Hell Mode: Volume 5, page 32
“Au, au!”
“This isn’t food, Salamander. It is pretty, though.”
This time, Sophie was at a stall where handmade accessories such as necklaces were laid out on a large cloth on the ground. The dwarven granny who was likely the owner moved from the back where she was sitting with her back against a wall to a seat in front of the goods, shooting glances at Sophie from the corner of her eye.
Without thinking, Sophie knelt down to get a closer look at the accessories. She and Salamander stared with sparkles in their eyes.
“Young miss, whatcha think? I’ll make it cheap for you,” the granny said in a friendly voice, determining from Sophie’s appearance and manner of speech that she likely had a lot of money.
“Oh, I’m very sorry. I actually don’t have any money on me today,” Sophie apologized and regretfully left the stall behind. She had not brought her wallet as she thought she was only going for a walk.
“She seemed interested in this one,” Éar said with satisfaction.
Korpokkur nodded. “Mhm. Let’s get this.”
“Kee, kee!” Kelpie agreed.
Unfortunately, Korpokkur then realized something. “We don’t have money, though. What should we do?”
“Keeee...” Kelpie squealed with disappointment.
In the human world, money was needed to get things. Stealing was out of the question, as the spirits knew that it would make Sophie sad.
“Heh heh heh,” Éar chuckled. “Just in case something like this would happen... Ta-da!”
Korpokkur exclaimed, “It’s money!” as Kelpie squealed excitedly.
Sure enough, there was a gold coin on Éar’s open palm. Korpokkur’s emotions rarely showed on his face, but his surprise was clear to see in his reaction.
Apparently Éar had snatched a gold coin that had been lying unattended on the table in Allen’s room. The juvenile air spirit truly lived up to his reputation as a prankster.
“Share your MP with me so I can buy this thing.”
“Okay.”
“Kee.”
Korpokkur and Kelpie poured their MP into Éar, who abruptly materialized in a dark corner of the marketplace. He hurried to the stall where Sophie had stopped and looked intently at the products on sale.
When the granny noticed him, she said kindly, “Hello there, sweetie. What’re you doing here?” She did not expect him to buy anything, as he only looked around three years old.
“I came to buy something.” Éar did not have much time, so he kept his answer brief and promptly held out his gold coin.
“So much money!” The granny’s eyes widened.
The accessories here did not give stat buffs and were mere glass products. They were far from being worth a gold coin.
“Which was the elf just now looking at?”
“Oh, did the young miss just now send you? Um, this was the one she seemed to take a shine to.”
Sophie had been looking at a necklace with a large glass bead. She clearly looked like someone with prestige and money, so it did make sense that she sent a servant to buy what had caught her eye. The dwarf thought it strange how fast the servant came, but she did not dwell on it.
“Then this one, please. Here, money.”
“Th-Thank you. Convey my thanks to your young miss, will you?”
Accepting the necklace and change, Éar curtly said, “Okay” and left as fast as he could. Soon after, his MP ran out. Once again invisible, he regrouped with the other two juvenile spirits.
“You got it,” Korpokkur noted with appreciation as Kelpie squealed happily.
Éar grinned. “Heh heh. Okay, let’s put this in Sophie’s room secretly. It’ll be a surprise!”
When Sophie returned to the base, Salamander had settled down, so she resumed helping Allen make recovery items. After eating dinner, she returned to her room, where she found something glittering on her table.
“My! Isn’t this...” Sophie recognized the necklace.
The juvenile spirits giggled as they watched her tilt her head quizzically.
Noble Education
Pelomas answered a summons to the Ratashian royal palace and found himself led to a room where Viscount Granvelle was standing a few steps back as his son, Thomas, was in the middle of examining a lineup of instruments with a frown on his face.
The viscount sighed. “We’ve been here for quite some time already, Thomas. Pelomas is busy. Don’t waste more of his time than necessary.”
“Y-Yes, father.” Thomas adopted an even more serious face as he continued trying to choose an instrument.
“Oh, it’s fine!” Pelomas waved his hands in a fluster. “I have plenty of time. Please take as long as you need.”
Pelomas did actually have several appointments scheduled after this, but Viscount Granvelle was the lord of his hometown’s realm and also was the backer for Pelomas Whaling Company. He was willing to make some exceptions for the viscount, but there was a limit to what he could do.
After Rohzenheim and Ratash officially forged diplomatic ties and signed a trade agreement, the only trading firm given the authority to facilitate that trade, Pelomas Whaling Company, started expanding in scale at a dizzying pace. Weapons, armor, and other goods sourced from Rohzenheim were not only flowing into Ratash, but also going through Ratash to Giamut and Baukis.
Naturally, the trading company’s name exploded in recognition as a result, and nobles hoping to do business with the company sharply rose in number. It could even be said that all the nobles of the country had flocked to the royal capital in order to approach Pelomas, who was still attending commerce school.
What they wanted most were elven musical instruments, which had been introduced to Ratash along with weapons, home furnishings, and other goods when trade with Rohzenheim began. These instruments bore some similarities to Ratashian ones in their shape and the way they were played, but their sound was very distinct. Lately, all the nobles had become swept up in a race to learn them and considered mastery a newly added part of general noble education. It was not uncommon at all to see them pitting their skills against each other’s in competitive performances.
Furthermore, the fact that Rohzenheim and Ratash now had diplomatic ties meant there would be more and more occasions for nobles from both countries to meet. The Ratashian nobles thought that, when balls were hosted, those who could play Rohzenheim instruments well would catch the attention of the royal palace. Consequently, they were all scrambling to get instruments for themselves or for their children.
“How is this one?” Thomas picked up a flute that looked like an ocarina.
“That is a good instrument,” Pelomas replied. “It should not be very difficult to learn.”
“I see.”
As it turned out, this was going to be Thomas’s very first time learning an instrument. This was why Pelomas had recommended one that should be easy to learn, and the viscount agreed with this call.
Thomas was currently working as an official in the royal palace, but he would eventually succeed Viscount Granvelle as the next head of the Granvelle family. In a way, it was his duty as a noble to pick up skills that would gain him attention within the palace that he could leverage to get a hand up.
Pelomas spoke up. “If that one strikes your fancy, Lord Thomas, you can have it free of charge. It also comes with a beautiful wooden box that I can—”
“Hm?” Thomas frowned and cut him off. “I appreciate the offer, but you are a merchant officially granted the right to trade with Rohzenheim. A transaction is a transaction. I will pay the full amount.”
The young noble knew better than to fall on justifications such as “you’re a merchant from my realm” and “it’s just an instrument.” Such arrogance would only mar his reputation at the palace. He instructed his family butler, Sebas, who was standing nearby, to deliver the money to Pelomas’s home another day.
“Thank you, my lord,” Pelomas bowed. “It seems we are done here, so I shall now take my leave.” He swiftly began packing up the other instruments, leaving only the ocarina and its wooden box, and informed Sebas of the price.
Thomas nodded. “Very well. Sorry for taking up so much time in your busy sched—”
BANG!
Suddenly, the door slammed open with almost enough force to tear it from its hinges. A girl with blonde hair curled on both sides of her head rushed in, carrying glaives propped on her shoulders.
“P-Princess Leilana!” Thomas exclaimed.
This girl in her early teens was none other than Leilana, princess of Ratash. At her back was Captain Reinbach of the Royal Guard, who was both her bodyguard and fighting instructor.
Leilana and Thomas had met in Nobles College. After dancing together at a ball, Leilana took a liking to Thomas and started chasing him around the place. It was not long ago that she personally named him her tutor. Then this year, her elder brother, then-Crown Prince Invel, assumed the throne. This gave her much more authority than before. She had always been someone who, when encountering a situation that did not go the way she wanted, would forcefully make them get as close as possible, but now, there was no longer anyone who could refuse her.
Given that Thomas was in line to be the next head of House Granvelle, faint rumors were beginning to circulate within the palace that Viscount Granvelle was purposely trying to get his son closer to Princess Leilana in order to increase his own influence. Of course, the princess had no idea this was happening.
Having successfully found whom she was looking for, Princess Leilana smiled brightly. “Ah, there you are! Thomas, you’re coming to practice too. Reinbach is with us today, so it’ll be a good session! Wait, what’s all this?”
She approached the table that Thomas was standing at and picked up one of the remaining ocarinas. This was an instrument foreign to Ratash, so she knew nothing about it except that it was a flute. She peered curiously into the hole that was meant to be blown into.
“Wait a— Princess, please don’t do th— Oof!”
Thomas tried to take back the instrument out of fear that Leilana’s rough handling would break it, but all he got was the princess’s fist in his gut.
On behalf of his groaning son, Viscount Granvelle explained, “Your Highness, these are highly valuable instruments from Rohzenheim.”
“From Rohzenheim, you say.” Leilana lifted the instrument to her mouth and tried blowing into it a few times, but she could not produce a good sound.
Fwooo. Fwooo.
The princess pursed her lips. “I can’t do it. Thomas, you show me how to do it.” She thrust the ocarina forward.
“Huh?” Thomas gave her a blank look.
The princess glared at him in return. “What? You’re too big now to do what I tell you to?”
“Oh, never, Your Highness. P-Please allow me to play it.” Thomas accepted the instrument and, with a red face, brought his lips to the same opening that Leilana’s had touched mere moments ago and tried blowing into it a few times.
Fwooo. Fwooo.
“You’re just as bad at it as I am!” Leilana exclaimed.
“I’m sorry...”
“Never mind. We have practice now. You’re coming with me. Oh? I seem to remember a thin, lanky boy also in the room...”
With a straight face, Viscount Granvelle said, “If you are referring to the merchant, he has already left for his next appointment.”
“Pity. I was going to give him some training too.”
Leilana stomped out of the room with heavy steps, dragging Thomas along by the back of his collar and followed by Captain Reinbach. Pelomas, who had been spared thanks to Viscount Granvelle’s quick thinking, watched them go from a turn in the passageway.
“So that was Princess Leilana...”
Pelomas felt like he just got a reminder on how extraordinary the royal palace was.
Memories of Kenpy and Cecil’s Brilliant Deduction
Today, the No-life Gamers were taking a rest from the Rank S dungeon. They had the whole day off, so they were each going to spend it in their own way.
When breakfast was over, Meruru announced, “I’m going to head downtown with Rosetta’s group.”
Allen nodded. “Sure thing. Don’t go to any shady stores, okay?”
The downtown area in the Tower of Tribulations had a large number of adult stores.
“Okay,” Meruru replied while tilting her head quizzically, not really understanding what Allen was referring to.
“Come on, Allen,” Rosetta drawled. “You know I won’t take her to that kind of place. That said, you really should join us every once in a while.”
“I’m good, thanks. I have things to do at home.”
“You always stay behind with only Cecil and Sophie. Is it just me or does that sound kinda suspicious?”
Cecil glared in response to Rosetta’s smirk. Without saying anything more, Rosetta headed out with Meruru and a few members of Sacred.
“And I’m off to the church.” On all his days off, Keel went to the church to offer his services as a healer and raise his skill levels.
Krena and Dogora confirmed they were going to get training from Dverg in the garden of the house.
Helmios gathered the rest of his companions to go to the Adventurer’s Guild. He was actually a very busy man, sometimes having to answer summons from the Elmea Church, meet Baukisian ministers, and so on. When inside the Rank S dungeon, he still had to use a magic tool and make calls outside every once in a while. This man was truly a Hero of the world.
“Now then...” Allen stood up in the now empty dining room and headed up to his room on the second floor, followed by Cecil, Sophie, and Volmaar.
Allen’s room was the biggest on this floor. He had lifted a few floorboards and brought in some dirt to make a small farm. Every day, he sat before this farm, creating Grass Summons that he promptly converted into Blessings of Heaven, Seeds of Magic, and Potherbs, the last of which offered protection from debuffs. He spent almost all his days off building up his stock, with the other three helping to harvest and throw them into his Storage.
Today, however, a problem arose almost as soon as they started.
“Au, au!” Salamander, Sophie’s contracted juvenile fire spirit, started eating the recovery items they were creating.
“No, Salamander, settle down!” Sophie picked her spirit back up in a fluster to prevent it from eating any more.
“Looks like it’s feeling a bit energetic today,” Allen noted. “Would it help to take it out for a walk?”
“I’m so sorry, Lord Allen!” Sophie apologized so profusely she nearly prostrated herself.
“Nah, don’t worry about it. Maybe the spirits need some release after staying cooped up at home all day. Especially when they’re still getting used to a new place.”
Allen was basically treating Salamander like a pet dog.
“I’m sorry, and thank you. I think I’ll take you up on your offer.”
The fire spirit’s expression seemed to light up when it heard Sophie was going to head out. She promised to be back soon, then headed out with Salamander in her arms. Volmaar followed her without saying anything.
For a split second, Allen felt the urge to ask him to stay behind to continue helping, but he swallowed his words. After all, Sophie was still getting used to managing her juvenile spirits, and there was no telling what might happen.
In the end, this left Allen and Cecil alone at home. They continued creating and harvesting recovery items until suddenly, Cecil asked, “Did you do this too when you were Kenpy?” She was apparently thinking about what Allen had previously shared about his past life.
“Hm? Well...not really, to be honest.”
“That’s surprising. I’ve seen you do this for so long, I’d thought you did it in your past life too.”
Even back in the Academy, Allen had been creating recovery items with the obsession of someone possessed. His efforts had eventually turned into significant contributions that helped the Five Continent Alliance hold out against invading Demon Lord Army forces on various fronts. This led Cecil to think that Allen must have known about the importance of recovery items from personal experience in his previous life.
“Well, I didn’t have a crafting class. Now, though, I think I’m starting to understand how people who maintained daily quotas on smithing and making armor felt.”
Allen’s main playstyle had been to kill mobs to gather items that he wanted. In this life, however, he was starting to enjoy developing his crafting abilities.
“Quotas? What does that mean?”
“Exactly as it sounds. It’s a certain goal that has to be reached by the end of a day. There are also weekly and monthly quotas.”
In the games that Allen played, there were those with dungeons that could only be entered once a day or quests that could only be fulfilled once. Each day where their rewards went unclaimed was a lost opportunity, so Allen always made sure to do his dailies and considered it a quota.
“I see, so it’s like practicing an instrument or studying a subject.”
“The ice queen fight that we could only do once a month was so heated like you can’t imagine.”
“It was heated...even though it was ice? What’s this ice queen fight?”
The story naturally came from Allen’s lips as he brought up memories of the past. “There was a queen who covered a city with ice that we had to fight as a group. She was just that strong. She’d just been introduced and dropped a really powerful ring.”
“So she was a bad queen.” Cecil thought she might have heard a similar fairy tale before.
“We could only fight her once a month. Losing was out of the question, so I had to gather a whole bunch of people for the fight.”
“Ah, so you had companions.” There was a tinge of emotion in Cecil’s voice, but Allen failed to pick up on it.
“Of course! There’s no way I could win by myself.”
