Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

After the trial of the Wind God Vess, they went to sleep. Neither of them had good memories, so Shea wanted to avoid sleeping as much as possible.

Before she had to see Luvanka's horrible past, and she could not stop trembling. The story of Luvanka was famous, so Shea knew of it, but seeing it play out in front of her made her understand Luvanka a lot more.

But sleep was also necessary to recover from wounds and exhaustion.

At the same time, knowing each other's past helped them cooperate more.

'Where is this?'

'...So we have to see this place too… I mean, I guess it was bound to happen considering the previous dreams. Still, this is beyond bad taste…I'm almost astonished if anything.'

Shea was 10 years old in that dream. Luvanka could tell that they were in the palace, but did not understand why Shea replied like that.

In the dream, Shea was standing proudly in front of a kneeling beastman. Shea was 10 years old there, so Lud was obviously standing behind her.

"Speak, why are you kneeling in front of Lady Shea?"

"I'm grateful for the opportunity to express my fervent feelings here today. I would be honored to join the ranks of the beautiful Lady Shea's forces…"

'I think he was the third son of Viscount Sislack.'

Shea explained what was happening in the dream to Luvanka.

'Oh?'

'He had no prospects of inheriting a position, so he worked as a knight, and then heard there was an opening amongst my ranks.'

'Hm?'

'What's wrong?'

'Sorry, I just didn't think he was that interesting of a man.'

Luvanka was a bit surprised that Shea knew so many details about the man.

'Just things that happened…or rather, I guess you could say that there's a lot of memories.'

Luvanka was still curious about that fox faced beastman, but Shea did not seem too keen on sharing many details.

"There's no need for so much flattery…"

"I apologize if I stepped out of line. You're just so beautiful…"

Shea was 10 years old, and the the man seemed like he had lived twice that, but he blushed when Shea looked at him.

"What should we do with him?"

"Well, sure. You can join. But if you can't keep up, then I'll just leave you behind, is that clear?"

"Thank you very much!! I'll stand with you even if there's no one else left in the world!!"

He pressed his fist against the rug beneath him, trembling with excitement as he swore loyalty.

'He seems really happy.'

'That's because I earned the right to compete for the throne. Brother Bek was still in good health, but still.'

'Brother Bek, huh. You seem to treat him differently from Zew.'

Shea would often be a lot more casual when talking about Zew.

'Hm? Well, we're seeing each other's memories almost every night now, so you might see the reason why sooner or later.'

They muttered amongst themselves as they watched the third son of Viscount Sislack kneeling.

Luvanka had noticed that Shea seemed to have a lot of respect for Bek, but seemed almost antagonistic towards Zew. Shea always said it was because they were competing for the throne, but Luvanka was starting to think there was a different reason after seeing Shea's past.

"Lady Shea, the audience is about to start. It's an important day as Beast Princess Rena will become Lord Zew's wife."

"Oh right. You may step back, I'm busy."

"As you wish!!"

Beast Princess Rena from the Beast Kingdom of Brysen was going to marry Zew. An envoy had come to announce that she was already at the capital. Once she left her room and went to the corridor, she heard a door opening behind her.

"Oh, Shea. It's been a while."

"Mother, it's good to see you again."

Even though they were mother and child, Shea would seldom visit Mea's room now that she was given the right to compete for the throne. Shea herself also had more ambition than the youngest child of a noble would usually have, so she had little time to see her mother.

But both of them seemed to be in a good mood this time.

"...Someone from the Sislack family came earlier, right? It seems you're doing well."

"...Thank you."

It seemed like he had also visited Mea.

It was common for Mea to go crazy at any moment, so Shea was careful with what she said.

"You have to do better though. The hunt for the Evil Cult might start sooner than expected."

"The Evil Cult… You mean Gushara?"

"Yes. The Beast King has been contacting many arms dealers and stocking up weapons. Armies of thousands might go after the Evil Cult."

Mea had been using her improved position in the palace to gather information. Gushara had been sending more cultists on ships from the continent of Gyariat to Albahar. The palace was trying to deal with that in secret, but Mea had found out somehow.

"So it's a chance for me to get the upper hand."

"Precisely. I've been buying weapons too. You can't get ahead of Bek without military achievements. Bek has already killed Gil from Brysen, and he's gaining influence over our other neighboring countries!!"

Mea's ambition knew no bounds. She would use everything at her disposal for Shea to become Beast King.

"I'd suggest you keep quiet about Lord Bek, we're about to arrive…"

Lud warned them to be careful, as he did not want Mea's indiscrete comments to be heard.

"...Do you think I'm stupid? I'm fully aware of that."

Shea and Lud could only look at each other perplexed. Then the scene switched, and the Beast King Muza was welcoming Rena.

"I'll avenge my brother! Die!!"

Bek was not present since he had killed Beast Prince Bek of Brysen, Rena's older brother. But Rena still tried to avenge her brother, targeting the Beast Kind instead.

She lunged at the Beast King with daggers in both hands, but he easily caught her and threw her 10 meters away onto the stone floor.

"I'm glad she's so high spirited. Take her to the infirmary."

"Yessir!!"

"Are you sure? That girl might try attacking Zew next…"

The mother of Zew and Bek looked shocked, and tried to get Rena exiled. But Mea seemed to be enjoying it.

"What's wrong with that? She also tried to kill me the first night."

"Well, yes, but that's because of who she is…"

Mea had a hunch that they would bring that up. When she arrived from Barrio and married Muza, she had managed to slash at his throat.

Recalling that night, Muza also touched his neck while laughing loudly.

"Father, is that true?"

The young Shea asked that.

"Yes. This is the least you can do if you end up getting married to someone in a foreign land."

"I understand, father!"

Shea happily acted like she was holding a dagger and stabbing someone, and Muza told her to make sure to aim for the heart. Luvanka was shocked watching that. And Rena was carried away unconscious, with Zew following right behind.

'This is quite different from what I envision a family as.'

'That's how Beast Kingdoms are. In a way, this is how Rena was accepted into my family…'

'Rena, huh…'

'What's wrong?'

'I'm just trying to process it all.'

'Well, I'm sure it'll make a lot more sense if you keep watching. It's not like we'll wake up any time soon.'

Their dreams usually lasted twice that. And Shea was well aware that the main point of the story had not been shown yet.

'I'm not sure I really want to know that.'

'Don't worry, it's still tame compared to your story. Look, the scene is changing. We'll go 2 years ahead, if I had to guess. To when I was 12.'

Just as Shea said, they skipped 2 years after the arrival of Rena. The sun was already setting when there was a loud explosion and the sound of metal clinking.

"Hey! What happened!!"

There was a tumult in the palace, with many beastmen gathered outside.

"Lady Shea…"

Shea's army had just returned, with some of the members in bloodied armor and covered in bandages.

They were around 300 beastmen, and they had been hunting monsters outside the city to train for the last 10 days, and when they returned they found the palace completely changed.

The sounds of swords clashing together told them that there was a fight there. There were flames sprouting all over the palace, and magic cannons set siege to it. All sorts of guards were there too, making sure that no one left the palace.

"Answer already! What's happening here!!"

Shea demanded an answer from one of the royal knights. The knight turned around annoyed, but then froze in place when he noticed it was Shea talking to him.

"Hey! Are you deaf?! Those flames are right in the area granted to Lady Shea and her men!!"

Lud became enraged and pressed the knight for an answer, and after averting his gaze, he replied.

"L-Lady Mea tried to stage a coup. She was secretly gathering men and weapons! The Beast King dispatched all the guards and knights to stop her!!"

Eventually the knight replied.

"What?! Mother!!"

Shea looked at the palace again, and the fire and smoke coming out from Mea's room.