Cathar

Night, on the Sandworm's deck.

Li Le announced his plan to head to Cathar, and the cats cheered.

It was not only because they could get the connecting components made there.

More importantly, the Brute Wyverns were a people who made their living through smithing, and their skills were exceptional.

Once the cats arrived, they could study and further improve their crafting and modification skills.

And with the corresponding abilities, their compensation had to keep up.

Li Le decided to establish an organization called the Ahtal-Neset Engineering Team.

Members would enjoy higher pay and opportunities for further study.

Every cat aboard crowded over, expressing their desire to join.

Li Le looked at the thirty or so Felynes, including quite a few unfamiliar faces, and grew puzzled.

After all, he had not recruited any Felyne companions here yet.

After asking, he learned that these newcomers had all joined of their own accord after seeing Sisi.

"Kaluo... never mind."

Li Le had intended to have Kaluo direct the cats into a line.

But then he discovered that the loudest cat clamoring to sign up was Kaluo himself.

Late that night, Li Le returned to his cabin covered in paw prints.

He put on the Kecha Wacha armor, which resembled a martial opera costume.

Picking up Laude's explanatory notes, Li Le read them carefully.

Testing according to Guild standards confirmed that 10 points of water attack enhancement had been achieved, activating [Water Attack +1].

10 points of constitution had been achieved, granting [Constitution +1], which would reduce stamina consumption.

Li Le, this activated ability is useful to most hunters.

If activated correctly, you will feel lighter and more agile.

Please be sure to make good use of it.

"Laude's so patient. He wrote all this information for me."

Muttering to himself, Li Le continued reading.

10 points of whim activated [Spirit's Whim].

Its effect made the gathering tools you used less likely to break.

"Being a little more careful with them seems to have much the same effect..."

-10 points of luck activated [Bad Luck].

Its effect reduced the yield of qualifying materials from monster carcasses sent to the workshop for disassembly.

So please do not use any more talismans or equipment that reduce [Luck].

Otherwise, once the reduction reaches 15 points, the activated ability will deteriorate into [Horrible Luck].

The likelihood of obtaining qualifying materials will decrease further.

"The lower a hunter's luck, the lower the chance of carving qualifying materials... whether activated positively or negatively, this luck thing feels steeped in mysticism."

Most importantly, activating monster armor abilities has a strong tendency to influence human behavior.

Do not rush out to hunt. Please put the pieces on individually and acclimate in a sufficiently safe environment.

The time needed to adapt varies from person to person. Please exercise caution!

"Hmm... it seems fine. I haven't noticed any effects."

As Li Le spoke, he moved to put the notes on the table.

But he suddenly realized that his feet were dangling off the floor, and he looked up.

He was hugging a ceiling beam with one arm, his body swinging restlessly back and forth.

"This level of influence is still acceptable... pfft!"

Li Le felt as though water had gone up his nose, and several snot bubbles promptly emerged from his nostrils.

"Ahtal-Neset Engineering Team member Kaluo reporting for duty! Time for a late-night snack..."

Carrying food, Kaluo pushed open the cabin door and entered. At the sight, he froze in the doorway.

"Why are you up on the ceiling beam, meow...?"

"It's fine, Kaluo. I'm adapting to the armor. I'll be all right in a while."

"All right, meow. I'll leave your snack on the table. Call my name if you need help. I'll stay outside your door all night."

"Kaluo..."

Li Le was a little touched, but before he could say anything, several more snot bubbles floated out of his nostrils.

Early the next morning, the Felyne on cleaning duty took a broom, opened the cabin door, and came onto the deck.

"Good morning, Sisi, meow! Good morning, Li Le tied to the mast, meow!"

Swish, swish~

After two sweeps of the broom, the Felyne realized something was wrong and immediately shouted, "Li Le! Why are you tied to the mast, meow?!"

Li Le woke with his head tilted and yawned. "This is my newly developed restraint-by-binding method."

Then his head tilted to the other side, and he closed his eyes to go back to sleep.

By the time he was untied and lowered for lunch, Li Le was mostly back to normal. Afterward, he began preparing to set sail for Cathar.

He planned their route and purchased supplies.

He went to the Gathering Hall to collect his three-star hunter medal.

Since none of the Felynes were willing to stay behind and run the Kinsect Research Institute branch, Li Le hired two employees to manage it in his stead.

After he finished everything, his newly bulging money pouch had shriveled again.

Returning to the harbor that evening, he saw Sisi gazing out at the desert from the pier.

Li Le approached.

In the sunset's lingering glow, the top hunter team's golden sandship was setting off into the distance.

"Hmph~ gold is so tacky. Putting it on a ship's hull is way too ostentatious."

Sisi turned to look at him.

"Uh... I don't mean you, Sisi. I mean that really tacky kind of gold. But the Dragonator on the bow really is both cool and practical. Cathar should be able to install one, right?"

Sisi froze briefly, then, with violet light flashing rapidly in her compound eyes, pointed a scythe claw at the Sandworm's bow.

"If it can be installed... then let's add one."

Li Le spoke through gritted teeth.

The reason he was torn was that installing a Dragonator would definitely not be cheap, and whether he could afford it was truly unknown.

Sisi hopped happily in place, then boarded the deck.

Clang, clang! Scrape, scrape!

Noises rang out one after another, as though she was already preparing for the coming Dragonator.

"As a holy land for forging weapons and armor, Cathar shouldn't be too bad a place to promote Kinsects... I've got an idea."

Li Le returned to his cabin and began writing letters.

Dear five-star hunter, Soaring Insect Glaive Wielder, holder of the largest and smallest Plesioth hunting records, and director of the Kinsect Research Institute headquarters, Sara.

It has been so long since we last met. I, Li Le, miss you dearly.

There's no point staying somewhere like Val Habar, where they don't appreciate the Insect Glaive.

I'm now heading to Cathar to expand the business and urgently need some funding.

After finishing, Li Le wrote another letter to Lan Rui.

Rui, may reading this letter be like seeing me in person.

I wonder whether you've been well.

Today, when I was promoted to a three-star hunter and collected my medal at Val Habar's Gathering Hall, I saw a hunter from behind carrying a Long Sword, who looked very much like you.

For a moment, I was in a daze.

It was as though time had returned to when we hunted together.

Unfortunately, the fur around the collar of my Kecha Wacha chest armor was unbearably itchy and interrupted my thoughts. (Kecha Wacha is a three-star monster.)

Give my regards to Sanhua. I look forward to seeing you both again.

After mailing both letters, Li Le set about arranging their departure.

In the early hours of the morning.

The Sandworm officially departed from Val Habar.

Except for the Felyne sailors keeping the ship underway, everyone was equipped with a bug net.

Li Le hugged the mast and nimbly climbed high up.

Hooking one arm around it to hold himself in place, he picked up a bug net with his other hand and raised it high.

"For the Dragonator!"

"For the Dragonator, meow!"

The cats answered in unison.

"Sandworm bug-catching operations! Begin!"

Two days later, rhythmic cries rang out at the foot of a towering gray mountain.

"Ah~ hey! Ah~ hey!..."

A little girl wearing smithing goggles and holding a forging hammer was repeatedly hammering at a crack in the rock.

When a large section of the rock's surface around the crack broke apart, the girl crouched down.

Her hands, clad in heat-resistant forging gloves, moved quickly to brush aside the covering rubble.

A deep blue mineral seam emerged, but because it was so narrow, the blue line looked extremely twisted.

"Just as I thought, there are still far too few surface veins worth mining..."

Resting her palm on the hammer's handle, the girl sighed helplessly.

"What's that smell? It smells so good... sails? Is another sandship visiting?!"

Swinging the forging hammer onto her shoulder, the girl ran to a raised outcrop to look into the distance.

A strange sandship with a hull shaped like a Dah'ren Mohran and a wooden Seltas Queen crouched on its stern was heading her way.

"What an unconventional design... I like it!"

The girl smiled and waved vigorously.

Buzzzz~

As the sandship approached, an extremely dense buzzing of insect wings came from its hull.

The girl had only heard a similar sound when approaching a beehive.

Whoosh~ thud!

An anchor trailing insect silk slammed heavily into the sand.

The peculiar sandship slowed and swung sideways, stopping at the boundary between the sand and the mountains.

Under the sunlight, a dazzling flash of gold swept past.

Dazzled, the girl put her goggles on properly and continued watching.

"That shiny insect went inside the wooden Seltas Queen model. Is that its nest...?"

"It moved! It jumped off the ship! So it isn't a model... it can even pull a freight wagon."

The sight left the girl deeply astonished.

With its top hatch open, the Seltas Queen soon crawled to the foot of the mountain.

"Hello. Cathar is nearby, right?"

Li Le recognized her as the Cathar village chief's daughter from her clothes.

"Yes! May I ask how this mechanical insect moves?!"

Seeing how eager the girl was to know, Li Le and Kaluo shifted aside to make room for her.

With her hammer over her shoulder, she leaped into the cockpit.

"Thank you for letting me look around! My name is Gemma. I'm the Cathar village chief's daughter."

"I'm Li Le. This is Kaluo, and this is Sisi, an Ahtal-Ka Kinsect."

"Li Le... I feel like I've heard that name somewhere."

"That's only natural. I'm fairly well known in Val Habar."

Gemma's gaze then turned to Sisi, and she observed how the Ahtal-Neset Seltas Queen was operated.

After tapping the bottom shell twice with her knuckles, Gemma asked in puzzlement, "Is there some hidden power-assist mechanism? Why does Sisi operate it so effortlessly?"

"No, Sisi's just strong... Gemma, how are insect material prices in the village? I've got some I'd like to sell."

"Then you've come at a bad time. The lava flow the village uses for forging and firing has been blocked for a long time. Right now, we can only process things with furnace fires, and we Brute Wyverns don't have an advantage in that kind of craftsmanship. On top of that, we're so remote that many customers have stopped coming."

Gemma explained.

Without enough forging commissions, material prices naturally struggled to rise, and no one would stockpile huge quantities either.

"Sounds like the village isn't doing too well."

"Yes. Tetsucabra also frequently appear in the underground mines, severely restricting the villagers' mining. But two Hunter Caravans have already moved into the village. I believe the problems will be resolved soon."

As Gemma spoke, she grew hopeful.

"Ah! Does that mean the craftsmen might also charge less to teach their skills?"

"I'm not too sure about that. Cathar has always used apprenticeships to teach skills. I'm my father's apprentice, but unfortunately, I've already learned everything I can."

Gemma sighed.

"I'll talk to the village chief about setting up a training class and hiring craftsmen specifically to teach the Felynes smithing skills. That way, they'll have another source of income before the lava starts flowing again."

"That sounds... pretty good?"

"Once they have income, they'll have money to buy my insect materials."

"Wouldn't that money just go right back?"

"Exactly. Then I'll install Dragonators, and the money will go back to the village again."

Gemma blinked, feeling that the idea seemed workable.

With Gemma guiding them, the terrain continued to descend, and the Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset arrived in a cavern beneath the massive peak.

The surroundings here were very similar to those of the underground caves.

After asking Gemma, they learned that this place was actually connected to the underground caves.

Remembering something, Li Le took out the design drawings for the connecting components and showed them to Gemma.

"The Ahtal-Neset Engineering Team's approach is sound. There are just a few shortcomings in the casting and design."

As Gemma spoke, she picked up a pen and began revising the drawings.

"May I ask roughly how much weight Sisi can carry?"

"We can't measure it. Is that crucial?"

"Yes. With connecting components like these, strength and weight both need to be balanced."

"Got it. Max out the strength."

Gemma glanced at Sisi and asked in surprise, "Max out the strength... does that mean there's no need to consider weight at all?"

"That's right. Would that make the design difficult?"

"No, not at all. If we can completely disregard weight, it'll actually be simpler."

A flicker of excitement flashed in Gemma's eyes, and her pen began moving even faster.

Such an extreme structural design actually suited her tastes perfectly.

In the past, whenever she showed even a hint of this in her designs, her father would stop her.

She had never expected someone to actually tell her today that she could max out the strength.

They continued descending deeper.

Old minecart tracks and artificially excavated magma diversion tunnels surrounded them.

The short Brute Wyverns wore goggles, with the whiskers on either side of their faces tied into upright half-moon shapes.

From a distance, they all looked somewhat listless, but when they saw Gemma passing, they cheerfully greeted her.

Before long, a village flickering with firelight appeared at the end of the slope, on a broad, flat stretch at the bottom of the cavern.

Entering Cathar, Sisi looked at the enormous claws suspended from the top of the rock walls, used to move ships.

With assembly components for all sorts of large ships displayed beside the rock walls, it felt as though Sisi had arrived in an entirely new, wondrous world.

Li Le had already taught Sisi a great deal about getting along with humans.

Although Sisi very much wanted to possess them, reason still prevailed for now.

Inside the village's largest furnace, there were only a few faint flames at the moment.

The village chief, Rair, was slumped listlessly on the ground.

Only when Gemma approached with the others did he barely muster the energy to stand.

"Hello, Chief Rair. My name is Li Le. I'd like to discuss a little business."

"Li Le, you're Commander Joda's good friend, right? He mentioned you and said we could ask you for help if anything came up."

Rair immediately perked up.

"Ah... yes."()