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

Chapter 613: Giran's 2nd trial, religion survey

Allen said he would conduct a religion survey.

Everyone there looked at him confused, until Cecile finally managed to speak.

"What's a religion survey?"

"It is what the words mean. It's a survey to find out what Gods the people pray to."

(I feel like making a survey of the religion of people could lead to some controversy in my past life though. Actually, I did see reports of which religions were common in a country before so maybe not.)

Allen wanted to know which Gods, Mythical Beasts, and Sacred Beasts the birdmen prayed to.

In his past life that could be seen as an invasion of privacy, but he excused it by thinking of it as the same studies done to see which religions were present in countries of his past life.

"So you're going to hand out questionnaires again?"

Cecile recalled what Allen had done in the Spirit Paradise before.

Back then those were used as contracts to send spirits to the human realm though.

Cecile was worried that Allen was about to do something that could anger a God again.

"I'll just ask a few questions. Though the answers will determine what I do next."

"I'd really like to know what that'll be though…"

Cecile remained worried, knowing Allen could always be even worse than she anticipated.

"So you need to research something? We'd like to help if possible."

King Oolon was willing to cooperate with Allen.

"I appreciate that. Sorry I keep asking questions, but how many birdmen live in this country?"

"Your majesty, let me reply to that. Rameciel has a population of thirty million. We aren't as numerous as humans."

The prime minister stepped in and replied for the king. Being able to interrupt the king like that was something only a prime minister was allowed to do.

(So there's more of them than elves. It's not the biggest country though.)

"I'd appreciate it if you could gather a sample size of 3000 people then."

Each one would represent 10000 others.

"We'd also have to keep in mind the different ranks…commoners, nobles, royals, and there's serfs too. Though they aren't very significant in terms of population."

The prime minister also added more details about the population.

Rameciel was a kingdom, with people of different classes, but there were no slaves.

After the tyrant emperor's reign, they abolished slavery.

But sometimes criminals were punished by being turned into serfs.

That only applied to the criminals though, and their children would be regular commoners.

"We don't have many serfs, but if you'd like to know more about our demographic…most of the people are quite serviceable."

The prime minister continued detailing the populace, mentioning that birdmen liked shiny things and to sing

"I see, could you split them depending on their age and gender as well?"

"Hmm, we could. I feel like that could end up taking too long if we go into such details though."

"Oh you don't have to split them too strictly, and there's really only 2 questions they have to answer. Do you have anything to write with?"

"Bring him some."

"Yessir!"

A servant and a knight nearby brought Allen a piece of parchment.

Allen thanked them and then wrote down the questions.

"Allen, will you really be able to tell with that?"

"Yes, Cecile. This will be enough."

"Hmm, let me see."

The prime minister asked to see it so Allen handed the parchment over, and then the king used his long neck to look at it too. It seemed like the king liked to snoop around.

[Religion Survey question 1]

Do you venerate a God?

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

*This includes Sacred Birds

[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

"In theory you can combine both questions, but I'd like to have the answers separate."

Allen was trying to figure out something else from both questions, so he wanted to obtain the answers separately.

[How to calculate results from question 1]

Give 10 points to the God in first place, 9 to second place, and so on until 1. Calculate the total of each God.

Make a list with the Gods that got the most points across everyone.

[How to calculate results from question 2]

Turn the daily times prayers happen into points, then calculate a total for each God.

Make a list with the Gods that got the most points across everyone.

"Hmhmm, these questions should be able to be answered quickly through communication magic devices too."

"Yes, but I'd still like to have it all in writing. I'll cover all the costs."

Allen knew that organizing a survey like that would be costly, so he offered to pay for everything.

"Don't worry about that. We've never conducted any investigation like this in the country, so maybe we'll learn some important information as well. Also, this should help Rame become a God, right?"

"Yes, it should."

"Then please let us do it ourselves. Hmm, we could use the emergency alerts to give word out, get information from 20 cities, then 600 people from the capital, and assuming no monsters attack…it should be done within 3 days…"

(This prime minister is really smart and catches on quickly. I'd really like to have him in Allen's Army.)

The prime minister used his fingers to calculate the fastest way to conduct the survey.

"Yes…yes…it's just as the prime minister said…"

The king's head was hanging down and swaying sleepily.

He had been working since early in the morning and never stayed up so late at night.

"King Oolon, I'd advise you to write a royal edict to the minister of justice about this. And have it ready by tomorrow if possible!"

"Geho?! Ri-right! I'll do that right now!!"

The king jumped up and let out a strange voice.

"There you have it, Allen. The edict will go out tomorrow, then give us 3 days to gather the information, and 2 days to tally up the numbers."

The results would be ready in 5 days.

That also showed Allen that there were countries who knew how to calculate with various interruptions from monsters or other accidents.

＊＊＊

5 days passed since then.

Allen returned to the drawing room in Rameciel's palace, waiting for the results with Cecile and Sophie.

Allen was wearing his Spiritual Power Regeneration Ring and Bracelet to recover Spiritual Power, using all the time he had to spend Spirit Stones.

He was currently spending 1400000000 Spiritual Power and 1400000 Spirit Stones each day, but Abigayle was gathering 3000000 Spirit Stones.

Now there were also 4 dragonkin forts in the Paradise of Primordial Beasts.

A second city had also been built for them.

Sophie's power had turned the barren wastelands into a place where people could live, making it easier to hunt ghosts.

Merle and Abigayle were also obtaining plenty of Faith Points for him, so soon he would be able to obtain even more Spiritual Power Regeneration Rings and Bracelets.

Things were going really smoothly, though he felt like he was still lacking Spiritual Power to really be able to use all the Spirit Stones he was getting.

(Rosalina's training should really be done soon. It's been 2 months already.)

Rosalina had a Skill to raise one's max Mana.

After her training she would likely obtain an even better Skill.

If he could increase his Mana and Spiritual Power, he would be able to use even more Spirit Stones a day.

Having a bigger pool of Mana and Spiritual Power helped obtain more Skill Experience too.

Allen checked the timeline of events he had written down in his Grimoire.

[Important events in the divine realm]

-Mid April: Arrival at the divine realm, Kuwatoro obtained

-Late April: Five Continents' Alliance meeting, Peromus' wedding, Graham obtained

-End of April: Various trials started, arrival at the Spirit Paradise

-Start of May: Spirit Paradise's quest completed

-Mid May: Muras' Talent Change

-Late May: Divine Arena, Earth Labyrinth runs, Kiel's attempts at the Divine Lottery (added to Rosalina's training)

-Start of June: Arrival at the Paradise of Primordial Beasts, Astrologer Temi's training started, Luvanka obtained

-Mid June: Dragonkin started to hunt more

-Late June: Waiting for the results of Rameciel's religion survey «- Now here!!

It had been 2 months since Rosalina's training started, so Allen wanted to check on her once he had a chance.

"It's taking a while, huh."

Cecile said while looking at the dark sky outside, showing it was late at night.

"Well, they're doing it as fast as they can."

Allen continued waiting.

(I guess it's because of their bird eyes, but the light magic devices aren't too bright here.)

The other capitals Allen had seen would use much brighter lights at night.

He had never seen such a dark night before.

It was also harder for moonlight to get into the valley, making the night darker.

Birdmen had bad eyesight at night, so they would go to bed earlier and not do much at night.

Allen began to think that the lack of light would make the birdmen less productive thought, considering the city was in a valley that got darker earlier too.

As Allen thought back to the magic devices he obtained from the S Rank Dungeon that produced a lot more light, he heard footsteps in the corridor outside.

"I-I'm so sorry for the delay, but the survey's results just came out."

Karasagi, the prime minister, opened the door and spoke loudly while grasping a piece of parchment.

"