Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

Sophie was approached by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bakius Empire.

(A Minister? Well, she is a Princess of Rosenheim with the right to inherit the throne after all.)

I wondered if the Foreign Minister hadn't come in suddenly.

We had already informed the Bakius Empire when we were going to arrive there when we were in Latash Kingdom.

I had a lot to talk about with him as well, so I wasn't against his idea.

"We can talk in a private room. But I am waiting for my friends to come, so please wait a moment."

After saying that, I started to till the slowest, Kiel would arrive.

I slept in the boys' room with Dogora, Kiel and Formar, but I did't go around waking them up because I woke up earlier than everyone else.

Sleep and diet were the most important factors in achieving the highest efficiency.

"Thank you for your support despite my sudden request. I will prepare the breakfast."

As he said so, the Foreign Minister instructed his subordinate dwarves behind him with a glance.

Soon after, everyone with Kiel arrived, and we headed out to eat.

The private room we went to was quite a large room.

(Bakius Empire is pretty rich, huh? How about the Giamut Empire?)

The gleaming dining room was conspicuously decorated with jewels and golden leaves.

I described it as "Nouveau riche".

I wondered if it was the same for the Giamut Empire, another Empire.

The Foreign Minister and Sophie faced each other at a sumptuous table.

"Can I get you something to drink?"

"No."

(We don't drink in the morning.)

Sophie turned down a drink from the Foreign Minister.

(What? Sophie is not drinking anymore? She didn't eat Dragon meat, and she eats so little.)

Since I didn't drink any alcohol, Sophie stopped drinking as well.

Also, it seemed that elves didn't eat the flesh of magical beasts.

I had known that since I was at the Academy, that they ate the meat of wild animals, but not that of magical beasts. They were different from humans in that aspect.

For that reason, Sophie, Formar and I were the only ones who did not eat the meat of the White Dragon.

For that reason, I had heard that the magical beasts of the Demon King's army attacking Rosenheim and the Central Continent were organized differently. Magical beasts that could be used as food by humans didn't attack much in the Central Continent.

It was to prevent defeated magical beasts be used as foods by the humans.

Thanks to that, the Boar meat from the development village had become a valuable food source on the battlefield.

On the other hand, in Rosenheim, there was no fear of magical beasts being turned into food, so the magical beasts that humans used for food also attacked there.

I didn't drink alcohol because of my memories of my previous life where I didn't want alcohol to cause me to misjudge games or fall asleep.

Another reason why I didn't drink alcohol was because of the Mana Recovery Ring.

Thanks to the effect of the Mana Recovery Ring, which recovered 1% of my maximum [Mana] per second, I was in a constant state of mana recovery.

In order not to waste a single second, I basically kept consuming mana.

I didn't want to waste several hour worth of time by getting drunk and accidentally falling asleep.

It's breakfast, but they brought in soup.

(Seriously, a course meal in the morning? It's going to take quite a while to eat. Well, now that the Foreign Minister is here, I'd better tell him what I want.)

"My name is Nukakai, and I am the Minister of Foreign Affairs."

"Thank you for coming all this way. My name is Sophiarone. And these are my friends."

Sophie introduced us to the Minister. We didn't say our names one by one, but we sat down, bowed our heads lightly, and greeted each other.

I would never call myself the Chief of Staff of Rosenheim.

If they looked into me, they would have found out, but I believed that things would always get messy if postion and power were involved.

"First of all, let me say thank you. Thank you for providing such us with valuable Elven Elixir."

Foreign Minister Nukakai thanked Sophie.

He said that thanks to the large amount of Elven Elixir provided by Rosenheim, there were the fewest casualties so far despite the unprecedented scale of the invasion of the Demon King's army.

"No, no. I didn't provide it directly to the Bakius Empire, did I?"

The Bakius Empire had already officially thanked Rosenheim for providing them with the Elven Elixir.

"I only gave some to my friend, Merle."

"Indeed. We purchased it as a favor from Merle of the Empire."

(Merle was born a commoner. I don't think she could refuse if the Bakius Empire had asked her to give it to them. If they purchased, it shouldn't have been that unreasonable, right?)

Merle was not a Noble, she was a commoner.

If the Bakius Empire had taken them from Elixir by force, I was planning to handle the situation differently.

The Academy seemed to have taken a reasonable approach to Merle, who was living together with the Princess of Rosenheim.

Maybe they misunderstood that the Princess of Rosenheim gave Merle some Elven Elixirs.

In addition, what I gave to Merle was just [Mana Seed]s.

The Bakius Empire were thankful, but it was much less effective than the [Blessing of Heaven]s that I offered to the Giamut Empire.

A [Mana Seed] which required 5 D-rank magic stones to produce, restored 1,000 mana of allies within a 50-meter radius of the user.

Whereas a [Blessing of Heaven] which required 5 B-rank magic stones, fully healed and fully restored mana of allies within a 100-meter radius of the user, and also cured abnormal conditions.

"I see. I'm glad to hear that the damage to the Bakius Empire is minimal. So, can we talk about the future?"

There was no point in talking about how the [Mana Seed]s were used, so I changed the subject to the future.

All that time Sophie was dealing with Foreign Minister Nukakai.

"Yes, we can take care of that as well. I believe that you wish to challenge the S-class dungeon in the Temple of Janpani?"

"Yes, I would like to take on this challenge with my friends. Would it be possible for us to try to conquer the dungeon here?"

Sophie then showed the Foreign Minister Nukakai the "S-class Dungeon Invitation Ticket" we had received from the cube-shaped object called the Dungeon Management System in the A-class Dungeon.

The Temple of Janpani is a place of worship for Digragni, the Dungeon Master worshipped by the dwarves of the Bakius Empire.

We had already been allowed to challenge the dungeon, but since the Foreign Minister came, Sophie asked again.

"Indeed, that is an invitation, no doubt about it. There is no reason to refuse a challenger invited by Master Digragni."

(Oh, they usually let you try?)

The dwarves of the Bakius Empire seem to think that, the invitation given by the cube-shaped object in the A-class dungeons, to be the will of Digragni.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

Since Sophie refused to drink, Foreign Minister Nukakai, who had decided for tea, took a sip from his teacup and sipped it thoughtfully.

He seemed to be choosing his words.

"We would normally be delighted to find a challenger. However, it is not a place for someone of your position to challenge."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Half of the people who challenge the S-class dungeon die within a year. It's a very dangerous place."

(Huh?)

These words made my friends tense and stiffen.

Being able to challenge the S-class dungeon means that you have conquered 5 A-class dungeons.

Fierce competitors from countries all over the world had won the right to challenge the S-class dungeon and had taken on the challenge, but half of them had died before lasting a year.

"I know it is a dangerous place. However, in order to fight the Demon King's army, I believe that a challenge is inevitable."

"It's true that there are many things that can only be obtained in S-class dungeon. I'll explain how the Empire's rules with challengers."

With that, Foreign Minister Nukakai gave us a brief explanation of the rules that S-class dungeon challengers were required to follow.

The Bakius Empire would also issue a Certificate to those who were worthy to challenge the S-class dungeon.

However, it would be valid for one year and needed to be renewed the month after it expired.

If you do not renew your membership and do not use public facilities such as Magic Ships, you will be proclaimed dead, and your home country will be notified of your death at the end of the six months of your Certificate expiration.

"In this case, Rosenheim will be notified of the death. The reason we are taking this step is that it is often difficult to confirm the deaths of challengers while conquering S-class dungeons."

"..."

Sophie listened in silence.

The fact that the Foreign Minister would clearly say something to another country's Princess that would reduce her will to challenge the S-class dungeon must have been because so many people die.

(If even one person had survived in those cases, they didn't have to wait six months to find out if they died in the dungeon or not.)

I thought that the deaths were mainly caused because of party wipes.

"If you want to know more about the S-class dungeon, the Tower of Trials, ask the Priest who serves Lord Digragni at the Temple of Janpani."

"Thank you. By the way, what about our friend? I believe that we wanted to attack together?"

"...Yes."

Foreign Minister Nukakai, who had been speaking so fluently, slurred his words.

"Did something happen to Merle, by any chance?"

I had heard that the Bakius Empire had won the battle against the Demon King's army.

However, I hadn't heard if Merle was okay or not.

All eyes turned to Foreign Minister Nukakai to see if something had happened to Merle.

"No, of course not. Merle is safe. She was active in the war. The Academy decided that it was okay to let her graduate from the Academy, so we let her graduate from the Academy. However, His Majesty the Emperor is worried about her safety, who has a valuable Talent."

Foreign Minister Nukakai said that the Emperor was reluctant to let Merle, who had the precious Talent "Magic Rock general," go to the dangerous S-class dungeon.

As even in the entire Bakius Empire, there were not many dwarves who had the Talent "Magic Rock General".

It was a rare Talent, about 1 in 10 million.

"So, it's not possible?"

"No, no. The Baucus Empire would like to receive something in return. Just that is all."

(Huh. Hmm? Maybe that's what he meant when he said the dungeon was dangerous?)

Negotiations with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who called himself Nukakai, continued.