BXBX NOVEL Vol. 11 - Chapter 618 - Giran's 2nd trial, decision
The king looked unsure, so the prime minister asked more questions to Allen.
"As I'm sure you know, the kingdom of Rameciel relies heavily on wind power."
(And most of them aren't magic devices. That's also why quite a lot pray to Freya.)
They relied on windmills to process their grains, purify the water emanating from the mountains, and move water to irrigate their farms. It was also the wind that brought fresh air into cities carved deeply onto the mountainsides. Wind did almost everything, and they did not really have many magic devices.
Rameciel was part of the Five Continents Alliance, but had not taken part in the war yet, as they had a bit of a negative communication with Albahar in the same continent. That probably also ended up limiting the sale of magic devices from Baukis.
Rameciel relied on wind for their mills and machinery, and fire for light and to cook. That was why they also prayed to the God of Fire Freya a lot.
"So you want to replace all of that with these magic devices…"
The prime minister was still struggling to process everything.
"Not to mention that there's very few countries that rely on wind so much. Also I've noticed the people of Rameciel aren't productive for many hours. There's many other countries where the people are still active at times like now, thanks to light magic devices."
Allen detailed all the possibilities the magic devices would bring. There were devices for all types of farm work, water systems, ventilation, and street lighting. That way Rameciel would be able to have light for longer during the day, increasing productivity. People would work more, and they would have more chances to pray too.
(I'm running out of money now. I hope Peromus can complete his trial soon. Anyway, not the time to worry about myself.)
Just like how Allen constantly spent Spirit Stones, he was also spending a large amount of Magic Stones. Allen's Army was constantly gathering Magic Stones so Allen could gain more Skill Experience for Create, but Allen was churning through them rapidly and there was very little he could spend on other things. Still, he had other things to worry about now.
"B-but aren't these from the God of Magic Isiris and Digragni? As we mentioned before, I wouldn't want to pray to Rame knowing that…"
They did not feel like it was right to pray to Rame instead.
"I'm not telling you to lie though. Just fix the metal plates onto the devices, that's all. It'll be a nice way to advertise by exposing the people to the images."
"Advertise?!"
(It's time for the gods to become idols.)
Since prayers decided who became a God, Allen needed to find a way to increase Rame's prayers. By placing pictures on very visible places, it would likely increase that number.
"When you see food, you think of the God of Harvest. If you see a sword, you think of the God of Swords. But there's nothing that really reminds people of the Mythical Bird Rame."
There were only statues of Rame in temples or plazas, but Allen wanted more.
"I see, and then I'll still tell the people to pray more often?"
"That's correct, Your Majesty."
Allen had asked the king to increase the times when people prayed in their last meeting. Now if the people saw the metal plates, they would also be reminded of what the king told them and pray more often.
"Wouldn't that still mean we'd be deceiving them though?"
(So he still thinks that. But I have to complete this quest no matter what.)
Rame's image would be plastered everywhere public as advertisement, but that could also lead to the conclusion that people would associate Rame with the magic devices. Allen understood that was a rather strong handed measure. But if his idea was refused, then he could not think of any other way to make Rame a God. Thinking of the best way to convince the king, he stood up and looked firmly at him.
"A word if I may, Your Highness. The Mythical Bird Rame saved this country 1000 years ago, so why is it that after all this time your prayers haven't been enough!!"
Allen turned around and dramatically raised his hand, acting like a person seeking the salvation of God.
"Th-that's true…"
"Try to think of your people. If the Mythical Bird Rame becomes a God, then I'm sure they'll receive even more plentiful miracles and blessings. This is something you can do for all your people!"
Allen said it was going to be a win-win situation for Rame and the birdmen.
"So you're saying to do it for the Mythical Bird Rame and the people."
"Your Majesty, you're the one who determines how your country and people live, so please reconsider."
After Allen said that, the king shut his eyes and began to think. 5 minutes passed, then 10 minutes. Allen was starting to wonder if the king had fallen asleep, and just when he was about to check, the prime minister opened his mouth.
"Your Majesty, he also offered all these magic devices free of charge, please consider what will help the people the most…"
Even now, the prime minister still kept the country's finances in mind. Allen was offering to give them magic devices that would usually cost what the entire country made in a decade. Obtaining that free of charge would greatly help the people.
The king silently opened his eyes and raised his head, looking far into the distance.
"I see… so I…we were always praying aimlessly, all this time…"
The king felt like he had never really thought about that before.
"Not really, there's always different ways to handle things. And if we're told our ways were wrong, then we can just change them once the Mythical Bird Rame becomes a God."
"I see. Then considering the welfare of my people, I'll accept your offer, Allen."
"Thank you very much."
"Are you sure it'll be for the best though, Allen? Even if we do all that, won't it take too long?"
"I concur, I believe it would take at least 3 years even if we do all this."
The prime minister calculated how long it would take until the changes showed results.
"I don't believe that should be an issue. Once things are set in place, I'll go report the situation to the Beast God Giran."
Giran's trial had not been to make Rame a God, but to set things in place for that to happen. Once the plan was set in motion, he would go argue with Giran to complete the quest.
"First I'd like you to select which devices you'd like to receive, and then I'll bring them here."
"Alright, got it. You can discuss that with the prime minister."
"Understood. I'll make a catalog of everything we have available to make things easier."
Allen would write a catalog of the different magic devices he had, which would make choosing them easier.
"That would be helpful, Allen."
And that concluded the discussion between Allen, the king, and the prime minister.
＊＊＊
Since the discussion went on for a long time, they ended up spending the night in Rameciel. The next morning Allen's group headed out to work. Allen, Cecile, and Sophie went to the S Rank Dungeon and Heavy User Island where Allen's Army was. Allen's Army was still hunting Iron Golems in the S Rank Dungeon, even though Allen's Party had gone to the divine realm. They would gather a large number of magic devices there, which were then transported to Heavy User Island so the magic engineers there could customize them as Allen desired.
Allen went to Allen's Army to inform them of the situation, and tasked them with writing a catalog of magic devices that would fit Rameciel the best.
Then he returned to the forts in the Paradise of Primordial Beasts. He was in the 5th fort built for the dragonkin there, and while going up the outer wall, he saw a dragonkin running towards his group as fast as he could.
"Welcome back Lord Allen, I'll go inform Warden Leader Abigayle about your arrival!"
"Please do so."
Merle's group was inside the Earth Labyrinth today, which meant the dragonkin were focusing on picking up the Spirit Stones outside. Atop the outer wall, Allen watched the dragonkin working outside. The remains of the 1000000 ghosts they had defeated yesterday surrounded the area outside the fort.
"A lot of beastmen have joined us too."
"Yeah, Cecile. You can clearly tell them apart now."
Today the 200000 inhabitants of the fort were focusing on picking up the Spirit Stones outside and taking apart the remains of ghosts. Just as Allen and Cecile noted the increase in beastmen, Abigayle arrived.
"Allen! We gathered 4000000 Spirit Stones this time!!"
Abigayle heavily carried a magic bag as he approached them.
"Thank you very much. I can see there's a lot of beastmen who joined you as well. I appreciate the help."
"We sent out a few men to recruit helpers from villagers, but there's so many applications that we can hardly keep track of them. And they're pretty strong spirited as well, so it's getting a bit troublesome."
Abigayle mentioned how it was starting to get a bit troublesome. Apparently hunting ghosts became so fun for the beastmen that word spread like wildfire, leading to an onrush of applications.
Beastmen were always rather rowdy, so there was no better job for them. They would get to earn money just by killing ghosts and taking them apart. Even if they did not have any Talents, the beastmen could help with picking up the Spirit Stones, so there were already 50000 beastmen helping them.
The number of beastmen in the Paradise of Primordial beasts was the same as the population of divine people, which was around 1000000. Even if they did not have any Talents, just by gathering 250000000 Experience they would max out their Level, and would be able to take a Talent Change quest on the surface. Just by being around one day when they hunted, they could reach Level 60 and max it out.
On top of that, by hunting ghosts and clearing terrain they felt like they were expanding the space where they could live. The beastmen of the Paradise of Primordial Beasts had felt like they were secluded in small spaces to live for many years now, so they appreciated this possibility.
During the days when Merle's group was resting, Merus would help take people to the human realm and then bring them back, helping with the Talent Changes of dragonkin and beastmen. But there were some downsides as well. Unlike the wardens that lived their entire life as such, beastmen were way more rowdy and did not have much discipline. Abigayle's helpers had already mentioned many of them were causing trouble too.
(I guess that's true, dragonkin behave pretty differently to beastmen. Though well, I'm already used to dealing with beastmen.)
Allen's Army also had a beastmen unit, so Allen had more experience dealing with them than Abigayle.
"If you keep finding helpers then we'll be able to put the 3rd and 4th forts into operation. Please keep checking the suitability of the applicants. I'll think of a way to coach those who are too rowdy, so just keep going."
"Coaching? O-okay, got it!"
Allen wanted as much help as possible, so he told Abigayle to keep receiving beastmen. Abigayle was unsure of what Allen meant with coaching, but he decided to let it go and simply agreed. Since Allen had gotten an update in the situation, and obtained the Spirit Stones, he had nothing more to do there and left.
(Good good, that's all I had to discuss for now. I can finally get back to using Generation.)
Allen went back to gathering Skill Experience for Generation.