I pulled it out of the nexus and chopped it into chunks with my sword, crushing the remaining meteorite into pieces and returning it to dust.

　I look around.
　Both the meteorite itself and the bad stuff that came out of it.
　I was able to erase everything.

　All that's left is........this nexus.......

　Zah, zah, zah.

　It's quiet, but the sound of footsteps echoes all the more in the open air, where there is no popularity.

　When I turned around, Shaw and two others - a man who looks like an entourage - came over.

You're good, you're all set.
Well, that's about it. Can you take care of the rest?　....including this one.

　Then he pointed at the nexus lying at his feet.
　He's not hurt, and he'll be fine.

Okay, I'll take care of the rest. I'll take care of the rest.
By the way,

　I grabbed hold of Shaw and came close enough to him to get a look at him.
　Shaw's upper body slumped slightly as he was pressured by the suddenness of the situation.

"What?
"Give your highness credit for this, as I promised.
Yeah, sure.
'You can't do anything to me. No crosses.

　After all this time, I made sure to emphasize that point.

'Don't do me any favors in this case. Really.
All right, all right. You're a real mystery to me. I honestly don't know why you hide it so well.
To each his own.
Well, I'll respect that. I'll respect that, since we asked you to do it.

　Shaw nodded and looked at me with a straight face.

'In the name of Shaw the Aegina, I swear. I will not do anything in this case that involves you.
Thank you.

　I bow my head saying that.
　If you say this much it will be okay.

　The oath that the royal family made under their full name is heavy.
　It's good that I was able to take the pledge not to do anything.

　　　　　☆

　Shaw has kept his word.
　There was no mention of Shaw himself doing anything, let alone to me.
　There was no rumor that a meteorite had fallen and this incident was buried in the dark.

　The Kicking Princess Festival is over while I'm slightly alarmed by something or other, and I get into the carriage with my sister and head back to the territory's pindos.

''--♪''
What's going on, sis? You're in a good mood.
'Hmm, Hermes did a great job at the festival. When I get back to Pindos, I'll have to tell Mimis about it and have her spread the word.

　I chuckled.
　I couldn't resist doing that one.
　I was annoyed with NEX and wanted to embarrass the guy, so I did it out of spite.

　In hindsight, I could have done it better.

　But what I did was inevitable.
　I thought about it for a moment.

It's the traditional Kicking Princess Festival, so I'm going to give it my all.

　I said.
　The result was a tie for first place.
　You can fudge that to some extent by touting that it was an all-out effort.

　Besides, this is 'normal'.
　At that Kicking Princess Festival, all the participating nobles gave their all for the honor.
　It's rather normal to claim that I did my best too.

　So saying that, I tried to guide the content that my sister was trying to spread.

''Hermes........''

　She was surprised, and immediately afterwards her eyes began to moisten with emotion.

'Finally, Hermes understands,'
Well, sometimes.
Yes, sometimes it's fine. Please continue to show the world how serious you are.
When you're ready.

　She concluded, but still her sister seemed satisfied, and continued to hum along in a good mood.
　Was she that happy?　I'm going to get serious and the world will recognize me.
　Well, that doesn't mean I'd dare to do it.

　It's too much trouble.

　But it's good, it's good.

　Shaw is doing nothing about the meteorite, and my sister is spreading the word about the festival in a way that is normal for an aristocrat to do and keep it at bay.
　It's rare that things are going so well these days.

　With this...

Speaking of which ... what do we do about that one?
Which one?
You don't have to hide it. It's the meteorite.
Fats?

　I made a strange sound.
　Why did my sister tell me about the meteorite?

You've heard the rumors.　There was a rumor that there was a meteorite that fell around King's Landing and His Highness Prince Shaw got rid of it, but it was actually Hermes who did it with his dirty hands...
What's this rumor?
That's what Baron Necks has been saying here and there, isn't it?
That guy?
'The Baron says that Hermes got his hands dirty, but he can't say what exactly is dirty about it.

　That's because I don't have any dirty hands.
　I didn't have any dirty hands of any kind.

'It's just that there were rumours, and so many people confirmed it. There was indeed a meteorite, and it was processed in secret. And it was apparently done by His Highness Shaw but the traces are yours, Hermes.

　Geez.

　You've been able to check for traces.
　Oh, jeez. That Necks guy.
　If he hadn't made a big deal about it, no one would have gone looking for the trace.

But His Highness Shaw has been absolutely silent on the matter and won't say anything to anyone who asks.
Oh....

　I'm a little impressed.
　Shaw, you kept your promise to me.

Since you haven't said anything, there's been a lot of rumors flying around. The latest being...
What's new?
His Highness was in the middle of a festival and he tried to deal with it in secret, but he was out of his depth and in trouble. But it was Hermes who saved him.
What?
The latest theory is that His Highness is keeping quiet about his embarrassment after failing to finish the job in secret and being rescued. Could it be that Hermes is actually the one who helped His Highness in his disobedience?　Tomo.
'Yeah!
Oh, Baron Necks still calls it 'dirty hands', but I can only theorize that it's a bellyache for being embarrassed at the festival.
Oh, don't worry about it.

　Seriously, I didn't care.

　I mean........it's such a rumor.

''The more Your Highness keeps his silence, the more credible the rumors are going to be.
Yuck!

　Oh, my God!