Getting a question about the otherworld right off the bat allowed me to get off to a smooth start. It wasn't that I was obsessed with winning, but since I was participating, I wanted to maintain a respectable accuracy rate.
"Now then, let's draw for the next question."
"Coming right up... Let's see, that's God Realm, number four."
"Then for our second question, we turn to the God Realm. Regarding the Supreme God here with us, Fate-san—which of the following is her direct subordinate? 1: God of Flash Shine, 2: God of Luck Luck, 3: Earth God Gaia, 4: God of Love Heart... You have three minutes to answer."
Ah, I knew this one too. I recalled hearing that Fate-san's direct subordinates were Shia-san and the God of Luck, so the answer had to be number two. I was fairly certain the God of Flash served Chronoa-san, and Gaia-san was one of Life-san's.
However, while I knew the answer because I had heard it directly from Fate-san and the others, it might be a deceptively difficult question for some.
"And that's time! Now for the answer... since she's right here, why don't we have Fate-san announce it? Fate-san, what's the correct answer?"
"The answer is number two, the God of Luck. The God of Flash is a direct subordinate of the God of Space-Time, and the Earth God is under the God of Life. I bet quite a few of you fell for number four, didn't you? Plenty of people know I'm the Supreme God in charge of the Hydra Kingdom, so it's a common mistake to assume the God of Love—who has a temple there—is my direct subordinate. It's true that the God of Love is technically one of my subordinates, but in the context of the God race, the term 'Supreme God's Direct Subordinate' specifically refers to the High-ranking Gods who receive orders directly from us. Since the God of Love is a Low-ranking God, she doesn't fall into that category."
"If I recall correctly, she is officially the subordinate of the Goddess of Calamity Shia-san, who in turn is one of Fate-san's direct subordinates."
"Exactly. You can think of 'direct subordinates' as the staff who work within a Supreme God's temple. There isn't a fixed rule for the numbers, but the God of Space-Time, the God of Life, and I all happen to have five each."
I see. I could certainly imagine many people choosing Heart-san and getting it wrong. While the God race's involvement in the Human and Demon Realms had increased thanks to things like the White God Festival, information regarding the inner workings of the God Realm was likely still quite limited.
"Now then, let's keep this moving!"
"Next up... Oh, it's High-difficulty, number five."
"Here it is! A high-difficulty question worth double points. Question: What is the name of the representative for the City of the Cruel Race from four generations ago? 1: Berudogi Nememishi Arukemi Temejia Mero, 2: Ameshia Temeruso Rajieru Nikarudo Al, 3: Rimegite Rinoria Gisurudo Ametes An, 4: Temeruso Nememishi Rajieru Berudogi Arutia... Now, which one is it?"
"Seriously? That's way too hard!"
Just as Fate-san groaned, an incredibly difficult question had appeared. When the options were displayed once more on the stage monitors, the sheer weight of the character counts was staggering.
Let's see... first, number three was An-san's full name, so that was out. As for number four, I remembered being told that Cruel names always consisted of sixteen characters inherited from their parents and grandparents, plus a two-character personal name for a total of eighteen. Since number four was twenty characters long, it was also wrong.
That left numbers one and two, but I had no idea which was right. Since I had nothing else to go on, I just had to take a fifty-fifty gamble... Hmm, I'd go with number two, purely because of the sound of the name.
"...Now, for the announcement! The correct answer is number two, Ameshia Temeruso Rajieru Nikarudo Al-san!"
"That was ridiculously difficult. Could anyone who isn't a Cruel even know that?"
"Anyone knowledgeable about magic crystals and mining, or perhaps those familiar with the internal affairs of the Arclesia Empire, would recognize it. This individual developed a revolutionary new technique for excavating magic crystals. 'Al's New Mining Method' was a major topic of conversation for a while, and she was appointed city representative based on those achievements."
"Huh... I had no idea."
I was completely in the dark as well, but I suppose those in the industry would know her.
"At first, I considered making every option end with the name 'Al' and forcing everyone to guess the preceding sixteen characters, but I decided that was a bit much, even for a high-difficulty question."
"Even people who know Al's New Mining Method probably wouldn't know that, so it's a good thing you stopped yourself."
Indeed, if she had gone that far, I would have been reduced to picking a name at random. I was grateful there was at least a little bit of logic I could apply.
"All right, let's keep up the pace."
"Next... Oh, it's Demon Realm, number three. We're getting a nice variety so far."
"Indeed. Now, for a question regarding the Demon Realm. The Dragon King Magnawell-san commands a total of approximately eighty-eight million subordinates, but how many of those are classified as Dragon Species? 1: approx. 44 million, 2: approx. 30 million, 3: approx. 65 million, 4: approx. 80 million... The time limit is once again three minutes."
This was also quite the challenge, but there were clues I could use to narrow it down. Based on what I had heard from Flare-san and Lilia-san during the Dragon Carnival, the Dragon Species definitely held the majority when compared to other races in the faction.
That meant options one and two were likely incorrect. Furthermore, during the carnival, Flare-san had mentioned that there were separate occasions for subordinates of non-dragon races to demonstrate their strength to Magnawell-san. If they went to the trouble of holding separate events on different schedules, the number of non-dragon subordinates had to be significant.
In that case, option three—which implied sixty-five million dragons and twenty-three million others—seemed the most plausible. I decided to lock that in.
"Now for the announcement... The answer is number three, sixty-five million! While the Dragon Species are the most famous, Magnawell-san's faction also includes many Beastmen and Magic Beasts. The ratio of Dragon Species is roughly seventy to eighty percent."
"The Dragon King's place is quite a crowd... though among the Six Kings, it's still only second to Shaltan's, right? By the way, how many subordinates do you have, Shaltan?"
"We have about 1.9 billion."
"The Phantasm King Faction is just absurd..."
Hearing the actual number made me marvel at the scale of her network all over again. 1.9 billion was truly staggering. Granted, Alice had mentioned that some were essentially 'part-timers' who only handled information gathering, and that her core subordinates in positions similar to other factions numbered about a billion... but even so, it was an incredible figure.
Serious-senpai: "Well, considering Japan's current population is about 120 million, Magnawell's 88 million is already a terrifying number, but 1.9 billion is just..."
???: "Well, since there are over 10 billion demons in existence, it's mostly just a matter of the Demon Realm being incredibly vast."