Ann’s face lit up when her suspicions were confirmed.
“Kuntz and I are the only ones in the family who became Hunters. People say we’ve got similar talent in magic.”
“You’re already a Hunter?”
Rod was the same height as Ann, so she figured they were the same age. She didn’t think he was a Hunter himself, though.
“Yeah. So, uhh, Ann. Can I call you Ann?”
She felt kind of happy when he said her name, so she nodded.
“Basically, you want to work, right?”
“Yeah!” She nodded again, emphatically.
“I bet they’ll be in there for a while yet. Since I’m from here, I can introduce you to some jobs if you want.”
“Really?”
She wasn’t sure why he was being so nice to her, but Ann was thrilled that she’d finally get to work like she always wanted to.
Meanwhile, Sara and everyone else had been taken to the guildmaster’s office. It seemed all guilds had a room like this in the back.
“Sit wherever you’d like,” the guildmaster said. Sara chose the couch, lowering herself lightly onto it. Allen sat beside her, while Kuntz and Haruto each sat in chairs.
“Umm, I haven’t done anything yet,” Haruto said hesitantly.
“I know. Haven’t heard about any trouble either.” Konrad sat opposite them, a wry grin on his face. “You really grew up, though, huh?”
“Lay off. Don’t act like you’re my uncle or something. I’m probably just about the strongest Hunter out there, you know.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Konrad really was looking at Haruto like he was his uncle or something. “You would have been even more adamant about that before. You really have grown.”
“Pretty much.” It was a point in Haruto’s favor that he reacted with only a subdued pride to those words.
“Kuntz, Allen... Well, I suppose you might not like a stranger calling you by name, but can I?”
“Of course. I got my Hunter’s license here anyway.”
“I don’t mind either.”
“You can just call me Konrad, then.”
Konrad hadn’t talked much during the migrating dragon meeting from what Sara remembered, but he seemed pretty friendly.
“You worked here for a bit last year, didn’t you?” he asked Kuntz and Allen.
“Yes.”
“We spent some time with the knights as well.”
He had a good handle on the things happening around town.
“The dungeons here are big and we have a lot of Hunters. I can’t imagine you’ll cause any trouble, but I like to know what any big names are up to.”
Sara was impressed that Allen and Kuntz were as famous as Haruto now.
“You too, Sara. You’re based in Hydrangea, aren’t you? What are you here for this time?”
“Well, err...”
They’d let Ann escape because they didn’t want to cause a scene back in the guildhall, but it wasn’t like they wanted to hide her existence altogether. She decided to tell him all about how Ann, the Invited from Gardenia, had come to the capital to join the knights, that the girl from before was Ann, that Elm would be staying in the capital for a while as her guardian, and that Sara had come with to serve as a companion to Ann and was thinking of moving her base of operations to the capital while she was at it.
“Sounds like there’s a lot going on. I see, so Elm’s back...”
“You know him?”
“Of course. He knows me as well, but more importantly, he’s a veteran Hunter who’s contributed plenty to the Hunter’s Guild. I think it’d be nice if he settled down as a guildmaster somewhere, but I know he doesn’t like to stay in one place for long.”
Konrad really was well-informed.
“An Invited joining the knights, though, huh? Probably the first female Invited they’ve had too.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me. She learned physical strengthening from Nelly about two years ago. I think she’s pretty athletic.”
“From Nefertari, eh? Just thinking how strong she’s gonna get gives me the chills,” he said with a wry grin.
Haruto nodded firmly. “Ann is strong. We’ve been training with her all the way here from Gardenia and unlike me, she knows how to use her body well since she wasn’t bedridden the whole time in her previous life. She’s not great at magic, but she’s got good eyes and she’s great at physical strengthening.”
“Enough for you to compliment her, eh?”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t be worried about her hunting horned rabbits at all.”
Konrad’s eyes widened in surprise. Sara thought back with some nostalgia about how everyone was shocked when Sara and Allen had sold all their horned rabbits right after getting their Hunter’s licenses too.
“So, uhh... Well... Err, this Ann, she...” Konrad was trying to choose his words carefully. Sara guessed he wanted to know about Ann’s personality.
“I got it. I’ll tell him,” Haruto said sulkily. “She’s not the type to run around and cause trouble like me. She’s enthusiastic and likes to be active, but she listens to what people tell her. She’s not as careful or quiet as Sara, but you won’t have to worry about her causing any trouble.”
“Got it. That’s a relief. You really have grown, Haruto.”
“Oh, shut up.”
Konrad grinned almost like he was going to ruffle Haruto’s hair, but he quickly dropped the smile and looked over at Sara.
“It’s true that Haruto caused trouble, but all Hunters with too much strength do the same to some extent. And I’m not just talking about hurting people or breaking rules.”
Everyone smiled and nodded. Anyone who was Haruto’s friend knew that.
“So Haruto’s made some good friends who are his equals,” Konrad said with a smile.
“Yep,” Haruto said shortly, looking aside poutily.
“He’s called the Gale ’cause of the flashy stuff he does, but Haruto goes deep inside dungeons and helps out with the migrating dragons. He’s a strong Hunter who everyone trusts and admires. That’s his reputation.”
Haruto was still facing away from Konrad, but his ears were turning red.
“I’m glad you’re back, Haruto. And Allen, Kuntz, Sara, the capital’s central guild welcomes you. You might find it a bit chaotic at first, but you’ll all get used to it eventually.”
Sara sighed in relief when Konrad spread his arms wide in welcome.
“By the way, Sara, I don’t suppose you’d take a request to investigate the medicinal plant distribution in the central dungeon, would you?”
“Umm, well...” She shouldn’t have been relieved so quickly. “I’d like to make sure Ann’s doing okay for a bit and then I’ll have to talk to the Apothecary’s Guild, so I can’t say one way or the other right now...”
“Got it. The central dungeon’s pretty big. It’s got places just about anyone can go, with the higher floors being good for beginners and the middle ones good for mid-level Hunters, but the lower floors are pretty dangerous, with wyverns and the like. My guess is that if supreme healing herbs and silver dragonmint can grow in Hydrangea’s dungeon environment, they probably grow here too.”
If the plants could be gathered in the capital, it would be convenient when they were needed in a hurry.
“There’s no rush on it, so just consider it.”
“I understand.”
“As for the little Invited, what was she doing in the Hunter’s Guild? I thought she wanted to be a knight.”
It was a reasonable question.
“Err... Well, she wanted to earn at least a little bit of the money you need to become a Hunter herself,” Kuntz explained, since he’d been the one guiding her. “We were here to ask if the guild can provide any work that a child could do.”
“That’s admirable of her, but those kinds of jobs are usually reserved for the kids who need the money to get by, so I dunno... I could give her a job doing paperwork for me or something like that, I guess.”
“Yeah, that’s what we thought...”
Sara and Elm had already proposed paying her to help them with their work.