AI Model: gemini-2.5-flash
"What Hayata mentioned is crucial: 'coexistence' with nature, or to put it another way, everything we see, hear, and do is merely a part of nature."
Amos's tone was calm and slow. "Children, as you gradually delve deeper into understanding nature, understanding this sky, land, and sea, and understanding the countless wondrous creatures that live within them, you will gradually come to understand 'awe'.
This world is vast. For ordinary people whose vision terminates at the fences and walls of towns, the immensity and wonder of nature are simply unimaginable."
Gordon couldn't help but look up towards the continuous Shuleite Mountains to the east, where countless powerful monsters and Ancient Dragons lived. He felt a deeper understanding of the 'awe' that Senior Amos spoke of.
"If you have time, you can go to the Grand Library. The Scholars of the Royal Paleontological Scribes have left many book copies there, many of which mention a concept called 'ecological chain'."
"Ecological chain?"
Hayata seemed a bit confused.
But Gordon, who had been scrambling in the mountains and forests for several years, immediately caught something from the combination of the words "ecology" and "chain."
"This is an incredibly complex, incredibly precise, incredibly fragile, yet incredibly resilient natural system," Amos continued to narrate slowly. At this moment, he looked less like a Hunter and more like a Scholar.
"Producers and consumers, predator and prey—all living beings in this world, including us humans, are nothing more than a tiny, insignificant link in this system.
Gordon, you said earlier that humans and nature are in a competitive relationship, right?" Amos suddenly looked at Gordon.
The latter hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded.
"Actually, you're right. Competition. For the development of their species, for a better life, humans should compete. This is the nature of humans as a life form.
In recent years, a saying has circulated among those nobles who hide in city centers and may never step outside the city walls in their lifetime: that killing is cruel, that hunting should be prohibited, and that 'noble' humans should live peacefully within strong cities, subsisting on vegetarian food.
If, in the future, someone preaches this ideology to your face, you can just spit in their face. A species that completely loses its competitive spirit cannot stand in this cruel world.
But at the same time, you must also realize the impact of your actions during the hunt."
Gordon and Hayata nodded vaguely; they still hadn't quite figured out what Amos was trying to say.
Hayata even specifically asked, "Why do you say the ecological chain is both fragile and resilient?"
Realizing he had lectured a bit too much, Amos patted his crossed knees and continued, "Let me give you a simple example.
A forest fire swept through thousands of square kilometers of mountains and forests. Countless plants, animals, and even monsters were burned to death. More than half of the Shuleite Mountains were turned into barren land by this fire.
What will happen to this land, burned by the forest fire, ten or twenty years later?"
Gordon, who had personally witnessed how a mountain blackened by wildfire returned to green, shrugged and said, "In the spring of the second year, new shoots will emerge from seeds buried deep underground.
In ten years, the forest will have basically recovered its cover, and countless creatures will migrate from all directions to this new home.
Twenty years later, aside from a lack of truly old giant trees in the mountains, there will be no difference in the trees compared to before the forest fire."
Amos nodded and smiled, "This is what I mean by resilient. Even a natural disaster can only permanently change an area's ecology, but it cannot completely destroy the local ecology."
"Then why do you say the ecological chain is fragile?" Hayata continued to ask.
"Resilient is on a macroscopic level, while fragile is on a microscopic level." Amos looked at Gordon again. "You asked me earlier why I didn't just kill that King of the Gajalaka.
Now, you predict what would have happened next if I had killed him then?"
"What would happen?" Gordon seemed a bit confused.
"The Qimian Tribe is a highly social group. Under the call of the King of the Gajalaka, dozens of tribes, according to custom, would gather within the next half month to hold the Qimian Clan Festival.
Now that the King of the Gajalaka is dead, a new king must be chosen, and the various tribes will fall into conflict. The Qimian Clan Festival cannot proceed, nor can it end immediately.
What would be the result of hundreds or thousands of Qimian Tribe members gathering in one area?"
Gordon swallowed. "To fill their stomachs, they would hunt and prey frantically. Small animals in that area would be hunted to extinction. Then they would expand their hunting range, frequently attacking passing caravans, and even impacting human villages."
"Exactly." Amos crossed his arms. "Although that's just a possibility, of course, the Qimian Tribe might also immediately elect a new king, and everything you said wouldn't happen.
If you had to fight at that moment, otherwise your safety would be threatened, then you should naturally deal with him decisively, without hesitation. Even if this choice causes some impact in the future, no one can blame you.
But since pursuing the King of the Gajalaka was unrelated to the mission, offered no benefit, carried risks, and might even cause a larger-scale ecological disaster, why would we do it?"
Gordon scratched the back of his head. He finally understood Amos's meaning.
Hunting the King of the Gajalaka yielded no reward, there was no need to carve materials, and they had these few burdens in their team. It was even more likely to cause disaster. Were they just looking for trouble?
"In the eyes of most people, the Hunter's Guild functions like an intermediary platform, receiving requests, assigning them to Hunters, and providing some support, charging some intermediary fees, and so on.
But this is just the surface. In reality, the Hunter's Guild has intelligence sharing and deep cooperation with the Royal Paleontological Scribes, the Ancient Dragon Observation Bureau, local municipal agencies, and so on.
Every mission posted on the bulletin board is strictly vetted. Hunters don't need to worry about anything else; they can confidently hunt their targets.
This is also the main reason why the Guild does not encourage Hunters to wantonly and excessively hunt targets outside of missions. They need to maintain the balance of the local ecology as much as possible."
At this point, Amos paused slightly, patted Gordon's shoulder, and then stroked Hayata's head.
"I don't ask you two little ones to immediately engrave everything I've said into your minds. I only hope that when you carry your sharp blades and step into the Hunting Field, you hold a sense of awe for life and for nature in your hearts.
Balance exists in all things. We are Hunters, not butchers."
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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