Watching the Hunter gesticulate and attempt to explain, Lear suddenly felt that it looked rather comical at this moment.
"I'm grateful you saved me, but I don't understand why?"
Lear muttered to himself, his voice barely a whisper. He didn't expect the Hunter to respond; after all, in his understanding, this type of B.O.W. couldn't speak.
However, the Hunter in front of him clearly heard his words. It tilted its head slightly, appearing to be in deep thought about how to answer.
Seeing it like this, Lear couldn't help but chuckle. "It's fine, I was just asking. You don't have to..."
"You... different... good person... shouldn't die."
Just as Lear was about to tell it not to bother, a raspy voice suddenly echoed in his mind. The voice was intermittent and stuttering, as if it had only just learned how to speak.
Lear snapped his head up, staring at the Hunter in astonishment. "Was that... you talking to me?"
The Hunter nodded and pointed to its own head.
"Just now... wanted to speak... and now I can!"
Lear stared blankly at the Hunter as it struggled to express itself, unable to suppress a gasp of wonder. "You're a genius! You just decided to talk and you could? And through direct mental communication, no less... that's incredible!"
Hearing Lear's praise, the Hunter acted like a child receiving approval from an adult, dancing around in excitement.
"Genius! Genius! Genius!"
A string of voices flooded Lear's mind, the noise so overwhelming it felt like his head was about to burst. Lear quickly clutched his head. "Alright, alright, I get it, you're amazing! Stop shouting! You're making my head pound!"
Seeing Lear in distress, the Hunter immediately realized it had messed up. It went quiet and retreated into a corner like a child who had done something wrong, occasionally stealing glances at him.
Lear looked at its pathetic display with a sigh.
"Fine, nobody's blaming you. Just say things once from now on; you're not a broken record."
Though it didn't understand what a "broken record" was, seeing that Lear wasn't actually angry made it regain its energy instantly. It stood up from the corner and hopped back toward him.
Just imagine: a green lizard-man over two meters tall, skipping like a toddler...
"That sight... is nothing short of a horror movie," Lear sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"Alright, let's have a formal introduction. I'm Lear, a Raccoon City police officer." Lear shook his head, clearing the strange yet hilarious image from his mind, and smiled at it.
Lear had intended it as a simple introduction, but the Hunter's mood suddenly plummeted.
Sensing the change, Lear had a vague inkling of why.
"Well... how about I give you a name?"
Hearing that Lear wanted to name it, the Hunter froze for a second before suddenly jumping three feet into the air.
"Good! Name! Name! Name!"
Looking at the creature's expectant gaze, Lear scratched his chin. "Lucky? Rover? No, no, those are too cliché."
While Lear was deliberating, a spark of inspiration flashed through his mind.
"How about I call you Friday!" The Hunter muttered the name to himself a few times, then began hopping and jumping around happily. "Friday, Friday! Name! Name!"
The Hunter—or rather, Friday—suddenly hoisted Lear up from the ground.
"Name! Friday!"
Lear was spun around in the air several times. He hurriedly shouted, "Alright, alright, I know you're happy, but put me down first!"
Friday obediently set him down and nuzzled his arm affectionately, just like a massive dog.
Lear reached out to pat its head. To his surprise, he found that although Friday's body was covered in fine scales, they felt warm to the touch. They felt less like scales and more like a layer of hardened skin.
At that moment, Lear remembered something and asked, "What did you mean before when you said I was a good person? And why did you attack me at first?"
Friday fell silent for a moment before a voice tinged with grievance entered Lear's mind. "People following you… companions… hunted me."
Hearing Friday's words, Lear didn't understand what he meant at first.
"You mean the people with me? Carlos and the others? They hunted you?"
Friday shook his head. "Not them… same people… hunted."
Lear pondered for a moment, then looked up at him. "Do you mean people wearing a uniform similar to Carlos and his team once hunted you?"
Seeing that Lear finally understood, Friday nodded vigorously.
Lear's brow furrowed as suspicions about the identity of those people immediately formed in his mind. He continued, "So, you tried to ambush me at first because you mistakenly thought I was with the people hunting you?"
Friday nodded instinctively, then shook his head frantically.
"Lear, good person… shouldn't hurt you… sorry…"
As he spoke, the voice in Lear's mind was full of guilt. Friday lowered his head, not daring to look at Lear.
Lear smiled. "It's okay, you were just scared. Besides, you saved me. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably have been dragged away by zombies in the coffee shop."
Even though Lear didn't blame him, it was obvious that Friday still felt very guilty.
Just as Lear was about to say something else, a green figure flipped down from the second floor of the Main Hall and charged toward him.
Lear immediately stood up from his chair, but the pain in his chest made his head spin, forcing him back down.
Seeing Lear's condition, Friday assumed his injuries had worsened. He immediately let out a roar at the green figure and slapped it across the head. The green figure was sent flying back even faster than it had arrived.
Lear recovered from his dizziness and saw that the green figure was a normal-sized Hunter with some sunken scales on its chest.
After swatting the Hunter away, Friday rushed to Lear's side and looked at him anxiously.
"I'm fine. It's just that my old injuries haven't healed yet. Broken bones don't mend that easily."
Lear patted Friday's large head and slowly stood up from the chair.
"Wait, is that the Hunter I kicked back at the hospital?"
Seeing that Lear was alright, Friday also let out a sigh of relief. He nuzzled Lear's hand with his massive head and replied, "Yes. It hurt, Friday saved it. It became obedient, Friday leads it!"
From Friday's fragmented description, Lear more or less understood. After being kicked by Lear, this Hunter seemed to have become smarter. Once Friday rescued it, it viewed Friday as its leader, similar to an alpha in a wolf pack.
Its behavior just now was likely because it thought this human was dangerous and would hurt its leader, which is why it attacked Lear.
"Alright, I'm fine. Go check on it. This fellow is quite loyal to you," Lear said to Friday with a smile.
In truth, Lear could tell that Friday hadn't used lethal force. Given Friday's strength, that single blow would have likely crushed the other Hunter's head.
Seeing that Lear didn't blame him, Friday happily helped Lear up and let him lean against the back of the chair.
However, no one noticed a figure wearing sunglasses in the shadows to the east, their lips curling into a smirk as they watched them.
"Interesting..."
(Translated by yourtl.app)