"...Isn't it a bit cold?" (Reina)
"Well, we went quite far north, and even though we crossed the mountains, the altitude around here is quite high." (Mile)
"What does that have to do with the cold?" (Reina)
"……eh?" (Mila, Mavis, Pauline)
Riding the ancient dragon Kragon, the Crimson Vow crossed the mountains and quickly arrived at the northern tip of the continent, in an area inhabited by demons. Then, when Mile responded to a question uttered by Reina because it had suddenly become chilly, Reina gave an unexpected reply.
Mile, who had knowledge of his previous life in Japan, as well as Mavis and Pauline, seemed to know this much as common social knowledge, but Reina did not seem to have any such knowledge.
No, in no way it meant that Reina was stupid or naive.
As the daughter of a merchant, Pauline and Mavis were both educated about trade with other countries and national conditions. As the climate characteristics of each region greatly affected the types of crops that could be cultivated, the yield, the distribution of animals, monsters, and many others, they knew that "The further north you go" and "The higher you go" are colder, a rule of thumb or objective fact, and they took it for granted.
On the other hand, Reina was the daughter of a traveling merchant who traveled with just one carriage. A traveling merchant who did not trade with distant countries and traveled only to neighboring countries at most did not need such knowledge, and no hunter would care about it.
At most, those who crossed the mountains in winter were strongly persuaded by veteran hunters, guild staff, or equipment shop owners to buy cold weather gear, and at first, they reluctantly bought it, then later cried and thanked them for saving their lives.
Yes, there were many people who thought that "I'm climbing a mountain, so I'm going to get hot because I'm getting closer to the sun." There were also people who had never been to a mountain club, and those who had been but thought that "It just happened to be a cold day that day."
The same could be said for those who went north.
It was a world where it was normal for villagers to have only been to the nearest town three times in their lives. It was inevitable that there would be gaps or biases in knowledge. And although this time the results had come out this way, Reina was still relatively knowledgeable for a commoner.
"Whaaat? So, it's cold in the north and on the high mountains, even in summer?" (Reina)
Upon learning the shocking truth, Reina was shocked.
"Well, then, when the sweltering heat of summer makes us exhausted, we can move to a town in the north or near the mountains..." (Reina)
"Yes, it's the kind of summer getaway that nobles do, right?"
"Oh my, I've always wondered why so many nobles go on trips in the summer! I thought they must have built villas by the sea or a lake, but I never imagined there was a reason like that..."
After Mile explained it to her in detail, Reina seems quite shocked to find out that she was the only one at the party who didn't know about it.
She had traveled to neighboring countries with his father, a traveling merchant, and roamed towns as a hunter, and was an avid reader, so she considered herself an intellectual as a commoner, and so the damage was considerable.
"I can't believe I didn't know that even Mile and Pauline knew, let alone Mavis, the daughter of a noble family..." (Reina)
It seemed that Reina's pride had been seriously hurt...
"As the daughter of a merchant, I have received that level of education! Unless you're Mile-chan..." (Pauline)
"What is that?! I am also a noblewoman after all!" (Mile)
Pauline was annoyed and retaliated, and Mile was furious after being dissed by both of them.
"Gunununu..." (x3)
"UMM, EXCUSE ME, WHAT SHOULD I DO..." (Kragon)
Then, Kragon called out apologetically.
"Sorry……" (All CV)
As expected, no matter how humble he had been towards Mile, he seemed to think it was shameful to abandon the ancient dragon that had come all the way there to act as the workhorse and had an unpleasant argument in front of him.
"Oh, thank you very much. We'll figure out the rest ourselves, so please go home, Kragon-san." (Mile)
"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ON THE WAY HOME?" (Kragon)
"Ah……" (All CV)
Indeed, while the journey there was quick by air, the return journey on foot would take a considerable number of days.
...At least they could bring back all the prey they hunted along the way without wasting anything...
However, once you have experienced the ease, you can no longer bear the hassle.
"Please pick us up!!" (All CV)
And so, the four of them bowed their heads together...
"So, how should I call you when I ask you to come and pick us up..." (Mile)
Yes, as Mile said, that was the problem.
This planet probably had an ionosphere, but it didn't have anything convenient like a walkie-talkie, and the Nanomachines couldn't be used for that purpose. They said it was "Out of my control"...
In that case, it seemed they couldn't learn the methods the beastfolk use, so there's no way to contact the ancient dragon.
So the four of them thought about it for a while...
"Ah, that's right!" (Mile)
Mile seemed to have come up with some brilliant idea.
"Well, if I blow the ultrasonic whistle once, Beldetes-san will come flying, if I blow it twice, Shelala-san will come flying, and if I blow it three times, Kragon-san will come flying..." (Mile)
"UM, WHAT IS THIS ULTRAA- THING?" (Kragon)
Unfortunately, it seems that the ancient dragons have no knowledge of ultrasonic...
"That's the sound that came up in the fantasy tale, 'the sound that humans can't hear but Fenrir can,' right?" (Reina)
"But isn't that harder to hear than a normal sound? Especially if there are obstacles in the way..." (Mavis)
"First of all, can ancient dragons hear ultrasonic?" (Pauline)
Then, Reina, MEEVISU, and POORIN, who seemed to be steadily deepening their knowledge through unfounded stories, started to make comments...
"It's fine, it's not a big deal!" (Mile)
"No, that's not not a big deal at all!!" (Other 3)
Mile's proposal, which was unclear whether it was serious or a joke, was rejected.
"WELL, I’LL BE JUST RELAXING AROUND HERE NOW…" (Kragon)
"Sorry, thank you very much." (Mile)
In the end, Kragon, who didn't seem to mind "Waiting for a few days," decided to kill time by lazing around and messing with the strong looking monsters in the area, and to rush over when he heard the signal of "Three fireballs fired into the sky."
The reason it wasn't the usual "Three fireballs" was because Mile came up with this so that it could be heard even from a little distance away, and so that it could be heard even if Kragon was asleep or distracted by something else at the time.
If a fire bullet exploded in the open sky, in addition to the flames and loud noise, it also emitted and spread magical waves, which could be clearly perceived by the ancient dragons.
Kragon said, "I know the demon's village, so I could take you there and back..." but Mile and her group firmly refused, thinking that if they were to make the mistake of appearing riding on the back of an ancient dragon, the demons' attitude towards Crimson Vow would become strange, even though they were somewhat accustomed to visits from the ancient dragons.
When the time came, Crimson Vow would not hesitate to call on the ancient dragon to avoid pointless conflict, but it seemed that she wanted to avoid doing so right from the start.
First contact should be natural and friendly.
That was a lady's preference.
"...Well, the first time we met a demon was when we met Scavenger at the second ruins, and we beat them pretty badly in battle..." (Pauline)
"The next time we met, at the third ruins of the Alban Empire, we talked quite a bit with the beastmen but hardly any with the demons, so I guess that doesn't count." (Mavis)
As Pauline and Mavis said, their contact with the demons was by no means their first contact.
"It's fine~, it's just a trivial thing~!" (Mile)
However, Mile didn't sweat about the trivial things.
...And it's a pretty big thing...