The next day, a fully armed Altaïr and his companions left Metapetatto, heading once again toward the fortress base situated at the foot of the low hills.
Since he didn't know what kind of Monster they would face next, Altaïr chose the Khanga Rebellion, his most versatile Long Sword, as his primary weapon.
As for his elemental Long Swords and Dual Blades, they remained stored in the Hunter Cabin at the Metapetatto Guild Hall. Since the two locations were only a few kilometers apart, he could always rush back to retrieve them if the need truly arose.
Isis and Clawdia went without saying, as they had always conquered the world with a single weapon each; it was Sajji, however, who was the most prepared.
The Rathalos Model-09 Kai, which featured some slight improvements but couldn't yet be called a new generation model, could not escape its fate as a cargo cart.
Piled atop it were the Zinogre Model-4, the Rakna-Kadaki No. 3, and a new type of machinery that Sajji had dubbed the Yian Kut-Ku Model-1.
Put simply, it was a glider.
Sajji deeply envied Shalan's ability to fly freely just by operating a great kite, but lacking that specialized technique, he had no choice but to try and compensate with brainpower.
Built primarily from Yian Kut-Ku wing membrane, the glider was extremely lightweight. However, it currently couldn't take off from flat ground; it could only leap from high places when the wind was right to glide through the air. Its flight posture was also unstable, making it nothing more than an experimental prototype.
But Sajji firmly believed that the Yian Kut-Ku series possessed immense potential.
It currently had two developmental directions. The first was to make it as lightweight as possible while ensuring reliability, allowing it to replace the role of a kite.
If a kite could carry a cat aloft, there was no reason a glider, which was more aerodynamically sound, couldn't do the same.
With a well-designed frame, perhaps it could fold up like an umbrella to be kept in a backpack and deployed whenever needed.
If he could find another chance to meet Lady Shalan, or go to Kamura Village to learn flight techniques from the legendary Meowcenaries, then he too could fly freely in the sky!
The second direction was a bit more brute-force: mechanizing and upscaling the Yian Kut-Ku series into a larger fixed-wing powered glider.
The power source hadn't been decided yet; using paw-pedals to drive a propeller might be a little lacking in power, meow...
However, the prospects for this direction were even broader. If the power source was strong enough, it could even take off carrying Barrel Bombs to bombard Monsters from the air!
"Sigh, meow..." Sajji sighed while pedaling the cart with great effort.
Imagination was beautiful, but reality was always hard to bring to ground.
More than half of all mechanical problems were caused by insufficient power. If there were a power source that was both light and high-output, even his Rathalos series could fly, meow!
"What's wrong? Why the sigh?" Altaïr looked at his partner curiously. He had no idea that Sajji had already begun dreaming of an aerial battleship and simply assumed he was in a bad mood.
"It's nothing, meow!" Sajji shook his head, tossing those distant thoughts to the back of his mind. "There are a lot of slopes around here, meow, and the terrain isn't steep, so it's relatively safe, meow.
I plan to test the Yian Kut-Ku Model-1 here a few more times to collect more data and create a truly functional glider as soon as possible, meow."
"Good luck. If you need help or any specific materials, just let me know." Altaïr's heart felt a complex mix of relief and pride. With the Rathalos, Zinogre, and Rakna-Kadaki series gradually taking shape, Sajji's ground combat capabilities were already considered quite exceptional among Palicoes.
But he was no longer satisfied with the ground and had begun extending his claws toward the sky; no doubt the underwater realm wouldn't be spared in the future either. It was hard to imagine what this fellow would become in ten or twenty years.
For a Hunter, a few kilometers was nothing more than a blink of an eye. The group traversed a gentle mountain valley and arrived before the heavily guarded fortress base.
The guards atop the walls sized them up curiously.
Two fully armed Hunters were nothing unusual, but what was that tank-like thing? It looked rather impressive.
Altaïr removed his helmet and shouted up toward the wall, "By order of Lord Fabius, we have come to provide support!"
"What about your appointment letter? Or do you have a quest form or some other proof?" The guard remained highly vigilant, refusing to open the gates based solely on Altaïr's word.
Altaïr felt a bit of a headache; yesterday, Master Fabius had only given a verbal command. He really should have asked for a written document.
Fortunately, a familiar face peered over the top of the wall just then.
It was the Guild Knight named Rosso, the one who had "arrested" them yesterday.
"Yo, it's you guys."
His attitude was different from yesterday when he was dealing with criminal suspects. Now that the misunderstanding had been cleared by Fabius's confirmation, Rosso's demeanor was naturally no longer as stern and cold.
Evidently, Fabius had already tipped him off. Rosso jerked his chin toward the guard. "They are indeed the people summoned by Lord Fabius. Open the gates."
The guard nodded and pulled the mechanism. The drawbridge lowered, allowing the two people and two cats to enter the camp.
"I'm Rosso, a 4★ Heavy Bowgunner. How should I address you two?" The dark-skinned Guild Knight walked down the stairs from the top of the wall.
"Altaïr, 4★ Long Sword user. I also use other weapons when necessary. This is my hunting partner, Sajji."
"Isis! 4★ Gunlance user! And this is my hunting partner, Clawdia!"
The two gave brief self-introductions while shaking hands with him.
Rosso wasn't very old, appearing to be in his late twenties. The crimson Guild Knight Armor Set he wore looked a bit strange against his deep bronze skin.
Of course, Altaïr kept that thought to himself.
Rosso possessed a rather talkative personality. "I heard a bit about you from Senior Olivia yesterday. I heard neither of you is even twenty yet?
"Truly impressive. To be honest, when I saw you carrying that Glavenus Gunlance yesterday, I suspected you'd sourced the materials from the black market."
Altaïr gave an awkward but polite smile.
Both he and Isis were 4★ Hunters, yet they were equipped with weapons forged from 5★ Threat Level Monster materials.
Though it was a reasonable bit of sequence-breaking tacitly permitted by the Guild, facing a Guild Knight who had literally arrested them yesterday still felt a bit odd.
As if seeing through his thoughts, Rosso said with a laugh, "Rest easy. With Lord Fabius vouching for you, there won't be any trouble."
Speaking of which, Rosso paused, glanced left and right, and lowered his voice. "Just watch yourselves, though. There are a few Guild Knights from the Dark Night within the base." "Don't go acting up in front of them. It's not like they'll do anything to you just because you have 5★ gear, but there's a high probability they'll question you and demand proof of a lawful Hunt and so on. The paperwork is a real headache."
Altaïr and Isis nodded repeatedly; they almost felt like stripping off their gear right then and there.
Having confirmed that the two weren't the arrogant, boastful types who feared nothing, Rosso said with a smile, "Alright, relax, it's not that extreme.
Lord Fabius told me to wait for you here. Come with me to see him now."
Just as he was about to turn and lead the way, Rosso suddenly looked back. "Oh, right. You two Felynes over there, you'd better park that flashy cannon cart by the edge of the camp. You can't exactly drive it into the tent.
The fortress base is quite safe, so don't worry about anything going missing."
"Meow, meow."
Sajji nodded. He and Engine No. 2 steered the Rathalos Model-09 to the cargo parking area, secured it, and then hopped back over to Altaïr's side.
The group followed Rosso into the tent and met Fabius. To Altaïr's surprise, the Professor was also there.
The latter slid down his glasses and peered at them over the lenses. "What are you doing here? I thought you said you had no interest in the follow-up to this matter?"
Altaïr gave a dry laugh, unsure of how to respond.
On the Airship returning after they had Captured the Estrellian, the Professor had indeed asked them if they were interested in staying involved.
At the time, considering the uncertain timeline for Isis's new equipment, they had politely declined for the moment.
Isis didn't have nearly as many reservations; she explained with a giggle, "We didn't know there was a base here. We were testing our equipment nearby yesterday and fired off a few rounds, so we got caught and dragged in as extra hands."
Upon hearing this, the Professor's eyebrows shot up, and his tone turned furious. "Splendid! So it was you lot who startled the Estrellian into a stress response yesterday!"
Altaïr: "..."
(Translated by yourtl.app)