Ore wa Mada, Honki o Dashite Inai - CH 59

“Thank you for coming to see Daphne again.”

“O,o,o,o,o,o,of course, I’ll come see you again and again anytime.”

Inside the brothel, the King, aka King, took Daphne’s hand and stammered in an amusing way.

Or rather, it was a scene that smelled like crime.

On one hand, there was the middle-aged King, who was a fine middle-aged man normally, and on the other hand, there was Daphne, a half-elf, and half-dwarf, who was 130 centimeters tall and only look 10 years old when compared to a human.

And, the space called Brothel.

It’s a combination that smells too much like crime.

“As I have told you, Daphne-neesan is over 100 years old.”

Orthia, who was next to me, quipped.

“As I said, don’t mess with the voice in my heart”

“Like I have told you, it shows on your face, Hermes.”

“Mu”

That’s what I was told before, but I wonder if it’s really true.

If that’s the case …… it’s a bit shocking.

Meanwhile, King and Daphne walked up the stairs and disappeared into their room.

Orthia’s room was next to Daphne’s, so we climbed slowly up the stairs.

“But thank you, Daphne-neesan, seems really happy. Thank you for the incredibly rich customer.”

“I guess that’s true”

After all, the other party was the king of Aegina.

From the looks of it, if she asked him adorably for the “King’s Country”, he might just give it to her.

It was probably a dizzying amount of money for an ordinary prostitute.

“After all, customer needs to be aristocrat, that was Daphne-neesan said”

“Oh really?”

“Yes. Normal customers pay the usual fee and that’s it, but the aristocrats give extra. I heard that a nobleman who forgot his money borrowed money from a prostitute and paid her back ten times the amount the next day.”

“Heh”

“But, it could be said that it was an act due to them wanting to give the money directly to the prostitute. If they’re paying off a debt, the store won’t be cutting it out as the middleman.”

“Heh, so there’s a lot going on here huh.”

“You don’t seem to know much about such things, Hermes-chan.”

“Sorry about that.”

It can’t be helped, I don’t actually know much about it.

And even if I did know, I wouldn’t want to do it.

As Orthia said just now, what he has done up to that point will definitely become a rumor, and to top it off, there will be gossip and exaggeration.

I usually, pay a fee and visit frequently.

In a little while, if Orthia wants, she could pay out of being a prostitute.

I’ll go with that kind of “normal”.

“By the way, Hermes, you’ve been coming with your sword a lot lately.”

“Nn? Ah”

“Why?”

“It’s just something.”

That was a lie, it was a countermeasure against the meteorites.

After the incident with Shou, it was almost certain that that meteorite was a conspiracy of someone somewhere, although it was still unidentified.

And as a result of having it checked out, I’ve “solved” the meteorite case more times than any other person in the country.

While all the others have a frequency of “1”, and even then, it’s usually solved by a group, rather than an individual.

I was the only one who’s been involved twice, and if you count the Aniki and the others, I’ve been involved three times.

It’s hard to imagine that nothing will happen in the future, so I carry a sword with me more often than not as a precaution in case of emergency.

“Hey, hey, try something with that.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re good with swords, aren’t you, Hermes-chan? You have that look.”

“What kind of face is that?”

“Hey do it. It’s a lifetime request, please”

“How many lifelong requests do you have?”

“Iiiiiiiit hurts, I oppose, I oppose to umeboshi*” (TN: It means grinding one’s temple with fists)

While heading to the room, walking, I grind my fist on Orthia’s temple.

“Mou, you’re so mean, Hermes-chan. Can’t you just be a little bit nice?”

Orthia sulked a little.

Orthia has a frank character.

I don’t dislike her sponger face and it’s quite cute, though.

“All right, all right. Then――”

I looked around, trying to find something just right.

We are almost in front of Orthia’s room and Daphne’s room.

It was the familiar interior of a brothel, though there was nothing remarkable about it.

“Look, there are flies flying over there, right?”

“Eh? Ah, that’s true”

“Fuh”

I put my hand on the hilt of the sword hanging on my waist and pulled it out――

“That’s right, Hermes, I’m not going back tonight――”

At the same time as I swung my sword, the door to Daphne’s room behind me opened and King stepped out.

The moment I swung my sword and slashed only the wings of the flies, King’s complexion changed.

His face changed completely from being deredere* over Daphne to a serious expression. (TN: It’s an onomatopoeia for being lovestruck)

“Lord Hermes…….”

“Eh? Wha,what?”

“I…… witnessed it”

“……Eeeeeeehh!?”

I was so surprised, of what this person just said.

While I was surprised, King put his hand on the sword he had on his hip.

“――Muh”

My surprise was blown away.

Because the moment he touched his sword, his air changed even more.

If I had to put my current feelings into words, it would be just three words.

He is good!

King is undoubtedly a first-rate swordsman.

Looking at his stance and air, there is no doubt that he is stronger than Midea, for the Sword Saint Perseus …… I guess they’re evenly matched, and only time will tell.

He’s definitely strong, why?

“Since the time of resurgence of Queen Selene, all Aegina kings have had sword fighting as a compulsory subject.”

King said so.

No, it’s not at the atmosphere and compulsory subject level.

It’s a realm that can only be reached by talented people who put in even more effort.

King readied his sword ―― no, he was no longer King.

“Stand up straight, that’s an order.”

“Uh”

I panicked.

I don’t know what to do.

The king wishes for a session.

It isn’t for fun; even I can see on his face that he wants a session for real.

The question is whether I should really take him seriously.

I can take him seriously and beat him, or I can go easy on him and let him have the win.

I wonder which one is better, which one is right, and which one is “normal” in this case.

I’m not sure.

Without knowing――

“I give”

“Eh?”

With a huh, I came to my senses.

Before I knew it, the king’s sword had left his hand and was stuck in the ceiling, and the tip of my sword was touching the skin of his throat.

I totally won.

And, that is.

“As expected of the blood of Canoe, your skill with the sword, may well be the best in the world.”

“Au au……”

It’s like I did it again while I was too lost and panicked.