Bear School Astartes

"Huh? You came to the New Continent for a vacation?"

Aiden had been listening to their conversation from the side, now scratching his head with a bitter face.

"Ah~ I’m so jealous! If I could come to the New Continent just for pure vacation with no work, that’d be awesome!"

"Don’t be greedy!" Gerry smacked his partner Hunter on the shoulder and said with a grin, "Being picked to come to the New Continent at all is already super lucky. Tons of people want to come see the new continent’s ecology and never get the chance."

"Woohoo! I’m back, meow!"

On the back of the Qilin that had just come to a stop, Rong Buqiu cheered as it jumped down, like a lively ball of three-colored fur.

It couldn’t wait to land on all fours and dash into the Star Base.

"Boss, I’m gonna go find Miel and Cotton first, meow!"

After being apart for so long, Rong Buqiu also missed the members of the Thief Adventurer Group it had formed. Even though they’d lost their courage for adventuring after the last incident, their friendships hadn’t been affected.

Lann waved his hand at it, signaling that it could relax and do as it liked.

After that, the few humans walked together and headed into the Star Base.

As always, several layers of archways had been built from some monster’s ribs or fangs—who knew which—anyway, huge curved bones.

Just then a refreshing evening breeze was blowing in from the sea, and torches were gradually being lit in the base, along with cold lamps made from jars of fireflies or other glowing bugs.

But once they came in, they realized the Star Base seemed to be in a state of extreme busyness.

Logically, aside from Hunters who absolutely had to do night missions, everyone should be wrapping up their day’s work at this hour, so why did it feel like... everyone was rushing around in a panic?

Hunters in all kinds of armor sets were running back and forth, their armor parts clanking and clattering together.

The Elu Cats were stuffing heaps of supplies into packs, balancing them on their heads, meowing as they carried them all over the place; every now and then they almost bumped into each other and got a huge scare.

The captain of the Supply Squad, who was also the leader of the Fourth Period Team, that brown-skinned beauty with Latin features, was standing atop the piled-up crates of supplies, one hand holding a ledger, the other stretched out as she shouted orders in all directions.

Aiden had already put on his gear before boarding the gliding wyvern; now he took off his helmet and tucked it under his arm, walking up to the small hill of supplies.

He tipped his head back and shouted up.

"What’s going on, Captain? Why the sudden nighttime rush? Where’s the Commander-in-Chief, we’ve got something important to tell him!"

Shouting was the only way—right now the Star Base was noisy and chaotic, nobody was prepared for this sudden situation, so of course everything was a mess.

Even the Supply Squad captain up there directing things had to strain her throat to yell.

Already frazzled by endless tasks and emergencies, the Supply Squad captain put down her list and looked down, still managing to pull on a tired but excited smile.

"Oh, Aiden, perfect timing!"

"Get into fireproof gear immediately, and bring at least one set of Cool Drinks. The transfer base in the Great Ant Mound Wasteland is in trouble! A Flame King Dragon suddenly showed up there. We’ve got to head out right now and rescue people!"

"If everyone in the base has already been killed..." As she spoke, her lips pressed together, but then her gaze firmed again. "Then we’ll use this chance to drive off the Flame King Dragon and investigate the cause of its abnormal ecology."

An Ancient Dragon was something the New Continent Expedition Team’s overall strength could theoretically handle.

But that was only in theory.

Theoretically, as the elite of the elite, the First Period Team—if they all gathered—had the power to reliably drive off most types of Ancient Dragon Species.

The problem was, they basically never gathered.

Everyone was a top expert in their own field, and they’d come to the New Continent in teams to work on their own specialized tasks.

So after they’d built the initial framework of the Investigation Team, the First Period Team pretty much all dove deep into the New Continent’s interior and vanished from sight.

Because of that, until the Fifth Period Team arrived, the Investigation Team had basically become unable to even reliably deal with monsters like the Male Fire Dragon.

So for the Investigation Team, this Flame King Dragon that had suddenly appeared in the transfer base really was a crisis they couldn’t underestimate.

Of course... as long as that Hunter was still around, the Flame King Dragon would eventually be driven back. He was the ace of the Guild’s aces.

But as for the people in the transfer base...

"Oh, that’s exactly what we came to talk about!"

Standing below the stacks of crates and looking up at the Supply Squad captain, Aiden laughed brightly and said, "We’ve already trapped that Flame King Dragon in the Second Arena! The people and the Elu Cats are all fine!"

"..."

The Supply Squad captain, who’d been yelling nonstop and directing everyone, suddenly fell silent. A bit dazed, she smoothed back the thick long hair she’d gathered over one shoulder for convenience.

Aiden thought she hadn’t heard him clearly because of the noise, so he simply stepped forward, climbed up onto the crates to get a little higher, and repeated himself to her.

"You’re saying you ’trapped’ a Flame King Dragon?! An Ancient Dragon?!"

Right after that, Aiden found himself grabbed by the collar of his armor by the Supply Squad captain, who’d bent down to his level, eyes locked on his as she shook him.

The news was just too explosive, and the Supply Squad captain’s voice was raised loud with shock.

Because of that, all the Investigation Team members around the stack of crates where she stood froze, the ones who’d heard her shout stopping their work in a daze and staring over.

And Lann and the others, who’d been outside everyone’s focus due to the earlier chaos and less-than-ideal lighting, were now suddenly standing out because of this abrupt silence.

The two Elu Cats with big packs balanced on their heads clearly hadn’t noticed what was going on, thanks to the giant bundles on top of them.

The two of them lowered their heads and crashed together, the big bundles colliding first. In order not to spill anything out, the two Elu Cats scrambled, shuffling their feet to steady their balance. In the end they managed to stabilize the bundles, but fell over themselves.

"Meow!" *2

The two cats happened to fall right beside Lann, dragging everyone’s attention over.

"Lann?" The Supply Squad leader still looked a bit dazed as he raised a hand and pointed at the tall figure not far from the stack of crates. "You’re back too? ...What’s going on? Did you all work together to trap the Flame King Dragon?"

"Is it really ’trapped’?"

Lann waved at the Supply Squad leader perched on the stack of crates in greeting.

"That’s pretty much it, so we need to see the Commander-in-Chief immediately."

-----------------

The Commander-in-Chief wasn’t actually far away; he was still inside the Star Base, at that ship’s bow—damaged, hauled ashore, and dismantled—now converted into a meeting venue.

Beard and hair completely white yet standing upright, skin dark and still looking vigorous despite his age, the Commander-in-Chief kept both hands braced on the conference table when he saw Lann walk over.

It gave off a steady calm that put people at ease.

"I thought it’d be a long time before you’d have a chance to come back again."

Compared to Aiden and the Supply Squad leader, the Commander-in-Chief took Lann’s return with a much more matter-of-fact acceptance.

As he spoke, his hawk-sharp eyes turned to Aiden, who’d come along, and swept over the gear on his body.

"If I remember right, Aiden had...taken a quest about a Mud Fish Dragon? Mm, and you’re indeed wearing waterproof gear."

"You both returned from the Great Ant Mound Wasteland together...so it looks like things over there have settled down?"

He spoke in a questioning tone, but the corners of the Commander-in-Chief’s mouth were already lifting in a slightly relaxed smile.

"You really are as sharp as ever."

Lann smiled and walked up onto the ship’s bow used for meetings together with Aiden.

To deal with the sudden situation of the Flame King Dragon appearing inside the transit base, the scale of this meeting was on par with the one they held for the Molten Mountain Dragon.

The Ecological Research Institute, the Botanical Research Institute, the Workshop District...representatives from all departments were present.

The Sword Master in Male Fire Dragon gear was, as usual, seated at the edge, just listening in.

Lann was able to casually make a round of greetings and say hello to everyone.

Though people were all very surprised to see Lann show up, they still welcomed him with genuine, friendly greetings.

"All right, the welcome party can wait until later." As soon as the Commander-in-Chief spoke, his steady tone set the mood.

The dark-skinned old man with a white buzz cut fixed his burning gaze on Lann and Aiden.

"Report on the Flame King Dragon first."

"Of course." Lann answered, and together with Aiden walked to the center of the group. At the moment, a construction blueprint of the transit base was spread out across the conference table.

It seemed the battle arrangements just now had been made using this blueprint.

Simply put, Lann pointed at the second arena on the blueprint and explained their plan and its execution to everyone present.

"You used the arena I built to trap an Ancient Dragon?"

The Workshop District chief, who was also the Second Period Team’s leader, stroked his steel-brush-like big beard, his face blackened by the forge fire showing a pleased grin, though his words stayed stubbornly gruff.

"What a pity. That was a damn fine arena!"

Everyone in the Investigation Team knew each other well, so they were long used to his tough talk.

Land once occupied by an Ancient Dragon...in some remote parts of the Old Continent, that alone is enough reason to build a shrine or a temple on it.

Meanwhile, the head of the Ecological Research Institute, an old man of the Douding Dragon Race, was particularly interested in the Flame King Dragon’s fondness for gunpowder.

He was planning to lead a team to the transit base himself to study it.

And after hearing the detailed account, the Commander-in-Chief’s reaction was the simplest.

"The Hunters and Elu Cats made it out unharmed—that’s the real blessing here."

As Commander-in-Chief, he believed he was responsible for every member of the New Continent Expedition Team.

Once he confirmed the situation was no longer so critical, with his orders given, the previously hectic Star Base began to wind down in an orderly fashion.

Only a small number of people were still to hurry out overnight, to tend to the wounded Hunters and Elu Cats who could only stay at field camps without any combat personnel nearby.

And as the atmosphere visibly relaxed, the Commander-in-Chief folded his arms, smiling at Lann from across the conference table.

At the same time, his sharp eyes swept over Tishaya and Belengar standing below the ship’s bow. No matter their outfits or bearing, they clearly didn’t fit in with the Investigation Team.

"You brought along new friends we haven’t seen before...so it looks like you’ve got something, don’t you?"

"Can’t hide anything from those seasoned eyes of yours." Lann first nodded with a smile, then his expression turned solemn.

"Yes, there’s an ecological invasion and mutation incident. We need to deal with it together."