On this day, Erica came from the royal capital of Calamba to the Pindos mansion.

　Despite the fact that it's quite a long distance to travel, she found me slumbering in the garden the moment I entered the mansion and jumped on me with a big smile on her face.

　And then he flirts with me one way or the other.

　Flirting, flirting, flirting.
　Even more flirting than usual.

　He gets on top of me as I'm lying on a beach chair in the yard, looking up at the sky, and makes out with me.

　Lately I've given up and let him do what he wants, but as expected, today's bothered me.

'You're touching me more than usual today,'
Because I won't be here for a while, starting tomorrow.
Is that so?
'Yeah. There's a festival going on, and I'll be totally stuck for a couple of weeks.
I see.

　A festival....
　Well, that can't be helped.
　That's a job for a king or a ruler.

　I'm responsible for several of them.
　For example, the purification of the hot springs is a ritual.

　The hot springs were dug out by the first man with a magic sword.
　He dug up the miasma, but the magic sword regularly caused the miasma to gush out, causing the animals to go berserk.

　Paying it off is also a kind of ritual - well, it's actually paying it off, so it's more like a practical matter.
　Normally, if I did that, I'd be crushed for two or three days.

　Even I'm a nobleman.
　Erica, the queen of a country, must have a lot more going on.

Are you okay?
What?
Two weeks is a long time. You take care of yourself.
....
....
....
Erica?

　Suddenly, Erica fell silent.
　Her uncharacteristic reaction made me turn my gaze from the sky to her.

　Then our eyes met.
　She's looking at me with an annoyed look on her face.

"Wha- what's the matter?
Aww, my darling, you're freaking me out.
Yeah, well.

　I don't know if I'm worried or what, but it's normal.

'Ah-an!　Darling, I love it, I love it!

　Erica looked more and more pleased and gave me a hug that clung to my neck.

'Wait, stop!'

　I said, but Erica seemed really happy about it, so I didn't feel like making her stop.

'Thank you!　Darling,
Yeah.

　No, well.
　It takes a lot of effort to force them away from each other here.
　It's not as tiring to let Erika do what she wants, is it?

　Erica does the "I love you" thing to me for a while, then gradually calms down.
　Gladly, she slowly slithers around my chest plate and over my clothes.

'Ehehe ... keep your darling power replenished to the brim.
What's with all that darling power?
Don't you know?　It's about the energy that's replenished when you touch your darling.
I don't know, I don't know. I mean, that's not what I'm talking about.

　I don't really mean that's what you want to know, I mean what are you going to say all of a sudden?

　Well, okay.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of it, but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to.

"Hermes, can I have a word with you?

　Suddenly, my sister appeared, calling my name.
　He came out of the mansion and as soon as he came over here and our eyes met, he looked at us and laughed, holding his mouth in a "Ufufu".

　

'I'm sorry, it looks like I was an intruder,'
No, I don't mean to imply-- Ugh!

　It slid into my ribs.
　Erica put her weight on it.

　When I looked at her, her lips were puckered and she was sulking a bit.
　No, even if she sulked now - I didn't want her to sulk.

''Oh dear, I guess I was a disturbing bug after all. I'm going to be kicked by a horse and retreat before the Third River.

　She said and left with a smile on her face.

　After her sister disappeared, to Erica.

'Erica,'
So....
'No, well. It's fine.

　I don't understand how Erica feels.
　We won't see each other for a while from tomorrow.
　Then I want to stay a little longer, and I don't want to be disturbed.

　I know that's how you feel.
　I understand that, but your sister must have had something to do.

"Huh.

　Oh, well.
　If my sister backed off so easily like that, she probably didn't have much to do.

Yeah, right. Hey, darling.
Huh?

　The eyes, once averted, turn to Erica again.
　Erica looks a bit flustered, as if she's trying to mend something.

"I'm thinking that next time I'm with the Demon King, I'd like to give my darling some sort of title.
A title?　What's that?
Did you know that they sometimes give honorary titles to people from different countries?
'Yeah. I mean, I'm an aristocrat at Kaori's too, and I'm a servant.

　Speaking of servants sounds bad, but considering that Kaori has lived for hundreds of years and has only had a little over a thousand servants.
　Furthermore, considering that those servants are in fact Kaori's favorites.
　That could also be a title of sorts.

　Gebok, or Geboku, or something like that.

　You could say it's a title like that.

I see. That's what Erica and the Demon King are jointly calling it.
What?
'To make my darling look better,'
Then I reject it.

　I answered immediately.
　If that's the reason, it's out of the question.

'Err, boo.'
No swelling.
Uh-huh.
No crying.
Mmm-hmm.
Color me off the hook.

　It turned out to be somewhat of a contrast.
　Erica, who did it, seemed to enjoy it.

'So, what's the real story?'
What?

　Erica was dazed.

'Why?'
There's something different about it. I get the feeling he was after something.
....
Erica?

　I look at Erica, who doesn't answer.
　She stares at me in surprise.

　And then - softly - she lowers her eyes.

'I knew you were amazing, darling. I'm glad you understand even now Erica.
"Nug.

　It's a feeling of having been struck by a false sense of security.
　I'm not sure what to say, but I'm not sure what to think when I'm suddenly brought to a place where I'm doing what I want to do, and I'm not sure what to think....

I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this.　What's the truth?

　I forced the conversation back.

'Yeah. For peace.
Peace?
We're not allowed to fight in the land of the Dark Lord.
'Kaori's not going to fight. I've been dating her for a while now, and I know that one, but she'll do what her mother tells her to do no matter what.
'Yeah, Erica can see that. But the people?
....
'It has to be more obvious to the people. The Demon King won't attack us no matter what. Just saying that won't convince the people. If they aren't convinced, they will be scared of the existence of the Demon King.
...you're scared.
'We don't mess with humans, but we do destroy the environment on a regular basis on a massive scale.
'Uh....'

　You're definitely doing that one.
　I see, the power of a super creature called the Demon King, and how terrifying it is, can humans understand that?

　When it's pointed in our direction - yeah, I see.

"So I want you to work with the Demon King.
Okay.

　I nodded quietly.

'Okay, if that's what you're saying, I can't help it.'
Really?
Yeah.

　I nodded quietly.

'You can keep my name out of it if you want.
Okay. Thank you, darling.

　Erica smiled quietly, but with the happiest smile of the day.

　　　　　☆

　Afterwards, after spending some quiet time with Erica, I walked her to the front door to tell her that it was time to go home.
　I don't usually send her there, but I was a little touched by her doing something for her people, and I felt compelled to send her there somehow.

　And then I saw her facing me at the doorway, looking at her as if she was going to miss her.

'Shall I send it after all?'

　I said.

'Really?'
Oh, yeah, about that...
Hermes, can I have a word with you?

　My sister showed up.
　She appeared the same way as before, and after she was about to say something, she looked at me and Erica and smiled, holding her mouth with a muffled smile.

'Are you going to play with Erika-sama?'
You sound like a kid. No, I'm just going to walk you out of here.
Yeah, okay. Have a good day, Hermes.

　Saying that, the sister turned back the way she came and disappeared across the corridor.

　.........
　..........?

　I felt a tug on my sister's back.
　Now sis........wasn't there something wrong with her?

　I didn't know what that was, but I sent Erika on her way.
　She got into the carriage, and since I was going to be the gohja, I played the role of the gohja and carried the carriage out of the city.

　After leaving the city, I jumped down from the carriage and handed the baton to the original Gohja.
　Then I look up at Erica, the person on the carriage.

'Well then.'
Hey, darling.
What's going on?
You're upset about something, sister.

　.........

'So that's what it looked like to Erica.
Yes.
Well....

　I knew there was something wrong, sister.

"Get him back, darling.
That's a surprise. I didn't know you were gonna say that.
Because if you're my darling's sister, you'll be Erica's sister someday - yikes!

　Erica gave an 'eheheh' kind of 'squeak'.

'Kyak ... well, all right. Thanks.
Wow. My darling thanked me.

　Saying goodbye to a delighted Erica, I turned back to the city and returned to the mansion.

　The moment I came back, I found the mansion flapping around.
　The maids were running around in a flurry of activity.

　I grabbed one of the maids and asked, 'What's going on?

'What's the matter, what happened?'
Oh, welcome home, master.
That's okay. What happened?
Yes, sir, but Lady Solar has fallen.
What did you say?　Where's your sister?
In the Lady Sola's room.

　I left my maid and ran out.
　I ran down the hallway and into my sister's room.

'Sis!'

　All the people inside turned to look at us at once.
　A maid and--a doctor?

　But my sister was the only one who didn't.
　She was lying on the bed, eyes closed, face red and breathing hard.
　She didn't react when I jumped in, and she didn't seem to be conscious.

'Sis!　Hey, where's your sister?

　I walked over to the bed where my sister was sleeping and asked a man who looked like a doctor.

'It's alright, please calm down. Lady Solar is a manastone, isn't she?
"Manastone?

　What's that?

"The magical power that is always going around inside the body somehow becomes stagnant and hardens. Like a stone, it blocks the flow of magic, so we use the word 'stone' to describe it.
"Don't write nonsense!　So you're okay with your sister?
It's not a problem, it's not life-threatening or anything like that.

　The doctor said that, and I was relieved to hear it - the next moment.

'Geez!'

　Sis, lying on the bed, her body warped and screamed like ripping silk.

'Sis!

　She screams and looks like she's in pain.
　I've never seen her like this before.

　I tighten my collar around the doctor's neck.

"Hey!　I thought you were okay.
'Yeah, yeah. It's okay.
What?
'She seems to be in pain, but she's fine. Pain is high on the list of all diseases, but it's not life-threatening.
Really?
Yes. On a mortality rate of zero percent.
'Ohhhh!'

　My sister exclaimed again.

'Sis!　Hey bushman!
Please calm down. It's okay.
Gosh, how long will this go on?
Three days and it will pull off cleanly.
Three days?

　I was astonished.
　I looked at my sister on the bed.

　This is what... three more days?

What's the alternative?
Oh, is that the way?
Yeah, is there anything for you to do for the pain?
It's manasuton, so it will go away as soon as we break up the stagnation that has formed in your body like a stone.
Is that all right?
Yes, but it's impossible to know the magic in another person's body--

　That's all I needed to hear.

　I walked up to her.
　I put my hand on her forehead.

　It's witchcraft, I thought to myself as I sharpened my nerves and felt it.
　It's a little (.../.../) difficult.
　It's not good if you do something wrong, or you need to use your eyesight.

　I pull out the magic channel in my sister's body and project it onto the empty space directly above her (...).

　A web-like object, close to a human body, appears above her sister, who is lying on top of her, like a spider web.
　The web is shining and flowing.

　In the midst of it, she could see that there was a huge thing around her lower abdomen that was blocking the flow.

'That's it!'

　I gently touch my hand to my sister's lower abdomen - her belly button.
　I poured my magic into it.

　There it was.

　The stagnation - I shattered the mana stone with a pinprick.

"....
....
...Hell, scalpel?
Are you okay, sister?
Yes... what do I...?

　I look around.
　He doesn't seem to know what he's been up to.

'Just get some rest for today. You're tired, aren't you?

　Even if the pain receded, it didn't mean that the strength that had been drained from him would return.

''Yes ... thank you, Hermes.''

　My sister felt something and thanked me.

'Just go ahead,'

　I forced my sister to sleep.
　I'm just relieved she's okay.

　I hadn't even noticed.

"Did you shatter the mana stone from an outside source?　Silly.....

　Through the doctor, the maids who witnessed it spread the word.
　I hadn't realized how much my reputation was going to rise because I was too preoccupied with my sister.