Clang! Clang!
The sharp ring of something hard striking stone echoed incessantly through the dim underground cave.
At the far end of the cave, a crude pickaxe made from a hard ore crystal, sturdy vines, and animal bones struck the rock wall again and again.
A crack had already opened in a weak section of the wall. When the digger sensed a hollow beyond it, anticipation lit his face, and he began to strike harder.
The crudely made pickaxe had long since been pushed beyond its limits. Under the force of the next blow, the animal bone serving as its handle snapped in two.
The unidentified chunk of hard ore spun through the air and struck the ground with a sharp clink. The digger stopped dead.
*Broken again...*
After days of continuous digging, the crack was finally wide enough for him to barely squeeze his head through.
Rather than search for another bone or branch to use as a handle, he simply picked up the hard ore that had accompanied him for months and hammered it against the edge of the crack.
Clang! Clang!
No one knew how much longer he worked. Once the crack had widened a little more, the digger tucked the bloodstained ore crystal into the tattered basket on his back, which barely retained its original shape.
Turning sideways, he tried to squeeze through the gap. His fur was caked with gravel and dust, and the sharp stone edges opened bloody gashes across his filthy body. Seemingly oblivious to the pain, he kept forcing himself onward.
At last, he squeezed through the gap.
Without pausing to catch his breath, he hurriedly pulled a small torch from his basket and lit it.
The spacious tunnel he had hoped for was nowhere to be found. The flickering torchlight illuminated only a sealed stone chamber measuring several dozen square meters.
For months, hope and disappointment had followed this same pattern countless times. After a brief silence, he lowered his head and resumed digging.
—--
In the tavern aboard the large ship, the table was piled high with food.
As the outpost took shape, supplies for the advance team had steadily grown more abundant. River fish, seafood from the coast, foraged delicacies from the forest, and prey such as Mosswine all emerged from the kitchens as generous platters prepared by professional Felyne Chefs.
Isis sat before the laden table, swallowed hard, and looked up at the woman across from her. "So, Francesca, what's all this for...?"
Francesca rested her chin on one palm and smiled. "There's a task I'd like to entrust to you two. I'll be honest, it's a personal request. If you don't want to take it, you're free to refuse."
Altaïr, who had also been summoned, felt the corner of his mouth twitch.
*After a spread like this, we clearly aren't meant to have a chance to refuse.*
"What exactly is the task, Francesca? Could you tell us a little about it first?" Altaïr asked cautiously, reaching over to stop Isis's hand as it crept toward the knife and fork.
"Really now, would I ever do anything to hurt you two?" Francesca asked, only making them more suspicious. "Don't worry, it's not illegal."
At that, even Isis withdrew her hand.
Faced with their skeptical stares, Francesca quickly added, "The reward will come out of my own pocket. A 5★ quest usually pays between 6,000z and 10,000z. Let's take the highest rate and double it. How does 20,000z sound?"
"It's really nothing shady. I just want you to help find someone in the mountains. Besides, you've finished your investigation quest and have a few days off, right? Since you don't have anything else to do, you might as well earn some extra money!"
"Find someone?" Altaïr's expression finally relaxed a little. After a moment's thought, he ventured a guess. "Star Jasmine?"
"You know about him? Oh, that makes this easier to explain." Francesca speared a large piece of leg meat and set it on the plate in front of Isis. "That's right, he's Honeysuckle's mate. Come to think of it, do the Uruki have a word for 'husband'?"
"They form bonded pairs, but they don't use words for husband or wife," Altaïr replied offhandedly.
Isis picked up the succulent piece of leg meat, brought it to her lips, and gently blew on it. "We don't need a reward for something like this. She asked us for help on the way back, and we already agreed. We were just discussing how to use these few free days to go out and search."
"No, you have to accept the reward," Francesca said seriously. "Just think of it as some extra spending money from me. Either way, I want this favor to be mine!"
Isis shrugged and dug into her food. She could not have cared less about favors. As for the reward, since Francesca had called it spending money, she would simply accept it.
Then Altaïr remembered that Francesca was in charge of the outpost's supply team, and realization dawned on his face. "Is this so you'll have more leverage when assigning troublesome jobs in the future? That makes sense..."
"Huh? Oh, exactly!" Francesca slapped the table.
"What else would you need the favor for?" Altaïr blurted out, his usual deference forgotten.
Francesca's expression stiffened. "Nonsense! Finding little Alfalfa's father is absolutely my responsibility! There's no question of favors here!"
It took Altaïr a couple of seconds to realize that Alfalfa must be the young Uruki's name.
Was she only trying to win Honeysuckle over so that she could pet all that fluffy fur later?
Seeing the respect in Altaïr's eyes gradually fade, Francesca hastily added, "Actually, there's another reason besides finding Star Jasmine! Come on, take a look at this!"
Francesca squeezed between Altaïr and Isis, pushed aside the plates and utensils in front of them, and spread out a map of the entire Tidal Island.
"According to Honeysuckle, they landed on the western side of Tidal Island in a small boat. The canyon where they originally intended to settle should be around here." Francesca pointed to a spot marked with a red X on the map.
"Wait, Honeysuckle doesn't know how to read maps, does she? Tidal Island's western coast is over two hundred kilometers long. How did you pinpoint the canyon so precisely?" Altaïr pressed for an answer.
Whatever else might be said, they had already agreed to help find Star Jasmine. They naturally needed to clarify the location.
"We asked Ms. Meow-It-All to calculate it. She asked about the season when they landed, the distance between the canyon and the coast, the direction of the Great Volcano's smoke plume as seen from the canyon, and the angle of the sunlight at different times of day. Then she worked it out from there."
Francesca spread her hands. "I can't explain the exact calculations, either. If you're curious, you can ask Ms. Meow-It-All yourself."
"...Forget it." Altaïr decided to set aside his thirst for knowledge for now.
This was not the kind of skill anyone could pick up on a whim. It required a solid grounding in geography.
"According to Ms. Meow-It-All, the canyon is part of the same vast mountain range that includes both the hills where you hunted Taikun Zamuza and the mountainous region where you encountered Pariapuria.
"She believes Honeysuckle fell into the fissure and was carried through the underground waterways to a spot near the Pariapuria nest. The subterranean passages should therefore connect."
Altaïr's expression turned strange. "You don't expect the two of us to explore this entire underground region and map it, do you?"
"Come on, do we look that unreasonable?" Francesca laughed. "If we truly wanted to map the caves beneath such a vast area, even with three times as many people, it would take at least a few years. How could we possibly send just the two of you?
"What Ms. Meow-It-All actually cares about is this."
Francesca took out several ore fragments and set them on the table. The largest were the size of chestnuts, the smallest no bigger than lentils, and together they formed a rainbow of colors. "We fished these out of the little one's cradle... I mean, her flower basket.
"Honeysuckle said her father, Star Jasmine, prepared these as toys before she was born, and that plenty more can be found in the canyon.
"I don't think I need to explain what they are, do I?"
Altaïr picked up one of the fragments and examined it closely. "Machalite Ore? This green piece should be Dragonite Ore... and there's even Eltalite Ore?! Isn't that only found deep inside the Great Volcano?"
"Ms. Meow-It-All believes the ore may have been carried to the surface by an earlier volcanic eruption." Francesca smiled as she put away the "baby toys" and continued, "That canyon may be a vast treasure trove of ore, though we lack the manpower and transportation capacity to exploit it for now.
"Since we're heading there to find Star Jasmine anyway, we might as well survey a few mining sites along the way. They'll be useful eventually.
"Oh, right, one more thing! Hubert asked me to procure at least fifteen units of Eltalite Ore from the Old World. He needs it to build a high-temperature furnace.
"Once it's operational, the smithy will be fully equipped, making it much easier to forge advanced equipment in the future.
"If you find any Eltalite Ore veins, bring back as much as you can, all right? I'll buy it from you at a premium on behalf of the Merchant Guild. Better than wasting money on imports and shipping!"
"That is an awful lot of 'one more thing' for a single request..." Sajji muttered.
"Three jobs in one trip. That's efficiency!"