As Allen claimed the rebellion was over, Ignomas replied by throwing his spear.
"What?! Alec, you stopped that with your bare hands?!! Gnghh!!"
Ignomas was shocked Allen had blocked with his bare hands.
He had thrown the spear with the strength of both his arms, but Allen had barely twitched.
(That actually hurt a lot though. You even used a Skill to throw it.)
Allen was acting confident, but it had been a painful experience.
Ignomas was the strongest spearman of Prostia, and wore equipment from the treasury.
Allen had raised his Endurance a lot, but catching the spear barehanded had been painful.
But he resisted showing that on his face, to demoralize Ignomas.
"Give it up already. Also, my name is Allen."
(Enough of that fake name.)
Knock
"Ghah?!"
Since things were not going anywhere, Allen punched Ignomas' stomach.
Everyone could see Allen beating Ignomas like a sandbag.
Some soldiers tried to stop Allen, but Helmios and the rest stopped them.
Though most soldiers stood back, knowing they could do nothing if Ignomas was helpless.
Then they went to look for Princess Rapsonile, who was in the villa.
The guards of the villa let them in without offering resistance.
The moment they got there, Princess Rapsonile went down to meet them.
"Y-you got Ignomas… Thank you, now we're finally…"
The Demon King's Army had just been sent away, so there were still a lot of guards around the princess, who was still a bit overwhelmed and could not find the right words.
"Could I ask you to take charge of the palace again?"
"Of course. We can talk there too then."
(Hm? We could talk here too, but whatever. I guess it's more appropriate to do it there.)
Allen threw Ignomas inside the villa, leaving him there.
Princess Rapsonile also seemed to have something to talk about, but in the palace.
＊＊＊
Three days passed since then.
All enemies were defeated, and the events Prostia had to offer were complete.
Allen wanted to ask some things from Princess Rapsonile, but they needed a better place to talk.
A rather energetic knight took them to a waiting room.
"Hero Allen and friends, lunch has been served. Please follow me."
Allen knew him as Princess Rapsonile's bodyguard.
They followed him out of the waiting room, going through a corridor lined with knights.
"Hey, did you hear what happened!"
Luck tried playing a prank on the knights, who stood perfectly still.
'Luck, you shouldn't do that.'
"Okayyyy."
Luck stopped once Fabre reprimanded him.
(Hmhm, Luck seems to be in a good mood too. Maybe I was worrying too much.)
Luck had seemed stressed from his first battle, but he regained his spirits by being treated like a hero.
He had been waving his hands in front of the eyes of the immobile knights, and trying to distract them.
3 days seemed like a relatively fast time for Princess Rapsonile to seize the palace back.
While Ignomas was no tyrant, many had questioned his ability as ruler, so it was easy enough.
"Please come here."
They were led to a room best arranged as a reception room in the palace.
When they entered, a person who seemed to be the Prime Minister pointed to their seats.
Helmios' party had also been invited, but they declined.
He still had to report to Giamut about his involvement in the latest battle.
He had gone back to Giamut, to report on everything that happened.
All of Allen's party members sat down in a line.
They could have met in the audience hall, but it would be rude to have their saviors standing.
Instead it was more appropriate to have lunch with them.
Once Allen sat down, Princess Rapsonile came and sat in front of him.
As a mermaid, sitting seemed to be awkward for her, and her tail was visible from time to time.
(The princess' tail… I still have so many questions. Why couldn't they just use her?)
Even after 3 days, Allen still had many questions, even after talking with Peromus and Kurena.
One of them was why Bek's blood was necessary.
Shea had said he was closely related to Garm, and Peromus also corroborated his appearance.
Shea had broken into tears when she heard Bek used all 3 Extra Skills to let Peromus escape.
Kyubel had called Bek a sacrifice the entire time, and then had killed him in front of the altar.
Somehow his blood seemed special in some way.
Meanwhile Rapsonile was a descendant of Makris, Aqua's Servant.
There had to be a reason why they let Princess Rapsonile be, and went through the trouble of making Bek stage a coup in Albahar.
Not even Merus knew why they had chosen Bek over Princess Rapsonile.
He knew what had transpired, just not the reasoning behind it.
There were many things he wanted to learn.
But maybe some of the things Kurena heard from the Arbiter God could give him a hint.
"How can I repay what you've done for us, Allen?"
While Allen was distracted by her tail, PrincessRapsonile bowed and thanked him.
The nobles, candidates to be the next Prime Minister, remained silent.
Soon after they all sat down, the food was brought.
"Oh, this is tasty!!"
Kurena started eating like her life depended on it.
They had heard Kurena ate a lot, so there was a cook dedicated to serving her.
Allen had spent the last 3 days trying to understand what Kurena experienced to enter Extra Mode.
Thinking that much had exhausted Kurena, but eating was quickly restoring her will to live.
(Princess Carmin also looks very happy.)
Princess Carmin was sitting on the other side of the table, smiling as she watched Kurena.
Duke Drescalay and the empress were also sitting there.
It seemed like Princess Carmin and Duke Drescalay's marriage would proceed later.
And Clebeur had also restored the goodwill of Prostia.
Princess Carmin had helped Allen's party enter Prostia.
So Prostia thanked Clebeur for bringing those heroes to Prostia.
"How can I repay what you've done for us?"
They ate, talking about miscellaneous stuff, until Princess Rapsonile brought that matter up.
"Please don't feel obligated, I know Ignomas has emptied the treasury. But I'll leave the water purifying magic device as a gift to the new empress, so feel free to use it."
Allen would leave the expensive magic device that used 3 magic cores in Prostia.
"Wh-what? That's outrageous!!"
(Somehow I feel like he'll be the next Prime Minister.)
One of the nobles looked shocked, and muttered something into Rapsonile's ear.
They could not accept such a gift from the person that had saved them.
Prostia's wealth had diminished greatly after the rebellion.
In a way, Allen wanted to help alleviate that.
Rapsonile was clearly happy to hear that, but also a bit worried.
She also had an image to maintain in front of her people.
Accepting the gift with nothing to repay with would be a tricky situation.
After some silence, Allen spoke again.
"There is a favor I want to ask from you as well. Our fight isn't over yet, so there's something you can do to help us."
The rebellion had ended thanks to Allen.
Prostia had returned to its original ruler.
Everything had returned to how it was supposed to be.
"Yes, of course. You can ask for anything. What is it that you want?"
Considering their position, Rapsonile agreed immediately.
"Here in Prostia you have weapons and materials that I could use to fight the Demon King."
He wanted to open a trade route with Heavy User Island.
"Of course. I'm more than willing to establish such trading routes."
They had only traded with Clebeur before, but now Allen had access to their market too.
Allen looked at Peromus, telling him he would be in charge of that, and Peromus nodded.
"Also, we'd like to have Ignomas in our ranks."
"...Bring him here."
After some time, Ignoas was brought to the room, completely tied up.
His arrogant attitude as ruler had vanished entirely.
He looked at Rapsonile and Allen, wondering what they wanted with him.
"I'm currently discussing your participation in our army with the empress, I'd like to have your strength to fight the Demon King's Army."
"Wha-?! The Demon King's Army?!"
Ignomas shouted, his restrained body wriggling like a worm.
"I see. You can take him."
Rapsonile would let Allen do with Ignomas as he pleased.
"What does that mean then?!"
Allen wanted to have Ignomas in his army.
He needed as much power to fight the Demon King's Army, which always seemed to be stronger.
Ignomas and everyone that supported his rebellion would be taken by Allen.
If they stayed in Prostia, they would be executed or spend their life in prison.
It was better if they fought on the frontlines.
"You'll be fighting alongside us, to defeat the Demon King. Or would Prostia's strongest spearman prefer to rot in prison?"
"I…I see."
He was thinking what to do.
"Do you want to become a hero, or continue living as a criminal and traitor?"
(Though well, he'll be coming as just a soldier.)
Allen told him to choose between becoming a hero that fought the Demon King's Army, or to live the rest of his life as the traitor who murdered Prostia's emperor.
But if he and his men actually refused, Allen would let them be.
"So what's your choice?"
He asked Ignomas again.
"I'll become a hero, and make Prostia's empress my wife!!"
"Wha-?! Are you stupid?!! Y-you killed my father. Do you really believe I'll agree to that?!!"
"Bhuh?! R-Rapsonile! Let's not be hasty!!"
"A-at least speak to me with some respect!!"
(Luckily he's more of a musclehead.)
Rapsonile stood up and slapped Ignomas' face with her tail many times.
Everyone watched silently, no one had ever expected to see such a scene.
Only Kurena continued eating desperately.
"That settles it then."
"I won't agree to anything with Ignomas though!!"
Rapsonile had to make it clear she would not be tied to Ignomas.
"Of course. Though if he fights valiantly against the Demon King's Army he might actually return to Prostia as a hero."
"Ohh! That sounds really nice!!"
Ignomas was already imagining his triumphal return.
"This really is the land of love though. It's not common to see someone mention love in such a situation."
Allen changed topics a bit.
Rapsonile seemed to notice that change too.
"Hm?"
"We actually came to Prostia trying to accomplish a variety of goals."
"Yes, I believe you mentioned you were chasing after Bek."
Shea had told her how they got to Prostia looking for Bek.
"Yes, that's true. But the contents of the Tale of the Prostia Empire was another big reason."
"Ah, what Peromus wanted. You need our help with that too?"
That was the love story of Prince Makris, known in the entire world.
Everyone knew about it, including Peromus' beloved Fiona.
Rapsonile had also heard Peromus got there looking for a Tear of the Sacred Fish Makris.
"We'd be really grateful if you could aid my friend fulfill his love."
"Oh! Of course I'll do that!!"
Rapsonile clasped her hands together.
She also seemed pleased hearing her country being called the land of love.
"Allen, no, that's too much for me."
"Peromus, we just saved the entire country."
"Saved? All I did was run away."
Peromus felt like he did not deserve such a reward, but Allen thought differently.
He had set Bek free, and he had stolen the Sacred Beast Stone.
It was thanks to his work that they were able to fend off the Demon King's Army.
So he wanted Peromus' help to be repaid.
Both the imperials, nobles, and knights there wanted to pay back the favor.
They would decide the exact details later on.
After that, Rapsonile pleaded to Allen to let Makris pass by Patlanta once every year, so they could continue holding the Songstress Contest.
At the end, Rapsonile also had one last request to make.
"We also have a favor to ask."
"What is it?"
"Could you ask if we can get a seat at the Five Continents' Alliance meetings as well? We don't want to continue staying by the sidelines while you all fight the Demon King's Army."
A strong will could be felt behind those words.
"Of course. If memory serves, there's a meeting being arranged soon. I'll look into it for you."
"Yes, there should be a meeting around new-years in Latash."
Allen said that, and Sophie verified the date.
There had been a coup in Albahar as well, so the meeting had been rescheduled to happen sooner.
Prostia had never taken part, but they wanted a seat now.
"Alright, I'll take this as official confirmation of your participation in the alliance."
"I'll arrange the seat."
Sophie was good with politics, so she would deal with it for Allen.
That was the end of the rebellion in Prostia, and the discussions that happened after it.
