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

The Great Spirit God had tasked Allen with solving the problem of the Spirit Paradise within 10 days if he wanted to save Rosen and Fabre, and now it was the fourth day.

Allen had been working since early in the morning, and now it was already night.

In Fortenia's temple, the elves serving the queen and other priests serving Rosen were all gone.

The large temple was eerily silent.

Illuminated by the light of fire spirits dotter around, Allen led a father and son through a long corridor.

"Over here, please."

"Alright."

One was King Arbus, from the Dark Elf Village, and the other was his son, Luck.

He had been there before for the Five Continents' Alliance meeting, but now he was alone.

Since he came from what many considered an enemy country, Rosenheim's queen had sent everyone from the temple away, just to make sure it was safe.

(I heard there was going to be a festival honoring Fabre soon too.)

Thanks to all the Demigod Rank ghosts Allen had hunted, Fabre had become a Spirit God.

The dark elves were preparing a big festival to commemorate that.

Allen led King Arbus and Luck to the Queen's room. Inside he opened a sliding door, which led to where Sophie and the Queen were waiting. Cecile and Formar were behind Sophie too.

"Thank you so much for coming, King Arbus. Please sit here."

"Alright."

The King sat down, and Luck sat next to him. Allen sat down next to Cecile.

Sophie then turned to look at Formar, who was standing in a corner of the room.

"Formar, you sit down too."

"Yes, Lady Sophiarone… Excuse me."

Formar was also involved in the topic, so he had to sit on that round table together with the Queen and King. Tonies was also there, as a representative of the Spirit Paradise.

"I believe Sophie and Luck have already informed you about everything, but let me reiterate the current situation just in case."

Allen told them how they met the Great Spirit God in the Spirit Paradise, and how Rosen and Fabre were trapped there because of Rosen's sins. How the only alternative way to atone would be for elves to cease to exist, and how Allen had to solve the Spirit Paradise's problem in 10 days or the two Spirit Gods would turn into nameless beasts.

Then he also explained what he knew about the Spirit Paradise's problem. The Spring of Life had been split into two because of the conflict between elves and dark elves, since there were two World Trees to sustain now, and how the Spring of Life was important for spirits.

If the matter was left untouched, it was only a matter of time before the Spring of Life dried up.

Tonies nodded along as Allen explained everything.

After that, everyone went silent in the room dimly lit by the flickering light of spirit magic, until after a long while Sophie finally gathered the courage to speak up.

"I can think of only one satisfying solution to this dilemma. I'd like to propose something to the Dark Elf Village."

(Sophie's the one saying that. I guess she already discussed things with the Queen.)

Sophie was already widely touted as Rosenheim's next queen.

The Queen nodded as Sophie spoke, entrusting her with the speaking role.

"Well, I'm listening."

The King listened to Sophie attentively.

"What do you think about abolishing the Dark Elf Village, and we'll accept all of you here in Rosenheim?"

"Wha-?! What do you mean by abolishing the village!!"

Luck raised his voice hearing that.

"...That's not all of it, is it? Go on."

(He didn't scold Luck though.)

King Arbus told Sophie to go on, and Luck decided to learn from his father's attitude, though his scowl still showed his distaste for thinking of his own village's end.

"Let me continue then. All dark elves will be welcome to stay at Rosenheim, as we have plenty of abundance to house all of you."

Sophie then explained how she would solve the problem, which was making sure there was only one World Tree again.

[Sophie's suggestion]

-Stopping the shared supply of Dew of Life to the Dark Elf Village

-Abolishing the Dark Elf Village

-The dark elves will move to Rosenheim

-A territory twice the size of the Dark Elf Village will be given to the dark elves

-The dark elves will be independent in that territory

-Elves and dark elves will be free to trade inside and outside the independent territory

-Dark elves will be allowed to live in the capital Fortenia

Rosenheim was prosperous thanks to the gigantic World Tree and the spirits there

Letting the more than a million dark elves live there was easy enough.

"...That's quite a daring offer. But I appreciate it."

"Both of our races' futures hinge on this."

Sophie had thought of that the night before, and informed the Queen about it too.

"Also, the capital Fortenia has four regions in each cardinal direction, one of them can belong to the dark elves."

The Queen added that, as if bettering the deal herself. Fortenia was located in the center of a large grassy plain, which was entirely encircled by an enormous mountain range that rivaled Mt. Everest in height. The elves had four forts on that mountain range, each in a different cardinal direction, including LaPolca which Allen had helped defend from the Demon King's Army.

To show they did not doubt the dark elves, the Queen was willing to part ways with a fourth of that terrain, including its respective fort, and give them to the dark elves.

"So there's that too, hmm…"

The King closed his eyes and thought about it. All four forts had existed there 3000 years ago when the conflict started. Now the elves were willing to surrender one to form an alliance.

Allen looked around the room after that, everyone was silent and were thinking of how to respond. Though there was one young high dark elf who was starting to tremble.

"This is fishy…too fishy! Why do we have to get rid of our village?! We all worked so hard to make it a good village for everyone there!!"

Luck stood up, tears streaming down his cheeks as he shouted loudly.

The King remained silent, watching how much his son had grown.

(I guess Luck won't be convinced so easily. But I can't blame him, this is just an idealistic solution. Though I probably would've thought of something like that too.)

Allen recalled what the Great Spirit God had told him.

'I know you've always had good grades in the Academy.'

Allen had been confused by that at first. He had always excelled at going through dungeons, and everyone knew he had good results in combat training as well.

But now he was thinking back to the entrance exam for the Academy, and the written test.

'A priest and a traveler are about to be attacked by an orc. Which would you save?'

Allen had replied that he would save either of them depending on the circumstance.

The question was posed in a way that by saving one, the other would necessarily perish.

In a way, his response was not wrong. Sometimes one person could be saved but another could not, so Allen would always go for the ideal one to save.

Now he was in a situation where out of the Spirit Paradise, the Elven Country, and the Dark Elf Village, one had to be sacrificed for the rest to continue existing.

"Luck, don't get so angry. It wasn't an easy decision for Sophie either."

"Wha-?! Allen, and how would you know! Have you ditched your village before!!"

"Luck, that's enough!!"

Cecile reacted by Luck's aggression towards Allen, though Luck did have a point, and his emotions could not be stopped.

"Well… You're right, I've never experienced something so drastic. But I know of this. There was this country in the world I used to live in where water was also precious."

(There's always water problems everywhere.)

Allen tried to come up with a comparison. There was a dam holding the water reserve of a country. A river flowed out of the dam, and a short distance away was a city, then another village existed further downstream. Both settlements lived thanks to the river, but the people of the city could drink directly from the dam, while those in the village needed to wait for a lot of water to be released before it reached them.

"So in the end we had to ditch the village downstream, and they all had to move up."

It was a different situation, but Allen wanted to show that sometimes there's only one solution.

"We don't have any other option."

Rosenheim's Queen also added that. Letting the dark elves move in was the best option.

"No, there's still another option!!"

Luck shouted that there was a different solution than what Sophie suggested.

"Are you certain, Luck? Then tell us all."

The King and everyone else was intrigued by Luck's solution.

"If it's bothering the spirits of the Spirit Paradise so much, then they should just stop dropping Dew of Life to our village. We already survived for more than 1000 years without that anyway!!"

Luck was well aware of the timeline leading to the current state of the Dark Elf Village.

[Luck's suggestion]

-Stopping the shared supply of Dew of Life to the Dark Elf Village

-The Dark Elf Village would continue to exist

-The dark elves would forge a stronger alliance and friendship with elves over the years

(The dark elves were chased out of Rosenheim 2000 years ago, and the World Tree appeared 1000 years ago. So the dark elves managed to survive on their own during that time.)

Allen realized that Luck had a really good point. There were plenty of elves and dark elves living outside of Rosenheim or the village. They had units stationed all over the world, including some that stayed at Latash as diplomats, or the elves staying at Heavy User Island.

The principal of Latash's Academy was also an elf who had lived away from Rosenheim for decades. So while the blessings of spirits and the World Tree were important, they were not indispensable for elves and dark elves.

Even if the World Tree in Fabraze withered away, they would have at least 1000 years before anything drastic happened, and by then they would likely have a good enough relationship with Rosenheim.

"Hmm, I'll admit it'd be a bit humiliating to live as a dark elf without a World Tree, but that's still a satisfying solution. You've grown a lot, Luck."

"Thank you, father."

Luck looked happy being praised by his father.

"That is certainly a valid proposal as well. Though there's no telling on whether that would properly solve the problem the Great Spirit God mentioned…"

The Queen also found Luck's suggestion to be sensible.

Sophie also had something to add though.

"I believe the Great Spirit God wanted us to resolve the long lasting conflict properly. I'd still be worried about the Spirit Gods if the fruits will only appear in the distant future."

Sophie did not disagree that Luck's suggestion was a good one. But Elize's actions had been prompted by her seeing the deplorable living conditions of the Dark Elf Village.

If his suggestion did not show a good solution right away, then Rosen and Fabre could still be in danger.

"So what. We can just go and tell the Great Spirit God about our decision!"

"That's a bit troubling still. Formar, you were there in the Spirit Paradise as well. What is your opinion on the matter?"

"I adhere to Lady Sophiarone's views."

The Queen asked Formar just in case, but he would just agree to whatever Sophie said.

(Well, I guess we've heard everyone's viewpoints then. Merus, how are things looking over there?)

During that meeting, Allen decided to ask Merus about the thing he asked the day before.