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

Allen's group caught up to Princess Shea, and joined her in battle against the Pagan Worshippers and monsters.

The enemy kept coming without rest for three hours. After that Princess Shea finished organizing the troops and set them forth to spread their line of defense.

Around 1500 of her men joined Allen in moving out to fight the monsters.

They all had Talents, which was a big help for Allen.

They would have no issue taking down Pagan Worshippers or B Rank monsters.

There was strength in numbers.

Allen needed the help of many others to protect Clebeur's evacuees and widen the safe area around them as quickly as possible.

The more people could help with planting Gold and Silver Beans to stop monsters from getting closer, the better.

They were all trained soldiers as well, so they moved swiftly and efficiently.

Bird B summons were available to Allen and Kiel's teams.

That was because Allen and Merus could get rid of them or summon them at will.

At the same time, Allen could also free a slot that way, which could let him call a Fish type summon to buff Princess Shea and her troops.

Clebeur was not a very big kingdom.

Pagan Worshippers had taken over two thirds of it, but in just three days that decreased to just one third.

Pagan Worshippers could increase their numbers again if even one remained alive, but at least now they felt safe enough to start looking for cities that might still have survivors in them.

It seemed they would finish cleaning up faster than Kiel in the ruined Carvalonea, or Sophie in the desert.

At the same time, it was only thanks to Princess Shea and her men that this small country had managed to survive so far.

Kiel's team was the next one with good progress.

Merus had gathered the soldiers in the fortification and said 'Tomorrow I'm going into Carvalonea to rescue any survivors and exterminate the Pagan Worshippers. I'll need help, so raise your hand, those of you with a Talent.'

Those without a Talent could still help with sheltering the survivors that reached the border, and could learn to use Aromatic Vegetables, as well as Gold and Silver Beans.

The same would happen with the 20000 soldiers in reinforcements that would arrive later.

"So...do I really need to go too?"

"Of course, it's the duty of the royal family to express their gratitude to those showing courage in battle. You're really exactly how Prince Zew described you."

Seeing Allen displeased with that answer, Shea recalled that he was described as someone with little esteem towards the royal family in Prince Zew's letters.

They were currently in the fortified city of Carulo, which was located on Clebeur's border with other countries.

Thanks to Allen's help in the battle, the people of Clebeur and the royal family had arrived at Carulo safe and sound the night before.

Princess Shea and Allen's group had been called to a large building in the center of the city.

The scouts had brought a report for the princess that morning.

Apparently Clebeur's royal family wanted to thank them.

Allen figured his group would just have to listen to a few words, and then they would return to the frontlines.

"Please follow me."

A servant of Clebeur's royal family led them into a room.

There was a table inside, and sitting at it were three mermaids, the king, queen, and princess of Clebeur.

There were knights keeping guard behind them as well.

(Hm? Somehow this feels different from a regular audience hall, I guess it's because Princess Shea is here too.)

The building did have a proper audience hall as well, but they were brought to what seemed like a big conference room instead.

They probably figured it would be rude to treat Princess Shea like a commoner requesting an audience with the king.

Clebeur was a small country, tied to the Prostia Empire.

Shea had worked hard to save their people and king, and so they were clearly being considerate of her.

There were four empty seats for them, which Dogora, Princess Shea, Allen, and Cecile took in that order.

The princess and the S Rank Adventurer, leader of the party, took the center seats.

Dogora was even more silent than Allen, making the room feel oddly quiet.

(I think I heard Princess Shea attempted to form a tie with the Prostia Empire? Maybe Prince Zew was being a bit too careless with her?)

Allen looked at the mermaids and began thinking of the Prostia Empire.

He had learned about that in the Academy, and had checked its geography, but it was all very abridged.

The main reason for that was that the Prostia Empire was not part of the Five Continents Alliance.

Not to mention it was not a continent, but a large empire at the bottom of the ocean.

On the east and west, the Prostia Empire spread from the shores of the continent with Albahal, all the way to the continent with the Confederation, and to the north it touched the Central Continent. Governing all the ocean there.

They were an empire of mermaids, worshiping the goddess of water Aqua. Their only connection with the surface was here, Clebeur.

Clebeur was first inhabited by people who came from the Prostia Empire too.

The first king of Clebeur had been a duke from Prostia, who was ordered to start a country on the surface.

They remained neutral towards every other country, and did not care at all about the Demon King's Army.

At the same time, that meant other countries knew almost nothing about them, so even in the Academy there was little to learn.

The lesson on the Prostia Empire could be resumed as the realization that it was an actual place, and not just some fairy tale.

The sad picture book Allen found in Grandvelle's library contained all the information they knew about that place.

Allen had been talking with Princess Shea a lot those last three days.

The first thing she said to him was "So you're the one who went to the S Rank Dungeon first!" She shouted that the night after they met.

Apparently when she read that in one of Prince Zew's letters, she tore the paper to pieces.

She had captured the leader of the Evil Cult, completing the task given to her by the Beast King, but now she felt unsure if the throne would be granted to her.

She understood what Prince Zew's accomplishment meant.

Prince Zew had gained the lead by being part of the first party to conquer the S Rank Dungeon.

Trying to one-up that achievement somehow, Princess Shea headed to Clebeur, since she heard rumors of internal conflict there.

She wanted to try taking advantage of the situation and somehow form an alliance with the Prostia Empire.

The Prostia Empire was known as a treasury of all valuables in the ocean.

There exist many marine monsters in this world, making it hard to gather resources from the ocean.

It was only recently that Allen was able to eat fish from the sea.

But there was a wealth of other resources in there too, like valuable mineral deposits on the seabed, various shells and pearls, corals made of resilient materials for equipment and jewelry, and many more things.

It was also possible to get Aqua's blessing there in the form of an amulet to ward off marine monsters from ships.

For a world with many monsters like this one, that was indispensable for fishermen.

To top it all off, there was Makris' Sacred Bead, which was said to easily fetch a price in the millions of gold coins.

The Prostia Empire had no ties to any country in the Five Continents Alliance, but Clebeur was open to trade with most countries, so in most cases they held amicable relationships.

Prince Zew had gained a lot of renown for conquering the S Rank Dungeon.

He had been accompanied by the Hero Helmios and Admiral Galara, which brought honor to their respective countries too.

Hearing her brother had accomplished that, Shea did not give up on gaining the throne, instead looking for a way to gain and overtake his lead.

She had already captured the Evil Cult's leader and fulfilled her task.

Now she believed that if she succeeded in forging an alliance between Albahar and Prostia, it would both give her a lot of prestige, while also giving her country access to many valuable resources.

For Shea, forming an alliance with Clebeur was the first step in reaching Prostia.

Allen was pondering who would be better on the throne, Zew or Shea, when plates with seafood were brought into the room, as it was also lunch time.

A large fish roasted with fragrant herbs was placed on the table, already sectioned into various pieces.

(Woahhh, this looks so good!)

Allen had always been eating meat in this world, so fish had slowly turned into his favorite dish.

He had been taken to that room basically against his will, so he decided to make the best of it and began eating in large bites.

Seeing how engrossed he was with eating, Shea decided to take the speaking role and explain their current situation.

"J-Just three days more..? I...I can't believe it! Are you certain of that estimate, Princess Shea?!"

"That's incredible, truly incredible!!"

The king was lost for words.

Princess Carmin was the same. They had barely arrived in Carulo after fleeing the capital fearing for their lives.

They had called Princess Shea and Allen to thank them for their service and to hear how the fight was going, and were told the capital could be regained in just three days more.

The king and princess were still under the impression that there were bloodthirsty monsters following closely after them.

"Of course I'm certain. I would never doubt that while having the first S Rank Adventurer in twenty years on our side."

Shea spoke like there was nothing to be surprised about.

There were many Insect A summons, bees the size of dragons, defending Carulo from attack.

Thinking about it, even the king could see how powerful Allen was.

"That's impressive, I must say. You said your name's Allen, yes?"

"Yes. I'm just glad I could be of service to everyone in Clebeur."

(The fish was yummy too.)

They also had to mention it would take a few more days to really extirpate all remains of the monsters from the country.

It was imperative they knew of the importance of killing every last one Pagan Worshipper, and how long that could take.

That also meant that the royal family would need to get accustomed to living in Carulo for a while longer.

"You seem to know your way with words, Allen."

Princess Carmin seemed very interested in Allen.

He was just an adventurer with no noble blood, yet he knew how to be polite with his words.

She had expected him to be far more uncouth and rude.

"T-there's no need to mention that, Carmin. He's helped our country so much, don't be rude to him."

"My apologies. Still, I believe that as the royal family we owe them a reward at least."

"A reward?"

Allen felt her gaze on him as she mentioned a reward.

He turned to look at the king, who nodded in agreement.

It seemed they had planned on doing more than simply saying thanks.

"Yes. Is there anything you wish from us?"

"Umm, err..."

"Please, ask for anything you wish."

"I'm truly sorry, but I can't accept such a reward."

"""What?"""

While the king, queen, and princess listened in shock, Allen lowered his head and bowed, rejecting the reward.