Over the next hour or so, Gordon encountered three more Shield Crabs, and the battles were uneventful, though the gathering part felt a bit like a lottery.
With the blessing of the Gold Coin Transfer, Gordon reaped a bountiful harvest—at least, that's what he thought.
Two of the three Shield Crabs were females, and with the previous one, he had already collected three portions of premium crab roe, seemingly not far from the five portions required for the quest.
As for the last one, yes, it was a male crab, with no crab roe.
But! Gordon collected other good things from it, a rare material called "Black Pearl."
Logically, Shield Crabs, being crustaceans, do not produce pearls themselves, but their diet also includes sea shells that produce pearls.
So, sometimes, if you're lucky, you can find this precious biological gem in their stomach.
—Just like the one in Gordon's hand.
Although it wasn't smooth enough or round enough, and its color wasn't that dark and shiny, making it impossible to sell as a gem to those big merchants in the city, this item was also used in the creation of certain weapons and armors.
Gordon happily put it away.
"I wonder how many portions of crab roe Ted has collected. He wouldn't have none, right?" Gordon muttered to himself, unable to help but laugh halfway through his sentence.
"Haha, let's hurry up later. Maybe we can collect five portions before he even gets started. His expression will definitely be interesting then, hehe!"
A somewhat distracted Gordon suddenly missed a step and almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, supporting himself with his hands to maintain balance.
Looking back, he had stepped into a Shield Crab's footprint again.
Only this time, the footprint he stepped into was exceptionally large, a single one the size of a plate, more than two circles larger than the cup-sized footprints of ordinary Shield Crabs.
Gordon's expression tightened.
There was no need to guess; it was obvious that these were the tracks left by a Daimyo Hermitaur.
Gordon instinctively lowered his body slightly, his right hand resting on the hilt of the Burst Blade on his back, wary of a possible Attack that could come at any second.
He cautiously and quickly scanned the surroundings, finding nothing, but Gordon still didn't completely relax.
Shield Crabs are very good at burrowing, and as older individuals in their species, Daimyo Hermitaurs have no reason not to possess this skill. Perhaps it was lurking beneath his feet at this very moment.
He glanced in the direction of the forest belt; Ted should be somewhere nearby.
From a safety perspective, he should go and meet up with his companion now, but considering the unique issue of face for teenagers, the choice was different.
He had previously sworn to Ted that he could ensure his own safety even if he faced a Daimyo Hermitaur alone. Now, he hadn't even seen the shadow of a Daimyo Hermitaur, and he was panicking and running for shelter just from seeing a few footprints.
Didn't that feel too embarrassing?
Of course, Gordon didn't plan to act recklessly. He just wanted to first pinpoint the exact location of the Daimyo Hermitaur, and then go meet up with Ted. This way, both his pride and safety would be assured.
Having made his decision, Gordon immediately slowed his pace, moving with an almost completely silent, gentle stride, slowly probing in the direction the tracks led.
Most monsters do not care, nor will they actively clean up their footprints. This is especially true for crustaceans, whose intelligence is at the bottom among large monsters.
Tens of minutes later, Gordon followed the tracks and successfully found the enormous Carapaceon monster.
Initially, when he saw the decaying skull, which was the size of a house, he almost didn't react, subconsciously thinking it was just an ordinary skeleton and nearly walked straight out.
Fortunately, Ted's earlier remark, "Daimyo Hermitaurs like to use Wyvern skulls as their shells, especially One-Horned Dragon skulls," reminded him.
Looking at that single horn, three meters long, straight and sharp like a Lance, wasn't that the most widely known characteristic of a One-Horned Dragon?
Although he couldn't see the Daimyo Hermitaur's body from his angle, Gordon knew that Shield Crabs had a habit of resting inside their shells. This Daimyo Hermitaur was probably napping here.
Napping, sleeping, he really wanted to give it a Sleep Cut.
The foolish thought stirred, but he ultimately gave up on that unreliable idea.
Suppressing his breath and controlling his steps, Gordon silently retreated from the area.
Although a Sleep Cut was really awesome, this time, he'd let Ted have the chance. The power of a Gunlance Dragonator was much stronger than his Burst Blade's three-stage charge.
It was only then that Gordon realized how far he had run, following the Daimyo Hermitaur's tracks.
It took him another half an hour to find Ted, who was chasing Shield Crabs all over the dense forest.
In fact, after their separate searches earlier, the distance between them had already exceeded expectations. Gordon was very glad he hadn't acted recklessly, otherwise, even if he had used a flare for help, Ted might not have arrived in time to rescue him.
"What? You've already collected three portions of crab roe and even located the Daimyo Hermitaur?" Ted's eyes widened, his scarred face looking fierce.
"Yes!" Gordon replied crisply, a little smug.
"This Daddy has only collected two portions. This Daddy lost again?" Ted looked annoyed. Gordon suddenly realized that this old man seemed to have a strong competitive spirit.
To cheer him up, Gordon started to paint a picture, "If that Daimyo Hermitaur is a female, and you collect super premium crab roe from her, then wouldn't you have turned the tables again?
Although the quest objective has been met, we haven't settled yet, so the competition isn't over!"
What competition? When did This Daddy say we were competing? Gordon thought to himself, cheering Ted on.
"You're right, that makes sense! There's also the main event, the Daimyo Hermitaur. This Daddy hasn't lost yet!"
Ted, who had been a bit down, immediately perked up, kicking away the corpse of a male Shield Crab beside him that he had already searched thoroughly, but clearly wouldn't yield any crab roe.
"Let's go! You said that Daimyo Hermitaur is still sleeping? What a great opportunity for a Sleep Cut! Why are we still dawdling here? Run, run! Get to the target in ten minutes! This Daddy wants to personally slice it up!!!"
Before he even finished speaking, Ted dashed off, as if whoever reached the Daimyo Hermitaur first would claim ownership of it.
Seeing Ted sprint away, Gordon immediately started running, following closely behind.
Actually, he could have walked slowly.
A monster of the Daimyo Hermitaur's level was, in Ted's eyes, similar to a Blue Velocidrome in Gordon's eyes—the kind of prey that could always be taken down successfully as long as you weren't fighting with your eyes closed. Whether the latter helped or not simply didn't matter.
But Gordon inexplicably felt that if he was too slow compared to Ted, he would lose.
Huh? So, his own competitive spirit wasn't weak either?
--+--
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.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
patreon.com/Kazenova223
If you guys wanna check it out.