Under Julius's lead, Altaïr and Isis arrived at the Gathering Hall in the Hunter's Guild headquarters.
On the way, Isis tried to get information from Julius about her parents' quest, but he cut her off with a curt, "Don't ask too many questions. You don't have clearance to know."
Isis wanted to press him further, but Altaïr stopped her with a look.
He shook his head.
Julius led them in silence to a meeting room, then left. He had barely said a word the entire way, giving them no opportunity to probe him.
Before opening the meeting-room door, Altaïr whispered to Isis, "Mr. Julius commands the Guild Knights and is an 8★ Hunter.
"He would never need to come in person merely to deliver orders. Bringing us the documents and leading us here were obviously errands he handled along the way.
"He came to brief your parents about their quest.
"They weren't given written orders, and a high-ranking Guild officer had to brief them in person. That means the quest is highly classified. Don't pry any further.
"Focus on our own assignment."
"All right." Isis exhaled softly, suppressed her worries, and reached for the door.
Before she could touch it, the meeting-room door swung open from within.
The person who opened it was someone else they knew, Nadia, Mr. Julius's partner and the woman known as "God's Eye."
She glanced toward the stern figure disappearing down the corridor and smiled. "He's strict, isn't he?
"Don't mind him. It's a habit born of his work as an enforcer.
"Come in. We'll talk inside."
The small meeting room was tightly sealed, its windows shut and hidden behind thick curtains. Besides Nadia, only one other person was inside.
He appeared to be under thirty and wore the robes of the Royal Paleontology Scriveners. His slightly rough, sun-darkened complexion suggested that he was a field scholar.
At the sight of two more High Rank Hunters, he quickly stood and nodded to them. "It's a pleasure to meet you both. I'm Kral, a researcher with the Royal Paleontology Scriveners.
"I'll be providing academic and intelligence support for this quest."
"Everyone, take a seat." Nadia gestured for the three of them to sit down. "You've read the orders, correct?"
"Yes." Altaïr took out the orders and unfolded them. A quest form was attached inside.
Investigation Quest: Jungle Mist (★★★★★★★)
Quest Target: Chameleos
Quest Location: Telos Jungle; Time Limit: 15 days; Reward: 50,000z
Monsters That May Appear: Not listed. Client: Guild Manager. The Elder Dragon Observation Team has detected signs that a Chameleos is leaving its habitat deep within the Telos Jungle. Based on its projected route, it may reach the outskirts of Grom-Baum and pose a serious threat to the city.
The team's observation balloons have lost track of the target. Determine its precise location.
Use your own judgment as the situation develops. If necessary, use force to drive it back to its original habitat.
"Before anything else, I'd like to confirm one point, Ms. Nadia. You're the lead Hunter on this quest, correct?" Altaïr asked.
He and Isis were only 6★ Hunters. Assigning them a 7★ quest as their first mission made little sense.
The target was not merely an Elder Dragon. Wording such as "use your own judgment" and "use force if necessary" hardly seemed intended for "rookies" like them.
As soon as he received the quest, he had suspected that he and Isis were not its primary Hunters and would probably serve in supporting roles.
Ms. Nadia's presence reinforced that suspicion. She was an 8★ Hunter, and a quest form of this level made perfect sense in her hands.
Even so, he needed confirmation.
"That's right," Ms. Nadia said with a smile. "I was originally supposed to carry out this mission alone.
"But Julius considered it too dangerous to track a Chameleos alone. It is an Elder Dragon skilled in concealment and ambush, with terrifying toxins at its disposal, so he suggested adding some support.
"That's when we thought of you two."
Altaïr nodded silently.
Although she did not say so outright, he realized that the assignment had been chosen with their development in mind.
From what little he knew, Chameleos ranked among the least powerful Elder Dragons.
They could turn invisible and release potent toxins, but were otherwise relatively unaggressive. Some formidable High Rank Hunters even derisively called them the "Shame of the Elder Dragons."
The Guild also possessed a relatively thorough body of research on Chameleos.
With Ms. Nadia, an experienced 8★ Gunner, leading the team, the quest's overall risk should not be too high.
At the same time, it would give them experience confronting an Elder Dragon, making it a thoughtfully chosen first assignment.
Of course, he would not let that make him careless.
Even one of the least powerful Elder Dragons was far more dangerous than 6★ Monsters such as the Brute Tigrex and Kuarusepu they had hunted before.
Ms. Nadia smiled at him, her pitch-black eyes seeming to see through every thought in his mind.
"All right, young man. Don't overthink it. Let Mr. Kral explain the situation in detail first," Nadia said, nodding to the scholar. "They know very little about Chameleos, so be thorough.
"Mr. Kral is an expert on Chameleos. He has published numerous respected papers on its camouflage mechanism, toxins, and related subjects."
"You give me far too much credit. Whatever I've accomplished is merely the result of good luck..." The young scholar seemed somewhat nervous.
Isis looked intrigued. "Research can depend on luck?"
Altaïr gave her a helpless look. Isn't he obviously just being modest?
To his surprise, Kral chuckled awkwardly and scratched his cheek. "It truly was good luck. I was originally assigned to the Chameleos research team because I had 'good eyesight.'
"Incidentally, I used to be responsible for collecting Monster dung samples in my previous laboratory. That was important work too."
"It certainly was," Altaïr said with complete seriousness. "Monster dung can reveal a wealth of useful information, including diet, physical condition, and much more."
"Exactly!" Kral clapped his hands, wearing the delighted expression of someone who had finally been understood.
"Is that the good luck you meant?" Isis asked, unable to understand his excitement.
"Ahem, no, not that," Kral said, adjusting his glasses awkwardly when he realized he had wandered off topic. "The main reason was... Well, once, when a Chameleos appeared, we went out to collect samples of its tracks and secretions.
"The Chameleos suddenly appeared behind me and spat venom at me. Some of it landed in the specimen bottle I was holding.
"Just like that, we obtained both a sample of Chameleos toxin and a poisoned living specimen."
Sajji craned his neck. "And it didn't kill you, meow?"
"Many people misunderstand Chameleos. Strange as they look, they are actually fairly mild-tempered.
"Chameleos secretes several kinds of toxin. In addition to a lethal hemolytic toxin and a corrosive toxin that destroys flesh, it also produces a nonlethal variety.
"That toxin reacts with the glycogen in a creature's body, consuming it while generating large quantities of lactic acid. This robs the victim of stamina and mobility almost instantly.
"Being poisoned by it feels like copying an entire book in one sitting, until your arms are too sore to lift."
Just like after Mr. Gordon dragged me through strength training this morning... Altaïr silently added.
"The scholars studied that toxin in depth and confirmed how it worked. Our team published several papers on the findings.
"Later, a Hunter brought back a sample of Chameleos skin. The scholars tried to determine how it changed color and rendered the creature invisible, but none of their methods could trigger a reaction.
"I was doing odd jobs in the laboratory at the time and accidentally dropped an Electro Sac onto the skin. It immediately began cycling through different colors.
"Further research showed that the mechanism behind the skin's color changes was linked to electrical currents. Our team published several more papers based on those findings.
"Then, before I knew it, I had become deputy head of the Chameleos research team."
Even Isis, who knew little about academic research, fell silent.
So this was what a scholar blessed by luck looked like.
P.S. This researcher appears in the Monster Hunter 2 setting guide. Chameleos spitting venom at him and some of it landing in a bottle, yielding a toxin sample, and his accidentally dropping an Electro Sac onto a Chameleos skin sample, revealing the principle behind its invisibility, all come directly from that guide.