The Master Hunter Appointment
Pina spoke while lying in bed.
"Going to see the Branch Manager again?"
"Looks like it."
I'd left Pina behind last time, too.
At my words, Pina — who'd been fiddling with the corner of her mouth — sat bolt upright and stretched long and hard.
"Then I'll swing by my family home for a bit, too."
"When will you be back?"
"Hmm... We have to rest for a while, right?"
"Yeah."
Strenuous activity was off-limits for a while if we wanted to recover properly.
Pina pondered my answer, then nodded and held up a finger.
"Then maybe about three days!"
I looked at her and said,
"Gonna tell your family all sorts of things?"
"Of course. It was so cool. Everyone..."
Pina sat on the edge of the bed, fiddling with the blanket.
"I only pulled a handle, though."
"No. You did great."
It might have seemed small and trivial, but if she'd been even a little late, Disastro might have dodged it.
I stepped closer to her.
"You helped Matillo out well."
"Is that enough?"
"It's enough."
If you did your part well, who could fault you?
I reached toward Pina's conflicted face and pinched her soft, rice-cake-like cheek.
"Mmph—"
"Lighten up."
"Ugh, o-okay."
Pina shot me a halfhearted glare.
"You're the one with the stiffest face."
"What?"
"Ah, nothing! Hurry and go!"
I couldn't help liking that Pina had thrown a joke my way. It felt like the distance between us had closed a little more.
In my mind, we were close friends. Surely I wasn't the only one who thought so?
Anyway, Pina decided to go see her family. After all the hardships she'd overcome to come back, she must have plenty she wanted to get off her chest.
I followed the man waiting outside.
As for who this man was — just a low-ranking Association employee, apparently. An ordinary office worker at the Antico Association branch.
"So you're basically like the reception desk helpers?"
"The reception staff are veterans in their own right. There's no comparison with me."
"I see."
I walked Antico's main street with this man, same as last time. A street that was familiar if you called it familiar, new if you called it new.
The flood damage left things barren and the day was cold, but the warmth of the people remained the same. The gazes that occasionally found me were remarkably warm.
"Hunter. I heard you made a major contribution to the Disastro subjugation force."
I nodded at the man's words. He scratched his forehead.
"That's incredible. I don't think I could do something like that — I'd be too scared."
"You could."
I lowered my eyes.
"If you had the right reason, that is."
"Is that so?"
The man touched the corner of his mouth.
"...I think desk work suits me better, honestly."
"Coward."
"Hearing you say that breaks my heart."
"I'm kidding."
"There's some truth mixed in, though, right?"
I didn't bother answering. The man's shoulders slumped.
I spoke as if soothing him.
"It's fine. Just do your own job well."
"Yes, thank you."
"Yeah."
Was there any reason to force yourself into work that didn't suit you, grimacing all the way? Without a reason you had to, or some desperation, it would be hard.
"Are we going to the Branch Manager's office again?"
"They'll be in the reception room. Why do you ask?"
"The Branch Manager's office is filthy."
The man nodded.
"He's not one for tidying up, either. I'm the one in charge of cleaning it, actually."
Wasn't he a butler rather than a low-ranking employee?
A short while later, the man and I arrived at the Antico Association district. The multipurpose third floor had a reception room separate from the office.
Had they called me to the office last time just because entertaining guests was a hassle? The thought crossed my mind.
The man left me in front of the reception room and quietly slipped back.
"Well then, I'll take my leave."
Dumping me here again, huh.
Feeling a small sense of betrayal toward the man, I looked at the reception room door.
The Princess, the Branch Manager, and the Association President?
It was such an incomprehensible combination that I hesitated to open the door. I hesitated a moment, then opened it.
Click—
The scene beyond the door was nothing I could have imagined.
"..."
The rough-faced Branch Manager and a muscular older man were arm wrestling.
I'm just going to leave.
I nodded to myself and carefully started backing away.
What stopped me was the Princess.
"Wait."
Adelaide shot to her feet, grabbed the doorknob, and looked at me.
Unlike Melchior, Adelaide was the type whose emotions showed on her face. The urgency with which she'd grabbed me was plain to see.
Meeting those large crimson eyes, I was reminded anew of how beautiful Adelaide was. She was tall, with skin like white jade. Her black hair, striking against that pale complexion, hid golden streaks throughout like jewels. The slender waist revealed by her uniform flowed in soft lines, creating a beautiful silhouette.
A princess who drew people's hearts — she was a woman without flaw even in appearance.
"It's been a while, my hunter. Come — we haven't faced each other in so long. Shall we catch up?"
Her crimson eyes gleamed with mischief. Speaking as if I were her possession, the Princess reached out to embrace me.
Those grasping hands pawing at empty air put me on edge. Was this some kind of checkpoint for passing through this door?
But someone who hadn't been caught by monsters wasn't about to be caught by a mere princess. I slipped nimbly past the Princess's embrace — which knew nothing of personal space — and into the reception room.
"Ah..."
The Princess froze exactly as she was.
In the meantime, the arm wrestling must have ended — the Branch Manager and the old man were dusting off their hands.
"As expected, I can't beat the President. What's your secret?"
"Haha, consistent exercise is the answer."
The old man was the Association President. An appearance straddling the line between middle-aged man and elderly. He'd probably shoved the years back with pure muscle.
The Branch Manager was pretty solid himself, so the fact that he'd lost at arm wrestling made it clear this man was no ordinary person. I figured the rumors I'd heard from Noah weren't false. He looked like someone who would actually catch a poacher and shove them alive into a monster's mouth.
When the Association President's eyes met mine, he blinked with an "Oh."
"Hey."
"You're Alli...sa?"
He doesn't even know my name?
The Branch Manager beside the President whispered.
"President, it's Alice."
"Right, Alice. Just as I heard — no formal speech from you. Good to meet you."
The Association President extended his hand.
"I'm Vincenzo. Nothing special, but I head the Hunter Association."
A man who knew his own name well enough, at least.
"Yeah, nice to meet you."
I took Vincenzo's hand. Compared to his, mine was rather small.
Holding my hand, Vincenzo made a subtle expression and tilted his head slightly.
"How long have you been a hunter?"
"It's been seven months now."
"I see."
Vincenzo cleanly let go of my hand. Thankfully, he didn't crush it under the pretense of gauging my strength. I'd been a little tense about that, honestly, so it was a relief.
Lowering his hand, Vincenzo asked Adelaide, who still stood by the door.
"Princess, what are you doing over there?"
"...Ahem. Hunters truly are remarkable."
A dazed Adelaide cleared her throat and returned to her seat.
I could understand the Branch Manager and Association President being here. They were both Hunter Association people, after all. But I had no idea why a royal like the Princess was here.
I tossed out a question in a whoever-wants-to-answer kind of way.
"So why is the Princess here?"
It was the Princess herself who answered.
"I'd been sitting too long and got restless. So I inserted myself appropriately. Left the work to my little brother."
From the Princess speaking so boldly, I caught the familiar scent of a deadbeat. It reminded me of Melchior, always foisting his work onto Biopia.
Maybe princes and princesses were all the same? Maybe the third prince was actually the true material for a king.
Out of nowhere, Association President Vincenzo clapped his thick palms together and smiled. A man with no hair on top and nothing but a bushy beard doing that was a little scary.
"Now that our most important guest has arrived, we can get to talking."
"Let's do that."
The Branch Manager chimed in.
We sat down with a desk between us. The Branch Manager and Association President sat side by side, and I sat next to Adelaide.
Adelaide kept reaching toward me, as if she wanted to fuss over me. I parried her hands with the back of my own, swatting them away.
"Kh..."
Adelaide looked at me with a thoroughly frustrated face.
Don't go sweating over this — just sit still.
Watching this, the Association President laughed heartily.
"Seems she's still a bit much for Your Highness to handle."
"As expected of the hunter I chose."
Adelaide gave up and caught her breath.
I lowered my hands and looked at the Association President.
"So what's this about?"
The Association President replied as if it were obvious.
"Why, I intend to appoint you as a Master Hunter."
"Hmm."
I nodded at Vincenzo's frank words.
"Not happy? Becoming a Master Hunter is a difficult, grueling achievement."
I was happy. But not the kind of happy that made you go wild and scream about it.
"More or less."
"Hmm."
Vincenzo nodded thoughtfully, stroking his beard.
I'd expected as much, so it wasn't particularly surprising. It was just funny that four people had gathered purely for that.
Vincenzo crossed his arms. His rolled-up sleeves ballooned as if about to burst.
"Before that, I'd like to hear about the subjugation first. Hearing it from someone who was there is far more vivid than reading a report."
"Sure."
I started trimming the story down in my head as much as possible.
What should I start with?