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The creek gurgled, fish played, and warblers sang sweetly.
A rustle of the bushes, and a fuzzy, blue-green head cautiously poked out. It glanced left and right. Seeing that everything was as usual, the tense, strong body relaxed.
The Arzuros, behaving like a thief, lowered its body and shuffled to the water's edge. It observed its surroundings again for a moment, let out a heavy exhalation of warm air from its nose, and then stared intently at the water surface.
The violent yellow creature isn't around. Must hurry and fish two quick ones!
A few dozen meters behind it, in the middle of a thicket, a camouflage net woven with dead branches and leaves was suddenly pulled back.
A middle-aged woman with healthy, tanned skin stood up, aimed a wondrous device called "binoculars" toward the Arzuros, and observed intently for a moment.
"It knows this area has been claimed by the Royal Ludroth, and it clearly harbors fear towards that creature, yet it still risks getting beaten to come here and fish. This Arzuros seems to be more gluttonous than other individuals we've observed before!"
"Let me see! Let me see!"
A small, fair-skinned hand, stained with light black mud, reached out, eager to grab the binoculars.
The middle-aged woman allowed the other person to take the binoculars, only turning to say with exasperation:
"Sophia, I understand your love for monsters, but can you please not be so impatient?"
Sophia gave a perfunctory "Mh-hmm," but her gaze was completely captivated by the scene unfolding through the binoculars. The Arzuros's timid yet clumsy movements brought a genuine smile to her lips.
"Teacher, do you really think it knows how to make fire? I highly doubt the authenticity of that report! Could the observer have been seeing things?"
The middle-aged woman, whom Sophia called Teacher, corrected her: "Firstly, that observer only used the description 'allegedly attempting to start a fire with a wooden drill,' they did not explicitly state it can create fire."
"Secondly, confirming the accuracy of reports—isn't that precisely the purpose of our observation here?"
"If we can confirm this, it would be a tremendous discovery. It would mean that the research we thought was complete on the Arzuros still has gaps.
"And when that investigation report is written up with your name on it, you can finally drop the 'apprentice' prefix from your Scholar's Team title."
The two were discussing the possible discovery when a roar, clearly different from the Arzuros's, suddenly came from the distance. Faint voices seemed to be mixed in with it.
"Eh? The Arzuros's behavior is changing strangely!"
"What? Give that back to me!"
The woman Sophia called Teacher—Mia—snatched the binoculars back and witnessed the following scene:
The Arzuros, which had been focusing on fishing, suddenly jerked when it heard the roar, nearly bolting. But then it heard the faint human voices that accompanied the roar and instantly froze.
It tentatively pawed at its ears, as if to confirm what it heard, then focused its attention to listen. After a moment of hesitation, it actually changed direction and began to creep stealthily toward the source of the sound.
A sharp gleam burst from Teacher Mia's eyes. Aberrant. Too aberrant! Something must have changed the Arzuros's behavioral pattern!
Her desire for knowledge was burning!
"Quick, Sophia! We're following it!"
She grabbed Sophia's hand, ready to leap out of the thicket where they were hiding.
"Mia, I told you! After all these years, can you not change that impulsive nature of yours?"
An arm covered in black armor reached out from the side and grabbed Mia, pulling her back and making her sit down hard on the ground.
"Rachelle! What are you doing!"
The female Hunter, wearing the Gunner set of Nargacuga armor, gave Mia a disdainful look. "You tell Sophia not to be impatient, and yet you are the most impatient one here. You have some nerve."
She ignored Mia's frantic tugging at her short hair and said coolly:
"That roar was clearly from a Royal Ludroth. It must be fighting a Hunter. The Arzuros is running to join the fun, and you're going with it? If you get caught in the crossfire, should I intervene?"
"Don't cause me trouble unnecessarily! If you hadn't dragged me out here, I'd be soaking in the village hot springs enjoying the view, not standing here with you catching a breeze."
Stuck here and unable to follow the Arzuros, Teacher Mia felt like Thunderbugs were crawling over her—her heart felt itchy with impatience. "But…"
"Sigh, fine. Don't start giving me big Scholar lectures. I've heard enough. Look, I'll go."
Rachelle adjusted the ammunition belts attached to her armor, repositioning her beloved Nargacuga Heavy Bowgun, the "Shadow Snipe," and said with a helpless shake of her head:
"You two stay behind me. Don't run off."
"Hooray!"
…
Meanwhile, on the other side.
The effect of a Deodorant Bomb in driving off a monster is not guaranteed to be 100% successful. Its principle is to use an offensive odor to repel the opponent, but whether they leave depends entirely on the monster's disposition.
And right now, the Royal Ludroth, covered in dung, had fixed its enraged gaze on Ethan.
It disliked the smell, but the small creature who had the audacity to throw dung and provoke it was clearly much more irritating than the mere foul odor.
Ethan watched the Royal Ludroth charge forward with a momentum grander than a freight train. After a brief calculation, he suppressed the suicidal urge to Guard Point the attack.
If he failed to block it, he would surely be flattened into Ethan-pulp.
He sheathed his Sword and Shield and ran laterally, his peripheral vision constantly tracking the Royal Ludroth's movements. Seeing that its charging direction changed as he ran, he ground his teeth in frustration, but did not try to accelerate and escape the lock-on. Instead, he secretly braced the tension in his mind to its absolute maximum.
The distance between them continued to close. Just as the splashing water was about to drench Ethan, he suddenly dove forward, his leg muscles exploding with force. In a brief moment, he surged three or four meters ahead.
Over a distance of three or four meters, the Royal Ludroth could have hit him with a simple twist of its neck. However, once its massive, heavy body began charging, the inertia prevented it from easily changing direction. Moreover, this wasn't underwater, so its agile swimming ability was useless. The Royal Ludroth could only watch helplessly as the despicable little creature scrambled to its feet to the side, while it lumbered forward for nearly twenty meters before finally managing to stop.
"Eat shit, you!"
Another lump of ochre-colored dung exploded on its head. The Royal Ludroth angrily shook its head. The smell was now much stronger, making it severely uncomfortable.
This damned little creature! Why does it throw excrement like a Pink Congalala!
"Grrr…"
The Royal Ludroth glared at the distant, dung-flinging little golden Rajang (Congalala) provoking it. It let out an angry growl from its throat, then suddenly opened its mouth and spat out a large ball of viscous water, which flew straight toward Ethan.
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