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

Chapter 614: Giran's 2nd trial, survey results

The prime minister entered the room holding a piece of parchment together with some knights and servants. After him the royal family followed, with the king looking sleepy again.

They would also see the results together with Allen.

(The country might end up having a new god to venerate after all.)

"King Oolon, maybe it'd be better if you went to sleep…"

"I'm fine."

Sophie was worried about the king's health.

Allen sat at the middle of the table, and the king sat in front of him.

Then the prime minister displayed the documents showing what they found.

"I apologize for the delay, but the replies from the city of Culticat arrived late. Your Majesty! This isn't the first time Viscount Culticat has been acting this way, I believe you should reprimand him harshly in his next audience!!"

"Nhoh?! Oh, right…"

(So one city took a while to respond. I guess they aren't used to this kind of things.)

It was supposed to be a simple survey for 300 people in each city.

The questions were really simple, so 3 days should have been enough for them.

But it was also given as an emergency matter, so it made sense that the prime minister was not happy with a slow response.

"I appreciate that you were able to conduct it so quickly."

Allen did not seem bothered about having to wait until late at night, that gave him more time to gain Skill Experience after all.

"It was nothing. We believe we should do everything we can to support the Mythical Bird Rame, and your work as well. It'll let us handle the Demon King's Army better too after all."

(So he's also thinking about the Demon King's Army.)

The prime minister seemed well aware of Allen's goals. He knew that turning Rame into a God would make it easier to defeat the Demon King's Army.

While the king looked sleepy, the prime minister was wide awake.

"Alright, then I'd like to see the survey results."

"Of course. Here are the results for the first question."

[Religion Survey question 1]

Do you venerate a God?

Please list the 10 Gods you pray to the most in order

1: Kuwatoro (former Sacred Bird) 18564 Points

2: Mythical Bird Rame 12278 Points

3: God of Creation Elmea 10022 Points

4: God of Wind Ninlil 7864 Points

5: God of Harvest Mormor 6578 Points

6: God of Music Sopra 5677 Points

7: God of Water Aqua 5489 Points

8: God of Medicine Poshon 3544 Points

9: God of Fire Freya 2889 Points

10: God of Bows Korune 1289 Points

(So the majority of the 3000 people ranked Kuwatoro and Rame in a high spot. The God of Music is there too, I guess because birdmen like to sing. The God of Bows is there too, probably because there's a lot of archers here.)

Allen looked at the results and analyzed what kind of people the birdmen were.

"So Kuwatoro and Rame took the first places. Though it's a bit sad to see that more birdmen pray to Kuwatoro than Rame."

Sophie also mentioned what stood out to her.

"Wait, does this mean that they don't know that Kuwatoro became Allen's summon?"

(It's only been 3 months or so since I got Kuwatoro.)

"Yes, we haven't told them. Maybe we should, for the Mythical Bird Rame's sake…"

The prime minister looked around awkwardly.

"That might not be a good idea. It might not shed a good light on the Mythical Bird Rame if people hear that Kuwatoro threw away everything and stopped being a Sacred Bird all to become Allen's ally and save the birdmen from the Demon King's Army."

Doing that would go against their plan of making people pray to Rame more.

"That would make them like Kuwatoro even more…"

Sophie also understood the issue.

"If there's still any holidays or festivals for Kuwatoro, maybe celebrate them less often."

"Hmm, I see… But will that really be the best for the people..?"

The king finally spoke, his head swaying from side to side, seemingly not fully convinced yet.

(Hmm, the king seems set on that. Let's just go to the next question and see if it went like I thought.)

Allen was not too worried about how they treated Kuwatoro for now.

He was mostly interested in what else the survey had found out.

Allen looked away from the sleepy king and signaled to the prime minister to move on.

"A-alright, then about the second question… I'm sorry, but these are the results."

The prime minister seemed slightly hesitant, as maybe the results were not the best.

Everyone leaned forward and looked at the parchment the prime minister showed them.

[Religion Survey question 2]

How many times do you pray to God each day?

Please write the number next to the Gods listed in the first question.

For those you pray to less than daily, write every how many days next to the first number.

Example: if you if you pray 1 time each 5 days, write 1/5, if once a month, write 1/30

1: God of Wind Ninlil 6178 Points

2: God of Creation Elmea 6022 Points

3: God of Harvest Mormor 5472 Points

4: God of Music Sopra 4576 Points

5: God of Magic Isiris 3451 Points

6: God of Water Aqua 3123 Points

7: God of Bows Korune 1652 Points

8: Kuwatoro (Sacred Bird) 764 Points

9: Mythical Bird Rame 543 Points

10: God of Fire Freya 334 Points

* Lower places discarded as they had too few Points

(So they pray to the God of Wind more than to Elmea who governs life and healing.)

Winds were important for them as they lived in valleys, so it made sense.

"What does this mean? Why is the Mythical Bird Rame in such a low place?"

"That's odd, this would mean that they pray less than daily…"

Cecile and Sophie were shocked.

(There should be at least 3000 Points if 3000 people prayed daily after all.)

"So it turned out like that after all."

"You knew this would happen, Allen?"

"It's just the common trend. People stop praying to Gods who don't help them in their daily lives."

"You're right, that's likely what happened here."

The prime minister looked down as he agreed with Allen.

"Not to mention that there's more people who remember what Kuwatoro did, and so they pray to her more. Though even then she doesn't get many prayers."

Allen continued explaining his theory.

Rame had helped Rameciel 1000 years ago, while Kuwatoro helped them 60 years ago, so the memory was still fresh in the people.

"I guess doing one big deed in the past isn't enough to become a God."

"That's it. Gods need to receive constant prayers, and Gods that don't help the people often eventually are forgotten."

Allen had been thinking something about the Gods of this world.

There were a total of 255 Gods, but there were countless Demigods and Sacred Beasts below who never got to become Gods.

Only those who consistently showed they were suitable for the position could become Gods, while the rest were forgotten.

That was the main reason why the Mythical Bird Rame would not become a God.

Rame had helped the people of Rameciel 1000 years ago by healing them from a strange illness, leading to a lot of gratitude and so Rame became a Mythical Bird.

But after 1000 years there were few who really remembered that favor.

"We haven't tried to conceal the past though, we have plenty of statues of Rame, and we always tell that story to the people."

The prime minister was not very pleased with what Allen was claiming.

"But how often do you do that? It sounds like it's only once a month…"

"Well, that's true…"

"But then only the Gods who directly affect the daily lives of people would become Gods! Then how are there Beast Gods..?! Wait, is that-?!!"

(Yes, that's why the Beast God keeps ignoring Elmea's ruling and grants the Beast King power. Or rather, I guess that's the only possible way to maintain power.)

While Cecile was trying to contradict Allen, she realized something important.

There was something Allen's party had discussed a lot ever since they went to the S Rank Dungeon.

'Why is it that the royal family of the Beast Kingdom is always born with a good Talent?'

Shea and Zew had been born as Beast Fighter Saints.

Back when Allen was Kenichi, he had seen on his PC that according to Elmea's ruling, members of the royal family could only be born with 1 Star Talents.

But somehow the Beastmen royal family had 3 or 4 Star Talents.

No one knew why they kept breaking Elmea's ruling, but now they understood it was necessary.

A God required constant prayers to remain as a God.

In the Beast Kingdom of Albahar it was said that their ancestor Albahar had rescued them from the tyrant emperor's rule, and Albahar was a blood relative of Garm.

Because of that blood connection, the beastmen also gained more power.

The beastmen countries also had their Martial Arts Display, where they showed how much power they inherited from the Beast God, which also allowed the Beast King to remain in power.

(I guess the Beast Gods can't just give everyone good Talents though, so they reserve them for the royal family. Anyway, that's all interesting but Rame is more important now…)

It was hard to say if Luvanka would have really been able to become a Beast God in the end.

Albahar already received a lot of prayers, but he ended his life as a Mythical Beast and not a Beast God.

Maybe Giran was aware of that too, which was why he did not fully punish Luvanka, even if he did not agree with his actions.

Either way, it was not the time to be thinking about that.

"But then it's almost like you're saying it's impossible for Rame to become a God…"

"Yeah, it does seem that way. Oh well."

Everyone there was shocked at the results of the survey.

"Wait, there's still something we can do."

"What? Really?!"

Allen claimed there was still something they could do.

Cecile was shocked to hear that, her voice echoing loudly in the darkness of the night.

"