Hell Mode: Volume 9, page 15
Hey, I can’t do anything about this. Allen could not make the situation better for Chester. He knew that nobles married one another purely out of rank and title in this world. However, as his values were unchanged from his previous life, he wanted everyone to freely choose who they loved. If Fiona was unwilling to reciprocate Pelomas’s feelings, there was nothing Allen could do.
“Father, have you forgotten what I’ve told you many times before?” Fiona asked sharply.
The more Chester tried to convince his daughter how impressive Pelomas was, the more steadfast she became.
“I’ve been going to dungeons, and I’ll become powerful enough that you’ll deem me worthy,” Pelomas said. His words no longer made sense, but he could not stay silent.
“And I’ve told you that’s not the point!” Fiona cried. “If you understand how I feel, you should at least refrain from seeing me until you become strong!”
“Fiona!” Cecil butt in. “You can’t expect a merchant to become strong! I know that you know that!”
“I—” Fiona shouted, louder than ever. Suddenly, she realized that she had attracted everyone’s attention, so she spoke in a quieter voice. “I know that...”
She was embarrassed about having lost her cool and calmed herself down.
“Besides, what does ‘a strong man’ even mean?” Cecil asked gently. “Strength comes in all different shapes and forms. Don’t tell me you’ll consider dating him if he manages to defeat a dragon by himself or something.”
“Huh? A dragon?” Fiona asked.
In truth, Pelomas was not Fiona’s type. Not one bit. She had just been trying to find a reason to reject him. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if Pelomas would give up on her if she made such a difficult request. Surely, no merchant could kill a dragon by himself.
Allen, oblivious to her thoughts, seemed to be enjoying this situation. Nice going, Cecil!
“Hey, Pelomas, you hear that?” he said. “Fiona might consider dating you if you manage to defeat a dragon by yourself. You think you can handle it?”
I’ll lend you the best gear and all that. Allen cast a knowing glance at Pelomas, hidden from Fiona’s view. The Summoner had farmed iron golems and obtained various weapons and armor. If he loaned out Krena’s Holy Orb of Rubanka and helped his friend farm the final floor boss of the Rank S dungeon as well, even Pelomas’s pitiful stats might increase. Perhaps even a merchant could defeat a dragon.
“A-A dragon by myself?” Pelomas said in astonishment. But he remained resolute. “If she’ll date me...”
“Huh?!” Fiona gasped. “Are you in your right mind?!”
“Well, it looks like Pelomas is up for the challenge,” Cecil said. “Are you, Fiona?”
“Very well,” Fiona said after a lengthy silence. “If he’s willing to go that far, I shall consider dating him after that accomplishment.”
Oh? Is that all it takes? It sounds to me like she doesn’t hate the idea too much. To Allen, it sounded as though Fiona did not hate Pelomas to an absurd extent. Or maybe she’s just worried that Pelomas might die because of her.
“Then it’s settled,” Cecil said. “Don’t worry, Pelomas. You’ve got us on your side. We won’t do anything when you fight the dragon. And when you kill it all by yourself, Fiona will consider dating you. Deal?”
With Allen by Pelomas’s side, Fiona believed the merchant would be safe. She would not be able to sleep well at night if someone were to die because of her.
“V-Very well,” Fiona said. “If he can truly defeat a dragon by himself...”
Guess we’re done here. Allen planned on gathering his party later to discuss which dragon to tackle, along with tips on how Pelomas could face the monster alone.
“Hey, Cecil,” Fiona said. “What’s that on your arm?” She had taken notice of the Holy Orb of Macris.
Allen had been wearing it during the ride to this manor; the item had increased his MP so that he could farm skill experience more easily. But the moment he had stepped out of the carriage, Cecil had demanded it back.
“Oh? You’ve got a keen eye,” Cecil said happily, sitting tall and proud. A huge smile stretched across her face. “I got this from Allen!”
“What?!” Chester cried. “Th-This is the fabled Holy Orb of Macris! You could buy a nation with one of these!”
Even one of the wealthiest men in Granvelle had never seen the precious item for himself.
“That’s right,” Cecil replied. “Do you know of the Crevelle Kingdom? It was in trouble, and Allen received this item from the princess as a token of gratitude for our service. Oh dear, and then he told me that I was most suitable for this bracelet...” She could not hide her smile as she gathered the attention of Fiona and Chester.
Wait, if you bring that up now... Fiona gazed intently at the Holy Orb of Macris, an item so precious that it would easily cost over several million gold coins. She had just learned that Cecil had received it for free. The Granvelle noble lady’s expression made it clear that she was not lying, and a new thought popped into Fiona’s head.
“I-I want a Tear of the Holy Fish Macris too!” she exclaimed as she stood up and clenched her fists. The deal about the dragon had flown right out the window.
In Tales of the Prostia Empire, the Holy Orb of Macris was introduced as the Tear of the Holy Fish Macris. Every woman knew of this. Yeah, called it.
“Wait, what?! That wasn’t the deal!” Cecil cried in disbelief.
“It is now,” Fiona responded in a huff. “I want something better than what you have!”
The two ladies began bickering, a scene Allen was all too familiar with. He had seen it many times when he was a manservant, and he was also aware that Fiona usually came out on top during these arguments. Oftentimes, she would bring snacks that were difficult to procure even within the royal capital to the Granvelle manor while dressed in clothes far more lavish than anything Cecil could possibly afford.
Fiona had clearly done it to show off her wealth, and while it was understandable that Cecil had taken her chance to brag, doing so had only incited Fiona’s sense of rivalry. Now, the wealthy lady wanted an item that was incredibly precious. Allen however, could not have cared less.
“What now, Pelomas? Wanna give up?” Allen asked.
The Pelomas Whaling Company had a gross revenue of 1.8 million gold coins, but its net profit was obviously much less. If Pelomas wanted to purchase a Holy Orb of Macris with nothing but the profits from his company, it would take several decades.
“No, I won’t give up,” Pelomas said as he solemnly exhaled through his nose. “For you, Fiona, I will get my hands on a Holy Orb of Macris.”
Fiona shifted her gaze to Pelomas, but the boy did not look away. After she inquisitively peered at him for a good while, she took a deep breath and smiled.
“Very well,” she relented. “If you’re willing to go that far, Pelomas, I ask that you present me with a Tear of the Holy Fish Macris. If you do so, I shall consider becoming your bride.”
Pelomas leaped out of his seat. “R-Really?!”
“Really.”
“It’s a promise! I promise to bring you one!”
“I shall look forward to it. However...”
“Yes?”
“As I mentioned earlier, I’d like one better than what Cecil has.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
To Pelomas, a Holy Orb was a Holy Orb. He was not sure if some were better than others. Neither Allen nor Cecil understood Fiona’s words either.
“I’d like one touched by no one else but you,” Fiona said.
Wait, what? So we can’t buy it? Fiona had tacked an odd condition onto her request. Now, it sounded as though Pelomas would need to receive the item directly from Holy Fish Macris himself.
“That’s just a fairy tale! You can’t really expect to find him!” Cecil said.
Allen had never read this tale, but apparently, there was a scene where Holy Fish Macris had personally provided someone with a Tear.
“But it’s the one point that I cannot concede,” Fiona insisted. “What will you do, Pelomas? Will you give up on me?”
“Got it,” Pelomas replied. “You want me to receive the item directly from Holy Fish Macris, right?”
“Precisely. You can do it, can’t you?”
“I can. Because I love you, Fiona. I’ll get one soon, so please wait for me.”
Pelomas refused to surrender. His feelings had not changed since the day he first laid eyes on her.
“Then I suppose we should call it a day,” Fiona said. “You certainly have no time to dawdle.”
She stood up and left the drawing room without once turning back. After a bit more small talk, Allen, Cecil, and Pelomas left Chester’s inn, using Bird A’s Awakened Ability to teleport back to their base near the Rank S dungeon. No one was there. Krena and Dogora were busy farming iron golems, and Shia and Luke were trying to clear Rank A dungeons.
“Just so you know, th-this wasn’t my fault!” Cecil said immediately after they teleported. She crossed her arms in front of her chest to take a defensive stance, expecting to be blamed for this outcome.
“No one said it was,” Allen replied. Though I’m certainly thinking it.
“No, this is fine,” Pelomas added. “I’m not sure if she really meant what she said, but if Fiona now claims that she’ll consider marrying me, I think her view of me must have changed a little bit. And it’s all thanks to you, Cecil, so thank you.”
“Yeah? Well, okay then,” Cecil replied, surprised by his response.
“But a Holy Orb of Macris that only Pelomas has touched? What does that even mean?” Allen asked.
“Oh, those kinds of stories are common.”
Cecil proceeded to explain that people had differing opinions about Tales of the Prostia Empire. There were actually several continuations to the tale that had been written afterward. Most of them hinged on the fact that the legends from the book were indeed true and told of a character who visited Holy Fish Macris in order to prove their love to their partner. The character somehow managed to receive a Tear from Macris himself and returned to their beloved. Ah, so it’s like a sequel. I guess this world doesn’t have copyright laws.
“Wait, so to clear this quest, we can’t purchase the item?” Allen wondered. “We have to get it from a drop?”
He recalled fetch quests from his previous life that had allowed him to purchase the requisite items at stores or through trading with other users. While the latter generally involved those who had gotten the items while clearing other quests or defeating enemies, some drops were untradeable. Only the user could handle them.
“Uh, yeah, something like that,” Cecil replied, just barely managing to understand what Allen had said.
“Has there been anyone in the past who actually got one directly from the source?” Allen asked.
“I’ve never heard of it.”
There was no precedent, but Pelomas was all fired up and raring to go. I feel like Pelomas is kinda playing a different game than us here, but okay. Allen had felt the same way about Meruru in the past.
“All right, first things first, let’s ask Shia to act as our middleman and get visas for Prostia from the Crevelle Kingdom,” Allen said.
“Wait, can you do that?” Pelomas asked.
“Depends on negotiations, probably.”
In any case, Allen wanted to collect more Holy Orbs so that he could buff his entire party with them. He had to get in contact with the Prostia Empire sooner or later, and the opportunity to do so had just presented itself on a silver platter.
Chapter 7: The Completion of Hardcore User Island
The No-life Gamers assembled in the eastern region of Hardcore User Island. Today, they would accept the last of the refugees into the fourth town, Crey, and hold a brief ceremony to welcome them. It would take some time to set up, and the No-life Gamers had decided to take a small rest before the festivities.
“Shia, how are things going after your class promotion?” Allen asked. The Beast Princess had been acting separately for a while.
“No issues at all,” Shia replied. “I’m focusing on clearing the dungeons, but it’s going well.”
Following the conference with the Five Continent Alliance, Shia had been working hard to level up her skills. Luke was with her, and the two of them had already met the requirements to enter the Rank S dungeon. She was now helping the dark elf boy level his skills too.
Looks like she’s put a lot of things behind her, like what happened with the Beast King, Allen thought based on how casually she had answered his question.
The Beast Princess was tearing through dungeons, due in no small part to the assistance she was receiving from Allen’s Summons. Pelomas, the elves, and even Thomas and Princess Leilana got the same help as they tackled dungeons at the Academy. Allen had told Shia, Luke, and Pelomas to focus on increasing their skill levels instead of their levels. A single iron golem would allow them to max out their levels, after all.
“Have talks of you becoming the Beast King gotten anywhere?” Allen inquired.
“Hmm? You mean about me succeeding the throne?” Shia replied. “I haven’t the faintest clue. I can only trust that Rudo is doing his best with the nobles.”
“Huh? But you overcame your trial, and you showed your resolve to the Beast King.”
The Beast Princess finally understood Allen’s thoughts. If she became Beast King, he believed that it would make his party even stronger. There was no better route for him to take. That was the type of person he was.
As a Summoner, Allen was able to wield all sorts of unusual powers, giving him more choices than other classes when creating plans for battles. However, he was still far from perfect and omnipotent. He felt that he was stronger while in a party as opposed to when he was traveling solo and relying solely on his Summons. For that reason, he had created four towns on an island that would house fifteen thousand people in an effort to strengthen Dogora. He wanted to make Shia the Beast King to further bolster his party.
Shia was not able to figure out all of Allen’s intentions, but she could sort of understand why he was willing to poke his nose into the affairs of Albahal’s throne. If that was the case, she would use him where it benefited her and draw a line that he could not cross.
“I feel like I’m starting to understand you, Allen,” Shia said. “This matter is between members of the Albahal royal family—between myself and His Majesty. You should not get involved. However, I will tell you that my father and the other ministers are discussing these matters as we speak.”
Allen had dispatched his Bird-type Summons to gather information that he was interested in. He had no need to ask Shia about Albahal’s current state, as he was already well aware of the situation.
Following the Five Continent Alliance conference, Beast King Muza had personally proclaimed to his ministers that they would start discussing his successor. Beast Prince Zeu had already cleared the Rank S dungeon, meaning he had completed the trial he had been given in order to gain claim to the throne. Then, while the Daemonism debacle in Elmahl had been going on, he had fought two consecutive battles in Rohzenheim and the Central Continent alongside the Ten Heroic Beasts, fending off the Demon Lord Army.
Next, there was Shia, who had earned her claim to the throne through a trial of her own: capturing Gushara, the Pontiff of Daemonism. When the followers of Daemonism had proceeded to run wild, she had received assistance from the No-life Gamers and ultimately defeated Gushara.
Lastly was Crown Beast Prince Beku. He, too, was a potential successor, having had his claim since before his two siblings had been given their trials.
The new Beast King had to be chosen from among those three candidates, and discussions on the topic had only just started. The three candidates’ past deeds, their characters, and their battles against the Demon Lord Army were all being taken into consideration. The Five Continent Alliance was still in a state of confusion, and with the future of the world at stake, Albahal had its own future to think about. Since the two overcame their trials, I wonder if Temi’s prediction has changed.
Temi was a member of the Ten Heroic Beasts, the strongest organization of warriors in Albahal. She was also a Beast Astrologist in direct service to the country’s king and had once divined that Beast Prince Zeu would become the Beast King. She had then ordered that Shia receive a trial on the continent where the Union was located. Allen wondered whose name would appear if Temi were to divine the future Beast King again.
“Listen, if we need to bribe nobles or ministers, I won’t spare any expense,” Allen said. A throne can be stolen away if it’s purchased. Politics revolve around money.
Shia had two older brothers who were quite a bit older than her, and one was the crown prince. Allen assumed that there were not many ministers willing to support the Beast Princess in this situation. If money was needed to manipulate them as desired, he would not be stingy.
“Don’t underestimate the power of the Pelomas Whaling Company,” he added.
“Y-Yeah,” Pelomas nodded in agreement. Secretly, though, the merchant was worried that the company he had worked so hard to grow for Fiona’s sake would end up being used to suit Allen’s needs.
“I see. I’ll think about it,” Shia replied a bit wearily to Allen’s insolent attitude. Simultaneously, she was frustrated by how naive she was. Before she had met Allen, she had been set on becoming the Beast King and reaching greater heights—she had wanted to create the first empire by beastkin and for beastkin, and had been willing to use any method at her disposal. Unfortunately, she had not considered bribing ministers, and when Allen had casually mentioned the idea, she had realized how sheltered she still was.
Allen was contacting Shia via a magic tool set up in the Adventurer’s Guild of the Rank S dungeon. Perhaps it was audacious of him to use the Guild for personal purposes and do as he pleased, but he felt justified in doing so, as this was for the good of the Allen Army. Shia felt like she had a thing or two to learn from this sort of attitude and gave a bitter smile.
