"Well, it will all depend on when I meet this Sacred Maiden thing tomorrow, right?" (Mile)
"Again, isn't that ancient dragon's leader a bit of a brat?" (Reina)
"Please spare me..." (Mavis)
Reina interrupted Mile's closing line, while Mavis looked dejected. Pauline, who always took a step back when money wasn't involved, could only chuckle wryly.
"Anyway, let's look forward to tomorrow."
And with that, Mile began her usual "Japanese Stories"...
"This way, follow me."
The village chief and the village elders, who had obviously displeased looks on their faces, and this time instead of their leaders, six demons who looked to be in their 30s accompanied Mile and her party.
These were clearly personnel to hold back Mile and her party if they tried to lay a hand on Sacred Maiden. All six of them were equipped with swords, spears, short bows, and other equipments, and they didn't even seem to make any effort to hide their intentions.
Or rather, it seemed that they were emphasizing this point in order to intimidate people and stop them from doing anything strange.
(Well, it can't be helped, can it?)
(From their perspective, we were like a bunch of armed strangers suddenly showed up and demanded to meet someone extremely important to them.)
(There's no way they'd let us meet without an escort, right?)
(Yes, I guess that's just the way it is for them. I'm sorry for making you waste so much manpower on us.)
The four members of the Crimson Vow were whispering about such things.
The demons, whose hearing was better than humans', might have been able to hear their whispers, but it wasn't really a problem for them to be overheard, so Mile and her party didn't pay much attention and continued their whispered conversation as they followed the village chief and village elders walking ahead of them.
The six men were standing slightly behind Mile and her party. So, they were far enough away that if they spoke softly, they wouldn't be heard... That was, if the other person had human-level hearing...
Then, Mile and her party were guided to an ordinary private house.
"Here."
The elder stopped, so Mile and her party also stopped in front of the house.
Then the village chief knocked on the door of a private home.
"It's me!"
A few seconds later, the door was opened and a woman in her 30s appeared.
"P-Please come in..."
Apparently, they had received an explanation from the previous day, and although they looked a little scared, they did not seem to be surprised by the visit of such a large group, including the village chief.
Then, following the village chief, everyone entered into the house.
"W-welcome to our house..."
Inside the house they were led to, they saw a man who appeared to be the woman's husband, and standing behind him was a girl around 10 years old.
The room just inside the entrance seemed to be a living room, with a dining table and four chairs, but of course there weren't enough chairs to seat everyone, and there wasn't even enough space for that. So, everyone had to stand while talking, but the village chief urged the girl to sit down.
"This is Sacred Maiden."
The elder said as he pointed his hand towards the girl sitting in the chair. It seemed that from now on the elders would be in charge, not the village chief. ...And he simply introduced the girl as _Miko_ and didn't seem interested in even saying her name.
(So they're trying not to give out any information about this child...) (Mile's mind)
That's what Mile thought, but she didn't particularly want to go out of her way to find out the name.
All Mile wanted to know was information.
...It was about the mysteries of this world and the many races that resemble humans, not about personal information about anyone, no matter how special their position.
So, without paying any attention to the elders' attitude, she spoke to the girl, Sacred Maiden, who was sitting in a chair.
"Hello. I'm a hunter and my name is Mile. Girl, what's your name?" (Mile)
"…………"
No demon child would feel fear and wariness when a human they'd just met, who was not particularly friendly with demons, approached them in a familiar manner. This was especially true for this child, who had likely been repeatedly told "Scary stories about humans and things to be wary of" by her mother and father since last night.
So Mile tried to reassure the girl by speaking to her gently.
And…….
"Stay away, you rude person! What do you think of me?!" (Girl)
The young girl, Sacred Maiden, didn't seem to be afraid of Mile and the others at all...
Before meeting her, it would make you think that she's a naive child who feels good about being celebrated, but when you actually met her, she's actually a quiet, timid girl who is confused at being treated like Sacred Maiden... but in reality, she's an arrogant fool who gets carried away.
"It's a double trick!!" (All CV)
Even though they were familiar with the material, foreshadowing, and narrative tricks from Mile's "Japanese Stories" every day, the four of them still fell for it.
"We've been defeated," all the members of the Crimson Vow honestly admitted defeat.
"Ah, so she's just a stupid brat, just like the ancient dragon's leader..." (Reina)
"She's the stupid brat type, right...?" (Pauline)
"She's the stupid brat type, huh..." (Mavis)
"Tahaha..." (Mile)
(There's no hint of the ancient civilization...) (Mile's mind)
Of the two things she had predicted, Mile discarded one from her mind as unlikely. Yes, the girl had cute horns and looked like a normal demon girl. One of Mile's predictions, that she was a "Survivor of the ancient civilization preserved in cryogenic sleep or a time stagnation field," was scrapped.
In the first place, even if it had been several hundred years, judging from the "Simple red rust powder" and "Lumps of rust that had lost their original shape" found in the underground facility where Scavenger was, it must have been an enormous amount of time since the ancient civilization was destroyed, several orders of magnitude more than "Several hundred years". It's hard to imagine that the machines in that facility were made from low-quality iron that rusted easily...
Even if the power source was atomic power or an even more powerful energy source, or even if it utilized infinite energy such as solar power, the machines that supported them would not be able to continue to exist for such long periods of time.
...Yes, whether it be cryogenic sleep or a time stagnation field, it would be impossible for the energy generators, auxiliary machines, peripheral devices, and the capsule itself to last for tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of years.
Moreover, during that time, there would have been tectonic shifts, volcanic activity, and other natural disasters that would have changed the terrain. No facility, no matter what kind of structure it is, would be able to withstand the passage of time.
(...So that means it's the other one after all...) (Mile's mind)
Thinking this, Mile uttered decisive words to the girl called Sacred Maiden.
"...Sacred Maiden-san. What is your authority level?" (Mile)
"Eh……" (Girl)
The girl who had been sitting in a chair with an arrogant attitude, as if to say "Hmmm!" suddenly opened her eyes wide.
(This should be fine. The other people won't have any idea what I'm talking about, and this should be enough to convey that I "know"... After that, we could meet just the two of us tonight and talk, or I could ask Nano-chan to act as the intermediary and hold an "internal remote meeting"... And judging by the looks of it, it seems that there is no doubt about it. This child also has a certain level of authority over Nanomachines...)
"What on earth are you talking about?" (Girl)
"Eh?" (Mile)
Mile was surprised by Sacred Maiden's reaction, which was different from what she expected.
"So, what does 'Authorization Level' mean? What exactly are you talking about?" (Girl)
"Huh? What? Whaaaaat?!" (Mile)
Mile was stunned.
The lady, stunned (Lady Boozen)[1].
Author's Note
...
Translation Note
[1] 淑女呆然
(redii boozen, it should be "shukujo bouzen" but the author used "lady" instead of "shukujo"); there's a brand of ice cream "Lady Borden" (レディーボーデン). See 80k Gold chapter 366.