by Funa
MIGHT WE OFFER YOU SOME ASSISTANCE?
A spirit of salvation appeared to her, calling out in its silent voice, one that was transmitted directly to Mile’s eardrums, not via sound waves running through vibrating air.
PLEASE LEAVE IT TO US!
***
The next morning…or rather, sometime before dawn, as it was still dark outside, Mile sat in the middle of the Crimson Vow’s rented room covered by a dome-shaped barrier that blocked all sound, motion, and light. She could not see out of the dome, and no one could see in. No sound would pass through.
Reina and the others were fast asleep, but even if they woke and saw the dome, at most they would think, Ah, she’s up reading or writing again, and ignore it. It was not at all rare for Mile to use such a dome when she did not wish to be interrupted. In the event of an emergency, Reina or Pauline could blast the dome with a spell or Mavis could strike it with her sword. While nothing would change inside the dome, Mile would at least be aware that she was being attacked.
The conversation that was currently unfolding inside of the dome went as follows…
THIS IS THE LIVING ROBOT, “MILE-001.”
“Whoooooaaaa! It’s a real live Copy Robot!”
There before Mile sat a robot crafted in her spitting image.
I WOULD LIKE FOR YOU TO ENTRUST CONTROL TO ME IN THE EARLY ACTIVATION STAGES, SO THAT I MAY CORRECT ANY MALFUNCTIONS IN THE INITIAL OPERATION. JUST THE EARLY STAGES IS FINE. MY PRESENCE IS NECESSARY FOR THE EARLY STAGES!
“Hey, Nano, you… Wait, you’re going to run this thing?”
YES. I AM THE INDIVIDUAL WHO OVERSAW THE PRODUCTION OF MILE-001.
“Hm? So, you give the directions for this, then?”
YES. I AM MOST FREQUENTLY IN YOUR PRESENCE, AND THEREFORE THE MOST FAMILIAR WITH THE FORM OF YOUR BODY, LADY MILE. THUS, I WAS PERMITTED TO OVERSEE THE DESIGN PROCESS AND CRAFT THE BLUEPRINTS FOR THE ROBOT. I CAN PROMISE THAT THE SIZE, SHAPE, COLORATION, AND POWER ARE ALL A PERFECT REPLICA OF THE ORIGINAL…
“Gy…”
GY?
“Gyaaaaaahh!!!”
“Hff hff hff… A-anyway, Nanomachine… Actually that’s actually a little hard to distinguish. Let’s give you a name. Hmm, well, you kept saying, ‘early stages,’ so I guess we can call you that? ‘Early Stage…’”
OH, WHAT GREAT HONOR, WHAT GREAT FORTUNE, TO BE GIVEN MY OWN UNIQUE NAME!
The overseer nanomachine seemed to be overjoyed by this.
“So then, um, Early Stage…”
YES, THE “EARLY STAGE” WILL EXTEND THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT.
“Wait, so what are you trying to saaaay?!”
HM?
The nanomachine was dumbfounded, unable to understand just was it was that had pained Mile so…
***
“All right, so this trip’ll be three nights and four days. We’re in charge of taking out a goblin settlement that’s popped up near a mountain village. Let’s go!” said Reina.
“All right!” replied two of her fellow party members.
“All right…” came the last party member’s reply, a bit behind the rest.
“I really thought I was supposed to be the party leader,” Mavis muttered—a bit bitterly. Her comment was completely ignored.
“I wonder how long it is until we get to the village this request came from,” Reina muttered.
“6.274 kilometers remain. At our current velocity, the remaining travel time will be 1 hour, 18 minutes, and 26 seconds.”
“Uh…”
Mile’s immediate and incredibly precise reply left the other three stunned.
“I… I see. Thank you.”
Reina was always surprised when Mile gave a reply that was actually on the mark, but there was something particularly out of character about this response. Her face was deadpan and serious; she did not appear to be joking.
Reina had brushed it off as best she could, but a strange suspicion began to gather in the back of her mind.
***
“So, that’s where most of the goblin sightings have been, right? We’ll aim for there tomorrow,” said Reina, as they sat in the village elder’s house, getting briefed about the goblin situation.
Just then, Mile held out a slip of paper.
“Based on the provided information, I have plotted a diagram of the locations of all of the sightings and made further calculations based on the timing of those sightings. As a result, we can predict that the goblin settlement will be in this general region. We can assume that the goblins’ typical hunting grounds are located in this area.”
A cry of stunned praise rose from the village elder and the villagers who had come to give their witness statements.
The members of the Crimson Vow, however, were silent.
What was with her?
They all stared at Mile, warily.
This living robot, Mile-001, was not a machine in nature, but a manmade—or rather, nano-made—facsimile of a living body. However, it did not possess the mental faculties to operate on its own. It was controlled by an army of nanomachines, each in charge of their own part, under the direction of a single nanomachine. Its speech and actions were entirely controlled by the nanomachines, all of which had made a desperate rush for the position of director.
They had been collating speech and movement data regularly, so it was unlikely that any discrepancies should arise. The individual nanomachines’ dispositions might have some minuscule amount of influence, but that was still within permissible bounds.
***
“I think it should be somewhere around here. All right, let’s all split up, and…”
“I’ve spotted it—the goblin settlement! It looks like they’re living in those caves.”
Before Reina could even finish speaking, Mile announced her discovery.
The other three were quiet, and then Pauline said, a bit surprised, “Mile, you should pace yourself!”
“Yeah, Mile. Let’s take this one step at a time,” Mavis added.
For some reason, Reina looked a bit peeved.
“Okay then, let’s go check out the situation nearer to the village. No matter how thoroughly we trounce the settlement, if we let even just a few females or children get away, their numbers will just start multiplying again right away. If that happens, then we can’t really say that we fulfilled our clients’ expectations.”
“I’ve confirmed the situation with my surveillance magic. My survey shows no signs of any other goblins in the surrounding area. If we just crush their settlement now, I don’t believe we should have any problems.”
The other three fell silent again. Reina was now in quite a foul mood.
“Let’s do this!” she shouted.
“All right!!” replied two.
“All right…”
Each time, Mile’s response came just a little bit late.
“Fireball!”
“Ice Javelin!”
“Wind Edge!!!”
Mavis’s Wind Edge, Reina’s fireballs, and Pauline’s ice javelins were an exercise in applied magic, each fired at high number in miniature form. Against a horde of goblins, such techniques were far more effective than any more powerful, more straightforward magic. But then…
“Super Laser Beam, Fire!”
Suddenly, a spray of countless beams of light went flying from Mile’s fingertips.
In an instant, not a single goblin was left standing.
Again, silence fell over the party.
“Let’s head into the caves and wipe out the rest! We can’t let a single one get away!”
“All right!!”
“All right…”
The Crimson Vow headed into the cave mouth, with Mavis and Mile in the lead.
Okay, so we’re only fighting goblins, and most of them are already gone. I don’t think I’ll need to use the Micros or my True Godspeed Blade to deal with the rest. I’m not gonna rely on them—I’m gonna fight with my own strength and let my true powers shine! Mavis thought to her
self. Just then…
Tmp!
Smacksmacksmacksmacksmack!
“It’s over.”
“M-Miiiiiile!!!”
***
The walk home was a silent affair.
They had completed their job without a scratch, the villagers were overjoyed, and everyone thanked them. However, three of the members of the Crimson Vow seemed to be in a very bad mood, and the remaining member, Mile, began to fret.
This is strange! Our actions have been within the bounds of Lady Mile’s abilities, and we have been using the same manner of speech that Lady Mile uses, so why are the others now in such a foul mood?! We’ve worked so hard… If this ruins the relationship between Lady Mile and her companions, she will never forgive us…
The silence deepened.
Mile’s been especially capable on this mission. She’s made sound judgments and acted quickly, thought Mavis.
Mile didn’t once slip up or make any stupid jokes this time. She just battled fiercely, thought Pauline.
Mile was straightforward and serious this whole time. She didn’t even mention anything weird, thought Reina.
…But that’s not like Mile at all!!!
The three seemed to be sharing each other’s thoughts.
And so the Crimson Vow hurried home, saying nary a word to one another.
***
“All right, done! Volume 1 of my newest work, Here Comes the High Ogre, and Volume 3, the concluding volume of Giant Orc, are complete!! Now to hurry to the Guild, and…”
The morning of the party’s departure, before the others awoke, Mile switched places with Mile-001 and slipped out of the inn.
After the other members of the Crimson Vow had left town, Mile had rented a separate room and holed herself up inside, frantically continuing her writing—not as Mile, the C-rank hunter, but Miami Satodele, the author.
And now, her manuscripts were finally complete.
“If I don’t hurry, the Guild’s post wagon’s gonna leave without me…”
Mile rushed to the guildhall, her manuscripts hastily stuffed in an envelope.
“Phew! Made it just in time!”
As Mile exited the guildhall, dabbing the sweat from her brow, suddenly, in the distance before her, she saw the Crimson Vow approaching.
“C-c-c-c-crap!”
Mile’s visual acuity was still leagues beyond that of Mavis, who possessed the next best vision among the members of the Crimson Vow, so while she could see them clearly, the Crimson Vow—save for Mile-001—were still not within range to spot her. But if anyone in the area should happen to spot two Miles standing near each other, the jig would be up.
Light beam refraction, stealth mode!
She quickly used her light-warping magic to cloak herself.
It was too soon to swap places with Mile-001. She, the original, knew nothing of how their mission had gone, so if she was with them when they went to the Guild to report on the completion of the job, there was a chance that discrepancies might become obvious. The timing of the exchange had to be just right…
Auuuugh! But then, when we’re having dinner to celebrate, we’ll probably start discussing what happened on the job, so I can’t swap back before then, either! I’m gonna miss out on our special celebration meeeeeal!!!
Though she was practically crying tears of blood by now, Mile was utterly resigned. She had brought this all upon herself by procrastinating on her manuscripts.
After the celebratory meal was through, as the Crimson Vow headed back to the inn, Mile (001) spotted, for but a moment, the silhouette of a human in the corner of her vision.
“Hm? Um, I’ll be back in a minute!”
“Huh? Wait, where are you running off to?”
Reina tried but could not stop Mile 001 as she went dashing off to the right, down an alleyway. Not even a few seconds had passed, however, before she came running right back.
“Sorry, I thought I saw this cat that I like over there, but it ran off. It was probably just another cat that looked similar.”
Huh?
Nothing had changed about her. Not her face, or voice, or smile.
And yet, somehow, a sense of profound ease suddenly swept over the other three members of the Crimson Vow.
There was a silence, and then Reina said quietly, “Mile, you don’t have push yourself so hard. You might be absentminded, or act silly, or slip up, or talk about weird things, but that’s just part of who you are. There’s no reason for you to act weirdly serious or try to smooth out the quirks in your personality… What I’m saying is, that attitude of yours was really pissing me off! You can’t just try and do every single little thing all by yourself! That’s really annoying!!!”
“Huh? What??”
Mile had no idea what was going on.
“She’s right, Mile. We’re your party members and your friends, so just be yourself. You have to have faith in us when it comes to our work and split up the responsibilities. And you can’t just go and upstage me when it’s time to show off my sword skills! Like, seriously!!!” Mavis added, sounding somehow a bit desperate.
“……?”
Pauline, for some reason, just tipped her head silently.
What?! Did they not already go over all of this at the dinner discussion? Why are they all being so weird?! What’s going on here? Nanos, you told me that everything was completely fine!
OUR DEEPEST APOLOGIES. IT SEEMS THAT THE BONDS OF EVERYONE’S HEARTS ARE BEYOND WHAT WE ANTICIPATED.
By now, the nanomachines had exited Mile-001 and returned to their normal functions. The robot in question, meanwhile, had been packed away in Mile’s alternate-dimension inventory.
Ah… I-I see. Well, I guess that’s not your fault.
Believing that she was being told that this happened because the bonds between their hearts were so strong, Mile was happy not to complain.
THAT’S NOT IT!
Nanos, did you just say something?
NO, NOTHING AT ALL!
Really? Still, it’s too bad. You went through all this work to make this thing for me, and it seems like this is the only time we’ll get to use it.
At this, there was an outcry among the nanomachines.
The Mile-001 was their masterpiece. Getting the chance to operate it and act like a human, specifically Lady Mile, had quickly become an aspiration of every nanomachine, something for which they would gladly wait their turn. Now, no matter how diligently they performed their everyday functions, it seemed that guiding star was going to collapse before they ever got their chance to bask in its glow. If the robot was stuck away in storage forever, it would be a dreadful thing.
The nanomachines, of course, would never be allowed to construct something like this or operate it of their own volition. This was a Super Ultra Rare creation, able to be made only because it was in accordance with the desires of Lady Mile, authorization level 5.
H-HERE’S AN IDEA! HOW ABOUT NEXT TIME, YOU CAN GO TO YOUR JOB, LADY MILE, AND I—OR RATHER, THE LIVING ROBOT—CAN WRITE YOUR NOVEL FOR YOU! I BELIEVE THAT WAY, THE NOVEL PRODUCED WILL BE EVEN MORE INTERESTING THAN WHAT YOU, LADY MILE, CAN WRITE YOURSELF… the nanos said confidently.
Wh-wh-wh-what?!
I’VE ALREADY GOT AN IDEA FOR IT. IT’S THE STORY OF A ROBOT IN THE SHAPE OF A LITTLE GIRL, OFTEN MISTAKEN FOR A BOY AT FIRST GLANCE BECAUSE SHE’S SO FLAT-CHESTED, WHO TRAVELS THE WORLD ON HER MOTORBIKE. I’LL CALL IT, “NANO’S JOURNEY.” IT’LL BE A BIG HIT, I JUST KNOW IT!
Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wha?!
NATURALLY, OF COURSE, THE LIVING ROBOT WILL BE A GOLEM, LEFT OVER FROM ANCIENT TIMES, AND THE MOTORBIKE WILL BE OPERATED BY MAGIC…
“Go back to the part where you said ‘mistaken for a boy because she’s so flat-chested’—are you talking about me?! That robot was made to look just like meeeeee!!!”
“Eek! Wh-why are you shouting?! And what exactly are you shouting about?!”
Mile had accidentally shouted her frustrations out loud. At the top of her
lungs.
“Oh, no, um, I, uh, just, suddenly remembered something that I really didn’t want to remember.”
“I see. Well, you shouldn’t worry too much about that.” Reina offered warm words of comfort.
Judging by what Mile had shouted, she had some guesses as to just what it was that Mile “didn’t wish to remember.”
Pauline and Mavis could, of course, plainly see why it was that Reina was suddenly being so nice to Mile, but neither of them would ever be foolish enough to voice such a thing out loud, so they kept their mouths shut.
“Looks like we have our usual Mile back,” said Pauline. Reina and Mavis nodded.
“Still, I didn’t really mind the serious, capable Mile…”
“Mile the hard worker, never saying or doing anything weird…”
“I get the feeling that version of Mile would earn us a lot more money…”
“What?!?!”
Did Mile’s allies actually prefer the copy over the original?!
If so, it would be a grave blow to Mile’s self-esteem. However…
“Even so, this version is a lot more fun. I prefer this one.”
“Me too.”
“Yeah, me too. Having fun is what’s most important when you’re with friends!”
“Wuh? Uhn… Nnnnnnn…”
Mile was not sure if she should be angry or glad. Swept up in this complex emotion, she could only grumble.
HOW SPLENDID! YOU’RE BLESSED WITH SUCH WONDERFUL FRIENDS!
Y-you keep out of this!!!
Bonus Story:
I Saw a Bird
Chirp chirp…
“Did you hear something just now?” asked Reina.
“No, I didn’t,” Mavis replied.
Just then…
Chirp chirp!
“Listen, there it is again! Where is that coming from?”
This time, they all heard it clearly. Reina, Mavis, and Mile began to search for the source.