Hermes.

　Pindos in the daytime.
　I was wandering around the city at random, and when I passed by a whorehouse, they called my name.

　As usual, the prostitute, Ortizia, looks down from upstairs.
　She has a charming smile on her face, unlike any other time.

''Hey, hey, just drop by for a minute,''
In the middle of the day?
Please, I need a favor from little Hermes.
I'm kind of scared to ask you for a favor.

　Memories of Ortiz and I ran through my mind of this and that.
　I don't want to get involved in this kind of situation because it's more often than not the case that I ended up in a trivial situation.

Really, please, Hermes-chan is the richest of all my customers.
...hmm.

　Money.
　Well then you'll have to listen to me.

　After all, I have to play the role of the prodigal lord to a certain extent.
　Something like throwing money at a brothel might have merit.

Well, all right.
Yay!

　Her charming smile made me even happier.
　Such a smile, I thought, was her tool of the trade, her weapon of choice.

　I walked into the store and told the do-gooder old lady that she had nominated me for Oltia, and she showed me to her room.

　As I entered the room, Oltia, who had been waiting for me, hugged me.

'Hermes-chan!　A once-in-a-lifetime request.
What's the matter with you?
You know, there's been a hell of a lot of drinking in this town.
Is that a lot of booze?
'Yes!　You see, a lot of people drink alcohol in whorehouses. But whorehouses don't have anything but cheap liquor, and they take your order and then bring it to the liquor store.
I think I've heard that one before.

　So?　I made a face and urged Ortiz to go ahead.

''Yesterday, a bottle of amazing liquor came into the liquor store, a century-old grape wine, and they say a bottle is about half a year's income for the average person.''

　Even as we talked, Ortizia, who was still hugging me, looked up at me and begged me with her wet eyes.

'Please, I just want to have a drink for once,'
So you want to drink expensive booze on the customers' dime?
Yes.

　I see.

Is that it?
"Give me a drink and I'll give you a great deal of credit!　I don't care where or how you use it.
That's not so bad.

　I was bracing myself for some kind of trap, but if that's what it is, I have no problem with it.
　Wasting away in a whorehouse, that's what I want to do now.

'All right, bring it on. Two glasses.
Yeah!

　　　　　★

　The grape wine was quite good, as it was 100 years old.
　It tasted even better than I expected, so I ordered more after it was opened.

　While we were drinking, Ortizia made a happy face like I've never seen before.
　I was either overcome with emotion or ecstatic.
　And then she came to her senses, hugged me, and said, "Thank you, Hermes! And so on.

　The drinks were good, and I felt doubly happy with the soft, nice smell of being hugged.

　In the end, we both opened five bottles before sunset and I left the whorehouse in a fluffy and good mood.

　　　　　☆

　When I returned to the house at night, Mimis was waiting for me.

'Where have you been, my lord - mmm, have you been drinking?

　Mimis frowned as she ran up to me in the doorway as I entered the mansion, her eyebrows furrowed.

'Yeah, hey. Were you looking for me?
To tell you the truth, I have received a royal warrant from the kingdom.
Imperial Order?
'Yes, Your Majesty. His Majesty has decreed that the queen is in a mood for snowdragon fruit and that the queen should present it to her house at once.
'Snowdragon fruit?　....Hiccup.

　I've heard that name before. I wonder what it's called.

"Our mountain, Mount Kerins, in our lands, near the top of which lies a perennial snowfall that never melts. It's a type of fruit that can only be found there.
Yeah, that's right, that's right.

　Pong, clap your hands.
　There was definitely something like that.
　It's a rare thing, though, and even though it's a specialty item, it's something that rarely comes to market.

''That's what you want.''
'Yes. But recklessness is a good thing. Mount Kerins is in a sense a natural fortress, a place so dangerous that you have to organize an expedition. To ask you to come and get it at once--
'Hiccup!　The point is, you can just take it away.
That's true, sir.
Okay, I'm on it.
What?

　For some reason (...) I left Mimis surprised and left the mansion with my feet.

'Hiccup.'

　Mount Kellins-- I believe Mount Kellins is in this direction.
　I've been up there before.
　I'm sure you can climb up there even if you're this drunk.

　Or... we could just fly up there.

　　　　　I'll just...

　The morning sun pierces the back of my eyelids.
　It wakes me up, and I get up and stretch.

"Hmm?

　I'm in bed and I wasn't in my pajamas, I'm still dressed the way I was when I went out yesterday.
　Why did you go to bed without changing?　................................Oh, I remember.

　I remember I drank quite a lot of booze yesterday as part of Ortiz's begging.

　Well, it was a good drink, just because it's 100 years old.
　When it comes in again, I'll go to Oltia's and drink it.
　Waste of money, that's what I need right now.

　With that in mind, I get out of bed and leave the room to head to the bathroom to flush out the little bit of liquor I still have left.

'Good morning, that's great, Hermes,'

　As soon as I left the room, I ran into my sister.
　Unlike this one, she was dressed in her usual dress and bizzare.

　That's fine.

'What's up with you all of a sudden, sister? I'm afraid you'll be lifted up first like that.

　It's good that Ortizia was a snobbish request yesterday, but I have a really bad feeling about my sister when she's lifted.
　And it's an advance.

　Let's not get on board no matter what they say, that's what I've resolved to do.

'I heard that you went up Mount Kerins in one night and picked up some snow dragon fruit.
Huh?

　What are you talking about?

'Oh, you don't remember?
...What did I do?

　I have a bad feeling.
　As a matter of fact, I don't remember much about what happened after I had that drink with Ortiz, so I had a bad feeling about that, too.

"His Majesty issued a royal decree that he wanted some snow dragon fruit, so Hermes went and grabbed it.
What?

　I didn't know I was doing that.
　I don't know what I've done.
　I don't know what I've done!

'Mimis was surprised that you were drunk enough to climb Mount Kerins and yet you were coming back later that night.
Oh!
That's what I'm talking about, Hermes.
'You did it right... yes!　Where's the snowdragon fruit!

　That's the problem.
　No more Mimis, he can't do anything about it now, and he's a vassal, so he can cheat later.

　The problem is the king's decree.

'They've been delivered to King's Landing as soon as possible. I'm sure His Majesty has already heard about the overnight delivery.
Oh my God.

　I can't believe I did it in a drunken stupor.......it's a real "joke"....