“Ahhh! Stay away, it’s dangerous! I’m trying to repair it right now!” Hermes shouted at the children. While he was good with machinery, he was never that good with actual living beings. Lady Reina was better in that area.
“Whaaat, really? You’re such a meanie, geezer!”
“Meanie! This old man’s a meanieeee!”
They used to treat him like the youthful man he was, but now that they were booing him, he had become “geezer.”
“Oi! I’m not a geezer! I’m saying this so you all don’t get hurt!” Hermes barked back, looking quite hurt. This only inspired the children to keep chiding him. You have to be careful, Hermes. You can’t expose your weak spots like that. They’ll narrow in on it and use it against you. Hermes was taking grievous damage from the children who had quite obviously learned a lot from both the chief and deputy chief of the orphanage, so I decided to step in with a clap of my hands. For some reason, everyone’s eyes sparkled when they saw me.
“Ah, Ash! Great timing! Do something about this lot!”
“It’s big brother!”
“It really is! It’s Ash, our big brother!” Yes, that’s right. I’m the big brother. You really have learned a lot at the orphanage.
“Everyone, it is not very polite to bother people while they are working. That young man is a very important person.” The children should understand what I mean, right? As I chuckled to myself, the children stood up straight and all spoke together.
“I’m sorry!”
“Sorry!”
Well done, children. Good kids get candy. I handed them a small can of hard-boiled honey sweets, and the children all ran off like they had received a piece of treasure.
“Ah, such energetic, nice kids.”
“Really? ‘Nice’?” Hermes responded doubtfully.
“Are they not? They are quick to say what they feel, and they cheer up just as quickly. They bring me hope for the future.”
“We have very different ideas of what a ‘nice kid’ is.”
“So what would you consider a ‘nice kid,’ then?”
“Hm? Well, now you mention it...someone who is good at listening, knows right from wrong, and can speak without hesitation,” Hermes answered.
“I feel like that fits all those children, though.” They had listened when I spoke, had realized that what they were doing was wrong, and had apologized. A fantastic tactical operation. Once the orphans from the second Fenix orphanage had grown up, they could become excellent personnel. If I had more time, I would enroll them in some serious studies.
“I guess, but not really...” Hermes let out a sigh.
“You seem quite tired. Take this sweet, it will give you some energy.” I took out another honey candy and threw it overarm into Hermes’s mouth.
“Mmguh!”
Bull’s-eye.
“Hey, that’s dangerous!”
“It is fine. I threw it based on how your mouth was moving.” Plus, my body has surpassed what normal people can do. I get to enjoy my life as a superhuman.
“That’s not the issue...but this is delicious,” Hermes responded.
“Right? It is from Noscula.”
“Ah, that’s your hometown, right? They seem to be doing a lot there lately.”
It was thanks to Lady Tanya’s work with honey. It could last longer, it was more satisfying, and it was also high in nutrition. She had sent candy (and meat) for us to then send on to places with a lot of refugees. While not a large amount, it should be enough to lessen their everyday hardships somewhat. Hermes rolled the candy around his mouth while he got to work.
Eventually, he wiped the sweat from his brow.
“And done. I’ve finished repairing it,” said Hermes.
“A fine job as always.” Hermes had been repairing a steam-powered machine that could use attachments like plows—basically, it was a tractor.
“It’s nothing. Just wear and tear from being used a lot. All I did was change the parts.”
“A beginner wouldn’t even be able to find the problem with it.”
“It’s just something I’m good at,” Hermes said, nodding as if he was not entirely satisfied with his work. Of course, no matter how skilled he was, he was not able to fix just about anything without the correct equipment. This feat was only possible thanks to a second Territory Reform Promotion Office research laboratory that had been built onto the fort. It cost a lot of money, but we argued that if there were more research labs, there would be more chances for us to teach people about our new inventions. After that, everyone from the Frontier Alliance was happy to invest in our cause. They were all so generous. I was very grateful.
“Are we sending this to Yanga? Alicia’s place?” Hermes asked. Hermes still spoke about the former princess, now viscountess, pretty casually. According to Alicia herself, since he spoke like that back when she was Arthur, it would be strange to change it now.
“Yeah. Thanks, Hermes,” I responded. She had said that being referred to without her titles reminded her of her time at the military academy. I was happy to hear that no matter where we stood politically, we were all still close friends. “But this is going to really help us. The steam-powered machines we have now are more powerful than horses. We’ll be able to make a lot of progress on the destroyed fields in Yanga this spring. I’m excited about the harvest.”
“Machinery is my department, but as for the fields and such, that’s more Suiren’s thing. She was pretty fired up, saying that the entirety of Yanga and Sacula would have full stomachs this autumn,” Hermes replied.
“I also plan to make that happen. I came here today to talk about that,” Alicia chimed in with a calm yet determined expression. It looked like she expected her plan to be a success, but that expression soon turned grave as she continued to speak.
“But...I’m sorry, Hermes. The research laboratory’s work has all been focused on dealing with the refugees, right?” She lowered her head as she spoke. She was thinking about her friend’s dreams. This was typical of Alicia; she always held herself responsible. The eccentric dream chaser Hermes seemed disappointed in response.
“Hey now, it’s nothing you need apologize over. It makes me feel weird,” Hermes spoke with a frown. He really did seem weirded out by it.
“But Hermes—”
“Hey, Alicia.” The eccentric dream chaser stopped his friend from apologizing. “What would you think if I had apologized to you for giving me a hand with my airplane research?”
“Well, I...” Alicia’s face went from apologetic to somewhat annoyed. She resembled Hermes just moments before. “That...would really suck.”
“Right? I felt the exact same just now.” The two of them nodded at one another, both still wearing dissatisfied looks.
“It feels like receiving money for something you can’t remember doing,” Alicia remarked.
“It gives you chills like it’s all a trap,” Hermes responded.
“I’m sorry for saying something weird.”
“It’s all right, as long as you get it.” The two of them trusted each other a lot, so it would make sense that they would feel like they were being pranked when the other suddenly started acting all serious. It was something that could only happen between two people who are incredibly close.