Once she had a plan, Shalan displayed incredible efficiency.
She borrowed a peregrine falcon from Noya and sent an urgent letter directly to the Hunter's Guild headquarters, expressing her desire to join the investigation. At the same time, she requested that a scholar and a Hunter to serve as their guard travel with her to form an investigation team.
Metapetatto and Dundorma are separated by the Inland Sea, so the direct distance isn't far. Just two days later, she received a reply from the Hunter's Guild headquarters.
As she had expected, the Guild approved it readily. Delivered along with the reply was a formal investigation quest permit.
With this document, she could post a quest to recruit a Hunter as a guard.
Of course, Shalan had other motives and wasn't about to post a public quest. Instead, she took the document, grabbed Erik, and went straight to knock on Altaïr's door.
Seeing these two silver-clad figures showing up together, Altaïr felt a headache coming on.
He hadn't seen them for the past two days and thought they had settled down; now it seemed they were planning something big.
"Please, come in."
Out of politeness, Altaïr didn't keep them at the door. He stepped aside, invited them in to sit, and went to brew some tea.
Shalan paced around with her paws behind her back, looking left and right. "For a single male Hunter, the room is actually quite tidy, meow? Huh? Why is only that corner so messy, meow?"
"That's my workshop, meow!" Sajji stared warily at Shalan, terrified she might suddenly whip out a portable camera or something.
Erik had zero interest in other people's private lives. He simply found a chair, sat down, and busied himself reading his book.
Shalan took the opportunity to pace through the entire living room until Altaïr returned with the tea, then she hopped onto the sofa.
Altaïr set down the tea tray, took a seat across from Shalan, and looked at her. "Miss Shalan, may I ask why you've come to visit this time?"
Having mentally prepared herself beforehand, Shalan put her paws on her hips and met his gaze. "Of course I'm here for a reason, meow! A very important reason, meow!"
As she spoke, she handed the investigation permit to Altaïr.
Altaïr took it and glanced at it, his face twitching involuntarily.
Good grief, the investigation permit was actually stamped with the seal of His Immenseness. This permit had been sent directly from the Elder Hall.
Should he expect nothing less from Isis's mother's hunting partner?
"You want to form an investigation team to enter the Jungle and investigate the cause of the Hyper state abnormalities?"
"That's right, meow!"
"In addition to yourself, you need a scholar and a Hunter?"
"Correct, meow!"
"And the candidate for that scholar has already been decided, it's Erik?"
"Yes, meow!"
"So you want me for the Hunter?"
"Obviously, meow!"
"I must refuse." Altaïr shook his head decisively. "Furthermore, I don't recommend you take Erik on an investigation.
The reason is simple: with your level of strength, there is nothing in the Metapetatto Jungle that could be considered dangerous. Even in the deepest parts of the Jungle, I'm sure you could come and go as you please." "But Erik is still far too green as a field scholar. Not just him, the same goes for me. Joining this investigation team would only mean dragging you down."
Having said his piece, Altaïr turned to Erik before Shalan could respond. "In a little over a week, two weeks at most, Isis will return to Metapetatto.
"If you want to enter the Jungle for an investigation, you can wait until then.
"By that time, the other investigation teams should have discovered at least some clues. We'll be able to conduct a targeted investigation, which has more direction than just charging into the Jungle and stumbling around blindly right now."
Erik closed the book in his hands and muttered to himself, "That makes sense. But just waiting here for two weeks feels like a bit long, doesn't it?"
"Two options." Altaïr held up two fingers.
"One: the various investigation teams have been in the Jungle for some days now, so news is bound to break soon. You're here on official business to analyze reports and aggregate information anyway; it's perfectly reasonable for you to review the reports from other teams to prepare for our own investigation later.
"Two: head back to Dundorma for now. The Professor's investigation into the Hyper Duramboros should be entering its final stages. Aren't you curious? Once things wrap up there, have the Professor bring you back here. With an experienced Professor leading the investigation team, the efficiency would be much higher."
Erik nodded vigorously. "What you're saying makes a lot of sense. Or maybe I can combine the two options! I'll stay here to analyze the reports provided by the various teams while simultaneously writing a letter to the Professor, telling him to hurry over and lead the team once he's finished his work there. Perfect!"
"Great idea." Altaïr patted him on the shoulder.
Watching Erik's instant betrayal, Shalan sat stunned on the sofa. It pointed at itself with a face full of disbelief. "Then what about me, meow?!"
Altaïr looked at her, tilting his head slightly as he said with some hesitation: "You could continue your vacation here in Metapetatto.
"However, your investigation quest permit was personally stamped by His Immenseness. It probably wouldn't be good to just stand him up like that?
"How about this: you find a more experienced scholar, and then bring along a more powerful high-rank Hunter to form an elite investigation team and head straight for the deepest part of the Jungle.
"Who knows, you might even dig up the most critical and precious intelligence!"
Erik pumped his fist. "And then I'll aggregate that intelligence to point the way for our future investigation."
"Meow, meow, meow?!"
Like hell she'd form another investigation team, meow! Was she really here to investigate the Jungle's abnormalities, meow? She was here to investigate him, meow!
Looking at the silver-furred Felyne whose fur was standing completely on end, Altaïr was somewhat speechless.
This elder of Isis didn't seem particularly bright. He had no idea how she thought she could team up with Erik to trap him.
Erik was his friend, not hers. When it came to understanding Erik's personality, he was naturally far superior to her.
Before teaming up with him to set a trap, didn't she consider that she might get trapped instead?
The most amazing thing was that this fellow had actually sent a letter to the Hunter's Guild headquarters before the personnel had even been finalized, and likely sent it directly to His Immenseness's desk.
Who the scholar was and who the Hunter was could be changed, but you, the initiator of the investigation team, are the one constant that cannot be altered. It didn't matter who went or who stayed behind; you were definitely going to that Jungle, and you couldn't just half-heartedly breeze through it. With an investigation quest permit personally signed by His Immenseness, you likely wouldn't be able to account for yourself if you didn't discover something.
Weren't you just digging a hole for yourself to jump into?
Shalan seemed to finally realize this, and a hint of panic surfaced on her originally energetic face.
She certainly wasn't afraid of the dangers in the Jungle, but was this hard-earned vacation really going to be wasted on an investigation quest permit she had brought upon herself?!
At the thought of this, her nose twitched and tears nearly welled up, but her competitive nature forced her to hold them back as she wiped her eyes with a small paw.
Even if you dug the hole yourself, you had to grit your teeth and fill it in, even if it meant using your head to plow the dirt, meow!
"Just you wait, meow! Even if I'm all alone, I'll definitely uncover the truth, meow! I'll show you all the backbone of a 9★ Palico, meow!"
With that, Shalan jumped off the sofa and made to run out the door.
"Wait a second."
Altaïr reached out to call her back. "On second thought, it might not be a bad idea for the three of us to enter the Jungle first for a scouting run.
"Learning the situation through reports from other investigation teams will never compare to exploring it firsthand.
"We can conduct an initial investigation, check several Large Monsters, and confirm if there are any signs of a Hyper state.
"Once Isis and the Professor arrive, we can launch a deeper investigation. How does that sound?"
"Meow?" Shalan turned her head, sniffling.
Could this guy actually be a good person, meow?
Altaïr worked hard to maintain a calm, analytical expression on his face.
Good grief, he almost forgot that this fellow was Isis's mother's partner, the hunting companion of the "Red Blade" herself.
What did a 9★ Palico even represent? Even if she couldn't match the very top echelon of Hunters, her strength was likely around 6★.
Setting aside her wealth of experience and history that exceeded a normal person's imagination, in terms of pure combat ability alone, Teacher Karin or Haifa might not necessarily be a match for this cat.
Furthermore, investigation missions allowed for a high degree of freedom. As long as they found some clues, the Guild likely wouldn't mind if they culled a few Large Monsters along the way, especially since the leader wasn't him...
He had almost missed a golden opportunity that had walked right up to his door. As for that loose cannon Erik, if worst came to worst, he'd just tie him up with a rope!
Shalan looked at the investigation quest permit in her hand, then back at Altaïr. "So you're really planning to go, meow?"
"I'm really going."
"But I'm the leader, meow? You have to follow my orders, meow?"
"Of course you're the leader!"
(Translated by yourtl.app)