Hell Mode: Volume 4, page 7
In this world, magic stones were used to power all technology. Naturally, a besieged city’s supply would be cut off and its stock would gradually decline. The residents of Tiamo were already struggling to make do with what little they had remaining.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t clear enough. I was talking about the magic stones from the monsters we killed.”
“Ah, in that case, feel absolutely free. What is the second thing?”
“Please let me meet the Sovereign of Spirits.”
“I’m sorry? You want to speak with Lord Rohzen?”
The rest of the elves burst into a commotion. Allen wondered if this was because they were leery of letting an outsider stand before the very being they worshipped, what with everything he had heard of elves being a race that shunned outsiders.
“Is it...too much to ask?”
“Well...I can help you check.”
“Thank you very much.”
Suddenly, the flying squirrel that had been sleeping all this time opened its eyes and looked straight at Allen.
“I am Rohzen. Summoner of the Beginning, what business do you have with me?”
“THE FLYING SQUIRREL IS TALKING!!!” Allen’s shout reverberated throughout the room. He was so surprised that his fatigue was dispelled in the blink of an eye.
As it turned out, the flying squirrel was the Sovereign of Spirits—the spirit said to have climbed the ranks all the way to becoming a Minor Deity.
“Well, what do you want with me?” pressed the flying squirrel, which still lay sprawled out in a relaxed position, as if its—no, as if his talking was the most natural thing in the world.
So the sleep talking Sovereign of Spirits turned out to be this tiny creature all along.
The elven generals were all standing to attention, keeping their backs stiff as rods and trying to breathe as softly as possible. Clearly, this was a very rare occurrence.
Allen stood up straight. “Before anything else, I want to give you my thanks. Thank you for making an MP Recovery Ring for me.”
The Hero did set a condition when passing it to me, but I don’t really have to get into it.
According to Helmios, Rohzen had prophesied Allen’s advent and made this ring specially for him. And because Helmios had saved an elven squad that had been about to be wiped out, he had received one too. That made it a total of two MP Recovery Rings that Rohzen had made.
“Oh right, I did do that, didn’t I. You’re welcome. The Hero pressed me for it. Ha ha.”
Right, I heard that he had come to pick it up just before he arrived in Ratash.
In order to convince Allen to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament at his Academy and display the power that Rohzen had prophesied, the Hero had come all the way to Rohzenheim to retrieve the MP Recovery Ring.
“Lord Rohzen, there is something else that I want to ask of you.”
“And that is?”
Allen’s companions stared at him in a daze, astonished at how he had already accepted both the presence and appearance of the Sovereign of Spirits and begun conversing normally with him. The same went for the queen and the elven generals. They listened to the exchange with their fair share of surprise, curious to see where it would go.
“Currently, we are fighting with the elves against the Demon Lord Army. When we successfully save Rohzenheim, may I have one wish granted?” Allen bowed in entreaty.
“Meaning you want this as a reward for saving the country.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
“I see.” The flying squirrel rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Incidentally, what is that wish?”
“I want all my companions to be put in Hell Mode.”
This was the first time Allen had ever uttered the phrase “Hell Mode” since being born into this world. The unfamiliar term prompted Cecil to repeat it out loud in a puzzled tone. The rest of the Gamers also looked mystified.
The Sovereign of Spirits looked up into the air with his hand still stroking his chin. “Huh? ‘Hell Mode’? Wait, it’s... Huh?” He seemed to recognize the term but seemed to be having trouble remembering what it meant.
Allen nodded. “Yes, My Lord. Hell Mode. The principle that makes the Trials of the Gods a hundred times more difficult.”
“Ahhh, so that’s what you meant. The varying levels of difficulty for the Trials.”
“Yes, My Lord. All my party members are in Normal Mode, and they’ve already capped out their levels. I pray you will be able to put them all in Hell Mode so they can continue their development.”
“I see. I understand what you’re asking. Hold on, I’ll check.”
The flying squirrel then froze in place.
Hey, he turned into a stuffed animal.
Suddenly, Cecil’s arm snaked around Allen’s neck from behind. She brought her face closer and whispered furiously into his ear, “What was all that about something-mode you were discussing with the Lord Sovereign just now?! Are you sure you can just ask him for stuff like that?!”
“Probably? I mean, I imagine the elves would’ve stopped me otherwise.”
During their exchange, the body of the Sovereign of Spirits relaxed again.
“I just asked Lord Elmea, but I’m sorry, he said it’s straight-up impossible to change someone’s Mode.”
“So even Extra Mode is off the table?”
“I’d say so. At least, I wouldn’t be able to make it happen. Ha ha.”
Is that because as a Minor Deity, he doesn’t have much authority in the Heavenly Realm?
“That is disappointing to hear. In that case, may I change my wish to something else?”
“If you’ll be saving my precious elves, then I’ll do my best within my means. Ha ha.”
“Then please allow my party members to promote their classes. For example, changing a Swordsman to a Sword Lord.”
That instant, the Sovereign of Spirit’s laid-back atmosphere turned razor-sharp. He looked straight into Allen’s eyes, but the boy returned the gaze, not looking ruffled in the least.
A short while later, the flying squirrel broke eye contact and sighed. “I see, so you’re someone who already knows the principles of the world. Little wonder that you’re on Lord Elmea’s mind.”
“Huh? He’s spoken of me?” I wonder what they say about me up there in the Heavenly Realm.
“Yep, quite a while ago. Supposedly, you were thinking about becoming a Demon Lord, so Lord Elmea hurriedly created ‘Summoner’ for you to choose instead. He had meant to give it only six stars but accidentally gave it eight instead. So he tried to dissuade you from choosing it by telling you that it was a class that was still in testing. However, you refused to change it any further, leaving him at a bit of a loss. Ha ha.”
I see, it was because of a god’s careless mistake that Summoner ended up an eight-star class. It’s been ages since, but I do faintly remember a pop-up message asking something along the lines of, “Are you sure you want to choose Summoner?”
Allen had just learned the story of how his class came to be in the most unexpected of situations, but all of that did not matter right now. He directed the conversation back to the topic at hand.
“So then, how about it? Or is it that you can only do it for the elves and not the humans?”
An inordinately high percentage of the elves were healers, almost as if someone was intentionally making it this way. Allen suspected that someone was Rohzen, thinking that he likely had both the means as a Minor Deity with access to the Heavenly Realm, and the motive as the one worshipped by all the elves, since he would understandably want to give them a hand up. This was why Allen had tried using a loaded question.
To be honest, he had not expected his request to change Modes to be granted. However, based on everything that he knew, he thought that changing classes ought to be possible.
“‘Not the humans,’ huh? You’ve got quite the mouth on you, I see. So this is why Lord Elmea’s having trouble handling you. Ha ha.” The flying squirrel scratched his head, looking troubled.
So he was messing with the numbers. Well, Rohzenheim’s population isn’t all that high, since the elves don’t have children easily. If they were to lose their longevity and healing prowess, the race might just die out altogether.
“Is it possible to do, then?”
“Well...giving a Talentless person a Talent is completely different from changing a Talented person’s Talent to something else. Doing so would require payment of some sort.”
“And the feat of saving Rohzenheim is insufficient as payment?”
“I’m afraid my powers alone would not be enough. While changing Talents would serve as the reward for saving Rohzenheim, I would still need payment to make it happen regardless. For example, someone’s life span.”
Life span? Ahhh, I see what he means. I like those terms.
Everyone was dumbstruck by this talk of exchanging one’s life span for a different Talent—they interpreted it as a deal so weighty that they would have to give up years of their own life for it. Allen was the only one among them who correctly understood the meaning behind Rohzen’s words.
“Would it be enough to give up all the experience we accrued along the way to reaching the limits of our progression?”
When you say “life span,” it doesn’t have to be our future years, right? The time and effort that we’ve already spent would do just as well, wouldn’t it?
“What? You sure you want to do that? Losing all your experience means you’ll go back to being Lvl. 1, though.”
“Not a problem. Would skills unrelated to our classes, such as, say, Sword Mastery, be left untouched?”
After freezing for another short while, the Sovereign of Spirits replied, “All right, that would do. However, when I do it, I can only raise your companions’ classes by one star. And four-stars is the highest I can go. Five-star classes are beyond me.”
“Thank you very much, My Lord.”
“I won’t be doing this for any members of your party who aren’t here at the moment or who’ll be joining your party later, okay?”
Dammit, I was thinking of having him promote Meruru later too.
Allen straightened his face and replied, “I wouldn’t dare ask, My Lord.”
To make sure that Allen did not get any funny ideas, Rohzen warned, “Just saying, I can read your mind. Ha ha.”
“My apologies. Now, about my—”
All this talk about getting a class promotion would not benefit Allen directly. Therefore, he was about to negotiate for his own reward when Rohzen cut him off.
“I said, I can read your mind. Summoner of the Beginning, you have a younger sister, yes? I believe her name is Myulla. She’s Talentless, so how about I give her a Talent? You get to choose whichever you want. I’ll...hear you out...another time...”
The Sovereign of Spirits was starting to nod off. He was apparently reading Allen’s mind in order to wrap up the conversation as quickly as possible.
“Thank you, My Lord. I shall give it my all to save Rohzenheim.”
“Mm...make sure that you do...”
After one final mumble, the Sovereign of Spirits fell asleep once more in the queen’s lap.
Watching him is making me sleepy again.
Through this negotiation, Allen had secured a way for his companions to become even stronger. And for himself, he had garnered a promise that the Sovereign would give his younger sister a Talent. When he relaxed his shoulders, a powerful wave of weariness washed over him.
Many of the No-life Gamers only had one-star classes: Dogora, Keel, Sophie, and Volmaar. Allen worried that they would have difficulty keeping up in the fights ahead. As such, he had always been searching for a way to either change their Modes or their Talents. Thanks to the involvement of the Sovereign of Spirits, this war against the Demon Lord Army in Rohzenheim now effectively served double duty as a class-promotion quest. The battles that awaited them beyond this war were sure to be even more challenging, but now they had a new hope to cling to.
＊ ＊ ＊
Night broke, and the next day arrived. According to the elven scouts, although the Demon Lord Army did not attack the day before, it had indeed finished restoring its command structure. Several hours later, they were once again marching on Tiamo.
That morning, Allen was summoned to one of the rooms inside the building sheltering the queen. When he arrived, he found his companions sitting at a large round table with Cecil at the head.
“Good morning, Allen,” she said before gesturing toward the only empty seat—the one directly across from her own. “Sit there.”
“Uh...good morning, Lady Cecil. As you command.”
“What’s that? You want me to choke you first?”
“Er...I’m sorry.”
After starting off by declaring this gathering a “witness summoning” and strictly warning Allen not to weasel his way out, Cecil then proceeded to demand that he explain the meaning of his discussion with Rohzen the previous day and the thought process that had led him to posing such a request to the Sovereign of Spirits.
After yesterday’s audience, Allen had immediately gone to bed. Then, in preparation for today’s fight, he had woken up before the sun had even risen and had been making Blessings of Heaven ever since. Talking things out with his companions was important, but so was restocking recovery items. With everyone’s permission, he placed a planter on top of the table to resume his task before continuing the conversation.
“Well, out with it. What were you talking about with Lord Rohzen yesterday?”
Many words that Cecil had never heard before—not once throughout all their years together at the Granvelle mansion, at the Academy, and in the base—had been bandied about the day before, such as “Hell Mode” and “class promotion.” Their talk even touched on the God of Creation, Elmea, at times. All Cecil had understood was that it was all somehow related to Allen’s previously unheard-of Talent of Summoner and the wealth of knowledge regarding dungeon delving that he seemed to possess before ever setting foot inside of one.
Krena looked at Allen quizzically. Sophie directed her eyes, sparkling with expectation, his way as well. She, as did all elves, held Rohzen in a special place in her heart. After seeing Allen, the promised savior, converse with Rohzen as his equal, her evaluation of the boy had shot through the roof. Volmaar, in turn, was watching Sophie with concern.
Meanwhile, Dogora and Keel adopted the attitude of spectators. Considering everything else they had experienced while with Allen, they did not believe there was much that would surprise them anymore. As such, they chose to simply watch as Cecil confronted Allen.
Why was I keeping the fact that I’m reincarnated a secret again? Oh right, because I was worried that people would think I was possessed by a demon or something.
Allen had been born into this world as a serf, the lowest rung on the social ladder. If he, someone considered inferior to commoners, started talking about how he had memories of a past life, he might be hounded or, worst case, be subjected to an unfair trial and put away somewhere. These fears were why he had not even told his parents.
What about now, though? Is there any disadvantage to revealing the truth here?
The boy looked at each of his companions in turn and knew without a doubt that they would accept him and his truth.
I...see. I no longer have any reason to keep quiet.
“My conversation with Lord Rohzen...might have been hard to understand without some prerequisite knowledge. I—Allen—was brought to this world by Elmea, the God of Creation. Put simply, I came here from a different world. My memories and knowledge from that other world are still in my head right now, and I’ve been using them to understand the underlying principles behind how this world works.”
“Huh? What are you sa— But... Hmm...”
Cecil was about to deny what he was saying, but then recalled everything he had done so far. He had hurtled through dungeons that no one had cleared before with unbelievable speed and had gotten through so many crises with ideas and strategies that no normal person would come up with. She thought all the way back to when she had been kidnapped from the Granvelle mansion by the hired guns from House Carnel. Allen’s explanation seemed to answer so many questions that had always plagued her.
Sophie clapped her hands together. “Oh my! In other words, Lord Elmea determined that you were worthy of being a savior and selected you?!”
“Nah, Elmea didn’t actually say anything to me aside from, ‘Enjoy your life in this world.’ He’s never made contact to ask me to do anything.”
“Which is only natural. The gods merely oversee and do not intervene. Lord Rohzen usually never says anything.”
The way Sophie interpreted Allen’s circumstances was that, as Elmea could not directly intervene in the mortal world, he had selected Allen—in whom he saw the makings of a savior—to act on his behalf.
Oh, so the deities are generally not allowed to take direct action in this world. If I had to guess, Rohzen gets a bit of leeway in this regard because he’s still only a Minor Deity. That’s how he’s able to do things for us, but even he cannot personally save the elves from the Demon Lord Army invasion.
“So that’s why Allen always seems to be having so much fun!” Krena recalled that he had been this way since forever, from back when they were serfs all the way to when they went dungeon delving together. Dogora also nodded with comprehension.
“By the way, how old were you in that other world?” Cecil asked out of curiosity. Now that she understood how Allen came to this world, she suddenly remembered the various instances when he seemed to act or speak older than his age.
“Thirty-five.”
“What? So old?”
Uh, rude? Thirty-five is still plenty young, thank you very much.
In this world, thirty-five was considered rather advanced in years. Cecil’s reaction was actually quite natural.
“My! So that means you’re the same age as me, Lord Allen!”
“I...guess that’s what the math works out to.” The average age of our class was thirteen, but she was forty-eight when she transferred in. Adding the thirty-five years from my past life to my thirteen in this life would make me forty-eight years old. I guess we really are the same age.
