A few days later, in the Great Hall of Audience.

　Mimis bowed to me as I was slumped back in the master's chair.
　I dared (,,) and spoke in an intimidating manner.

'Say that one more time.
Ha, it won't be possible to refine silver for some time.
Why?　There must be quite a bit of silver in there.
Well, sir, we're the most highly skilled mining family of our generation.
I don't know what you mean, are you proud of me?　Then make some silver.

　I intimidate him further.
　Mimis grimaced for a moment, but quickly pulled it back and explained.

'Until about a hundred years ago, the most common method was to melt the ore in a furnace and extract the metal from it. This method, however, was inefficient, and the sorting of metals that weren't intended for the purpose was very complicated, so it's no longer used.
Oh, it's magic now, isn't it?

　I didn't say "like I did".
　Because it would have been too much trouble for me to tell you to do it then, or to get serious.

''Yes. My family.........no, I went through all of my family's territory and found only magic users who refine Trikara steel.
Not even one of the Lords?
It wasn't needed before, and those who could afford it moved elsewhere early on...
"Hmm.

　That's because I'm going to have to move to a place where I have a job and I can't eat.

What can I do for you?
'What?　You're an idiot.
What?
'The silver is there, there are no people who can use the refining magic. Then you'd just collect humans. Or what?

　Guillory stared at Mimis.

'Are you going to tell me, the head of the family, to go out on my own and do your best?
No, no, sir!

　Mimis gasped and bowed her head, then walked away to get away from it.
　As she left, I caught a glimpse of frustration in her eyes.

'There you go.'

　Today's tyrant, done.
　You did better than yesterday.
　The type of righteousness you want to hear, if you can accumulate this, you can take it down the disqualification route without getting killed.

'By the way.'

　Let's do the prodigal lord thing.

　　　　　☆

　We left the mansion and wandered around the city of Pindos.
　It's the most developed city in the territory ruled by the Cano family, and it's a city that attracts people, money and goods.

　Since it's that kind of city, naturally there are things like this--

Hermes.

　A woman's voice calling my name, cool but with just the right amount of anchoring and flirtatiousness in it.
　Scurrying around, I look up right next to me and find a woman smiling down at me from the second floor window of the store.

　It's a prostitute I know, Oltia.

　Incidentally, there are quite a few prostitutes named Ortia. There are many at the level of one in three.

　It is a very good idea to be able to have a good idea of what to expect when you are going to be able to get a good idea of what to expect when you are going to be able to get a good idea of what to expect when you are going to be able to get a good idea of what to expect.
　--I've heard this from the woman in front of me, Ortiz.

"Hey, go play.
No, no, I'm not in the mood for anything today.
You better have fun, or I'm going to tell everybody that you're still a virgin.

　I run into the whorehouse, through the do-gooder old woman who greets me and runs up the stairs at once and into Ortia's room.

'Welcome!'
Hahahahahaha.... you can't complain about this...

　I ran into the room at full throttle and at a speed that could have set a world record, so I was all breathless.
　I let the do-gooder old lady who had caught up with me grab the money at random and left me alone with Ortiz in my room.

'Please, don't do something like that out loud.
What kind of thing?

　Oltia made a mischievous smile.

'Seriously, I'm not coming back, you bastard.
Oh, man, you just got played by Hermes.

　Ortiz, who is about to say that and then come swooping down on me.

I can't help it, I'll do as you say.
Oh no, not at all.
Come on, a little bruised up whore's pride is the least you can do.

　I'm vulnerable when it's brought up.
　To be honest, I'm vulnerable when it's brought up because I also feel indebted to her for this, so I'm vulnerable when it's brought up.

　Even more vulnerable when it's brought up.

"Congratulations on being named head of the family, Hermes.

　He kissed me on the cheek with a chuckle.
　I'll say it, but Ortizia is not stingy.
　If it is attacked more, it can be upsetting, but she keeps it neatly in the realm of skin-to-skin contact.

　It's a good idea, is it a skill of a whore?

Thank you.
What, you're not happy about it?
He's a pain in the ass. There's no such thing as a master.
Yeah, but that's just like you, Hermes.
Apparently?
Every woman in a whorehouse thinks so. A man who gouges a woman is a man who gouges his way into business.
Because s*xual desire and power lust are almost synonymous.

　I'm well aware that I'm thin in both of those areas, and Oltia has been massaging bland areas like my thighs and shoulders.
　It's a beautiful woman's soft hands, even if it's just an ordinary massage, that's what makes it feel so good.

　I thought it was just until time.

　Mmmm.

"Mmm, your breasts are hitting your back.
I'm guessing.
I love that line, man!　I feel like I hear it every time.
It's a basic technique now. The person who first came up with it was a genius.
What's the basics?

　My heart was pounding through my chest.
　I held it in and acted normally.

''Speaking of which, Hermes-chan, you're doing a lot of things as soon as possible. Reform?　Or is that what you call it, how do you say it?
'Reform?　What?
'Huh?　Isn't this something to do with little Hermes?
I don't know, just tell me from the beginning.
Yeah. Lately, the number of silver refining wizards has been increasing. The people who come to my place have been pretty good, and they all say they'll be back.
I'll be back.

　He mumbles Ortiz's words in return for the oomph.

　A brothel is not cheap.
　If you're good with your wings and say 'I'll be back', then you know what you're going to earn.

''With that, it's widely rumored that he's going to be the new lord and switch from tricolor steel to silver.
Oh, I see. Well, that's the way it is.
Well, I guess we'll just have to make sure Master Thaddeus gets it right.
'Thaddeus?　Who is it?
It's a merchant who collects people who can do magic. The original owner.
...your manager?
'Huh?　What's the matter, Hermes, your face is scary.

　Oltia twists her head as she massages me.
　My face is scared because I'm caught up in what I just said.

　　　　　☆

　A few days later, the garden of the mansion.

　A group of new faces are gathered in line, and a mountain of ore is being brought in.
　They use their magic to extract the silver from the ore one by one under the direction of Mimis.

　After the demonstration of extracting pure silver from the ores, Mimis came up to me with a very smug look on his face.
　She came up to me with a very smug look on her face.

'As you can see, I've gathered a bunch of silver refiners.
Okay.

　I walk up to the line of people.

　They all look at me.
　It's in front of the head of the house, so they're all waiting for me to speak to them without saying a word.
　After a quick glance, I stand in front of the man in the front leftmost line and say.

'Alara.'
...What?

　The guy didn't know what he was talking about at first, but then he huffed when he realized what the name I mumbled meant.
　Next, I moved in front of the man beside him.

'Hagne.'
Nah!
Vanna, Xena, Themis.

　I was afraid to move, so I decided to read it to them, pointing my finger halfway through.

　Most of them were surprised, and perhaps embarrassed, and blushed.
　But they still didn't seem to understand the meaning.

''The master likes it too.''

　One of the hailing guys said with a smirk on his face.

　You're not very good at that, are you?

"Hey, guys, where's the money coming from?
".........

　When he said this, they all fell silent at once.
　Some of them paled. They're the ones who understand the story as deeply as possible.

''Nah, what are you talking about, my lord?
These are all the guys that Thaddeus recruited.
Ho, Thaddeus.

　Mimis made a face that was like, "I'm impressed.
　This guy is an irredeemable a**h*le.

'Okay?　These guys are all under Thaddeus' control. And don't tell us. Use those people, and they'll do what they want with the silver, whether you refine it or not.
Oh...

　With a polite explanation, Mimis finally realized the gravity of the matter.

'Come on, I'll find him again!

　　　　　★

　Inside the mansion, he returned to the parlor.
　Inside the parlor was Oltia.

'Thank you,'

　As soon as I entered the room, I thanked her and removed the pint-sized device from her ear.

'So that's it,'

　Oltia also placed the device at hand on the table.
　A simple magic tool, one that, if you speak into the transmitter, will send your voice to the receiving device implanted in your ear.
　It's a tool that can be used even by ordinary people who can't use magic.

　I used it to confront them with the name of a prostitute that Ortiz gave me the name of the man's favorite whore, and then I confronted them with it.

That's a win-win.
Yeah. But it's good.
Yeah.

　We can't let a bug in the lion's den.
　No matter how stupid Mimis is, he's not going to repeat the last minute mistake again.

'Thanks, this is for you.'

　I said, and held a bag of silver coins in front of Ortiz.

''No, I don't need it,''
Don't you want it?
I'm a whore. I don't take money for anything else.
Yeah.
Come back and visit us, that's all.
All right. I'll rent out the whole place.
I'm waiting.

　Oltia kissed my cheek, then stood up and left the parlor.
　I was looking away from her back.

'I saw you,'

　I heard a woman's voice from the corner of the room, and when I turned around, it was my sister.

'Whoa!　Hey, sis. How long have you been here?
That's what I'm talking about. As I suspected, he was worthy of being a lord, after all, Hermes.
Stop lifting it.
But alas, if you'd gotten serious, it wouldn't have been a quick fix instead of this one, would it?
That's why.

　I've given up on being praised by my sister.
　But I decided to keep it to her and not let it spread.

"I'll never be serious.

　I murmured in front of my sister as if to declare.