MHGA Chapter 331 – The Brilliant Guildmaster
"Hmm? Uh… huh?"
Sakura looked confused by what Kazuma had just said, then asked, "Is Laios-san… really that strange of a person?"
She honestly couldn't picture it. Even when Kairo Retsu had introduced Laios earlier as the Demon King, Sakura found it hard to believe.
After all, Laios didn't look the part of a ruthless, evil figure. From what Sakura had seen during her time at the Gathering Hub, the thing Laios did most often was sit in the cafeteria—one hand holding monster and creature research notes, the other holding a bowl of Felyne Meal, eating and reading at the same time.
She'd even thought of him as a scholar type who just liked studying all day…
When Sakura told Kazuma her impressions of Laios, Kazuma's expression turned a little… complicated.
And then, Kazuma turned to the two girls in front of him and asked:
"What kind of impression do you two have of Joseph?"
"Um… a hardworking big brother?" Sakura thought for a moment. "Same with Tanjiro. They're always training in the barracks. I think they're really diligent."
"And what about Naofumi Iwatani and Himmel?" Kazuma's expression subtly tightened with emotion.
Sakura considered again: "They're very gentle gentlemen, I think?"
She added, "Marxil-san, Raphtalia-san, and the others sometimes talk about them when they help organize the receptionists' records at the Hub."
"And then…" Kazuma's eyes suddenly sparkled with hope, "What about me…"
But before the girls could answer, a look of despair crossed Kazuma's face.
Because if the new Hunters' impressions of the veterans came partly from their assigned receptionists, then his receptionist was—
Kazuma could visibly see the troubled expressions on Sakura and Mamika's faces. Sakura cautiously glanced at his face and said, "Aqua-san… she… um, Kazuma-san is also a veteran Hunter…"
"Alright! That's enough! I knew it!!"
Kazuma slumped into a corner, scrawling sad little circles into the ground as he muttered, "I should've known… Aqua, you… damn it, why am I the protagonist of a gag series? Why is my main heroine an airheaded idiot like Aqua? I'm so jealous of all those other harem bastards… d-damn it all…"
Kazuma's aura of pure negative energy made both Sakura and Mamika step back a little, subconsciously putting some distance between themselves and him.
"I wonder… how the Guildmaster plans to resolve the situation with Altair." Mamika murmured, watching the big screen in the distance.
"Mamika-oneechan, are you worried about Altair?" Sakura gripped her Clow Wand and asked, "But she wants to destroy the world—and Mamika-oneechan, you were hurt by her before too…"
"Mm."
Mamika nodded. "But… I don't have a better way to deal with this."
She looked at the screen, where Kairo Retsu had just been slammed through a building wall by Gore Magala, yet still charged back into battle, full of life.
"I realized that I don't have the ability to make final decisions like that."
"But the Guildmaster and the other Hunters are different from me. They know exactly what they're doing." Mamika continued, "I want to see how the Guildmaster intends to end all this."
Sakura followed Mamika's gaze toward the screen.
At that moment, Kairo Retsu was in the middle of a plunging attack, clinging tightly to Gore Magala's back. He had drawn his Carving Knife from his waist and was stabbing rapidly into the monster's spine.
"RROOAAARR———!"
Though Gore Magala couldn't see Kairo Retsu's body, it could sense his presence clearly through the Frenzy Virus—and began violently thrashing, slamming its body into nearby buildings in an attempt to dislodge him.
But Kairo Retsu, using his Clutch Claw and sheer brute force, clung to the monster's back with everything he had—and finally found a moment to think.
He began pondering what exactly Laios had wanted to tell him earlier.
Gore Magala's struggles were wearing down Kairo Retsu's stamina, but in turn, he was using his Carving Knife to provoke the monster further—locking them into a long, grueling tug-of-war.
"Damn it, think! If it were Laios… what did he notice that made him so desperate to warn me?"
He plunged the Carving Knife deeper into Gore Magala's spine. Blood tainted with Frenzy Virus gushed out.
The Frenzy Virus symptoms he had mostly overcome during the battle now began to reemerge.
"If it were Laios… if it were Laios…"
Kairo Retsu forced his brain to work harder. "Then I shouldn't think from a human perspective. I need to see this from Gore Magala's point of view!"
"If I were Gore Magala, why would I be constantly shifting between the four worlds?" Kairo began using Laios's thought process, immersing himself in Gore Magala's ecological context.
"If I, once tormented by the Frenzy Virus, was now assisting this little thing called 'Altair,' what would my motive be? How was I able to identify her so precisely among so many people?"
He raced through the logic.
Gore Magala isn't an Elder Dragon that participates in Elder Crossing migrations. It normally wouldn't move between large territories.
Back during their first confrontation, Altair already seemed to know that the Hunters would come for Gore Magala. She had even told them she would protect it…
Could it be that Altair had used her ability to remove Gore Magala's Frenzy Virus influence, and that's why it protected her?
But… how did she know the Hunters were coming to hunt Gore Magala? Back then, she didn't even know the monster's name, let alone what a Monster Hunter was.
Something wasn't adding up. There was a piece Kairo Retsu had missed.
Just as he was furiously wracking his brain—suddenly, a glint of gold flickered at the edge of his vision.
Realizing something, Kairo pushed forward from the center of Gore Magala's back, risking it all as he leapt toward the monster's neck.
There, on Gore Magala's head—and the massive wing-claws beside Kairo—he saw, beneath the dark scales, a faint gleam of bright gold.
Kairo Retsu had finally grasped the thread of insight he needed from Gore Magala's body.
"Holy sht!!! This Gore Magala escaped from a Shagaru Magala transformation!!*"
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