"It's here." Isis slowed and looked toward a spot high on the trunk of the mangrove ahead.
Altaïr gestured for Morgan to stand guard while he and Isis began their investigation.
He first approached the base of the mangrove and studied it from below for a few moments.
The silk clinging to the trunk was still damp, so it had clearly been left there recently. He did not spend long examining it, since Isis had already brought back a sample.
He also noticed that the mangrove was leaning slightly, so he focused his inspection on its roots.
Sure enough, several of them showed clear signs of having snapped.
"Something pulled on it, huh?" he murmured, searching in the direction of the broken roots.
Before long, he found more traces in the crown of another mangrove about twenty meters away.
It was an enormous claw mark, far larger than that of an ordinary Lolo Gougarf. More precisely, it was the imprint of something gripping the tree.
Altaïr compared the positions of the two trees and the directions of the marks, and a scene took shape in his mind.
An unusually large Lolo Gougarf had gripped the crown of the mangrove ahead with one forepaw and used the tree's springiness to launch itself into the air.
Mid-leap, it had shot a strand of silk from the glands in its wrist, then used it to swing toward another large tree. The tremendous force had nearly uprooted the deep-rooted mangrove.
It had continued bounding and swinging through the trees and vines until it disappeared into the depths of the forest.
"Looks like it went that way." Altaïr looked in a particular direction.
Reading a Monster's movements from the traces it left behind was a fundamental skill for any Hunter. The more accomplished the Hunter, the more information they could extract from those signs.
Altaïr did not consider himself an expert tracker, but he was hardly inept. Determining which way a Monster had gone and roughly how much time had passed was well within his abilities.
"Judging by the size of the claw marks, it may be an exceptionally large Lolo Gougarf. It went that way, and these traces are less than half a day old."
Altaïr shared his findings with his companions.
While Altaïr investigated the claw marks in the treetop, Isis found tracks leading in another direction.
A Lolo Gougarf was a Large Monster, after all, not some little monkey. It could move quickly through the trees, but it could not remain off the ground forever. Leaving tracks was inevitable.
"There are tracks over there. Judging by their size, this Lolo Gougarf's foreclaws really are enormous, but its hind legs don't seem much larger than those of an ordinary member of its species.
"I suspect its body isn't exceptionally large. Its foreclaws are simply abnormally developed."
"I see." Altaïr nodded in understanding.
Isis's discovery also answered a question that had been troubling him.
The grip marks he had found in the treetop were nearly twice the size of those left by an ordinary Lolo Gougarf. If the rest of the creature were proportionate, its body could exceed fifteen meters in length, an absurd size for a Fanged Beast.
Could a creature that enormous truly leap through the vines of the forest canopy? He had his doubts.
If only its forepaws were overdeveloped, however, everything made sense.
Abnormal development in individual body parts was quite common among Monsters. The Hyper Duramboros they had hunted and the Grimclaw Tigrex were both examples. "Such overdeveloped forepaws mean this Lolo Gougarf may be extremely strong. Since its silk-secreting glands are located in its wrists, the silk it shoots may also differ from that of an ordinary Lolo Gougarf.
"Everyone, stay alert. If we treat it like an ordinary Lolo Gougarf, we could end up in serious trouble." After this brief analysis, Altaïr took the lead and the group continued along the trail they had found.
—--
They followed the trail for more than two hours.
The Lolo Gougarf's path was becoming clearer. Running at the head of the group to clear the way, Altaïr had a feeling they would find it very soon.
"Wait a moment, meow!" Clawdia suddenly called out as she pedaled the Rathalos Model-09 with all her strength to keep up.
Altaïr gave the signal to halt, and the group slowed down.
Morgan instinctively readied his Heavy Bowgun and scanned their surroundings while Isis glanced at Clawdia with concern.
The Rathalos Model-09 had been designed to be pedaled by two Felynes. Now that Sajji had taken to the skies, Clawdia alone had to power it.
The cannon cart was laden with supplies, and she had to pedal hard to match the Hunters' pace. After keeping it up for so long, she was bound to be exhausted.
"Do you need a rest?" Altaïr asked.
Clawdia was breathing a little heavily, but she shook her head. "It's not about resting, meow. I smell something strange, meow."
Altaïr immediately pressed her for details. "What kind of smell?"
"It's a terrible stench, meow. How can I put it? Fishy and rotten, but not quite like a decaying carcass, meow." Clawdia sniffed the air as she spoke.
"Which direction?"
"It's hard to tell from this far away, but probably over there, meow." Clawdia pointed vaguely in one direction.
Altaïr hesitated.
That direction diverged from the Lolo Gougarf's trail. Had they found such a scent trail a few days earlier, they would have followed it at once. Now, however, the timing could hardly have been worse.
After a brief pause, he made his decision. "Let's keep tracking the Lolo Gougarf for now and set the scent aside. Once we're done with the Lolo Gougarf, we'll come back and investigate it.
"Hmm... Clawdia, leave the cannon cart here for now. We'll return for it later. It's still too heavy with only you pedaling, and it makes too much noise."
"Okay, meow." Clawdia hopped off the Rathalos Model-09 without hesitation.
She had once enjoyed pedaling the cart, but the past few days had given her more than enough of it.
Leaving the Rathalos cannon cart behind, the Hunters continued their pursuit. Light on her feet, Clawdia quickly ran ahead of Altaïr, but less than a kilometer later, she stopped again.
She straightened, sniffed to either side, then turned to the puzzled Hunters. "I'm picking up the same kind of stench as before, meow.
"And it's coming from a different direction, so it probably isn't the same source, meow."
Altaïr frowned. He took out his portable map and used a charcoal pencil to sketch the route they had followed while tracking the Lolo Gougarf.
He also marked the two places where Clawdia had detected the stench and the direction it had come from at each location, then put the map away.
"We–"
Before he could finish the word, sharp whistles sounded overhead.
Altaïr instinctively looked up. The dense canopy hid Sajji from view, but the whistles were a prearranged signal.
Two short blasts meant a Monster was approaching, warning them of danger and calling for caution. Three short blasts meant a Deviljho was approaching, signaling extreme danger.
Sajji had given two short blasts. A Monster was approaching, but it was not the Deviljho Altaïr had feared most.
If his guess was correct, the Lolo Gougarf they had been tracking had detected their movements.
"Prepare for battle! Something's coming!" Altaïr shouted as he quickly surveyed the surrounding terrain.
The ground was relatively flat, but the Mangrove Forest was dense, and countless vines tangled through the branches. The nearby mangroves' canopies almost formed a solid roof overhead.
This was practically the perfect battlefield for a Lolo Gougarf. Had it discovered them earlier and waited to attack until it could choose favorable ground? If it had deliberately prepared an ambush, then its intelligence was frightening.
Isis did not dwell on such questions. The instant she heard the warning, she raised her Large Shield and Gunlance, rushed a few steps toward the part of the forest Sajji had signaled, and braced for the incoming attack.
Without needing instructions, Morgan adjusted his position so that Isis would not cross his line of fire. He swiftly deployed his Heavy Bowgun and loaded Bowgun Ammo with a loud click.
Altaïr rested a hand on the hilt of his weapon.
Whether the creature leaped out to charge them or tried to bind them with silk, they were fully confident they could handle it.
What happened in the next instant, however, sent a chill through the Hunters' veins.
Several enormous beehives came flying from the dark forest, buzzing loudly as they hurtled straight toward them.