My Hermes System (Web Novel)

"Do you think you can win the next annual competition!?"

"I think there's been a very grave misunderstanding here. I only let her win since she's a girl, there's no next time for her."

A man wearing a fancy coat drizzled with some sort of fur was currently being surrounded by multiple cameras; his sunglasses almost endlessly reflecting the flashes of light that flickered in the air as the shutters of the people's cameras moved without pause.

"There have been rumors that there's a huge threat coming and that the Ancient-class magicians are aware of it, what do you think is going on for the government to take this kind of action?"

"Pft, threat?" The man just laughed as he removed his sunglasses, "That's probably just fake news and propaganda to get the taxpayers' money-- like the Zoon landing."

"Last question, Mr. Mcgregory! Do you have any plans on running for the senate since-- Who… who's that!?"

"Ha?" With everyone suddenly turning their eyes away from him, Mcgregory slowly turned around to see where they were all looking, only to see a small boy with silver hair standing behind him.

"What the… Where did this cosplaying brat come from?" Mcgregory then breathed out as he looked at the boy from head to toe, "Whose child is this!? You know civilians are not allowed to be within 2 meters near me!"

But even with the numerous flashes of light and Mcgregory's loud voice, the boy in question seemed oblivious as his eyes wandered everywhere, before finally setting on Mcgregory.

"Are you the Ancient-class Magician?" And with a small breath, Van shook his head as he realized that the one in front of him truly was the one he was trying to find.

"Autographs are for later, kid," Mcgregory then snickered before signaling to the guards to take Van away.

"Your world needs you, Mcgregory. What are you doing here instead of answering your call?" Van completely ignored the approaching guards however as he took a step towards Mcgregory.

And as soon as Mcgregory heard Van's words, he quickly gestured for the guards to stand down,

"This… is about the call I received from the government earlier?" Mcgregory slightly raised his voice for the media people to hear; it was good timing, he thought. They were just talking about it earlier and now someone was here to fetch him. The only weird thing about this…

...is why did they send a weird boy?

"See what I mean about the government clowning around?" Mcgregory then let out a small chuckle as he once again faced the cameras, "They're sending a boy playing soldier to have their message delivered. What is this if not a publicity stunt?"

The cameras then started to point towards Van as soon as they heard Mcgregory's words; leaving Van slightly more irritated than he already was.

Van then once again looked around, letting out a small sigh before once again shaking his head,

"Your people need you somewhere else, you little shit," Van then said.

"Hoho," Mcgregory chuckled as he heard Van's words; the cameras once again blazing up uncontrollably as they were scared to miss even a moment of the scenery that was happening in front of them.

"And what if I don't want to go?" Mcgregory then smirked.

"I have no time for this, I will have to drag you by force," Van muttered without any hesitation before checking the tablet that was provided to him by Pauline Serre. Hopefully, the last one wouldn't be this much of a hassle.

"That…" Mcgregory could not help but squint his eyes as he looked at the tablet Van was holding, "Isn't that… Could it be…

...You're an Ancient-class Magician?"

"!!!"

Mcgregory's words were in the form of whispers, and yet it did not fail to reach the trained ears of the media as they all let out gasps of shock. Mcgregory, on the other hand, could not help but furrow his eyebrows.

Was this little guy here to steal the limelight from him?

"You… are aware that we can't be 1,000 kilometers within each other, right?" Mcgregory breathed out, "Surely you're here to cause--"

"I don't care about any of that," Van let out a small sigh as he took another step towards Mcgregory, and as soon as he did so, the guards that were waiting on the sides finally moved closer with their arms drawn.

Mcgregory quickly raised his hand to stop them, however, as he gave out a small smirk, "It's fine, everyone. Do any of you really think that this… rookie Ancient-class magician that came out of nowhere could hurt me?"

"..." The media people all looked at each other in confusion; could this silver-haired boy in front of them really be the 4th Ancient-class Magician? If so, then this simple interview just turned into an even bigger scoop-- how lucky, they all thought.

"Listen here, kid," Mcgregory then let out a small sigh as he stood in front of Van and looked him directly in the eyes, "You're lucky I'm the first one you met because I am lenient with my lessons."

"..."

"And lesson No. 1 is this!" And without even any more warning, Mcgregory suddenly rolled his fist and punched Van straight in the face; causing a small thud to resound in the air that shocked the reporters to the point they forgot to focus their cameras.

They then slowly looked towards the fist's target, expecting a bloody mess. But contrary to their expectations, the boy did not even budge from where he stood, and instead just looked at Mcgregory with a slightly annoyed expression.

"W… well," Mcgregory then slightly stuttered as he retracted his fist from Van's face; but after a few seconds, his arms started to light up as several pentagrams appeared around it, "That was just a warm-up, why don't you taste what a very light punch from a veteran Ancient-class Magician is like!?"

And with that, Mcgregory once again let loose his fist towards Van, "If you can't even take a light punch like this, then you do not deserve your title!"

"..." Van watched as Mcgregory's fist slowly made its way towards his face. And after a quick decision, Van decided to put Mcgregory to sleep as he countered his punch with a hit to the stomach.

And without even having the chance to utter a word, the reporters watch as McGregory suddenly dropped to the ground. Van then casually lifted him up, placing him over his shoulders as his wings suddenly protruded from his body.

"!!!"

"W… what kind of magic is this!?"

The reporters started clamoring, but Van did not really want to stay anymore as he quickly flew away before they could start crowding over him. All these people were so busy with their lives… not knowing that their death was only a few inches away from them.

"This is him, right?"

And after a few minutes, Van returned to the meeting hall he created. He was careful not to move too fast, as he doesn't know whether or not it would have a negative effect on Mcgregory; but seeing as he was still in one piece, he should be alright; Van thought as he dropped him on the ground.

The people were quite confused as to where Van just suddenly popped up from, as they didn't even notice him coming inside. Their eyes, however, widened even further as they saw who it was that Van just dropped.

"This… Isn't this Mcgregory?" Pauline Serre stuttered, "You… really did fetch-- Wait… he… he's not breathing!"

"He's dead!"

"..." Van then blinked his eyes a couple of times as he looked at Mcgregor… who was indeed not breathing, "...Oh."

"Revive him, quick!"

Van then moved away as several people started sticking all sorts of tubes and wires on Mcgregory's body; seemingly shocking him awake as several pentagrams appeared all around him.

"Hm," Van could only hum as everyone scrambled to revive Mcgregory; with some of the people giving him side glances as if he was some sort of… monster. To these people, he could be considered just that, wouldn't he?

But finally, after a few more seconds, Mcgregory's loud gasps whispered through the air.

"Wha… what just happened!?" He then sat up in shock.

"...You fainted," Van was the first to answer Mcgregor's question as he shook his head, "You're fine," he then said as he patted the confused Mcgregory on the shoulders.

"Pauline."

"Yes, sir!?" Pauline could not help but slightly take in a deep breath as her name was suddenly called by Van.

"Brief him of the situation, I am going to fetch the remaining one."

"O… okay?"

"But… do you have any equipment to prevent you from… fainting when moving at extremely high speeds?" Van then said as his wings once again appeared. The champions of this world seem to have a very high offensive capability… but they were too fragile. They wouldn't survive even a single second out there.

"That's… we should have spells for that?"

"Good," Van then said before suddenly disappearing, leaving a very confused Mcgregory sitting on the ground. Van then continued to follow the red dot, until he reached an area filled with nothing but snow.

Someone… lives here? Van thought as he landed on the thick snow that almost covered his entire legs. He checked on the tablet to see if he was in the right location, and true enough, the last Ancient-class magician should be here.

"...Hello?" Van then loudly breathed out. But even after a few seconds, there were no signs that anyone else was even here.

"..." Van then looked at the watch provided to him by Vivati and the others. Athena said that they should arrive within the galaxy in less than a day, but knowing her, she would definitely go the other way around to avoid meeting with the two sun-sized ships of the Systellions.

"Hello--"

"You're not Pauline."

And before Van could once again call for the final Ancient-class Magician, a feminine silhouette appeared from afar, slowly approaching him.

"Your world needs you," Van then said the same thing he said to Mcgregory, "Please come with me, Pauline and Mcgregory are already waiting…"

But before Van could finish his words, his eyes widened in shock as soon as he saw the individual's face.

"You…

...Andrea?"