Gordon tried to repeat the other party's name to greet them, but his memory didn't allow him to do so; he opened his mouth but could only stand there blankly.
Seeing through Gordon's embarrassment, the Dragon People woman smiled gracefully and said, "You can call me Guildmistress, like everyone else in the Gathering Hall."
Gordon breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hello, Guildmistress, I am Gordon from Kokoto Village, and I plan to operate in Minagarde for a period of time; I hope you can approve."
In front of this lady, whose noble identity was obvious even to a blind man, Gordon wanted to speak in a more refined manner, but having not read many books, the most he could manage was this straightforward plainness.
"You're from Kokoto Village?" The Guildmistress's meticulously trimmed eyebrows slightly raised.
"Yes, that's right."
The Guildmistress looked at Tiki, who was still being held by Oshura.
The female hunter quickly put Tiki down, and the latter, at the fastest speed, organized Gordon's Hunter's Notebook and letter of introduction, handing them to the Guildmistress.
The Guildmistress first flipped through Gordon's Hunter's Notebook, and when she noticed his age and Hunter Rank, she raised her eyelids and glanced at him, then blandly said, "Quite good."
Gordon inexplicably felt that this was already a very high evaluation.
Immediately after, the Guildmistress picked up the letter of introduction; judging from her noticeably gentler movements, she attached great importance to this letter.
After reading the letter word by word, the Guildmistress refolded the paper, carefully and cautiously placed it back into the envelope, and then returned it to Gordon.
"Keep this letter safe; you should use it when you travel to other cities in the future."
Seeing the other party's solemn demeanor, Gordon couldn't help but become cautious.
"Is your Village Chief doing well?" the Guildmistress suddenly asked.
Gordon felt, perhaps it was just his imagination, that her tone seemed to have softened?
"Hmm, the Village Chief's health has always been good, it's just that he seems a bit muddled most of the time," Gordon replied, secretly guessing the relationship between the two.
Clearly, the Guildmistress and the old Village Chief knew each other.
Had they had a past? Impossible, impossible.
Dragon People may have long lifespans, but they weren't monsters. The Guildmistress's age was hard to determine, but at most, she was middle-aged, at least a generation, or even two, younger than the decrepit Village Chief.
Family elder? A senior in work? It couldn't be father and daughter, could it?
The Guildmistress seemed to see through Gordon's mental storm, and a trace of helplessness flashed in her eyes behind the narrow lenses. She spoke, "He is a very respectable senior, and a living legend.
You, don't know him?"
This question wasn't just for Gordon, but Gordon, Oshura, and Tiki exchanged glances for a long time, still coming up with no answer.
The Guildmistress sighed lightly at their reaction: "These young people nowadays..."
"That's a legendary figure known as the 'Hero'."
At this moment, a male middle-aged hunter who happened to be passing by heard their conversation and strode over.
He was dressed in a set of high-grade armor predominantly black, the dark carapaces and dragon scales clearly from some Flying Wyvern. Along the edge of the tassets, and at key points like the shoulders and elbows, were several groups of crimson thorns, adding a touch of Attack Up to this armor.
One-Horned Dragon set, that was the name of this equipment.
As its name described, its crafting materials came from the powerful Flying Wyvern known as the "One-Horned Dragon." This terrifying creature living in the Desert region was known as the "Solitary Knight of the Sand Plains."
"It's Amos."
"Long time no see, Lord Amos~."
Oshura and the others greeted the newcomer one after another, and Gordon also nodded to him, showing respect for a senior.
The middle-aged hunter named Amos walked over to them, frowned, and swept a glance at Oshura, saying, "It's fine that these two haven't been in the training camp, but how come even you don't know?
The legend of the Kokoto Hero, the training camp instructors must have told it more than once, right?"
Oshura, hearing this, grimaced awkwardly. She had slept through all her cultural classes back in the training camp.
"You're from Kokoto Village and you haven't heard of him either?" Amos looked at Gordon with some disbelief.
Gordon's expression was a bit strange.
How to put it, he had heard a little bit: the Hero of Kokoto, the "First Hunter," right? But wasn't that just a fairy tale, like a bedtime story?
From what the Guildmistress and the others implied, that Hero was the old Village Chief??
"Before the profession of 'Monster Hunter' even existed, humanity was so powerless against the invasions and attacks of powerful monsters.
A fierce One-Horned Dragon attacked the village. At that time, a mysterious Dragon People stepped forward. He wielded an iron sword and shield, battling the monster for seven days and seven nights, finally succeeding in slaying it.
He is the Hero of Kokoto, and the very first Hunter in the world."
Amos recited the story, familiar from his childhood and even earlier times, in a tone full of respect and yearning.
It was hard to say that his current choice to wear the One-Horned Dragon set wasn't influenced by this.
The Guildmistress took over Amos's narration and continued, "The Hero's deeds inspired people; monsters were no longer an unconquerable terror.
He, along with four like-minded companions, created the Hunter's Guild, laying the foundation for the 'Monster Hunter' profession.
Regrettably, in a battle to subjugate a certain Mysterious Monster, one of his companions, who was also the Hero's fiancée, unfortunately sacrificed herself.
The Hero subsequently retired, and the rule that a Hunter team could have a maximum of four members was passed down from that dark era before dawn."
One epic story after another made Gordon's mouth slightly agape, saliva almost drooling. Some of these stories he had heard, some he hadn't.
But no matter what, he really found it hard to connect the "Hero" from the legends—who embodied courage, strength, wisdom, leadership, and tragedy—with that old man at the village entrance who constantly went "Hmm?" "Oh, hiyah~!" "Hoo-hoo!"
"Are these legends true?"
"Of course, they are true," the Guildmistress looked at him strangely. "The real experiences of the Kokoto Hero were only more perilous and magnificent than in the legends.
Isn't the weapon the Hero once used—the hero's sword—still stuck in the stone platform behind Kokoto Village, waiting for its successor?"
"Yes, twenty years ago, when I was young and traveling around, I even made a special trip to Kokoto Village to pay homage," Amos's tone was filled with emotion and reminiscence.
"Although I knew I wasn't worthy, who hasn't fantasized, tried, and hoped to pull out that hero's sword, which had turned reddish-brown from being steeped in dragon blood, and become the new 'Hero'?"
Gordon closed his mouth, his face tense, trying hard to maintain his expression to avoid showing anything unusual.
If he were to say now that when he was little, he peed on that rusty iron sword, pulled it out, found he couldn't even cut a branch with it, and then stuck it back in...
He'd probably get beaten to death, right?
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.