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

Allen closed the Grimoire after checking the group's stats.

(Let's see how much we got now.)

Then he took out a card the size of his adventurer's card, which he had bought from the God of Trading Marne's market.

(Oh, it's already got 200'000'000 points.)

A display blinked saying [200mil. Points].

"What, you teleported out of the magic ship to buy that earlier?"

"Yeah, Marne already told us he'll give us the money we need, so maybe this will help with the exchange."

Allen was holding a [Faith Card]. He paid a cube in the God of Trading Marne's market 10000 gold coins as an initial deposit for it.
Allen had calculated that 1 gold coin was worth around 100'000 yen, so 10000 gold coins were worth around 1000'000'000 yen.
Now that he had pretty much secured the 100'000'000 gold coins he needed, he did not mind taking from the Army's coffers to pay for that.
He had gone to obtain it while they traveled to the island with the ghost Ganira.

"What are you planning on using that for?"

Cecile looked with suspicion at Allen, who held the card while grinning smugly.

"Nothing much, I just think it could help negotiate with the Gods."

(Free stuff is better than anything after all. The gods also seem to want these Faith Points, so I might be able to exchange them for something, eheheheh.)

"You aren't going to keep wrecking the divine realm, are you? Also I know you're dreaming of something again, but can we leave already? Wha- kyaa?!"

As Cecile spoke, the rock they were standing on shook violently.
Allen's hit had split the island in two, and the pieces kept crumbling.

"Right, we should leave. Hm? Wait, rocks… Maybe I can use them."

Allen thought of something as he looked at the cracked island.

"What are you talking about…"

Before she could finish, Allen used the Bird A summon's Awakened Skill [Homing Instinct].

"Oh, welcome back. I saw the island fall apart so I was getting worried, but I guess you're alright."

They all teleported back to the magic ship's control room, where Larappa spoke to them.
Larappa and Piyon had been watching the fight on the screens there.

"We're fine. You two can set course for the Divine Arena. Me and Cecile will do something else."

As the Army's Commandant, Allen was used to giving orders.

"We're still doing something? We just got out of a fight though!"

Cecile was annoyed that Allen still wanted to do something.
Sophie, Formar, and Luck, who had fought the most, did get to take a break though.
Allen and Cecile went back to the God of Trading Marne's market, then back to Shandar.

"This is the entrance to the ghost swarm, right? Why did you bring me here?"

Allen was in front of the forest housing the ghost swarm with Nestiad.
He had tried challenging him many times, but he still had no way of defeating him.

"Yeah, that's where we are. No divine people hang around here, so it's the perfect place for some mischief."

""Mischief..? And you're gone.

Allen teleported away, leaving Cecile alone. Then he came back with someone else.
He had the patriarch Somei and warden leader Abigayle with him.

"What is it you wanted to show us? Hm? He's gone."

Before anyone could say anything, Allen was gone again. They looked at Cecile, and she just shrugged. A few seconds later Allen was back.

"Wha-?!"

Abigayle was lost for words at what he saw next, as Allen brought a rock tens of meters tall.

"Wh-what a magnificent stone!"

(I knew they would react like that. Stone is a valuable material here.)

The patriarch slowly approached the large rock.

"We were traveling to a Temple when we found a Demigod Rank ghost on a big rock. I figured you dragonkin could have a more plentiful life with it."

Allen then explained what he wanted to do with that rock.
Shandar and most of the divine realm was above clouds, so wood and stone were scarce materials. Trees could grow on the clouds, but rocks were rare.
That was likely because the God of Earth Gaia favored the human realm.

All the valuable stones of Rabul had been spent building the king's palace, as a display of authority. Meanwhile almost no dragonkin had the luxury of living in wooden or stone houses.
Instead they piled up clouds into what looked like snow forts, and lived there.
Even the patriarch's house only had some wooden doors and corridors, and no stone.

"There's a lot more where this came from. I'd like you to sell this to dragonkin and divine people."

(What were the taxes for items obtained in the divine realm and sold by dragonkin again?)

There was a bigger rock, 100 times the size of this one, so Allen told them to not hold back with selling the rock. And since the rock was unrelated to the human realm, it was not taxed.

"Wh-what?! Are you sure?!!"

"Just be careful with how you market it. If the divine people suspect anything they'll do everything in their power to worsen your quality of life."

It would not directly affect Allen if the dragonkin were treated poorly if the divine people found out he gave them the rocks, but he also did not want them to suffer needlessly.

"Of course. Are you really sure we can have such a large rock though?"

"I believe Abigayle might understand better, as he's been to the human realm with us. We don't really value stone a lot there."

"Th-that's true, the human realm is different…"

(Though I was born in a pretty shabby house that let in the wind though.)

Allen had fond memories of his time as a serf.

"A-anyway, how are we going to split the earnings from the sales then…"

They knew that Allen was trying to gather money, so they understood that was part of that.

"Right, we'll split it half and half."

"We'll keep half then?! Are you really sure we can keep so much?"

(Hmm, somehow that shocked them. But that's not necessarily bad.)

Cecile sighed watching Allen thinking too deeply about that response.
The patriarch turned to Abigayle, wondering if it really was alright to accept those terms.
He knew that Allen was trying to raise money, but he also felt there was some ulterior motive here.
Abigayle had also been present when Allen presented the Spirit Crystal Stone to the Heavenly King, and had seen how Allen used it to obtain a permit to trade there.

"...There's tens, maybe hundreds more pieces of stone where this stone came from. What do you feel when seeing it?"

Allen decided to respond by asking a question.

"Well, I can only describe it as incredible. This could be used to put everyone in houses of stone, so I can't thank you enough…"

The patriarch was not sure what Allen meant, but he figured it was best to just say thanks.

"No, that's not it!!"

Allen frowned and shouted loudly, acting with exaggerated motions.

"Huh?! Wh-what do you mean then?"

"You'll offer this rock to the dragonkin, sell it to divine people, and unite the power of the other 8 patriarchs, becoming their supreme chief!!"

"Supreme chief?!"

"Yes. Do you know why you dragonkin still have such poor living conditions here? That's because you're all split into 9 different tribes!!"

Even if the Gods favored the divine people, dragonkin were not inferior to them in ability.

(The divine people are trying to keep them segregated, which makes sense considering all the times they tried to revolt.)

The divine people had divided the dragonkin so no single patriarch held too much power.
If Somei tried to change that, the divine people would likely react in one way or another.

"B-but that's because there's 9 swarms…"

(That's just the Heavenly King's excuse.)

There were 9 ghost swarms in Shandar, and there were just as many patriarchs and warden leaders. Allen believed that lack of unity was the reason why their lifestyle would not improve.

"You need to unite! You'll become the first Supreme Chief of the divine realm. And Abigayle will be the Supreme Warden."

"I'm involved too?!!"

Allen wanted both to gain a higher title than they already had.

"But why Supreme Chief? With so many people, king would be better…ah, I think I understand."

Cecile understood while she tried to ask that.

"That prideful Heavenly King won't allow anyone else to have the title of king in this country. Please try to distribute the stone without raising the Heavenly King's attention either."

They had to be careful and precise with their approach, not rousing the suspicion of divine people, since they were backed by the Gods.

"O-of course."

"But be more assertive with the other patriarchs, convincing them to come under your wing. I've drafted tiers of discounts to make that happen."

[Plan to make Somei the Supreme Chief]
-Dragonkin from Somei's tribe: 70% discount
-Dragonkin that want Somei to become Supreme Chief: 50% discount
-Dragonkin that won't support Somei: 30% discount
-Divine people: no discount
-Provide a tribute of high quality stone periodically to the Heavenly King

"Oh, so the dragonkin who aren't supporting him will also get a discount?"

"Yes, that way there's still a sense of unity amongst dragonkin against divine people. That should also be a good incentive to increase supporters. And Abigayle, you'll be the Supreme Warden looking over the other warden leaders that also support Somei as Suprme Chief."

"I see. This is all a bit sudden, but I'll do it. I guess this explains how you already have an army at such a young age. Also, before I forget, here's the next 20000 Spirit Stones."

Abigayle used that opportunity to give Allen the Spirit Stones they had obtained from the swarm.

"Thank you. Take this next time you go hunting. You can also keep it in a magic bag."

Allen gave him a new magic bag, as well as a second Faith Card he had obtained.
That way he would obtain more Faith Points from the dragonkin hunting ghosts.

"Got it. I just have to keep it on me, right?"

"Yes. The number on the card should increase eventually. I'll buy those points back from you, in exchange for more weapons and accessories."

Allen would give Abigayle some of the weapons he kept for his army.
He had not thought of the exact exchange rate yet, but he wanted to give something in return.
At least both of them seemed to understand what Allen wanted to do now.
The two looked at each for a bit, and Abigayle seemed hesitant to say something, so the patriarch decided to be the first to speak up.

"B-but exactly what do you want? I understand you'll get a portion of the profits, but…"

They understood that Allen did not find the rocks valuable, but they still wanted to know why he was going so far to help them. They wanted to know that before they accepted anything.

(So they want me to spill the beans and tell them my true goal? Alright then.)

"Just like how you care for other dragonkin, we also have families we care deeply about. Now those families and the world we live in is in danger. We have to defeat the Demon King no matter what. I'll help anyone in the divine realm if it pays back with more allies."

"I-I see…"

The patriarch gasped hearing Allen's resolute words. He was willing to do anything to help the dragonkin of the divine realm even if it raised his chances of victory by just 1%.

"I also want to make sure my allies can live comfortably, but my family is still the biggest driving force."

"I see, I understand then. I'll unite the dragonkin."

Allen's words had also reached Abigayle.
And so the two agreed to go along with Allen's plan.