"Boom! Boom!"
Amid the continuous roar of cannon fire, another Vespoid was blasted apart mid-air.
Having found a suitable method, their efficiency in dealing with Vespoids had indeed improved significantly, though it was likely that no one in the entire town would get to sleep early tonight.
Fortunately, it wasn't a major issue.
During the extermination process, people repeatedly opened doors and windows to inquire about the situation. Upon learning that hunters were eliminating Vespoids, everyone expressed no objections, it seemed the town had been quite troubled by these creatures recently.
Erik was responsible for locating them, while the hunters focused on eliminating them. The three coordinated effectively, taking down over a dozen Vespoids one after another.
At one point, due to Isis's misfired cannon shot, one Vespoid lost half its wing and fell. Altaïr intended to finish it off, but Erik stopped him.
Erik pleaded with Altaïr for help, and the two exerted some effort to capture the flightless Vespoid alive using an insect net, planning to bring it back for closer examination.
Altaïr glanced up at the moon's position.
The night had grown deep, and the Vespoids wandering the town had been mostly cleared. As for those hidden in the caves, they couldn't be eradicated all at once.
After a brief discussion, they decided to return for the night, leaving the remainder for the next day.
—--
When the three returned to their lodgings and reported their achievements, the Professor first offered a few words of praise before noticing the Vespoid Erik had captured alive.
The old Wyverian was overjoyed, "Perfect! The corpse we brought back earlier was somewhat damaged, leaving a few things uncertain. I was just thinking of asking you to bring back a more intact specimen, and here it is! Hurry up and kill it, then place it on the dissection table!"
Erik pouted but had no choice but to comply with his mentor's decision. He cleanly executed the Vespoid by piercing its nerve cluster with an iron spike as thick as a little finger, then began the dissection alongside the Professor, who had put on his mask and gloves again.
Altaïr and Isis stayed nearby, cleaning and maintaining their weapons and armor while awaiting the results.
A long while later, the Professor finally removed his gloves, handed the tools and corpse to his disciple for cleanup, and muttered to himself, "Just as I thought..."
"Professor? Have you reached a conclusion?" Altaïr asked as he stored away his meticulously polished and oiled weapons, while Isis's face also showed anticipation.
Instead of answering their question directly, the old Wyverian countered, "If I were to say the extermination mission needs to be changed to a hunting mission, would you two be interested in taking it on?" This rhetorical question itself answered their question. Altaïr and Isis exchanged glances.
"Of course we're interested!"
"Could you explain in detail?"
"I knew you'd say that," the Professor said, removing his glasses and rubbing his tired eyes. "I hope I won't regret entrusting this matter to you two youngsters."
"So it's confirmed that the Vespoid Queen exists, right?" Altaïr pressed, wanting a more definitive answer.
"Yes," the Professor replied, putting his glasses back on. "As I explained before, Vespoids affected by the Vespoid Queen undergo changes in certain organs. The reproductive organs degenerate, losing reproductive capability, the digestive system undergoes mutation, growing specialized feeding organs similar to honey sacs in bees, and so on.
The first corpse you sent back earlier had atrophied reproductive organs, but this could also occur under conditions of food scarcity.
However, the second specimen not only showed atrophy of the reproductive organs but also developed specialized feeding organs, structures specifically evolved to nourish the Queen. This confirms the Vespoid Queen must exist."
Altaïr nodded upon hearing this.
His time spent with the Professor had taught him that the Professor was a man of precise speech. When uncertain about something, he habitually used terms like "probable" or "possible" to describe it.
Now that he said "must," it indicated the evidence was conclusive.
"What is the danger level of the Vespoid Queen?" Isis asked nervously from the side.
While she was genuinely interested in hunting the Vespoid Queen, she had never forgotten the elders' warnings, never undertake tasks far beyond your capabilities.
Trying to run before learning to walk is an adventure, but attempting to fly by jumping off a mountaintop before even learning to walk is sheer recklessness.
If the Vespoid Queen's danger level was truly four stars, five stars, or even higher, no matter how interested she was, she wouldn't lead her companions to their deaths.
"That's a question you'll have to judge for yourselves," the Professor said, raising his snow-white eyebrows. "There are too few hunting records of the Vespoid Queen, so few you could count them on one hand.
There are cases of 3★ Hunters successfully hunting it, but also instances where 5★ Hunters were severely injured and forced to retreat.
Its ecological role is similar to that of leaders like the Cephadrome or Congalala in monster groups, so the Guild has assigned it a danger level of 3★.
But as I mentioned earlier, there have been cases where 5★ Hunters failed in their hunt. So, what do you think its actual strength is?"
"It should be slightly weaker than the Cephadrome and others," Altaïr spoke up.
The Professor looked at him. "What's your reasoning?"
"Whether it's the Cephadrome, Congalala, or weaker ones like the Velocidrome and Bulldrome, they all likely grew into so-called 'Kings' through countless battles, defeating many of their kind, and securing the most food and resources, right?"
"That's correct," the Professor nodded, seemingly encouraging him to continue.
"But the Vespoid Queen is different. From what you described earlier, it seems the Vespoid Queen relies more on luck?
Stimulated by favorable environmental factors, it mutated to have stronger reproductive capabilities, controls its kin through hormones, gains support from the colony, and becomes a breeding machine.
It sounds a bit like queen bees or ants. When we were kids, we used to raid beehives and anthills. Those so-called queen bees and ants weren't as formidable as the soldier ants or worker bees.
Of course, we can't ignore the size factor. A seven-meter-long Vespoid with a stinger probably over a meter long could easily pierce through a person if it struck solidly.
But would a 'King' that relies on its kin for nourishment and focuses solely on reproduction truly be skilled in combat?"
"Good analysis," the Professor suddenly smiled at him.
Erik shrugged beside them. "I've read the mission report backups on the Vespoid Queen in the Grand Library, and they said the same thing, it relies on its swarm for protection and isn't skilled in combat itself."
Altaïr felt somewhat exasperated. "Since these conclusions already exist, why didn't you just say so earlier!"
The Professor chuckled softly, "Since you possess the ability to think independently, why not let you ponder it yourselves first?"
...Is this old man so accustomed to teaching that it's become instinct?
Isis, who had been tense just moments ago, also realized: if the Vespoid Queen truly was an opponent far beyond their capabilities, even if the Professor had the authority, he wouldn't assign them the task of hunting it, right?
Given his status in the guild, sending an urgent message via falcon to Val Habar to arrange for a hunter of comparable strength to come by airship wouldn't be difficult at all.
"So, the example you mentioned earlier about the 5★ hunter being severely injured and retreating, was it because that hunter didn't reduce the swarm's numbers in advance and instead went deep into the swarm's territory to confront the Vespoid Queen directly?" Altaïr speculated.
"Correct. In the mission report submitted afterward, that hunter mentioned being surrounded by over thirty Vespoids.
And the scale of the swarm here is likely even larger." The Professor said meaningfully.
"Surrounded by thirty Vespoids..." Just imagining the scene made Isis's scalp tingle. How noisy would that be!
Altaïr couldn't help but rub his arm. "Don't worry, we won't go looking for the Queen. We'll just hunt Vespoids until it can't help but come to us."
"Heh heh heh." The Professor chuckled a few times. "Then this old man can confidently entrust this task to you."
He took out the repeatedly revised mission form and made another round of changes.
——
Hunting Quest: Queen's Wingbeat (★★★)
Objective: Hunt one Vespoid Queen, slay thirty Vespoids
Location: Bedrock of Sun Worship Town
Duration: 10 days
Reward: 5100z
Possible Monsters: Vespoids
From the Professor of the Royal Academy: Work hard. If you resolve this neatly, there's a mysterious reward.
——
"Wow, 5100z! We only got 3000z for hunting the Yian Kut-Ku before!" Isis happily took the messy, revised mission form.
Altaïr smacked his lips. "But since it includes slaying thirty Vespoids, calculated as two combined quests, this reward isn't really that much, is it?"
The Professor glared at him. "Should this old man double your reward but remove the mysterious reward then?"
"I was joking!" Altaïr grinned. He wasn't stupid.
"So what is the mysterious reward?" Isis looked at the Professor, pressing curiously.
"Haven't decided yet." The Professor said irritably. "It'll be something compliant and legal, this old man will decide when the time comes!"