"Sajji, Clawdia, you two stay here and burrow underground to observe. Everyone else, leave the area for now. We'll regroup in half an hour." Meowster gazed in the direction the Crimson Fanged Beast had fled and issued his new orders.
Concerned that the Hunters might not understand his reasoning, Meowster added, "Most Fanged Beasts tend to live in groups, and some are highly social. I need to confirm whether that's the case here."
Sajji and Clawdia had no objections. After reminding them to stay safe, Altaïr and the others temporarily withdrew from that part of the forest.
—--
Half an hour passed quickly. The mangrove forest, which had erupted in battle not long before, remained utterly silent. Nothing stirred.
Once they had confirmed that the area was quiet, Sajji and Clawdia crawled out of their pit, shook the dirt from their fur, and followed the others' scent trail.
Altaïr and the others had not gone far. When Sajji and Clawdia caught up, the group was taking a short break in a forest clearing.
Meowster held a miniature sketchpad in his paws and used a charcoal pencil to outline the Crimson Fanged Beast they had encountered earlier.
With nothing else to do, Altaïr also began sketching in his notebook.
Isis asked Meowster for a sheet of drawing paper and joined him. When Nymera saw everyone sketching, she joined in as well, though she used a small brush rather than a portable charcoal pencil.
Meowster welcomed their help. A quick sketch based solely on his own memory could easily miss certain details, so having the others contribute would help him refine the image.
By the time Sajji and Clawdia found them, the group had almost finished their drawings.
"It was quiet over there. Nothing came by," Sajji said, rising curiously onto his hind legs to peek at the notebook in Altaïr's hands.
Altaïr snapped the notebook shut with a sharp smack.
He knew quite a few skills, but drawing was not among them. He could not even manage basic perspective, so his pictures were barely recognizable, little more than scribbles.
As if trying to change the subject, Altaïr set the notebook aside, reached out, and patted Sajji twice, brushing the last of the dirt from his fur.
He then turned to Meowster and asked, "Does that rule out the possibility of this kind of Monster living in groups?"
Years of scholarly fieldwork had given Meowster a practiced, steady hand. Without pausing, he answered, "Of course we can't rule it out on that alone.
But we can make a preliminary assessment. Members of this species probably don't form particularly close-knit groups. Even if they do live together, their population density won't be high.
At least we don't have to worry about engaging one and immediately having an entire pack come running. That's good news.
Speaking of which, how are your drawings coming along? Let me take a look."
Altaïr's expression stiffened. He instinctively pressed a hand over the small notebook beside him and gave a dry laugh. "I'd rather not. I can't draw. I was just passing the time."
Meowster, however, was not about to let him off the hook. "It doesn't matter if you're bad at drawing, meow. This isn't a competition. As long as you captured a few key external features, it'll help me fill in the missing details, meow."
At that, Altaïr could find no further reason to refuse. Continuing to resist would only make him look self-conscious. With a helpless expression, he tore the scribbled page from his notebook and handed it over.
Isis and Nymera handed over their drawings in turn.
Meowster eagerly accepted the three "masterpieces." But the moment his gaze fell on Altaïr's doodle, the whole cat froze.
I thought you were just being modest, but you really don't know the first thing about drawing, meow?!
Wait, don't Hunters these days learn basic sketching and field illustration, meow? What's wrong with you, meow?
At that thought, Meowster suddenly realized he had been cooped up in the Wycademy for too long and had begun taking certain things for granted.
As an organization dominated by scholars, the Wycademy's daily assignments were mostly research-oriented. Most Hunters affiliated with it therefore had fairly decent drawing skills, allowing them to provide the scholars with illustrated reports.
That skill set did not seem common elsewhere. Meowster tried to extract something useful from Altaïr's doodle, but ultimately failed. Eager to get the picture out of sight, he moved Altaïr's sheet to the bottom of the stack and turned to the second drawing, Nymera's.
A second later, he winced and closed his eyes.
If Altaïr's effort was pure doodling, Nymera's was an ink painting made with a brush instead of a charcoal pencil. It might have looked slightly more artistic at first glance, but in truth, it was an even less intelligible ink-wash scrawl.
Is that supposed to be a Fanged Beast, meow? If no one had told me, I'd have thought those were two Dango, one big and one small, with eyes and a tail, meow!
Altaïr was the captain of the trio, as well as its quickest thinker and most knowledgeable member, while Nymera was a Gunner who always spoke with a refined, scholarly air. Yet both had produced eyesores. Meowster had already lost all hope.
To spare his eyes, he squinted at the third drawing.
Then things took another unexpected turn.
The third drawing, Isis's, could genuinely be called a "work of art." It depicted the Crimson Fanged Beast opening its maw in a roar as it swung its claws down.
It showed the scene from Isis's own perspective during her direct confrontation with the Crimson Fanged Beast, an image clearly seared into her memory.
Perspective, shadows that created depth, motion blur that conveyed movement; every essential element was there. Even the fluffy texture of the cub's fur on the Crimson Fanged Beast's back had been skillfully rendered by lightly smudging the charcoal strokes with a fingertip.
Calling it a true masterpiece would have been an exaggeration, but standards were relative.
Had Meowster seen this drawing first, he might have offered a simple, "Well drawn, solid technique, meow," and nothing more.
But after suffering through the other two doodles, he could not help exclaiming in admiration, "It's a work of art, meow!"
Altaïr, Nymera, and Sajji crowded around and marveled at Isis's sketch. For all the time they had known her, none of them had realized she could draw so well.
"Isn't this already at the level of a professional artist?"
"Absolutely incredible!"
"Now this is what you call a drawing, meow. You two were just wasting paper, meow!"
As their praise came tumbling out, Isis's face turned red. "No, no, I'm not that good. My mother and Francesca are the ones who can really paint. I only know the basics."
"If that's just the basics, what does that make us? Complete lost causes?" Altaïr joked at his own expense.
If he had not known that Isis was not the sarcastic type, he might have thought she was mocking him and Nymera.
"If you ask me, meow, you just lack confidence, Isis," said Clawdia, the only one among them who knew Isis could draw. She puffed out her chest and folded her arms, looking as proud as if the achievement were hers. "You always think you have no talent, but how many years have you actually practiced, meow? By the time you're their age, you won't be any worse than them, meow!"
Isis reflexively waved a hand and was about to respond when Meowster cut in with a question. "Let's set technique aside for now, meow.
In your drawing, the Fanged Beast has two very small horns on its forehead. I didn't get a clear look at that detail earlier. Are you certain those horns were there, meow?"
"I'm sure." Isis nodded. "They're small, but very sturdy. My Glavenus Gunlance left only a white mark when I struck them, so I remember them clearly."
"I noticed them too. Those horns are definitely there," Altaïr added.
Meowster stroked his whiskers and spoke in a grave tone. "Of all the Fanged Beast species confirmed so far, only two have horns.
One is the Goss Harag that lives in the Frost Islands. But that Monster isn't a primate, and its skeletal structure differs radically from that of the clearly primate-like Crimson Fanged Beast. They are obviously only distantly related.
Only one Fanged Beast satisfies both 'having horns' and 'being a primate.'
That Monster is known as the 'King of Fanged Beasts.'"
(Translated by yourtl.app)