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

The ship Allen's group boarded traveled a few dozen meters above the seabed, cruising for many days.

Allen was unable to return to the surface during those days, staying in the boat all the time.

"Luck, what are you doing all morning? Is that fun?"

Allen's friends also got used to life underwater.

After waking up, Cecile visited the room where everyone stayed during the day, seeing Luck playing inside.

"Yeah, do you wanna try too?"

"I'm good. It's almost time to eat."

Luck swimming up close to the ceiling, his back facing down as he circled around the room.

He seemed to be enjoying the feeling of weightlessness.

Cecile told Luck to get down soon so he could eat breakfast.

The bottom of the ocean had been a mesmerizing sight at first, but now no one paid it any attention.

Allen felt like any scenery could grow stale and boring after enough time.

(Alright, this month I'll reach Skill Level 9 with Summoner for sure.)

Allen had been inside the ship for many days already, traveling underwater.

During all those days, he had been unable to go help Kiel's team with hunting Gordino or the Iron Golems.

If he really needed to, Allen could use the Bird A summon's Awakened Skill [Homing Instinct] to travel to the S Rank Dungeon from the ship.

But having defeated Gordino so many times, he had obtained enough valuable items.

He felt like focusing on leveling up his Summoner Skill was more important now.

At first he was considering using Merus' help and reach Skill Level 9 by December, but then he ended up having to go to Prostia.

He decided to use all the down-time during the trip to reach that level even faster.

He had also started using Peromus' company's connections to buy up Magic Stones from all over the world.

They were obtaining many items from hunting Iron Golems, but not all of them could be used in his Army or to aid the townsfolk of the island.

So he decided to use the excess to buy Magic Stones, which he would use to gain Skill Experience to level up his Summoner Skill.

He also had Merus constantly making Mana Seeds, which were placed into their Inventory.

Merus' eyes were starting to look devoid of life lately.

"I see everyone is here. Breakfast will be served shortly."

The servants from Clebeur brought in their breakfast.

"Ohh!"

Slightly swollen bread was brought on plates, which seemed to sway in the current.

Luck answered energetically as he headed down to his seat.

Everyone was eating breakfast together.

"Allen, happy birthday. We have to throw a proper party tonight."

"Hm? Ah, thanks."

Everyone was still eating when Cecile congratulated Allen.

It was November first, meaning Allen had just turned 16.

"Oh, you're right. Congratulations, Master Allen."

Sophie also seemed to remember, congratulating him after Cecile.

High elves could live for more than a thousand years, so unlike humans, they cared little about birthdays.

"Hm? How old is Allen now then?"

"Sixteen."

"Ohh! Sixteen! Congratulations!!"

Luck also joined in.

They were eating underwater, and talking a lot, so their food was starting to drift away.

There was water all around them, and it was easy to get particles floating around like there was a strong wind, so apparently eating carefully was a big point of mermen manners.

Since they were underwater, even things that usually were too heavy for wind would drift around.

That was another reason why soups were essentially never eaten there.

Their diet focused heavily on not dirtying the water.

Rather than an air purifier, they had a small magic device that cleaned the water.

That magic device took care of eliminating any gunk that was produced by their bodies.

Such things were necessary for merman life.

That was another reason why Allen had installed that large Water Purifier in Heavy User Island.

If the water was not kept clean, infections and other diseases could spread quickly.

That was very important for life underwater, so mermen were always buying magic devices from Baukis.

Such necessities were another reason why Clebeur was built, enabling trade with other countries on the surface.

Now that Allen was a merman as well, he started caring a lot more for water quality.

Maybe that was another trait transforming into a merman brought forth.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

Shea noticed a change in Allen's countenance.

The moment he mentioned being sixteen, he seemed to remember something.

"Oh, it's nothing, just thinking that I'm finally 16. In my world, when someone turns 16, their mom wakes them up early in the morning and takes them to the castle. I was just thinking that I'm 16 here now too."

"Oh? You go to the castle at 16?"

Usually Allen never spoke about his past life, but he mentioned it now.

And it was a rather bizarre topic at that.

Shea had been told before that Allen came from a different world.

The God of Creation Elmea had brought him from another world, so he could defeat the Demon King here.

There were no other people that came from a different world here, so it was an unprecedented event.

Allen had scoured the Academy's library for any stories of past heroes, looking for any story or legend that suggested someone came from a different world, but found nothing.

It was a bizarre story, but at least Shea believed it was true.

Mostly because she had been present when Allen and Kyubel talked with each other, back when Gushara was occupying the floating island.

After that strange conversation, they had to fight Gushara.

There was the fight with the Beast King too.

Allen's decision to terraform Heavy User Island and get people living there.

His goals seemed to always be well-defined, pushing him to cooperate with the Hero's Army to defeat the Demon King more easily too.

Now she was wondering just why Allen would be taken to a castle at 16.

"Ah, well in my world when you turn 16, the king gives you a small allowance and sends you away from your hometown to defeat the Demon King. Actually no, it's not everyone, it's just that my father was a hero."

Shea and everyone else's gazes fixated on him, so Allen had to continue talking somehow.

As he spoke, he felt like that story felt rather Hell-Mode too.

"Ohh, so you come from a family of heroes. And then you managed to defeat the Demon King!"

Shea and the rest were starting to believe that there was no Demon King Allen could not defeat.

This was all a half-joke for Allen, but he still wanted everyone to believe he could defeat the Demon King.

"Okay, I'm kidding, it's a joke."

"What are you saying? Don't feel embarrassed now, feel proud of it even if it happened in a different world."

Shea told him to keep his head high.

(Oh, they actually took it seriously.)

That made Allen think of his actual father.

His father had worked hard every day, just so Allen could spend the entire day playing games. He was similarly grateful to him as to Rodan.

Allen was 35 when he came to this world, and he hoped the rest of his father's life was a calm one.

Slowly memories of his father came rushing back. He had just intended to joke a bit, but now he could not stop thinking about him.

"...So your father back there was also a hero."

Cecile felt like she was starting to understand why Allen felt so much gratitude for Rodan.

As Cecile grew up, some of Allen's actions started to make sense.

Allen greatly valued his family.

Now she understood that his past memories fueled that.

"Yeah, I guess so. Unlike me."

He denied being one himself, but he called his past father a hero.

"I'm sure you'll become one too. Or actually, you're one already."

He had stopped Rosenheim's invasion, and defeated the Evil Cult.

His friends began to wonder just what his family was like, for him to deny being a hero so fervently.

'Everyone aboard, sorry for the long wait. We'll be arriving at the Imperial Capital of Patlanta shortly, everything's on schedule.'

As if interrupting their conversation, a broadcast was sent through the magic devices.

Those magic devices had been built in Baukis as well.

Clebeur's royal family had told him they were quite expensive, since they needed to work underwater.

"Imperial Capital Patlanta? Ohh, cooool! There's a city on top of a flower!!"

Luck stood up and went to look out of the window, a breathtaking scene awaiting outside.

Allen and the rest also went to the window.

There was a giant crystal flower, more than a hundred kilometers in size, with a city built on top.

There were around a million mermen living on top of that crystal flower.

(Oh oh, So Prostia's capital is essentially built on top of coral.)

Allen felt like there were many details he had not been told.

The ship began lowering its speed as it neared the port.

After some time, thick and large chains were wrapped around the ship to keep it from drifting.

"I wonder if we can step out now."

They had arrived at Patlanta safely, so Allen already thought of his next move.

Once they were out of the ship, they headed to the place were all the cargo from Clebeur for Prostia would be offloaded.

"Seriously, why did you have to come at this time… Come on, move faster. The next ship is about to arrive!!"

Some important official was there, in charge of looking over all the tributes offered to Prostia, while constantly complaining about everything.

From his getup and attitude it was easy to guess this port was heavily used, and quite important.

All the cargo for Prostia on the ship had been picked in a rush.

But there were other vassal countries and provinces that had to pay tributes to Patlanta.

Everything was gathered in Prostia, for the emperor.

Patlanta was the hub where all the tributes from other countries and provinces were gathered.

Every year they also had tributes to pay.

Because of that, there was a constant flow of ships arriving at the port.

(Ohh, so he's the one in charge of this port.)

The reason why the official was so angry was that there was a large backlog of ships arriving, but Clebeur had ignored that schedule and arrived without asking.

The official showed his emotions bluntly, angrily shouting instructions to the workers around him, so Allen frowned and approached him.

"What does this mean? We come here in such a rush and this is the reception we get?"

"Hm? And who are you supposed to be?"

The official was confused, this was his first time seeing Allen.

"I'm Alec, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. I came together with a suitable tribute."

(I'll have to make sure I don't forget my fake name.)

"...Alec, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary?"

The official looked at him with even more suspicion, having never heard that name before.

"Yes, I'm paying a visit here, representing His Majesty the King of Clebeur."

With that, Allen's conversation with the official checking the tributes started.