August nodded at the prompt, taking a moment to finish chewing what was in his mouth and then covering his mouth with the back of his hand as he began to speak.

“We already talked about it earlier, but the basic process we came up with is to find one that’s relatively alone and then restrain its movements,” August said, “We could use the chain to tie it up and then maybe wedge bamboo poles between its legs to keep it from moving around—after that, I’ll need to stay with it for probably about an hour to tame it.”

Boko nodded along with the words because he’d been the one who’d helped refine the idea in the first place.

“Right, and despite their size and how they look, they’re actually a lot easier to deal with than something like the Efkini. They’re larger, less agile, slower, can’t turn very well, and can only really attack directly in front of them,” Boko said, speaking up. “They can use the blunted claws on their front legs to deal some damage, but they mostly just tried to trample things—at least they did before some maniac decided to actually give them mouths.”

“So they possess the power to kill us quite easily then,” Haiko said, clearly a bit adverse to the entire idea. “Exactly how confident are you that we could capture one without casualties?”

“Capturing one is harder than just killing it,” Boko said with a bit of a shrug. “But I’d say if we made sure to prepare properly and attacked during optimal conditions, it wouldn’t be too hard.”

August found himself watching Kalter, who’d fallen into a stubborn silence since she’d discovered the existence of the Votihos names Kairos. Kalter had been one of the ones who’d initially agreed to the idea of capturing an Otrogon, but it was clear now that she was now too preoccupied to care about the topic as she once had.

“How many of us would be needed to restrain it?” Rittan asked. “If they are as large as you said, I can’t imagine this is a task for a single person.”

August nodded at the question, but once again, he left it for Boko to address—this was far more in the wheelhouse of a Voithos who killed monsters than a man who’d sold CDs for a living.

“It’s doable with one, but I think three people is the optimal number here,” Boko said, “One to get the chain around its neck and keep its attention facing forward. The other two flank around behind and attempt to knock its feet out from under it—after that, we work together to pin it down and set up something more permanent to hold it in place.”

“Well, you certainly have the strategy for it all figured out,” Haiko said, touching her lips with a pair of fingers. “But I believe we’ve pulled away from the main point of this meeting—which was to vote on whether or not we should do it at all.”

“That’s right,” August admitted, “There is a lot of danger in attempting it, but there are also some very clear benefits to having an Otrogon on our side.”

He took a moment to slide the last piece of meat off and then tossed the skewer into the fire before speaking up again.

“They are easily large enough to carry us around as a means of transport, and I’ve seen one of them chew through a small tree, so they can work as a method of cutting down trees and bamboo,” August said, holding the cube of meat between his thumb and forefinger. “They also don’t fight amongst themselves like Efkini and Mitikos do, so we could potentially use one of them to lure other Otrogon away from the group in the future for easy capture.”

“They’re also big and intimidating,” Boko said, waving a skewer at them. “Which gives us something to help scare away other predators that might try to come down here.”

“They might be useful, but we are capable of doing everything they are, so should we be risking our lives fighting one in the first place?” Haiko said, eyeing them. “From what you’ve said, they are unlikely to come down here on their own because of how their Echolocation functions—we could leave them be.”

Kalter lifted her head at the words.

“We won’t survive here by ignoring the monsters on this island,” Kalter murmured, finally speaking up. “We either need to make them our allies, or we need to kill them—leaving them be isn’t an option.”

“Then I suppose we should put the matter to vote,” Haiko said, “Who is in support of an attempt to capture an Otrogon?”

August raised his hand because it had been his idea in the first place, and Boko followed a moment later. Kalter lifted her hand, then caught his eye across the fire—and August glanced away. Kalter was supporting his idea, but he’d voted against her only minutes before—despite knowing that his own choice had been the rational one, he couldn’t help the flicker of guilt that cut through him. Haiko’s hand remained firmly down, but Rittan lifted his after a further beat of consideration.

“Well, that’s terribly unfortunate,” Haiko said, hesitating. “I suppose we’ll be fighting the giant scary monster then?”

“I’m not letting you fight anything, Haiko,” Kalter said, shaking her head. “You’re staying here—I’ll do the fighting.”

“You’re so forceful with me, my pet,” Haiko gasped, placing a hand over her chest. “I think my heart just skipped a beat.”

Kalter tossed her head to the side, refusing to engage with her teasing, and August found himself in her line of sight once more.

“I’ll be there too, obviously,” Boko said without issue. “There’s no way I’m going to miss out on all the fun.”

“I suggested the idea in the first place, so I’m not going to let everyone else take on the risk without helping,” August said, speaking up. “I’m probably not strong enough to even budge something that large, but I can be an additional distraction at least.”

“Every bit counts,” Boko said, “What about you, Rittan?”

“It’s been a very long time since I’ve done any kind of monster assignment,” Rittan admitted, but he was smiling. “But with a group like this, I can’t see how we could possibly lose.”