"!!" (Everyone)
The Guild Master muttered some ominous words.
Mile and her group had a feeling that this word sounded familiar.
...No, maybe that was a bit too much...
Fortunately, since this was a port town, news about sailors traveled quickly, but news from the royal capital did not. Unless a merchant caravan came by land, news from that direction traveled very slowly.
And while the news had been widely known among the residents of the royal capital that very day, it was not announced to the outside world... that their country had formed a friendship with an ancient dragon and its friend, a foreign princess... until several days later, due to multiple meetings, and the news had not yet reached the city.
"...No, the rumors were that the ancient dragons and the shrine maidens were allies... This time, I just happened to encounter him in the forest I visited on a requested mission, so I guess it's irrelevant... Is it just a coincidence that they are the same Four Girls...?" (Guild master)
As the Guild Master spoke to himself, all the members of Crimson Vow nodded frantically.
They were so desperate that some of the guild executives looked a little suspicious, but the muscle-brained guild master had no idea and continued the conversation.
"Anyway, I understand what you said. For now, I will proceed with the investigation on the assumption that everything reported is true.
...After all, there's absolutely no reason for you guys to lie...
You've just arrived in the area, you don't know anyone, and you have no connections.
And I know that you're not stupid enough to risk being expelled from the guild by making a false report on a low-paying request that you took on as a volunteer, even though you could make plenty of money by doing normal work.
There is also a confession statement from the village chief, although it has not been confirmed whether it is a forgery.
There's nothing strange about the report other than it being hard to believe..." (Guild master)
Yes.
The reports were hard to believe.
It's not that Mile and her group weren't aware of it either.
That's it!
Suddenly, a great idea popped into Mile's head.
"Um, how about this as evidence?" (Mile)
"Eh?" (Guild master)
And then, Mile took something out of his item box and placed it on the conference table...
"...scales?"
"A huge...scale..."
"Yes, it's an ancient dragon scale. I received it as a souvenir!" (Mile)
"Whaaaaaaaat?!" (Everyone)
This was not the scale she received this time.
All she got this time were shavings of horns and claws.
However, shavings didn't have much impact, and if it was just powder, you wouldn't know what kind of powder it was just by looking at it.
So Mile took out some scales that she had obtained for a different reason and had stored in her item box.
It was evil to give false testimony in order to distort the truth and deceive others.
...However, lies told in the name of telling the truth and achieving justice were permissible.
Mile's flexible thinking (convenient way of thinking) led her to choose that course of action.
Reina and the other two seemed to agree with Mile's way of thinking, as they just watched without saying a word.
Ancient dragon scales, especially in perfect condition with no missing parts, were rarely found on the market.
Even if they were available, it would not be something that young hunters could obtain.
...That meant.
The fact that it was here meant that they had obtained it directly.
"......" (Everyone)
"Very well, with this, the policy of our Hunter Guild branch will be to use your testimony as the basis, and if there are any objections, we will ask the villagers to present evidence.
Well, the fact that the ancient dragon came is now an undeniable fact. No one will doubt your testimony." (Guild master)
The guild master and guild staff seemed to have given up on everything.
And…….
"Hey, could you sell those scales to the guild? If we sell them to His Majesty the King via the Royal Capital branch, we can get a lot of money and merit, and our branch can earn points...
P-please!" (Guild master)
In reality, the royal palace already had two beautiful scales in their possession, and a third would not be as impressive or priced as it should be.
This scale was unrelated to the previous two, so it was unlikely that the Ancient Dragon would check the selling price later.
Therefore, the royal palace might either buy it as cheap as possible, or, alternatively, would not buy it at all and say, "We don’t have any extra budget left," and gave instructions to sell it to a leading merchant house in the country.
Well, there's no need to worry about that...
"No, it was a gift from the Ancient Dragon-sama as a memento..." (Mile)
"……you're right……" (Guild master)
Mile and her group were not short of money.
And if you stored it in a ridiculously large item box, there's no need to worry about it being stolen.
So, there was no need to rush to sell anything important or that would be worth more if she kept it.
When they went to the royal capital later, they could either go and sell them themselves or put them up for auction.
Therefore, the guild master only said it "just in case" and didn't seem particularly disappointed.
That's it, case closed.
The rest was the job of the guild and the authorities.
So, Mile and her group left the conference room, went to the purchase counter on the first floor and sold several high-ranking monsters that were stored in their item boxes, claiming to have been "hunted in the Forbidden Forest", then returned to the inn.
A few days later.
A young man from the village came to the inn where Crimson Vow was staying.
Apparently, he had searched all the inns in the town and found her.
Inns didn't disclose information about their guests because it's a matter of trust, so it was a wonder how he managed to find them...
In that case, it would have been quicker to go to the Hunter Guild branch.
And…….
"The Ancient Dragon wishes to meet you... He has come to a nearby forest, so I will guide you there."
If he said that, they had no choice but to meet him.
If things went wrong, he might even say he wanted to come all the way to town to see her in person, and if that happens...there would be panic.
That alone would result in deaths.
So there was no other choice.
Moreover, from the young man's appearance, he didn't seem particularly desperate.
So, they thought it might not be such a bad story.
"...So, what can I do for you?" (Mile)
Mile, who had come to a nearby forest with his companions accompanied by a young man from the village, asked the ancient dragon Zalm this question in a respectful manner...
"SILVA SAID HE WAS WORRIED BECAUSE THE BARBEQUE MACHINE HADN'T RETURNED AND ASKED ME TO CHECK IT OUT."
"I don't know! And am I called a 'Barbeque Machine'?! Wasn't it said that I was a mistress?!" (Mile)
When Mile found out that the wolves didn't even call her concubine or mistress, she was furious...
"What? You wanted to be the white wolf's mistress after all?" (Reina)
"Well, Mile-chan loves fluffy things next to little girls..." (Pauline)
Mavis nodded in agreement at what Reina and Pauline said.
"There's no way that's true!!" (Mile)
Mile was furious...