by Funa
Denied. That would mean I’d never get to determine how these rifts develop!
ER…
Mile was filled with a vague regret that she was unable to see the looks on their faces.
I did consider having you simply tell me after the fact every time, Nano-dears, but I get the feeling that you would just find ways to dance around the truth to deceive me.
UHHH…
I knew it!
Of course, this little performance was probably yet another act on the part of the nanomachines, but it was only proper for a young maiden to play along with their farce.
Well, I doubt it will happen, but if another rift opens up in this location, please tell me right away.
AS YOU WISH.
Nodding, Mile turned to the dwarves. “It’s over now. I don’t think you should see any of those rare monsters appearing here anymore. Now we just need to eliminate the rest of the creatures that have settled in the area to make sure that they don’t keep breeding.”
“All right!” the dwarves shouted. The Crimson Vow just looked on complacently, as though this could not have ended up any other way—Mile was here, after all.
So why then did Mavis not appear to be very happy? Perhaps it was because, once again, their troubles had been vanquished, all thanks to Mile…
Chapter 69:
The Return
“Well then, it’s time to head back,” Reina announced, hoping that, now that everything was through, they could make a triumphant retreat. However…
“Actually, uh, pardon me, but I’d still like us to go and clean out the orcs’ nest while we’re at it. I’m sure that we can get rid of any that are still alive on our own later, but I really don’t want to pass up the chance to do so without anyone getting hurt. Please, if you would!”
This, of course, was a perfectly natural request from the dwarf in charge of the village’s defenses. Furthermore, it was still within the terms of their contract… Besides, now that they had gone and smashed up the ogres’ lair, it made little sense not to do the same with the orcs. The Crimson Vow had already acknowledged this fact, but apparently it had slipped Reina’s mind.
“I guess we did talk about that. I just forgot, okay?”
Reina appeared to recognize her mistake, even issuing something that sounded vaguely like an apology… Ever the tsundere, she was.
With the dwarves as their guide, the group proceeded to the orcs’ lair.
…It was over in an instant.
Well, first Pauline wafted a “weak red breeze” over them, which Mile then blew away with a strong gust, after which the dwarves fell upon the orcs immediately. The Crimson Vow relegated themselves to the status of observers, there only to step in if things got particularly dangerous for the dwarves. It was important to leave the dwarves with at least one feather in their caps before this whole thing was through. A well-earned victory was a useful thing to have in one’s pocket.
Blessedly, the Crimson Vow did at least have a general concept of how to be considerate of others.
“Mile, what does your search magic say?” Reina asked quietly so that the dwarves would not overhear.
“We should be good. I’m not picking up signs of any more aberrant orcs or ogres. I’m getting faint reactions from something that might be normal monsters much farther away, but the dwarves should be able to deal with those. They’ve been able to make a living in these mountains for centuries, after all.”
That seemed to put Reina at ease. It would leave a bad taste in their mouths to hear after the fact about some dwarven villagers being slaughtered in a monster battle shortly after they left.
And so, they made their triumphant return to the village. It was a complete and utter victory: the hordes of powerful monsters had been vanquished, with every dwarf returning home unharmed and alive. The whole village was immediately abuzz and set about preparing for a feast.
“I knew ye could do it! Good work out there, lads!”
The chief and the other villagers heaped praise on the members of the reclamation team. The youthful dwarves, particularly those who were probably still single, blushed as a group of young ladies—who to the Crimson Vow appeared no older than children—lavished the men with compliments.
Though they might have been youths, they still had the faces of grizzled old men sporting full, rugged beards, so there was something a tad unsettling in seeing them blush in the face of girls who looked more like children.
“Hey, it’s that girl!”
As Mile watched, she noticed the young girl who had greeted the caravan when they first arrived at the village. And there was an older-looking dwarf, talking to her bashfully…
“Wait a minute! Isn’t that girl ten years old?! Keep your hands off of—”
“Now now, give ’em a break,” the combat leader said, patting Mile on the shoulder. “I don’t know how this looks to you, but that’s his childhood sweetheart. He’s fifteen, so there’s only five years between them.”
“What?!”
The members of the Crimson Vow froze in shock.
After a short while, the village chief made his way over to the Crimson Vow.
“You’ve my deepest thanksh for all yer help. Those fellash told us all ’bout what you girlsh did. You really shaved our bacon. We’d like ye to celebrate with us this evenin’. Naturally yer friendsh who stayed here t’ protect us and them merchantsh’re invited, too.”
“Of course! Thank you very much!” Mavis replied on behalf of the party as the other three bowed their heads in thanks.
“Hey! Nice work, girls. I’d ask you how it was, but I bet words couldn’t do it justice.”
“Well, it seems like they wiped out those orcs and ogres at least, and far as I can see, all of the dwarves made it back without injuries… Though, of course, that goes without saying.”
Their wording could have been more polite, but Wulf of the Devils’ Paradise and Vegas of the Fellowship of Flame offered the Crimson Vow provisional congratulations.
“Gotta apologize, though. Here we are raking in our pay and all we did was loaf around the village… Y’all are the ones who set that up for us, too—we really didn’t do anything at all.”
“That’s not true!” said Mavis. “It’s only thanks to you that we were able to take all the able-bodied dwarves from the village with us and that we could take our time exterminating the monsters without having to worry about everyone back here!”
That was Mavis for you, ever the sweet-talker. Of course, her praise was more than just lip service—she truly meant what she said. This came across in her voice, and the other hunters returned her heartfelt smile.
That evening, the feast—which was really more of a village-wide festival—was held in the village square. The threat of the village’s destruction had been eliminated, and by all reports, the chances that they would be seeing those dangerous monsters again were very low. This was more than sufficient cause for celebration.
Thankfully, there was plenty of food and wine to go around, and if this wasn’t the time for indulgence, then when would be? Every family brought dishes from their own household, and there was meat roasting in the square. The doors of the village storehouse were opened, and the ale and spirits produced there in the village were served up in excess. Normally, as the production of liquor was a group effort for the village, when it was sold, the proceeds went into the village stores, but tonight, the drinks were free.
Of course, celebration or no celebration, not a single person brought out the liquor they had purchased from Mile. Those were bottles to be consumed sip by sip, with reverence, all on their own. There was no way they were going to drink it all down in one sitting—or allow others to share.
Though the dwarves seemed bighearted on the surface, deep down, they really were a stingy bunch.
“So, you girls gonna have a drink?”
“Oh, hello, Captain!”
“No way!”
After finishing off his first round of food an
d drink, the leader of the reclamation team made his way over to the Crimson Vow. It was as Reina indicated: though the members of the Crimson Vow were masters at shoveling food into their mouths, they had not drunk a drop.
“All the drinks you have are way too strong and burny! We can’t drink that stuff!”
Sure enough, none of the members of the Crimson Vow—and particularly not Reina—were at the point in their lives when they could enjoy the taste of alcohol. If they drank, sure, they might feel good for a little while, but they would feel sick and vomit swiftly after. When they ate, they stuck to sipping sweet, weak fruit ales, and they drank neither for the love of drink nor for the sake of getting drunk. The spirits served here, which were high in alcohol and stung the throat, did not suit their palates. The idea of letting alcohol rest for years to age and mature had yet to take hold in this village.
“Oh, that’s right!”
Though the leader had come over expressly to speak with the Crimson Vow, they had already spoken plenty on the trek home, so there was little to discuss at this point. Both sides had already offered their thanks and exchanged other humble words, which did not bear further repetition. However, Mile remembered something that she had been wanting to ask.
“Um, could you tell me if there are any legends passed down through the dwarves?”
***
“Thanks so much!”
The legends that the leader was able to tell her about were more than what the fairies knew but less than the elder dragons. In other words, it had been pretty much the same as what the elves and beastmen were able to tell her.
The content of the legends were relatively tame, without the awkward declarations of their race being the “chosen people” that had turned up in the stories of the elves and the demons. Instead, the dwarf leader narrated a simple tale of how dwarves, elves, humans, beastfolk, and demons would all have to combine their powers for the sake of the world’s future. The general gist was most similar to that of the elder dragons’ legends, and the contents were more or less the same as what she had heard from all the other races…save for the humans, among whom such legends had been lost.
Clearly, preserving knowledge was a challenge in a world such as this, where cheap, mass-market printed materials were an impossibility—especially for those races with shorter life spans, for whom the cycling of generations went at a much quicker pace.
Why, at this rate I’ll have to write the books myself, and then I can become a librarian like I always wanted! Well no, maybe not. I need to give it my all as a solitary author, bringing the tales of Earth to this world with my altered Japanese folktales…
“M-Mile, what’s going on? You’ve suddenly got this weird smile on your face,” Mavis asked, worried.
“Oh, uh, n-no, it’s nothing,” Mile dithered, waving her hands wildly.
As she looked around, she noticed that there seemed to be a great number of dwarven women participating in the festivities today.
Well, I guess that makes sense as this is a festival… Then again, we barely saw any of their women outside at all before yesterday. They seem like friendly folks, but maybe they’re actually pretty guarded and don’t want any humans laying eyes on their wives and daughters… Maybe they’ve lightened up a bit then? Or are they only allowing it for now because of the festival?
She glanced to the side to see the merchants deep in some kind of discussion with several of the villagers. Judging by the bright looks on the merchants’ faces, the talks were probably going well. Naturally so—there was no helping that the quantity of goods the dwarves had to sell was smaller than usual, but now that the problem had been dealt with, the prices would return to normal, which would help to smooth over negotiations. Starting with the next trip, trade would return to normal.
The village’s profits this time around would be half as much as usual, but they likely had some in savings just in case of such an eventuality. As they were already self-sufficient in terms of food, with the items they imported being largely luxury goods, they would just have to hold back a bit this time.
All the loose ends had been tied up.
Now that her stomach was full to bursting and her hands were free, Mile took her juice in hand and assumed a posture that would suggest she was deep in thought.
Finally, she could begin the cross-examination.
Nanos?
………
If you don’t start talking, I’m just going to keep asking.
UNDERSTOOD. A PROMISE IS A PROMISE. EVEN IF THAT PROMISE WAS ONE OBTAINED BY UNDERHANDED, COWARDLY MEANS, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF ANOTHER’S WEAKNESS…
What are you talking about?! Don’t be sore losers!
………
What the nanomachines then conveyed to Mile was as follows:
TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, THAT RIFT WAS CONNECTED TO A PARALLEL DIMENSION, AND THE ORCS AND OGRES THAT LIVE THERE BEGAN—
I already heard that from Mavis!
AS AN EFFECT OF THE PREVIOUSLY ENACTED EXTRA-DIMENSIONAL MAGIC, THE BARRIER BETWEEN THE DIMENSIONS HAS BECOME EASIER TO—
I heard that from Mavis, too!
……
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Finally resigned, the nanomachines began to tell her some new information.
FOR THE MOST PART, THE SITUATION IS LARGELY AS LADY MAVIS CONJECTURED. THOSE ABERRANT ORCS AND OGRES COULD BE CONSIDERED THE ORIGINAL STOCK FOR THOSE VARIETIES THAT EXIST IN THIS WORLD IN THE CURRENT DAY. UPON RELOCATING TO THIS WORLD, WHERE THEY COULD LEAD A TRANQUIL EXISTENCE, THE MONSTERS GRADUALLY BECAME WEAKER. CONVERSELY, THOSE THAT REMAINED IN THE HARSH ENVIRONMENT OF THEIR ORIGINAL WORLD, WHERE EVERY DAY IS A STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL, BECAME STRONGER AND STRONGER.
What? Their original world…? So orcs and ogres are…
YES. ORIGINALLY, THEY DID NOT EXIST IN THIS WORLD. NOR DID MANY OF THE OTHER MONSTERS THAT NOW RESIDE HERE.
Now that she thought about it, this made sense.
How many eons could it take for a large-scale life-form to evolve and take root as a species? If you branched off at the monkey stage, you might one day end up with ogres. And then, if a monkey and a pig were to crossbreed… Er, would two species that distant even be genetically compatible?
Then again, this was a world that had experienced the collapse of civilization countless times. What if animals protected in a zoo began to proliferate after the fall of civilization? No, no, they would probably be wiped out well before that by people who believed them to be dangerous. Civilizations didn’t collapse in a day, after all…
So, why was this world so overrun with monsters?
Perhaps this was the explanation.
There had been a mass migration of dangerous creatures from another world who had then taken root here. The animals native to this world were still called “animals,” with the more dangerous among them known as “brutes” or “beasts.” Whereas the dangerous life-forms that mass-migrated from another world, and began to breed, were called—
INDEED, THOSE ARE THE CREATURES KNOWN AS MONSTERS.
………
So which came first?
WHAT?
The nanomachines were momentarily puzzled at Mile’s question. Apparently, they were not constantly monitoring every single one of her thought impulses.
What I’m asking is: Did the monsters proliferate because society collapsed? Or did society collapse because the monsters started proliferating?
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“M-Miss Mile, would you like to dance with me over there?”
“Huh?”
A hero appears!
“The dance has just started, so if you’d like to…”
Wh-wh-wh-whaaa? Is this some kind of pick-up artist?!?!
From the way he was speaking, the man was probably a you
ng one. At least, that’s what one might assume. However, he had a beard, and a gruff voice, and the face of an old geezer…
“U-um, th-th-the only dances I know are the Oklahoma Mixer and the Mayim Mayim…”
As Adele, Mile had only lived the life of a young noble’s daughter up until around the age of eight, so she had not been instructed in dancing.
And then there’s the dance of joy you do when the random path of the pachinko ball ends up in your favor—or wait, that’s just a happy dance!
Mile was incredibly flustered. Of course, the dwarves’ dances were not the same as those of high society gatherings, but rather, something more along the lines of what you might see at a square dance or Bon Festival…
“Miss Mile, you’re so strong and so modest in size that I can barely even believe you’re a human… Plus, when you eat a lot like that, you plump up. You really are beautiful…”
“Mind your own business!!! Anyway, I’m only thirteen! I’m still a growing girl! I’m gonna have a hot bod before you know it!!!” Mile raged. This was the second time now that she had been told she looked like a dwarf, and it wasn’t getting any easier to hear. “Anyway, if that’s what you’re after, then go and bother Reina! She’s already sixteen, so she’s not gonna grow another inch!”
Overflowing with rage, Mile pointed to Reina, voicing the words that should never be uttered.
“Wha—?!”
Rrrrrrrrm…
The dwarf who had extended the invitation to Mile had already vanished. Apparently, he had a well-honed sense of danger.
Of course, if that were truly the case, then why had he bothered speaking to Mile in the first place?
“Mile, what did you just say?”
“Uh…”
While Mile tried desperately to apologize to Reina, Mavis also found herself accosted by dwarven men—a great number of them.
Of course, these were very obviously geezers, both in appearance and actual age.
“Please! You’ve gotta let us see your sword!”
“Huh…?”
Indeed, they were the smiths who had taken part in the reclamation team and watched her slice through the aberrant ogres as though they were tissue paper. By now, word had spread so that all the village craftsmen gathered around her.