This was not the Knowledge Seeker's maiden voyage, so naturally there was no grand departure ceremony. Only the families of a few crew members had come to the shipyard to see them off.
Amid the whir of gears and hinges, the shipyard's dome slowly opened.
The air sacs had long since been filled with gas. Once the mooring lines securing the vessel were released, the massive Airship rose smoothly into the sky. As its propellers spun faster, the Knowledge Seeker slowly turned southwest toward the Great Desert.
Kitty stood on tiptoe, leaning over the railing. "No matter how many times I see it, it always takes my breath away! Neither the Wycademy's Soaratorium nor Mezeporta's high-altitude survey ship can hold a candle to our Knowledge Seeker!"
"Have you even been aboard either of those ships to judge them like that?" Looking at Isis's squirrel-like little cousin, Altaïr felt a rare urge to tease her and spoke in a lightly mocking tone.
Kitty planted her hands on her hips and glared. "Can't I judge them by their specifications without going aboard? A lot of the performance data for those two ships is published in magazines!
"The Soaratorium can't match our altitude, and the survey ship can't match our speed!"
"What if we raced the Soaratorium and challenged the survey ship to an altitude contest, meow?" Sajji asked, tilting his head curiously.
Kitty choked, looked away, and pouted. "Don't ask questions that play to the competition's strengths."
Altaïr chuckled softly. Isis's little cousin might have a fiery temper, but she was fun to be around, like a small animal that made you want to reach out and pet her.
Of course, he resisted. He knew that if he actually tried to pat the little thing on the head, he was bound to come away with a few extra bite marks on his hand.
Just then, Morgan walked over.
"Altaïr, Isis, Mr. Alva asked me to let you know that there will be a meeting at nine o'clock sharp. He would like all High Rank Hunters to attend."
"Understood. Thank you." Altaïr took out his pocket watch and checked the time. The meeting was not far off, so he called to Isis.
Isis had been sitting on the railing and enjoying the view. She hopped down with a little "Hup!" and fell into step beside him as they left.
Watching the two leave together, Kitty quietly ground her teeth and muttered under her breath, "If only I could be a Hunter too..."
"Miss Kitty, I'll leave these in your care." With his usual blank expression, Morgan handed Kitty the neatly folded Barioth Armor Set. After offering a polite word of thanks, he turned and walked away.
"Damn it..." Kitty ground her teeth even harder.
The Knowledge Seeker had no shortage of logistics and support staff, but Kitty was the only one with experience meticulously maintaining high-grade equipment.
Francesca therefore assigned her to assist the Hunters.
Once word spread that the young woman excelled at detailed equipment maintenance, the Hunters began bringing their gear to her, filling her schedule almost instantly.
"This is all for the sake of becoming an excellent Handler as soon as possible!" Kitty pulled out the maintenance kit she had originally prepared solely for Isis and threw herself into the work.
—--
Meanwhile, Altaïr and Isis arrived at the conference room.
There were not many people present. The three familiar faces were project lead Mr. Alva, logistics head Francesca, and fellow High Rank Hunter Serl. Aside from them, there was only one stranger.
She was a slender woman dressed in a dark red suit of light leather armor, and her cold expression made her seem difficult to deal with at first glance.
Altaïr discreetly swept his gaze over her hands and instantly reached a conclusion. She was highly skilled with light weapons.
But she did not quite carry herself like a Hunter... Combined with that familiar style of light armor, could she be a Guild Knight?
The woman's senses were exceptionally sharp. She looked over almost the instant Altaïr began sizing her up, and their eyes met.
Altaïr gave her a polite smile. The woman dipped her chin slightly, and they both looked away at the same time.
Alva glanced at the clock on the wall. "We still have a little time before the meeting starts, but since everyone's here, let's begin.
"First, introductions. This is my wife, Lania..."
He had only gotten halfway through the introduction when the woman cut him off coldly. "When we're on duty, use official titles."
"Ahem, all right. This is Guild Knight Lania, the support officer assigned by the Guild." Alva seemed to find the atmosphere a little awkward, so he added jokingly, "Guild Knight Lania came from one of the Guild's disciplinary units. Be careful not to break any laws or regulations, everyone, or she'll arrest you."
At those words, the Hunters' faces stiffened slightly.
She was skilled with light weapons, carried herself with a cold severity unlike a Hunter's, and belonged to a disciplinary unit... Why not just put on a Nargacuga set and be done with it?
The corner of Lania's eye twitched twice.
She drew a deep breath, suppressing the urge to smash her husband's glasses and bang his head against the corner of the table, then spoke. "I am the security officer and liaison officer dispatched by the Guild.
"If any of you discover anything amiss or anything you believe should be reported to the Guild, you may come directly to me. I will address it with the utmost seriousness."
After enunciating those final words one by one as she stared at Alva, Lania softened her tone slightly.
"The Knowledge Seeker now carries two elite Hunter squads, including three High Rank Hunters. It is also equipped with several high-powered weapons, including Rapid-fire Cannons, Heavy Ballistae, Machine Cannons, and Dragonators.
"The Guild is not comfortable leaving that degree of force entirely under the control of scholars. Please understand."
"Understood, understood."
Once she had laid everything out plainly, the others hurriedly nodded.
Truth be told, they would have been even more uneasy if there had not been a single Guild representative aboard the Knowledge Seeker.
Who knew what kind of madness those scholars might attempt?
When he first heard that the original research plan was to find a mate for the "One-Horned Demon King" and observe the resulting brood of "little demon kings," Altaïr had already become wary of Mr. Alva.
He was basically a middle-aged Erik with real authority...
Thank goodness the Guild had sent someone to keep watch.
Then again, one was a scholar and the other a former Guild Knight. How had two people like that ended up together?
Had feelings blossomed simply because she had spent so long supervising him? Could that really happen?
"Ahem. Anyway, let me explain what comes next." Alva cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention back to him.
He spread a map across the table. "At the Knowledge Seeker's economical cruising speed, we'll reach the western Sekumea Desert in less than three days, the area where the One-Horned Demon King roams."
"Shouldn't it be the Great Desert?" Isis whispered into Altaïr's ear.
Looking resigned, Altaïr quietly explained, "People usually call the whole region the Great Desert, but it is actually divided into northern and southern parts. The northern Dede Desert has more rocky badlands and stony flats, and its resources are relatively abundant. Val Habar migrates within the Dede Desert. The southern Sekumea Desert is even more barren and vast. Both the Dead Sand Sea and Loc Lac lie within the Sekumea Desert. Together, the two regions are known as the Great Desert."
"Ohh!"
Alva pointed to a grayish-yellow area on the map. "Right around here."
Altaïr glanced at the map and frowned. "There is nothing but sand there, so anchoring the mooring lines will be difficult. How do you plan to moor the Knowledge Seeker? Or will she remain at high altitude the whole time and serve as an aerial platform?"
"The Knowledge Seeker can hover for long periods as a high-altitude platform, but then everyone would have to travel between the ship and the ground in small Airships, which would be far too much trouble. So we plan to set her down here and use the terrain to establish a temporary base." Alva tapped the map with one finger.
Noticing several blurry, brick-like markings beneath Alva's fingertip, Altaïr looked surprised. "Are those... ruins? There are ruins in this area?"
How did I not know about this?
"The ruins were only discovered recently." Alva chuckled. "We haven't even begun excavating them yet. That's one of the main reasons we're targeting the Demon King. If we don't get it out of the way soon, the archaeological work can't even begin!"
* * *
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