Departure drew near

At noon, beside the enormous pit in the Underground Cave.

The angle between two mountain walls had been enclosed with a fence of pointed logs.

Inside the gate, where hunter teams and carts constantly came and went, tents of various colors stood in rings.

"They've built the outpost so quickly. Looks like the Guild really values exploration and expanding its territory here."

Squeezed inside the Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset, Li Le sighed in admiration.

"I heard from hunters from Bherna Village that the Wycademy is also actively expanding its exploration area and training hunters, meow."

"How is what Wycademy hunters do exploration? They just kill whatever they come across... I wonder how Lan Rui and Sanhua are doing now."

"Lan Rui is experienced and very brave, and Sanhua is good at negotiating with wild cat tribes. They must be doing well, meow."

Kaluo spoke with conviction.

"Let's write to them once we're back in Val Habar... We're almost at the outpost. Sisi, turn around."

Li Le circled his finger, and the Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset immediately turned around.

"Uh... Aren't we here to retrieve the cargo compartment? We're going past again, meow?"

Kaluo was rather speechless.

"Of course. After spending so long covered in dirt in the Underground Cave, aside from the materials and commission payment, wasn't this moment what it was all for?... There's a team coming, Kaluo. Act natural."

"All right, meow..."

Not far away, a travel-worn team of four approached, carrying large loads of equipment and materials.

Seeing the two Kecha Wacha hanging from the full-moon tail, the male hunter at the front exclaimed, "Kecha Wacha! Two of them?"

"Ah~ What was that, my friend?... Oh, you mean the Kecha Wacha! We just hunted them in the Underground Cave."

Li Le spoke as if he had only just understood.

"It must be that urgent contract... With that completed, you'll probably be promoted to three stars soon. You've got a bright future, young man."

The male hunter nodded approvingly.

After a conversation, the two parties waved goodbye.

Once the team was far away, Li Le asked Kaluo, "Feel good?"

"Uh... I suppose it does a little, meow..."

"Does it feel good?"

"Hehe, it feels pretty good, meow."

Kaluo covered his mouth and snickered.

After making three round trips along the same road, the team finally reached the field outpost.

A vast grassland lay beneath a cloudless sky.

Herds of Moofah streamed toward Bherna Village, driven by shepherds.

On the trade road at the village entrance, covered with wheel ruts, a transport-team flatbed carrying a Great Maccao King pulled over to the roadside.

"You want to unload the monster carcass here?"

The female investigator leading the transport team was deeply puzzled by the request from the bloodstained hunter before her.

"That's right."

Lan Rui, so exhausted that his eyes had begun to lose focus, nodded in confirmation.

"Lan Rui, it's still a long way from the village entrance to the workshop warehouse in Bherna Village."

The female investigator pointed into the village, where numerous stone houses stood.

"I understand. Thank you, everyone. Thanks for all your hard work along the way."

"All right. I'll report your payment for serving as an escort hunter to the Guild when I submit the freight contract."

As the female investigator spoke, the cats had already untied the securing ropes.

With some effort, Lan Rui shouldered the Great Maccao King's carcass and walked into the village with his Palico, Sanhua.

"What strange behavior..."

"If you were from Bherna Village, you wouldn't find it strange, meow."

An old Felyne resting against a wheel sighed.

"Ah! Is there some secret behind it?"

The female investigator immediately perked up.

"Uh... I shouldn't have said anything, but Lan Rui has already proved himself, so it should be fine, meow."

"Come on, tell me."

At the female investigator's urging, the old Felyne leaned closer and lowered his voice. "The first time Lan Rui hunted with a team, their target was a pack of Great Maccao. But he got scared and ran away midway through, meow..."

"Uh... What!"

The female investigator looked up at the retreating figure in disbelief.

Whether it was his decision to hunt a Great Maccao King alone or the time they had spent together while he worked as an escort,

she had felt that Lan Rui was a brave, dependable hunter.

"After that, the name 'Lan Rui the Coward' gradually spread through the village, meow. Then nobody wanted to hunt with him anymore. Longing to be trusted, he sat drinking in the gathering hub every day, growing increasingly despondent."

"That's understandable, though. A lot of hunters only meet by chance, but they entrust their lives and hunting careers to each other. With a reputation like that, it really would be difficult to earn their trust."

"And Lan Rui's father, Lan Si, is quite an unusual person too, meow."

"Huh? How do you know everything?"

The female investigator was rather surprised.

"I was born in Bherna Village, meow!"

The old Felyne puffed out his chest.

"All right. Did his father, Lan Si, have a negative effect on Lan Rui too?"

"Lan Si's nickname in the village is Lan Si the Glutton. You can imagine the rest yourself, meow... But it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call his monster braised-intestine dishes the very best. It's just that few villagers dare try them, meow."

"In that case, Lan Si has had quite an impact on Lan Rui too."

His hunting career had stalled, and he also had to endure the gossip brought on by his family.

The female investigator could not help sighing. She had never imagined Lan Rui's life had been so full of twists and turns.

"Actually, when Lan Si was young, he was a famous rising hunter in the village too, meow. But apparently, after returning from Port Tanzia once, his whole personality grew strange, and the things he ate became increasingly horrifying."

"Port Tanzia... I've heard its maritime trade is thriving, and the ocean views are lovely. Why would he become strange?"

The female investigator was puzzled.

After all, he had not gone hunting in a dangerous region, so he would not have experienced any intense shock.

"That I don't know. But Lan Rui's hunting career has reached a turning point now. Although I don't know what helped him regain his confidence, I still wish him well. Hopefully things will get better for him, meow."

"Now that his turning point has come, they certainly will!"

The female investigator spoke with conviction.

"We'll take good care of your companion's body! Stop making trouble for humans, especially a lone hunter with a charge blade. You can't afford to provoke him! And don't go back to the Underground Cave!"

In the mountain forest, Li Le shouted these instructions to the younger Kecha Wacha, who kept looking back.

The team continued their return journey.

When they reached the Red Earth Ruins that evening, they saw cooking smoke rising from the woods.

They dismounted from Ahtal-Neset and went closer to investigate. It turned out that Disi was roasting meat in the forest.

Compared with their last meeting, his face had gained several scratches, and he had slimmed down considerably, but his muscles also seemed more solid.

The main reason he was sitting alone in the forest looking rather bedraggled instead of resting at camp was that he had pursued the dying Kecha Wacha a little too deep today.

Since he could no longer make it back to camp in time, Disi had decided to continue hunting that night after a short rest and finish off the Kecha Wacha in one go.

"Kecha Wacha are far too nimble in mountain forests full of vine webs. That's given me quite a hard time. But fighting on terrain with such dramatic changes in elevation also helped me grasp the mounting attacks the Guild is promoting."

Disi took a bite of roast meat and shared his recent hunting experiences.

"I've been practicing too. Keeping your balance and not getting thrown off by the monster is the most important part."

"Oh, right. If I complete the commission and clear the newly opened trade route, the client, a Wyverian merchant, will join us too. Then the caravan will have all its members, and we can set off anytime to explore farther afield."

Longing showed on Disi's face.

Exploring outward from Guild outposts did offer stronger logistical support.

But issuing and processing contracts, recording and organizing ecological discoveries, providing food, researching materials, crafting equipment, and all the other steps required returning to the outpost.

That placed enormous restrictions on long-distance exploration.

The Hunter Caravan's mobile approach eliminated that drawback.

As long as the area surrounding their destination was not too dangerous, they could set up camp immediately and perform all the Guild's functions.

"It's just that it'll be a bit difficult for us to meet again then."

"That's all right. I'm expanding my exploration range too. Maybe we'll run into each other soon."

Li Le was very optimistic about that.

"Come to think of it, the Underground Cave was clearly farther away, but you finished your hunt before I did~ Ah, we're both novice hunters, but it still feels like there's a gap between us."

As Disi sighed, he suddenly noticed that Li Le had leaned close and was looking at him with a serious expression.

"Disi, you're an exceptionally good hunter. Please never doubt yourself."

"Mm, all right."

Rarely having seen Li Le so serious, Disi nodded.

That night, the Seltas Queen emerged from the mountain forest and reached the grassland.

"Why didn't we help Disi, meow?"

Kaluo asked in confusion.

"Everyone has their own path through life. For example, if Disi hadn't spent so long fighting that Kecha Wacha in the woods, he might not have grasped mounting attacks so quickly."

Li Le offered an explanation.

"I understand, meow. Then this unusual solo hunt at night might also teach Disi something new... But isn't that a little too much talent for learning, meow?"

Kaluo thought the reasoning made sense, but it was too idealistic.

What hunter could gain all sorts of insights from a single hunt?

"Trust me. Disi is exactly that kind of hunter."

Li Le was absolutely certain of it.

At dawn, the first rays of sunlight shone into Val Habar.

The team had returned successfully.

Knock, knock!

The carriage door of the mobile Guild opened at the knocking.

Without her glasses, Sophia poked her head out, bleary-eyed.

"Kecha Wacha!"

She exclaimed at the sight of the carcasses on the cart.

"Morning. Sorry to bother you."

Li Le waved.

"I'm glad you made it back safely... Wait, aren't monster carcasses brought back by the Guild transport teams?... Oh, right. Your team has both a Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset and a pedal-powered cart, so you don't need to rely on the transport teams."

Sophia felt around for her glasses and put them on, then took out some paperwork and began circling the cart to inspect and record her findings.

"Judging by the fatal wounds, these don't look like they were caused by hunting weapons. There's venom inside too, so Sisi probably didn't do it either. Why is there cotton-like residue in the fur...?"

"It was a Nerscylla. I wrote all the details in the report."

As Li Le spoke, he handed her a booklet.

"You've been very thorough... But there's still one issue before I can verify the contract."

"There is?"

Li Le was puzzled. He thought he had not overlooked anything.

"Why didn't you carve any materials?"

Sophia pointed at the Kecha Wacha carcasses, which were almost intact apart from their fatal wounds.

One human, one cat, and one insect.

They looked at one another and blinked, their heads tilting sideways or upward as all three sank into thought.

"All right, we forgot."

Li Le admitted honestly.

"Then you'd lose out badly if I verified the commission now. Materials carved after a hunt aren't counted toward the Guild's share in the first place. Only when a commission is completed by capture does the Guild use a different, lower commission rate to safeguard hunting returns."

Snap~

Sophia closed her record book.

"Hurry up and carve them. Come back to me afterward to verify the contract."

"Okay... About how much is usually appropriate to cut off?"

Li Le asked tentatively.

"In the field, as long as they don't damage the materials and can carry them, each team member usually carves three qualifying pieces."

"As for teams that bring monster carcasses back themselves without using the transport team... I don't know either."

Sophia wanted a standard to refer to, but there were simply no relevant precedents.

"I see. Have there been any utterly outrageous hunter teams that carved an excessive amount...?"

"There have, but you don't need to do that in Val Habar. The Guild gives a great deal of support to exploration regions. As long as the monster carcasses were hunted here, once they're sent to the workshop for dismantling, the material cut is only twenty to thirty percent."

Sophia explained.

"Looks like that's another reason so many teams gather here. Thanks. We'll go carve them first and come back to you later."

Although the environment left the trade street covered in sand and dust, they still could not casually spill blood in the street, so Li Le pedaled the cart out onto the sand outside.

"For our first carving, we'd better follow the rules. Let's do the usual three carves."

Muttering to himself, Li Le circled the carcasses.

"With seventy to eighty percent of the materials, I wonder if there'll be enough to craft an insect glaive and armor. If not, the weapon comes first."

Li Le circled around once more in the opposite direction.

He then noticed that Sisi was still standing motionless in the same spot, staring at the Kecha Wacha's hooked claws.

Only when he reached out and waved a hand in front of her compound eyes did Sisi snap out of her daze.

Li Le raised his arms in turn, miming swinging and leaping through the air.

"Do you want the Kecha Wacha's hooked claws?"

The tips of Sisi's scythe claws drooped, rapidly poking at her downy fur. She clearly liked them very much.

"But there are only two claws. What if I need them for weapons and armor too? Besides, I need mine crafted at the workshop, where the quality is guaranteed, while yours is experimental."

Seeing Li Le hesitate...

Tap, tap~

Sisi turned on the spot, turning her back to him.

Her head and neck drooped, and she looked very dejected.

"Ah, you..."

At the sight, Li Le immediately felt a little bad for her.

"All right, all right. You can have them for the Ahtal-Neset first."

Sisi leaped up and spun around, her compound eyes flashing as she looked utterly delighted.

"But the materials you use for the Ahtal-Neset probably don't have to meet the same standards as the workshop's, right?"

Li Le offered his guess.

After all, the Guild's blueprints were all tailored to human armor and weapons.

Sisi came over to the hooked claws and began drawing an outline in the sand beneath them.

"You're cutting almost all the way up to the elbow here. How am I supposed to explain that to Sophia?"

Li Le spread his hands.

Tap, tap~

Her insect legs stepped about, and Sisi began turning around again.

"Okay! Okay! I'll explain it to her. But the bones here are unusually thick. No matter how much you pay, the workshop won't help process materials the Guild hasn't certified. Whether you can cut them off will be entirely up to you."

Shing~

A sharp gleam flashed across Sisi's raised scythe claws. She did not seem worried in the slightest.()