The peregrine falcon carrying the letter was released that very night.
The straight-line distance between Metapetatto Bay and Minegarde Town wasn't particularly far; before sunset tomorrow night, the letter would be delivered to the Minegarde Town Guild Hall.
If all went well, Nymera would depart by Airship during the day the day after tomorrow. This meant that counting from now, Nymera would be able to arrive here within three to four days.
Shortly after Olivia returned, several other teams arrived back at the camp one after another.
Calling them "several teams" was a bit of a stretch; including Olivia, Brandley, and Altaïr who were already at the camp, there were only eight Hunters in total; just enough to patch together two full four-man squads.
"Serl!"
Seeing Altaïr, clad in golden armor, stand up to greet him, Serl couldn't help but feel surprised. "Altaïr? My boy, I haven't seen you in two months, and you've improved quite a bit, haven't you?"
"Hehe, I had some opportunities," Altaïr grinned.
Aside from his familiar leader of the Vanguard Hunting Party, the 5★ Sword and Shield user Serl, two of the other four were Hunters based out of the Metapetatto Guild Hall. Although they had never been on a Hunt together, they all knew each other.
Altaïr took the initiative to greet them. "Senior Heath, Senior Niro."
The former was a lean 4★ Light Bowgun user wearing a Shogun Ceanataur Gunner Set, accompanied by a Felyne partner named Basho.
The latter was a 4★ Great Sword user with a hedgehog-like hairstyle paired with a bright red Daimyo Hermitaur Set, giving off the vague impression of a "hot-blooded idiot."
Both were good-natured fellows. Heath, the Light Bowgun user, reached out and shook hands with Altaïr.
Niro, who was more lively and outgoing, even punched Altaïr's chest armor, praising him with a laugh, "Little brother Altaïr, your new gear is pretty sleek!"
The remaining two were completely unfamiliar faces.
One of them was tall and burly with a broad chest, wearing an Uragaan Set known for its exceptional Defense. His weapon was a Lance, the most typical kind of heavily armored hunter.
The last person was a petite woman whose weapon was an Insect Glaive. As for her armor... Altaïr didn't recognize it. It looked like the maid outfits usually worn by the guild receptionists, but surely no one would wear an ordinary maid outfit into the hunting grounds?
Noticing Altaïr's gaze, the Lance user introduced himself in a muffled, resonant voice. "Dawn, 5★ Lance user, from Dundorma."
"This guy is a bit of a man of few words," Olivia said, patting Dawn's pauldrons with a smile. "Dawn comes from the Guild Defense Corps; he's an old subordinate of Lord Fabius. A few years ago, after Lord Fabius retired from the front lines, he also left the Defense Corps to embark on his own path of training. He is an extremely reliable Tank."
"Hello, Senior Dawn," Altaïr also gave a brief introduction of himself. "I am Altaïr, a 4-star Hunter. I usually use offensive weapons like the Long Sword and Dual Blades."
"Hello."
The Lance user didn't say much, but it had to be said, guys with heavy Armor and few words naturally tended to give off a more reliable vibe. By contrast, the girl beside him, an Insect Glaive user who looked like a guild receptionist but most certainly wasn't, gave off a first impression that was considerably less reliable.
Strange. Why exactly had he slapped a "not too reliable" label on her the very moment he saw that guild receptionist uniform?
Was it some kind of stereotype?
While Altaïr was busy with his inner monologue, the Insect Glaive user had been studying him for a while, one arm crossed over her chest and a hand pinching her chin.
"Say, Altaïr, how old are you anyway?" she suddenly asked.
Altaïr blinked, caught off guard by the question, but he answered honestly, "I'll be twenty in a few months."
"Aha! I knew you looked awfully young!" She clapped her hands. "But I'm a year younger than you, so I'm even younger, hehe!"
Altaïr: "?"
He couldn't quite follow her logic.
"The name's Kagetsu! 3★ Insect Glaive user!" The energetic Hunter followed the others' example and reached out to shake his hand. "Nice to meet ya!"
"Nice to meet you," Altaïr replied reflexively.
Another eighteen-year-old 3-star Hunter? This world certainly wasn't lacking in prodigies.
As if sensing the surprise in his eyes, Kagetsu waved her hands dismissively. "Oh, I'm not the kind of genius you're thinking of. I'm just really good at cutting corners."
Seeing that the two of them weren't quite on the same page, Olivia, the leader of the operation, spoke up again. "Kagetsu is a rare, pure support-type Hunter.
"What she's wearing isn't a standard guild receptionist uniform; it's the Supporter Set, crafted with special techniques using Lightcrystal as the primary material.
"This Armor allows her to disperse medicines in a unique way (Wide-Range), a very special blessing that is incredibly effective in group combat.
"Furthermore, she possesses an intimate knowledge of insect behavior and related lore, which may prove helpful in analyzing the behavior of the Star Butterfly."
Altaïr nodded, mentally peeling off the labels he had unfairly stuck on her.
Though her personality was a bit flighty and her combat style was non-mainstream, the fact that a 3★ Hunter had been invited to an operation far exceeding the difficulty of a 3-star quest meant she definitely had a specialty.
"Alright, here is the situation," Olivia said, clapping her hands to gather the Hunters' attention.
"In addition to Altaïr who just joined us, a Gunner should be joining the operation in a few days.
"That Gunner hails from Kamura Village and has a Palamute and a Cohoot at her disposal. This will vastly improve our scouting efficiency and help us evade interceptions by the Yian Kut-Ku flocks to a great extent.
"What we need to do for now, before she arrives, is to reduce the number of Yian Kut-Ku in the surrounding mountains as much as possible to clear the path for our subsequent move."
The Hunters nodded in understanding.
Olivia continued, "Previously, we were clearing them out in two-person teams. This was safer, but the efficiency was relatively low.
"Now we need to increase our cull rate without taking too many risks. Does anyone have any good ideas?"
Altaïr raised his hand. "Could you give me more details on the Yian Kut-Ku flocks? After all, seeing so many of them gathered together is extremely rare." "Oh right, Altaïr, you've just arrived, so you wouldn't know yet." Olivia looked toward Sheila. "Ms. Sheila, could I trouble you to give a brief explanation?"
Sheila nodded. "We cannot confirm the exact number of Yian Kut-Ku in the nearby mountains and forests; we can only make a rough estimate based on population density.
"The conclusion is that within the surrounding hundred square kilometers of forest, there are at least thirty Yian Kut-Ku."
"Thirty..." Altaïr couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.
"At least," Sheila emphasized before continuing. "The good news is that this doesn't mean dozens of them will actually appear crowded together.
"So far, the largest cluster of Yian Kut-Ku we have encountered at once is six.
"That is already the limit under natural conditions. If more Yian Kut-Ku were to live squeezed together, even obtaining enough food to sustain life would become extremely difficult.
"Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that the Estrellian might use some method to forcibly gather Yian Kut-Ku together in a short period of time, though we haven't encountered that yet."
"I see."
Olivia took over. "During our previous culling operations, we found that Yian Kut-Ku most commonly act alone or in groups of two or three.
"Therefore, we have been carrying out the cull in two-man teams. If we encounter a lone Yian Kut-Ku, even a Hyper state individual can be hunted down quickly.
"If we encounter a small cluster of two to three, we use a SOS Flare to notify nearby teams for backup and conduct a joint Hunt.
"If we encounter a larger cluster, we choose to retreat immediately.
"For over a week, we've hunted more than fifteen Yian Kut-Ku this way, but the numbers in the surrounding forests don't seem to be decreasing at all.
"Furthermore, instances of them being alone are becoming rarer; they appear in small clusters of at least two or three, and the frequency of encountering large clusters is also increasing.
"If this continues, we will fall completely into a passive position. We must consider revising our battle plan."
The others looked at each other, and Brandley was the first to speak. "We have eight Hunters now. It shouldn't be hard to deal with five or six Yian Kut-Ku if we move together.
"But that violates The Law of Four... it seems a bit unlucky..."
The taciturn Dawn suddenly spoke up. "Hunters are different from Defense Corps knights. Their vastly different combat styles mean Hunters are only suited for small-scale operations.
"People like to use superstitions like 'ill omens' or 'curses' to explain The Law of Four.
"But the reality is that when there are more than four people, cooperation between Hunters becomes increasingly complex. The chances of interfering with one another increase significantly, and combat effectiveness plummets.
"Why is there no need to worry about the so-called Law of Four during defensive operations against super-massive Elder Dragons? It's because the battlefield expands, and there is no need to worry about interfering with each other.
"Therefore, what we need to worry about isn't whether it's lucky or not, but how to avoid getting in each other's way."
The Hunters nodded one after another. As the eldest among the eight Hunters, the words of the nearly forty-year-old Dawn gained everyone's approval.
"Actually, I have an idea."
Altaïr suddenly looked up. "Assuming the Yian Kut-Ku are rendered incapacitated, how many people here can secure a quick kill?"
(Translated by yourtl.app)