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

Allen went back to Rabul, the capital of the Heavenly Country of Shandar.

There he went to the city floor where royalty lived, entering a room there.

He had 2 reasons to be there.

One was to make money. He had promised to pay 100,000,000 gold coins to the Five Continents Alliance in 3 months, which would be used to expand the Academy City to house more students, as Allen had convinced them to add one year for students to go through the Talent Change Dungeon before heading to the frontlines.

He was worried that his brother Mash would end up going to war soon, so to avoid that he had made sure he would need to be in the Academy for longer.

A man in fancy clothing was sitting in front of Allen, Peromus, and Cecile.

He leafed through a contract while thinking of something.

He was a noble called Epitany, and Peromus was conducting business with him.

He needed to sign the contract if they wanted to move forward.

(I see, so you're the one getting in Peromus' way.)

Peromus had been working here while Allen was in the Spirit Paradise.

He had met Epitany while researching the market.

"I see, hmm… I don't mind these rates, but these are quite large quantities. I have clients to serve as well, so how about a discount in case you don't prepare the items on time?"

Epitany twirled his mustache as he looked sharply at Peromus.

"I don't mind that, we already have the merchandise ready. I have the terms for delivery listed here."

"Hmph, I'm a pretty busy man. I hope this isn't too complicated."

They all thought that Epitany had a rather arrogant attitude, but they did not mention it.

Peromus mentioned that he had gotten better compared to the first time they met though.

Knowing Merus and Lupto were on Allen's side had helped, but Epitany was still far from having a good attitude.

(I see, I guess they don't know what happened in the Spirit Realm yet.)

If they knew that Allen had been working in the Spirit Paradise too, they would treat him better.

Still, they all tried to remain as calm as possible to not ruin Peromus' chances at securing the contract.

Eventually he grabbed the pen and signed the contract, which made Peromus sigh with relief.

"Thank you very much for signing this contract, Lord Epitany. And please try to mention tariffs sooner next time."

(Yeah, all those taxes imposed on us just dragged this out too much.)

As the deal went on, Epitany began mentioning that there would be additional taxes on any trade they made, as it involved taking items from the human realm to the divine realm.

There had been no such deals in nearly 10000 years, but taxes were still in place.

Compared to Allen's past life, they were ridiculous.

[The taxes in place to trade with the divine realm]

-1000% for weapons and armor

-500% for accessories

-200% for furniture and common wooden utensils

-100% magic devices

-100% for bread, industrial meat, fruits, vegetables, and other foods

The divine realm was above clouds, so there were very few sources of wood and food, but luckily it was not heavily populated either so they were managing.

"Well, that's mostly because I'm buying so much from you. It'll be a bit different once you need something."

Things were sold for nearly a 100x markup. Even Mormo Fruits that even serfs could afford in the human realm were sold for gold coins. And after trading for 300'000 gold coins, they realized they were not simply trying to take advantage of them.

The king was trying to protect the artisans of the divine realm, who also built items there.

Food taxes were relatively low since dragonkin were the ones in charge of procuring it.

They also obtained magic devices from Isiris, so they did not have to protect artisans there.

(I guess the nobles also eventually just want to get good food. No matter what age, those who live for long only want good food.)

Formar had told Allen about how elves came to be.

First the Great Spirit God Easley created elf lords from divine people to guard the World Tree.

They were given the divine people's long lifespan to accomplish their mission for longer, and those whose power was taken from to accomplish that became humans.

That was why elves lived so long, though divine people also could live around 10000 years.

[Lifespan of different races]

-Divine people 10000

-High elves and elf lords 3000

-Dragonkin 1000

-Elves and dark elves 300

-Humans, dwarves, beastmen, birdmen, mermen, 100

Divine people had the longest lives, as Elmea had tasked them to take care of the divine realm.

Angels would live even longer though, with First Angels easily living for 100000 years.

(Now then, I wonder if they have actual orichalcum here?)

"Speaking of which, Lord Epitany. I heard there's quite enticing items here in the divine realm."

It was time for Allen's second reason to be there.

There was something he wanted from the divine realm, and he would try buying it from Epitany.

"Oh, you're Peromus' master, I believe?"

"I'm not his master, just a friend. Either way, I'm counting on you to buy something."

Allen smiled, going fully into negotiating mode.

"Right, trading is an exchange from both parties after all. So, what is it that you want?"

"The human realm is currently at war with the Demon King. We need many weapons and armor."

"Ohh, weapons, huh. I guess it's true that everyone down below is always fighting."

There were no wars in the divine realm, so Epitany looked at them with disdain again.

Epitany's impression of Allen had worsened again.

The divine realm was overseen by the Gods, so there were no wars there.

There had been some times when the dragonkin took up arms and revolted, trying to improve their living conditions, but the army of angels would always come to the divine people's aid.

Merus mentioned that no matter how badly they were treated, they were not allowed to oppose the divine people. That was Elmea's firm ruling.

Angels were divine people who had been enhanced with the power of Spirit Crystal Stones, making them closer to Gods. The dragonkin had no chance against them.

That was another reason why weapons were so expensive there, the divine people did not have to fight ever. Weapons and armor were seen mostly as pieces of art there.

"Anyway, if possible I'd like to get some orichalcum. Could you get me some?"

"Hm? Well, I think I might have some in stock…"

"I want the one made by Lord Gaia."

"Oh, you mean divine orichalcum?"

"Precisely. Especially the type with the most divine power imbued in it."

Allen wanted to strengthen his weapons more, at least so they would not break in fights.

Both his swords had shattered at the hilt after fighting Nestiad many times.

So he asked Merus something.

'Is the orichalcum made by Gaia the same as Isiris'? Or are they different like mithril?'

Merus replied that he did not know with certainty, but Isiris' was an imitation of Gaia's, and Gaia's was called divine orichalcum, so they were likely different. There was very little of it in the world though.

Mithril differed in hardness a lot, with mined mithril being stronger than mithril weapons found in dungeons.

Apparently the mined mithril was imbued with Gaia's power, making it stronger.

Habarak also said that the mithril found in dungeon chests was all the same.

The mithril made by Gaia was always stronger than the mithril made by Isiris.

Essentially all the orichalcum humans could get came from Isiris, and that was why Gaia's was given the special name of divine orichalcum.

So now Allen was searching for divine orichalcum in the divine realm.

"Lord Gaia's orichalcum, huh. I guess that makes sense, since that's the God of the world down there…"

(Geh, this guy has nothing. I guess I'll just have to keep searching.)

Thanks to his overwhelming Intelligence, Allen understood that response meant Epitany had no divine orichalcum. He was not upselling it or trying to swindle them, he simply had none.

Allen had let Epitany talk as he pleased so he could examine his reactions and see through him.

But if he did not have any divine orichalcum, then chances were no one else did.

(I guess I'll have to search in the human realm again. Wait no, I have Gaia's Divine Compass, so maybe I can try negotiating directly…)

Allen's face clouded as he fell deep in thought.

Epitany did not seem to care, but Allen's friends knew what he was thinking about.

And so negotiations concluded with Epitany, and Allen was unable to obtain what he wanted.

He would have to work a bit harder in the divine realm to become stronger.