My nephew!

　The door to the study was thrown open roughly and Kaori walked into the room.
　Her lips are pouting, her hands are on her hips, and she is pouting and angry.

　Before I had time to wonder what the hell was going on - Kaori walked up to me quickly and jumped onto the desk and closed in on me.

'My niece told me about it,'
What?
'Is it true that your nephew doesn't want to get serious?
Oh, I see. Yeah, that's right.
It's not right!

　This one's excuse - or is it a problem before the excuse?
　Before I could even finish saying "That's right," Kaori came even closer.

'Why don't you get serious?　Ha!　If your nephew has something to say to his mother, too?
I'm not looking for a--
Then I'm going to go kill that woman and force my nephew to stop the seriousness of his injunction. I'm a demon king, so I'm very good at that sort of thing--
Calm down!

　I slammed the chop into the top of Kaori's head. It made a nice popping sound.
　By the way, it's a reasonably fast and strong chop considering that I can avoid it, and I put enough force into it that the dragon king's shadow would be able to rip it open with a single blow.

''Tataata what are you doing?''

　Kaori got a little teary-eyed as she held the spot where she was slapped.

'First of all, the reason I don't get serious has nothing to do with your mother, and she's not around anymore to begin with.
So why don't you take it seriously?
It's...

　How should I answer this question?
　Can I honestly answer "it's too much trouble" here?

　I've learned a lot about Kaori's personality over the last little while we've been together.
　In a word - unpredictable.

　As much as I've come to understand that well, I really can't predict what will happen when I say it.
　The only thing I can predict is that it's unpredictable.

　Oh, yeah, it's still there.

"It's just too much work.

　I decided to answer honestly.
　If you hide it poorly, there's a big chance it will be troublesome.
　That's how it's been up to now, and it would be the same with Kaori.
　So I answered honestly.

'Is it too much trouble?'
Yeah, it's a pain in the ass.
I see, I get it. I've eaten a hundred cakes, too, and after I've eaten a hundred cakes, I get tired of moving, and I tend to fall asleep.
You're going to be sleepy after all that food!　Or rather, too much food!
'But it's all right!　Tara-la-la-la-la.

　Kaori pulled out something that looked like a pill while making a weird sound effect with her mouth.

'What was that sound?'
'It's what your father taught me, that when you put out something amazing item, it's respect for the masters to make this sound.
No, I'm not sure I understand.

　What does Kaori's father think he's doing?　I mean, he's my ancestor, too, isn't he?

'More importantly--Tei!

　Kaori was suddenly hungry.
　It was too sudden and inevitable to avoid, so I got hit.
　I was in a bit of agony, and when I opened my mouth, a pill was thrown into my mouth and covered my mouth.

　While I'm mulling it over, they make me drink it.

''Pfft--, what are you doing?''
Have you been drinking?
You made me drink my fill!　What the hell was that?
This is a potion made from pieces of your sister Hikari.
Did you say "pieces"?　Aren't you and your sister Hikari human?
Whoever drinks it automatically wields the power.
You listen to me-- huh?

　What did you just say?
　Automatic ... power?
　Could that be.........

　Boom!

　My heart jumped loudly, my consciousness faded away for a moment.

'It's okay, I'm not going to sift through it like it's going to harm me when I say I'm going to wield power. Humans drink and rage, but it's a safer version of that.

　Kaori still seemed to be jumbling something, but I could barely hear it anymore.
　No, I can hear it as a "sound" but it feels so far away and I can't understand the meaning of the words.

　Oh no, this is bad.
　It's bad for not being poisonous - it's bad.

　　　　　☆

　Hermes stood up quickly.

'Oh?　Is the drug working for you?

　Kaori, still on the desk, looked into Hermes' face.
　Hermes looked into the Kaori's eyes.

'There's no ... evil ... in them.

　He murmured in a completely unemotional, emotionless voice, and then turned around and went straight to the window.

'I hear ... the sound of mourning.'

　Immediately after mumbling, this time, he burst through the window and jumped outside.
　As soon as I jumped outside and my body started to fall, I kicked the void (,,,,,,,,) and flew off at great speed.

　He kicked the empty air one after another and flew at a tremendous speed.
　After flying out of the city of Pindos, Hermes rushed to a single carriage that was surrounded by bandits.

　The carriage's guards had already been cut down and some young lady riding inside had been dragged out by the bandits.

''Stop!　Somebody help!　Somebody help me!
"Forget it!　Don't worry, I won't kill you until the ransom is paid. Hey, guys.
Hehehehe.

　At the men's disgusting laughter, the young lady's face turns pale as she feels various (,,,,,) dangers.
　Then Hermes landed there.

''Anh?　What are you, when did you show up?
They will stop you on your evil way.

　Without saying a word to anyone, Hermes drew the sword from his waist and raised it from below.

　Just one swing - and right after the swing, which looked like a swing to the young lady and the bandits, more than 10 bandits present at the spot blew out blood from all over their bodies and collapsed with an unbelieving look on their faces.

''S, great........''

　I don't know what happened, but I understand only the hand of salvation and its transcendent power, the young lady.

'Um!　Thank you for your help--
I can still hear it.
What?

　Not even receiving the lady's thanks, Hermes kicked the ground again and ran through the air to the next voice (,).

　It was a rural village that she flew to.
　A farming village where the bounty of the earth was laying in the fields in anticipation of the harvest.

'd*mn it!　I'm almost ready to harvest!
'Baka!　Get out of here!
'Ooohhhhhh, Okaaaaahhhh!

　The normally idyllic farming village has now become a place of shouting and screaming.
　The cause of this is - the sky.

　Hermes hit on the fact that there was a "source", something that has been occurring frequently for a while now.
　A meteorite was falling straight down.

　Hermes landed right underneath the meteorite.

'What are you doing, get out of here!

　One of the villagers yells at Hermes.
　Hermes ignores it, thrusting his hands straight upwards.

'Perdition!'

　He released a spell without a chant.
　A sphere, black and with a surface that seemed to be discharging electricity, was launched towards the meteorite.
　It was about a tenth of a meteorite, and the moment it hit it, it swelled up rapidly and swallowed the meteorite whole.

　When the villagers saw this, they forgot to run for cover.

''What the hell was that........''
Wow....

　He was immensely impressed by the power Hermes wielded.

'I can still ... hear ...'

　Hermes flew to the next voice again.

　The drug Kaori had given him, the "safe version of drinking and rioting" he called it, was in some ways correct and in some ways not.

　It is exactly like drunkenness caused by alcoholism in that it makes you feel overwhelmed and unable to save your actions, as I see it.

　There is one thing that is critically different, however.

(Ughhhh, stop it already. I'm going to be found out, everyone is going to find out ugh!)

　Drinking alcohol makes you unconscious, but what Kaori made you drink only retracts your consciousness and remains intact.

　Hermes felt as if he was watching himself from a little distance.

　And regardless of his own consciousness.
　Hermes was thrust into an audible lament until the effects of the drug wore off.
　He would help one person after another and show off his power in public.