"By the way, what do you plan to do after you stop hiding your power? Do you think you'll join a Guild right away?" She asked me.
"I don't know, I like the freedom I get as a Freelance Hunter. Based on what you've told me, it sounds like things are a lot more hectic for Guild Hunters, you pretty much have to go along with whatever Quests the Guild assigns to you, right, without much freedom to pick and choose?"
"Yeah, that's how it goes. You can technically decline Quests if you don't want to go on one, but unless you're sick or worn out and need a break, it's kind of an unspoken rule that you should avoid declining too many Quests, especially early on," She sighed wistfully.
"I mean, since you're an Ace Rank, you can probably afford to be more decisive. I doubt they'll kick you out or whatever and let you go to a different Guild," I pointed out.
Naturally, Ace Ranked Hunters are highly valued, especially since there aren't that many of them.
Including Ariella, I think the Diva Guild has four Aces, if I'm not mistaken, and none of the Guilds in Sanctuary Theta have more than six.
"Yeah, maybe, but...I don't know, I'm still pretty new, so I don't want to rub anyone the wrong way. Maybe once I've established myself more, I can afford to be more selective with my time and effort."
"Good point, you don't want to make a bad first impression. As for me, well...I really don't like doing things at someone else's beck and call, I prefer to do things at my own pace," I admitted wryly.
"In other words, you don't like being told what to do?"
"Yeah, pretty much. It's my life, so I'd like to be in control of it, you know? So, the idea of letting someone else inconvenience me, especially on a regular basis, is pretty off-putting.
I mean, I know there will be times where I have to compromise and do things that aren't necessarily in my best interest, and that's fine, but I want the freedom to do things at my own pace more often than not," I sighed wistfully.
"Honestly, that would be pretty tough to do if you join a Guild...well, assuming the other Guilds operate similarly to the Diva Guild, that is.
So, then, do you plan on staying as a Freelance Hunter indefinitely, even after you stop hiding your abilities?" She asked me.
"I'm not sure...on the one hand, I like the freedom I get as a Freelance Hunter, but on the other hand, I'll have access to higher ranked raids if I join a Guild.
I'm already strong enough to basically solo Mid Level Dungeons, so I suppose it's only a matter of time before I have no choice but to join a Guild."
"Yeah, that's true. Well, you've probably still got a bit of time before you need to make that decision, so you don't have to make up your mind right away.
And hey, if you do decide to join a Guild, I could try putting in a good word for you at the Diva Guild. It'll be nice to be in the same Guild as you," She responded eagerly.
"That does sound nice, but the Diva Guild primarily employs only female Hunters, right?" I pointed out.
"Well, the vast majority of the Hunters here are women, yeah. But there are a few male Hunters too...only eight of them, so not a lot, but not zero either. They're all high level K-Ranks, so the Diva Guild does make exceptions with high-ranked male Hunters."
"Just eight, huh? And how are they treated by the other members of the Guild?" I asked her.
I know there'd be some guys who would think that would be a dream come true, to be in a place where they'd be surrounded by women, some might even entertain the classic dream of getting a harem.
But reality tends to be a lot more fickle, real life women aren't the one-dimensional, horny sex dolls that harem anime girls often are.
At the same time, I doubt the Diva Guild is made up entirely of illogically and comically vicious man-haters like you see in a lot of anime and other fiction, but I also wouldn't be surprised if there were at least a few among them who would prefer it if the Guild was made up of only women.
"Uh...well, there are some who look down on them and treat them kinda disdainfully, there apparently were a few more guys in the Guild last year, but they left because they got tired of being treated like that.
That said, most of the other women treat the guys pretty normally, a couple of them are even dating two of the guys, so it's a case of a few bad apples, the majority are mostly pretty nice."
Yeah, that's more or less what I figured. Still, even if the majority are nice, it doesn't take more than a few bullies to completely ruin a good thing for someone.
Well, to be honest, I don't mind a bit of confrontation, it gets my blood pumping.
I definitely enjoyed beating up Trey when he challenged me...speaking of whom, it turned out that he decided not to become a Hunter after graduation.
I heard about it from Charlotte, that besides myself and Ariella, only two others in our class became Hunters, the Lancer and the Healer, the others were pretty traumatized by that last raid and effectively retired before they ever even got started, including Trey.
"Hm...maybe I will join the Diva Guild, if they make me a decent offer. If nothing else, it would be nice to see more of you," I replied with a smile.
"Mhm, yeah, same here, I really miss you. Honestly, going on raids so often is pretty stressful and exhausting, and while I am friendly with a lot of the other Hunters here, I'm not all that close with anyone," She sighed wistfully.
"Yeah, it's been the opposite with me, I've only been on one raid since graduation...hm, maybe I'm taking it a bit too easy," I chuckled wryly.