Ch.127127. Lottery

Saintess Gang Hannah was confident that she had adapted fairly well to the Empire.

It was possible because everyone treated her with warmth.

The elderly nun responsible for managing the Imperial Parish would still gently pat her back whenever they met, asking, “Saintess, you’re not having nightmares anymore, are you?”

Even the ‘Holy Emperor’ Rowan, who didn’t hesitate to criticize the Goddess during his sermons, would check on her via communication magic every few days.

Meanwhile, ordinary believers regarded Gang Hannah as a transcendent being.

Some would bow their heads reverently just from making eye contact with her, and some would even shed tears.

…Of course, receiving such treatment wasn’t solely due to Gang Hannah’s own efforts. To be honest, much of it was thanks to the Hero’s occasional care.

‘No, it’s more than occasional care. If the Hero hadn’t protected me from the beginning, I would have been treated like garbage.’

She had inadvertently mentioned the forbidden word “coin” immediately after being summoned.

If the Hero had ignored her and left at that time, she would likely have been branded as a second Gwon Heejin.

It wouldn’t have mattered if she later tried to argue that she was different from Gwon Heejin. She would have inevitably withered away under thorough surveillance and harsh discipline.

The Hero was the one who had prevented that miserable fate.

Though she thought about repaying him someday, she wondered if it would ever be possible. After all, the Hero possessed military might, wealth, and power.

‘Giving proper answers when he occasionally asks for advice is probably the only way.’

Even that wasn’t going smoothly. It was because Erick already knew so much.

Every conversation left her feeling like her shallow knowledge was exposed, and sometimes she even felt like he could read her thoughts. It was as if he was saying, “I know you’re trying, but don’t push yourself too hard.”

But today, she felt she could give a clear answer for once.

It was because Erick had suddenly appeared in the Imperial Capital and asked a question about “gambling.” Thanks to knowledge picked up from watching her father, it was practically her minor specialization.

“Saintess. I think we need to satisfy people’s fantasies about striking it rich to some extent. I have a business in mind… and I need your advice.”

“I thought gambling was what you hated most, Hero.”

“I don’t hate gambling itself, but I hate seeing the country ruined because of it. …However, I now realize that blocking all avenues isn’t the answer. There are plenty of people who can’t quit gambling even after being sent to penal battalions.”

“Ah, so you want to create a healthy gambling venue.”

The Hero smiled weakly at this response.

“Saintess. Is there such a thing as healthy gambling? As long as there’s anticipation for uncertain rewards, people will inevitably become addicted. I’m just trying to reduce the harm… to contain it within an area I can control.”

“…Oh.”

Now the Saintess understood the Hero’s intentions in seeking her advice.

It seemed the Hero wasn’t trying to guide people to satisfy their desires in a healthy way.

He just wanted to reduce the number of people who, in pursuit of that one big win, would drain not only their own lives but also the nation’s strength.

What state of mind had led him to such a prescription? The Saintess unconsciously opened and closed her mouth, cutting off her words.

“So, for example… Ah, no. I’m sorry.”

Fortunately, the Hero didn’t mock her but calmly explained what he wanted.

“I have three conditions in mind.”

First, it must be gambling where risk can be managed in the public domain.

Second, it must stimulate fantasies of striking it rich but not take up too much time.

Third, the entry barrier must be as low as possible so that commoners can participate.

The Saintess nodded blankly upon hearing this.

‘It seems he’s already worked out the general concept.’

He was merely asking for the Saintess’s advice to flesh out the details, but it seemed he would design and implement it himself even if left alone. He was probably just checking if Gang Hannah, as the child of a gambling addict, might know something useful.

In fact, Gang Hannah did know of one type of gambling worth telling the Hero about.

It was the lottery.

‘That’s the only option.’

The lottery was one of the few legally operated forms of gambling in Korea.

It was also the only form of gambling that remained a warm memory in Gang Hannah’s mind.

Before her father got involved in illegal sports betting, he often bought lottery tickets. Specifically, Lotto. He would manually purchase five combinations and carefully store them in his wallet.

– Daughter. If this hits, let’s move to a high-rise apartment complex.

Back then, her father was still a man of sound mind and body.

A skilled tile worker who earned good money and had many friends.

At that time, he didn’t stay up all night checking soccer scores from leagues in countries he’d never heard of, nor did he worship streamers young enough to be his nieces while pouring his fortune into garbage coins. Just a light expectation of a life-changing win. That was all.

‘If only he had stopped there.’

Gang Hannah felt a bitter taste in her mouth but maintained her composure. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on memories of her father.

Shortly after, she began explaining the concept of the lottery to the Hero.

The pooling of money, instant and draw-based formats, the structure of distributing “some” of the revenue to a small number of winners, winner selection based purely on luck, and so on.

Of course, she didn’t forget to explain the risks as well.

“Um, Hero? Lotteries aren’t free from addiction either.”

“Of course not.”

“Looking at the internet, you’d think everyone’s just into cryptocurrency and stocks, but I’ve heard the lottery market grows by a few percent every year too. People buy more and more tickets thinking it increases their chances of winning…”

“Yes, I understand. Since winners are drawn by numbers, I imagine some people waste time researching ‘lucky’ numbers.”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

He even guessed correctly what she hadn’t explained.

There was no need to mention people wasting money in prediction groups hoping to get winning numbers. It was surprising that someone would know such things in a world where many people still paid taxes with livestock and grain.

However, she felt no inclination to praise the Hero’s intuition.

She already knew with what feelings the Hero had accepted the concept of the lottery.

“…Hero.”

“Ah, we can even utilize the psychology of lottery addiction. If my plan works, we can reduce the number of people who end up in labor camps after going crazy trying to hit it big. Anyway, this has been helpful.”

The Saintess couldn’t hide her bitterness even as she replied that she was glad to be of help.

Though it might be presumptuous, she now felt sorry for the Hero.

***

I headed to the Imperial Palace immediately after finishing my meeting with the Saintess.

‘So this is really the only option.’

The lottery.

Similar concepts weren’t entirely unknown on the continent. About three hundred years ago, the Kingdom of Ether had sold tickets to fund fortress construction. However, they didn’t pool money for winners but instead gave out official positions and houses.

But I wasn’t planning to issue a one-time lottery.

Doing it that way would only be a mild version of “Hero gambling.” People wouldn’t be satisfied with just one lottery event.

As soon as I entered the palace, I gathered Prince and several ministers and announced, “There is something called a lottery.”

“…We need to issue it regularly and systematically. The interval between lottery draws should be set at two weeks. People need to be confident that lottery issuance will continue permanently, so they won’t turn their attention to other forms of gambling.”

Unlike usual, I didn’t receive the response, “Yes, Hero. We will implement it exactly as you say.”

It wasn’t that I had suddenly become irrelevant; rather, everyone seemed surprised by the unexpected proposal of state-sponsored gambling.

“Um, Hero. What are you—”

“Wait. I’m not finished. According to the Saintess, in her world, the return rate is about 50 percent. If lottery sales total 1 billion, only about 500 million is distributed to a small number of winners.”

“What happens to the other 50 percent…?”

“It’s spent for public purposes. Building reservoirs in territories lacking agricultural water, or establishing civic schools in provinces and dispatching teachers. There are plenty of small territories where commoners have nowhere to seek education except churches.”

A moment of silence followed, but it didn’t last long.

“Hero, wouldn’t lottery buyers protest such an arrangement?”

This was a reasonable concern raised by Prince.

However, contrary to his worry, there was no possibility of protest.

The essence was money pooling.

Even with only a 50 percent return, if the money was concentrated on a few winners (one or two people), it would be enough for a life-changing windfall, so buyers wouldn’t mind. The Saintess said there were no protests even in her country, where information spread extremely quickly.

Moreover, this was the Empire.

There were people everywhere who were desperate for gambling opportunities.

“Your Highness, people will rush to buy tickets even knowing it’s quasi-taxation. I’m planning to price each lottery ticket at about 50,000 Lyra anyway.”

For a commoner living in the Imperial Capital, 50,000 wasn’t a very small amount.

But if a purchased ticket won, they could earn at least tens of thousands of times that amount, or even more if the stakes were higher—would they really complain?

Of course not. Far from disliking it, they would likely be desperate to buy even more lottery tickets. After all, each draw would produce a “real” overnight millionaire. They would believe they could be that protagonist too.

I intended to exploit even that psychology.

“…Basically, each person can buy only one ticket. But I plan to selectively grant the right to purchase more. For instance, at the Academy, we could give additional purchase rights only to top students based on academic performance. And…”

As my explanation continued, silence fell over the room.

Understandably so. After all, I was essentially proposing to use the lottery to forcibly boost work ethic or academic motivation. In reality, whether buying one ticket or several, the likely outcome was just wasting money.

‘But what choice do we have?’

I couldn’t help it even if people said I was instilling fantasies to tame the population. I couldn’t help it if there was a surge in people just waiting for the draw date to get through two weeks.

Right now, even such measures were necessary to keep the weakened Empire running.