New Quest

November arrived and, after a month's absence, the Baron finally returned to Granvelle City.

Although he looked thoroughly exhausted at dinner, he declared that the matter of the Viscount had been wrapped up loud enough for Allen, who was on serving duty, to hear, then ordered him to come to the conference room the next day.

When Allen obediently went to the third floor the following day, he found the Baron and butler together waiting for him. The table in front of the Baron was loaded with three bags in a row.

The Baron gestured at the seat across from his own, so Allen obliged. The boy looked up and found a conflicted look on his employer's face.

'What's the matter? He looks...hesitant about something.'

Eventually, the Baron broke the silence. "Allen, you've already had the lesson with the magic tutor, yes?"

"Yes, my lord."

Allen was now in full knowledge of Demon Lord history. He had learned the choices the nations had made in response to the actions of the Demon Lord and fully understood the situation of the world as well as the burden on House Granvelle's shoulders.

Once she turned fifteen, Cecil would have to enter military service with a fifty-fifty chance of survival, the very same service that had already claimed Mihai's life.

In a dejected voice, the Baron said, "I tried asking His Majesty if it were possible to exempt Cecil from her duty, but he said that she had to go, case closed."

After all, after being properly nurtured, her rare two-star Talent could provide fighting strength that the front lines so desperately needed. Holding her back was not up for consideration, no matter what.

The King gave his condolences, saying that it was out of his hands. That meant the Baron truly had no other way out.

'A well-trained mage can take out a lot more enemies than a well-trained swordsman, after all. This is all the more so for her, being not a mere one-star Mage, but a two-star Wizardess.'

"So that leaves me with one request for you, Allen."

"Yes, my lord."

'So this is what Mr. Zenof was referring to when he told me to lend the Baron an ear that night we camped out, right? Now that I have the full picture, it's easy to see where the Baron's going with this.'

"Please attend the Academy along with Cecil and protect her on the battlefield."

"Of course, my lord."

"I am aware how unreasonable my request is. Before you here are the reward for killing the murdergalsh, the reward for saving Cecil, and your wages for being Cecil's bodyguard for three years."

Each bag on the table held two hundred gold, making it six hundred in total.

The Baron cast a worried look at Allen's face. He was well aware that this boy was not particularly attached to money—he had given up his mithril rights without a second thought when he thought it necessary. In the first place, he already possessed over five hundred gold from selling the materials he had gathered from armored ants. He had no great need for money.

'Hm, I've already answered in the affirmative twice, but he still doesn't look convinced. I should probably say it one more time and make it clear.'

Right now, before his eyes, was a feudal lord in the throes of despair after having his father, brother, and recently, even his son killed by the army led by a Demon Lord. And his request was to protect his one and only daughter, preventing her from meeting the same fate as his older son.

"My lord, I, Allen, shall protect Lady Cecil with my very life," Allen declared, taking care to enunciate each syllable.

"You accept?!" The Baron leaped to his feet with emotion. "You really do?!"

The boy reached out to take only one of the three bags resting on the table. "Furthermore, I'll accept one of these bags, but may I ask for something else in exchange for the other two?"

"You wish to...exchange them? For what?"

'Hah, what a noob quest-giver. It's common sense that the completion reward is given after the quest is over. And how'd this hopelessly poor family gather six hundred gold anyway? Don't tell me he put the mansion up as collateral?' Allen mused.

The Baron's family was poor because he was shouldering a portion of the taxes his citizens were supposed to pay so as to lighten their burden. It would take a few more years before the mithril mining operation turned a profit. In short, Allen suspected that the Baron had gone to rather absurd lengths to procure the money sitting on the table.

Moreover, now that he had learned Demon Lord history, Allen knew that the other nobles—and even the Royal family—of this country were destitute. No one had the leeway for extravagance, drained as they were by decades of fighting against the Demon Lord. There was no way the Baron had six hundred gold sitting around in his ledgers.

"I don't need this four hundred gold. In exchange, please exempt my family from having to pay head tax."

"That's all you want?"

"And, if possible, please exempt Krena's family too. That's all I want in exchange for this four hundred gold."

"Very well. Your family's and Krena's families are exempt from their head tax as of now."

'Perfect, since I probably won't be able to send money home for a while in the near future. Now that they don't have to pay taxes, life should be much easier for both of our families. I hope Mash and Myulla will grow up healthy and happy.'

"Lastly, my lord, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me the opportunity to serve you, and for raising me as a member of your family throughout the past four years." Allen dug out the Granvelle crest in his pocket and laid it on the table. After figuring out what the Baron's request would be, he had made up his mind what he had to do.

As the baron waited quietly for him to finish, Allen declared, "I, Allen, will return to being a commoner. Then, as a commoner, I will protect Lady Cecil and fight the Demon Lord Army by her side."

"I see. As I'd thought."

'Oh? He saw this coming?'

Sebas, who had been standing behind the Baron, stepped forward as if prompted. After picking up the crest Allen had left on the table, he set something else down in its place.

Allen examined the beautifully ornamented silver dagger in confusion.

"What is this, my lord?"

"This," the Baron replied, "is the proof of being a guest of Viscount Granvelle's household. It was forged under the Royal family's auspices."

"Uh...Viscount? Guest?"

"Thanks to you, Allen, House Granvelle will be a viscountship as of next year."

The Baron went on to explain that he had yet to tell anyone else; he planned on announcing it over dinner that night, but wanted to let Allen to be the first to know as an expression of his gratitude for all of the boy's contributions so far.

The King had been incredibly delighted by the Baron splitting the proceeds from an entire mithril mine among the Royal family and other noble families, touting him as a role model for striving to enrich the entire country as a whole instead of hogging all the profits to himself. As a reward for the Baron's endowment and for righting wrongs, the King would be bestowing him the peerage of Viscount next year.

The Baron ended with a dry laugh. "To tell it like it is, I basically bought the viscountship with money."

"So you have been promoted! Please allow me to express my heartfelt congratulations." Allen bowed his head. When he looked back up, however, the look of confusion from before was back. "However, what does it mean to be a guest?"

"It means you have been accepted as a part of House Granvelle. If another noble causes you trouble, we will take your side as if you were a part of our own household. Conversely, if you cause any trouble, we promise to take responsibility and handle it for you."

In other words, House Granvelle now shared collective responsibility with Allen and would back him up with all it had. That was the contract implied by this crested ornamental dagger.

Allen had yet to know this, but the Baron had somewhat overdone things at the Royal palace, spurred as he was by Allen's words. When word of him being willing to share mithril mining rights went around, the general poverty of the nobility prompted many to leap at the opportunity and express their willingness to cooperate with the Baron's investigative efforts. This was how he had managed to wrap up the affair so quickly.

'A dagger as a reward... I see, so this current quest is complete.' Allen thought back over the past four years as he stared at the blade. At the same time, he realized why he was here. 'All this time, I'd asked the question of why I had been reincarnated and forced to start this life as a newborn instead of being transmigrated. Turns out it made all the difference.'

If Allen had been simply brought over, the whole chain of events that led to his current situation would not have happened. No hunting great boars with the villagers of Krena Village meant no serving House Granvelle as a manservant. No service with House Granvelle meant no attending Academy City with Cecil. Furthermore, in this world where information about the Demon Lord was so strictly controlled, he might have bumped into the Demon Lord Army and died without being any the wiser.

'And there's meaning in Hell Mode too. It had to be Hell Mode. Ah, I see.

'So this is the answer to how I came to this world.'

When he learned the truth of the world, Allen finally understood the importance of Hell Mode.

Back when he was Kenichi, he had found the website that led to this world after typing "game hell mode challenging" into a search engine. In all likelihood, if he had typed "casual game," the link would not have shown up. The God of Creation had been looking for someone who was up for the challenge of the ultimate Hell Mode: being reincarnated into this world.

'So, you want me, the person who selected Hell Mode, to save this world where the balancing has all gone to shit?'

Those in Normal Mode—no matter how many they numbered—were powerless against the Demon Lord's army. This was a world heading for destruction due to the game balance getting completely ruined—so to say, the balancing was now complete garbage. There was no telling whether the current Hero even possessed the ability to kill the Demon Lord. This was the backdrop against which, ten years after the Hero's birth, the person that Elmea had been looking for, someone who chose Hell Mode, was brought over.

Allen strongly felt how much this world wanted—no, needed him.

"I accept this quest." Allen stood up and clutched the silver dagger tightly to his chest. "Please place your trust in us. I swear that Lady Cecil and I will destroy the Demon Lord together."

'The first thing to do when trying to kill a Demon Lord is to look for party members. I'm getting so hyped!'

The Baron wanted to reply with, "Uh, I didn't ask you to go that far," but he was so overwhelmed by Allen's confidence that he swallowed his words.

Thus, Allen retired from his position as a manservant of House Granvelle and became a guest of the household instead.

It was time to shift the stage of the story to the Ratashian Academy City.