(A quick clarification: in official lore, Infernal Springs is an arena-style locale. In this story, the name also covers the vast mountain region surrounding that arena, several thousand square kilometers of mountains shrouded in mist and miasma. That is why the Shagaru Magala has so many places to hide.)
The plan Altaïr proposed was not some ingenious, unconventional scheme that made people exclaim, "So that's how it can be done!"
As a Guild official, however, Guild Master Hojo preferred this kind of steady, methodical approach. Altaïr's thinking closely matched his own.
He gave Maki a slight nod.
As the group's strongest combatant and the nominal commander of the operation, Maki agreed without much hesitation.
"I'll transfer the entire Meowcenaries over. And these 'other reconnaissance forces' you mentioned, what exactly are you referring to?"
"Mainly the Kamura Hunters. With help from Palamutes and Cohoots, they are highly efficient at conducting a dragnet search. First, though, let me ask: this place called Infernal Springs is not a lush, heavily vegetated area with plenty of cover, is it?"
"It isn't." Maki shook her head. "Infernal Springs consists of rugged mountain ridges with almost no vegetation. The overall environment resembles a volcanic region, but without active volcanoes or magma. Miasma and fog shroud the region year-round, severely limiting the Cohoots' vision, so they can only scout at low altitude. A few places where the miasma is especially dense, such as valleys, could provide the target with hiding places."
"That makes things easier. We can have the Meowcenaries focus their reconnaissance on those areas. If the Shagaru Magala has managed to evade every search, it is probably hiding in a place like that."
Hinoa frowned. "We have tried this kind of focused reconnaissance before, but it never produced results. The Shagaru Magala is both intelligent and cautious. We suspect it slipped away before we could discover it."
Master Utsushi smiled. "That was because we were short-handed before. The net we cast was too loose, leaving gaps for it to escape through. Now that our scouting force has grown so much, we can deploy separate squads around a perimeter. Sooner or later, we will force it to show itself."
Altaïr added with a grin, "As long as we can mark it with a Paintball, it won't be able to shake our pursuit, especially if it cannot fly out of the area at high altitude."
"Thank goodness the Elder Dragons have formed an ironclad cordon around the region." Isis could not help remarking, "Otherwise, pinning it down would be incredibly difficult."
"BWAHAHAHAHA!" A sudden burst of thunderous laughter in the meeting room startled everyone.
The bold, uninhibited Ayame slapped the table and rose. She could not be bothered to listen to all the complicated details. For her, one fact was enough: the target could no longer escape.
"May our flames blaze to the heavens! Its minions have almost all been wiped out, and even the Elder Dragons are helping us. Let's see where it can run now!"
—--
Once the meeting ended, Cohoots and the Meowcenaries' Felynes scattered in every direction with the latest orders.
Maki and her companions still had a few days to rest and recover before the reconnaissance teams fully assembled.
Altaïr and his companions had planned to continue taking quests, clearing out infected creatures while trying their luck in the hope of encountering another Gore Magala.
Naturally, he hoped the next one would not be another special individual...
When Maki learned that Altaïr and the others wanted to gather Gore Magala materials for new equipment, however, she immediately assigned all four of them to the reconnaissance force.
Officially, Altaïr's squad was powerful. During reconnaissance, they could venture deep into miasma-shrouded caves and ravines beyond the Cohoots' reach, where they could play a critical role.
Privately... why bother looking for a Gore Magala? They could serve as reserves, lend a hand during the operation, and take home some Shagaru Magala materials!
Altaïr knew Lady Maki was using the opportunity to repay the favor from the previous "special treatment," but the offer was far too good to refuse.
Compared with the infected-creature culling quests they had almost grown tired of, joining the siege of an Elder Dragon was clearly more important and offered far greater training value.
On top of that, Maki casually assigned Altaïr the task of finding a way to restrict the Shagaru Magala's ability to fly.
Altaïr very much wanted to remind her that she was the operation's principal combatant and field commander. But when he saw Maki's confident expression, which seemed to say, "If you can't think of anything, don't worry. If we kill it enough times, it will die eventually," he could only keep his mouth shut.
He suddenly felt that he and Lady Maki were not quite so alike after all.
Perhaps the Kamura region simply had too many bizarre Monsters running around, leaving her no time to think about anything else. Her thought process always came down to, "Kill it." "Not dead? Kill it again." "Still there? Kill it again."
As for the crucial question of how to kill something, she never seemed to worry about it.
If anyone asked, her answer was simply, "Because I'm super strong!"
Forget it... The person responsible for thinking about those "minor details" in Kamura Village had never been Lady Maki anyway.
She truly was Kamura's muscle. Someone else had to be its strategist, right?
Seeing Altaïr's worried frown after entrusting him with such an important task, Maki turned back and pointed him toward Hibasa, the leader of the smiths.
As a leader, she did not have to excel at everything. She only had to know who did.
—--
With a "might as well try" attitude, Altaïr visited the temporary workshop and spoke with the lead smith. What he learned left him stunned.
He already knew Hibasa was an exceptional craftsman and that his greatest expertise lay in machinery and mechanical contraptions. Sajji, who had come to regard Hibasa as his role model, had emphasized the latter countless times.
Until then, however, Altaïr's understanding of Hibasa had gone no further than "first-rate smith" and "superb engineer." In his eyes, Hibasa was one of the finest support specialists, but not someone he associated directly with combat.
Only after speaking with him did Altaïr realize that the man was a great inventor in the truest sense.
Hibasa was one of the very few artisans with genuine front-line combat experience. During Kamura Village's most difficult period, he had even fought on the battlefield as a Light Bowgun user.
That experience gave Hibasa a perspective distinct from those of Hunters focused solely on the Hunt and artisans who spent their lives at a workbench.
A simple example made the difference clear.
When a weapon proved too weak to deal with a Monster during a Hunt, what would other Light Bowgun users think and do?
Naturally, they would gather materials, forge a better weapon, and hone their skills at the same time, making themselves stronger.
What about a smith? An artisan might turn to a Dragonator or cannon.
Hibasa, by contrast, used his mechanical expertise to invent an entirely new heavy weapon whose rate of fire and accuracy surpassed traditional artillery: the Machine Cannon.
Then he could mow down with a single burst the kind of Monster that was difficult to handle with a Light Bowgun yet too agile to target with a Dragonator or cannon...
That's right. According to official lore, today's Machine Cannons, now standard heavy armament at every major fortress and aboard many modern Airships, were Hibasa's invention.
After hearing Altaïr explain that he needed to restrict the Shagaru Magala's flight and was considering ropes or a One-shot Binder, Hibasa came up with several highly practical plans almost immediately.
Within a few more minutes of discussion, the two had settled on both a primary plan and a backup.
No wonder Maki and the others never bothered spending time discussing exactly how something should be done. All anyone had to do was find Hibasa.
Tell him, "This is what I need to accomplish," and he would produce a suitable mechanical contraption.
Was there really any need for Lady Maki to make Altaïr solve the problem? Could she have assigned him the task simply to give him an excuse to claim a share of the materials?
Gazing at the man he had mentally promoted from "leader of the smiths" to "brains of Kamura Village," Altaïr could not resist asking, "Mr. Hibasa, why didn't you attend the meeting earlier?
"If you had been there, these problems could have been solved on the spot, couldn't they?"
"Ah..." The genial middle-aged man's smile stiffened slightly at Altaïr's question.
He stroked the neatly trimmed beard beneath his chin. "Ahem. Anyway, if you really need something from me, you can always come and ask after the meeting, can't you?
"I'm not very fond of formal meetings. There are too many people, and everything is so serious, especially when she's there too..."
Before he could say more, a loud voice rang out from the workshop entrance. "Hibasa, are you in there? I came to see you!"
Utterly unconcerned by the teasing and amused looks from the other smiths, the bold and unrestrained Long Sword user named Ayame strode inside with her usual swagger.
Without the slightest concern for a junior like Altaïr standing there, she hooked an arm around Hibasa's shoulders, despite being half a head taller than him, and planted a loud kiss on his cheek.
"Honestly, why didn't you come to the meeting? Listening to all their endless chatter bored me to death. It was like listening to a Tetranadon snore!
"Huh? Isn't that Altaïr? What fun are you two talking about?" Ayame raised her eyes and looked at Altaïr in surprise, as though she had only just noticed someone else was there.
"Sorry to intrude, Mr. Hibasa. Goodbye."
And to think he had once believed Ayame's personality bore the slightest resemblance to Isis's...
Not even a little!