Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~ Chapter 368

Some days passed after Merle successfully Changed Talents and it was May now.

Merle had gone back to the S Rank Dungeon after Changing Talents.
She was hunting Iron Golems there.
Defeating the first one was enough to push her Level to 60, reaching its cap.

Shea was already Level 60, so instead she was working on gaining Skill Experience together with the other beastmen that would eventually go Change Talents.
Allen always prioritized making his party members stronger first, so he sent various summons together with her into the dungeons.
Unlike most other beastmen, Shea had almost never visited dungeons, so she was starting essentially from the start. But she was breezing through them, already clearing all the C Rank Dungeons, and only having two B Rank ones left.

Luck was going together with the dark elves, gaining Experience and Skill Experience in the areas surrounding the S Rank Dungeon.
Their levels were way lower than any of the other members of Allen's Army.
On average they were at Level 30 when they joined.
That was the same as a second year student in the Academy.
The dark elves also started in the C Rank Dungeons.
Some veteran beastmen went with them as support, and Allen also had summons around Luck.
There was also something akin to a private tutor accompanying Luck, who would give him classes on other topics during breaks from fighting in the dungeons.

The S Rank Dungeon was located in the Baukis Empire, which posed one problem when entering it.
Shea and her beastmen were let into the country easily, but the dark elves faced some difficulty.
The empire had a strong sense of greed, so the only people they allowed in were those that they felt would bring monetary benefit to the country.
Sometimes that could be in entrance tickets to the S Rank Dungeon, or merchants that would enhance the economy. The dark elves had nothing to offer in their current state.

But Allen's Army did have something the Baukis Empire could greatly benefit from.
There were Mana Seeds, and a multitude of Stone Slabs for mythril and hihiirokane Golems from the Iron Golems they would hunt.
The empire had a great need for such Stone Slabs.
Allen's party was the only one that could obtain them at such a consistent rate.
Once Allen mentioned that, the empire let everyone in.

Everyone in Allen's Army obtained their adventurer's cards from the guild in the Holy Land.
It was easiest there, and everyone would have a way to identify themselves.
Allen had rescued the country, so that was the least they could do in return.

Once the paperwork was sorted out, the elves trained to level up on the Academy grounds.
The beastmen and dark elves focused mostly on the areas near the S Rank Dungeon.
Two thirds of each race would go to the dungeons, while the remaining ones would continue working on developing Heavy User Island.

“Is…is this going to be our new home?”
“This looks like a city, but I don't see anyone living here.”
“Is that Freya's mountain?”

5000 of the people that had been living in the Holy Land were now in the middle of the newly built city.

The city had been built by Allen's Army.
Heavy User Island was around ten kilometers long and eight kilometers wide, more or less the same size as Hachijo Island in Allen's past life.
It was not the biggest island, but Allen wanted tens of thousands of people to live comfortably there, including the members of Allen's Army.
That was why the residential areas had been mainly populated with three storey houses.
There were different designs for the houses, some designed to house ten people living together, others for five, others for three, and others sectioned so people who were alone could fit in well.
The buildings along the largest streets and closest to the center of the city had their first floor modified so they could serve as storefronts.

“Chief of Erle and aides, I'd like to explain some things about the island at 3pm, so please gather in the chief's residence at that time. Until then please instruct the people to move into their designated homes.”

“Ah, got it. We'll do so.”

Allen had seen someone who looked like he would fit the role of chief, so he appointed him as such.
The 5000 newly arrived people would move into the roughly 1000 houses built on the island. All the residences were numbered and labeled, and the people were assigned to them in Niel before they came to the island.
There was a bulletin board with a large map of the streets in the city's center, which people looked at before busily heading to their new homes.
The part of Allen's Army that had been building the city all had high stats too, so they helped people move their belongings more easily.

At noon, a bell rang and provisions were distributed in the central square.
Food was being delivered in that manner for the time being.

First they had asked the Goddess of Fire Freya if she would mind a bell ringing in the city.
There was a tall clocktower with a magic device inside on the city's square, but a bell was more effective at relaying the time.

Allen was worried the noise might bother Freya, but she answered “It's part of human life, I don't mind” with a happy voice.
At least she seemed glad that they asked her first.

Three hours passed since then, and it was the arranged time.
The attendees of the meeting gathered in the chief's residence.

“Are you sure I should be sitting here?”

While everyone was finding their spot, a young man asked Allen.

“Yes, you should be in the center and listen carefully from there, Paramus.”

“Got it.”

“Hm? Then what about us?”

“You and your mercenaries can sit next to Peromus, Raven.”

Hearing that, Raven, Rita, and Milsy sat next to Peromus.

Allen had called there the city's chief, his aides, Habarak who had finished moving in with his apprentices, and the generals and commanders from Allen's Army, who would relay everything to their men later.

Allen's friends had left the S Rank Dungeon as well, and stood next to him.
They were discussing important plans for the future, so Shea and Luck had returned too.

“Well, let's start this meeting with a few words from the mayor.”

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“Oh, that's me, right? Hello everyone, I'm Peromus, the owner and representative of 'Peromus Collections Company' in Latash. I've been brought here to also serve as the mayor of all four cities in Heavy User Island. Nice to meet you.”

Peromus introduced himself politely.
He bowed afterwards, and seeing that, Raven and the mercenaries bowed as well.
The chief and his aides seemed a bit confused at first, so they just went with the motions and bowed too.

“A merchant? He still looks pretty young.”

“Hm? Peromus? Isn't that the company that's been getting crazy revenue lately?”
“What even is a mayor's role?”

(Oh? I wonder if that's another merchant then. Or maybe that's just how far Peromus' name has reached already. Then again, his company is ranked 87th in the world.)

Mutterings began to spread as people wondered what was going on.
Some of them seemed to know who Peromus was.

While Peromus was busy building up his business, Allen introduced Raven and his men to him, thinking that could be helpful.
Goblins were no longer an issue, so Raven was starting to wonder if he should go work in coal mines when Allen reached out.
He agreed instantly, deciding to work for Peromus and grow his company further.
Now Raven was the head of a group of around 200 mercenaries, who all worked for Peromus' Collections Company.

“Cough. Now that Mayor Peromus has finished his introduction, I'll talk a bit about what life on the island will be like.”

Allen spoke again, looking at the sheets of paper in front of him as he addressed those present.
The elves terraforming the island had helped him write that.
Allen was glad that languages and currency were pretty much identical in the entire world.

First he detailed the island, having an elliptical footprint and the tall mountain in the middle, atop of which Freya's temple was located.
There was a powerful fire enshrined on it, so no one should ever get close to the mountain.
Only Dogora was allowed to climb it without permission, as Freya's apostle, but no one else could attempt that unless they wanted to get on Freya's bad side.

“W-we promise not to get close.”

The chief of Erle vowed to obey those orders.

“There's a white dragon called Haku halfway up on one side of the mountain too, so be careful about that.”

“A dragon? There's a monster living there as well?!”

“Yes, though it's still an infantile dragon. He's being reared as a servant of the Fire Goddess. It's still small, but it tends to approach people the moment it sees someone, so if you ever look the dragon in the eye, don't expose your back and retreat slowly.”

He detailed what to do if someone were to encounter Haku as well.

It was essentially the same advice as when dealing with a bear, and whoever was in that situation would need to approach a Wraith A summon placed in a nearby city for help.
Thanks to the work from the Dragon A and B summons raising Haku, the young dragon had never attacked a human, but still had a somewhat playful personality.
Haku was similar to a small puppy, running excitedly towards anyone. Except that the dragon's footsteps would shake the ground.

Allen figured that rather than raising Haku at the foot of the White Dragon Mountains, it was better to have Haku in the island, where the summons watching over Heavy User Island could also look after the dragon. That economized on the number of active summon slots too.

Having a dragon on the mountain also helped make the people fear the Goddess of Fire more as well.
After a while, the dragon could become the island's mascot symbol too.

“Also, please try to pray to our Goddess of Fire Freya every morning and every evening.”

While Allen would not force anyone to do that, he wanted as many people praying while facing the temple as possible.
At night, the fire in the temple would be visible from the city as well, so it should be easy to remember.

“Of course, we'll never forget her kindness in giving us this home. We'll pray every day and night.”

The chief said while bowing at Allen.

“Only Master Craftsman Habarak and the blacksmiths will be allowed to utilize the fire from Freya's temple.”

There were a total of ten blacksmith shops on the island.
The workers in them had been taken together with their entire buildings and forges.
All of them came of their own volition, so they felt like there was no need to ask Baukis for permission.
But Allen still reported they had received that many workers from Baukis, just to make sure everything was done properly.

The dwarven blacksmiths would be in charge of managing the temple's fire.
Each of them had around ten apprentices as well, who would go in turns to keep the temple clean and tidied up.
The dwarves all used to live in Melkia, a lost country that used to revere Freya.
Freya seemed to be pleased knowing her temple would be looked after by those who had believed in her from the start.

The blacksmiths would build their workshops at the foot of the mountain, and watch over Freya's temple from there.

Allen continued explaining life in the island to the chief and those present.

Chapter end