear so far were flocks of small Flying Wyverns, she did not think Altaïr and the others were being overly cautious.
As for the Grimclaw Tigrex appearing near the city, it was not much of a concern now that the city was under a partial lockdown.
No matter how powerful the Grimclaw Tigrex might be, it was still a Tigrex at its core, incapable of causing a true "disaster."
For a village-sized settlement, a Grimclaw Tigrex would pose a deadly threat, but this was Loc Lac. If it dared to charge the city, it would face a rocky platform dozens of meters high, countless Cannons and Ballistas, and the Dragonator. Even a Deviant Monster classified by the Guild as danger level 8★ would not last much longer than an ordinary Tigrex.
Only the "source" behind the abnormal mass migration of countless unknown Monsters posed the true danger.
"The Grimclaw Tigrex's position is under constant surveillance, so Mom shouldn't be in danger. If we can't find her, fine. Let her keep wandering the desert for all I care.
I'm going to see the Guild Master and find out what his plans are."
"I'll go with you." After his exchange with Haifa, Altaïr had lost all interest in reading.
Haifa immediately refused and planted a hand against Altaïr's face, pushing him back. "Why is a little kid like you butting in? How many stars is your Hunter rank, anyway?"
Expressionlessly, Altaïr brushed her hand aside. "5★. One star below you. That might not be true in another year or two."
"Five... How the hell are you already 5★? Weren't you just promoted to 4★ half a year ago?"
Haifa took half a step back, looking Altaïr over from head to toe once more.
In her memory, the brat had barely reached her waist. Now, his eyes were almost level with hers, and though his muscles were not as exaggerated as those of Hunters who wielded heavy weapons, he had become remarkably robust. Had he really grown so much in the blink of an eye?
She clicked her tongue. Unlike Karin, she was not the type to fuss and worry. Now that she understood Altaïr was no longer the little kid he had once been, but a rising young Hunter close to catching up with her, she dropped her objection.
"Then let's go together."
Haifa had not been home for even two minutes and had yet to set down her luggage, but she jerked her chin toward Altaïr, and the two of them headed back out.
Seeing Altaïr lock the door with a key, Haifa's lips twitched. "Whose house is this, anyway? Even I don't have a key."
After confirming that the door was locked, Altaïr glanced at her. Instead of handing over the key, he put it back into his own pocket, drawing another round of grumbling from Haifa.
On the way to the Guild Hall, she kept peppering Altaïr with question after question.
Isis had already told her the whole story of the Seregios, the Glavenus, and the Arbiter Estrellian that followed. Rather than the details of those incidents, Haifa was clearly more interested in Isis herself.
Was that because Isis's father was her idol?
Altaïr was so annoyed by her questions that he tossed out, "She's in Loc Lac too. Ask her yourself when you see her," then quickened his pace.
How had he never noticed what a chatterbox she was?
The pair reached the Guild Hall with Haifa practically chasing Altaïr all the way there. Her status as a High Rank Hunter easily secured them an audience with the Guild Master.
The moment he saw Haifa, the mustachioed Guild Master's face lit up with undisguised surprise. "Haifa?! Weren't you in Veld? You got the letter and immediately... No, wait. Getting here from Veld means crossing the entire Old World. Even a peregrine falcon would need three or four days to make the trip. You just happened to come back on your own?"
Haifa shrugged, pointed at the mustachioed Guild Master, and said to Altaïr, "See? The old man's sharper than you. He figured it out right away."
After tossing that jab at Altaïr, she gave him no chance to retort, and her expression turned serious. "I've heard the general situation from Altaïr.
What exactly does the appearance of those strange Monsters mean?
Altaïr's a Low Rank Hunter. There might be things you can't tell him, but surely you can tell me?"
The mustachioed Guild Master gave a bitter laugh. "If only we had more information ourselves. Not a single scholar in Loc Lac recognizes those small Flying Wyverns.
We've already sent an urgent letter to Dundorma. No reply has arrived yet, and we can't say for certain whether they'll send reinforcements.
As things stand, you're the only High Rank Hunter who's made it back to Loc Lac. If something attacks right now, Loc Lac's upper-tier fighting force has never been this depleted."
"Just me? No way!" Haifa practically jumped to her feet. "What about Senior Omar? Sert? Kane?!"
She rattled off several names in one breath.
Loc Lac was a major city. Even without counting Hunters like her who were "stationed elsewhere," it normally kept six to eight High Rank Hunters permanently stationed in the city.
It was normal for a few of them to be out of the city on assignments. For all of them to be gone was far too strange.
"That was my mistake." The Guild Master sighed. "Adan, Omar, and Dana were originally in the city.
But the day we received word of the Grimclaw Tigrex's activity, I assigned them and your mother to track and investigate it for safety's sake.
Then, less than two days later, this incident with the strange Monsters occurred. The Grimclaw Tigrex has now been sighted, but we can't contact your mother or the others. That's how we ended up with no High Rank Hunters in the city until you arrived."
Taking it all in, Haifa tapped her forehead. "Ugh... Sending an entire High Rank hunting party to track a Grimclaw Tigrex actually makes sense. The timing was just spectacularly unlucky.
They must have set out on a small Sandship, right? Then they could carry plenty of supplies, enough to last a week or two in the field.
My old lady is really fixated on that Grimclaw Tigrex. If she hasn't found anything, she's probably not too eager to come back..."
She fell silent for a few seconds, then spoke again. "If an Elder Dragon-class creature attacks, I can't hold it off alone. What do you plan to do? You know as well as I do that a Monster won't care whether we're ready.
Waiting for the High Rank Hunters to return or requesting High Rank reinforcements from another city would certainly be safer, but what if we don't have that kind of time? If we don't choose a course of action now, any delay will only lead to greater casualties."
The Guild Master's expression darkened with concern. After a long hesitation, he let out a breath and summoned his deputy, Aisha. With a look of utter resignation, he said, "Summon all 4★ and 5★ Hunters. We're holding a meeting."
(Translated by yourtl.app)