Allen's party finished hearing what Lud had to say, and then returned to Heavy User Island.
When they arrived, Allen sent a Bird A summon to Clebeur.
They would need to visit Clebeur soon enough.
Allen suspected that Prostia was rearing Bek's rebellion.
Given Prostia's involvement, Allen was also bringing Peromus along.
Peromus had to go into Prostia no matter what, for Fiona, so when Allen asked if he wanted to come along, he immediately said yes.
It had been months since his promise to Fiona, and there had been no progress whatsoever.
Maybe going to Clebeur could bring him closer to his goal.
Kingship and Strengthening brought the Bird A summon's Agility to 35000, so it arrived at Clebeur's capital in just a matter of hours.
The summon placed a [Nest] there, and then used its Awakened Skill [Homing Instinct] to take everyone there.
It had been hours since everything started, and it was night already.
Still, Clebeur's royal family would see Allen's group.
A servant led them to a waiting room until things were ready.
"Shea, maybe it's best if you go back if you're so worried?"
Dogora spoke to Shea, who seemed distracted and with distant eyes.
"Hm? Don't worry. This is part of my duty as royalty too, but thanks."
Dogora was a bit worried for Shea, but she told him not to.
The coup had been staged in Albahar, in the royal palace that was essentially her home.
Many people she personally knew were involved.
Such a rebellion had probably claimed the blood and lives of many of those as well.
Dogora offered her the choice to return to Albahar and see things there, while the rest of the party took care of things in Clebeur.
Shea felt like it was more worthwhile to look for answers here, instead of returning to Albahar where things were under control again.
Some time later, they were all brought to a large conference room.
(Oh? Is it alright for all of us to get in here? Maybe I should tell everyone but Shea and Peromus to stay behind.)
Allen's party had gotten considerably large.
Luck was also with them now.
Allen had simply asked who wanted to come to Clebeur, and everyone wanted.
He was not sure if that was the best idea now, but at least it would be a valuable experience for Luck.
Still, he would let Clebeur's royal family decide whether they wanted to meet with everyone.
They were willing, so the entire party entered the room.
"Thank you for coming to see me."
The king of Clebeur was the first one to greet them.
"My apologies for intruding at such an hour. I just wished to discuss some matters as soon as possible."
Allen greeted him back, and then took the central seat as indicated.
(The queen and princess are here too. I guess they're responding as Clebeur as a whole and not just the king as a person.)
The king sat down in front of Allen, while the queen and Princess Carmin sat at his sides.
Then two other mermen, probably the prime ministers and an army official, sat with them too.
There were many knights standing a distance back from all of them as well.
They were essentially all of Clebeur's top officials attending the meeting.
"Thank you for visiting as well. From what I've heard from Princess Shea, I can tell this whole ordeal has brought you many grievances."
"I appreciate your willingness to help so readily as well."
The king spoke to Shea, who was sitting next to Allen.
"Anyway, I've gotten reports that there were people helping Bek's rebellion. And apparently they were mainly mermen."
Tea and sweets were brought forth while Allen went straight to the point.
It was already late at night, so he felt it was better to not waste time with pleasantries like before when discussing the Pagan Worshippers.
Sitting in the central seat, Allen led the discussion.
Before it was Shea doing most of the talking, but now Allen had to tend to his role as Commandant.
"Yes, that's what we were told by Albahar as well, but just like when we replied to them, Clebeur had no involvement whatsoever."
The king firmly stated that Clebeur was not involved with Bek.
(Hmm, he sounds like he's telling the truth.)
Allen turned to the queen, Princess Carmin, the other officials, and all of them seemed to share that sentiment.
"So would you say the Prostia Empire was involved instead?"
Allen could not read minds, but he spoke with conviction as if he knew that was true.
"...That's not something we can say for sure."
The mermen involved were strong enough to stand toe-to-toe with the Ten Heroic Beasts and the Beast King's personal guard, so they had to be considerably strong.
If it was not Clebeur that sent those mermen, the only other alternative was Prostia, but the king did not have any such knowledge.
(Well, I guess they had no reason to tell Clebeur about it.)
Allen had tried to learn things about Prostia for a while, but there were still many things shrouded in mystery.
The only detailed information he could get was the items and materials they imported.
Knowing their imports led him to guess what they were trying to obtain.
"I see."
Clebeur was even smaller than Latash, and they really did not seem to know what Prostia's objectives were.
Clebeur's only reason to exist was to give Prostia a piece of land above the sea.
There was little information they could offer.
"...However…"
"Hm?"
The king seemed to remember something.
But it also felt like he was trying to gather courage first.
"...I've heard there's unrest and constant discussion between the empire's military authorities. It's only a rumor so I don't know how reliable that information is."
"Thank you very much."
(I guess that means the military was mobilized then. That's good to know,)
That essentially meant the king of Clebeur had just leaked confidential information about Prostia as well.
Allen looked at both the queen and princess, and they seemed to have made up their minds as well.
They were willing to do that for the heroes that saved their country.
(But hmm, that still means we have to get into Prostia somehow.)
Now Allen had one more reason to visit Prostia.
One was to gather Sacred Beads and meet the Sacred Fish Makris.
That would also help Peromus complete Fiona's quest.
The other was to follow leads about Bek's coup, and to stop whatever he was scheming together with Prostia.
Bek's objective was to destroy the human race that threatened beastmen, yet he had fled without becoming Beast King.
Prostia was helping him for some inexplicable reason.
Allen had no idea what was being planned by either side, but he could not ignore it.
Thinking of all that, he spoke to Shea sitting next to him.
"Shea, if we retrieve the stolen Beast King's Emblem from Bek, would that make you Beast King?"
(The commotion happened while they were discussing whether Shea or Zew would become Beast King after all.)
Bek had stolen the Beast King's Emblem from the royal palace, which was a set of a weapon, armor, and a Sacred Bead.
In the end, no decision was reached as to who the next Beast King would be.
Both of them had fulfilled their tasks.
That was an unprecedented event in beastmen history, and everyone's viewpoints were torn in the palace.
Now they had established a new task.
Whoever caught Bek and retrieved the stolen items would become Beast King.
That felt like a very fair decision for everyone involved.
Allen would obviously help her, but they had become allies willingly so it was considered fair.
A King does not fight with his own power alone.
Establishing connections, allies, treating others with respect, bringing happiness to the people and being loved by them, those were all part of the duties of the person on the throne.
(I still feel like that might shave off many years off Zew's lifespan though.)
Zew's wife was a terrifying woman, and she firmly believed that her husband was the only person who could become Beast King.
If he did not obtain the throne, his life itself might be at peril at her hands.
But that was something he could think about later.
"Yes, it would, though…"
Shea shared Allen's idea.
There was nothing else that would prove her suitability as Beast King more than that.
Only one thing made that tricky, which she hinted at by looking at the king.
"I'm really sorry. I can't give you a pass."
The king firmly denied them the entry pass to Prostia.
He bowed as he said that, his head nearly hitting the table.
Neither the queen or princess tried to stop him.
That was something he could simply not do as the king.
"Which pass are you referring to, though? If memory serves, there's a pass given by Clebeur, and another given by Prostia."
There were two types of entry passes.
One of them was given out by Clebeur, and could only be used by mermen.
That was all mermen needed to be allowed into Prostia.
The other type was given out by Prostia, and allowed anyone that was not a merman to enter.
That pass allowed non-mermen races to breathe under the water, since Prostia was located at the bottom of the ocean.
The pass had a blessing from the Goddess of water Aqua.
"Prostia's, of course. They firmly denied my inquiries."
seemed that Clebeur's king had been trying to vouch for Allen.
"Even though Bek was allowed in there?"
"I-I can't say that happened for sure, as I mentioned earlier."
(Well, I guess I can't really accuse him. It's not like we have definite proof that Prostia is in there.)
All Allen knew was that Bek had attacked the royal palace with the help of mermen.
There was nothing concrete linking that to influence by Prostia yet.
But if Bek had gotten into Prostia, then that meant they personally granted him the pass.
It was best to continue under the assumption that Bek had entered Prostia.
"That's an issue. If we can't get into Prostia, then…"
Sophie was starting to sound worried.
"Well, I guess we really need to get into Prostia somehow."
"I know, but Master Allen…"
Sophie felt like this was truly impossible.
"Your Majesty, would it be possible for us to obtain the passes granted by Clebeur?"
"I could do that, of course, but…"
(That's all I need to hear. Time to get some.)
Now that the king had said yes to that question, he would use that as an unretractable offer.
Allen's friends also started to notice something was a little off.
Humans, elves, or beastment could not breathe or live normally in Prostia, but Allen acted like that did not matter.
They wanted to know what fueled that conviction.
It was likely that Allen had already formulated a secret plan.
"Allen, do you have a way we could breathe in Prostia?"
Cecile asked what everyone was wondering.
Allen liked to experiment with everything he got his hands on, so it was likely he already knew of a way to deal with this situation.
"I do. This feels really familiar in fact. I've experienced this many times in the past."
(There's countries like this literally everywhere.)
Allen was used to this kind of situation.
It was often the case in the games he played that he was not allowed into a country he wanted to visit.
Sometimes he would not have a necessary key, or the means of transportation to get there.
Sometimes they would also refuse entry, like this time.
There were countries, villages, or castles that would not let the player in unless they were a certain race.
Sometimes an elven village hated humans, so he could not get in and progress the story.
Other times he could not get inside a Demon King's castle, and he had to find other ways in.
He could put one of the methods he used back then to good use here.
"This will be the first time I show this in public. But we'll use the most cliche way to get inside. Taco, use Mimic on me."
Rather than explaining to everyone, he decided to show them instead.
'As you requested, Mimic only for you, Master Allen.'
Allen had told his Fish A summon to use its Awakened Skill [Mimic].
"""?!"""
The king, queen, Princess Carmin, and all the other officials and knights were shocked. An enormous octopus appeared outside the room.
Its entire body was around thirty meters long, so only its face and mouth were visible through the window.
A round bubble appeared on the summon's cylindrical mouth.
It was inflated like a balloon before floating through the air until it hit Allen.
PLOP!
The moment the bubble hit him, there was a sound like a ninja's smoke bomb being set off.
Then Allen's body changed greatly.
"M-Master Allen, Master Allen?! Huh? Why do you look like that?!"
"Ghfwha!"
Sophie was in shock, while the royal family was struggling to form words, standing up in shock.
They were seeing a merman with Allen's face.
(Hmm, so this is a merman's body.)
Allen looked and touched the webbed fingers on his hands, which aided with underwater movement.
"What?! Allen, why do you look like a merman?!"
Cecile also raised her voice.
Everyone was shocked seeing that change in Allen.
"I'm sorry, but I still have two more transformations!"
(I always wanted to quote that.)
Allen felt like he had just accomplished a life-long dream.
"What does that even mean!!"
Not even Cecile could keep up this time with Allen's references.
"Anyway, we can get the passes from Clebeur, so we're going to Prostia!"
Allen was certain they would finally travel to that faraway land at the bottom of the ocean.
