Inside the study, I was looking at the water in the glass cup in front of me.

　It's a nondescript household water that I use in the mansion.
　I found out that it also contained mithril.

　The amount of water is about the same as a grain of sand that you can take out of a pool of about 25 meters.
　In short, there's some, but not much.

　I hadn't noticed it before, and only after looking carefully at the lake in Hals and realizing that mithril could exist in the water, did I finally understand the level of detail.

'So, that means,'

　If this small amount of mithril is present in the water we take for granted, then it is safe to say that there is mithril in all the water in the world.
　The only thing left to do is to find a way to get it out and the cost.

　I can't think of a concrete way to get it out yet, but maybe every time it rains, or by going to the ocean.
　We should be able to get a decent amount of it.

　It's in the water, that's all I'm saying.

　But I don't think about it.
　I don't think about it anymore.

　It's just too much work.
　I don't want to let the Hermes Method become so powerful that I'm seriously worried about it.
　In that case, you don't have to do anything.

　It can't be helped that I accidentally discovered it and my sister played it up, but if someone else studies the future, they'll forget about me sooner or later.

　So, that's the end of the story--

　Concon.

Who are you?
It's me, brother and father.

　It was my sister.
　When I said please, she shuffled in.

'I just have a bad feeling about my sister calling me that.
'That's not true. Your brother and father have a guest.
Customer?
A merchant by the name of Gough Almond.
Merchants?　Is it a sales pitch?
'Speaking of almonds, you're the big merchant who controls all the mithril mines in our country.
Mmm....

　His eyebrows jumped and moved.
　Mithril, the last thing I want to hear right now is a troublesome word.

　And what I just heard is also troublesome.

　A monopoly on mithril mining.
　And me (the real culprit, my sister) for presenting the possibility of a new mithril.

　The worst combination of life I've ever known.

　It's about as bad a combination as a virgin and a virgin's first experience with each other.

'Don't keep a straight face, you'll have to meet her anyway to finish the story.
'Huh...'

　It can't be helped.

　　　　　☆

　When I came to the parlor, there was a man standing inside, waiting.
　He was about 50 to 60 years old.
　My first impression was that he was a greasy, obnoxious old man.
　It's not just the expensive clothes and the ring of terrible jewels, but also the image of his stubbornness is stronger than that.

　He's someone I don't want to get too deeply involved with.

　The man looked at me, smiled and bowed his head.

''It's a pleasure to meet you, Viscount. My name is Gon Almond.

　
　Even the smile is so sticky, I want to knock it out right now.

　I'll be sitting on the sofa across from you.
　The guy sits down a little later than me.

What do you want me to do?
"At this time, Your Highness, I am writing to tell you...
I don't want to hear the prologue.

　I interrupted a line of dialogue that was going to be dull and long and roundabout.

　As troublesome as it is, it's someone I don't want to spend too much time with.
　I'll go to Ortiz to have a talk with him later.

You are impatient, Viscount. Well, time is money, as they say.
....

　This was still a bit of a drag, but I'll get to the point next time, so I resisted.

The Hermes Method.
Mmm.
I'm going to need you to take this down.

　Why?　I gulped down my throat because the question was superfluous.
　New discoveries about mithril and the merchants who have a monopoly on the old mithril mines.

　Well, it's no surprise.

Of course I won't say free. That way, if you promise not to play it again, I will pay you half a million gold pieces.
That's very generous of you.
I hope you'll take it as a sign of my gratitude to you, Viscount.

　I see.
　That's 500,000 gold pieces for me if I stay out of the way.

　What should I do? Should I jump on it?

　It's probably better for me to jump on this one, the 500,000 gold coins in the immediate future, as I aim to be the prodigal head of the family.
　The fact that you can get out of it so easily means that you're likely to get more profit than that if you do things normally.

　The seriousness of a merchant who fears a monopoly is the best guarantee of all.

''........''

　No, we shouldn't get on board here.
　Looking back on the mistakes of the past, every decision we made for the sake of the "prodigal master" has backfired.
　It doesn't matter how correct the decision was on the spot, it always backfired.

　I'm sure it will happen again, so I'm not going to do it.

I'm sorry.
'My God!　I'm sorry about this. I don't have much to say about the discovery of the century, how about this one, at 60?

　His smile faded and his eyes grew serious.

　This is where we start to play games with the merchant.
　And--.

'I never thought I'd get this much profit out of that gone-almond!　Amazing!'

　I'm hearing empty ears.
　What can I say, this is definitely what happened in the past.

　I couldn't comply more and more.

'I'm sorry, but I'm not going to retract, no matter how much I get pinched.
So....
I don't need the money.

　I interrupted him with a snap.
　I think I heard some dangerous numbers, but I'll forget them.

　When I was interrupted, the expression on his face disappeared and I thought he was going to lose his temper.

''Huh, you're stubborn.

　I laughed.
　It was even more annoying than before.

　I was thinking, "What the hell is this?

"I'm not really supposed to use this kind of thing.

　With a complete change in temperament, he took out an object and threw it on the table.
　It's a woman's handkerchief with lace and embroidery.

　What is it?　-- and then the scent came from the handkerchief.
　A scent I knew well - the scent of Ortia's favorite perfume.

'....What's that supposed to mean?
You seem like a very involved woman.
What did you do with her?
I hear they say she's a popular prostitute. You've never been in the numbers (,,,,,,,) business.

　

　I know it's a roundabout way of saying it, but it means that I've got Ortiz, and depending on my response, more than one - well, a lot of men will be attracted to Ortiz by him, and they will be violent.

　You son of a b*tc*.

"Break this glass ball and you will be ordered to...

　It took out a small glass ball.
　I can feel the magic. It's used in the military and in warfare for sending simple signals.

　It pretends to crush the glass ball.

How's that?　The sooner you answer, the better, because there's no chance of me slipping up--

　His hand moved.

　As soon as I shook out my aligned index and middle fingers, two of the man's fingers flew out and the glass ball floated in the air.
　I can't let them break it, so I quickly retrieve just the glass ball.

''--Ha?''

　A man who gets all flustered by the fact that I'm holding a glass ball and alternately compares the ball to his own hand.
　Often when the sharpness of the slash exceeds a certain level, it delays the blood coming out of the wound that was cut too cleanly.

　It's the same this time.
　After a good three seconds, the wound blew blood as if it had remembered.

''Gyaaah!''
Get the f*ck out of here.
You think I'm gonna get away with this?

　I swore and kicked the guy who was trying to blackmail me.
　I jumped up from the couch and burst through the door into the hallway.

　Screams and noises, combined with the two of them, brought the maids and servants into the hallway.
　I went outside, too.

　It's an unusual situation, but since it's not the owner of the house (me) who's getting hit, but the other party, no one intervened or did anything.

　Since Midea was among the onlookers.

'Midea,'
'Yes!　What is it, Master?
Get him out of the house.
I understand!

　After leaving Midea in charge, I ran out of the mansion.

　　　　　☆

　A ramshackle house on the outskirts of Pindos, off the road.
　We knocked down all the roughly twenty ruffians and went inside.

"What the hell are you--

　There was one last person in the raggedy house, probably a sentry, but I knocked him down faster than that guy could come up with an ikiri.
　At the back was Oltia.
　Her hands and feet were bound and she was being gagged.

　I approached and tore off the rope and gag.

'Thank you for saving me,'
I'm sorry, my bad.
I'm fine.

　Oltia laughed matter-of-factly.

'Are you okay?'
'These guys were talking incessantly. I knew they were coming to help because I knew little Hermes was involved.
Okay.
So I wasn't worried about it at all.

　As usual, Ortia speaks with a carefree smile.

　But her hands were shaking.
　No, it's not just her hands.
　The face was smiling, but her entire body was trembling in small increments.

　It's impossible not to be afraid.
　She's just desperately trying to be strong and acting as she always does.

　I held her close.
　I hug her slightly stronger than usual, letting her know I'm there and stopping her from trembling.

''Thank you.''
I've already been thanked.
That's a good point.
I'll send it anyway.
Yes.

　Ortiz stops shaking, feeling, and comes closer than usual to her body, more moist than usual.
　I put my arms around the back of her knees and gently pick her up.

　As it is, I sprint down the street.
　We turned back the way we came and returned to the town of Pindos.

　Neither she nor I spoke on the road.

　Oltia huddles up to me like a borrowed cat.

　This is a different Ortias than usual.
　If nothing happened, this kind of Ortia would be cute, but right now, the cuteness of it only makes me more angry at Gon Almond.

　With that anger under control, he returns to town and comes to the whorehouse.

　I'm about to enter the shop with Ortia in my arms.

'Isn't that my brother?'

　Just out, I bumped into Cyrus.

Oh, you're looking forward to it, too? Well, this place that my brother introduced me to is the best. The girls are cute and the service is great. The girls are cute, the service is great, and I feel like a lover, and we've all become regulars here...
That was a good one. Give me strength, Cyrus.

　When he spoke with a straight face, the previously delirious deputy leader of the Dreamscape group changed his face and became crisp.

''What do you want me to do?''
'I want to punish those unscrupulous merchants who try to get women to do what they say by threatening to violate them.
Well, that's what I'm gonna do.

　Cyrus lifted the corners of his mouth in a grin.

　'Watch me, Gon Almond.
　I'm going to take everything you have.
　I'm going to make up my mind and--

You know, Hermes.

　In her arms, Ortiz spoke to me, moistly and in a whisper.

'What's the matter,'
That little Hermes is a bit scary.
I see.

　Well, I scared you.
　That's just not me.

It's not really up to me, but I'm saying it.

　Ortias with a carefree smile.
　At some point, the trembling had been completely erased from her body.

''I don't think Hermes-chan would be so serious about such a small thing.
Yes, I will.

　Me nodding.
　Oltia is right.

　That little thing should be twisted, not taken seriously.