Hell Mode: Volume 5, page 4
“I-I see. When will they be making the journey? To my knowledge, Her Highness still has one more year at the Academy, does she not?”
“All of them have been conferred official diplomas. As such, they will depart as soon as possible.”
The prime minister failed to reply immediately, leaving an awkward silence in the room. He turned to look up toward the king to ask for his decision and found the monarch with a difficult expression of his own.
What’s the holdup? Just give us the permit already. You did it pretty quickly the first time when you sent us to Rohzenheim knowing they were on the verge of annihilation.
Eventually, King Invel raised his head and looked at Sophie.
“Princess Sophialohne, your companions include a valuable asset of ours, a Sword Lord. At the same time, Yanpany is well-known for being the site of death for many an accomplished adventurer. I have heard that no one has ever cleared this dungeon, not even Hero Helmios, despite his certain efforts. As ruler of Ratash, I am loath to send someone so important to us to such a dangerous place. I hope you understand.”
Oh, right. Helmios said, “Dygragni can’t make MP Recovery Rings,” with a knowing smirk, but it’s not like he’d cleared the dungeon yet either.
Without missing a beat, Sophie replied, “My foray into the Tower of Tribulations is for Rohzenheim’s sake as well. In order to do so, I need all of my companions who are with me here today. If we cannot receive Ratash’s cooperation in this matter, we will have to seek other recourse. I’m afraid we would have to pause the diplomatic talks between our countries until we can resolve this predicament.”
“Hmm, as I’d thought.” Invel rubbed his chin for a few seconds as if he was deep in thought. “We cannot allow this opportunity to foster amicable relations between our countries to go to waste. Very well. We will issue permits for everyone here to go to Baukis. Do note, however, that this would take some time.”
Did he just want to act like a king?
Sophie bowed deeply. “I thank you truly, King Invel. Now I can head to Yanpany with peace of mind and heart.”
Invel nodded with satisfaction. “Until the permits are ready, it would be our pleasure to host you and your delegation in our capital, Your Highness. Without ado, we shall arrange a ball tonight; may we expect your presence? It would be the perfect opportunity for those from our countries to become better acquainted with each other. For now, however... Welcome to Ratash.”
The king’s words of welcome served as the cue for the nobles lining the red carpet to echo his sentiments as they began clapping enthusiastically.
After waiting for the noise to die down, the prime minister declared, “This audience is hereby concluded!”
Just as King Invel was about to stand, however, Keel blurted out in a shout, “W-Wait, hold on a moment, please! Are you really ending it there?!”
The prime minister gave him the stink eye. “What is the meaning of this? Are you not aware that this is a royal audience?!”
So they skipped over talk of Keel’s reward.
Allen gave Keel a look. The other boy returned it and nodded.
“My deepest apologies,” Allen said. “Keel here raised his voice in indignation because he had been given a promise by the previous king—may he rest in peace—but no mention was made of the matter.”
When Allen walked up, passing Sophie to stand at the very front of the group, a sense of alarm shot through not only the king but also the royal guards. The captain even took a step forward to position himself between Allen and King Invel. The nobles gave Allen their full attention so as to not miss even the slightest gesture from him.
“What promise was that?” The prime minister’s voice was tinged by a healthy dose of fear. He was recalling the match he had witnessed between Allen and Helmios.
“The previous king promised that if Keel went to the battlefield on Ratash’s behalf, his family name, the dissolved House Carnel, would be restored. You ought to be aware of this agreement, prime minister.”
These were the terms that had been written down at the time:
The Promise Between the Previous King of Ratash and Keel
Keel is to fight on the battlefield for a minimum of five years under the dispatch of Ratash or the Five Continent Alliance.
Achievements made during service will be grounds to consider shortening the mandated service time.
Allen continued, “While with us, Keel performed numerous feats of remarkable merit on the battlefield in Rohzenheim. Would these feats not meet the requirement for the consideration of his service being shortened?”
The prime minister frowned. “We are indeed aware of this matter. However, whether to consider shortening your companion’s period of service is something that His Majesty will be contemplating at a later time.”
“Hm? There’s a chance that His Majesty would decide to not do so? Would that not be going against the wishes of the previous king, my good man?” Allen made sure to enunciate properly so that his lack of an address would be all the more obvious.
Sure enough, the prime minister flared up, turning so angry that his face became flushed. “How dare you forget my address?! Just what on earth did they teach you at the Academy?!”
Allen immediately clapped back with, “I am currently talking to you as the grand strategist of Rohzenheim.”
“What?!”
“Did Field Marshal Lukdraal not explain this just now? I kindly remind you to consider what I just might say to the grand marshal when he seeks my input regarding future requests from Ratash, such as for, say, elven forces or elven elixirs. Are you sure you do not want to reconsider your reply?”
The idea to do this just occurred to me, but hey, that was a pretty good comeback if I do say so myself. I did think the grand strategist title was a bit too big for me, but... I see, so this is how useful it can be in situations like these.
“Y-You can’t just...” In a fluster, the prime minister turned to look at Sophie, Lukdraal, and Filamehl. However, the three simply returned his gaze without saying anything.
Eventually, Sophie opened her mouth. “Prime Minister, we have prepared something in case there is anyone in Ratash who has doubts regarding Keel’s achievements in Rohzenheim. We hope this helps.”
Two elves stepped forward and held out a tray carrying several scrolls of parchment toward the prime minister.
“Wh-What is this?”
“A record of Sir Keel’s achievements since he first stepped foot on Rohzenheim soil.”
Man, you have no idea how hard we worked on that.
These scrolls were what Keel had been referring to that morning. The No-life Gamers had prepared them the night before. Ninety percent of it was pure fiction, but it was stamped with the crest that adorned all official Rohzenheim documents.
The prime minister unfurled one of the parchments and skimmed it, then turned to the throne as if seeking help.
Invel cleared his throat softly. “Hmm, that is indeed an impressive number of achievements. I was about to consider House Carnel’s matter, but thought it inappropriate to bring up at the expense of our valued guests’ time, with them having coming from afar.”
Hmm, were you, though? I call bullshit. You were about to end the audience and sweep this under the rug.
“Are Sir Keel’s feats sufficient to warrant the restoration of his house?” Sophie asked.
After Invel scanned through the parchment that the prime minister had handed him, he rolled it back up and lifted his face to look at Keel. “Keel, step forward.”
“Y-Yes, Your Majesty.” Keel stepped forward until he was shoulder to shoulder with Allen, looking extremely nervous.
“The actions of your father, Viscount Carnel, were unforgivable. As the position that bears the weight of the country, the throne had no choice but to sentence him severely. This is something that you understand, yes?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“However, our ally Rohzenheim”—Invel took advantage of this opportunity to emphasize that Ratash and Rohzenheim were now allies—“has presented us this list of your achievements. It is undeniable proof of your contributions. As such, I hereby acknowledge House Carnel once again as a servant of the kingdom. However, your fiefdom is only half its previous size, and you are starting off as a baron. You have no complaints, I take it?”
I see, so that’s the furthest he’s willing to compromise. Whew, Keel’s finally back to being a noble! I’m gonna have to thank Viscount Granvelle for all his help. He was the one who got the previous king to write down this promise.
To convey that he was not against this in the slightest, Allen turned to Keel and said, “Good for you, Keel. Your dream’s come true.”
The other boy nodded deeply. “Thank you. Thank you, everyone.”
“Don’t forget to ask later which half of the territory you’re getting,” Allen reminded him.
Hearing this, the king added, “House Carnel has managed the White Dragon Mountains for us through the centuries. As such, I think it would be only right to give you the half with the mountains. Rest assured, the capital of the realm is also included in that area.”
Ah, he’s probably thinking, “The white dragon’s there, but do your best regardless.” Oh boy, he has no idea. A certain thought occurred to him, and an evil smirk came over his face.
“Keel, you’re gonna have a ton of trouble managing things with the white dragon there,” Allen said, “but don’t forget to thank His Majesty for his benevolence.”
“Your Majesty, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Keel bowed deeply toward the king, signaling the end of the audience for real this time.
Chapter 3: Homecoming
The Kingdom of Ratash held multiple galas and other social events in celebration of the formal establishment of diplomatic relations with Rohzenheim.
Originally, Allen had no intention of participating, considering how he had just pressed King Invel to fulfill the promise from the previous king. Moreover, he had no interest in such functions in the first place. However, many nobles, including Viscount Granvelle and Count Hamilton, felt indebted to him due to his contributions to the Giamutan war effort and strongly urged him to at least make an appearance so they could properly thank him. In the end, Allen folded and agreed to attend one ball.
He showed up with his party, each of them wearing aptly named “Gorgeous Outfit” equipment they had obtained from Rank A dungeons. Indeed, every so often, inside the treasure chests were not weapons or adventuring tools but fine clothing and other accessories that, while valuable monetarily, possessed negligible durability. At first, the No-life Gamers had considered selling these off, but ultimately decided to keep them in case they might come in handy. The Gamers had also worn these for their audience with the king where Keel got his title back.
After the audience, Keel’s name in Allen’s grimoire had changed to “Keel von Carnel,” confirming that he had indeed regained his status. Depending on his future achievements in service to Ratash, he just might be able to climb higher up the social ladder and restore his family’s domain to its original size.
Field Marshal Lukdraal and Elder Filamehl had decided to stay in the Ratashian capital for the time being. There were plans to set up something similar to a consulate in the Nobles Quarter—in Allen’s eyes, Ratash was making quite the effort to hurry this process along, as it wanted very badly to be able to show off to the world its newly forged bonds with Rohzenheim—but until it was finished, they were staying in their assigned guest rooms at the royal palace. This was to be the base of operations from which they would be laying the groundwork with various nobles. To start, Allen was asked to get them in contact with Viscount Granvelle and Count Hamilton.
With everything that they had to do in the capital now finished, the No-life Gamers took a magic ship from the royal capital to the city of Granvelle and stayed at the viscount’s mansion for the night.
Cecil teared up a little upon reuniting with her mother after not seeing each other for several years. Her father had visited every once in a while while she was at the Academy, and her brother, Thomas, had not been all that far away, as he had gotten a job at the palace. Consequently, she had been missing her mother quite a lot.
＊ ＊ ＊
The next day, the No-life Gamers mounted Bird Bs and headed for Rodin Village, the frontier hamlet where Rodin served as its chief.
“It’s come into view,” Dogora announced to the group.
“It’s quite big for only starting development last year,” Cecil noted.
“It’s still not enough, though,” Allen replied. “We’re gonna make it even bigger.”
The village that spread out below had only been founded a year or so ago. However, it had built up at an incredible rate thanks to Allen’s Summons. For example, Allen’s Beast C Summons, giant boars with over 1,500 Attack, had pulled out the stumps of trees the villagers had chopped down, so the village was already farming even though it was only in its second year. As it was now April, everyone was spread out along the tilled rows of soil, hard at work planting seeds.
In the middle of the sprawling fields lay the village proper, which was four times the size of Krena Village and entirely enclosed by a wall and a moat. The villagers had erected the walls themselves, but the moat was the work of the Summons. Built as a defense against monster invasions, it had been dug both deep and wide.
Just like Krena Village, the residences were clustered close to the village entrance. Even though this settlement had started with only a hundred people, it had developed so quickly and grown so much that they had begun accepting even more newcomers that spring. The sound of hammering filled the air as new houses went up all throughout the village.
There was one building that stood taller than the rest in the center of the residential area. This was the village chief’s house—in other words, Allen’s family’s. It was many, many times the size of the one he had lived in back in Krena Village. This one could easily accommodate three whole generations under one roof. It even had space for things like holding meetings related to village management.
The Bird Bs all landed in front of the village chief’s house. Unlike the locals who had gotten used to seeing the Summons over the past year, the recently arrived villagers were so surprised their legs almost gave out beneath them.
“Hm, looks like we’ve made quite the commotion,” Allen commented.
Cecil gave him a look. “I told you so.”
“Well, they’re just gonna have to get used to it, ’cuz we’re gonna be coming home on these Summons every once in a while from now on. I already told father about this a while ago.”
Speak of the devil, Rodin burst out of his front door, growling, “What’s all the rucku— Whoa, is that you, Allen?!”
Allen turned around from bringing down his luggage from his mount. “Hi, father. I’m home.”
The last time he had seen his father in person was when he became House Granvelle’s guest after being a manservant in its service. Just as Cecil had, Allen, too, felt a little emotional after the long absence.
“And is that Krena and Dogora I see there? Whoa, you brought a whole slew of folks with you.”
All of the No-life Gamers had come along on this homecoming trip. While Sophie’s insistence on meeting his parents had definitely been a reason, more importantly, Allen wanted to bring everyone here to help Keel now that his house was restored and part of the White Dragon Mountains was back under their management.
Watching Rodin ruffle Allen’s hair, Volmaar murmured to himself, “What an unusual sight. I can hardly believe it: Lord Allen actually has a father.”
Allen raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said.” Volmaar shrugged.
After all the ways that Allen had defied this world’s common sense and pulled off incredible feats thought impossible by everyone else, seeing this human side of him now was rather surreal.
All the houses in the village were built on stilts. Rodin beckoned the group into the house and led them up the stairs. Dogora followed him with a bulky sack of meats and vegetables slung over his shoulder as Krena carried a huge cask of fruit wine.
Soon, footsteps could be heard approaching quickly. Two figures burst into view from around the corner and cried out in unison, “Allen!” Allen managed to set down what he was carrying just in time as his younger siblings tackled him with bear hugs.
“Mash! Myulla! You two sure have gotten big!” he gushed while ruffling their hair affectionately.
Mash grunted in response as Myulla said cheerily, “Mm-hm! We’re real big now!”
The three of them were horsing around in one delighted clump when their mother, Theresia, came out. “My, oh my! Look who’s home all of a sudden. And bringing so many guests too!”
There was no way for Allen to give his parents advance notice of their visit as he no longer had any Summons stationed at this village. He had needed every last card slot when dealing with the Demon Lord Army and its reserves, so he had reverted all the Summons posted here to card form at the time.
“What should we do, honey?” Theresia asked Rodin with a worried look, cupping her cheek in her hand. “We don’t have nearly enough food to feed so many people.”
Allen gestured to everything his companions were carrying. “Don’t worry, mother. We brought plenty with us from the capital.”
“Really? You sure are well prepa—” Rodin’s eyes widened. “You brought wine!” It seemed he cared more about the cask than the food.
“Have Mister Gerda and Miss Mathilda and Dogora’s parents moved in yet?” Allen asked. “How about we have them over too?” Dogora’s parents were going to open a blacksmithery here in Rodin Village, right?
