'Hey, hey, how strong is Hermes-chan in the end?'

　Inside my favorite brothel, Ortizia, a prostitute with a familiar face.
　I was being served with a knee pillow and being fed a piece of carefully peeled grape - and she suddenly asked me about it.

'What's wrong with you without context?'
You're actually very strong, aren't you, Hermes?
I don't know.

　I wondered if there was no longer any point in hiding it against Ortiz, but I decided to somehow cover it up.

'Moo, you're strong. I won't tell anyone, so tell me how strong you are.
It's a pain in the ass.
For life, please.　And I'll do a service for you.

　Ortiz said and applied her tits.

　Thighs from the bottom, tits from the top.
　Sadly, I'm a healthy boy.
　I have no way to resist this ultimate sandwich.

'I can't help it. Don't tell anyone, really.
'Yes!　I won't tell anyone!

　Ortiz with a full and carefree smile on his face.
　There may be carelessness, but not on purpose, I decided to believe that.

　Then I think about it.
　I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get away with it.

'I'm good with a sword. Probably ... one of the five best swords in the world.
'Wow!　That's true!
'I heard my ancestors were the best in the world without question. Well, it's genetic.

　The first head of the Cano family, the strongest swordsman ever to wield the Sword of Light.
　I often think that my strength is definitely in his blood.

''I've read all the books that have been passed down from generation to generation, so I have a fair amount of knowledge of swords.
What about magic?
'It's normal that way. I have almost no knowledge, I have magic, so I tend to be a force-blower.
'Really?　I'm surprised.

　If you know me well, you'd know it's not so bad.

　I didn't know about the silver right after I became the head of the family, and I didn't know that you can match the traces of monsters you killed with magic to their original owners.
　Whenever you do something "accidentally", it's usually magic.

'But I see... Hermes-chan is a good swordsman.
There it is.
'Hey, hey, show me that one sometime, I've heard of it.......Kenbu?　You mean?
Sword Dance.
Oh, yeah. Show me that, for the rest of your life, please.
'So how many times do you have to ask for your whole life?'

　Well, it's okay, I guess.

You could do more for me.
No problem.

　Ortiz said, and then he popped the peeled grapes into his mouth and fed them to me.
　The blush on her face after she did so seemed to be faintly ecstatic.

　There is a carefree ease and a honey dripping s*xiness that is released at the right moment.
　It's the sad nature of men.

It's a very sad state of affairs for a man. It's a cool thing to do.
Well that's just the way it is.

　　　　　★

　In the evening, I left the brothel and returned to the house.
　As I walked through the main gate, I saw several wagons with a large bucket on top of them parked in the yard.

　A man was standing next to the wagons.

"Nassos, what's the matter with you?

　The man was my man, Nassos, who was in charge of tax collection.

　He turned around when he was called, his face was unreliable as usual, and he looked like he was in trouble and about to cry.

'Heh, Hermes-sama!　Geez, Geez, I'm in a good mood!
'You don't have to force yourself to use unfamiliar words. More importantly, what is this?

　While listening to Nassos, he approached one of the wagons and touched the tub.
　The moment I touched it, the center of gravity of the vat (,) shook.

"Is it liquid?
Yes, Das. Das, I got it from the town of Hals.
What is Hullus, Canaanu territory?
Yes, Das, this is one of the towns that Hermes ordered us to collect taxes from.
You mean, is that alcohol?　Now you're going to take it under your sleeve.

　He lifts the corner of his mouth in a grin and looks at Nassos teasingly.

'Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes--'
You're in too much of a hurry.
"--Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.
I told you you're in too much of a hurry. It's a bug. It's not a bug, okay?
"Das Das Das Das Das Das.

　He shook his head like a grasshopper with rice, and if you shake it with such vigor, you'll tear his head off," he said, unintentionally worrying.

I was just teasing you. And what's more, what's this?

　Nassos, a man with honest roots, and also a man who owes me a debt of gratitude.
　I stopped teasing him because I would feel sorry for him if I teased him and got back to the subject.

"Actually, I'm going to tell you that there's salt in this, Das.
Salt?　There's no sea in Cano territory, is there?
'Das. Das in the lake.
You're telling me there's salt in it?
'Yes Das. If we can get the salt out of this place... um... um...
Yeah, I guess that means I'll have to wait until I can pay the tax when I can get it.
Yes, Das!

　His collection skills are top-notch, but he has a difficult personality, especially in front of me.

　He gets especially nervous in front of me, so I need to give him some anticipation and guidance when talking.

"But I see... I see...

　Salt - the extraction of salt is not only economically significant, but politically significant as well.
　If it really comes down to it...

Not going to happen.

　As I was thinking, Mimis interrupted me this time.
　She parked her carriage outside the mansion and jumped down from there, and Mimis was approaching quickly and quietly.
　The evening house, no doubt they heard about this and came over.

Why not?
I know about the Lake of Hals. It has some salt in it, but it is also full of impurities, and it is extremely difficult to get at the salt alone. This is something I've always refused to do, even with your predecessors.
Is that so?
I'm afraid so.

　Nassos slumped drearily.

'Hmm, too many impurities.

　I touched the tub I had just touched again.
　Let's see how long it is.

　I poured my magic into the vat itself and pulled out only the salt.

'Wow, there's a lot of salt itself.

　There was more salt for a tub than I could hold in two hands.
　This is the amount of money you could make.

Hey Mimis, what's the matter with your face?
My lord, what are you...?
'What? I just smelt the salt. Didn't you do that with the silver?

　I just did the exact same thing.
　So why are you surprised?

Is that what you can use for more than just ore, Das?
Yeah?　You can do it. It's a refining process that pulls only one kind of thing out of the mix.

　I replied as if it were obvious, but Mimis and Nassos, they were both more and more astonished.

''How ... such an application ...''
"Master Hermes has a great idea...

　We are both raptured.
　I didn't have much knowledge about magic, and I did it like it was obvious.

　........Did I do it again?