In Orthia’s room, the two of us were relaxing alone.
“Heh, so that’s the sword the King gave you.”
When I mentioned in the course of our small talk that I had been given my ancestor’s sword, Orthia’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“Ah, it’s kind of like a medal, so it’s somehow rude not to wear it all the time.”
“Hey, hey, can I touch it for a moment?”
“No, please forgive me for this.”
“Isn’t it fine, hey, it’s a lifetime request”
“You have many requests for your lifetime”
I gave Orthia a light umeboshi*. (TN: Head grinding)
“It’s not like it’s because it’s a gift from His Majesty, it’s nothing like that.”
“Eh? Then, what do you mean?”
“I said that earlier, right? This was used by my ancestor in their later years, the time they became a tremendous swordsman, and it was the strongest sword around ―― it was this sword that they used. To tell the truth, it looks super cheap”
“Heh”
“So, then. My ancestor is a human from hundreds of years ago. In other words, this sword is also an antique from hundreds of years ago. It’s cheap and an antique, so now it’s very fragile.”
“Is that so?”
“Ah, it’s crumbling”
While nodding, I stroke the sword while lowering it to my waist as I sit down.
“Geez, I should have gotten the great one. That way, when I have to use it, I can get away with it properly.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I use this thing, I have to be serious to some extent.”
“……?”
Orthia tilted her head, her face telling me that she doesn’t understand.
“That’s right ……”
I look around the room.
There was a table in the middle and a wooden spoon used for a set of tea cakes, so I grabbed it.
“Orthia, do you have any paper? Anything is fine.”
“Is this all right?”
Orthia picked up a notepaper and handed it to me.
“This paper, is thin, right?”
“Yup”
“Then fold this in half…….here”
I returned the folded letter paper to Orthia.
Orthia, took it, but she kept her head bent.
“Toward this spoon, swing it down as hard as you can at the peak part of the fold.”
“Yeah…… ey!”
Orthia did as she was told, and with an undeterred hand, she swung the paper down as hard as she could.
The wooden spoon, broke with a cracking sound.
“Eeh! You’re kidding! It snapped with paper!”
“If you stand upright like this and swing it out as hard as you can, even paper can break something the size of a wooden spoon. This sword is the same. It’s battered, but it won’t break if you swing it properly to some extent, and――”
While saying that, I slowly pushed the notepaper onto the broken spoon.
Naturally, the notepaper bends more and more.
“――if you do it halfway, it will break.”
“Hohee, I see, I see. As expected, you’re amazing Hermes-chan, you know all that stuff.”
“It’s just a little trivia.”
“Hey, hey, do you have any other trivia?”
“……Fuh”
Orthia is a good woman after all.
She knows when to push and when to pull back.
When she found out that what the king had given me was something fragile, she diverted the conversation in a natural way, without saying anything selfish.
I guess this ability to read the air and her carefree nature is what makes her a popular prostitute.
I went along with the flow and the begging, and presented some random trivia that was neither medicinal nor poisonous.
Orthia complimented me on it, and lifted me up.
We had a pleasant time from there.
Gashan!
『Kyaaaaah! 』
『Wa,wait, this is different!』
Suddenly, I heard the sound of things cracking and screams coming from outside the room.