Chapter 218 Reconnaissance In The Name Of Investigation, Part Two
'1000m (3280ft).'
That's a pretty accurate number, Maya-chan.
'I can hardly see below anymore.'
That's me who said.
'I can't see the summit. Looks like we still have a long way to go.'
Dorchune-san, or rather Dorchuneta-san, said. Maya-chan said it's because it's like "Dor" plus "big sister (nee-san)," hence Dorchune-san. She also calls Berberiguru-san "Ber-san," so maybe it's a naming trend.
'Seriously?'
'Kuu.'
'Centrena-tan asked, "Can we go up a bit faster?"'
'Yeah, sure—woo!'
When Centrena flapped her wings again, it felt like her ascent speed increased.
'1400, 1500m (4593-4921ft).'
'Tatsuma-sama, it seems we've broken through.'
I couldn't see anything up until now. But on the seventh day of walking endlessly, I remembered the feeling when I saw the lights of Watterhill. There's definitely a light far ahead.
Wait a sec. If we add 550m (1804ft) to this height, isn't it actually over 2000m (6561ft)?
'Oh, you're right. The lights are far away.'
'Yeah, yeah.'
'Kuu.'
This is amazing. It looks like a steep cliff, but for a moment, it felt like I was looking down from the top of a tall building. But since the gap with the cliff is dark and unclear, I can only see the lights of the town far away. That's it.
'Judging from the wind direction, it seems that side is north.'
'Yeah, the lights over there are on the north side.'
'There's a forest in front, and you can see something like a lake in it. But, the trees are too tall, so it's hard to see clearly. That's the unfortunate part.'
'Maya-chan, how many meters is this, really?'
'I was talking about relative distances just now, subtracting and all. Um, excluding the fraction, the top part is about 2200m (7271ft), right?'
'Seriously?'
I think that's how high the roads in our country, where we used to live, were at the highest point. And places overseas where there are baseball fields are also about that high, right? But I don't feel short of breath.
'Maya-chan, aren't you feeling short of breath?'
'Mmm, not really.'
'Okay, good. But if you start feeling bad, tell me.'
'Sure thing. But hey, Berberi-san wouldn't be able to climb up here either, huh?'
'Yeah, he is...'
'Yeah. Even I would start to lose heart...'
So, they can climb partway up, huh? That's amazing.
'If that's the case, then... Centrena, can you fly a little higher? Try to fly over that light as quickly as possible.'
'Is it okay to do that?'
'Yeah. Since they don't have a radar, and Centrena is a dark beauty, if she just flies by, she shouldn't be noticed.'
'Got it.'
'Kuu.'
'That's a bold way of thinking.'
'Thanks, Maya-chan.'
'Don't mind it.'
'Since I'm holding onto her, can you take a picture with my phone? This heating Magic Tool should work. When we went on a company trip to a tropical island, the plane we took was about this fast, so I thought we could take a picture.'
'Got it, leave it to me!'
Centrena isn't flying faster than the speed of sound. Still, she should be going pretty fast. It might be about as fast as a jet airliner just before takeoff. That's how she's approaching the light.
'How high are we here?'
'Um, 500 meters from that ground?'
'I see, then. It's like when a plane is about to land without its lights on. Do you think we'll be visible?'
'I don't think so... And besides, Centrena-tan is black.'
'Hey, don't turn on the flash, okay?'
'I know, Maya's phone has night vision mode.'
'Wow, that's that rare phone, huh?'
'Yeah... I'm trying it out for the first time.'
'Like having a treasure, huh?'
'I don't want my brother to say that.'
Seriously. I only use it for calls, social media, and the camera. What's the point of having an ultra-high-end phone?
On the ground, we should be moving pretty fast, but what's it like flying in the air? Maya-chan started taking pictures while leaning forward a bit. Well, she's snapping away.
'Maya-chan, is your storage okay?'
'I have an external memory card, so it's fine.'
'How much?'
'128 terabytes.'
'No way, seriously?'
That's not even the maximum capacity as of last year.
'I also have external storage, so I can back up stuff. Unlimited videos too.'
'That's insane!'
After having Centrena go back and forth several times, we managed to take a perfect photo. Although we can't print it, the positioning is fine since Neta-san is overseeing it. I think it'll be good to check the answers later.
* * *
After the investigation, we returned to Essence inn and had tonight's dinner in the form of a bento. The bento they had made was a simmered root vegetable dish, some crispy beast meat, and even thick noodles like udon, all arranged neatly on the tray.
Berberi-san had a chewy wheat porridge with a stewed sea fish. It seems he has been buying the stewed fish daily by chance. It's apparently his favorite.
While jotting down what I've seen on paper, we ended up having dinner together.
"Itadakimasu"
'Itadakimasu'
After me, Maya-chan, Dorchuneta-san, and Berberi-san all spoke in unison. I remembered the way my grandpa taught me to bow, and everyone was copying it.
"Wow! Big brother, this is really delicious!"
"Fried chicken is good, but I really like this simmered dish. I appreciate the effort they put into cutting it so it doesn't fall apart."
"Now that you mention it, it's really amazing. And this noodle-like thing, it's almost like udon."
"Yeah, this is definitely udon. It's a bit imperfect when you cut it, but that's just a minor flaw."
"It's like soba, which gives it a unique taste, don't you think?"
"You know a lot of fine details."
"I love noodle dishes. That's why I've tried various ones all over the place."
When I looked at Berberi-san and Neta-san, they were enjoying their fish dishes.
"Great Trout is delicious, but this fish is equally fantastic. Where do they source it from?"
"I'll ask next time. It's delicious because it's fatty, big sister."
"That's true. You found it well, I'll praise you."
"Thank you, big sister."
It seems like Neta-san uses polite language but has a hidden tsundere side. Berberi-san treats not only Maya-chan kindly but also Neta-san his sister.
"That's right, Ber-san."
"Yes, what is it?"
"You remember where you fell, Ber-san, right?"
"Yes."
"Ber-san fell from this height, but the top is about this much higher."
At first, Maya-chan puts her hand on the table and then expresses the height difference by raising it.
"I see, in that case, it seems impossible to climb with our feet..."
It's dark so we can't give him exact numbers, but if we consider the long side of that peak as the north side, it's over 10,000 meters (32,800ft) tall vertically and about 80% of that wide horizontally. It's shaped like an ellipse with that kind of ratio. On top of that, its height exceeds lightly 1,500 meters (4,900ft) from the ground of Arlheave.
The peak isn't flat, there is a lake surrounded by tall trees on the south side, believed to be like a caldera. Further down the road, at a slightly higher place, it seems they have occupied the area as their country.
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