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

The contract had been signed with contract magic, so now they moved on to discuss the money.

"I'll get the payment ready right away. Do light gold coins work for you?"

"Yes, I'd appreciate that. I'll be looking forward to our future trades as well."

"Hmph, we don't really shake hands like that around here in the divine realm, but oh well."

(So he knows a lot about the human realm too. I guess it makes sense for a divine person, the ideal race created by Elmea with the longest lifespan.)

There were many races living in the human realm, but in the divine realm there were mostly only divine people. Though there were a few dragonkin hunting ghosts, and beastmen.

Epitany shook Peromus' hand, and the deal was completed.

Then Cecile felt the need to point something out.

"Still, this just means that you've moved your debt from the God of Trading to Shandar…"

"Just solving the issue isn't enough, we still get to keep our business running somehow."

"Hey, I'm still here. But whatever."

Epitany was shocked by how quickly Allen was revealing his intentions, simply because the contract had been signed.

(It's almost like I'm in a sinking ship financially. I just want to adventure without worrying about money though.)

Allen had been dealing with financial problems ever since he was born a serf, which led him to find ways to make his family prosper, then he began working as a servant for a mithril sword, and then as an adventurer he was in an insatiable quest for more Magic Stones.

Even now he was still gathering Magic and Spirit Stones as much as he could.

Now looking at the freshly signed contract, Allen wondered how much longer he would have to worry about his finances. At least he had obtained the moment he needed at that time.

(Good good, I already paid an advance of 30000000 gold coins before, so I can use that surplus to buy more Magic Stones. Oh wait, I should do what Zew asked before that.)

Allen always spent any money he had right away, so he wanted to use that surplus to buy Magic Stones, which he would then turn into Heaven's Blessings.

A security deposit was usually not something a person was allowed to invest though, and if he did that in his past life as Kenichi, he could have gotten into a lot of trouble.

But Epitany was still there.

Allen would be going back to the S Rank Dungeon soon, and he also had to meet the Beast God Garm, so it was hard to say when he would have a chance to talk with Epitany again.

"Sorry to impose on you again, Epitany, but could I have a word?"

Since Peromus was done arranging the deal, Allen spoke to him now.

"Hm? Do you have another deal to offer me?"

"No, this isn't about that. It's just that the Paradise of Primordial Beasts has started to become more developed."

"Oh, I'm not really interested in that, but I see."

Epitany did not seem interested in things outside of business.

"They've started hunting ghosts, but they don't have the necessary skills to process the materials they obtain from that."

"That makes sense. So what about it?"

He still did not understand how that was related to him.

"So I was wondering if you could let the dragonkin and beastman artisans learn from the masters under your umbrella?"

"What? You're suggesting we bring beastmen into Shandar?! Why would anyone do that!!"

Epitany stood up and shouted angrily at Allen.

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry."

(Hm? What about dragonkin then?)

Allen apologized by instinct after seeing how angry Epitany had gotten.

But thinking about it, Epitany had only gotten angry at the mention of beastmen.

That outburst of anger made everyone look at Epitany with worry, including his servants.

He seemed to start feeling awkward realizing that, so he sat down again while taking deep breaths to calm himself.

Everyone just waited to hear what he would say next.

"...I see, Allen. I understand you're always trying to become someone superior and more powerful, but such acts won't be enough for you to rule over a country."

(I don't really want to rule though.)

It seemed like Epitany believed Allen was trying to become a king or something similar.

"Huh? I'm just a regular adventurer. I may have a lot of allies, but I don't have such ambitions. It's just that many of my allies are beastmen too. Did I say something that angered you though?"

Allen did not mind acting with humility if it meant gaining information.

"So you actually don't know… Alright then, as I have lived for much longer than you have, I'll impart some knowledge on you. I thought there were also few countries in the human realm that accept beastmen."

"As far as the Central Continent goes, I guess so. But is there something innate to beastmen that makes them be shunned by other races then?"

Allen wanted to know more about that, as there were no beastmen at all in Shandar.

"Let me tell you then. When mixed with other races, beastmen are far more likely to be born. Especially when combined with divine people."

"Wait what? I never heard about that before."

"Oh, now that's something new…"

"You didn't know that either, Sophie? Though they never mentioned it in the Academy too."

Cecile was the daughter of a noble, and she had never heard of that.

Sophie was Rosenheim's princess, but not even being in that position had let her know that information. Though only elves lived in her country, so maybe it made sense.

Then again, it had been 1000 years since beastmen were driven away from the Central Continent.

(I guess their only duty is to protect the World Tree so that makes sense too.)

Elves were a race that lived near the World Tree, tasked with protecting the circle of life.

They did not allow other races to live so close to the World Tree.

Only dark elves lived with them in the past, until conflict teared them apart.

Then according to Epitany, when a child was born to the union of a beastman and someone of a different race, the child would also be a beastman in most cases.

They had lived in segregation for the past 1000 years in Albahar, but lately they had started to move out again, becoming more involved with the matters of the world.

That could also end up bringing up that concern again.

(So that's why they were persecuted in the past too. But I'm not saying the tyrant emperor was right. In the past there were only demons and beastmen after all, maybe that's why…)

Beastmen would reproduce much more rapidly by marrying into other races, which could lead to an imbalance in the number of people alive for each race. In a way, as inexcusable as the acts of the tyrant emperor were, at least that was one thing he had prevented.

Though maybe his persecution of beastmen had stemmed from that fact.

"That's a really interesting story, thank you for telling us. But in that case, if there are any artisans you know who would be willing to go to the Paradise of Primordial Beasts instead, then I'd really appreciate it."

"Well…if that results in their skills improving then that will also benefit me. Artisans tend to be really curious after all. I'll think about it."

This time he did not reject the idea straight away.

Or maybe he just did not want to sour things between him and Allen, since they would still be business partners later on.

The conversation solved many of Allen's questions, but brought up new ones too.

Demons had been taken away from the human realm when the darkness realm was sealed away, though not entirely, as a Demon King would always be born again, who would try to take over the world.

The dragonkin had been taken into the divine realm when that one detached itself from the human realm, but eventually a Dragon King would also be born, who would try to take over the world.

And then beastmen would always be persecuted and pushed to live in segregation.

(So that's why they stay together and fight to survive.)

Allen was also starting to understand Albahar's position.

Beastmen had been fighting against their fate for a long time, and Shea would continue fighting for their freedom too, so he did not hesitate to impart his power onto her.

After Epitany and his servants left, Allen spoke to Peromus.

"Sorry to keep giving you work, but would you mind staying here in the divine realm to keep trading with them?"

"Yeah, I can do that. You still need to gather more Magic Stones after all."

(Peromus, I promise I'm not trying to work you to the bone, this is just what business is like.)

Doing business in the divine realm brought in tens of times more profit.

Allen wanted to earn as much money as possible to keep gathering more Magic Stones.

He had raised his Level to what could be considered the limit, and had a steady influx of Spirit Stones, also thanks to Merus' new equipment. So now he needed to focus on getting more Magic Stones again, and he wanted Peromus to help with that.

"And right, you should also go see Nonfura and warn him to not sell anything shoddy."

"Got it. I'll do my best."

Whether a patriarch produced good or bad results, in the end it would affect all dragonkin.

Allen had united all the dragonkin clans in a rather forceful manner, so there was still a lot of friction between them, which would have to be worked out eventually.

After that Allen, Cecile, and Sophie left Peromus and went to the Earth Labyrinth, where Merle's group was waiting for them.

"Allen, you're finally here."

Merle held her arms crossed in front of her chest and smiled.

"Sorry I left you here for two months without helping more."

"It's okay, everyone got way stronger during that time. Let's keep doing out best."

Allen had also brought Rosetta and Gatoruga to help with the Earth Labyrinth, and also made the astrologer Temi undergo trials to get through faster.

"Hmph, it was about time."

(I wonder if Gatoruga will ever get better.)

"I know, Gatoruga. I'm just glad to know you completed your Talent Changes and that you've managed to form a pact with a Great Spirit."

Since Allen wanted everyone to do their best, he had made everyone undergo Talent Changes until they had 5 Talent Stars.

[Earth Labyrinth team (48 members)]

-Allen and Merus, Luvanka, Graham, Kuwatoro, Makris, a Bird E and a Bird F summons (8)

-Cecile (1)

-Shea (1)

-Sophie and her Great Spirits (5)

-Luck and his Great Spirits (5)

-Gatoruga and his Great Spirit (2)

-Merle and Tam-Tam (2)

-Admiral Galara and his party Stinger (15)

-Dragon King Matildora and Haku (2)

-Sacred's Rosetta, 2 Saint Kings, and 2 Mage Kings (5)

-Temi (1)

-Habarak (1)

(I'll be decreasing the number of Poppos and Hawks to the minimum, let's hope Temi can perform.)

Since everyone was ready and gathered, Allen could finally go back to doing RTA runs of the Earth Labyrinth.

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