Amos

The Chairwoman was not in her office. Amos asked a passing staff member where she was and finally found her on the Gathering Hub's second-floor terrace.

"Guildmaster."

Holding a slender pipe in her hand, the Wyverian guildmaster had been silently gazing at the northern sky. She turned around and noticed that her visitor looked rather grim.

"Ah, Amos. What can I do for you?"

"Guildmaster, Xia Zuo returned last night. He was badly injured. Before he lost consciousness, he asked me to give you this." Amos took out a small roll of parchment and handed it to her.

The guildmaster's expression immediately grew serious. She set down her pipe, unrolled the parchment, and began reading the intelligence recorded on it while asking about Xia Zuo's condition.

"How serious are Xia Zuo's injuries?"

"His external wounds are manageable. The problem is that he inhaled Chameleos's poison mist. An ordinary Antidote can't neutralize an elder dragon's toxins."

At this point, Amos hesitated, but ultimately asked his question anyway. "Guildmaster, I know it isn't my place to ask, but I still want to know why Xia Zuo went after Chameleos alone.

"That's an elder dragon!

"Xia Zuo may be the best Dual Blades user in our Minegarde gathering hall, an eight-star hunter, but no hunter, however strong, can guarantee they'll survive facing an elder dragon alone. It's far too dangerous!"

Faced with the visibly agitated Amos, the Chairwoman sighed softly. "How could I possibly send someone to hunt an elder dragon?"

"The Elder Dragon Observation Bureau requested our assistance. They lost track of the Chameleos deep within Eastern Schrade. Perhaps because of the influence of 'that thing' in the Schrade Castle Ruins, Chameleos may be migrating west.

"As you know, Chameleos can turn invisible. The Elder Dragon Observation Bureau's hot-air balloons alone can't locate it, so I sent Xia Zuo deep into the Schrade Hills to investigate its whereabouts.

"I should have been more cautious. If I'd sent a team of High-Rank Hunters, they could have covered one another and retreated safely, even if they encountered Chameleos."

Amos's expression eased somewhat after hearing her explanation.

As long as she had not deliberately sent a hunter to his death. Those elder dragons were simply not something one or two hunters could deal with.

They were walking natural disasters. Their mere movements could trigger sweeping changes across entire ecosystems.

Only by building sturdy fortifications, committing vast amounts of manpower and resources, and gathering the strength of countless hunters did humanity stand a chance of repelling them.

Did anyone really think Minegarde's walls and its astonishingly powerful defensive installations were meant for Flying Wyverns? What a joke!

From the very beginning, they had been designed to counter the threat lurking deep within the Schrade Mountains to the north.

The threat known as "elder dragons."

"Was there anything else?"

"One minor matter, I suppose."

Amos rubbed his temple. "I recently took on an apprentice. Until she has developed a solid foundation, I'll probably be devoting quite a bit of my time to her."

Catching Amos's unspoken meaning, the Chairwoman's expression softened, and a smile appeared in her eyes. "I understand. Nurturing the next generation must always come first. Go ahead, and don't worry."

"Thank you for understanding. I won't take up any more of your time." Amos nodded and was about to leave when he seemed to remember something and turned back around.

"I nearly forgot. Forgive me for overstepping, but the Gathering Hub ought to be more careful with quest selection and intelligence."

The Chairwoman set down her pipe. Rather than displeased, she looked curious.

"More careful? What exactly do you mean?"

"Take a look at this two-star quest notice. Gordon accepted it not long ago. You remember Gordon, don't you?"

"Of course. The young man from Kokoto Village. Since that 'hero' recommended him, I've been keeping an eye on him." Smiling, the Chairwoman accepted the quest notice Amos handed her. After reading it for a moment, she slowly furrowed her brow.

"...The Shakalaka summer festival. This was indeed an oversight on our part."

The Chairwoman's expression grew serious again, even grimmer than it had been during their discussion of elder dragons.

Amos got straight to the point. "During the summer, the King Shakalaka may appear at festivals where large numbers of Shakalaka gather. Its threat level is nearly high-rank.

"If that young man encounters it, he won't make it back with his current abilities."

Speaking as a hunter, Amos had no intention of mincing words about something like this.

There was nothing wrong with rating a quest to slay twenty Shakalaka as two-star. But failing to include a warning on the quest notice that the King Shakalaka might appear was a serious problem.

"Please apologize to Gordon on my behalf. I'll cancel the quest and discipline the staff member responsible for its rating," the Chairwoman said gravely and earnestly.

To her surprise, Amos waved a hand. "There's no need. I've joined the quest on the pretext of familiarizing my apprentice with the hunting grounds. If the King Shakalaka does appear, I'll deal with him."

"In that case, I'm sorry for the additional trouble." The Chairwoman folded her hands in front of her and bowed deeply.

"Not at all. Goodbye." After a brief farewell, Amos left alone.

The Chairwoman took out her pipe again, packed it with tobacco, and lit it. After a deep draw, she let out a long stream of smoke, as though trying to exhale all the frustration in her heart along with it.

"One problem after another."

At noon, with Amos treating them, Gordon enjoyed the most lavish lunch he had eaten in his entire life.

Even with both the Gathering Hub's in-house discount and Amos's special privileges as a High-Rank Hunter, the meal still cost more than 1,500z.

The assortment of premium ingredients he had never even heard of was an eye-opener for Gordon.

There were Ghost Blue Clams caught at the harbor early that morning, Great King Sushifish sashimi, a salad of sweet fruit gathered in the desert, White Liver steamed in sake, and Armor Crab baked in its shell.

And, most importantly, the main course-Basarios tail slow-braised in red wine.

At first, Gordon thought it was simply a large rock soaking in a rich, fragrant sauce.

That was not entirely wrong. According to Amos, the dish was painstakingly prepared using the tail of a Basarios, the juvenile form of a Flying Wyvern called Gravios.

More than ninety percent of that enormous section of tail consisted of inedible bone and rocky shell. But the thin layer of tender, fat-rich meat nestled between them...

It was a work of art!

Even Hayata, with her refined table manners, could not resist eating quite a lot.

What the two young people did not yet know was that many of these premium dishes could not be bought with money alone. Only hunters who reached a certain rank could "unlock" these special menus.

Perhaps it counted as one of the Gathering Hub's "incentive schemes"?

Amos watched with a smile as Gordon went from politely reserved to wolfing down his food.

He admired this young man.

There were many reasons: the remarkable talent that had allowed him to reach two-star rank at such a young age, a steel-like physique that could only have been forged through hard work, the debt Amos owed him for saving his dear friend and apprentice, and the spirit that had earned even the Kokoto Hero's endorsement.

If Gordon had not so clearly followed a strength-based approach, with his basic fighting style already firmly established, Amos would have wanted to take on another apprentice.

Picking up his glass, Amos took a sip of the light fruit wine, then turned his gaze to Hayata, whose little mouth was likewise flushed from eating.

The girl was equally talented and strong-minded enough as well. Once she matured, she would be no less capable than this boy, and more than worthy of carrying on his legacy.

Well, even if we aren't meant to be master and apprentice, I like the boy. I might as well teach him a few more things.