The king was still debating whether or not to grant the title of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Allen when Princess Carmin made up her mind and interrupted him.
"Wouldn't that be an ideal solution, Father?"
(Oh? She'll cover for us then?)
"Carmin?"
"I'll go with them to Prostia, as Princess of Clebeur. Considering everything that happened, Clebeur's future is at risk as well. It was our failure as Clebeur's royal family that the Evil Cult spread in our country as well, losing Prostia's trust in the process."
Princess Carmin always had Clebeur's future in her mind.
The mermen prayed to the Goddess of Water Aqua.
That did not change whether in Clebeur or Prostia.
But Clebeur's residents began to stray from Aqua and began joining the Evil Cult, opposing Prostia's mandates.
That led to Prostia holding Clebeur in less esteem than previously.
More than a year had passed since the last time a Clebeur royal had set foot in Prostia's palace.
At this rate, they would only continue losing trust from Prostia.
Princess Carmin firmly believed they had to maintain their position as a vassal country, for the safety of their people.
"You do have a point."
(Hm hm, having Carmin with us would be helpful. It'd complete our disguise.)
If Allen's party alone entered Prostia as ambassadors of the highest level, it would be very easy to raise suspicion as they were unfamiliar with mermen culture and lifestyle.
Still, Allen believed he could talk his way out of any issue.
Even if they raised suspicion and they had to use force to make their way through, Allen did not care what happened as long as he retrieved the stolen Beast King's Emblem.
Having Princess Carmin with them would make things easier though.
"Also, we haven't heard from Lord Drescalay in a while."
(Drescalay?)
"Excuse me?"
Allen wanted to know who they were talking about.
"Oh, I'm sorry Lord Allen."
Princess Carmin then began telling him about her own issues and the situation of the country.
The ruler of Clebeur was always given the title of king or queen by Prostia.
Prostia had prepared a duke called Drescalay to marry Princess Carmin and become the next king of Clebeur, but their talks had stopped after the issue with the cultists.
If they did nothing to reestablish contact, the marriage would fall through, which could affect Clebeur negatively.
At this point, the only way to move forward would be for Prince Carmin to visit him in Prostia herself.
Now she suggested she go with Allen's party as her personal guards and delegation.
(Going as her personal guards would also give us the freedom we need, I see.)
Allen would get to enter Prostia, while Princess Carmin would complete her visit to save Clebeur's future, both goals could be accomplished at the same time.
"Yes yes, you have a point. This is our duty as royalty as well. Knight Commander Iwanam, could you accompany them as well?"
"If you order it, anything for you Milord."
"A-alright, you should go then."
Princess Carmin managed to convince the king.
Her reasoning made perfect sense, so he was on board with letting her go to Prostia.
He decided to send the Knight Commander Iwanam, who stood behind him, together with the princess as her bodyguard.
(Ohh, some token old men could be valuable as well.)
Allen's party would be going to Prostia, but the average age of the party was rather low.
If everyone was so young, it could also raise suspicion, so having a couple of old men in the knight commander and his knights with them would be helpful.
At the same time that gave them more time to learn Prostia's culture and lifestyle.
The entire thing felt a bit random overall, but at least the king seemed satisfied.
This way, Allen's party would transform into mermen, be named ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary, and go visit Prostia together with Princess Carmin.
Five days later everything was ready for their departure.
That was longer than Allen had hoped for, but considering they needed to contact Prostia and tell them about the visit, and load the cargo for the trip, it was actually a short time.
(Hmm, so this is the ship they use to visit Prostia. It looks pretty big, but also rather normal.)
Allen looked at the enormous ship anchored at the port.
They would travel to Prostia in the bottom of the ocean aboard it, but to Allen it just looked like an average large ship.
The only difference was that the oars were located at a higher spot, making it easier to navigate underwater.
Most of the cargo they were carrying was a tribute to Prostia, given Clebeur's status as a vassal country.
All of Prostia's international trade was conducted through Clebeur, Prostia's minerals and precious metals being sold exclusively in Clebeur.
Clebeur would then use the profits to buy whatever Prostia needed, and ship it together with a tribute back to Prostia. Such shipments happened many times during a year.
Sometimes the entire ship was loaded with items when it departed.
(Still, the harbor is quite close to Clebeur's capital. I wonder why they chose to escape inland before.)
Allen looked at the ship as he realized something.
Clebeur's capital was located really close to the harbor, probably to facilitate shipments with Prostia.
When the cultists began turning into Pagan Worshippers and attacking the other mermen, everyone began fleeing further into the land, even though the sea would probably be safer.
There were not enough ships on the harbor to house all the refugees from the capital, but that was no reason to just swim away.
The truth was that the sea was infested with sea monsters, so if the refugees swimming were attacked, they would be unable to flee back on land.
That was why the royal family formed that convoy of more than a million mermen and began fleeing inland.
It was also during that time that Allen and Shea met up.
(Zew and Shea's fortunes… I guess it's all the God of Fortune…no, God of Fate's work.)
At the same time, Allen began to think about Astrologer Temi's readings.
If she had not told Zew he would become Beast King, he would have never gone to the S Rank Dungeon.
Then she gave Shea a task in the continent with the Confederation.
Without that, Allen and Shea would have never met.
It was only thanks to Temi's readings for both Zew and Shea that Allen was able to meet them and work with them.
Allen felt like the God of Fate, one of the principal deities in this world, had crafted quite elaborate quests for all of them.
"It seems we're departing soon."
Allen was still thinking about Clebeur's royal family and Temi's readings when Shea spoke to him, transformed into a mermaid.
"So it's time already. Shea, are you sure you don't want to return to Albahar yet?"
"Yeah, don't worry. Lud is taking care of that."
There had been all sorts of conversations during the last five days, and they were able to check on Albahar's situation a bit more.
Lud had once been part of the Beast King's personal guard, so he was a good pick to visit Albahar.
Things had largely calmed down in the capital, but many beastmen with short tempers were constantly trying to chase after Bek.
Bek's whereabouts were still unknown, but three days after the attack he had been officially stripped of his title of crown prince.
But there were still no traces of where Bek fled to.
An investigation in the eastern borders of Albahar found that a large ship had been anchored near a cliff there for many days.
The day the attack happened, the large ship also vanished like it had never been there. At least that was everything Shea had been told so far.
"Are there people trying to get revenge from Clebeur or Prostia yet?"
"There are."
Many beastmen were saying things like "The mermen will pay with their blood for the blood they spilled."
Albahar was currently treating Clebeur and Albahar as a single entity.
It was also hard for Clebeur to prove their innocence, as they had no proof of it.
Allen was starting to feel like the armies of every country were easy to rile up.
While they disagreed on many things, the soldiers in Albahar's capital all agreed on their want for revenge.
"Though well, if they actually decide to attack, they'll need to rescind their position in the Five Continents' Alliance as well."
"That's why they're still discussing that. They know they have to be careful with the Alliance."
They had announced Zew and the Ten Heroic Beasts' participation in defending Rosenheim and the Central Continent from the Demon King's Army during the last meeting.
Everyone commended Albahar's efforts and cooperation in the war, since they used to be a country that never participated in such fights.
But if they attacked Clebeur, this year's representative of the Confederation, the Alliance's opinion of Albahar would change dramatically.
They would most likely expel Albahar from the Alliance.
(Hmm, so the Five Continents' Alliance will also get involved. I'll have to talk with Rosenheim's Queen as well then.)
Allen began to think of one possibility.
Bek's goal by stealing the Beast King's Emblem was still unknown, so Allen was constantly coming up with theories to be prepared with any situation.
"I'll tell Rosenheim's queen to talk with Albahar as well then. And Lud should continue keeping watch over things in Albahar."
"Sounds good. Hm, everyone's boarding now."
All the cargo had been loaded, so now the mermen were starting to climb the ladders and entering the ship.
The ship would set sail soon.
"Well, good luck out there then. I'll do my best as the Commander of Special Attack Units too."
Saying that, Kurena puffed her chest before saying goodbye.
"Yeah, I'm leaving Allen's Army in your hands. And Dogora's too."
"You can count on us."
(Dogora is starting to look more reliable lately.)
Allen turned to look at Dogora next.
He just nodded, knowing his duties.
Allen's party was splitting into two now.
Team Prostia was led by Allen, and composed by Cecile, Sophie, Formar, Shea, Luck, and Peromus.
Team Allen's Army was led by Kiel, and composed by Kurena, Dogora, Merle, and Merus.
The reason for the split was so that Kiel's team could watch over Allen's Army.
Everyone in Allen's Army had already undergone a Talent Change.
"Dogora, you're really close to reaching Level 96, so just keep going until you max it out, got it?"
"Got it."
Dogora had not reached his level cap yet, and that was another reason why Allen left him back.
He wanted Dogora to keep hunting Iron Golems until he reached the limits of Extra Mode.
No one knew just how high it could get, but Dogora's Level had already surpassed Allen's and it just kept going up.
Meanwhile Team Prostia would need to sneak around a lot, so Allen selected members who could move silently the easiest.
All the members of his army had their own roles they excelled at.
Allen was still talking to them when Shea approached Dogora.
"And remember to eat a varied diet, okay?"
She spoke with her usual voice for Dogora, sounding a bit worried.
"Yeah, I know."
Dogora's reply was slightly disinterested, but his usual bothered tone was gone.
All the preparations were done, so the members of Team Prostia entered a small boat.
That carried them to the large ship, and they climbed into it before heading to Prostia.
