“What do you mean you lost track of it! It’s not even a fraction of your level, why isn't it dead!” coordinator Fallon screamed into the magical device called a radio with such ferocity you would think he was trying to melt it with a dragon's breath spell.
“Uhh well sir, it kind of just disappeared after crossing a river. I tried to get back into the air in time to catch up with it but it vanished into the woods,” a dejected sounding female voice answered through the device.
“Why did you stop flying over it to begin with? Never mind, I don't want to know. Which way approximately was it headed in?” Fallon asked with anger in his voice.
“Somewhere between north east and east when we last saw it running into the woods.”
“Keep searching that area then, I’m sending everyone your way. If you find it again, do not engage and just keep an eye on it. We will bombard it from afar with the cannons.”
“Yes sir.”
He reached up and flipped a switch on the machine, one that would supposedly allow him to talk to everyone with a receiver crystal at once.
“Attention all units, our target has been spotted in the north eastern quadrant heading east to northeast, proceed to the northern rally point and await further instructions.”
He reached up and flipped the switch back, the sub coordinators should have also heard that and will deal with the nitty gritty details of who searches where. He had much more important matters to attend to. Guild master Bardin had been nice enough to lend him his office to work out of, which provided the good degree of privacy he needed to question everyone and relay confidential information. Unfortunately the man in question was present because Fallon had just finished questioning him about how a damned monster just walked around town like it owned the place and no one wised up to it. To call this a shit show was an understatement, but in Bardin's defense guild masters aren't trained for recognizing disguised monsters except for very specific areas, none of which were anywhere near this side of the continent. Fallon was starting to understand why everyone wanted this monster dead so badly. Unfortunately he could only get a partial story, the party who it had hung around the most was all in medical ward in bad condition. With the one who originally had encountered it dead to boot, apparently a baited team kill by the monster. Just another point against it. Even he couldn't help but feel bad for the poor soul who had taken the final swing.
Normally monsters disguising consists of acting as a wounded person in need of help, or someone trying to convince others to walk into a trap. But this, this was beyond anything he’d ever seen. It acted like a person, even registered as a hunter. He had the records right here in front of him, Nina, a human paladin. He needed to keep that info away from the church as long as possible, if they found out who knows what kind of wrench they would throw out in an attempt to capture it. Those god complex fools would try to enslave an apocalypse class monster for their own gain.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
A monster with the paladin class, it was nightmare fuel to say the least, and what if there were more? Fallon was still trying to determine if it would be better to take it alive for examination, if only for a short time. As a coordinator it was his job to make those kinds of decisions, determining a change of plan as the situation called for it. No, too much was at stake, it needed to die, and he could only hope there weren't anymore.
“Any luck finding her?” Bardin asks while setting down his writing quill.
“Somewhat, two of our best tracked it to the north east but it managed to elude them. We will have it soon enough.” Fallon replied.
“Careful coordinator Fallon, you’re out of your depth with this one.” Barin says.
“Excuse me!?” Fallon replied
A lowly guild master of some backwater barely existent town is telling him he can’t handle this. After said guild master failed to contain the situation in the first place. Bardin chuckled, as if reading Fallon's thoughts, then replied while stroking his beard.
“It’s not your skills that are in question, coordinator. I am almost as old as you are, yes? Most of that age has been spent here running this guild. I’ve seen many in that time, and she was one of the more intelligent ones I’ve seen. I’ve learned to gauge people in my tenure here, and when I first saw her I knew she would be a smart one. Ignorant, yes, very much so. But she also knew she was ignorant, and tried to learn even the most obvious things without drawing attention to herself. Even with her ignorance it was just enough to throw us off until it was too late. You’re not dealing with just a monster here, no, you’re dealing with something much smarter.” Bardin says with an amused look.
Before Fallon could begin to chastise the dwarf, he stood up and grabbed his staff.
“Where do you think you're going?” Fallon asked.
“To do what I do best, hunt a monster. Oh, and when the lord’s army gets here, tell them to prepare their man hunter tactics and send them my way.” Bardin replied.
“Why man hunter?” Fallon asked confused.
“Because clearly chasing after it in a straight line isn’t going to work.” Bardin replied.
Fallon was once again about to chastise the man but he realized he was right. Bardin knew this area better than anyone else, so it made sense for him to go into the field. Since it was clear he had finished his report there was no reason to keep him here. And with this whole fiasco as it is, the more trusted and competent people in the field the better.
It managing to escape Drazin and Ezara was proof enough of that. Drazin was to put it frankly, a brute who was only good at smashing things. And the only one crazy enough to jump off an airship while it’s still five hundred feet in the air. Thinking things through was not his strong suit, that's why no one complained when he fell in love with Ezara and insisted on dragging her around everywhere. Ezara was by no means incompetent, which is why it’s concerning that even with her directing Drazin it still got away. Incompetence, would that be their downfall? What if Bardin was right, and it really was as smart as a person? Then it would be no wonder why the council wanted it dead so fast. Their means of knowing these things were well above his pay grade. And incompetence is what he would be accused of should it escape. Bardin might be right, it might be better to put a noose out and let it hang itself, as opposed to blindly chasing after it. That reminds him, he needs to tell the hunters to work in pairs at a minimum, and detain anyone found out alone.