MHGA Chapter 320: Meee-Meeeko Is MVP! Hunters Are Just Leeching Freeloader Dogs!
The previously radio-silent Kairo Retsu suddenly exploded with messages the moment Shirou contacted him, flooding the Gathering Hall channel with all kinds of feverish declarations:
"I'm about to ascend!!"
"Fortune favors the bold!!"
"Open-world, open-room freedom!!"
"Time to loot some junk!!"
His chaotic outbursts made the rest of the hunters seriously question what the hell Kairo had actually been doing out there.
But Kairo didn't keep his teammates waiting long. Soon enough, he came soaring in on a Wingdrake and landed at the Gathering Hall gates.
All the hunters—shining in newly-forged High Rank gear—stared as Kairo Retsu charged in like a madman, dressed in a battered, barely-holding-together set of Low Rank armor that looked about 10% intact.
He skidded through the entrance on his knees in a dramatic slide right past the hunters, shouting at the top of his lungs:
"YAHOOOOOOOOOO—!! Meeee-Meeeeko's score this time is a solid thirteen-point-zero!!!"
He grabbed a random Felyne and gave it a mua kiss.
"I'm a freeloading dog, and I'm proud of it!!"
After his wild entrance, the crowd followed Kairo to the smithy to see what he had brought back…
From his pack, he began unloading piles of broken black spikes—clearly harvested bit by bit from Nergigante.
Then…
He pulled out Teostra scales, Kushala Daora hide, Chameleos. fur, and other Elder Dragon materials.
Finally, from somewhere behind his butt—he produced several massive vials filled with Elder Dragon Blood.
"!"
The most monster-obsessed among them, Laios, pounced instantly and grabbed Kairo by the shoulders.
"Guildmaster!! What exactly have you been doing these past few days?! How did you get all this material?!"
"How many Elder Dragons did you see?!" Naofumi asked, intrigued.
"A lot! I even saw the Elder Crossing!!" Kairo's eyes gleamed with memory. "These past few days…"
He quickly explained everything.
Starting from the territorial battle between Nergigante and Rajang—
Kairo, clinging to Mee-Meeeko's tail, had been riding along like a parasite—watching as Nergigante went out of its way to pick fights with Elder Dragons.
Teostra in the volcano…
Kushala Daora in the forest…
Velkhana in the frozen tundra…
Namielle in the Coral Highlands…
It even forced its way through a sandstorm to enter Zorah Magdaros's territory, stirred things up, and left like a boss.
Kairo Retsu, meanwhile, clung to Nergigante's tail the entire time like a remora fish stuck to a whale's belly—barely surviving through occasional misfires and relentless potion-chugging.
That was also why his armor now looked like a pile of rags.
And all the materials? He scavenged them during each of Nergigante's fights—tracking trails, looting scraps, and sometimes picking up entire claw pieces from the battlefield.
He even watched Nergigante kill Chameleos. during one of its rampages—then took advantage of the feeding window to sneak in and carve off some hide, membranes, a couple of claws, and bottled several vials of Elder Dragon Blood.
After hearing his ridiculous survival tale, the hunters stared at him with complicated expressions.
"That's not hunting! That's just… being a remora! A freaking remora stuck to a whale!" Kazuma roared in outrage. "How can you be our Guildmaster like this?!"
"I'm giving you the gear I craft."
"I KNEW IT! You're perfect for the Guildmaster role! Kazuma-sama adores and reveres you to the maximum—nine out of ten, even!!" Kazuma instantly bear-hugged Kairo's leg.
"I'd love to see those Elder Dragon-level battles with my own eyes…" Laios muttered, visibly envious. "And the Elder Crossing… if I could see it just once…"
"You will. Sooner or later. But for now… I've got gear to craft!!" Kairo declared, hauling his materials into the smithy. "I've already decided—my gear will be… the Nergigante Set! Activating!!"
With giddy excitement, Kairo started plotting out his armor build, then glanced back at the other hunters' gear sets.
"Nothing more to say, right? Then—let's party!! And… prepare for the next hunt!!"
"Time to CRUSH Military Uniform Princess Altair!!"
As Granny Felyne got to work preparing the massive feast from the fresh monster ingredients everyone had hunted, many of the hunters took this opportunity to invite allies from their own worlds to join the gathering celebration.
Tanjiro brought Nezuko along—plus a few others like Kanao and the younger squad.
King Laios invited his family and party members—including his external brain and royal advisor, Kabru.
But there were also some hunters who couldn't explain the Gathering Hall's existence in their worlds—so they didn't bring anyone.
This included Kairo Retsu, Emiya Shirou, Rakuro Hizutome…
…and the recently joined Sakuyo Mikage and Madoka Kaname.
As for Hibiki Tachibana—
Let's rewind a bit to just before the feast began.
Before the festivities, Kairo Retsu packed two bundles of Rathalos jerky and accompanied Hibiki Tachibana back to the world of Symphogear—paying an official solo visit to the commanding officer of S.O.N.G.'s Special Disaster Response Division Second Unit…
…her teacher, and the man who taught her how to fight:
Genjuro Kazanari.
As the only Symphogear character with no mechanical gimmick to his power yet still possessing the highest base stats across the board, Kairo gave this number-crunching monster the respect he deserved.
In Genjuro's home, they sat face to face in a traditional Japanese dojo. Hibiki waited anxiously in the corner.
"…An isekai traveler?" Genjuro looked skeptically at the unassuming Kairo Retsu before glancing at Hibiki. "Are you sure about this, Hibiki?"
"Maybe-probably-definitely from another world… I think…" Hibiki fumbled nervously. "Guildmaster said… he wants to help me solve some future problems in advance…"
"That's right."
Kairo nodded. "To make sure Hibiki can enjoy the life of a hunter with peace of mind and joy in her heart, I—as the Guildmaster of the Monster Hunter Gathering Hall—feel it's my duty to look out for what lies ahead for my hunters."
"The truth is, we can't spare many resources in this timeline, so I've come to offer help… through a different means."
Kairo paused, then pulled out a stone-embedded bracelet from his chest pocket and looked directly at Genjuro.
"Have you heard of biological pest control?"
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