On a sunny afternoon, I dressed up as the "prodigal lord" and went into town.

'Ah, my lord. Hello.
Oh, Master Hermes, come by my shop.
Hey, Hermes, you're gonna have to buy me another drink.

　As I was hanging out at random, I was approached by all sorts of people.
　Most of them were friendly.

　Most of them are proper residents, but there are also some people who are hooligans, and they talk to me in a friendly manner.

　While I was wandering around in this way, I saw that there was a huge queue at a certain shop.

　I walked up to him and spoke to the last man in line, wondering what was going on.

Hey, what's the line for?
'What?　I mean, isn't that Lady Hermes? Don't you know this?
That's why I'm asking.
It's mayonnaise. It's mayonnaise.
"Maynards?

　I nod my head at the sound of the word I'm hearing for the first time.
　It's a word I've never heard before, and I have no idea what it is.

I have no idea what it is.
It's food. Food, food that's been a legend for hundreds of years.
Legendary for hundreds of years?
''Oh. The only thing I've been able to figure out so far is how to use oil, but I heard that the Demon King next door is in a good mood and has opened up the ruins of the Demon King's territory to adventurers, and that's where they found the recipe.
A demon king?

　You mean Kaori.
　So it's a recipe from the ruins that Kaori managed for hundreds of years.
　That sounds..............................exciting.

Apparently, this food was originally brought in by people from another world.
Doesn't that make up too much of a story?

　I chuckled.

　I didn't believe that it was an otherworldly recipe for the first time, but if Kaori was involved, I was a bit curious.

　I zunned forward.

　I came to the front of the line, at the front of the store and interrupted.

"Hey, what are you doing?
I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to wait.
You're not what-- you're not Hermes.

　The woman at the head of the line looked at me, her lips twitched, but she didn't say anything else.

　Interrupting the line was a bit of a hassle, but it was just the right amount of hassle to play the role of the prodigal master.
　I asked the shopkeeper at the front of the line I'd interrupted.

"Well, mayonnaise, please.
My lord, since you're here, would you like to sample some?
'Tasting, yeah, let's just try it out.
Yeah, go ahead.

　The shopkeeper then offered me a fresh, probably freshly picked cucumber with something white and creamy on top of it.

　Cucumbers are cucumbers, so--

Is this white one a "Mayonnaise"?
Yes, you should try it.
Yeah, I'll take it ... it's good!

　The cucumbers on Mayonnaise were delicious the moment I put them in my mouth.
　It was sweet, slightly sour, rich and creamy.

It's so good!
It goes with a lot more than just cucumbers.
'I suppose. This would go well with noodles and fried food and stuff, and yeah, I could see eating rice with just this.
My lord is a connoisseur. These days, there are people who call it mayonnaise, and they say it's the most delicious combination of rice and mayonnaise.
Yes. Wrap this up, about ten servings.
Always.

　I left the store after getting a paper bag of bottled mayonnaise in exchange for the money.

　I'll have to thank Kaori later for such good food.

　I wandered around town with a paper bag full of mayonnaise in my arms.
　It was so good that I opened the lid of the jar and scooped up a chopit each with my finger and licked it.

　But I've been finding a lot of things from the ruins lately.
　We found a Dorayaki a while ago.

　I'm starting to wonder about the "ruins" thing.

　　　　　★

There's only one thing in House Canó's dominion that's a monument.

　When I returned home, I mentioned the "remains" to my sister, and she replied.

'We have the remains.
Yeah.
Where is it?
Hermes has been there before.
Me too...?

　Well, have we ever been to the ruins?

First Master's Cave of Trials.
That's it...

　It's true that those are also ruins.

........Is it okay to enter that place?
Normally it's off-limits, but Hermes is the head of the family, so no one can stop him.
"Hmm.

　That trial cave, huh?
　It was done to me during the ordeal before anyway, things couldn't get any worse than that.

　I decided to go to the ruins.

　　　　　☆

　The next day I headed to the Cave of Trials by myself.

　My sister wanted to follow me, but I said the right thing and smoked her.

　The situation won't get any worse - I don't think it will, but I still thought it was safer to go alone.

　I'm coming to the Cave of Trials by myself, taking the path I've taken before.
　Now, I wondered if there were any treasures sleeping here.

　I went into the cave.

　By the way, I don't go through all the coins of the ordeal, I don't even touch them.
　If you touch them poorly and something strange happens, I can't expect anything to happen to you.

　With that in mind, I entered the cave - at that time.

　The king had given me this thing.

　The sword of my ancestors, given to me by the king and worn around my waist at all times.
　The straps for wearing it were broken and it fell to the ground with a crash.

"Oops, okay, okay.

　I bent down and tried to pick it up - but

　The sword skidded away from me, the entire sheath skidding away from me.

　Then a woman emerged from the ground.

　A woman whose entire body was translucent and ghostly.
　Her long black hair was distinctive, and she looked like a woman I'd seen somewhere before.

　The woman held up her hand and stared at my sword for a while.

''It's nostalgic.''
What?
''.........Huh. Let's hear it.

　The woman chuckles and holds out her hand further.
　Two swords emerge between me and the woman.

'Was it this sword of light you dropped or this sword of darkness?'
'They're both different, but I mean, it's right there. It's that ragged sword I dropped.
"You're an honest man.

　The woman laughed merrily.

'No, no honesty or anything.'
"As a reward, I'll put these two swords in my sword.
What?

　Immediately after, both the sword of light and the sword of darkness were sucked into my sword.

　After blending in completely, the woman gave me back my sword.

''Then.''
Wait a minute.

　I tried to reach out and stop her, but the woman was gone in a huff.
　I was left with only my sword.

　I felt like I was being pinched by a fox, but I drew my sword from its scabbard with trepidation.

'Wow....'

　I let out a frustrated voice.

　It was a ragged sword, and the moment I pulled it out and released it, I saw a black light - a sword that emitted a dark light.

　I pulled it out completely and shook it lightly.

　The walls of the cave, the rock walls, were cut off like tofu.

''This ... is definitely the one that is misunderstood. He's going to come back with a power up in the Cave of Trials or something.

"I knew Hermes was amazing when he was serious.

　I couldn't help but sigh as I heard my sister's words ringing in my ears with empty ears.