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

Chapter 330: Team Kiel 5, Banquet (2)

Kiel wanted to verify his suspicions on the current situation in Carvaluna and Carvalonea.

"Something you'd like to verify?"

He asked Muhan directly.

"Yes, we're actually part of the S Rank Adventurer Allen's party."

With that, Kiel began narrating the events that led him to be there.

How they were a team of three, all of which were members of Allen's party.

About the distress signal from the Holy Land that had brought them all to that continent.

How the situation in the Holy Land was under control, but as they investigated the source of the Pagan Worshippers, they discovered other places might be under similar circumstances.

And then how they arrived there after following a streak of light in the sky.

He wanted to know what was happening in Carvaluna and Carvalonea to see if that gave him any answers.

"I see. So the same thing is happening in other places as well."

Muhan was impressed hearing the Holy Land was already safe, feeling more reassured about his men hearing Kiel's group were on his side.

At the same time he wondered just what kind of person Allen was, if he was the leader of these two ridiculously strong people.

All the Adventurer's Guilds in the world had a shared network of knowledge, and he seemed to remember hearing something about an S Rank Adventurer appearing a while back as well.

"When was the first time you saw that streak of light in the sky?"

"Let's see, I think it passed by around ten days ago or so."

Kiel asked what they had seen there before everything started.

Ten days before, they had seen the light streak come from Carvalonea to the south, and fly past above their capital.

That caused a lot of distress in the capital, so they contacted Carvalonea's capital Mitopoy.

They asked what that strange streak of light was, but there was no answer.

Even after two days had passed, there was no reply.

Carvaluna's king could not wait for a reply any longer after that, so he sent a messenger to a diplomat in Carvalonea.

There was a fortified city with a population of roughly 100000 people called Kurmei, located around two days of travel distance to the north.

The fortifications on the border housed merely a few thousand soldiers, mainly standing watch, while the actual defense forces remained in Kurmei.

Kurmei also housed diplomats and trading officials who handled foreign relationships.

A diplomat there received the order from the king, and had passed by the fortifications in the border five days before.

The trip to the capital Mitopoy took upwards of five days even on horse, so Kurmei also continued trying to establish contact with Mitopoy during that time.

As Kiel listened to that story, he began wishing Muhan could focus on only the important details.

Then he turned to look at Kurena who was wolfing down food, and realized that would contradict his petition to hear a detailed explanation of the situation there.

It was tricky finding out the best way to obtain the exact information one needed.

"What happened after that?"

"The diplomat came back in a hurry two days ago, saying the cities there were overrun with monsters."

There were so many monsters that he had been unable to reach the capital Mitopoy.

He went back to Kurmei, and apparently was going to ask the general stationed there to come help defend the borders.

"The general? You aren't the one in command here then?"

"I'm just the regimental commander."

Two days ago, the diplomat had gone to ask the highest person in command in Kurmei, a general, to send the army to the border.

"And that's why you said the main troops were not here yet then."

Since there were no big troops there, a general was also not present to command over them.

"And that's basically our situation. I had never even dreamed of such a thing happening..."

Without a general or reinforcements, the commanders had to attempt holding the Pagan Worshippers at bay by themselves.

There was enough space for more than ten thousand soldiers in those fortifications.

But there was little point to having so many stationed there.

"By the way, I heard Carvaluna and Carvalonea weren't on the best terms. There's no current war going on though?"

"There was in the past, but nowadays it's just small skirmishes. If we were at war, there would be a lot more soldiers here."

Saying that, Muhan seemed to notice something.

"Hm? Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just..."

"I'm sorry to pry, but if you remember some specific event, I'd like you to share that information as well."

"A few years ago Carvalonea decided to cut down on their military forces, and offered to sign a treaty to lower the number of troops stationed in the fortifications."

Ten years before the southern half of the kingdom of Carvaluna had chosen to declare independence and form a republic.

That prompted both sides to erect fortifications along the river to defend their territories. Some years later Carvalonea suggested relaxing the war a little, though not an actual truce, which led to a decrease in the overall soldiers in the border.

There were ten thousand soldiers stationed in the fortification back then, which felt like an unnecessary expense for the king since the soldiers barely had to do anything.

So the king agreed to Carvalonea's suggestion, decreasing the number of soldiers with Talents to the minimum, and moving the generals to other locations.

The king also felt that having most of the soldiers staying in Kurmei would increase the profits of that fortified city.

Muhan knew the fortification would not have lasted a single day without Kiel's assistance.

Having heard what happened in the Holy Land, he also felt unsure as to whether the soldiers in Kurmei would have been able to defend against so many monsters as well.

Maybe if Kiel had not arrived on time, all of Carvaluna would have perished in ten more days like Carvalonea.

Muhan and the other soldiers listening in realized just how perilous their situation had been.

"Urghhhh! What's this strengthhh!!"

"Hmph!!"

"Way to go Kurena!!"

"Ohh! She's lifting him with just one hand!!"

Kurena was holding up a soldier twice her size with just one palm.

The soldier's legs and arms dangled without recourse.

"H-hey, Kurena..."

Kiel was lost for words.

"Look at that, you're no match at all for her."

"Heh, that's easy for you to say! Urghhhhh!!"

While Kiel and Muhan were absorbed in their conversation, the other soldiers were unable to resist the boredom anymore and asked to spar with Kurena.

Their minds clouded by alcohol, stomachs swelled with food, they took it to the center of the room.

Now that her stomach was full, Kurena was in a good mood, holding up her opponent with just one hand which threw the audience into a frenzy.

Other soldiers asked to go next one after another, and Kurena happily accepted all of them.

"By the way, could I ask what prompted Carvalonea to split off?"

Kiel slowly returned his attention to Muhan.

Carvalonea's suggestion to decrease the amount of soldiers stationed on the border sounded like an agreement that benefited both sides, but was also an ingenious way to lower their guard.

Kiel was starting to suspect the Demon King's Army may have been involved in that somehow.

"Well, at first they said it was because the capital was in the north, which favored the northern territories more than their side..."

Starting with that, Muhan related how Carvalonea decided to become an independent republic.

It all started in Mitopoy, a large city in the south that then became Carvalonea's capital.

There had always been some complaints against the royal capital favoring only the northern half of Carvaluna.

But then a priest who claimed to follow Gushara's Sacred Teachings came and began riling up the common folk to become independent.

That movement eventually swallowed all of Carvaluna's southern half, which became strong enough to declare independence.

There was a brutal civil war at the end of which the republic of Carvalonea was born, separate from the authority of the king. That happened ten years ago.

"So the Evil Cult was involved after all."

"It appears so."

When Muhan told the story, he also realized everything seemed to have been premeditated.

Kiel had saved them that day, but many soldiers had already died in the past.

"We've brought some medicines that stop people from becoming Pagan Worshippers. We also have an exorcizing fruit that raises a barrier that doesn't let monsters get close to cities. I'll give you some, so I hope you can help with spreading them tomorrow."

Kiel wanted Muhan to send his soldiers to plant the Gold and Silver Beans he would provide.

He also offered to leave some Heaven's Blessings to heal them and restore their mana.

"A-are you sure? That'll help a lot!"

Kiel remembered what Allen had told him.

There are things that neither summons nor party members can do.

Something only the people of the land can do, and that Allen trusted Kiel could garner their support.

Kiel started to believe that his honest interactions and Kurena's simple and naive attitude had earned the trust of the people there.

"And well, to be honest we actually would like to get a map of the area. There might still be survivors in Carvalonea that could need help. I'm sure we can still save some lives."

"Ahh...a map..."

Muhan had a somewhat complex reaction hearing that request.

"It's not possible?"

A map could contain a lot of valuable information about an enemy country.

Just the location of cities and bridges could be incredibly valuable, but the maps in the fortification also had a lot of other details, like where Carvalonea's main industries were located, and other rather personal information about the inhabitants of the country.

It was all the information they had garnered after ten years of espionage.

Kiel was basically asking to see all of that.

"I'm sure we can give you one, we owe you a lot after all. Still... a general should be arriving in two or three days, could you wait until then?"

Considering how much Kiel had done for them, Muhan was sure his superiors would agree to share a map as well, but he simply did not have the authority to reveal that information to a third-party.

"I'm sorry, ideally we'd like to depart tomorrow morning. Could you at least show it to me then?"

"That's..."

Military regulations made even showing a map tricky.

But Kiel could not afford to wait two or three days knowing the type of disaster happening there.

"How about you make a copy on a separate parchment with just the location of cities then?"

"O-oh yeah, that could work, yeah..."

Kiel offered a piece of parchment he used to keep notes, asking if just transferring the information he needed could work.

Muhan seemed to be on board with that idea.

Though he still had to be careful about various details.

But then something else happened.

The entire room was thrown into disarray.

'It's so noisy in here. But I finally found you, Kiel and Kurena. Did you get the information we need yet? Actually, mind explaining what you're doing Kurena?'

"""Huh?!"""

Merus had finally finished taking care of the areas surrounding the fortification, so he went looking for Kiel.

But he was more disappointed seeing Kurena in the center of the room making a lot of noise.

He slowly approached Kiel, who was talking with a soldier that looked more important than the rest.

The thoughts of all the soldiers there were scattered in all directions.

They had been told to not drink too much as they could still need to fight the next day, but they had gone overboard regardless. Merus' presence cleared their drunken minds in an instant.

They were witnessing the young man with white wings and a floating ring above his head walking next to them, after seeing him many hundreds of times in paintings.

"W-why is the First Angel Merus here? Huh? What?"

One of the soldiers was also near the center of the room, struggling to find the right words.

He felt like every word he uttered sounded wrong.

Common sense did not match what his eyes were seeing.

But his confused muttering seemed to flip a mental switch in everyone there.

They all fell on their knees and pressed their foreheads on the floor.

Merus was an even more important figure than the king, being the messenger and servant of the God of Creation Elmea.

The entire room went silent in an instant, all the soldiers could hear was Merus' footsteps next to them.

'So, have you got the map yet? We need to be ready to go to Carvalonea tomorrow.'

"I'm working on that right now. Apparently he can't show us a map so easily."

Now Kiel and Merus' conversation broke the silence.

The soldiers' minds, awakened from their drunken state, finally seemed to understand how the miracle that saved their fortification happened.

It had all been God's will.

'What do you mean?'

"Apparently a map is really valuable around here so he can't just give it to us."

"Huh? Kiel, he won't give us a map?"

"Wh-hahh?"

Muhan finally realized they were talking about him.

Since Kurena's sparring opponent had basically thrown himself on the ground to kneel, Kurena also joined into the conversation.

"That's what I said. Apparently the general with the authority to allow that will be here in like two or three days."

'Who is it?'

"Hm?"

Kiel did not understand Merus right away.

'Who's the one who refuses to give us the map? I'll talk to them.'

Merus was going to take over the request.

Kiel turned to look at Muhan, who shook his head ever so slightly trying to stop his name from being revealed.

Kiel was not cruel enough.

"We agreed to get a copy of the map with just the city locations, which should be ready on time to depart tomorrow."

Hearing that, Muhan nodded with as much vigor as he could.

'I see. That should work then.'

Kiel finally understood the reason why Merus always refused to show himself in public.

As well as the reason why Allen decided to switch in Kiel as the Team Leader.

"Anyway. I see you've eaten plenty, Kurena. Let's go rest for the night."

They had to be ready for their departure the next morning.

It was going to be a busy day, so it was best for Kurena to get plenty of sleep as well.

"Okay!"

'What a mess.'

That way the busy and agitated day came to an end, the fortification secure and their required information on its way.

After that all the sobered up soldiers also made it a point to obey any of Kiel's demands, no matter how small.