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

Allen told Cecile and the others in the palace about the situation.

"What do you mean, you can't find Peromus?"

'That's what it means. I can't find him anywhere. Maybe you can figure something out in there, so keep your eyes peeled.'

"Alright."

Peromus had completely vanished from the palace.

Allen had been working together with Peromus in the palace.

Both of them had gained nearly unrestricted access to the entire palace.

Allen had gone to the palace with him at eight, then at ten he left Peromus alone.

Allen had left Peromus, going to the S Rank Dungeon's last floor to give Kurena and Dogora their new equipment.

While he was talking to Lud and Doberg about Sinorom, Peromus had simply vanished.

(This is bad. I did give Peromus some equipment and recovery items, but we don't have time.)

Peromus was strong enough to defeat the knights around there.

And if he had to confront an A Rank monster, Peromus would be able to escape.

[Name] Peromus

[Age] 16

[Talent] Wealthy Merchant

[Level] 60

[Strength] 1662 + 600

[Mana] 1421

[Attack] 948

[Endurance] 1185

[Agility] 1362

[Intelligence] 1866 + 600

[Luck] 2193 + 600

[Skills] Wealthy Merchant (4), Calculation (4), Appraise (4), Negotiate (4), Youngling (1), Swordsmanship (4)

[Extra] Valuate

-Skill Levels

[Wealthy Merchant] 4

[Calculation] 4

[Appraise] 4

[Negotiate] 4

-Skill Experience

[Calculation] 1200 / 10000

[Appraise] 6000 / 10000

[Negotiate] 4200 / 10000

Peromus' usual accessories:

-Ring 1: Endurance + 5000

-Ring 2: Agility + 5000

-Necklace: Endurance + 3000

-Earring 1: 7% Physical Damage Mitigation

-Earring 2: 7% Magic Damage Mitigation

Peromus' usual equipment:

-Adamantite dagger: Attack + 2000 (*inside a magic tool bag)

-Arrow Shark hide: Endurance + 4800

*The magic tool bag looks just like a regular tool bag, but it's a magic device for storage.

It was created by the magic engineer unit, and everyone in Allen's party held one.

They controlled the entry of weapons into the palace, so they always carried them inside the magic bags.

Underneath Peromus' official attire, he also wore an Arrow Shark hide, which increased Endurance.

On top of that, Allen was always making him use an Aromatic Vegetable and other recovery items grown from Grass C summons every day, to avoid any poison attacks.

Peromus had a non-combat oriented Talent, Wealthy Merchant, but he had maxed out his Level.

His stats were even higher than the knights guarding the palace.

And even if he got in trouble, he could get Luck and the Spirit King Fabre to help him.

There was also Knight Commander Iwanam, a 2 Star Master Fencer, with Luck.

(As far as stats go, Peromus should still be alive. I guess I can keep searching and wait for him to come back. Though no, he'll probably die tomorrow if I wait.)

He checked Peromus' existence through his Grimoire.

Peromus' Strength was still filled up, so he had to be safe.

Allen looked outside to see how bright it was, then checked the current time in his Grimoire.

Sunlight did not reach the bottom of the ocean where Prostia lay, but the day and night cycle was still the same there as on the surface.

The 100 kilometer wide crystal flower supporting the city of Patlanta would only glow during the day.

The Fish A summon's Awakened Skill [Mimic] only lasted for one day, just like the other Skills, so after a day it would end, and Peromus would become human again.

If Peromus turned human at the bottom of the ocean, he would die instantly.

Considering what Lud and Doberg had just told him, Peromus had likely gotten involved with something.

"Master Allen, could it be that the Demon King's Army took him then?"

'That's what I fear. The knights of the palace shouldn't be a threat to him, and he's still alive, but I can't find him anywhere.'

(With his stats he should be able to run away from Ignomas even.)

After Allen told them everything Lud and Doberg had said, and what he could assume from Peromus' vitals, Sophie came up with one option.

Peromus was alive, but not in the palace, so the Demon King's Army must have taken him.

That was the only plausible explanation.

There was Sinorom, the sealed Sea Monster, and the missing crystal seeds.

All that together with Ignomas' insurrection pointed at the Demon King's Army being involved.

Sinorom had come from the Demon King's Army.

There was no clear reason for them to take Peromus, but he had probably gotten caught amidst something.

While Allen was busy forging Rosalina's participant pass, Peromus had been searching for the crystal seeds.

Before Allen left to the S Rank Dungeon, Peromus had said he was going to meet with the official in charge of watching over the warehouse with the crystal seeds, though he did not mention exactly who that was.

Allen asked around to various officials, and after a few hours, he found one who mentioned seeing Peromus.

Now Allen was inside the warehouse.

There were no signs of conflict, and nothing that could serve as a lead to Peromus' current location.

"So what are you going to do now? If you want to go wild I'll join in."

Cecile wanted to know Allen's next plan.

'That's a possibility. But I think that can wait a little.'

(I guess this is what the flower's style looks when fully grown.)

The Songstress Contest would start at 9 in the morning the next day.

The event would conclude in the afternoon, but the crystal flower had already finished its transformation, the flower style fully developed.

It was one kilometer tall now, and the contest would be held atop.

Patlanta was located at an even more shocking depth than the Mariana trench, being more than 100 kilometers below the surface.

There were nearly bottomless oceans in various locations in this world.

Allen could only imagine what the water pressure was like.

The next day, the crystal flower would release seeds, something that happened once a year.

The flower's style seemed to shine even brighter than the petals.

"We'll respect your decision then, Allen. I hope you don't mind that, Princess Rapsonile?"

Princess Carmin spoke to Princess Rapsonile, seeking her approval.

"Of course. I just beg you don't harm the citizens of Prostia needlessly."

As part of Prostia's imperial family, Princess Rapsonile cared the most about the people.

'Thank you very much. There's a chance some accidents might happen, but I'll try my best to not cause any trouble.'

After that, Allen explained through the Bird G summon what he was going to do.

Allen walked out of the warehouse.

He was heading to the throne room, where Ignomas sat.

He asked the audience manager when he could see Ignomas, and was told to come later during the evening.

He opened up as many slots as he could, filling them with Fish D summons, and continued searching.

He also sent Bird F summons, using their Awakened Skill [Messenger] to call for him.

As he did that, the time for the audience came.

He had still been unable to find Peromus.

"What's wrong, Alec? I heard you have something important to discuss? Did you gather all the money?"

Ignomas was already sitting on his throne, and had been given an outline of Allen's reason to be there. It was clear at first sight that he was not a ruler, but a commoner on the throne.

Prime Minister Agiley looked suspicious, it was odd someone would interrupt the emperor when the Songstress Contest would be held the next day.

"I-I'm truly sorry to intrude at such a time. But there's something urgent you should know, Emperor Ignomas."

Allen pretended to be frantic, talking to Ignomas as he went down on his knees.

He had increased his Intelligence as much as he could, and even while lowering his head, the Fish D summon he had near the ceiling still communicated to him the reactions of Ignomas and Agiley.

"So, what is it?"

Ignomas pressed Allen to hurry up.

"I was informed that Prince Bek has returned to Albahar."

"Wha-?! Are you sure?!"

"Yes, one of my collaborators on the surface sent me an urgent notice about it."

While Allen had claimed he mostly traded with Baukis, he said that someone he knew in Albahar had sent him a message.

"H-hey, you over there. Contact Clebeur and verify that!!"

"Yessir! Right away!"

He did not seem to trust Allen right away.

Instead he ordered a nearby official to hurry and use a communications magic device to verify the information.

Hearing Agiley's order, the official gave a prompt reply and dashed out of the throne room.

(I guess this means that Bek is supposed to be in Prostia after all then.)

Seeing Ignomas and Agiley's reactions, Allen guessed that Bek, who was still unaccounted for, was really somewhere in Prostia.

This had been the plan he came up with to get a direct response from Ignomas, as to whether Bek was in Prostia.

He had lied to them, just to see how Ignomas and Agiley would react.

From that reaction, he knew that they knew something about Bek.

They were so flustered because Bek being on the surface changed all their plans of invading the surface.

If Bek was still willing to assist Prostia, everything was well.

But if Bek had gone there, knowing of Prostia's planned invasion, and turned on them, the invasion would be much harder to carry out.

Their flustered reactions made that much obvious.

After some time, the official came back

"What did they say?"

"Sire! It appears the news of Bek's return to Albahar are true. They're currently debating how to punish Bek in Albahar."

"...So it was true."

Agiley was baffled hearing that response.

(I'm sure they're thinking Bek would give up information in Prostia in exchange for his safety.)

Bek had supposedly returned to Albahar.

It was easy to conclude he had taken information about Prostia's invasion to bargain for his life, and maybe as a way to atone for his crimes.

The person in Clebeur the official had contacted through the magic device was none other than Allen's Bird G summon.

Allen had made his summon mimic the voice of Clebeur's official who usually answered calls from Prostia, sowing lies everywhere.

He had also left a [Nest] from his Bird A summon in Clebeur's palace, so he could escape there after he ran amok in Prostia.

"That doesn't make any sense. Is Professor Sinorom aware of this?"

"Excuse me. He was around here a bit ago. Someone bring him here so he can explain the situation!"

It was clear both of them were distressed.

(Nice, so Sinorom was behind everything after all. Actually, was Sinorom in the palace at all?)

Allen had searched far and wide, but he had not seen Sinorom anywhere.

Now it was a group of knights that left the throne room.

The two did not know where Bek was, but they seemed to know where to find Sinorom.

After a short wait, the knights came back.

"I-I'm truly sorry. We couldn't find him anywhere."

The knights gathered and hesitantly informed them that Sinorom was nowhere to be found.

"Hm? What is he doing at a time like this!!"

Agiley thundered at the knights, nearing his wit's end.

"Hmm, so Sinorom isn't here."

Ignomas turned to look at Agiley, as thinking was not his strong suit.

"Let's keep this matter to ourselves, the nobles can't find out. And you better keep quiet too, Alec!!"

"Yessir! I'll do so. Also, I haven't been able to find Peroniki all day either."

"Peroniki? We have more important things to worry about than him!"

Agiley was getting increasingly angry.

(Well, some things seem more clear, but I still have a lot of questions too.)

Allen started planning what to do next.

He had been examining their reactions the entire time, and it did not seem like either Ignomas or Agiley knew where Peromus had been taken.

But he did establish a definite link between Bek and Ignomas.

And that Sinorom had been planning everything behind the scenes.

There was a high likelihood that Sinorom had planned both the coup in Albahar and the insurrection in Prostia.

According to Doberg, Sinorom seemed to have a more research oriented position in the Demon King's Army.

There were still a lot of missing pieces, but Allen needed to plan in anticipation.

"Alec, do keep this in mind. Things will turn for the better for you if you work with us. I can tell you're a smart lad, so I'll be counting on you."

Ignomas told Allen to remain on his side.

"Thank you very much."

Allen decided to simply thank him.

"Either way, our priority is to make the Songstress Contest tomorrow a success. We can worry about Bek and Sinorom after that."

Agiley believed that letting the Songstress Contest happen was more important, to unite Prostia as a single empire.

"Right. I'll also introduce Rapsonile as my wife tomorrow, and I'll become the true emperor."

Saying that, Ignomas stood up from the throne and raised his hands to the sky.

(That really looks like something a muscle brain would do.)

Allen felt like he could not spare more time asking them questions.

They did not seem to know where to find Sinorom, and they likely had no idea what had happened to Peromus either.

Allen bowed to them, and left the throne room.