"Hey, hey, Hermes, are you getting married?
Huh?

　As I was relaxing at Ortizia's place, she was kneeling on me, and she asked me like a mosquito that I suddenly remembered.

　I get up, turn my body around to Ortizia and ask her, "What's that?

'What's that?'
Again.

　Ortiz held his mouth and pushed with his elbow, gingerly.

'There's a rumor going around. They say there's a girl who's been looking good lately. At first it was a bit awkward, but then Hermes took him seriously, and when he proposed to her, she accepted.
Oops.

　Rumors.............................
　There are too many things mixed up.

　If you take out each one of them, you may be able to call them true, or you may be able to only regard them as true, but I think it's not impossible to say that they are true.

You have a very complicated look on your face, Hermes.
That's right. I feel like I've been fed a highly twisted rumor.
Really?
Yeah.
So the story about the girl becoming Hermes' rightful wife is a hoax?
My regular wife.

　I perked up.

"Oh, my God.
Because it's your first wife, that doesn't mean you're a regular wife.
Not so much the nobility.
Really?
Yeah.

　I nodded deeply.

"In fact, noblemen sometimes leave their rightful wives vacant for political marriages. The first person they marry, the one they love properly, they dare to make her a side-keeper so that she will know that she is the one.
Wow, there's a lot to be said for being an aristocrat. You're not like most people.
So do prostitutes. You often think differently than most people do.
Haha, come to think of it,

　Oltia laughed.
　A smile that was bright and had no darkness in it.
　That's the most attractive thing about Ortiz, and the reason she's so popular.

'I see, then that's fine. Hermes-chan, you must tell me exactly what you're going to do when you get married.
Why again?
Well, you must know your wife well enough to know that she's your favorite. In this kind of business, it's not uncommon for legitimate wives to become enraged and yell at you.
'Oh, I don't remember you saying that before,'
Is there one ... or is there one?

　I wondered for a moment, but I quickly agreed.

　I've often heard it said that women are creatures of jealousy - that they are jealous of each other.
　That jealousy is directed at something called "cheating".
　And the standard by which men and women think of "unfaithfulness" is completely different.

　The biggest difference is the prostitute in front of them.

　Most men don't think it is unfaithfulness when they are with a prostitute.
　Even more so if they are noblemen.
　In some cases, it may be a duty or job for a nobleman to work with a prostitute.

　But most women don't seem to think that way most of the time.

　In that sense, it's probably necessary for a prostitute to figure out the existence of her rightful wife for her job.
　That being the case, I was beginning to wonder what they would actually do.

'By the way, what would you do if I told you?'
I'll look into things, for starters. Interests, for example.
A hobby?
Shit. You should look into those things and if you can get along with them, you should get along with them. And also.........share information?
"Sharing information?

　I nodded my head.
　I could still vaguely imagine the hobby, but I couldn't imagine sharing information at all.

'Hmmm. 'Hmmm... your customer, I mean your husband. I share information about him with his wife. 'Actually, I liked this kind of thing,' he said. Or that he would be happy if she did this to him.
Oh, my God.
'Aftercare. Too much into prostitutes can be ruinous, but you don't want them to come to you as customers at all. That's why I take care of them.
....
It's like a good restaurant passing on a recipe to your wife so she can make it at home.
Yeah, that's just plain weird.

　I nodded.
　I'd heard of it as a story about a restaurant, but I'd never imagined a prostitute thinking about it.

'That's deep.'
I'm deep.

　Listening to Ortizia talk about various things, it makes sense.
　She tells me that this is the way of high-class prostitutes in times of peace.

　If they were cheap, or during the war, they would just go out with a normal prostitute to get laid.
　It was somehow interesting that it changed depending on the time and situation.

If you don't do it properly, you'll get yelled at. If you don't do it properly, you'll get yelled at, and you'll end up getting involved in a marital quarrel.
Yeah. You're pretty good at that. You have a lot on your mind.
No, it's not. But thank you, little Hermes.
No,
I'm going to treat you!　Can we have a drink or something?
Yeah, I know.

　I huffed and nodded.
　Although it's called a feast, in the end, the customer pays for it - it's tactless.
　Just take it in stride and let it be done.
　That's the way to enjoy it here.

　I've been thinking about the food and drinks brought to me while I was being fed by Ortiz.

　It's all about Sophia.

　She hasn't been messing around lately, and we've gotten pretty comfortable with each other.
　But still, it's like when I was with Erica or Kaori.

　Sometimes I get angry and my emotions boil over for a moment.

　It's directed at Ortia - yes, there's a great possibility of that.
　Then it's better to get rid of it.

　If that's the case - bad, I'm starting to lose my mind.
　Feeling inebriated, I decided to ask Ortia.

　Information sharing, was it?

'Hey Oltia, what do you think a girl would love to get you?'
A gift?　I mean, it's a gift.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm thinking taterocha or hot.
Totoro?

　I don't know what that is.
　I've never heard of that.

You never heard of it?　Never heard the word 'tatty' before?
Yeah, you might be onto something.

　My body started to feel fluffy and fuzzy.
　I think I've heard of it somewhere, but I can't remember much about it.

Tatroca are the eggs of a monster spider, but they're smooth and glutinous, and they're beautiful in seven colors. When you put them in a transparent glass and pour a drink into it, they sparkle even more. It's called drinking it is called 'tato'.
I see.
I think he'd be most pleased to have it now. But the beastly spider that lays the tatroca only builds its webs on the precipice, so it's hard to get it.
All right. It's a precipice.

　I stood up.

　Then I jumped out the window and flew up high in the sky with my flying magic.

'Good luck, Hermes,'

　As I was leaving, I heard Ortiz give me a pep talk.

　I flew straight up to Mount Kerins. Speaking of cliffs, I remembered this place first.

　I looked down from above the sky.
　I found a cliff-like area and went down.

　In between the cliffs - in the ravine - I found a spider building a web.
　The spider is about the size of a man, and its web is as thick as a rope.
　On top of the web were glittering, seven-colored gemstones.

　Each one was about the size of a pearl.
　I knew it was this one.

　I walked up to it and tried to get the egg - a tatroca.

　Then the spider comes up to me and spits out a mouthful of venom.
　The huge size of the spider had so much venom in it that I could have covered my body with it.

A "bogeyman.

　I huffed and blew the venom away.
　The spider pounced on me some more.
　It opened its mouth wide, intent on biting me.

　I punched it away.

　The spider went through the web and down the cliff.

"So, bummer--Hiccup.

　I would blow up the spider, collect the tatroca, and fly back to Pindos.

　　　　　☆

　I'm back in the mansion.
　I looked for signs of life in the sky.

　Sophia was there...
　She was in the house today.

　I sensed her presence and headed for her.

　She was walking down the hallway, and I came in through the window, and I was standing in front of her.

"Shh, what--what--what are you talking about, Hermes?
Sofia.
What are you doing here, all of a sudden-- are you yelling at me?
Here.

　I said, and handed the tatroca I had taken to Sophia.

''This is a........tatroca?''
Yeah.
Is it... is it... is it Hermes?
Yeah.
Thank you!　I'm so happy!

　Sophia was pleased with me as much as she could.
　Yeah, yeah, if you're happy, that's good.

"I love you, Hermes!

　Oh, you love it.
　You love it?
　Isn't that a bad idea?

　...or not.

　Nothing wrong with being told that you like me.

　I thought so, I went through with it.


　But the next day.
　But the next day, I've cooled off from my drunkenness, and I realize that I'm getting deeper and deeper into it - or rather, I've been digging myself into a hole, and I'm puzzled.