Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 375 Part-time job
"Hello meow! Can we see the menu here, meow?"

Seeing the old dragonman slowly walking over, Date waved its paw and greeted him politely.

However, Lin Lin felt something was off as he watched the bald old dragonman slowly approaching.

Having been in this world for so long, I have seen quite a few dragon people. The vast majority of them are old men and women who have grown old and timid. Among them are alchemists, craftsmen, guild managers, and scholars who conduct research, but I have never seen anyone working as a waiter.

"Hmm... This is a new face I've never seen before. Are you a guest who has come from afar?"

The old dragon looked dazed, as if he hadn't fully woken up from a dream. He rubbed his eyes and glanced at the man and the Palico, then took a thin menu from the table next to him and placed it in front of Date.

"Yes, meow! My boss and I flew all the way from East Doruma, meow!"

Date took the menu and thanked him.

However, it didn't even look at the menu, but pushed it directly to Lin Lin, while it casually chatted with the old dragon man.

"Dondoruma? That seems quite far..."

Old Dragon's tone was gentle and slow, which seemed quite leisurely. Date had never encountered this kind of way of speaking before, and she chatted with Old Dragon quite enthusiastically for a while.

"It's really far, meow. It took us more than two days to get there by airship, meow! We just got off the airship not long ago, meow..."

"Oh, I see. No wonder you look so travel-worn..."

As Lin Lin flipped through the menu, he glanced at the dragon and Ailu, who were having a pleasant conversation, with a strange expression.

After a brief moment of thought, he realized what was going on.

Dragon people are much rarer than humans and are not everywhere. Those who are old often hold important positions because of their rich knowledge and experience. Kokot Village is not a big city, so how could there be any dragon people here working as waiters?
Moreover, Kokot Village isn't very big, and apart from the village chief, Lin Lin doesn't recall any other dragon-people. That means the person in front of him is most likely the village chief of Kokot Village, the legendary Kokot hero...

He doesn't look like a strong person at all; he's more like an old man from next door who often naps or sunbathes while chatting about everyday things...

"Then why did you travel so far to this small village?"

"We came here on a commission, meow. If we don't reduce the number of fire dragons in Forest Hill in advance, the village may be in danger next spring, meow!"

This wasn't something that needed to be kept secret, so since they were curious, Yezao just answered casually.

"Just the two of you?"

The old dragon's lazy expression finally showed a slight change. A man and a cat, and they were confident enough to hunt down the Sky King, and they looked so young. Truly, new talents emerge in every generation...

"Yes, just me and Date Palm, to test our skills. Old man, you've lived around here for quite a while, haven't you? Is there anything special you should be careful about when hunting in the Forest Hills?"

Lin Lin had already ordered the food and joined in the conversation between the two.

Of course, when he said he was ordering food, he was just randomly choosing two set meals. After all, it was just a small restaurant and couldn't offer ingredients from all over the continent like Dongdoruma. Lin Lin's only requirement was to be able to eat his fill and for the food to taste better than what he could bring with him.

"Hmm... I'm just an old man, what useful advice can I possibly give?"

The old dragon looked bewildered, leaving Lin Lin speechless.

Pretending to be confused, you're really something...

"You must be the village chief of Kokot Village, the legendary Kokot hero, right? If you're just a decrepit old man, then where in this world are there any ordinary people left?"

Lin Lin simply brought up the topic directly, staring intently at the old dragon man.

Even after he said that, the old dragon still tried to deny it:
"Hunter, what are you talking about? I'm just an ordinary country bumpkin. What Kokot hero? I don't know anything about him..."

Lin Lin didn't speak, but stared at him intently.

If I were truly mistaken, I would have been strongly refuted by now, instead of trying to gloss over the issue with such vague and ambiguous statements.

"Alright, alright, but it's not really advice, just a little tip from a country bumpkin who's lived in the village for many years."

Old Dragon Man, unable to keep up the act any longer, scratched his head and muttered a few words before turning his gaze to the northwest, "Don't lean too far west."

"As long as you don't go west, if you really have the skills to challenge the fire dragon, you shouldn't have any problems moving around in the forest."

From the moment Lin Lin brought it up, Yezao's mouth gaped open. He was completely stunned that the confused old dragon he had just chatted with was the legendary great Kokot hero. He almost made his CPU smoke.

It took the date palm a long time to come to its senses, and it humbly asked for advice:
"Excuse me, why can't we go west? What monster is more terrifying than a fire dragon, meow?"

"Not a monster, but an omen of misfortune."

The old dragon man looked like a madman, like a country bumpkin who didn't understand science and believed in superstition and strange phenomena.

However, after misjudging the other party at the beginning, Yezao dared not still regard him as a country bumpkin, and repeatedly asked:
Could you please elaborate?

"Um..."

The old dragon man tugged at his beard in distress:

"Actually, there's not much to say. Many hunters who ignored warnings or accidentally lost their way entered the western region. Some of them never came back, while others returned alive, but they all went completely mad."

"Nobody knows the exact reason, they only know that going in that direction will bring bad luck."

Old Dragon shook his head, dropped the topic, and took the menu back into the restaurant to relay their order details—it seemed he really was working part-time as a waiter, and maybe even part-time as the owner.

As Yezao listened to the other person's brief description, she subconsciously shuddered, as if she had encountered some indescribable terror. She was only brought back to her senses after Lin Lin gently patted her.

"What's wrong?" Date rubbed itself vigorously with its paws. "What that old gentleman said was so scary, it almost made me explode, meow..."

Lin Lin gazed westward, recalling the continental map he had seen before. Starting from Kokot Village, crossing the Shureitesen Hill, and continuing westward, there lay... the ancient Shureite City!

Is it terrifying...? Indeed, that black flying fire-breathing giant lizard is quite sinister. Even the equipment made from its materials seems to be alive. Weapons can regenerate themselves, and armor can drive the wearer insane. Considering what the old village chief just said, I'm afraid that guy is really like Cthulhu. Even getting close to him will cause indescribable mental pollution.

But for some reason, Lin Lin didn't feel much like Ye Zao. Perhaps it was because he already understood the other's true nature, and had even hunted it countless times in the game, or perhaps it was because he still had an unclear connection with another taboo, and had already become accustomed to it...

"It's alright, we'll just be careful when we hunt, and make sure we don't go too far west."

……

After eating and drinking his fill, Lin Lin didn't rush off to the hunting grounds with the dates. Instead, he went to the small meeting place in the village to prepare the hunting gear and, most importantly, to do something else:

Hire cat carts and cat transport teams.

First and foremost, the Palico cart is undoubtedly the best guarantee of safety when traveling alone. Although many wild Palico groups also have contracts with guilds and will promptly rescue hunters in distress and take a third of the commission, these are ultimately unstable and low-probability events, far less reliable than hiring a professional Palico rescue team.

The Palico transport team wasn't unfamiliar to him; it was Yuuko's Palico transport team that had helped him bring back his original Rathalos armor set. However, since he later had teammates and they would jump around with him, there was almost no problem getting the materials, so he didn't bother hiring them again. A Rathalos is at least ten meters long, and now that solo hunting has resumed, he definitely couldn't bring back all the materials by himself.

The person helping Lin Lin with these matters was a signboard girl in a red uniform. Through a brief chat, Lin Lin learned that her name was Peiqi. As for the other signboard girl in a blue uniform who was completely absorbed in petting cats, her name was Qiao... Doris.

This pair looked somewhat familiar. Lin Lin vaguely remembered seeing their storyline in a game before, but he couldn't recall the specifics. However, one thing stuck with him.

That's the sweet-smiling girl in front of you. On the surface, she's a guild mascot, but in secret, she's a guild knight who will bring poachers to justice. It's said that sometimes when she gets itchy, she'll put down her mascot job and go out to be a hunter.

"It's done, Mr. Lin Lin. Once the hunt is over, fire a signal flare, and the transport team will arrive soon."

"Thank you, Peggy."

Lin Lin nodded, fastened his backpack pocket, and glanced at the date palm that Doris was clutching and roughly handling. Just as he was about to call it over, he suddenly seemed to remember something and turned back to ask:

"By the way, I don't think I saw many Palicoes in the village when I came here. I wonder where the Palicoes from the rescue team and the transport team are?"

But then Peiqi sighed softly:

“Our Kokot village is small and there aren’t many hunters. The size of the meeting place here isn’t enough to support the rescue and transport teams.”

Lin Lin looked curious. "How did the guild solve this problem? Did they allocate funds? Did they provide government subsidies?"

"Pfft..."

Peiqi couldn't help but chuckle softly, then shook her head after a moment:
"No, the guild always hopes that its branches can operate independently. If they encounter an insurmountable crisis, we will send people to provide support, but if it is just an operational issue, then we still have to solve it ourselves."

Lin Lin blinked. "No funding? Then what are you doing?"

"Um...actually, it's a part-time job..."

Peiqi glanced around, then lowered her voice:
"The Palicoes in the rescue and transport teams are actually wild Palico tribes living in the Forest Hills region. They have contracts with the guild and will help out if they encounter any. Later, the village chief suggested that the cooperation could be deepened. For hunters who need to hire a rescue team, they can send a small team to accompany them at all times to ensure that no accidents occur. And if the hunt is successfully completed without any accidents, the carts used for rescue can also be used to transport monster corpses..."

Lin Lin's lips twitched. Wild Ailu was already working part-time as a rescue team member and a transport team member, and now she had to hold both positions at the same time?

Is this really worthy of Kokot Village? The village chief doubles as a waiter, the signboard girl doubles as a guild knight, and the Palicoes double as rescue and transport teams...

Seeing Lin Lin's strange expression, Peiqi belatedly realized that she might have accidentally said too much, and quickly tried to make amends:
"Don't worry, although it's a part-time job, I can guarantee that our rescue and transportation teams are absolutely reliable!"

"Think about it, the Ellu who come here part-time are all native to Senqiu. They know the surrounding terrain and monster distribution like the back of their hand. Since they are only working part-time in Senqiu, their ability to deal with emergencies may even surpass that of professionally trained cats!"

Lin Lin had to admit that what Peiqi said seemed to make a lot of sense, but why did he still have a subtle feeling of unease?

After thinking carefully for a moment, Lin Lin finally found the source of the problem.

Damn it, this is basically me paying twice to hire a bunch of people!
Oh well, I've heard that wild Palicoes have a tough time. Let them earn a little something, that's fine. After all, I got a lot of valuable stuff from Mrs. Mineyama Dragon, so my little treasury is pretty good.

"Alright, alright, but since the rescue teams are all wild Ailu, how am I supposed to contact them?"

Peiqi took out a bamboo whistle and handed it to Lin Lin:

"Once we're inside the Forest Hills area, just blow this whistle, and the Palicoes that hear it will arrive quickly."

Seeing Lin Lin's lips twitching uncontrollably again, Peiqi quickly added:
"They all understand the meaning of the whistle, so you won't need to waste your breath explaining it to them!"

Lin Lin: ...

Oh well, the money's already spent, so let's just leave it at that.

"Dates, let's go, it's time to get to work!"

"Okay meow!"

Date's eyes lit up instantly. It couldn't wait to break free from Doris's clutches and ran straight towards Lin Lin on all fours. Then, it took three steps at a time and climbed onto Lin Lin's shoulder.

"Sigh...you're leaving so soon..."

At the entrance of the meeting place, as Lin Lin pushed the door open, Yezao glanced back and saw Doris staring at her with a regretful expression, which made her shiver again.

That's terrifying. It seems to know why Kokot Village doesn't have a professional rescue and transport team...

(End of this chapter)