Six days passed since Allen's group arrived at the divine realm.
They had been 3 days in the capital of the Heavenly Country of Shandar, waiting to meet the king. So far they had met various public officials and nobles, eventually reaching the home minister, who took care of domestic matters and had the third most powerful position after the king and prime minister.
They only got to meet someone so powerful in a single day due to the value of the Spirit Crystal Stone. But they were not granted the audience with the king right away.
Apparently the king's schedule was too packed, so they would need to wait for an opening.
Allen left a Wraith A summon in his office then, to get in contact faster, though that terrified the home minister as he thought the summon was a ghost.
Since they had to wait, Allen focused on gathering information from the divine realm, increasing his Skill Levels, and arranging the strengthening of the dragonkin.
(So the Five Continents' Alliance meeting is tomorrow, but things are ready here too.)
Even though the meeting was one day away, Allen was inside the ghost swarm.
Kiel was next to him with a silver cup, that was the holy water Elmea's church gave them.
Allen wanted to try cleansing Graham.
"Keep him still like that."
"Yeah, I know. Just hurry."
Allen told Dogora. The two had high Endurance, so they were keeping Graham still.
Even though Graham's body was made of blue flames, it still seemed to have mass.
'Wh-what are you doing?!!'
"Alright Kiel, we're counting on you."
"I know."
Kiel was not as daring as Allen, so he slowly approached Graham even though he was still.
He poured the holy water on Graham's head and chest, which began to glow as it seeped in.
'Ghuh!! What are you doing! My body- Ghaahhhh?!'
(It's working, it's working! Just a bit more, just a bit more!!)
"Wait, Allen! He looks like he's in pain!!"
"Maybe you overdid it a little?"
Graham was holding his head like he was suffering. Cecile did not feel like that was the way to treat an ancient hero, and even Helmios was taken aback, but Kiel still emptied the whole cup.
"Good good, now I'll finally get to catch Graham."
Allen assumed Graham had to be cleansed, so he took out the Sacred Beast Stone from his Inventory and pushed it against Graham.
'The Sacred Beast is still impure, it can't enter the Sacred Beast Stone.'
"Hey, what's going on? It still won't work?"
Allen looked at Graham with disappointment. Even though he kept convulsing in pain like a fish out of the water, he was still impure. Allen was disappointed that it still would not work.
(Quests with no hints like this are always the hardest.)
As Kenichi, Allen had stopped playing games with intricate quests, focusing on those with no depth. That way he always knew what to do, and there were plenty of sites with information so he never got stuck.
But now he did not know how to cleanse Graham, not even holy water had helped.
(I need to think more. The Grimoire said Graham can be a summon, there has to be a way. I just need to figure it out.)
The games he played growing up had few hints and took him a long time to clear. He tried remembering them and seeing what he could still do in his current situation.
In his past life he always tried to think of what the developers intended for a quest.
That way he came up with three possibilities.
1: He did not fulfill the conditions yet, but would later
2: He could fulfill the conditions now, he just did not know how
3: He had not fulfilled the conditions, but also would not be able to later
It could not be 3 since the Grimoire clearly told him Graham could be a summon.
That left 1 and 2, and he hoped it was 2 since did not want to keep waiting for something else.
If it was 2, then there had to be something he had not thought of yet.
"This is quite a roadblock."
The others were also trying to think, even Sophie got closer to Graham.
"Let's just keep looking for different methods."
Giving up for now, they all left the ghost swarm.
Allen would take Abigayle to the Five Continents' Alliance Meeting too.
He sent messages to Kurena and Haku to come, and the three parties traveled to Rosenheim.
Helmios and Galara also had to report how they would fight the Demon King after all.
(Teleporting is so convenient. I wonder if Isiris helped with making those summons.)
Merus had mentioned that Isiris helped with making magic and Skills, so the Bird A summon's Awakened Skill [Homing Instinct] probably came from her as well.
They all went to Fortenia, to the temple where the queen lived.
It was not a palace for the queen, but a temple for the Spirit God.
Allen had left a [Nest] on the entrance, so they just went up the stairs and entered.
Unlike in the divine realm, here Allen was treated like a hero and given unquestioned entrance.
Atop the stairs, Sophie turned around to look at the city. She was looking at Fortenia's streets, fully rebuilt and full of life, the elves smiling brightly under the World Tree's branches.
"Thank you, everyone… I never thought we'd recover so much in just two years."
When Allen was 14 years old, Rosenheim was invaded by an army of millions. The Demon King's army took Fortenia and the elves had to flee to the south. The city of Nest was filled with the cries of children who had lost their families.
Then Allen came and chose to help them. Together they defeated the Demon General Razel and pushed back against the Demon King's Army.
It seemed almost like a miracle that everything had recovered so much, but Sophie forced back the tears. She could not show weakness as the princess, and the fight was not over yet.
"Let me guide you to the waiting room for the meeting."
Looking at the clock, it was almost time for the meeting to start.
"Sophie, there's not much time left. Take Formar and go see the queen."
"Right, thank you. Let's go, Formar."
"Yes!"
They could use some time to talk before the meeting. Helmios and Galara also went their way.
Meanwhile the rest of Allen's party were taken to the waiting room, where they saw Peromus and Duke Grandvelle amongst other familiar faces, like Deboji, Peromus' father and the chief of Kurena Village.
"Hey, Allen. How's it going? Did you get that new summon?"
"No, it didn't work. I'll have to think of more stuff to try. Oh? That looks pretty good on you, I thought the ceremony was still a few days away though."
"I want to get used to them ahead of time."
Peromus was not used to elven clothes, so he was trying to get used to them ahead of time.
Chester looked at him with a bit of uneasiness. After many delays, Peromus and Fiona's wedding ceremony would finally happen there in Rosenheim, after the meeting.
The families of both were also here, though Fiona, her mother, and Peromus' mother were in a different waiting room.
"Are you sure this isn't a bit excessive?"
Chester said while looking at Deboji for his agreement.
"Y-yes, I know. Just having Duke Grandvelle present feels a bit…"
Deboji was the mayor of a small developing village. The most he could ever want for his son's marriage was a big party in a nearby city.
But then Duke Grandvelle offered to arrange a big wedding for them, since Peromus was Allen's friend, and the owner of a big company that had greatly helped the territory.
The only problem was that Duke Grandvelle did not have a good relationship with the king, so the only attendee of some importance would be the Hamilton family.
While they tried to find a way to make it a bigger party, Sophie suggested they go to Rosenheim.
She said the queen could prepare an elven wedding for Peromus and Fiona.
Duke Grandvelle appreciated the help, and the queen even got in contact with other rulers.
Albahar felt indebted to Peromus for trying to help Bek in Prostia, and even vouching to defend his honor after his death, so not just Prince Zew but Beast King Muza agreed to be present.
Meanwhile Pupun III from Baukis was interested in trading with Peromus' company, so he also agreed to be present in an attempt to forge a friendly relationship with Peromus.
Not to mention that he expected other merchants to be present, which was very enticing.
Since the ceremony would happen right after the meeting, it was listed as the final item in the schedule. That prompted even more countries' representatives to want to join.
Duke Grandvelle's desire to give them a big party had taken a turn Peromus and Fiona's families never anticipated.
Rosalina, who had bright orange hair and eyes, scowled looking at Peromus.
"Elven clothes and jewelry are so basic and ugly. And stop that Peromus, keep still."
Elves valued nature and simplicity, which was reflected in their clothes and jewelry, which contrasted with the showiness Rosalina was used to.
Even though Sophie was right next to her, Rosalina was blunt with her opinion.
Telling Peromus not to move, she adjusted the clothes he was given as best as she could to make them pop.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it. I'll go check on Fiona too when I'm done with you."
Rosalina then glanced at Allen, hinting that she would not be able to appear in the Five Continents' Alliance meeting because she would be busy with that.
Knock knock
It was finally time.
An elf knocked on the door, telling them that the meeting was starting and it was time to go to the meeting room.
"Alright, let's go Peromus."
(So, the meeting is finally starting. Let's get moving then.)
"Hm? Allen…"
Fiona would be in charge of the wedding preparations.
Usually Allen hated being present in the Five Continents' Alliance meetings, but somehow he was raring to go this time.
Cecile, who sat next to him, felt a strange and hard to explain sensation from that change.
