Commission

On the pier, watching Li Le slide down from the Sandworm's top hatch,

Sophia excitedly went over to meet him.

"I'm planning to update and flesh out Sisi's ecological report. I just drew a sketch to include in it, too. Do you want to take a look before I submit it to the Guild?"

He had helped repel Dah'ren Mohran during the day, then spent the entire night busy with modifications.

Now that the excitement of the test had worn off, all Li Le wanted to do was sleep, dark circles under his eyes.

"I'll pass, Sophia. I really need to sleep. You decide..."

Li Le boarded the ship with unsteady steps and entered the cabin.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already afternoon.

He remembered that there were still plenty of things to buy, and that he needed to arrange for Felynes to run the institute.

Li Le got up at once and took the Felynes to the trade street.

Noticeboard √

20 sets of protective work gear for cats √

Three sewing machines √

Kinsect Research Institute sign (retractable and folding) √

Sand skiff sail (gold and blue, custom design) √

Li Le realized that although he had bought almost everything on his shopping list, his purse had shriveled, too.

It felt as though he had barely bought anything. These z coins really didn't go far.

Just yesterday, he had been worried that Laude's workshop would buy too many Kinsects and run into cash flow problems.

He hadn't expected it to happen to him today.

After a moment's thought, Li Le decided that taking commissions was still the quickest, most reliable way to make money.

"Don't forget us, meow!"

"Make sure you come back to rotate us out on time, meow!"

"Don't forget the notes for the monster identification class, meow!"

The three Felynes assigned to the mobile Kinsect Research Institute said goodbye to everyone with tears in their eyes.

The Felynes clearly preferred traveling with Li Le and Sisi to working at the base.

Dressed in his hunter armor, with his bone staff on his back,

Li Le, Sisi, and Kaluo

arrived at the caravan's camp on the trade street.

In front of the mobile Guild carriage, Sophia was working a sewing machine's pedal, stitching together two pieces of golden cotton cloth.

The giant sandship's gathering hub also offered commissions, but there were too many people and a queue, so they had come to Sophia instead.

After hearing why they had come, she went over to the noticeboard mounted on the carriage and enthusiastically introduced the commissions.

"They're all here. Overall exploration is still limited to the outer reaches of the nearby Ancestral Steppe, so the star ratings aren't very high yet."

"Thanks."

Li Le leaned closer to look.

[Gathering Mushrooms in the Ancestral Steppe]

[Slay Jaggia]

[Secret Egg Delivery? The Gargwa Edition]

There were quite a few one-star and two-star commissions on the noticeboard, but a quick look showed that the rewards weren't particularly generous.

"Why is this commission called Seltas Assault an urgent contract?"

Li Le asked, looking at a commission marked with a conspicuous red label.

"That one... was posted by the head chef, the Meowscular Chef. The newly discovered Neopteron monster, Seltas, has been attacking ingredient supply teams on the Ancestral Steppe. Val Habar has only just managed to stabilize, so naturally, the Guild won't let this continue."

"I see... What does it mean when it says you can complete the subquest and turn in the commission?"

"The Guild isn't able to provide hunter teams with enough support yet, so it has relaxed the completion requirements a little. For this urgent contract, for example, once you've completely broken the Seltas's horn, you can bring the severed horn back as proof to complete the commission."

Li Le understood.

When exploration expanded into new areas, Guild support was extremely limited, and even the maps they drew provided little more than a rough outline.

The ecological traits of the monsters that appeared were entirely unknown, too.

Under those circumstances, requiring hunters to fulfill contracts through slaying or capturing as before would be far too dangerous for hunter teams.

Without a monster's corpse, however, there would certainly be no share of its materials.

"Are any other teams interested in taking it?"

Li Le asked tentatively.

"Disi wants to try, but Seltas is a new species we've never seen before. Even its two-star threat rating is only provisional, so the caravan leader is a little worried."

"Go ahead and let him take it. Have faith in Disi."

"Oh! Have you hunted together?"

"No, but I've always been a good judge of people. Disi will definitely be fine."

"All right. I'll try persuading Caravan Leader Joda later."

"Then I'll take... this one, [Soldier of the Underground Kingdom]!"

As he spoke, Li Le took down a contract and handed it to Sophia.

The target to be slain was also a Seltas, and it was likewise an urgent contract.

But the client was now a thoroughly unreliable-sounding, drunken gourmet.

The reason for the hunt was even more bizarre. After seeing that other countries had a custom of eating insects, he wanted to try it himself and take a crucial step toward becoming a top gourmet.

He would become the first man to taste the new species, Seltas!

"This one..."

Sophia looked hesitant.

"I understand. A new, unknown monster means new materials, weapons, and armor. The Guild must want to obtain plenty of corpses for ecological research as soon as possible. Since this drunken gourmet is willing to pay, giving him some insect meat to eat isn't a big deal."

Lan Rui had explained why such bizarre commissions existed, so Li Le was already used to them.

"Thank you for understanding, but that isn't what worries me. The problem with this contract is that it takes you too far in, close to the newly discovered Sunken Hollow. That's an unknown area even the Guild's survey teams have only just set foot in."

"If you're set on raising your star rank, your hunter record registered with the local Guild already has one urgent quest completed. You don't actually need to take the risk. One more ordinary one-star commission would be enough to qualify for promotion to two stars."

Sophia's smile faded as she gave him a serious warning.

"It's fine. I'll take this one."

Seeing that Li Le was determined, Sophia stamped the contract as accepted.

"You'll need to pick up the Guild supplies at the warehouse beside the gathering hub. Leaving through the intersection on this side of the trade street will take you to the Ancestral Steppe. There isn't a freight road yet, but the wheel ruts and teams along the way should give you some guidance."

"Okay... Look after Sisi for me. I'll pedal over to load the supplies and be right back."

"Hehe, leave it to me. Remember to pick stronger teammates when you recruit!"

After giving him that reminder, Sophia rubbed her hands together and took out her notebook and quill.

"No need! It'll just be Sisi and me..."

"That's fine, too... huh!"

Sophia, who had finally gotten a chance to spend time alone with Sisi, froze as Li Le's voice receded into the distance.

"Sisi, it's dangerous around the Sunken Hollow. Make sure you protect Li Le and Kaluo."

Sisi, who had been staring at the sewing box, looked up instead, purple light flickering in its compound eyes. It seemed to understand.

By the time everything was ready, evening had fallen.

For the sake of mobility and conserving stamina, among other considerations, they took only two cargo carriages on this hunt.

One was the pedal cart's own carriage, and the other was specifically for Sisi and Old Bones.

Creak, creak...

As Li Le pedaled at high speed, the cart set off toward the Ancestral Steppe.

At first light, a plain covered in bright yellow wild grass appeared before them.

Herds of Aptonoth kept appearing nearby.

"A new area, all right. It really is thriving."

Compared with the surroundings of Dondorma, Li Le felt that this was a truly pristine wilderness.

"Um... is Seltas really strong, meow?"

Kaluo poked his head out of the carriage and asked with some concern.

"If a Seltas teams up and combines with the female, it actually poses quite a threat. On its own, though, it's nowhere near as dangerous."

Li Le offered his assessment.

"How does it compare to Sisi, meow?"

"How should I put it... Sisi might not be fully grown yet, but taking on ten of them wouldn't be a problem."

"Sisi is that strong?! That's a relief, meow."

Kaluo let out a long breath.

"But since this is unknown territory, we'd still better keep a low profile."

With that, Li Le unfolded the map. Apart from some terrain outlines and rough divisions of confirmed monster territories, it contained no useful information.

"Let's find some local cats to ask first. If there's a guide who knows the area, or we can hire an illegal rescue team, even better."

Two hours later, the pedal cart entered mountainous woodland with towering rock formations.

The extensive red-brick and stone ruins on the ground, coupled with the shadows cast by the tall mountains,

made the surroundings look somewhat eerie.

On damp, moss-covered ground screened by a dense web of vines, three upright Melynx were digging and searching.

Aside from their cat-paw staffs, their only equipment was a shoulder bag each.

Meowing away, they looked thoroughly wild.

Screech...

Li Le extended his foot and brought the cargo cart to a stop.

The three wild Melynx turned, first staring warily, then gathering together.

"They're Melynx from a wild tribe, meow. No choice. I'll have to try negotiating."

Kaluo jumped off the cart as he spoke, then went forward and began dancing, swaying his body.

The Melynx's gazes shifted from wariness to scrutiny as they meowed, muttering who knew what.

Kaluo finished his dance and struck a dashing pose.

Seeing that they remained unmoved, he realized the situation might be more troublesome than he had expected.

Clank!

A clattering sound came from behind him.

All four cats looked over at once. The noticeboard on the carriage had unfolded.

"Monster identification class? Why is class starting already, meow... no!"

Kaluo shook his head hard, realizing this was no time to think about that.

"Step aside, Kaluo. Leave this to me."

Naturally, the wild Melynx weren't going to obediently comply. With fierce, hostile yowls, they charged over.

Clatter!

Three sticks of silvervine landed on the ground.

Meow! Mrow...

The Melynx immediately lowered their voices.

Meanwhile, Li Le quickly wrote and drew on the noticeboard's large drawing surface.

"A big cave... with a bug like this beside it... its wings buzz when it flies..."

His gestures and drawings left the three Melynx chewing their silvervine looking rather dazed.

One of them widened its eyes, as though something had come to mind.

"Good. You tell me."

Li Le pointed to that Melynx and tossed it a stick of silvervine.

"Meow! Meow, meow! Mrow, mrow, mrow..."

The Melynx immediately began gesturing, too.

Kaluo watched carefully, but still couldn't quite understand.

"Sorry, I can't help you, meow..."

"That bug was panicking... it seemed to be injured... that's why it fled toward the big cave..."

Li Le, meanwhile, began interpreting without difficulty.

"Li Le! Why can you understand it, meow?!"

Kaluo exclaimed in shock.

"Trembling means panic. Drawing a circle in front of its body with both paws means a cave. Hunching up and hugging its shoulders means injury. It's easy to understand."

"Uh... all right, meow."

"Strange. I'm clearly the only one who accepted this commission, so who injured the Seltas?"

Li Le now had a new question.

"Never mind that for now. Around here... safe... what's it like?"

Li Le asked through gestures.

All three Melynx extended their paws and pointed at Li Le.

"So I'm the biggest threat at the moment? Then the red-earth ruins seem pretty safe... guide us... push a rescue cart... would you be willing?"

After Li Le finished asking,

the three cats' gazes immediately became less friendly.

"True enough. If they were willing to help humans, they wouldn't be wild Melynx. All right, thanks for the information."

The information about the Seltas being injured wasn't actually that important.

The key point was that it was still lingering near the underground cave.

Li Le reached into the cloth bag holding the felvine and found it empty.

"Then... I'll reward you with this."

Li Le turned toward the cargo compartment and dug out the Pawprint Stamp One-Eyed Arthur had given him.

Even the Felynes only knew that Melynx valued these things highly.

So they had almost no value in the human world.

Meow!!!

The three cats cried out excitedly in unison, giving Li Le a fright.

He moved the arm holding the Pawprint Stamp sideways, and all three cats' eyes followed it closely.

It seemed this thing really was important to Melynx...

Li Le hadn't expected One-Eyed Arthur's thank-you gift to be so valuable, either.

The Melynx on the far left rather reluctantly mimed pushing a cart.

The other two copied the motion as well.

"All right, what I actually need most is a guide, so you can lead me through. As for a rescue team, actually..."

While Li Le was still speaking, the stamp fell to the ground and was picked up by a cat's paw. The three quickly ran off in different directions.

"Uh... did I just get scammed?"

Covering his face, Li Le sighed, turned around, and folded up the noticeboard, preparing to check the map again and continue finding his way.

Rumble~

The sound of rolling wheels rang out.

The three Melynx pushed a small flatbed cart up to him.

Besides a few supplies, there was an elderly Melynx on the cart.

"Human, thank you for the Pawprint Stamp you gave us. Let us lead the way, meow~"

"All right, sorry for the trouble... Sisi, hoist the flatbed cart onto the cargo compartment."

Once everything was loaded, Li Le set off again.

Talking with the old Melynx, he learned that no humans had been seen on the Ancestral Steppe for many years.

Unexpectedly, large numbers had suddenly appeared recently, and the local wild Melynx tribes were strongly opposed to this.

With the local Melynx guiding him, the pedal cart sped through the rolling mountain terrain.

Around noon, Sisi, who was lying on Old Bones, suddenly raised her head to look up.

Li Le immediately followed her gaze.

On a gray rock face, an insect with a dark green carapace and a pointed horn lay motionless.

Looking at the few wheel tracks on the ground, Li Le confirmed that this should be the one that had attacked the ingredient transport team.

So he soothed Sisi, telling her not to get excited.

Although Disi had shown exceptional talent in every respect, a hunter ultimately still needed enough practical hunting experience.

Li Le didn't want to interfere with his training.

Once Sisi understood, her fragrance subsided as well.

But she remained intensely curious about the Seltas.