Lambert sat up, pale-faced, with help from her companions. Without hesitation, she unfastened her coin pouch and tossed it to the Felyne.
The Felyne opened the coin pouch and peered inside. It held a substantial sum; coins and bills together, there had to be more than 2000z.
"You're really giving me this, meow?" It had not expected Lambert to be so straightforward.
Chia sneered and scraped his Charge Blade's sword against the edge of its shield, sending sparks flying. "If the information you cough up isn't worth that money, don't blame me for getting rough!"
The Felyne did not back down either. It drew a short blade from behind its back, one that looked as though it had been stolen from a Gajalaka, and licked the rusted edge. "You're welcome to try, meow."
Seeing them locked in a standoff, Vari sighed and stepped in to mediate once again. "All right, all right. Let's hear it out first."
Chia snorted and set his sword and shield aside for the moment. The Felyne tilted its head as well, signaling its companions to leave.
Then it hopped onto the item box, folded its paws, and gave them the same eerie grin. "My name is Ning-Ning, meow. These woods are my turf. Those Felynes from before are my underlings, meow.
"As for that black maniac, it showed up here several dozen days ago, meow.
"It scattered our tribe. Most of the survivors left these woods to find new territory or join other tribes, meow.
"A few of us refused to let ourselves be driven out, so we stayed here and kept fighting that thing, meow."
They had guts, at least.
Lambert glanced up at the Felyne as she slowly sipped a Potion.
Ning-Ning paid no attention to the young Hunters' stares. "We tried all kinds of ways to kill that black maniac, meow.
"First, we approached the humans in a nearby mountain village and asked them to join forces with us, but they were all cowards, meow. They only said they would figure something out. Not one of them dared to stand up and fight that thing, meow."
"You call the villagers cowards? You're the one being stupid!" Chia glared at Ning-Ning. "They notified the Guild immediately and hired Hunters to deal with it. That's exactly what they should have done."
"And the Guild sent useless bums like you, meow?"
"You!"
"All right, let it speak." Being called useless did not bother Lambert. After all, she really had lost to that unusually powerful Yian Garuga.
"Once we realized humans were no help, we tried luring other Monsters into fighting that thing, meow," Ning-Ning continued. "First we brought in a pink fatty, and it pecked the poor creature to death, meow. Later we lured over a few big birds, and it chased them all over the place, meow.
"Then a Rathalos came to contest its nest, and the black maniac killed that too, meow. There aren't any stronger Monsters left around here, meow."
The three Hunters fell silent for a moment.
The "pink fatty" and "big birds" Ning-Ning mentioned most likely referred to a Congalala and several Yian Kut-Ku. As hard as it was to believe, Ning-Ning's later description confirmed that the final Monster had indeed been a male Rathalos.
A Yian Garuga killing a Rathalos was an extraordinary upset in ecological terms. This individual was far stronger than an ordinary Yian Garuga.
Lambert knew that firsthand.
She had prepared thoroughly and had not let her guard down during the Hunt, yet the Yian Garuga had still crushed her in a completely one-sided defeat.
That was not the kind of strength a Monster with a 4★ Danger Rating should possess.
"That's not an opponent we can handle. We need to notify the Guild as soon as possible and have them send stronger Hunters to deal with it," Vari said quietly.
"That's true, but what about the villagers?" Chia's usually carefree voice turned grave. "That mountain village is far too close. The Yian Garuga could break into the village at any moment and cause heavy casualties."
His own home had been destroyed that way. His father had died in battle while covering the villagers' retreat after a Monster broke into the village.
Now that Chia knew the danger, he would never allow the same thing to happen again.
The Hunters fell silent again.
If they returned to make their report, the Guild would first have to send someone to verify the situation and then find a stronger Hunter to take over. The back-and-forth alone would take at least a month.
Who knew what might happen in that time?
"How about this? You two hurry back, report the situation, and find help," Chia said as he hoisted his Charge Blade. "I'll stay in the village. It has no resident Hunter. If anything happens, at least someone will be there to provide cover."
"You can't stop that thing alone." Lambert shook her head. "We'll stay with you and guard the village. As for calling for help...
"Hey, Felyne. Could you go to the nearest town and deliver one letter to the Guild Hall and another to the Sterling Merchant Guild?
"If we're lucky, a Hunter much stronger than us will arrive soon.
"As for payment, you've already cleaned us out. We'll settle the rest once this is over."
Ning-Ning narrowed its eyes. "A stronger Hunter... how strong, meow?"
"Strong enough to take down that 'black maniac' without a problem."
Ning-Ning stared at Lambert, one pair of dark eye rings meeting the other, for several seconds. Once it decided she was not bluffing, it jumped down from the item box.
"I'll deliver the letters for you, meow. If whoever comes can really take down that black maniac, you can forget about paying me, meow!"
—--
After another comprehensive physical examination, Altaïr and Isis returned home together.
According to the director, repeated activation of Devouring Demon had completely stabilized the microbial community inside Altaïr, and it had stopped changing.
In other words, Altaïr's physical condition had stabilized. For the time being, there was no need to worry about the microorganisms suddenly undergoing some unknown mutation.
This was naturally good news. Amos had prepared an entire table full of dishes to celebrate Altaïr's recovery.
Granted, he now had some strange things living inside him, but he could eat, sleep, and Hunt. Who could say he was not healthy?
With that weight off her shoulders, Isis was back to her usual cheerful self. While Amos returned to the kitchen for more dishes, she tried to sneak a piece of meat off a leg, only to hear a knock at the door.
"Who is it...?" With a resigned sigh, Isis pulled her hand back, drew out the words, and went to open the door.
"Huh? Francesca?"
"What? You're having a feast without inviting me?"
Francesca never bothered with formalities at Isis's house. She kicked off her shoes in the entryway and rubbed her hands together as she approached the dining table.
She took in the table laden with hearty dishes. "What's the occasion? Why the feast?"
"We're celebrating Altaïr's recovery!"
"That's worth celebrating." Francesca smiled and sat in her usual seat, but her smile faded slightly. "As it happens, I brought a letter from Lambert asking for help."
"What does it say?" Altaïr asked as he helped Amos set a massive stew pot on the table.
"In short, she encountered an absurdly strong Yian Garuga during her 4★ promotion assessment and got completely wrecked..."
"Is she all right?" Isis asked, a little nervously.
"She should be. She got carted, but managed to retreat safely." Francesca shook the letter in her hand. "She spoke with the wild Felyne that rescued her and learned that this Yian Garuga once killed a Rathalos. It's no ordinary Monster.
"There's a human village near its territory. Lambert and her teammates are worried the Yian Garuga will attack the village and cause heavy casualties, so they've stayed there for now and sent this letter asking for backup."
"Shouldn't she have reported it to the Guild? Why write to you?" Amos asked.
"She reported it to the Guild too, but the local Guild will take time to pass everything up the chain, right? So she sent me another letter. And damn, she even sent it by express courier, cash on delivery...
"She says she hopes I can help, preferably by finding a High Rank Hunter to handle it. Between the lines, it's obviously you two she's asking for.
"So? Feel like answering her call and making the trip?"
"A Yian Garuga that can kill a Rathalos?" Altaïr took the letter in surprise. "Could it be a Hyper specimen? Or some other special individual?"
"No idea." Francesca shrugged. "Following standard Guild procedure, they'd probably send a Palico team to verify the situation first, then assign Hunters accordingly.
"But since the request came straight to you, if you're willing to make the trip, you can go directly to the Guild Manager and explain the situation.
"He should give you an investigation quest form authorizing you to act as needed."
Altaïr nodded and looked at Isis. "What do you think?"
Isis tossed a piece of yogurt cheese into her mouth as an appetizer. "I'm fine with it. Morgan's back too. I'll go ask him later. If he's interested, we can all go together.
"It's been a while since we've had a proper workout."
"All right."
* * *
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