CH 420

"I never thought someone would ask me for a Sacred Bead."

Rosalina looked baffled, learning that she had been taken out from that mess for a reason like that.

"A friend of mine really wants one. Though well, I also want them."

"Huh?"

"The guy who's still negotiating with the shopkeeper."

"So you spoke to me only because your friends wants something?"

"Yes."

"I guess I have to believe you then."

Rosalina found it hard to believe someone would get involve with such a messy situation for a friend.

(I really want three after all.)

The Songstress Contest was a competition, meaning some participants would get prizes.

Those on the top five spots would get Sacred Beads from the Sacred Fish Makris.

Apparently he would cry as it passed, dropping Sacred Beads.

-The winner on first place would get 3

-Second and third place got 2

-Fourth and last place got 1

Allen had researched all the options he had to obtain Makris' Sacred Beads.

One option was to directly talk to Makris, who wandered endlessly in the vast ocean.

Makris would then present a difficult task, that if overcome, would be rewarded with a bead.

Most of the stories derived from the Prostia Empire Tale went something like that too.

A hero or some person of humble birth would overcome some difficult task to obtain a Sacred Bead for a princess.

When Allen heard what the Songstress Contest was all about, he decided it was the best time to obtain Makris' Sacred Beads since he would be present.

Rosalina was a bit shocked, but she was not too doubtful either, such trades were common in Prostia. So it would not be too strange that she was approached for that too.

Only females could participate in the Songstress Contest.

But culturally the Sacred Fish Makris' Tears were said to be something males gave to females.

Since Sacred Beads were handed out at the Songstress Contest, a common method of obtaining them was to pay a singer a fee for her to participate, and obtain one.

The price was 10000 gold coins in advance, and there were no returns even if she failed to obtain a Sacred Bead.

But trying to make deals with all thousand participants would cost ten million gold coins, far too much for Allen's finances.

It was quite pricey, so it was always important to carefully choose who one hired for that.

On top of that, it was forbidden to try hiring a songstress that had already been hired by someone else.

There was a limit to how many Sacred Beads could be obtained, so that was done to avoid conflicts.

The event was happening in five days, so basically any participant with a chance at winning had already been hired by someone.

But there was Rosalina, who for one reason or another could not take part in the event.

(I wonder if she could make it to the top though.)

That was the reason why Allen had risked talking to Rosalina, even though that could easily incite the anger of Ignomas.

If she was trying to force her way into the contest, then she likely had not been hired yet.

The only remaining issue was her skill at succeeding.

"So what do you say? I'll obviously give you the 10000 gold coins too."

Saying that, Allen asked Rosalina for her answer.

There were not many other options, considering the time-frame and finances.

Even if Allen searched there would only be a handful of other candidates to choose from.

"That's a truly generous offer. I'm from Mineponta, as you could probably tell from my hair."

She seemed unsure of whether she was a good person to hire for that.

(Mineponta? The Mineponta province?)

"Huh? Is it because they stopped taking applications from the provinces this year?"

(I think I heard they limited the number of participants this year compared to before.)

Princess Rapsonile had mentioned that this year only people from the empire's mainland was allowed in the contest, and not those from vassal countries or provinces.

"Yeah, that's it. I came all the way here to Patlanta, only to be told I can't participate because I'm from a province. That's so messed up."

She had traveled in a magic ship for days to arrive at the capital.

The ships that traveled between underwater cities also worked with magic devices, so they were also called magic ships.

The ship that carried Allen from the surface to Patlanta was also a type of magic ship.

The moment she arrived at the port and disembarked, everything changed dramatically.

The immigration officer told her she could not enter Patlanta.

It did not matter that she had won the preliminary contest in Minaponta, Ignomas had given the order days earlier that no one could enter.

Even when a representative from Minaponta went to talk with the officer, there was no progress.

Rosalina took out a shiny and translucent rod she hid amongst her clothes.

"That's what they meant with participant's card?"

She held it dearly, and there was a number carved into it, which was Rosalina's participant number. She had actually been carrying that item, which she had been accused of forging.

"Yes, though it's essentially useless now. It didn't matter that I won in Minaponta. Do you know what their response was?"

Rosalina kept insisting, refusing to be turned away, and the officer had to come up with a response.

"Probably something along the lines of 'We're having a good year with our new emperor. The contest will be held only by participants from the mainland', I guess?"

(Prostia is still split into various parts as it stands now after all.)

Allen tried to guess what Ignomas would say in such a situation.

There were still places of Prostia which were not under his control.

He was still busy buying up support from the nobles before he could embark on invading the surface.

Allen could guess more or less what had happened from Rosalina's story, so he gave a guess.

"Yes, that's exactly it. Ah, right, I guess you do have connections with the palace after all."

Allen had just guessed that, but it seemed to be the correct answer.

He had almost repeated word for word the response from the immigrations officer, making Rosalina glare at him a bit.

(Huh, wait? She was a pretty strong contestant in her province then?)

While Rosalina glared at him, Allen noticed something important.

It was about the contestants that came from provinces.

Those were selected in the biggest cities of all territories.

There were usually around a 1000 participants from all over Prostia.

But for some reason provinces and vassal countries were not allowed to take part.

That was because there was a high likelihood that someone from there could win.

Provinces and vassal countries could only send one participant to the Songstress Contest each.

That meant that those who came from those territories already had to stand out from the crowd, giving them quite an edge above the participants from the mainland.

Participants from vassal countries and provinces were quite strong contenders.

Because of the incident with the Evil Cult in Clebeur, they had not conducted a selection to find a participant this year.

(So I guess that means Rosalina also has a strong chance of actually winning.)

Allen could hardly suppress a grin hearing that Rosalina had come from a province.

She was a strong contender, who had already beaten everyone in Minaponta.

Allen was grateful he decided to talk to her even amongst the disturbances.

"Hm? Wait, then how are you here now? I thought they did not allow you to get into the city?"

Allen wanted to know how Rosalina had managed to enter here.

"Heheh, that's because the Goddess of Water Aqua never abandoned me!"

The way she enunciated every syllable highlighted her aptitude for singing.

There were constant looks directed their way from the other customers and staff.

"Hm? Aqua?"

Allen was a bit confused hearing her mention the name of a deity there.

"You didn't hear? Last month there was some incident that caused a lot of chaos. I used that opportunity to sneak in! I just know that was a sign from Aqua for me!"

Her magic ship had to be stopped to change Magic Stones.

They could not return to Minaponta until that was done.

While that was happening, the entire port fell to chaos.

"Ahh, that time all the alarms went off."

Allen had triggered all the alarms in Patlanta when he arrived there.

"Yeah! So I just snuck out of the port while that was happening!!"

A month ago, Allen had given a magic device a test run, which made all the Water Quality Control Magic Devices of the city ring out in alarm.

Rosalina had not yet given up on the contest, and that gave her the perfect opening.

Everyone was busy tending to the alarms, so no one noticed her going through, letting her successfully infiltrate the capital.

"I see you already have some jewelry, did you steal money for that?"

That had happened a month ago, so Allen was curious how she had survived all this time.

If she had done too many reckless things, there was a chance he would have to change his strategy.

"No way, I'm a genuine and proper Songstress, with a Talent and all. I can easily earn this much just by working."

(I see. She's quite a trooper. And a Songstress, that's a 3 Star Talent. I may have hit the jackpot here.)

After reaching Patlanta's business district, Rosalina had gone to bars and pubs, singing and dancing to earn a daily wage.

Now that she had enough saved up, she tried to buy accessories and other jewelry, which led to the mess earlier.

A Talent's Stars did not matter too much in the Songstress Contest.

But having more Stars did give the participants an upper hand.

More Stars meant better singing Skills, enhancing their performance.

Clothing and accessories also helped one's images, but obtaining that relied solely on one's budget.

There were times when nobles would spend large sums of money, wanting their daughters to win.

That was part of the charm of the event, watching the daughters of rich nobles competing against commoners with better Talents.

"I don't think a few hundred gold coins will be enough though. Like I said earlier, I'll cover for your getup and accessories, to give you the best chance. And you can keep all of it later if you want."

(I'm sure we'll figure something out about her hair too. As long as I get Sacred Beads.)

She had been limited with time and resources, so Allen assumed she had only saved up a couple hundred gold coins.

Allen wanted to make her win the contest, even if it meant buying everything she needed.

"That's quite a generous offer."

"I just want you to win, after all."

(I really want those Sacred beads. And wait, why do I feel like Cecile is so angry now? If she holds him like that Chappy is going to die.)

Allen would not put a limit to Rosalina's expenses in clothing or accessories.

He was willing to spend tens of thousands of gold coins to make her win.

While he stared at Rosalina, wondering what kind of clothes would suit her better, he felt the Bird G summon he left in the palace with Cecile be squished with considerable force.

The Bird F summon's Awakened Skill [Messenger] was relaying his entire conversation with Rosalina in sound and image to Peromus and Cecile.

They were essentially seeing directly through Allen's eyes, but it seemed like he had done something unforgivable.

He felt like he could hear someone say that it was in bad taste to stare so intently at a female wearing such thin clothing.

(I guess I'll have Cecile and Sophie help out with that. Ah, Cecile is also together with Princess Rapsonile who watched the contest every year. That settles it then.)

"May Rosalina ask for one condition too?"

Rosalina was starting to feel hope for participating as well.

Even when she mentioned her homeland, Allen still seemed intent on getting her to participate.

He seemed to have the money and connections to make that happen after all.

"Hm? Of course. What would you like?"

"Rosalina also wants a Sacred Bead. If I get third place or better, I'll take one. Is that alright?"

First place would get three Sacred Beads, second and third two.

"Hm? Sure. You'll have earned them after all. So let's just do everything so you win."

Essentially the first Sacred Bead would be for Peromus, the second for Rosalina, and Allen would take the third, depending on which place she got.

Though Allen asked that she receive Peromus' in a bag, without touching it directly.

(Mermen seem to place special value on Sacred Beads. I guess she wants to bring one back to Mineponta?)

Allen would accept any condition that raised her motivation.

There were around a thousand participants,and only the top five got Sacred Beads, so she needed to really try hard.

"Heheheh, my luck is finally turning around. You promise I'll be able to participate then? I was really worried trying to figure out what to do, but maybe this was all part of fate."

Rosalina felt grateful for not giving up on the contest all this time.

Apparently she had not planned what to do after she obtained the clothes and accessories.

She had a rather careless and unplanning personality.

"Hm?"

Something seemed to have spurred her on, or maybe she was so glad after their discussion, that Rosalina could not stop smiling.

Allen looked at her face, wondering what was happening, when she hopped and stood on top of the table.

"Now the entire world will be envious of my voice and looks! Get ready to see Rosalina everyone!!"

In the end, Rosalina did not seem to care about her province and hometown.

She had not come here out of duty or honor, she was attending the Songstress Contest purely out of self-gratification.

She pointed at the distance, her light clothing fluttering around her.

Everyone's attention was drawn to Rosalina. Allen was glad to see her this motivated, but he only wished she did not attract this much attention.

(Oh, Peromus just finished negotiations too. I'm glad he's this tough.)

While Allen was discussing things with Rosalina, Peromus had reached an agreement on the two earrings' price. He bought both for 1200'000 gold coins.

The shopkeeper, Kasagoma, had been quite a mighty opponent.

He had managed to tough it out remaining at the top limit of how much Allen was willing to pay.

In a way, he had come out winning too, considering he expected Allen's future investments too.

(I see, it's important to have connections with merchants who can make deals like that. Kasagoma…he might become a good asset for Allen's Army.)

After Ignomas was taken care of, Allen wanted to be able to continue trading for valuable items like earrings in Prostia.

He needed a contact for that.

Allen decided to write down Kasagoma's name on his Grimoire.

Things seemed to be going well when it came to Sacred Beads too, though Peromus felt like he could have done more as a merchant.

He was rather frustrated with his results.

(Now the thing is figuring out a plan to get Rosalina into the contest.)

He would join hands with Rosalina, the mermaid with orange hair and eyes, who still stood atop the table, to win the Songstress Contest.