With all due respect, sir.

　Today, in the hall of audience, Mimis came in and bowed his head as he preened.
　Her face as she lifted her head was proud, or perhaps nasty.

　It's a mean look.

'Yes,'
"We would like Mr. Hermes to conduct our house's customary business.
Tradition?
Yes, as you know, the first head of House Cano was known as the greatest swordswoman in the world.
Yeah.

　I know, of course, but I blurted it out.
　And it's in the history books, too, that despite being a woman, she led the same two hundred soldiers in countless battles around the world and never lost a battle.

　Well, history books are a foil for the victors, so you need to listen to fifty percent - or maybe thirty percent - of them.

"Following the great first generation, we wish to perform the first battle ritual handed down from generation to generation by the Third Master.
The First Battle Ritual?
Yes, sir.
It's a pain in the ass. What happens if I don't do it?
'Huh?　Because it is a simple ceremony, there are no people who reject it. There is one theory that it's the spirit of the first master that appears and re-beats his spirit.
Mmm....

　That's troublesome.
　The first generation of heroic spirits, doesn't sound like a joke.
　It's not uncommon for people with abilities or accomplished people to leave their souls in this world through some kind of magic or curse.

　A woman who ran up and down the world with 200 people, even if it's 30% of the story, is in the realm of being able to do that.
　And that would be a very troublesome thing to do.

'....Ritualistic stuff, I guess.
Yes, sir.
Okay.

　I sighed deeply.

　　　　　☆

　The next day, I was leaving the mansion and heading out of the city, along with a hundred of the Cano family's private army, heading out of the city to the outskirts.

　In addition to the hundred soldiers, Mimis and the other vassals are following me.
　That's fine........

''Why is your sister even here?''

　She wore her trademark dress and held a lacy parasol.
　For all intents and purposes, a sister dressed as a princess was marching with the soldiers.
　And she looked quite cool.

''What are you talking about, am I not your daughter?''
Why are you here, Mr. Sola?

　I asked again with a sigh of respect.

'Of course, to see how cool Hermes is,'
I'm not going to show you-- I mean, there's no such thing.
And maybe there are some people who would have a hard time accepting you as the head of the family.
...I see.

　So this is the truth.

　A vassal who doesn't want to admit it is, well, an enemy to the sister who wants to make me the head of her family.
　In order to prevent a dispute about whether or not she did or didn't do it, she took it upon herself to witness the event.

Good luck, Hermes.
Okay.

　I proceeded to be protected by soldiers while dodging my sister at random.

　After walking for about an hour, we came to a single cave.

　At Mimis's command, the soldiers scattered and surrounded the entrance of the cave.

'An imitation of a siege, it really is a ritual, isn't it?
"Please go inside and get the gold coins named after our first master.
Do I have to go get the gold?
Yes, sir.
Okay.

　I went into the cave.

　It's a cave that's been altered by a few people, it's like a converted natural object.

　There's no sign of monsters, no sign of evil or anything at all.
　Is it really just a ritualistic thing?

　After walking for a while, there's a rock shaped like a pedestal, and a medallion is stuck in a hollow on the rock.
　I approached it, removed it from the rock and lifted it up.

　I observed the front and the back.
　On the front, there is a carved profile of a woman with long hair, I guess that's the first head of the family.
　And on the back is one of the star symbols.

　I should take this home, no, but there's more to it, right?

　I looked at the back.

　Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
　It seemed to be deeper still, like there was more and more going on in the back.

"Let's go some more.

　I put the gold coins in my pocket and proceeded further back.
　After about three minutes of walking, I saw the same rock base as before and the same gold coins.

　I approached and took the gold coin in the same way.
　On the front, the same face, and on the back--.

Mmm.

　His eyebrows fluttered.

　I take out the gold coins from earlier, compare them side by side.

　I didn't need to compare them, but now I can see them more clearly.

　The first one has one star on it, this one has two.
　And there's more to the cave than meets the eye.

"...if...

　I put the two gold coins in my pocket and proceeded further.
　This time the path was longer than before, and it was winding and it was hard to keep going.

　But there was another rock base and a gold coin at the end of the path.
　I took it away, and this time it was marked with three stars.

"Hahaha!

　I was starting to read most of the story.

　At the same time, I was curious to see how far it was, so I kept going and going.

　Go on, the stars get four gold coins.
　Go forward, the star gets five gold coins.
　Go on, the star gets six gold coins - and the star gets six gold coins.

At the end, that means this is the end.

　Take the gold coin with the seven stars symbol from the pedestal as expected.
　I arrange the seven gold coins in the palm of my hand.
　Somehow I understand, it's more amazing to get the gold coin that's farther back, that is, the one with more star marks.

　So the correct answer in this case is--.

　I put the seven-star gold coin back on its pedestal.
　I turned back the way I came and put the gold coins back on their original pedestal, six, five, four in order.
　Then I left the cave with only the first one, a one-star gold coin.

　The outside is exactly as it was when I entered the cave.
　There was a group of vassals in front of me, and my sister beside them.
　The entire cave is surrounded by soldiers.

　I come back to the front of the vassals, in front of the representative, Mimis.

'How was your visit?'
Is this it?

　He took a gold coin out of his pocket and held it in his palm to show it to her.

　Mimis said, "Excuse me," and turned the gold coin over.
　Huh, I knew I was going to see the number of stars.

　I was right to take the one star home with me.

"Nah!

　Mimis was astonished, the other vassals began to gasp and buzz.

　What is it?　What's the matter with you?

Yes, it's a first-class test that no one has ever passed before.
Isn't there a mistake?
Somebody go check it out!

　One of the vassals ordered, and a soldier dressed there ran into the cave and quickly came back.

''It was a first-class ordeal, sir!

　The vassals became more and more buzzed by the soldier's report.

''What do you mean?''
That's the hardest part, you know.

　The only one of the group, the cool-faced sister who wasn't surprised at all, answered my question.

'Hardest?'
Yes, the first one is the hardest and the further in you go, the easier it is to get.
What!　Why would you want to do that?
'It is said that the first head of the family has seen a lot of hard work people. The closer you are to the entrance, the more talent you need, but even if you don't have any talent, you can make it work if you work hard and go deep. It's a test designed to emulate that lesson.
.....

　That's not possible, it was the opposite of what I thought.
　The one closest to the entrance, the one who brought back this gold coin that Mimis said "no one has ever cleared" - he was the one who brought back this gold coin - "that's why I told you that Hermes would be great if he was serious.

'Isn't that why I said that Hermes would be great if he got serious?

　The sister showed Mimis and the others a dignified look here.

'No, I didn't mean it,'
Oh, yeah?

　She tilted her head slightly and then smiled.

'You're trying to tell me that you were able to pass the first test without really trying, an increasingly amazing talent.

　The buzzing became even louder.

　Ugh!