Research Institute

Under the setting sun, three figures sat in a circle on the sand.

Lan Rui turned the handle of the barbecue spit while Sanhua clapped his paws to the beat.

Li Le unconsciously swayed along with the rhythm.

He stared at the chunks of raw meat above the campfire, rapidly turning golden and giving off a delicious aroma.

The flames here were so fierce that he had to stay focused and watch constantly to keep the meat from burning.

Li Le thought to himself.

"Hah!"

With a sudden shout, Lan Rui stood and deftly jerked the handle upward.

Sanhua inspected it for a moment, then clapped his paws in celebration. "Successfully cooked, meow!"

"It's just grilling meat. No big deal."

A smile spread across Lan Rui's face as he shifted into a sideways, angled stance.

The man and cat played off each other, their performance a little exaggerated.

Sanhua took out some seasonings and casually sprinkled them over the surface.

After cutting the meat with a small knife and dividing it onto plates, the two men and one cat finally enjoyed a proper dinner.

Night fell.

The two Apceros eggs were completely wrapped in an insect net.

In the firelight, a pale yellow halo appeared on their surfaces.

Still not sleepy, Li Le struck up a conversation with Lan Rui, who was keeping watch.

More information about this world came to light.

For example, the heroic hunter of Kokoto Village and the nameless hunter of Pokke Village.

Both had inexplicably retired and disappeared after achieving fame and success.

Rumor had it that their bodies were past their prime and no longer fit for hunting.

Or perhaps prolonged exposure to high-rank armor and weapons had caused some kind of irreversible damage to their bodies.

Others said they had accepted hunting commissions with baffling details and never returned.

"What a shame. They must have been incredibly strong at their peak, right?"

Li Le speculated.

"More than strong. They stood at the very pinnacle in every hunter's eyes. They're also the people I'm striving to catch up to."

Longing appeared on Lan Rui's face.

"Is that why you worked so hard to become a hunter?"

"Not really. When I was little, I went on a long trip with my family, got separated, and wandered into the Ancient Forest. A Great Maccao kept chasing me. Just when I thought I was going to die, a hunter stepped in and saved me. When he escorted me back to my family, he didn't ask for anything in return. He only hoped that if I ever had the chance, I'd help other people."

Speaking with some feeling, Lan Rui leaned back and lay down.

With his hands behind his head, he gazed at the glittering stars.

What a pure and simple reason...

"Then you use a Long Sword because of that hunter too, right?"

"No, I use a Long Sword because it looks cool."

"Uh... okay."

"Don't you think Long Swords look cool?"

"They do. Definitely cool."

Li Le nodded in agreement.

"Tell me about yourself. You're not a hunter, and you don't even have an Insect Glaive, but you've already started raising a Kinsect. There must be a reason, right?"

Clearly, even in the Monster Hunter world, where people had complete freedom in their choice of clothing.

Li Le's behavior was still somewhat out of place.

"Hmm... probably out of loyalty. It did save me, after all, and I don't want it to end up in a miserable situation... besides, I think Insect Glaives look really cool in action."

"Got it."

Lan Rui understood him instantly.

"But you'd better have a professional organization identify the Kinsect you're raising. As for eating roasted insects as your staple food, if you don't show any unusual symptoms on the way back, you probably don't need to worry."

If eating something unusual really caused problems, they should have shown up by now.

If Li Le remained fine, Lan Rui didn't want him wasting money either.

"Understood."

"Oh, right. Try on this spare set of coarse cloth clothes and see if it fits."

Li Le glanced at his tattered shorts and didn't refuse.

The next day, several square chunks of raw meat and a few pieces of Apceros shell had been added to the top of Lan Rui's enormous pack.

Since nothing else would fit, Ahtal-Ka continued dragging the two Apceros eggs in a silk net.

After a day of fast travel, multiple channels appeared in the sand.

They rested where they were for a while, and the sound of sails billowing in the wind came from the distance.

A sandship appeared, sailing over the sand.

"Hey!"

The two men and one cat shouted at the top of their lungs and waved vigorously, trying to attract attention.

But behind the bulwark, the lookout Felyne in a sailor's cap was focused entirely on the route ahead and failed to notice them.

Until a flash of conspicuous gold passed along the side.

"Captain! There's glittering golden treasure off the port bow, meow! Stop the ship!"

Hearing the lookout Felyne's report, the middle-aged captain spun the wheel sharply.

Screeeech-

The ship drifted sideways, leaving the sand route and coming to a stop beside it.

"Why did they stop over by Ahtal-Ka? Oh well, at least they stopped."

With that, Lan Rui hurried toward the sandship.

The folding gangway touched down, and the captain hastily disembarked, surrounded by several Felyne crew members.

"So it wasn't treasure, meow. But it looks like some extremely rare kind of insect. Have any of you seen one before?"

The lookout Felyne asked.

"No idea. But this insect seems very interested in our sandship."

The captain saw that Ahtal-Ka paid no attention to him or the Felynes. Its compound eyes were fixed solely on the sandship as it studied it.

Just then, Lan Rui ran over and explained the situation.

Hunters catching rides on passing sandships was extremely common out in the desert.

The captain and Felyne crew warmly invited everyone aboard.

Li Le looked at the old deck as it creaked.

Gesturing with his hands, he said, "Whatever you do, don't take the ship apart. I can't afford to pay for it."

After taking a moment to understand, Ahtal-Ka slowly lowered its sickle claws.

Its plan to bore through the deck and investigate the construction ended there.

But its intense curiosity did not fade. Moving its legs, it began circling the mast and studying it instead.

After the sandship reached a public outpost in the wild, they transferred to a railcar.

When the sky began to brighten, Li Le woke in a passenger seat and saw an enormous city-state standing by the sea, surrounded by high walls.

Li Le was certain this was Dondorma, known as the center of the world.

The railcar entered the city and stopped beside a street.

After spending so long in the uninhabited wilderness, he suddenly found himself in a thriving city.

Seeing all kinds of people gathered in large numbers, once again living and working in peace.

Li Le felt a sense of unreality.

Ahtal-Ka moved its legs, constantly turning around.

Clearly, the tall human structures in the city had made quite an impression.

"I'm heading to Guild headquarters to turn in the contract and materials. Wait here for me."

Lan Rui pointed at the enormous tower in the city bearing the Hunter's Guild flag.

"Okay... I'll wait by the fountain."

Li Le brought Ahtal-Ka over and sat down on a bench.

From his observations, defensive installations and street layouts designed to intercept monsters were visible everywhere.

But there weren't many hunters coming and going, nor were their weapons and armor made from high-rank monster materials.

Their popularity among the residents, however, was second to none.

As they walked along, they were either handed a few fruits by an old lady or watched admiringly from afar by children.

Before long, Lan Rui returned with Sanhua, who was carrying grilled fish.

"Here's your share from turning in the Apceros eggs and tropical strawberries. 2,372z."

As he spoke, Lan Rui handed over a jingling money pouch.

"Thanks."

Li Le accepted it. Through the feel against his palm, he could tell there were many round coins inside.

"Here's the address of the Kinsect Research Institute that I got from the receptionist. As for somewhere to stay, you're not a hunter, so I really couldn't think of another solution."

"It's fine. I can sort that out myself."

Li Le glanced at the stone-paved ground, thinking that even sleeping on the ground would be far better than being out in the wild.

"I'm staying at the hunters' quarters beside Guild headquarters. I expect to rest up for a few days, so if you run into any trouble, you can come find me anytime."

Lan Rui and Sanhua said goodbye to Li Le and left.

Li Le stood, shouldered his insect-silk basket, and set off with Ahtal-Ka to take his next step.

At the general store on the street corner, the bell at the entrance rang.

"Welcome, meow!"

The Felyne shop assistant behind the counter raised a paw.

"Do you buy materials gathered in the wild here?"

"Of course, meow, as long as they aren't categories the Guild has banned from circulation."

"Great. I've got a bit of everything, so sorry for the trouble of counting it all."

Li Le took off his basket and began placing materials, mostly plants, onto the counter.

"Twelve Huskberries, meow~"

"Seven ivy leaves, meow~"

"Three Burst Arowana Nuts, meow... these need to be stored separately and handled carefully."

Although the materials Li Le brought out weren't worth much, the Felyne shop assistant still inspected and counted them carefully.

"May I ask what this is, meow?"

Looking at the pink sphere, which was as large as a basketball and had an extremely sticky surface.

The Felyne shop assistant looked puzzled.

"It's a Paintball I combined myself."

"Huh? A Paintball bigger than my head, meow...?"

The Felyne shop assistant was stunned.

"When I was combining it, I didn't get the material proportions right. When I noticed it wasn't sticky enough, I added more Sap Plant juice. It became sticky enough, but then the scent was too weak, so I added more Paintberry pulp. Then it wasn't sticky enough again... by the time I'd rolled it into something that had enough of both, it looked like this."

"Don't blame yourself, meow. It's a common mistake for beginners at combining. Fortunately, you were willing to keep adding materials and didn't turn the combining ingredients into a pile of waste. Unfortunately, this store can't buy hunting items that don't meet the standards."

"I understand."

Li Le lifted the giant Paintball and put it back into his insect-net basket.

"For situations like this, I recommend buying a beginner's combination book, meow. Following its standardized procedures will greatly improve your success rate."

"How much?"

"500z, meow."

"A bit expensive... all right."

"One moment, please, meow."

The Felyne shop assistant turned, pulled a thick-covered book from a shelf, and placed it on the counter.

Li Le opened it and found various printed combination diagrams inside.

The procedures, quantities of ingredients, and heating or cooling times were all labeled in detail.

After the Felyne shop assistant finished calculating, the materials Li Le sold, minus the price of the beginner's combination book, left him with just 11z.

Leaving the general store, Li Le followed the address deeper into the city.

Beneath the innermost city wall, he found a small two-story building with insect cages hanging all around its entrance.

With the sunlight completely blocked by the city wall, the dim surroundings had an indescribably eerie feel.

Rustle, rustle~

Sensing Ahtal-Ka's scent approaching, the hanging insect cages swayed from side to side.

The flying insects inside, mostly beetles, began to grow restless.

"It's not feeding time yet."

Ahtal-Ka immediately reined in the scent it was emitting, and the Kinsects quickly calmed down.

After checking the Kinsect Research Institute sign, Li Le entered through the building's door.

A reception counter stood in front of a wall covered with insect specimens.

"Welcome to the Kinsect Research Institute. How can I help you?"

The young female receptionist smiled and waved at Li Le.

"Hello. I happened to acquire a Kinsect, but I don't know how to feed it insect bait properly, so I'd like a professional to take a look."

"Oh! Then you've come to the right place! What kind of Kinsect is it?"

The receptionist opened her notebook.

"I don't know either."

"All right, then let me identify it for you first."

"Wouldn't it be better to have a professional handle that?"

"Don't worry. I'm Holo, practically half a Kinsect expert. I take part in the day-to-day research too. It's just that the institute is still fairly small and doesn't have a dedicated receptionist, so I'm filling in for now."

As she spoke, Holo rolled up the sleeves of her receptionist's uniform, picked up the long-handled insect net beside the counter, and headed outside.

"Thank you, then."

Li Le followed her out.

"The Kinsect you mentioned... wouldn't happen to be this creature, would it?"

Holo stopped in her tracks at the sight of Ahtal-Ka.

"Yes."

As he spoke, Li Le walked over to Ahtal-Ka's side and leaned against her.

Rubbing her chin, Holo circled her twice to observe her, then admitted helplessly, "All right, I've never seen one either."

Li Le felt relieved, but also a little disappointed.

He was relieved that even Holo, who called herself half a Kinsect expert, had never seen Ahtal-Ka.

And since Ahtal-Ka hadn't displayed any signs of being a threat, she probably wouldn't be classified as a dangerous creature for now.

He was disappointed because, since she had never even seen one, she probably wouldn't have any insect bait or feeding methods tailored to her.

"This should be some undiscovered kind of insect. Going by its monster characteristics, it would probably be classified as a Neopteron. But because it's rather lacking in aggression, my preliminary assessment is that it won't work as a Kinsect."

After a moment's thought, Holo gave her professional opinion.

"Rather lacking in aggression..."

Li Le froze.

"That's right. Whether Kinsects help hunters extract essence or ram into their targets in combat, they have to face large monsters head-on. Take these unclaimed Kinsects..."

Holo turned and pointed at the insect cages hanging beneath the institute's eaves.

"They have to undergo a period of professional guidance and training, adapting to interacting and working with humans without losing too much of their aggression and wild nature, before they can qualify as proper Kinsects. But this one, judging by how it behaves around you, has already completely lost its aggression without even being trained. I suspect it would struggle to find the courage to face a large monster in battle."

Li Le furrowed his brow, looking rather conflicted.

In truth, given Holo's understanding of Kinsects, calling her half a Kinsect expert wasn't much of an exaggeration.

She had offered a sufficiently professional explanation from a reasonable perspective.

It was just that missing information had led to a wildly inaccurate conclusion.

"Besides, it has no insect wings, which means it can't fly, and it's far too big. That's an extremely serious drawback for a Kinsect."

"Yeah..."

Li Le had noticed these problems long ago too.

"But by the standards of ecological discoveries, this insect is highly valuable."

"What do you mean?"

"The reward for reporting the discovery of a new species is very generous. You're going to be rich."

Holo reminded him with a smile.

"Oh! Right, as the first person to submit the discovery, you also have the right to name this insect. Have you thought of a name?"

"How about... Ahtal-Ka?"()