Sumire's neatly organized bedroom…
Amy gave the place a cursory scan. A 'hmm–' escaped from her lips.
"It's a little modest for a Seven's room, huh. It'd be nice if you brought in a bunch of stuff. The room itself is pretty wide, too~"
Sumire quickly waved her hands at the other girl's words.
"N-no… this is plenty enough for me! There's a TV, a fridge, and the water purifier can dispense ice, and…"
Gaon's dorms were heaven compared to where she had been living in the past when she was young and her family was poor.
"Oh, and there's even hot water! Now that I think about it… I remember being scared the most when I was taking a bath during the winter… I'm really glad I don't have to worry about that here."
Sumire began muttering to herself, a gloomy aura enveloping her body.
Amy, who had lived relatively well-off herself, couldn't even imagine what sort of experiences Sumire had gone through.
"Not even h-hot water? Just what sort of life have you been living up to this point…"
Stuff like 'Use a rubber basin to gather rainwater when your water's cut off because you couldn't pay your bills three months in a row' and 'You can get more money for selling waste paper on rainy days' was life knowledge that Amy would never be in the position to obtain.
"Oh, r-really, it's alright, though! I was very young when it happened, and it was back in Japan… I haven't skipped any meals since I enrolled in the academy."
"Ohh… I-I see."
Even Amy's aura of optimism couldn't win against Sumire's own pessimistic aura.
"Come to think of it… back when we were living in Okinawa, our house was next to the sea. I could fish there during school breaks; it was nice. Though I'd fall into the sea while I was fishing, and my friends would make fun of me for smelling like fish, but…"
And she kept muttering to herself like so. Amy unconsciously stared at the other girl with sympathy in her eyes.
'…Wh-what's this feeling? It's like, I need to do something for her.'
Only after noticing Amy's piteous gaze did Sumire snap out of it, waving her hands once more in denial.
"Still! I-I'm fine now! Since I became a Seven, I've been getting m-money from the school! Thanks to that, I've been able to send money for living expenses back home! It's a huge relief…"
"…Th-that so? I see. That really is a huge relief."
Amy bashfully nodded her head.
An awkward atmosphere settled between the two. Amy changed the subject in an effort to stir it back up into something more energetic.
"Oh, right! You told me this is the first time you're staying overnight somewhere, right? Hyah, I'm an expert in this area, you know!"
Amy checked each and every item that Sumire had prepared for the trip.
—Cooking devices that ran on mana.
Hygiene products—like her toothbrush. Snacks and food ingredients. Sumire had packed plenty of things.
"Whoa, not bad! Actually, some people go out there with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Considering that, this is plenty!"
"Ah, thank you very much!"
Sumire bowed her head deeply.
Amy grinned. She poked the other girl's stomach in a teasing manner.
"Aw, cmon, this is nothing between fellow party members… hold on."
In the middle of her speech, Amy suddenly gained a suspicious expression on her face, as if suddenly recalling something.
"You aren't going in the same shabby dress you wore back then, are you?" she asked. "There's no way I'm letting that happen! It's important for hunters these days to put serious effort into their image!"
"Huh?! Oh, that dress… it's pretty shabby, isn't it? It's a… hand-me-down from my mother."
Sumire smiled bashfully as if embarrassed by the fact.
Amy turned her gaze away from the other girl, cold sweat dripping down her face.
"H-hm?! D-did I say it was shabby? S-Sorry, I didn't mean that. I actually meant to say… vintage!"
"…N-no, it's fine. I never really cared all that much about what clothes I wore before. You don't have… to force yourself to say that…"
Sumire tried to dispel the awkward atmosphere but only ended up making it worse.
Amy smiled clumsily in response. "Ahaha… r-right! How about this?! I can pick out some clothes for you. That's fine, right?!"
"…Y-you yourself, Amy-ssi? But clothes are… no matter how much you dress me up, I'm not pretty like you, Amy-ssi…"
Mumble mumble.
Sumire began doing what she always did—trying to find a hole in the ground to hide in. Amy immediately grabbed the girl's hand in response. She was unwilling to stand for that type of behavior.
"Ugh, it's fine! Cmon, follow me! I'll buy 'em for you!"
"…A-Amy-ssi?"
Sumire's face turned red as soon as she saw Amy's hand grip her own.
"Hey, don't feel embarrassed or anything~ I've always wanted to try wearing one of these, but it doesn't really look good on someone unless they have the body for it! Like you!"
Sumire didn't yet understand the meaning behind Amy's words.
* * *
* * *
The Academy City branch of the Hunter Association…
A long limousine was parked in front of the cutting-edge facility. YuSung seemed to already be used to the sight because all he thought as he looked at the vehicle was:
'So she's arrived.'
As expected, the driver exited the limousine and respectfully opened the car door. Right after, EunAh came out of the vehicle.
"…Hm."
She stared at YuSung from afar, then began to approach the entrance of the building. Even during her short journey there, her bodyguards covered her with a parasol to protect her from the sun.
It was all rather high-grade. EunAh was being treated like a princess.
As EunAh reached her destination, she dismissed her bodyguards with one wave of her hand. She lowered her sunglasses from her eyes and laughed.
"I got here on time, this time. Would you look at that."
Sumire's eyes were wide open.
"Sh-Shin YuSung-ssi? Isn't that A Class's…?"
EunAh's sudden appearance shocked the timid girl. YuSung smiled and began to explain her presence to Sumire.
"Surprised, Sumire? She's the new party member I was talking about."
"A Class's…"
The presence of A Class's student president in and of itself was enough to intimidate someone.
Sumire grabbed onto YuSung's clothes—at one point in time, it had become a habit for her. But Sumire hadn't even come under EunAh's radar yet.
"Tch, what a nice day. Too bad I'm gonna be doing a dungeon raid instead…"
EunAh finally noticed the other girl and scanned her from top to bottom.
Sumire instinctively shrunk under her gaze. EunAh seemed unimpressed with her.
"….Just what is she wearing? Are you going on a picnic or something?"
Sumire's clothes were quite daring, quite different from her usual attire. She wilted at EunAh's comment.
"R-right? These clothes don't fit me… as I thought… I refused them at first, but…"
A dark aura began surrounding Sumire. EunAh was rather bewildered by the response.
"Uh, n-no, that's not what I meant…"
The A Class girl was on record for getting swept up in the perpetually energetic Amy's pace. Sumire was the polar opposite of that but seemed to have a similar effect nonetheless.
Seeing Sumire curl in on herself, EunAh sent a desperate signal to YuSung with her eyes.
'Do something about her!'
He complimented the depressed girl in order to take control of the situation.
"No, Sumire. You look perfectly fine in it."
Blush–
Sumire grew quiet. Her face was red.
'Sh-Shin YuSung-ssi called me c-cute…'
She began to fantasize about it, even tacking on details that hadn't been there before.
Mei Lin, in her cheongsam, took that moment to approach the group aloofly. Her strides were slow and steady.
"I'm Mei Lin, the one in charge of guiding you all," was her monotonous introduction.
EunAh made a face that conveyed her confusion. She seemed to know the woman at some level.
"Isn't this person… the manager?"
Like EunAh ha surmised, the fact that the manager of the Association branch had come down to give them a personal tour was quite unusual.
Mei Lin looked at her with a brusque expression on her face and answered the unspoken question.
"The Association president has asked me to guide student Shin YuSung."
The Association president. Kang YuChan.
EunAh lazily nodded her head when his name was brought up.
"Oh, my grandfather's friend. Yeah, I guess the branch manager would have to come out if someone at his level made a request to her."
Mei Lin's expression grew even stiffer at the remark.
EunAh was the first 17-year-old Mei Lin had ever encountered who had treated her, one of the most skilled hunters out there, like that.
'…What a precocious little brat.'
But YuSung was an honored guest of Kang YuChan, and EunAh was the sole granddaughter of the Shinsung group's president. Mei Lin defaulted to her usual mannerism: hiding her true emotions.
"It is just as you say. I'll take you all to the portal room now. The usage fee will be waived."
Mei Lin walked ahead of the group with powerful, confident steps like a model. She casually gave orders to her employees as she passed them by.
"Set the location as A-32. It's a round trip, so make sure to set your portable coordinate machines as well."
Vwoom–
They approached the blue portal that was making imposing sounds. Mei Lin stopped right in front of the portal and began her explanation about the lake dragon.
"The target is living inside the largest lake on Mount Everline. It can breathe underwater and spends most of its time submerged."
YuSung interrupted her mid-explanation.
"But doesn't it always come out of the water when the sun is about to rise?"
Mei Lin laughed, amused at the boy's answer.
"Correct. Looks like you've studied up on the boss monster. Does that mean you also know where it goes after it leaves the water?"
"…A boulder situated near the lake, right?"
YuSung's prompt reply was correct.
Once the sun began to rise, the lake dragon would lay its body on a giant boulder—this was because its scales had a special property that converted the sun's rays into energy.
'Did he learn that on the Martial Spirits' Mountain? Even so, to think that a student would know about this. How interesting.'
Mei Lin's face finally relaxed as she softly giggled.
"…Amazing. It's quite a rare monster as well, so you wouldn't have been able to find any information on it easily."
YuSung had already made thorough preparations to defeat the lake dragon—from bringing hunter gear to preparing a trap.
"Okay, I will now begin the transfer. Please keep in mind, however, that you must return when two days have passed—whether you have succeeded in the hunt or not."
Mei Lin's words were as formal as always, but her face betrayed the slightest of goodwill she had towards him. To the manager, a hunter who was well-prepared was always a plus.
"Then I'll begin the transfer to A-32… I hope that you all succeed."
As she said those words, the portal began to glow in a blue light.
'…I'll show him that I've become stronger!'
Sumire reinforced her own resolve, lighting a fire in her passion.
"A rank 4 water element boss? Easy peasy."
EunAh spoke with a confident expression on her face.
YuSung, the party leader, was calm.
It was the first mission that the Association president Kang YuChan himself had given to him. Failure was not an option.
'…The subjugation has to go perfectly, without a single mistake.'
The group, after each member made their own resolutions to themselves, entered the portal with the united purpose of defeating the lake dragon.
.
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