A gift

To find out what was going on and make the lure more effective.

Li Le decided to visit the mining area marked by the Guild and gather some shiny ore.

Studying the markings on the map, he planned his route and set off for the nearest mining area.

After a stretch of climbing and scrambling, a cave made entirely of gray-white crystal appeared before him.

Tap, tap...

Footsteps on the crystal sent out hollow echoes.

It was so quiet around them that they could clearly hear their own breathing and heartbeats.

At the heart of the cave stood a massive crystal pillar.

It matched the marked area's features perfectly.

But at the sight of the webs wrapped around the pillar, Li Le still took out the map to check.

"The Guild only marked this as a high-risk area. It didn't say a Nerscylla had occupied it. Going by that, it can't have been here very long."

The Guild couldn't explore its territories in real time, and compiling all kinds of reports into an updated map took time too.

But updates certainly wouldn't be infrequent for an area being actively explored.

Li Le figured this hadn't been a spider nest during the last exploratory visit.

"Nerscylla are a major threat, meow. Let's make a record and submit it to Sophia when we get back."

With that, Kaluo began writing.

The human and cat crouched low and crept toward the shining ore vein beneath the crystal pillar.

But before they could approach, several blurry reflections swaying faintly on the crystal brought them to a halt.

They looked up, lowered their heads in thought, then exchanged glances.

The three skinned Gypceros corpses hanging overhead from spider silk explained the reason behind their recent experiences.

"The flesh hasn't dried out badly yet. They probably haven't been dead long... See? I told you there was nothing wrong with my plan."

Li Le was rather speechless.

He had spent nearly two days lying in wait by the underground pool, only for the Gypceros to have been hunted by the Nerscylla over here in the cave.

"This feels so unusual, meow."

Kaluo looked puzzled as he studied the scene overhead.

"What's unusual about it?"

"I understand hanging up Gypceros as stored food, meow, but why hang up the rubbery hides it peeled off too?"

"These have all been sewn into shape... Maybe they're spare hide coats? Say one gets damaged in battle, it can run straight back to its nest and change into another... Wait, these coats are so small."

Li Le had initially thought this Nerscylla was particularly clever.

But the hide coats were completely the wrong size for its body.

"Could they be for its young, meow?"

"Aren't they a bit big for young?"

Li Le wasn't quite sure anymore either.

"What a strange individual. Let's record it once we're out, meow... Could these rubbery hides be used as boat-building material, meow?"

"Probably not. The way a Nerscylla skins them is a far cry from a workshop cutting them properly to specification."

"That's a shame, meow."

After a tense but safe exit from the cave, the human and cat immediately headed back, preparing to relocate.

With a Nerscylla nest nearby, even if they managed to wait out a Gypceros, it would most likely turn into a three-way battle.

Thump! Thump...

The Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset, limping on one hind leg, raced through the cave.

But they hadn't traveled far toward the cavern they had come through before another web-covered cave appeared ahead.

Looking at the bright white webs with only a little dust clinging to them, Li Le was certain they had only recently been laid.

"Something's wrong. Why does it feel like these webs were set up around our ambush site?"

"So while we were planning to ambush a Gypceros, the Nerscylla was planning to ambush us, meow!"

Kaluo exclaimed.

"Then it might be Spider Sis setting an ambush to get revenge on Sisi. Either way, let's find a way through first."

Changing routes, the team continued onward.

Webs appeared again, but they covered only a small area and held only a Genprey King corpse, suggesting this spot wasn't given much attention.

Li Le decided to break through here.

The rapidly crawling Ahtal-Neset no longer worried about touching webs or making noise.

Before long, several bright purple crystal spikes flickered in and out of sight between distant stone pillars.

"That was way too fast... Sisi! Get ready to fight!"

Inside the violently jolting cockpit, Li Le stood and took down the Bone Rod+.

At a dark bend in the rocky passage, the Nerscylla turned sideways into view, its six round eyes gleaming faintly.

Click, click.

Its two hooked pedipalps lifted and extended forward.

They spread out a sewn piece of rubbery Gypceros hide for display.

"Why does it feel... like it isn't hostile at all? Sisi! Stop first!"

Thump! Thump!

Two pillar-like forelegs slammed into the ground, and the Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset gouged out two furrows as it braked to a halt.

The resulting crash and tremors made the Nerscylla retreat some distance.

But it soon came forward again, displaying the sewn rubbery hide.

Kaluo took a look, then turned his head and stared fixedly at Li Le.

"Well... I don't know what's going on either."

"What! Even you don't know, meow?"

Kaluo was quite shocked.

"Let me think."

Surrounding them with webs and lying in wait made sense.

Rushing over to intercept the team the moment they tried to break through made sense too.

Displaying a small sewn hide coat... Was it intimidating an enemy by proving how cruel it was?

That was rather far-fetched.

Li Le felt these elements defied logic and were difficult to piece together when viewed normally.

But looking at them the other way around might establish some connection.

For example, the surrounding webs could be protecting the peace.

Rushing over immediately could mean it didn't want the other party to leave just like that.

The small hide coat could be some carefully prepared gift.

Li Le reached out and squinted, measuring the hide armor with his hands, then comparing it against the outline of Sisi's back shell.

He discovered that the coat's size and shape matched Sisi strangely well.

"No way..."

Seeing Li Le's expression turn strange, Kaluo asked urgently, "What's going on, meow?"

"Spider Sis seems to have a thing for Sisi."

"Oh, so that's it, meow... Aah!!!"

Kaluo clutched his head in both paws, incredulous.

"Isn't Spider Sis the one holding a grudge?!"

"Why didn't you say meow?"

"Because this is too ridiculous... meow!"

Looking at the ecological records in his shoulder bag, Kaluo no longer knew how to record this.

"That I don't know. In theory, monsters whose ecologies conflict, or which have fought each other, should hate each other until they die."

"But these two had never met before this time, meow. How did Spider Sis pinpoint our location... It was the scent released while making traps to catch insects, meow!"

Kaluo deduced more details.

"Since Spider Sis doesn't want to fight, we'll have to see what Sisi thinks."

"Hmm... You don't mind the Nerscylla getting close to Sisi, meow?"

Kaluo asked in puzzlement.

"Sisi is weak to thunder, and Spider Sis's gift, that rubbery coat, happens to offer good protection against it. Besides, while Nerscylla look creepy and terrifying to us, Sisi might not see them that way."

"So that's it, meow."

Kaluo understood.

At that moment, Sisi's sickle claws on either side pulled the insect silk taut, taking a stance ready to fight at any moment.

"Uh..."

Li Le faltered for a long while, actually at a loss as to how to communicate this.

After all, his lessons so far had mainly covered monster recognition and not damaging village and town facilities.

"Relax, Sisi. Approach slowly first."

Sisi paused briefly upon hearing this command.

A sickle claw rose, its tip pointing toward the Nerscylla.

Li Le mimicked the gesture of displaying the hide coat, then spread both hands.

He indicated that the pedipalps weren't preparing to attack, and the other party wasn't hostile.

Thump... thump...

The Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset moved slowly, gradually drawing closer.

Seeing this, Spider Sis moved its legs and came forward as well.

Clang, clang!

Sisi flung aside the insect silk and struck the cockpit's edge twice.

"So Sisi is still angry."

"Uh! What is Sisi saying, meow?"

Kaluo asked urgently.

"Probably demanding... Hmph! You! Why did you wreck my Ahtal-Neset?!"

"That was a really convincing performance, meow."

"Not bad, right? Maybe it's a talent."

Spider Sis lowered its body, crouching down somewhat aggrievedly.

This time, not only Kaluo but even Sisi looked at Li Le in confusion, clearly unable to understand what the response meant.

Li Le scratched his cheek, thinking, Why do you two insects need a human like me to interpret your conversation?

"Spider Sis looks rather aggrieved... Why?"

"Oh! When Spider Sis first saw you, it mistook your Ahtal-Neset for a real Seltas Queen! Those two insects fought on the Ancestral Steppe."

As he spoke, Li Le knocked on the raised roof hatch.

Sisi seemed to understand what Spider Sis meant.

"Sigh... Actually, you were partly at fault too."

Sisi froze.

"How could you make your Ahtal-Neset replica so realistic? Precisely because it was so successful, Spider Sis couldn't tell the difference."

Sisi tilted its head in thought for a moment and actually seemed rather pleased by Li Le's criticism.

Li Le struck while the iron was hot and pointed at the hide coat.

After a moment's hesitation, Spider Sis took the coat off its pedipalps.

Looking at its six eyes and pincer-like mouthparts, Li Le truly didn't want to get close unless combat required it.

So he lifted it with the Modified Insect Glaive and collected it.

Seeing its gift accepted, Spider Sis gazed at Sisi for a moment, then turned and climbed the rock wall, swinging away on spider silk.

"That's it, meow? It left so decisively."

Kaluo said, somewhat surprised.

"Maybe relationships between monsters are simpler. Spider Sis might not know what to do either. Successfully giving away the coat it sewed was probably satisfying enough."

Li Le speculated.

"Sisi, want to try it on?"

At the sight of the rubbery coat, Sisi drew its entire body inward, looking deeply resistant.

"It is a bit ugly. Let's keep it safe for now."

"It would be nice if hunters and cats had armor like that too, meow."

Kaluo said with some envy.

"Kaluo, you're pretty ahead of your time."

"Is that a compliment, meow?"

"Of course."

The team set off again.

Although the Nerscylla threat was gone, it was probably unlikely that any Gypceros would come near the area for a while.

After traveling swiftly along the cavern floor for half a day, they discovered traces of venom on a rock wall.

Li Le set up another guiding trap and settled in to wait.

Late at night, cold winds surged through the cave.

Thump~ Thump~...

The slow sound of claws treading came from nearby.

Behind a rock pillar, a monster's head with a club-shaped crest poked out to look around.

In the darkness, the colorful glow cast by the Flashbugs and Thunder Flashbugs was especially conspicuous.

The piled fragments of mineral veins glittered translucently in their light.

With so many of its favorite things gathered together, the sight was so perfect that the Gypceros found it somewhat unreal.

But its claws had already instinctively stepped forward, bringing it closer.

As the footsteps approached, Li Le lay prone and pulled the smithing goggles he had bought in Cathar down over his eyes.

They could not completely block the intense flashes, but they could at least lessen their effects.

Swinging its head and pecking, the Gypceros ate the nimbly darting Flashbugs and Thunder Flashbugs one by one.

Thump~

The large keratinous protrusion on the tip of its snout swung down too hard and crushed an empty portable ration tin.

Several wisps of pale yellow fragrance drifted out of the tin.

Only then did the Gypceros realize that the glittering insects around it seemed to have been drawn here by the metal tin propped up on twigs before it.

Here in the underground cave, this fragrance seemed to have countless connections to danger.

The Gypceros immediately became highly alert.

Tap~

A small pebble fell from the cave ceiling and struck its wing membrane.

The Gypceros raised its neck and looked up.

Two elongated compound eyes shone purple in the darkness.

An upside-down golden silhouette gradually became clear in the dim light.

With its innate fondness for shiny things, the Gypceros froze for a moment.

Just then, a shout immediately put an end to its admiration.

"Attack!"

Li Le flung off the camouflage net, rose with his staff in hand, and charged at the Gypceros.

Roar!

The Gypceros roared and reared up.

As it swung its neck, the protrusion on its snout and its club-shaped crest violently collided.

With each impact, a faint white light flickered inside the crest.

On the third collision, the light was fully triggered, and a blinding flash completely illuminated the bottom of the cave.

Facing the intense light, Li Le saw stars, and his strides slowed as well.

But he could still pinpoint the Gypceros's position from its faint outline.

He rushed into Paintball range.

Bang!

The Paintball struck its wing.

After illuminating its surroundings with the flash, the Gypceros lifted its claws, ready to flee.

But driven by curiosity, it could not resist looking up once more.

The shining body that had hung upside down in the darkness was now gone.

In its place, only a huge Seltas Queen remained, clinging to the cave ceiling.

The Gypceros was somewhat disappointed and utterly failed to understand how a Seltas Queen could hang upside down from the rocky ceiling.

But the immense sense of danger left it with no thought of staying to fight.

Thump! Thump!...

Pounding its claws against the ground, the Gypceros began fleeing in a high-speed bird charge.

After putting some distance between them, it rose again.

Kaluo appeared ahead, waving a torch in provocation. "Come ram me, meow!"

The Gypceros could tell at a glance that something was wrong and immediately turned to flee.

Crash!

The rock layer crumbled, and its advancing claws stepped into empty space, plunging into a mesh filled with insect silk.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

As it beat its wings hard, trying to break free,

a heavy, irregular pounding of footsteps came from behind.

The Gypceros kicked off and leaped, shifting its body sideways regardless of its loss of balance.

Crack!

With a sharp crack, the supporting wing bones on one side collapsed.

After tumbling several times, the Gypceros stretched its neck and let out an agonized howl, then slumped to the ground.

Skrrr~

The Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset slowed and turned around.

Just as it was about to circle around for another charge, it discovered that the Gypceros was already motionless.

The top hatch opened, and a puzzled Sisi poked her head out to examine the situation.

Judging by the force of the impact just now, the Gypceros, which had avoided a head-on collision, should not have been this fragile.

"So you like playing dead!"

After shouting, Li Le planted his staff and vaulted upward.

His body straightened in midair, and he aimed the staff blade at the Gypceros's head, thrusting it down hard.