Titanic

"A Kinsect with terrifying strength and... top-tier intelligence?"

The book's description of Ahtal-Ka's ecology shocked Sophia, yet also gave her an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

When she saw that the first sighting had been submitted by someone named Li Le, everything clicked.

"It wasn't his fantasy. That Kinsect really exists... right at the harbor!"

Sophia closed her sewing box and sprang to her feet.

She found the drawing board she used for sketching monsters inside the carriage and hurried out.

Meanwhile, Li Le looked up at the enormous sandship towering at the far end of the trading market.

He entered the Gathering Hall housed within its hull.

After he showed his letter of appointment to the receptionist at the counter,

the receptionist issued him a permit to supply Kinsects to smithies, along with a directory of smithies registered in Val Habar.

There were currently eight in total, including the mobile smithy run by Laude, the caravan's Wyverian smith.

Once he finished negotiating with these smithies, he could leave a carriage behind as a permanent station for the institute.

The Felynes accompanying him had considerable experience raising Kinsects, so putting them in charge of daily operations and maintenance should pose little problem.

Having thought it through, Li Le immediately got to work.

He returned to the wagon camp, connected the carriage loaded with insect cages to his pedal cart, and pedaled off.

The smithies in Val Habar were still at the stage of having glaives but no Kinsects. The Kinsect Research Institute's supply of Kinsects and accompanying technical support arrived at just the right time, and promotion went extremely smoothly.

Creeeak~

Li Le braked with his feet outside the caravan's mobile smithy.

After discussing matters with the Wyverian smith Laude, he found that the smith intended to buy twenty Kinsects at once.

"Competition's so fierce. What if you can't sell them?"

Li Le reminded him.

Even after Kinsects reached the standard and their training stopped, they still needed feeding every day.

A large amount of stock sitting unsold for a long time would put considerable pressure on cash flow.

"I've been interested in forging Insect Glaives for a long time, so I made some basic models in advance using the Guild's blueprints. To sell them to hunters, I have to pair them with Kinsects. But the caravan moves as it explores different regions. Once we leave Val Habar, buying more will be difficult."

Laude explained with a good-natured smile.

"I see. Then you should stock up on Kinsect extracts and the various specialized insect feeds for their later training and advancement, too."

"Uh... I can't afford that."

"You can take them first and pay me once you've sold them."

"Wouldn't that... be asking too much?"

"Don't worry about it. We're friends."

"Thank you."

With the negotiations finished, Li Le helped Laude unload the insect cages.

"I heard the caravan just recruited a hunter?"

"Yes, his name is Disi. He came by to choose a weapon earlier. He struck me as quite extraordinary."

"Oh? In what way?"

Li Le looked very interested.

Delao turned toward the Elite Blade forged from ore materials on the weapon rack beside the furnace.

"Interlocking, transforming weapons like charge blades are the greatest test of a smith's skills. Many smithies display charge blades to show off their craftsmanship. They're also extremely difficult for hunters to learn, but Disi mastered combining and transforming the sword and shield the moment he picked one up."

"Had he practiced before?"

"Disi said he'd always used a Sword and Shield before. He'd only seen other hunters use charge blades."

"That's ridiculous..."

"And when he swung it, unlike other novice hunters, there was none of that hesitation caused by insufficient strength."

Laude sighed in admiration.

"He really is an incredible hunter."

"Yes. It's just a shame his health doesn't seem very good."

Regret showed on Laude's face.

"I hope there's a happy ending at the end of his journey."

Thinking of the Shagaru Magala Disi would ultimately have to face, Li Le couldn't help worrying about him.

"Hmm..."

Laude didn't understand Li Le's sudden sentiment.

"Oh, right. Here's the Kinsect rearing manual. If you run into any problems you can't solve, the mobile Kinsect research carriage is just around the corner. My team and I are always at your service. If the caravan runs into any other difficulties, you can ask me for help, too."

It was already late at night when Li Le returned to the wagon camp and parked his wagon.

"Sisi will probably be busy all night. I'll take some extra Power Nectar over. The Felynes are probably hungry, too. I'll bring everyone a late-night snack."

After muttering to himself, Li Le picked up a crate and set off on foot.

Before he reached the sandship docks, the clanging of hammers reached his ears.

On the pier, several Felynes waved torches, guiding a large bilge plank being hoisted by insect silk.

Up in the lookout atop the mast, Kaluo studied a scroll of blueprints and issued directions from time to time.

"I'll have to buy the Felynes some protective work gear tomorrow..."

Scratch, scratch~

A scraping sound reached his ears.

Li Le looked around and spotted a girl crouching in the pitch-dark sand with a drawing board in her arms.

"Holy-!"

Li Le jumped.

He really hadn't expected someone to be sitting out here in the sand in the middle of the night.

She turned her head sideways, and the lenses of her pushed-up glasses flashed silver in the moonlight.

"Sorry, Li Le. I misunderstood you earlier. Her name's Sisi, right?"

"Yes... but if you want to observe and draw her, wouldn't it be better to come aboard?"

Li Le asked tentatively.

"No. When observing from a distance, Sisi only looks perfect from this angle."

Sophia held up a hand to measure the view in front of her, then added a few more strokes to her drawing.

"How old is Sisi? Does she have a mate? Does she molt? Is her favorite food... the Power Nectar you mentioned in your report?"

"Hmm..."

Li Le was speechless.

"That was rude of me. Those are all Sisi's private matters."

Sophia lowered her head, looking thoroughly dejected.

Helpless, Li Le turned down the corners of his mouth.

So this is monster attraction?

"Li Le."

"Hmm?"

Sophia looked up hopefully. "Treat Sisi well."

"Sigh... I'm going to feed her. Want to come?"

"Huh? I can get close? You don't think I'm strange?"

Sophia asked in surprise.

She hadn't expected Li Le to understand her even though he didn't share her tastes.

"What's so strange about liking monsters? I've even seen someone who liked big spray mushrooms."

"There are people who love mushrooms, too...?"

Sophia sank into thought.

"As long as it helps you relax and take your work with the caravan seriously, anything's negotiable."

As he spoke, Li Le led Sophia along the pier to the Sandworm's refitting site.

Once he showed them the Power Nectar and the late-night barbecue,

the cats and Kinsect immediately stopped work for a break.

Changing angles every few seconds, Sophia observed Sisi up close from every direction.

"What a perfect monster."

After finishing her sketches and notes, Sophia couldn't help sighing in admiration.

Then she looked at Li Le, who was gnawing on meat on the bone, with a puzzled expression.

"Li Le, why did Sisi become your Kinsect?"

"Maybe my extraordinary presence drew us to each other."

Li Le wiped the grease from his mouth, sounding less than certain.

"Sigh~ I'm so jealous that you two can stay together like this for so long."

"You could actually... no, someone would die. Better keep holding back."

Li Le wanted to offer some comfort, but remembering the Brachydios she liked, he immediately abandoned the thought.

"Could I collect some of Sisi's scent?"

Sophia asked tentatively.

"Sure, but it'll attract insects."

"Then I'll use a plushie to collect it. The sewing box can contain it anyway."

Click~

As she spoke, Sophia unfolded her sewing box.

Inside were a portable sewing machine threaded with various colors of cotton thread and several monster-shaped plushies.

"Which should I use... let's go with the Khezu plushie."

Just as Sophia lowered her head to choose, a shadow fell over her from above.

Seeing Sisi's compound eyes fixed on her sewing box,

Sophia slowly backed away to make room.

Pfft~

A scythe claw pierced the Rathalos plushie, and a wisp of white stuffing poked out.

"Don't break things, Sisi."

Li Le warned her.

"It's all right... Sisi seems very interested in what's inside the sewing box."

Sophia didn't mind at all. In fact, she was delighted.

Through touching them, Sisi also realized these things were fragile and lightened her touch.

After several attempts at touching things, her scythe claw pressed down on the sewing machine's pedal.

Clack-clack~

As the mechanism turned, the needle carrying the cotton thread jabbed down at high speed.

Sisi froze, her body going rigid as though profoundly shocked.

"Sisi probably likes the plushies because of the monster forms they reproduce. As for her reaction to the sewing machine, what interests her is probably... the mechanized use of insect silk?"

After observing for a moment, Li Le offered his analysis.

"Ah!"

Sophia gasped, then turned an admiring gaze on Li Le.

"What is it?"

"I know why Sisi chose you."

"Why?"

"Because you can understand what Sisi thinks and meet her needs."

"Can I...?"

Li Le suddenly realized something.

Sophia only knew that Sisi liked the things in her sewing box, but not why.

He, on the other hand, could understand after a brief observation. There really was a considerable difference.

"Unfortunately, the sewing machine's construction and operation are too advanced for Sisi."

"That's all right. As long as Sisi likes it, I'm willing to demonstrate and teach her."

Sophia said excitedly.

Clearly, the motivation behind Sisi's interest was not her concern. Doing her best to accommodate her and letting her experience it would be enough.

What would happen if Sisi really mastered reproducing and using a sewing machine...?

Li Le had considerably more to think about, and hesitation appeared on his face.

"Would you rather not...?"

Sophia asked softly.

"No. As long as Sisi's interested, of course I'm willing. It's just the Hunter Caravan..."

"Don't worry about that. The caravan hasn't recruited a cook or merchant yet. At most, we'll only be operating in the nearby Ancestral Steppe."

"Then sorry for the trouble."

"It's no trouble. I'm happy to spend time with Sisi, too."

With that, Sophia went over to the sewing box, sat down, and began demonstrating.

Clack-clack~ clack-clack~...

The cotton fabric was quickly stitched together beneath the needle's repeated downward strokes.

Watching intently, Sisi seemed to have entered a state of complete self-forgetfulness.

"Look! The Rathalos plush you punctured is perfectly repaired!"

After patching it with cotton cloth, Sophia kept turning the plush over, showing it off with a smile.

Sisi raised her scythe claws, purple light flickering in her compound eyes, looking equally excited.

"Looks like we'll need to buy a sewing machine... no, two. One to take apart and demonstrate the components, one to use intact... with Sisi's strength, they probably won't stand up to much rough handling. We'll need a spare, too."

As he spoke, Li Le added three sewing machines to the shopping list.

At dawn, the first rays of sunlight shone on the sand, and the temperature gradually warmed.

Surrounded by a delicate fragrance, Sophia woke with a stretch.

Looking at the blanket covering her, she finally realized that, because it had been so late last night, she had fallen asleep right on the dock's walkway.

Dazzling sunlight struck her eyes. Raising a hand to shield them, she made out the outline of a sandship at the other end of the walkway.

After getting up and rubbing her eyes for a clearer look, Sophia was stunned.

Judging by its size, it seemed to be a medium-sized sandship.

That was nothing unusual in Val Habar.

But a sandship with fully enclosing protective plating fitted over its entire hull was truly unheard of.

Stranger still, this protective top cover, bonded together with insect silk, was pointed and conical.

A sharpened metal cannon barrel had even been glued to the end of the forward-projecting ram.

As for the concession made to this odd construction, the mast had been lengthened considerably.

The sail had to reach beyond the conical plating before it could spread properly.

She watched the bizarre sandship gliding along on its trial run.

A powerful sense of déjà vu arose in Sophia.

After thinking for a moment, she took off her glasses and looked at the sandship in the sunlight.

Amid the overlapping blur and double images, the outline of a small "Dah'ren Mohran," with a sail extending from its back, appeared on the sand.

"Woohoo! The Sandworm's expansion and refit are absolutely perfect, meow!"

In the lookout atop the mast, Kaluo jumped up and cheered.

"Kaluo! Stop woohooing, meow! Pay attention and guide us!"

Compared with the relaxed Kaluo, the Felyne gripping the wheel was drenched in sweat.

With the conical plating blocking the view, the Sandworm could only sail blind under guidance.

"Don't be nervous, meow. Sisi's controlling the anchor. If there's real danger, she'll handle the emergency stop."

Kaluo spoke confidently.

At that moment, Li Le and Sisi were sitting on top of the protective cover at the bow.

They observed the Sandworm's progress while enjoying the desert sunrise.

Sisi raised her scythe claws, aiming toward a small mound ahead.

"No, we can't do that. The Sandworm only imitates its shape, focusing on increasing the destructive power of the bow ram. It's still a long way from a real Dah'ren Mohran."

Hearing Li Le wave his hand and explain, Sisi learned that she was not allowed to try and lowered her head in disappointment.

"But since this is a trial run, we do need to test the hull's strength."

As Li Le spoke, he turned and shouted, "Kaluo! The collision test is about to begin! Tell everyone to get ready!"

"Got it, meow!"

Kaluo rang the brass bell, shouting to pass on the warning.

The Felynes promptly climbed down and braced for impact.

"Hmm... this position is good for observing the test results, but..."

Li Le suddenly realized that he seemed to have overlooked a small problem: from where he was, he had no way to avoid the shock of the collision.

"It's all up to you now, Sisi. Bind me tightly."

Sisi understood and immediately bound Li Le tightly, holding him upright in front of her with her pair of scythe claws.

"This is... so touching."

Gazing at the scene, Sophia had tears trickling from the corners of her eyes.

Wanting to capture this moment, she immediately took out her drawing board and began sketching rapidly.()