She did not dare let her friends linger in her terrifying home, much less consider having them stay the night.
After dinner, Francesca hurried everyone out of the Sterling estate as if fleeing for her life and led them back to the dock where the Knowledge Seeker was moored. Until this quest was over, they would all be living aboard the ship.
How terrifying. Never bring opposite-sex friends home again!
Once she was away from her family and their various schemes, Francesca breathed a sigh of relief, but the pressure shifted squarely onto Serl.
Back at Francesca's house, Brandley, Buck, and the others had been remarkably reserved. The instant they got outside, however, the members of the Vanguard Hunting Party finally let loose after holding themselves back for so long.
Balina hovered around Francesca, tirelessly pressing her about the pair's nonexistent "romantic history," while Buck slung an arm over Serl's shoulder and teased him without pause.
Brandley, normally level-headed and dependable, was behaving more strangely than anyone. One was his former boss and the other his current boss, so he felt he could somehow serve as a bridge between their "feelings."
The thought even gave him a bizarre sense of purpose.
"Boss Francesca, Boss Serl, when you two have a child, I'll protect and support them with everything I've got!"
A scene took shape in his mind...
In a dark forest at night, a carriage raced desperately onward as a terrifying Monster pursued it, drawing ever closer.
Inside the carriage, he stroked the adorable child's head and said softly, "I promised your parents I'd protect you."
Then, amid the child's anguished cries, he leaped from the carriage alone and planted himself in the Monster's path. He deployed his Heavy Bowgun, turned back with a smile, and said, "Live a good life."
The sight of his back would remain etched in the child's heart forever...
Wow, what an incredible way to die! He wanted to die like that right now!
"Damn it, go die right now!" Francesca launched herself at him and planted a kick in his lower back.
Even Serl, who was good-tempered and usually protected his comrades, looked grim. If Buck had not still been hanging off him, he would have rushed over to deliver a kick too.
Altaïr watched their antics in amusement. He and Isis had also started as friends, without any romantic feelings between them.
Honestly, a little teasing was harmless, but if it went too far, it might backfire and make the two people involved so uncomfortable that they deliberately distanced themselves. That would be bad.
"All right, let's leave the jokes there for now." Seeing that Francesca was about to overheat, Altaïr interrupted the chuckling group. "Let's talk business. The eight of us are the only combat personnel aboard the Knowledge Seeker this time, correct?"
Serl shot him a grateful look. Francesca, her cheeks flushed bright red with anger, instinctively replied, "Yes, just us."
The moment she said it, however, she realized something was off. "Wait, how are there eight of us? Aren't there only seven?"
"There are eight." Isis, the tallest person in the group, counted them off on her fingers. "Four from the Vanguard Hunting Party, the three of us, and you, Francesca."
"Me? Wait, why are you counting me?" Francesca asked in disbelief.
"Didn't you say that the three of us were the new teammates you'd found or something?" Isis looked puzzled. "Besides, didn't you bring your weapon with you when we went out earlier?
I remember it was called the 'Kelbi Stingshot'? When I was little, I wanted to borrow it for a look, but you never let me."
A note of complaint crept into Isis's voice as she spoke.
"I–that's... No, it isn't–" Francesca stammered, unsure where to begin explaining.
Pawdrick shot her a sidelong glance and muttered, "That's what you get for caring so much about appearances, meow. You just had to bring your weapon, and now it's backfired on you, meow."
Francesca was about to respond when Morgan spoke first. "No, that's no ordinary Kelbi Stingshot."
His gaze settled on the unusually shaped Bow at Francesca's waist, and he corrected her in all seriousness. "That is a Great Kelbi Deershot, reinforced over and over with rare materials such as Zinogre horns and Beast Gems.
Although I've never used this kind of weapon, the materials alone tell me that its power far exceeds that of an ordinary Kelbi Stingshot."
Damn it! How do you know so much about such an obscure weapon?! Francesca screamed inwardly.
"Is that the same Kelbi Stingshot? You upgraded it again?" Serl turned his head as well, a hint of nostalgia crossing his face. "I still remember how much effort we put in and how much trouble we went through to develop more powerful ammunition for it."
Stop making this worse!
Serl stepped up beside Francesca, bent down, and studied the weapon at her waist with one hand on his chin. "Now that you mention it, the frame is made from a completely different material than before.
Looks like you've been busy too."
Shut up! Stop dragging this topic out!
"So, Francesca, are you teaming up with us this time?" Isis asked again.
"AAAAAH!!!" As if something inside her had snapped, Francesca suddenly crouched down, clutched her head, and screamed.
Everyone around her jumped in fright.
After venting some of her embarrassment through the outburst, Francesca took a deep breath and stood again.
She put on the brilliant professional smile of a Guild receptionist, pitched her voice higher, and adopted a cutesy tone. "Come on, everyone~! Let's do a simple arithmetic problem~!
Suppose the four members of the Vanguard Hunting Party form one team, while the other four of us form another. If the total number of stars in both teams is equal,
then how many stars do I have~?"
It was the only painfully awkward way she could think of to hide her embarrassment.
"Huh?" Isis looked down and began calculating. She was not good at such things, but simple addition and subtraction were still within her abilities.
"Serl is 6★, Brandley and Buck are both 5★, and Balina is 3★. That's nineteen in total. Subtract my six and Altaïr's six–"
The running tally shattered Francesca's composure. She grabbed her head again and cried out in utter resignation, "Fine! I'm just a 2★ Hunter, all right!
In short, I have the lowest rank out of all of you, I'm the weakest, and I'm the shortest too! AAAAAAH!"
The group: "..."
After several seconds of silence, Francesca raised her head, smoothed her wildly disheveled hair, and spoke with the air of someone who had renounced every worldly desire. "Anyway, that's the truth. Laugh all you want."
Everyone exchanged glances.
"Francesca, you don't have to get so worked up–" Balina began cautiously, simple-hearted as ever. "Boss and the others said that you were already 2★ when you decided to stop being a Hunter, so isn't it perfectly normal that your rank never went up afterward?"
Francesca stared blankly at Serl and the others. Oh. So you'd already mentioned it.
The concern in Serl's gaze, as though he were looking in on a patient, stung her.
Francesca turned to Altaïr and the others. At least these people could not have known, could they?
Altaïr rubbed his chin. "Years ago, I did think you might be a powerful Hunter, but over time, I realized I'd misunderstood. You're the type who's highly experienced but doesn't specialize in combat, right? Something like a Handler?"
"That explanation does fit, but... wait. Back on Tidal Island, didn't you tell the Village Chief and the others that I was a dependable fighter in a crisis?"
Altaïr sighed helplessly. "That was just to reassure the Village Chief and the others. Besides, at the time, we needed a Gunner to operate Machine Cannons, Heavy Ballistae, and other emplaced weapons as a precaution. You weren't expected to fight on the front line.
With your past experience, handling something like that would be easy, right?"
"Well, yes..." Francesca fell silent.
So that was it. No one had actually mistaken me for a powerful Hunter. What had I been so embarrassed about?
"That's right. The bottom line is, I'm weak!" Once she had cast aside the burden in her heart and openly admitted she was useless, Francesca suddenly felt completely at ease.
"Just as all of you thought, every achievement in my past came from outside help! As for my own fighting ability, I'm not even sure I could defeat a single Bulldrome!"
"I-is that really true?" a trembling voice asked from behind her.
Francesca turned and found Isis staring at her in slack-jawed disbelief, as though everything she knew had just been overturned.
Morgan wore a similar expression. His eyes had gone unfocused as he muttered to himself, "Impossible... All this time, I thought... I thought Miss Francesca was a High Rank Hunter hiding her true identity..."
Francesca: "..."
Wait... what? Didn't you say no one had misunderstood? Didn't you say everyone had figured it out long ago?
Altaïr, if you saw through it so early, why didn't you tell them?!
Why are there still two idiots here?!