Let's team up

After confirming Porkchop's identity, Hayata broke into a happy smile.

Then she quickly realized that if this young hunter named Gordon was Porkchop's master, he must have been the hunter who had saved her and everyone in the caravan.

With that realization, the girl bowed to Gordon in excitement. "Hello, I'm Hayata. Things were so urgent last time that I never got the chance to thank you.

"You saved everyone in the caravan. Thank you so much!"

Her words brought it back to Gordon, too. Less than two months had passed since his quest to hunt the Blue Velociprey King.

Although he had only caught a brief glimpse of her back then, the young girl who had dared to take up a weapon and fight monsters had left quite an impression on him.

Fighting monsters and protecting people was a monster hunter's duty, after all.

Still, receiving heartfelt thanks from someone he had helped for the first time gave Gordon a very special sense of pride, almost like a mission accomplished.

So risking my neck back then, letting the Blue Velociprey King summon its companions while I covered the caravan's retreat, really had been worthwhile!

Standing beside them, Amos could not help looking at Gordon with greater warmth after hearing this.

As a friend of Pine, the caravan leader, he had naturally heard from him how dangerous things had been. If a hunter had not happened to appear and stop the monsters...

His childhood friend, his apprentice Hayata, and indeed everyone in the caravan would likely have had no chance of survival.

"Thank you so much, young Gordon. Let me introduce myself properly. I'm Amos, a Seven-Star Hunter and Hayata's teacher. Pine and I really must thank you properly.

"Oh, right. Pine is Hayata's uncle, and he was also the leader of that caravan. We're hardly anyone important, but we do have a few connections in Minegarde.

"If there's ever anything we can help you with, please don't hesitate to come to us."

Amos was completely sincere.

"That Blue Velociprey King was my quest target, too. I just happened to run into you. Besides, protecting travelers is part of my job. It was nothing." Scratching his head, Gordon exchanged a few polite words with the teacher and his apprentice.

Although he had no intention of calling in that favor to ask anything of them, getting to know a powerful hunter through it was certainly an unexpected bonus.

This was Gordon's first time meeting a Seven-Star Hunter in person!

Even Instructor Ernest, whom he already considered incredibly capable, was only a Five-Star Hunter. And there was a major dividing line between five and Six-Star.

Quests rated from one to five stars were collectively called "low-rank quests." Correspondingly, hunters from one to five stars were low-rank hunters, though "low rank" did not sound particularly flattering, so people generally avoided calling them that.

From Six-Star up to the highest rating of Nine-Star was what they called "High Rank." These hunters accounted for less than five percent of all hunters.

For the elites who had advanced to High Rank, hunting powerful Flying Wyverns like Rathalos was merely the most basic requirement.

Gordon could hardly imagine what those people hunted on a regular basis. Were there actually monsters even more powerful than Flying Wyverns?

"Hmm? Gordon, are you about to take a quest, too?" As they chatted, Amos suddenly noticed the quest slip in Gordon's hand and casually asked about it.

"Yeah."

Gordon showed him the quest slip he had just accepted.

"Nothing too troublesome. Since I'm somewhere new, I thought I'd get a little practice first."

Amos took the slip and glanced over it. His brows knitted almost imperceptibly. After rubbing his chin in thought for a moment, he looked up at Gordon.

"This might be a little presumptuous of me, Gordon, but would you be interested in teaming up for a hunt?"

This surprised not only Gordon, but also Tiji and Machi beside him.

Amos had said earlier that he planned to take a one- or two-star slaying quest to give his young apprentice, who had only just begun hunter training, some experience.

But surely he did not need to rope Gordon into teaming up?

After all, the client would not pay twice the reward just because two people had worked together to complete the quest.

When hunting as a team, the reward had to be split equally, so anyone confident of success generally chose to go alone.

Seemingly noticing Gordon and the others' surprise and confusion, Amos chuckled and explained, "Hayata only started hunter training a couple of days ago. Her combat ability is effectively nonexistent, and she can't really protect herself.

"So I thought that if we completed this quest as a team, we'd have someone else to help look out for her.

"Of course, I'm the one imposing on you here, so the entire quest reward will be yours. I only want to bring Hayata along to familiarize her with the hunting grounds."

"I see."

Understanding dawned on Tiji and the others, and Gordon nodded as well. Although a trace of doubt remained in his mind, he had no real reason to refuse.

What was he going to do, tie me up and sell me?

Besides, this was a chance to team up with a high-rank hunter!

Even if their opponents were only some Shakalaka, surely he could still learn plenty? That alone made Gordon more than willing to team up with Amos and Hayata, even without a reward.

After completing the paperwork to join the quest, Amos checked the time and said to Gordon, "It's still early. How about we leave after lunch?"

"No problem!" Gordon readily nodded.

His training under the Instructor as an apprentice hunter did not count. This would be his first time teaming up with someone else for a hunt, and honestly, he was rather looking forward to it.

"You youngsters can chat and get to know each other. I have something to discuss with the guildmaster. I'll come find you in a little while."

After confirming their departure time, Amos exchanged greetings with Gordon and the others, then headed alone toward the offices inside the Gathering Hub.

Gordon was a little disappointed. Rather than chatting with a young girl, he would actually have preferred to ask Amos some questions about hunting.

Hayata was a very kind young girl. At least, that was certainly how Porkchop saw her, because she had rescued him from Tiji's clutches.

"Meow."

His fur in disarray, Porkchop huddled behind Hayata with his back slightly arched and his tiny, pointed fangs bared, warily watching Tiji, who still seemed eager for more.

Master Gordon couldn't be trusted anymore, meow!

Gordon did not particularly mind. A little crack in their trust like this could easily be repaired with one Cod Sausage-two at most.

Since there was still quite a while before lunch, the two of them and the cat sat at a long table in the Tavern Area, ordered a few nonalcoholic drinks, and began chatting idly.

Hayata was very surprised to learn that Gordon was not yet an adult.

She had thought he was already in his twenties...

Of course, that also had something to do with Gordon's build, which far exceeded the norm for someone his age. In terms of weight alone, he was more than twice as heavy as Hayata.

Out of curiosity, and for certain personal reasons, Hayata asked to see Gordon's weapon.

When her best efforts had only left a few shallow, harmless scratches on a Blue Velociprey and she had been on the verge of despair, that enormous steel blade had effortlessly torn it to pieces. Naturally, it had left an extremely deep impression on her.

She had even seriously considered becoming a Great Sword user.

But when she discovered that, even with every ounce of her strength, she could only lift the Buster Sword lying flat on Gordon's table a tiny fraction, she had no choice but to abandon that unrealistic idea.

His forearms were thicker than my legs. I'd better listen to my teacher and start with a Sword and Shield.

QAQ

P.S. The star ratings dividing High Rank and low rank have varied throughout the series. Here, I'm taking a middle ground: five stars and below count as low rank, while Six-Star and above count as High Rank.