"Hermes, please for life!
....

　Inside the whorehouse, as soon as I entered the room, Ortizia was worshipping me down in front of me.
　I looked at Oltia with gentle eyes.

"Oltia.
'What?　What's the matter with you, Hermes, you look like your father.
I'll always be the same person.
'I don't know what you're talking about all of a sudden!

　Oops, I was completely disturbed by the recent developments, and I felt extremely comforted by Ortia's "request of a lifetime".

''........''
Hmm?　What's wrong with you, staring at me?
Mmm, nothing.

　Oltia smiled serenely and shook her head slowly.

'Weird. For that matter, what's the request of a lifetime this time?'
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, little Hermes--oh, tattletale.

　I gently pulled Ortizia to me and grizzled my hands on her temples.

'Ouch!　Why?
'Go ahead and shove it into the request of a lifetime, or look a little more apologetic than you already are.

　I said, and stopped grilling her.

'What? Because it's too late now?'
Are you sure about this?
Oh, no, no, I'd rather have you.
Yeah.

　I gave a small nod.

'You know, I've been a bit overworked lately.'
Overworked?
I mean, you work too hard.
No, I understand that, but...

　I look at Oltia again.
　I've seen a few prostitutes who are what she calls "overworked", but now Ortia doesn't look that windy at all.

　Well well maybe she just doesn't look like that.

'So?'
I'm tired from working so hard, Hermes, take me someplace where I can rest and relax without anyone else--aahhhhhh.

　I grizzled her temples again.

'Heeeeeee, what now?'
Look I'm a customer. You're working.
Yes.
Where in the world do you find a whore who says to her clients, 'Take me somewhere where I won't have to work'? That's like--

　I huff as I start to say it.

'You ... do you mean to tell me to take care of myself?'
"Huh?

　In response to me asking with a straight face, Ortiz looked like he was being punched in the face.
　I didn't expect to be asked such a question at all," she said.

　And the reaction was the same.

"Ha-ha-ha, no, no, no. I didn't mean it like that.

　Oltia laughed out loud and giggled.

'Isn't it?'
I'm proud of my work as a prostitute. As long as I have clients who need me, I have no intention of giving up.
Well that was it.

　It reminded me of the episodes I've had with her in the past.
　Every time something goes wrong, she mentions her "pride in being a whore".

　She doesn't get paid for anything other than being a whore, and she doesn't think she'll ever stop doing it.

　She's been single-minded about this for a long time - ever since the day we met.

'I'm sorry, I don't mean to ask you weird things.
No. Do you mind if I do you a favor?
Yeah, keep going.

　Ortiz resumes the upcoming "request of a lifetime" that has been interrupted so many times.

I'm tired, so take me somewhere to laze around without being disturbed, Hermes. You know a lot about that sort of thing, don't you, Hermes?
"Hmm.

　If that was the case, there was nothing wrong with that.

　What Ortizia said about being 'knowledgeable about that sort of thing' was just as true.

''Well now, since Kaori might get in the way, that's good.
'What?　What did you say?
No, it's nothing.

　He shakes his head at Ortizia, who looks like she couldn't hear the last part of his mumble, and then says to her

'Then I'll grab you and we'll move.
Yes.

　Ortiz gently squirmed.

　A pampering gesture peculiar to prostitutes, which tickled a man's pride moderately.
　I put my hand around Oltia's waist - and jumped out of the room.

　From the window, she literally "jumped out".

　Using my flight magic, I first surged first, soaring up to a point where I could see the city of Pindos about the size of a map, then I looked around and looked for a moderately open place.

　From a high altitude, that was easy to find.
　Now I fly down at a downward angle towards the target meadow.

　Like a bird, it first swoops down, then slows down as it nears the ground, and finally takes a dip in the ground, and then lands.

'Here?'
No, give me a minute.
Yes.

　Gently letting go of Ortia, I took a few steps forward.
　As it is, I put my hand on the sword at my waist.

'It's been a long time since I've done that so I'm not sure it's going to work.

　The thing (...) is tired, so I pulled out my sword and slashed the void, hoping that I would succeed with one shot.

　There was no sound.
　There was no wind pressure either.
　There wasn't even the fact that the blade had passed through.

　It was - it was a success.

　The swinging tip created something like a crack in the air.

'Wha, what's that?'
A crack in the dimension-- or so the guy who told me called it.
Is this the end of the world?
Let's go.

　I pulled the hand of Ortia, who was looking at me blankly, and together we went over the crack.

''Wow, it's kind of freaky!''

　It was dark in the fissure.
　It was dark, but not dark, a strange darkness.

　The darkness around us was jet black or dark, or whatever it should be described as, but inside, about two meters away from each other, me and Ortiz could see each other clearly.

　I closed the crack, leaving Oltia wondering about it.

'Oh, is this where no one can come?'
Yeah. Maybe.
Maybe?
He taught me this - master, I guess you'd call him. You can get in there. But you'll probably be fine.

　I haven't seen the kid in black (...) in over ten years.

'Huh... yeah, okay.'

　After hearing the story, Ortiz was amazed, but his expression quickly changed.

''I mean, you can laze around here for as long as you want, right?
That's what I'm talking about.
Yay. Thanks, little Hermes!

　Oltia hugged me.
　Her ample breasts hit my arms - I didn't feel bad.

'When you've decided to--come here, little Hermes.
Yeah?

　What do you still want me to do?　I followed her as she took my hand, and Ortiz sat there and laid me down.

　She laid my head on her lap.

'A lap pillow?'
Yes.
I thought you wanted a break?
Hey, hey, don't wake up.

　Ortiz holds me back as I try to get up and maintain a kneeling position.

''No....''
I'm a professional.
Yeah?
I'm more at ease when I'm interacting with men.
If you don't like it, you can just do your job...

　Ortiz's index finger pressed against her lips.

'It's okay,'
I see.

　Could it be that Ortizia is doing this for me...?

　No, don't think about it.
　If I think about it, it's going to show on my face.
　Maybe the best thing to do would be to just go along with her without realizing it.

　I didn't do anything but relax on Ortizia's lap.

　Oltia didn't do anything more.
　She stroked my head, combed my hair with her hands, and occasionally sang a lullaby-like song.

　I did nothing - nothing at all, anyway.

　I was grateful for that, and before I knew it, I fell asleep.
　It was the first time in a long time that I had had a moment to rest.

　　　　　☆

　The next day.

'Thank you, little Hermes.'
Are you getting enough rest?

　When I ask her that, Ortia says, "Yeah! I nodded with a big smile.
　That's it--thinking again, I put my hand on the hilt of my sword and created a dimensional crack by slashing through the void, just like yesterday.

''Eh?''
What's up, little Hermes?
This magic--no way!

　I rushed out, Ortiz followed a little later.

'Ah!　I'm a big girl.
Darling!

　Outside, the original grassland was an extraordinary sight.

　First, Kaori was alone, spreading a huge magic circle that could cover the entire sky.
　Next, Erica was surrounded by hundreds of mages who must be hundreds of mages?　with a group chant, spreading a magic circle across the land.

　And the meadow was no longer a grassland.

　There was a trail of explosions here and there, black smoke smoldering.

'What the hell are you guys doing?'
'Is my nephew okay?　This isn't kidnapping, is it?
Well, Erica, I was worried about you, darling.
What do you mean?

　Kaori explains to me, who looks at me in a horrified state.

I felt strange vibes yesterday. So when I came here, my nephew's magic power was cut off like it was impossible.
Oh...

　Somehow it reminded me of a scene and a trick I saw in an old story where the killer's footprints disappeared neatly in the middle of a murder scene.

"The demon king said, you know, that the dimensional wall might have opened up and swallowed my darling. So I decided to help him.
So that's what all this fuss is about.

　I looked around.

　Kaori, the Demon King, and Erica's.......probably hundreds of Karamba's elite sorcerers.

　All of them were trying to join forces to save me, 《,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,》.

''I'm sorry, I went in myself.
That's right!
From you?

　Kaori and Erica are surprised.

　........oh.

　I gasped, this is what I shouldn't have said.

I shouldn't have said that. But Oikko-chan came out of the woodwork as usual.
'A dimensional wall that the Demon King, Erica and the others couldn't open for one night... darling, I knew it was amazing!
'It's amazing!　I've never seen anyone else, other than your father and your sister, who could do that.

　Kaori and Erika, the two people who formed the alliance, were closing in on me, their eyes shining.
　It seems I've accidentally done it again.