"A Hunter encountered this creature while hunting other Monsters." Luga paused, unmistakable regret coloring his tone.
"Because it was a species he had never seen before, he found it fascinating and casually killed the Monster, severed its head, and brought it back to show us at the Royal Paleontology Scriveners' outpost.
These Hunters are far too reckless. If this turns out to be a newly discovered rare species, wouldn't it be a terrible shame to have one killed like this?"
Altaïr and Isis looked over.
Only then did Luga realize that two young Hunters in armor were still in the study. Perhaps speaking ill of Hunters in front of them had been unwise. "Ah, I wasn't talking about you. I meant the habit of casually killing an unfamiliar creature on sight," he hastily explained, worried they might beat him up.
Altaïr smiled at him to show he did not mind. Sajji, curled up on the carpet to one side, opened one eye. "Good thing Madam Marydan isn't here, meow. Better hope she doesn't casually twist your head off and set it on the table too, just to show you how reckless a Hunter can be, meow."
Luga shuddered as he pictured Professor Lamarck's wife, her arms thicker than his own head, tattoos covering her entire body, and her mouth full of sharp, carnivore-like fangs.
"It was a slip of the tongue. I didn't mean it that way. Please don't tell Madam Marydan, all right?" Luga bowed and scraped.
Lamarck paid no attention to their exchange; his focus was entirely on the head.
Carefully, he moved the books and manuscripts near the head aside, clearing a space on the desk. Then he pulled a pair of dragon-hide gloves from a drawer and put them on before beginning his examination.
He inspected it meticulously, using his gloved fingers to press and probe the bones beneath the scales and slightly decayed flesh.
As a Royal Paleontology Scrivener specializing in biology, he knew that skin and flesh were only surface features. The skeleton provided a far more reliable basis for classifying a creature.
After a long examination, Lamarck removed the now-sticky gloves and said, "Judging by its skeletal structure, it should be a Flying Wyvern."
"A Flying Wyvern?" Isis stared at the head for two seconds. "A Flying Wyvern this small? Could it be a juvenile?"
"Not a juvenile. Based on the development of its tooth sockets and fangs, it should be an adult." Lamarck continued examining the head as he explained. "And when I say 'Flying Wyvern,' I don't mean only the category familiar to Hunters.
More precisely, it refers to creatures classified under the order Saurischia and the suborder Wyvern Feet.
Remobras were initially classified as Flying Wyverns, but the Guild later reassigned them to the separate Snake Wyvern order.
A few years ago, an exceptionally small Flying Wyvern measuring less than one meter long was also discovered in an underground cavern in the New World. The Research Commission initially thought it was some kind of large bat. Only after dissecting it did they determine that it was a Flying Wyvern that had followed a drastically different evolutionary path."
Curious, Isis asked a follow-up question. "Under that classification system, wouldn't creatures like Yian Kut-Ku and Cephalos also belong to the 'Flying Wyvern' category?"
Lamarck and Luga wore the same pained expression a physicist might have upon hearing someone call inertia "leftover force."
Before Lamarck could answer, Luga rattled off an explanation: "Classifying Yian Kut-Ku that way is at least understandable. Although the species doesn't belong to the suborder Wyvern Feet, it does belong to the suborder Bird Feet within the order Saurischia.
A parallel group is the suborder Theropoda, which includes Barroth and similar creatures.
Those three Saurischian suborders correspond to what you Hunters know as Flying Wyverns, Bird Wyverns, and Brute Wyverns.
Cephalos, on the other hand, belong to the Piscine Wyvern order. They aren't even in the same order as Flying Wyverns!"
"But they look so similar."
"That's the result of convergent evolution," Lamarck explained. "As I was saying, never judge a creature's classification by appearance alone. Its skeletal structure is the more important criterion."
Seeing that the two scholars were about to give Isis a remedial biology lesson, Altaïr hurriedly steered the conversation back on topic. "So, Mr. Lamarck, you haven't seen this... small Flying Wyvern before either?"
"To be honest, no, I haven't, which is quite surprising." Lamarck's gaze settled back on the head. "Discovering a new Monster species would be perfectly normal in an unexplored region.
But finding one this close to Loc Lac is extremely strange. Could something have suddenly driven it to migrate here?
Where exactly did the Hunter discover this Monster?"
"Right here!" Luga quickly pulled a map from his book satchel and spread it open, pointing to a marked location.
"Northwest of Loc Lac, less than twenty kilometers away in a straight line... Hmm. We may need to commission the Guild to investigate.
If this were an isolated individual, that would be one thing. But a sudden mass migration is usually cause for concern."
"Master Bevis said the same thing. He sent me specifically to ask whether you knew anything about this creature. If not, my next step was to go to the Guild Hall and post the commission."
"Wait a moment. Doesn't this... hmm, little Flying Wyvern look a lot like a creature mentioned in my parents' notes?"
Lamarck's glasses caught the light as he looked at Isis expectantly. "Were your parents scholars too?"
"No, her parents were highly accomplished Hunters," Altaïr answered for her.
Isis rummaged through her bulging waist pouch.
She had brought these notebooks along to search for information on the Tigerstripe Zamtrios, but unfortunately, they contained nothing on the subject.
After flipping through them for quite a while, she finally found the page she was looking for. "Look! Isn't it very similar? Small, sharp fangs, blue scales, and that yellow crest on its head. They're both small Flying Wyverns!"
The two scholars and Altaïr leaned in to examine the simple pencil sketch on the notebook page.
"They do look similar, but don't some of the finer details differ?" Altaïr frowned.
Master Amos had only recently sent this notebook, and Altaïr had not read it yet either.
"Oh, come on, Grandpa Amos traced these sketches from the originals. Of course they'd be a little distorted!" Isis compared the two side by side, already seeming convinced that they depicted the same creature.
Luga looked to Lamarck for confirmation, but Lamarck's brow was deeply furrowed. "May I take a look at this notebook? Just the surrounding pages will do."
"Here you go!" Isis generously handed him the notebook.
Lamarck flipped through it quickly. "As I thought. This notebook describes the Mernos, a wyvern species unique to the New World.
To members of the Research Commission in the New World, they are a common form of 'transportation.'
Hmm... give me a moment."
With that, Lamarck stood and began searching through the enormous bookshelf behind him. Before long, he pulled out a scroll.
Unrolling it revealed a more detailed depiction of a small, rather slender Flying Wyvern.
"This is a paper by a Royal Academy scholar. The scholar tried to domesticate this gentle little Flying Wyvern, but unfortunately, it adapted poorly to the new environment, and the attempt met with little success."
The group compared the detailed illustration on the scroll with the head on the desk.
As Altaïr had noted, they were indeed very similar, though the details differed slightly.
For instance, the Mernos in the scroll's illustration had a more prominent pale yellow crest and a pale yellow bony plate along its lower jaw.
The head on the table had a similar pale yellow crest on top, but its underside was bare, with no such bony structure.
Nothing else could be compared. After all, the Hunter had brought back only the head, with not even half of its neck still attached.
"They're exactly the same!" Isis boldly slapped the skull. "The difference in their crests could be sexual dimorphism! Male and female Kestodon have differently shaped head plates too!"
She felt her mind working at lightning speed. She truly was a master strategist!
The other three lapsed into thoughtful silence, apparently persuaded.
(Translated by yourtl.app)