Isis diligently worked her way through the "Overview" compiled by Kitty, Alma, and the others. The task was far less relaxing than she had imagined.
The amount of reading had been reduced to a tenth of the original, but the volume of information was still immense.
All Kitty and Alma could do was weed out the tedious, lengthy arguments that made most people's eyes glaze over.
As for the numerous observations, interview transcripts, and even rumors and legends concerning the target, they could not remove any of them. Even the scholars could not determine which information might prove useful from a Hunter's perspective.
Holding the booklet, Isis gritted her teeth and finished the first page. She turned it, sped through the second page, and flipped it again. Altaïr, who was leaning over her shoulder, quickly reached out and turned it back.
"Don't try to memorize everything in your head. Take notes."
"Notes on what?" Isis asked blankly.
Altaïr almost laughed in exasperation. "They went through all that trouble to organize this for you, yet you've read several pages without extracting a single useful piece of information?!"
"Well..." Isis looked guilty.
Altaïr sat down in the chair beside her and pointed to a line in the densely written booklet.
"Here, a Royal Paleontology Scrivener witnessed a Kuarusepu eating ore. And here, the collected excrement contained almost no organic matter. What conclusion can you draw from those two facts?"
Isis clutched her head.
"Use your brain! Think!"
"Ugh..."
At that moment, Isis recalled the days when Master Amos had taught her to read and do arithmetic as a little girl. The scene had looked much the same.
The most terrifying part was that it had happened at this very table...
"Could Kuarusepu... eat ore, like Gravios?" Isis ventured cautiously.
Altaïr's expression softened slightly.
Although the same conclusion was written at the bottom of the page, the fact that she had cited Gravios as an example showed that she had genuinely thought it through.
"So how does that help with the Hunt?" Altaïr asked, trying to guide her reasoning.
Isis pondered for a moment, then her face lit up with understanding. "They eat ore! That means baiting them with Poisoned Meat or Drugged Meat won't work!"
"..." Altaïr choked on the retort lodged in his throat.
For a moment, he could not decide whether she was clever or dense.
Her mind had been so sharp when they made their preparations earlier. Why did it seem to lose a gear whenever books were involved?!
On the recliner by the window, Amos held a teacup, a wry smile tugging at his lips and a hint of vindictive satisfaction glinting in his eyes.
Watching Isis hunch her shoulders like a nervous Gargwa, Altaïr took a deep breath and composed himself.
"What you said isn't entirely wrong, but poisoned bait tactics only work on exceptionally gluttonous species, such as Pariapuria.
"In other words, it's a niche tactic. Ruling it out based on the target's diet isn't particularly useful.
"The main reason to identify a Monster's diet is to locate its likely feeding grounds, which can help you track its movements.
"Search around mines and ore veins, and there's a good chance you'll find something."
"Oh!"
Alma, seated across the table, spoke hesitantly. "Mr. Altaïr, I'll be accompanying Miss Isis as her Handler this time.
"I can offer suggestions like that..."
Isis raised her head, gratitude written across her face.
"No."
Isis lowered her head and shrank back again.
The speaker was not Altaïr, but Amos.
His voice was cold. "A Handler's duty is to catch oversights and offer advice, but Hunters must still think for themselves.
"If having a Handler beside you turns you into a mindless fighting machine, your instincts for the Hunt will steadily dull until one careless mistake costs you your life in the field."
Now Alma looked just as alarmed and uneasy as Isis. "I'm sorry, I..."
"There's nothing wrong with offering advice in your role as a Handler. I simply don't want Isis to become overly dependent on others."
Amos glanced at Alma and Kitty. "You've already done more than enough gathering material and organizing the intelligence, and you've done it well.
"Altaïr and Isis will still be at this for a while, and you both look exhausted. Go home and get some rest."
Kitty wanted to spend more time with her cousin, but Amos had already issued a polite dismissal. She and Alma had no choice but to stand, say their goodbyes, and leave.
"On this matter, I agree with Master Amos."
After seeing Alma and Kitty out, Altaïr returned to the living room. "The Professor once complained to us that Hunters generally aren't well educated and don't like using their heads. Do you remember?"
Isis nodded. "Mhm... It was after that Hunt on the Duramboros."
"It's extremely difficult to raise the general educational level of Hunters through better schooling. The Guild tried, but unfortunately, it failed.
"Low Rank quests are manageable, of course, but as quests grow more difficult, simply killing the target is often no longer enough. High Rank Hunters need to know how to think.
"That has become a limitation for many Hunters who possess outstanding combat talent but struggle with reasoning.
"To address the problem, the Guild introduced the Handler system. Put simply, it gave Hunters an external brain.
"Pairing martial strength with scholarly knowledge has proven highly effective. With a Handler's help, many Hunters who excel only in combat can complete harder and more complex quests.
"But... having someone else think for you will never be as good as thinking for yourself.
"If you're content to remain at 6★ forever, that's perfectly fine. Find a reliable Handler and simply do whatever they tell you.
"But you're aiming higher than that, aren't you?
"Take your parents, for example. They work with Handlers too, of course, but do they bring one on every operation?
"Would they have no idea what to do without one?"
"Of course not!" Isis answered without hesitation.
"I don't think so either." Altaïr returned to his seat beside Isis.
"So let's continue with the second page. Tell me what useful information you extracted."
"Ugh..."
"Think faster!"
From dusk until late into the night, the two of them finally worked through the entire overview Alma and the others had prepared.
Isis lay motionless across the table, utterly drained, like a withered plant.
Altaïr massaged his aching temples, looking equally exhausted.
Summarizing intelligence was not difficult for him, especially when the scholars had already completed the most time-consuming and labor-intensive work.
But he did not want to simply hand Isis the "answers." Guiding her toward conclusions of her own had taken a tremendous amount of effort.
At one point, frustration had almost made him give up. He usually made decisions for her anyway. It was not as though she could not live her whole life being a little slow.
In the end, however, he gritted his teeth and persevered. Since Isis had a brain capable of flexible thought, he could not let her turn into a fool!
"Can I still say I completed this quest independently...?" Isis mumbled into the table.
"You can." Altaïr reached over and ruffled the back of her head. "I kept pushing you, but you really did wring these conclusions out of your own brain."
Only a few lines had been written on a sheet of parchment.
[Kuarusepu feeds on ore. The crystals on its back can absorb energy. In sunny weather, they absorb and store heat from sunlight, allowing Kuarusepu to unleash high-temperature attacks. In rainy weather, they absorb lightning, allowing it to release electric shocks.]
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This chapter was translated through YourTL.app, which can also translate novels for readers when no English version exists.