A few days later.
A tourist city in the Kakin Empire.
This city is located on the outskirts of a large natural area in the Kakin Empire, and it has vigorously developed tourism based on the beautiful surrounding natural environment.
At the airport, Kevin, Menchi, and Buhara stepped off the airship.
They took a car and soon arrived at the edge of the forest wilderness.
Further inside was an uninhabited area, and in this wilderness, they could only proceed on foot.
The three prepared the necessary items and headed towards the jungle.
The three were not unfamiliar with this kind of wilderness environment, so they advanced relatively quickly.
To be honest, Kevin was a bit nostalgic for the Ground Birds at this moment; he now understood why the Kurutas would raise this kind of rideable bird.
In such a wilderness, having such a means of transportation was simply perfect, much easier than walking on foot.
They kept walking until dusk.
Menchi seemed to sense something and slowly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Kevin asked.
Although he had also lived in the jungle and was not unfamiliar with it, compared to Menchi and the others who frequently hunted ingredients in the jungle, his experience was still slightly inferior.
He would also occasionally release his Ren and scan the surroundings a couple of times.
However, under normal circumstances, if his intuition didn't issue subtle warnings, he would not use it frequently.
"There are traces of people passing by, but it should have been some time ago," Menchi said, having found some signs.
Since the traces were not left recently, there was nothing to be wary of.
They followed the traces for a while and saw a temporary camp set up below a small hillside.
However, this temporary camp looked like it had been abandoned for a long time, it was dilapidated and covered in dust and leaves.
"Someone stayed here? It looks like there were quite a few people," Kevin concluded after examining it.
Buhara inspected carefully and said, "This is definitely not an ordinary hiking group or hunting party; it's more like a military squad, or perhaps a poaching group or something similar."
As Gourmet Hunters, the two had traversed many areas with protected zones, and in those protected zones, there were quite a few poachers; they often found camps left behind by poachers.
However, the camp in front of them looked relatively more intact, indicating that this group of poachers was more fully prepared.
Regarding Buhara's view, Menchi shook her head and offered her own opinion: "Not likely, there's no nature reserve around here, just ordinary mountains and hills."
If they wanted to poach, there would be no need to go to such great lengths to come here."
In places without nature reserves, even if there are some protected animals, they are relatively easier to sell after hunting, and there's no need to hide everywhere, so there's no need to be so cautious.
Moreover, Menchi clearly had some understanding of this area and was aware of the surrounding situation.
Kevin nodded, agreeing with Menchi's point of view.
After all, this was once the Kurutas' secluded dwelling place; if there was a nature reserve, it would likely be discovered by forest rangers, and then it would be less likely to become a settlement for the Kurutas.
"Never mind, it looks like a long time has passed, let's just clear a small area and rest here tonight," Menchi said indifferently.
Indeed, some time had passed since the events, and there was no point in dwelling on them; even if it was a poaching group, they had probably already achieved their goal and left.
Kevin unfolded the map to check, estimating the distance they had walked, the time taken, and the marked destination.
"We should be able to reach the destination tomorrow morning, and if we move a bit faster, we can start our return trip around noon and should be back in the city by evening."
Hearing Kevin's words, Menchi and Buhara nodded.
"Since there's a decent camp already set up, why don't we go hunt some animals? I don't want to eat canned food," Menchi suggested.
Although the canned food they made themselves tasted good, even comparable to dishes from some high-end restaurants.
But as Gourmet Hunters, they preferred to enjoy fresh, newly prepared food.
With such conditions, they naturally didn't want to miss the opportunity.
Kevin raised both hands in agreement with this suggestion; following Gourmet Hunters, there was definitely no need to worry about food, no need to think too much.
Whatever they made, you just ate it, and it was guaranteed to be delicious.
Soon, the three divided the work; Menchi and Buhara set off separately, leaving only Kevin behind to clean up the surrounding area and wait for their return.
It wasn't until the sun was about to set and night was falling that the two hurried back.
Menchi held some wild vegetables and some edible, flavorful small berries that she had gathered.
However, Buhara's harvest seemed less than ideal; after all, he had a large appetite and had intended to hunt more prey to fill his stomach.
But now he only had two wild birds and two rabbits in his hands; for a professional Hunter with such a large appetite, this kind of harvest could only be described as meager.
"Why is the harvest so small?" Menchi, who understood her partner's situation, asked in confusion.
Buhara also scratched his head with a confused look: "The prey around here is astonishingly scarce, it's as if some guy who destroys the food chain came here and ruined the biological food chain ecosystem."
After speaking, he put down the prey and recounted his findings.
"Judging from the traces, a magical beast should have been here not long ago, preying heavily on these creatures.
Its appetite was enormous; I even found a large number of animal skeletons in its abandoned lair, including human ones.
However, judging from the traces and the environment, it has already left here, but the ecological environment here will likely take a long time to recover. This gluttonous magical beast was truly terrifying, it almost hunted all the prey in the vicinity, and the animals that luckily survived also felt the threat of the predator and fled from here one after another.
Hearing Buhara's words, both Menchi and Kevin thought of something and looked at the camp they were in at the same time.
Kevin said thoughtfully, "It seems this isn't a coincidence. I was just wondering why this abandoned camp was so big, and now it seems,
this team likely came specifically for this magical beast."
"If that's the case, then it makes sense," Menchi nodded in agreement.
After all, judging from Buhara's description, the timing and the remaining traces could corroborate each other.
However, never mind.
The matter had clearly passed some time ago, and it had nothing to do with them, so there was no need to pay too much attention.
After processing the prey around the camp, Menchi began to roast the food using the spices she carried with her.
After a simple barbecue feast ended, Kevin sighed comfortably and leaned to the side.
Hanging out with Gourmet Hunters felt truly amazing.
He sighed like this in his heart once again.
"Let's take turns keeping watch tonight."
After arranging the watch order, the three rested.
The night passed peacefully until the next morning.
After tidying up simply, they left the camp.
A few hours after they left.
A special squad wearing Kakin Empire military uniforms arrived here.
They followed the traces all the way and tracked them to this abandoned camp.
The leading officer frowned and made a gesture.
Two soldiers quietly infiltrated the camp to check, and after confirming it was safe, gave the all-clear signal.
Only then did this squad enter the camp.
"Someone rested here last night, it was three people - it looks like they ate quite a bit."
"Captain, this camp should be the one left by that group."
"Did these guys come back?"
Hearing the team member's report, the captain shook his head: "No, it's likely just a coincidence. For ready-made camps like this that are set up reasonably well in the wilderness, passing Hunters or hikers will choose to rest here temporarily for a night.
Slightly experienced wilderness travelers generally choose similar areas for camps; if there are existing camp remnants, they will naturally continue to use them.
However, we can't relax our vigilance; maybe they came back to check on the situation. If that's the case, we'll have caught important targets."
After collecting the relevant information, this squad immediately continued to advance along the traces.