For a moment, silence fell around the long table.
A few seconds later, Theo, the lively Sword and Shield user, clapped his hands and said, "Well, there's nothing strange about that, is there? Everyone is free to wear whatever they like. I wore skirts when I was a kid too, actually. Hahahaha!"
A vein bulged on the forehead of Morgan, the Heavy Bowgun user whose gender was difficult to discern. He took a deep breath to calm himself before saying, "I've said this before. I wear women's armor for a reason. That doesn't mean I have a cross-dressing fetish, and I have no interest in wearing skirts."
"What's the reason, meow?" Sajji blinked, curiosity written all over his face.
For Felynes, there was no distinction between men's and women's clothing; going naked was perfectly common. Sajji's question came from genuine curiosity, with no intention of offending him.
Morgan frowned, his delicate features drawn with conflict. Just as Dawn was about to tell him that he did not have to explain if he did not want to, Morgan sighed.
He looked from Dawn, who stood two meters tall, to Altaïr, who was nearly 190 centimeters, and then to Theo, who was around 185 centimeters. Undisguised envy flashed in his eyes.
"I'm short, but I'm a Heavy Bowgun user who prefers fighting at mid-to-close range. Lightweight gunner armor doesn't provide enough protection, and it might not even let me control the recoil.
Heavy Bowgun users are generally taller than Light Bowgun users. Heavy armor made for male Heavy Bowgun users is usually designed for people between 170 and 190 centimeters tall.
Even if a smith altered it to fit me, the design's limitations would become obvious. The pauldrons would still be too wide for my frame, for example.
By comparison, heavy armor designed for smaller female Gunners provides the protection I need and fits properly. For me, it's the most practical choice."
After saying that, Morgan paused for two seconds before adding, "As I said, I don't have a cross-dressing fetish.
Even though I have to wear women's armor, I choose models with more neutral designs, such as Rathian Armor or the Volvidon Set."
"Sniff..."
Just as Morgan finished speaking, a sniff came from the table. Isis wiped at the corner of her eye and said with heartfelt sympathy, "I understand!
I'm the opposite. I can only wear heavy armor. If I wanted to switch to light armor, the women's version simply wouldn't fit my build. Armor like hers, for example. There's no way I could wear it!"
As she spoke, she cast a somewhat resentful glance at Lambert.
Lambert pointed at herself in confusion. Everyone else's gaze also drifted toward her Kulu-Ya-Ku Armor.
Altaïr involuntarily imagined scaling that sexy, revealing "dancer's outfit" up to Isis's 195-centimeter frame and trying to force her into it.
With her defined deltoids and eight-pack abs on full display... no, it truly would not suit her.
If anything, Morgan had it worse than Isis. At least Isis fought as a heavily armored vanguard, and most armor suited to her role came in heavy or even super-heavy designs.
Even the women's versions could be tailored with Isis's unusually "large" build in mind, so there was little she could not wear.
Morgan, however, needed men's heavy armor in a very small size. Smiths almost never planned for such a build, since "heavy" and "small" rarely went together.
The same principle kept Isis from finding oversized women's light armor.
Once everyone understood the reason behind Morgan's "cross-dressing," they no longer found it strange. In fact, they secretly respected him a little more.
Given his build, he would undoubtedly be better suited to a Light Bowgun. Yet he insisted on using the Heavy Bowgun even if it meant "cross-dressing." Either he was far more skilled with a Heavy Bowgun than a Light Bowgun, or he was simply too stubborn to face reality and clung to some strange fixation on the weapon.
There was no doubt about it. He had to be the former.
Just look at his armor: the Seltas Queen Set, made from a 5★ Threat Level Monster. Even if he had "cut corners where reasonable," his Hunter rank had to be at least 4★.
He was not much older than Altaïr and the others either, perhaps in his early twenties at most. At his age, that kind of achievement would mark him as a "genius" anywhere.
Altaïr was already looking forward to seeing how his roommate performed in the hunting grounds.
Everyone at the table except Dawn was in their twenties or younger, so they quickly hit it off.
Kagetsu slipped into the storeroom with a sly grin and carried out a barrel of beer, hoping to get everyone drinking and talking. Theo volunteered to pry it open with his knife, and just as he broke the seal...
The galley door swung open again.
Francesca walked in, followed by a young Wyverian with a large nose.
Francesca spotted the beer barrel and let out a soft "Oh." "We haven't even set sail yet, and you're already drinking?"
Kagetsu averted her gaze with an awkward smile.
Only she, the part-time Guild receptionist, had the key to the beer storeroom. There was no hiding who had brought out the barrel.
Dawn smiled and took the blame. "I asked Kagetsu to bring it out. These new friends have only just met; a little drinking won't hurt."
"All right, don't act as if I'm here to crack down on everyone. Just don't drink too much and cause trouble." Francesca waved a hand. "Never mind that for now. Everyone, say hello to our guest!
He's an experienced pioneer who will be leading our expedition."
Francesca was about to announce his name when the big-nosed Wyverian hurriedly interrupted. "Don't say my name! If word gets out, that brother of mine will send people to drag me back again!"
"Heh, all right. You only need to know that he's a Village Chief who led a group into the wilderness and built a famous village from scratch in just twenty or thirty years."
"That's right, that's right. Just call me Village Chief. It sounds friendly, and I'm used to it."
Altaïr thought for a moment, then asked tentatively, "Are you the Village Chief of Jumbo Village?"
Only a handful of frontier villages had been founded in the last twenty or thirty years, and Jumbo Village was the most famous among them.
Although Altaïr had never visited the settlement, which was still called a "village" despite having long since grown to the size of a "town," he knew quite a bit about it.
That was because Serl, a senior Hunter he knew well, had grown up in Jumbo Village and told him many stories about the place.
Among those stories, Serl had mentioned that Jumbo Village's chief was a big-nosed Wyverian who had apparently been expected to inherit a position elsewhere. Decades ago, he had slipped away, led a group of settlers into the wilderness, and founded Jumbo Village. His younger brother, left to shoulder that responsibility in his place, had spent years trying to bring him home.
Every detail matched perfectly.
At the question, the big-nosed Wyverian's expression turned serious, and he flatly denied it. "No, you've got the wrong person!"
His reaction only made Altaïr more certain of his guess.
However, since the Village Chief had already denied it, Altaïr saw no need to press the issue and expose him. Smiling, he said, "Sorry. I must have misremembered."
The young Wyverian, who referred to himself as "your humble chief," finally broke into a smile. "Exactly! Your humble chief is nothing more than the ordinary chief of a frontier village. Jumbo Village? The Grand Guru of Cathar? I've never heard of either one.
My village's development is already on the right track, so the villagers can manage without me for now. Then the Guild announced a new frontier initiative and invited me to lend a hand.
Once Tidal Island is developed, it will connect the trade routes between the southern and eastern regions, and our Jumbo Village will grow even faster! Hahahaha!"
The big-nosed Wyverian, who called himself "Village Chief," laughed heartily with his hands on his hips.
The Hunters exchanged glances, momentarily unsure whether the man actually intended to hide his identity.
Was it really wise to leave the expedition in the hands of someone who seemed this foolish?
As if she could sense the doubt in the Hunters' eyes, Francesca gave them two thumbs-up.
"Don't worry, don't worry! I found the right man. He's absolutely reliable!"
(Translated by yourtl.app)