Hell Mode: Volume 11, page 1
Table of Contents
Cover
Color Illustrations
World Map
Chapter 1: Tales of the Prostia Empire
Chapter 2: The Shadow of Father Shinorom
Chapter 3: The Disappearance of Pelomas the Merchant
Chapter 4: The Visitor at the Songstress Contest
Chapter 5: The Demon Lord Army’s Assault
Chapter 6: A Raging Battle Above the Crystal Flower
Chapter 7: Pelomas the Merchant’s Battle
Chapter 8: The One Who Protects Prostia
Chapter 9: The Demon Lord’s Ardent Wish and the Daemon God’s Tail
Chapter 10: Tears of the Holy Fish Macris
Side Story 1: Olbaas, a Dish of Spleen, and Majestic
Side Story 2: Hell Mode Spin-Off—The Heroic Tale of Helmios (Part 5): Saving an Outskirts Village
Bonus Story
Afterword
About J-Novel Club
Copyright
Chapter 1: Tales of the Prostia Empire
Allen and his party were in the Prostia Empire, the land of merfolk, thanks to the help of the Crevelle Kingdom, a nation under Prostia’s rule. They were searching for Beku, who had incited a riot in Albahal, stolen the Symbol of the Beast King of the royal family, and gone on the run. Under the guise of Princess Carmine of Crevelle heading to meet the emperor, Allen had been granted the title of special ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, and had accompanied her to the ocean floor where the empire was located. The No-life Gamers had spent the past two weeks infiltrating the imperial capital of Patlanta, a city built upon a giant crystallized flower, but they had not found any trace of Beku. Moreover, Princess Carmine had not been given the opportunity to meet the Prostian emperor.
Hoping to learn the reason the audience had been delayed, Allen had snuck one of his Summons around the palace. In doing so, he had discovered that Prostia was experiencing a revolt of its own, and that the ringleader, General Ignomasu, had succeeded in his coup and claimed the throne. Allen and his party had then slipped into the palace, now under Ignomasu’s control, and carried out a secret mission to rescue the empress and her children, but this had not helped him with his search for Beku. He needed to extract more information from Ignomasu and his goons, and so the Summoner had cooked up a plan to use Princess Carmine’s audience with the emperor to sneak deeper into the palace.
Ignomasu, having seized full control of the Prostia Empire, had a new goal in mind: invading the land above water. To do so, he required military funds, and Allen was more than happy to use that opening to cozy up to the emperor. Once he had done so, he had been permitted to enter and leave the palace as he pleased.
Allen had then learned that the Songstress Contest was around the corner. The winner would receive a Holy Orb of Macris, a precious item that could strengthen his party. He had coincidentally bumped into Rosalina, a merfolk and singer, and struck a deal with her—he would help her win the contest.
At the same time, Allen had pretended to cut ties with Princess Carmine and her servants, who were actually Cecil, Sophie, and Shia in disguise, and the ladies had been banished to the annex, where they would snoop around. They had met Princess Rapsonil of Prostia and discovered that the blood of Holy Fish Macris coursed through her veins. She closely resembled a typical mermaid, as she was a fish from the waist down. Ignomasu would not officially be recognized as emperor if he did not marry her and have children, thus the princess had been confined in the palace.
Cecil and the other ladies were staying in the annex to speak with Princess Rapsonil and extract intel, find clues as to Beku’s whereabouts, defeat Ignomasu, and save the princess. They had managed to sneak in a Bird G, which Allen could Share with to gauge the situation within. He gathered information from his Summon while enjoying a sweet treat in a café on the streets of Patlanta, trying to come up with a way to get Rosalina into the Songstress Contest.
“Ugh! Screw Allen! How dare he enjoy his time outside while we’re trapped here!” Cecil shouted angrily while squeezing the living daylights out of the Bird G, unable to suppress her rage.
“Y-You’ve, um, got the wrong idea, my lady,” the Bird G croaked in Allen’s voice as he saw the unfortunate state of his Summon. “I’m not having fun. This is necessary.”
“He’s right,” Sophie added, trying to quell Cecil. “We require Macris’s Tears for Pelomas’s sake.”
“Still! This makes me so angry!” Cecil insisted, seeing red. She squeezed the Bird G tighter and tighter, and Allen continued to cry out in pain and panic.
Princess Carmine and Princess Rapsonil watched in a daze—the latter rarely ever saw a bird, and while she was surprised to see this bird speak with Allen’s voice, she was also shocked to see that she was looking at a famous shop on the main street despite being imprisoned in her room. She had even heard the entire exchange between Allen and Rosalina, a merfolk with orange hair and eyes. It was a bizarre experience, and though Sophie had explained that it was because of Bird F’s Awakened Ability, Messenger, the royal could hardly wrap her mind around it.
The absurd and fantastical ability made the princess feel a touch taken aback. She had personally experienced such things before because of Allen and was beginning to honestly believe what Shia had said about how once they found hints leading to Beku’s whereabouts, they could defeat Ignomasu and release everyone from imprisonment in a flash.
“Come now, Cecil. Let him be,” Shia said before attempting to steer the conversation back on track. “Allen, if we have this purchase record you speak of, Rosalina can win the Songstress Contest, I take it?”
“Exactly,” Allen replied through the Bird G. “Princess Rapsonil, would you happen to know where these records are? I believe they’re somewhere in the palace.”
The princess, startled upon hearing her name, hastily replied, “Unfortunately, I don’t know where they’re kept. However, there are a few officials in charge of running the Songstress Contest. I believe they take care of such things.”
“I see... Then instead of scrambling around in search of the records, it might be better to negotiate with merchants who already have them.”
The purchase records were a key element of his scheme. When Allen had first met Rosalina, she had been busy visiting shops to purchase outfits and accessories in preparation for the contest. She had been asked to show her entry pass for the contest, but if she had shown hers, it would have quickly been discovered that she had come from Minehponta, a Prostian province that had been suddenly barred from participating. She had refused to show her pass, which had led to a bit of a scuffle with a shop employee.
Allen wanted to know why one could not buy accessories without that pass and had asked Princess Rapsonil about it. The royal had politely provided two reasons: First, it was a way to filter out and question those who did not have a pass or tried to fake one. If one were to win the Songstress Contest, they would not only receive a Holy Orb of Macris, a physical symbol of the Holy Fish’s favor, but also be completely absolved of any past crimes. This stemmed from a rule stating that anyone who received praise and honor from Macris for their beauty and singing could not possibly be a criminal.
That rule also encouraged cheating, however. Even if one illegally obtained accessories for the contest and forged an entry pass, as long as they won, they would leave with a clean slate, walking away scot-free. And so, Prostia had taken measures to crack down on these cases—entry passes were not only strictly limited, but one was also required to show theirs to even get their hands on any accessories needed for the contest. The magic shops cooperated with the campaign, which was why Rosalina had nearly been dragged into a separate room for interrogation. I see... Allen thought. If we can somehow find a loophole in these restrictions, or even manage to forge a convincing entry pass, as long as Rosalina wins, we haven’t committed a crime.
The second reason for requiring an entry pass at time of purchase was to keep track of which contestants bought what accessories. Holy Fish Macris, for some inexplicable reason, put heavy emphasis on appearances and outfits, and contestants thus wished to use the purchase records to discern what kinds of looks had won in previous contests. But it was not just the contestants who closely analyzed Macris’s tastes; shops did the same to increase their sales. For example, merchants could sell an accessory and claim that it was sure to help a lady win. Conversely, some would recommend wares that were not in fashion at the time, claiming that it would make a lady stand out since a certain trend had been in style for three years now and Macris was surely bored with it.
These tactics were used to sell items to various contestants. Hence, purchase records held value in and of themselves, leading to the rampant issue of them being forged. There were some bad actors among the merchants who sold falsified purchase records for exorbitant prices, claiming that they had obtained intel from a different store, and spread misinformation.
The merchants wishing to mitigate this issue had formed a group. They had suggested to the emperor at the time a method to guarantee the authenticity of the purchase records. Whenever something was purchased, the merchant selling it would require a valid entry pass, all of which were linked to the purchase records. That information would then be submitted to the palace, and the officials in charge of the Songstress Contest would use it to verify the authenticity of the pass. Merchants would be able to plan their sales and further increase their profit that way. In turn, the empire could collect a hefty sum in taxes, allowing the Songstress Contest,
The emperor had agreed with this idea, and so, contestants now had to show their entry pass to make purchases. If someone could prove that they were not a part of the contest, there was no limit to the accessories they could buy. However, if purchases were deemed suspect, many stores would choose to interrogate the buyer. At the very least, when the Songstress Contest drew near, many could not buy accessories without a pass. If you want to run a successful business, I guess big data’s important no matter the world or age.
Allen believed that one needed to wield a massive amount of information to win the contest and also climb up in the business world. That was why he so desperately wanted to get his hands on those purchase records. But the handling of these records had to be done carefully—at the very least, until Rosalina was able to officially enter the contest, he had to keep any risks to a minimum, lest someone track him down.
Plus, Master Habarak told me about crystal flower seeds, which are apparently useful for embedding. I’ve got a lot left to do. Allen assured Rosalina that he would be in contact with her soon enough, then left her in a daze as he rushed out of the store. He swiftly returned to the magic store Pelomas had purchased earrings from earlier. Pelomas the merchant had received Allen’s orders via a Summon and was busy negotiating with the owner of the store, Kasagoma, for the purchase records. To accurately analyze Holy Fish Macris’s tastes, Allen required as many purchase records as he could find. He needed to go many years back and compile all the data.
“Sure, we’re planning on paying as much as we need, but if you’re unwilling to provide the records, we’ll just take our business elsewhere,” Allen said.
Pelomas frowned as he struggled with negotiations, but Kasagoma, the shop owner, smiled beside the boy while rubbing his hands together.
“Oh, that works very well for us,” he said. “As for prices, well, rest assured that this will be a learning experience for me.”
Allen gave a satisfied nod. Meanwhile, Pelomas, who suddenly found himself in a far more difficult negotiating situation than before, looked as though he was about to burst into tears. But Allen paid his friend no heed and used Bird G to notify Cecil and the others.
“We can get the purchase records if we pay up, apparently,” he reported. “I’ll analyze the data and choose a few outfits, so I want you guys to make adjustments.”
“Adjustments?!” Cecil cried. “Allen, you make it sound so easy, but do you know just how difficult that is?”
Allen remained firm despite Cecil’s protests.
“I’ll select some outfits and accessories based on the data I get, but we need to find the right balance for our singer. I’m sure no one here believes that money is all it takes to make the best outfit.”
“Well, sure, but ultimately, that means you’re just throwing all the responsibility of choosing on us!”
“Cecil, you don’t have to be so harsh,” Shia said. “Do you think Allen will be able to choose the best outfit for a woman?”
“I...guess not.”
Cecil nodded with resignation, and Shia turned to Princess Rapsonil.
“Your Highness, do you perhaps know of any stories of Holy Fish Macris?” the Beast Princess asked. “Perhaps about the type of woman he liked when he was still a merfolk? Ah! Or what Deirdre, his beloved, looked like?”
“Before he became a Holy Fish? Well...” Rapsonil muttered as she pensively fell silent.
“Is something the matter? Did he perhaps like many wildly different women, making it difficult to ascertain his tastes? Or, um... Well, did his behavior leave much to be desired?”
“Oh, no, nothing like that. Lord Macris has always been a man of character, even before he became a Holy Fish. Stories of his noble qualities are known far and wide. However...”
“However, what?”
“Truth be told, um... You see, Lord Macris’s face is, uh...”
Cecil let out a gasp as she heard Princess Rapsonil awkwardly trail off.
“You mean, um, he’s...not very handsome...or something?” Cecil asked. “That can’t be true, right?”
She carefully recalled Tales of the Prostia Empire, the book she had read countless times in the past. If memory served, Macris’s appearance had not been touched on in its stories. Princess Rapsonil raised her head, determination flashing in her eyes as she confirmed Cecil’s doubts.
“That’s right... Before Lord Macris became a Holy Fish, rude people had called him ‘Pig Prince.’”
“A pig? Like the ones on land?” Cecil asked.
“Precisely... He’s said to have been so ugly that people likened him to a creature that can’t be found on the ocean floor. And the one who started those unsavory rumors was apparently none other than Lord Macris’s father, the emperor at the time.”
The people of the Prostia Empire were very particular when it came to beauty. Their views were apparent in their accessories, their primary exports. The accessories that circulated above water via the Crevelle Kingdom, which came from Prostia, were so beautiful that nobles and royals above water tried to buy them all. And because Prostia was so fixated on beauty, whenever they saw something ugly or unsightly, they often compared it to creatures that lived on land—ones that did not exist in the watery lands of Prostia. While the origin of using the word “pig” for insults was unknown, it was said that pigs were known to be absolutely hideous. Many people of Prostia had never seen one before, but Princess Rapsonil, who had ventured above the waters, was rather embarrassed that such an insult was widespread across her empire. She asked Cecil and the others to never speak a word of her story to anyone before going on to explain Macris’s birth and history.
Macris’s father, the emperor, had called his own son a pig, encouraging others to call him the Pig Prince behind his back. He had been so unsightly that his personal servant had been nauseated by the sight of him, and his situation had not improved as he had grown older—quite the opposite, in fact. Even when he had attended balls, banquets, or galas, not a single noblewoman had dared to approach and dance with him; many women had assumed that if they were ordered by the prince to dance, they would have had no choice but to comply and had thus refused to even make eye contact with him. When Macris had reached adulthood and graduated from the Academy, he was told that it was high time he got himself a wife, but the royal family’s efforts had proven fruitless. Many nobles had refused an engagement with the imperial prince.
“I had no idea...” Sophie murmured sorrowfully. She thought pigs were rather adorable creatures.
“All the women who were asked to marry the prince despaired at the idea,” Princess Rapsonil continued. “They fell ill at the thought, apparently. However, the harshness and cruelty of reality didn’t end there. Lord Macris’s father, the one who first noted his son’s ugliness and kept him at arm’s length, made an imperial decree. He ordered Lord Macris to keep his face covered at all times, never to be seen by others.”
“How awful... That’s just horrible,” Cecil remarked with rage burning in her eyes.
The princess gave a sad nod. “Even Lord Macris, a man so kind that he quietly endured any and all nasty insults about his appearance, couldn’t take the abuse. He fled the palace.”
Macris had then wandered about Patlanta, but he had been unable to find his place in society, primarily because he was embarrassed by his own appearance. He had been so openly rejected by his father, and he could not love himself either. After walking for many hours, his stomach had growled with hunger, and so he had visited a tavern that had caught his eye, making sure to keep his hood on as he drank and ate his fill. It was then that he had heard beautiful singing coming from nearby. He had gingerly raised his head, careful to keep his hood over his face, and used the glow of the crystal seeds to search for the owner of the voice.
“That must’ve been Deirdre,” Cecil concluded.
Cecil had read Tales of the Prostia Empire countless times, but there had always been one bit that bothered her. She had first read the tales in a picture book when she was a child and learned that Macris had met Deirdre in a tavern, but young Cecil had wondered why an imperial prince would have any business being in a tavern meant for commoners such as Deirdre. Surely, they had lived in two different worlds.
