Modifications

By the time the pedal-powered cargo cart returned, Sophia had already changed into her receptionist uniform.

She unfolded the collapsible noticeboard and opened out the mobile Guild carriage.

After circling the corpse, Sophia's expression turned cold.

"Li Le."

"Huh? What is it?"

"You call this carving? This is amputation!"

Sophia pointed at the Kecha Wacha's corpse.

"Sisi insisted on getting materials to modify the Ahtal-Neset. There was nothing I could do."

"Sisi wanted them... then let me think of something."

"Is it serious?"

"I wouldn't call it serious. It's just that this nonstandard method of cutting could look like wasting a monster's corpse to the Guild."

With that, Sophia opened a thick book.

"There haven't been any Glavenus active nearby, so we can't blame one. The cuts on both sides are too neat, too. Anyone could tell they were made after the monster died..."

As the pages flipped rapidly, the gaze behind her lenses grew increasingly dark.

Listening to Sophia mutter, Li Le came to understand what made this difficult.

The Guild wouldn't care how severe the damage was if it came from normal combat.

But a monster's corpse was different, because it safeguarded the interests of three parties: the hunting team, the Guild, and the client.

It absolutely wasn't something he could dispose of however he pleased.

"Our biggest advantage right now is that no investigator accompanying the transport team has inspected the corpse. As long as we keep the records as vague as possible and find a workshop owner willing to cooperate, we can have the Kecha Wacha's corpse properly dismantled and cut up immediately. Provided the quantity of materials obtained falls within the normal range, there won't be a problem."

Sophia offered a solution.

"Then where can we find a workshop owner willing to cooperate?"

Li Le asked.

Bang~

Across from the Guild carriage, the mobile workshop carriage's window flipped up, and the Wyverian craftsman Laude poked his head out.

"You're up early, Sophia. Li Le's here too. With this Kecha Wacha corpse here, I take it the hunt went smoothly... why are you all looking at me?"

Laude was rather bewildered. Why was everyone just staring at him without saying anything?

Whoosh~

Orange-yellow flames sprang to life.

Wisps of smoke rose from the stone smelting furnace's chimney.

Zzzzt!

The workshop's cutting saw spun, producing an ear-piercing screech.

The Kecha Wacha's long bones, fur, ears...

The apprentice Felynes kept carrying large quantities of materials out of the cutting room and setting them down to be tallied.

An hour later, the sawing stopped.

Laude came out, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and picked up the itemized materials list.

"The quantity of materials recovered is fine, but without the Kecha Wacha's claws, we can't forge the water-element Insect Glaive, the Wonder Staff."

"Thanks for the hard work, Laude. What about armor?"

"The local Guild in Val Habar takes a very small share of the materials, so we should have enough, though we'll also need three King Scarabs and four Sturdy Bones."

Hearing that, Li Le looked at Kaluo beside him.

Kaluo ran toward the cargo cart and began searching.

Soon, three listless King Scarabs appeared.

Four Sturdy Bones with insect silk stuck to their surfaces were brought before Laude.

"Other hunters would find this a headache. Some even go out into the wild specifically to gather certain extra materials. You're very well prepared, Li Le."

Laude sounded surprised.

"That's the benefit of having a cargo cart along out in the field. How much will the forging cost?"

"There's no rush on the fee. The workshop hasn't paid for the Kinsects we bought from you yet, either. It's just that Disi will be back soon, and the caravan will probably be setting off then, so I'll have to work faster on the armor... I'll go to the gathering hall first and see whether they've finished rushing out the armor blueprints."

As he spoke, Laude took off his smithing apron.

"Equipment blueprints require research into the materials... does that mean I wasn't the first to hunt a Kecha Wacha?"

Li Le was rather surprised. He hadn't expected anyone to be faster than him and Disi.

"That's right. The first successful hunt was by three members of a top hunting team. Sending them against a Kecha Wacha was really overkill. I imagine the Guild wanted to speed up the research."

Laude offered his guess.

After confirming the forging list and submitting his armor measurements, Li Le was hit by a wave of fatigue.

When he reached the dock where the Sandworm was moored, he froze.

Several wooden stairways extended out from the side of the Sandworm's hull.

Wearing hard hats and carrying various tools, the cats moved back and forth along the steps.

They were repairing and maintaining the Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset surrounded by the stairways.

Under a Felyne's guidance, Sisi hoisted a brand-new slatted roof panel into place atop the Ahtal-Neset.

The cats immediately swarmed over it and began securing it with hammers and nails.

After boarding, Li Le spotted small facilities on the deck, including a coal-fired furnace, a manual cutting bench, and an assembly workbench.

Other sandships wouldn't be arranged this way even if they needed to modify an Ahtal-Neset.

The windblown sand alone would be difficult to deal with.

But for the Sandworm, protected by its upper shell, that posed little threat.

"An Ahtal-Neset modification and repair ship... sounds pretty good."

Watching the busy Felynes, Li Le voiced his admiration.

He slept until the afternoon and woke feeling refreshed.

He left his cabin and came onto the deck.

The bustle of the morning was gone.

All the cats had gathered around the assembly workbench, meowing away in heated discussion.

Li Le approached and saw the Kecha Wacha's forearm resting in the center of the bench, wrapped in insect silk and large amounts of metal slag.

After listening for a while, he found that their discussion focused entirely on fitting the Kecha Wacha's arm bone into the insect leg.

Although the discussion was lively and full of different opinions,

there was actually only one core problem: when Sisi exerted herself to try climbing vertically, the cylindrical insect legs made from nailed-together planks simply couldn't support the Kecha Wacha arm bones embedded inside.

The result was that the slats split and the arm bones jutted out of the insect legs.

Their subsequent attempts to reinforce them with insect silk and smelted metal did bring some improvement.

But after just a few more climbing steps, the same problem returned.

"Actually, the problem isn't with you."

At the sound of Li Le's voice, the discussion stopped.

"With your current crafting and design skills, this is already the limit."

The Felynes lowered their heads, looking rather dejected.

But his words did get straight to the heart of the issue.

Forget being professionals-the Felynes present didn't even qualify as latecomers to the trade.

From monster models to Old Bones, and then to the Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset,

they had followed Li Le and come this far entirely through enthusiasm and interest.

"But if you don't know how, you can learn. As for fitting the arm bones inside, I'll go ask the Wyverian craftsman Laude for ideas."

Hearing that there might be a way forward, the Felynes cheered at once.

In front of the caravan's workshop, Laude was hard at work.

Looking at the "modification blueprint" covered in paw prints, he couldn't help scratching his head.

"Crafting this sort of interlocking connector is probably something only craftsmen skilled at building large ships can handle."

"So it really does take a high level of expertise... where can I find craftsmen like that?"

"They're generally in Dondorma or at Wycademy headquarters, specializing in designing and building large facilities. Here in Val Habar, the craftsmen mostly specialize in sandship maintenance."

"I see..."

Li Le felt that this time, he had probably truly reached the limit of their modification capabilities.

When it came to achieving vertical climbing, he had originally worried about the strength of the Kecha Wacha's claws.

As it turned out, the claws were fine, but the Ahtal-Neset's insect legs gave out first because they lacked sufficiently strong connecting parts.

"Sorry I couldn't help."

"It's all right. This isn't your specialty to begin with."

"Oh~ it's Li Le."

Hearing his name, Li Le turned around.

Joda, the caravan leader in a cowboy hat with a white falcon perched on his shoulder, was smiling at him.

"Hello, Caravan Leader Joda."

"I've been hearing the caravan members mention you a lot lately. You certainly do have an extraordinary bearing. I heard that under your leadership, the Kinsect Sisi successfully hunted a Kecha Wacha. About to become a three-star hunter at your age-you have a bright future ahead."

"Hahaha, you're far too kind, Caravan Leader Joda. I happened to witness you commanding the counterattack against the Dah'ren Mohran. I deeply admired your decisiveness and courage."

"Haha, that Dah'ren Mohran was just lucky it escaped so quickly. Otherwise, I would certainly have led the team in pursuit."

Amid their hearty laughter, Laude's gaze kept shifting between the two as they showered each other with praise.

"I heard you're looking for a craftsman skilled at building large ships?"

Joda changed the subject.

"Yes."

"I happen to have a friend who's a professional. Interested?"

As he spoke, Joda lowered the brim of his hat, putting on a mysterious air.

"Ah! Right! The Brute Wyvern chief of Cathar specializes in shipbuilding!"

It dawned on Li Le.

He had kept his attention focused on Val Habar and overlooked the Brute Wyverns who specialized in crafting.

"Uh... you know Chief Rair too?"

Joda sounded rather surprised.

"I only learned about him after the Guild reestablished contact."

"If you visit Cathar, you can mention my name to Rair. We're good friends, so he's sure to give you some extra help. What a shame we're leaving tonight. Otherwise, I'd definitely gather the caravan members and have a proper drink with you."

Joda sounded rather regretful.

"Has Disi returned from his hunt?"

"Yes. He hurried back overnight after completing the hunt. The place the caravan is going to explore requires us to build a ship and cross the sea, so once everyone's here, our first step is to set off for Cathar as soon as possible. Otherwise, the other caravans will get ahead of us."

"You're leaving already... time flies."

Li Le spoke as realization struck him.

"Yes. Let's meet again when we get the chance."

Joda looked into the distance, his eyes full of anticipation.

At sunset, the Kecha Wacha armor was finished, and Laude handed it over.

Sophia repaired the Ahtal-Ka plush toy soaked in venom and returned it to Li Le.

Facing those who had come to see him off, Disi waved goodbye.

Several folded carriages were linked together, with ** providing traction.

The Hunter Caravan departed from Val Habar, formally beginning its journey.

Inside the Kinsect Research Institute carriage, three Felynes were feeding the Kinsects on schedule.

Li Le placed three meal boxes on the counter and asked, "How are the Kinsects selling? Do we need to ask headquarters to replenish our stock?"

The three Felynes exchanged looks, then lowered their heads and sighed in unison.

"No workshop owners have bought them in large quantities, meow. At most, they buy a few to try them out."

"Understandable. The number of hunters carrying Insect Glaives on this street hasn't really increased."

Li Le turned to look at the bustling trade street. He could barely find a handful of Insect Glaive users, so the poor Kinsect sales were nothing strange.

"But we get lots of people coming to ask questions every day, meow."

"Hmm... normally, if it isn't their main hunting weapon, they should lose interest after learning a little about it. Why do people keep coming back to ask questions?"

Li Le asked in puzzlement.

"They all come to ask about Sisi. They want to know whether they can buy a Kinsect like her, meow. Even if its personality and abilities don't measure up, they don't mind if it's a little worse."

"So that's it. What do you tell them?"

"The truth, of course. We simply can't find a second one right now, meow. But some people keep holding out hope and come ask whenever they have time."

The Felyne on duty spoke helplessly.

"They actually dare to hope for that... all right. I just came to check how business was going. Hardly anyone will come by at this hour, so close up early and call it a day."

Hearing that they could get off work, all three Felynes' eyes lit up.

Their paws moved so fast they left afterimages as they tidied the research institute carriage and put the insect cages in place.

By the time Li Le reacted, the research institute carriage was already closed.

"Bring the dinner boxes, meow!"

"I've got them, meow!"

"Wait for me, meow!"

The three Felynes broke into a run toward the docks.

"I should get going to Cathar too. I wonder if this Kecha Wacha armor will fit..."

Li Le was just about to head to the docks when the crowds on the trade street suddenly parted to either side.

A male hunter with long silver hair and dual blades on his back strode down the middle of the street, his head held high.

The five-star hunter medal on his armor gleamed with a metallic sheen.

Aiden followed close behind, constantly trying to keep pace with him.

Even upon spotting his acquaintance Li Le, he only dared give a discreet wave in greeting.

The stern-faced man opened his mouth and demanded harshly, "What kind of joke is Captain Joda playing?! Taking a newly promoted three-star hunter along! And he dares head for Cathar!"

"That three-star hunter took part in repelling the Dah'ren Mohran, and he completed all the urgent quests required for his promotions on solo hunts. Of course the Guild could approve it."

A dark-skinned female hunter beside him, with a long braid and a heavy bowgun on her back, offered an explanation.

"He's gambling with the lives of the entire caravan..."

Realizing he was losing control of his emotions, the man began to rein himself in, his voice growing quieter.

"Calm down, Julius. Captain Joda wouldn't disregard the caravan's safety."

At the female hunter's urging, the male hunter named Julius relaxed his brow slightly.

"Exactly, Master. I've met that Disi. He's a little worse than me, but... all right, forget I said anything."

Seeing the look Julius shot him, Aiden knew he ought to shut up.

After the two five-star hunters entered the Gathering Hall, Aiden sidled up to Li Le and nudged him twice with his elbow.

"You've really been making a name for yourself. Word's spread all over the field outposts."

"Nothing special."

Secretly pleased, Li Le spoke with an expressionless face.

"Is your master so angry because the Hunter Caravan left too early?"

"It's not that the Hunter Caravan left early. A senior hunter who was originally supposed to escort them got held up by a special Guild assignment and couldn't keep his promise. Master got word that he's now rushing to Val Habar as fast as he can, but the caravan has already set off."

"Got it. A novice hunter disrupted what he considered the safest arrangement, and he's having a little trouble accepting it."

Li Le understood.

"Ah, you know my master pretty well."()