Ch.129129. Vitality

“7, 17, 27, 37! I’m going with these…!”

“…Please don’t shout the numbers out loud.”

The old Cordana Exchange was bustling with unusual activity.

This spacious reception hall with multiple counters and a sturdy vault was perfect for use as a lottery ticket office.

Some had questioned, “Would anyone willingly set foot in such an infamous place?” but that concern proved unnecessary.

While Cordana had indeed turned the Empire upside down, only a small fraction of the upper class had invested directly. Even the commoners who jumped in at the market’s end and suffered losses were mostly shop owners with several clerks under them.

In contrast, the lottery had a very low barrier to entry. Though 50,000 was a burdensome amount for the lower class, it wasn’t impossible to purchase if they stretched their means.

Due to these characteristics, people from various social classes and educational backgrounds frequented the sales office.

Most simply purchased their tickets and left, but some settled in the reception hall and began chatting.

They weren’t criticizing Erick Wellesley for pushing the Empire into a swamp of gambling; rather, most were praising the lottery.

“The best thing about the lottery is that if you keep buying tickets, you’ll eventually win.”

“Is… that so? It’s just started, how would you know?”

“Of course the chance of winning in one go is low…! Do I look stupid? But if you keep buying, you’ll win eventually—that’s why I like the lottery. Say you buy tickets 200 times. Wouldn’t you win at least once?”

“True, they say if you buy consistently for a year, you get additional purchase rights. That doubles your chances of winning, right?”

“Exactly!”

Some buyers simply believed in the power of time.

Meanwhile, others were already developing medium to long-term strategies to identify numbers with higher winning probabilities.

“I heard they’ll make the entire drawing process transparent? That means we can know which numbers people pick most often. If we collect that data and study it systematically, we might see a path to winning… What do you think, sir?”

“Ah, so we should follow the numbers that have won before? They’re more likely to have good energy attached to them.”

“…Oh my, what energy? That’s not it. Wouldn’t it be more rational to avoid the winning numbers to increase your probability?”

“Oh, you’re right. This is your first lottery, how do you know so much?”

“Haha. No need to flatter me. Just follow my lead, sir.”

“I will!”

There were also those who confidently declared, “Since the late Emperor passed away at 49, they’ll likely avoid that number somehow,” and others who mocked everyone else, saying, “The only true way is to buy as many tickets as possible in a single drawing.”

Though they all said different things, they had one thing in common:

They believed they could increase their chances of winning through effort, research, or prayer.

Under these beliefs, the total sales continued to increase.

…3 billion, 4 billion, 5 billion.

The lottery had already become a hot topic among the capital’s residents.

At workplaces and homes, everyone enjoyed discussing how they would spend their winnings.

Some declared they would move to a mansion in District 2 and live with servants, while others proclaimed they would spend the rest of their lives at the recently opened succubus tavern.

Everyone seemed to enjoy just imagining their glamorous post-jackpot lives. It was essentially like paying for two weeks of happiness.

It was a moment of rare vitality in the capital, where entertainment like theater and dance had all collapsed, leaving little to enjoy.

***

Would anyone dare to angrily protest to a Hero who held the rank of Marquis?

It seemed unlikely, but surprisingly, someone did.

“Come on, Hero! If such a good system existed, shouldn’t you have created it sooner?”

“……”

“If you had, I wouldn’t be in this situation!! Please say something!”

I simply stared at the middle-aged man questioning me with a truly indignant expression.

Despite being bound and forced to kneel—which must have been extremely uncomfortable—he kept twisting his body and speaking passionately. He seemed unconcerned that a single word from me could send his head flying.

It was certainly madness, but his madness wasn’t without reason.

‘Well, when your life is already over, I suppose execution isn’t so frightening.’

The man kneeling before me was already destined for the labor camp.

He was one of the merchants who had tried to siphon imperial funds through Matthias.

His sentence was 20 years. That was relatively light since he wasn’t the ringleader.

I had briefly agreed to see him because he had expressed such a desperate desire to meet me, even harming himself to get attention. After all, he was the owner of a restaurant I used to frequent with Selin and other close team members.

I had expected him to beg for leniency, but I never imagined he would argue about the lottery.

“How did you know about the lottery?”

“When I had my final visit with my family… No, that’s not important! Why didn’t you create this sooner…! If you had just hurried a bit, I wouldn’t have fallen this far, wouldn’t have hit rock bottom like this!”

“……”

“Oh, it’s so unfair. I’m so upset I can’t even speak!”

His attitude was deeply emotional, with tears welling in his eyes as he vented his frustration.

I was about to tell him, “It’s thanks to people like you that I came up with the lottery idea,” but I kept my mouth shut.

There was no point in saying such things to someone who would soon be working in a mine—not just any mine, but a sulfur mine. He would only take it as mockery.

And honestly, I somewhat sympathized with the struggling merchant’s words.

‘Yes. I should have created it earlier.’

Though the lottery had only been running for ten days, sales had already approached 7 billion. This slightly exceeded my expectations.

I had thought that since the concept of a lottery was unfamiliar, the first drawing might not produce any winners, but I had long since changed my mind.

The number of people regularly buying tickets would likely increase with each drawing. I was freshly reminded of how prevalent the desire for gambling was in the capital.

“True. If the lottery had existed earlier, perhaps you and your accomplices wouldn’t have turned to Matthias. I’ll admit that.”

“So…!”

“But the fact that you tried to save a traitor remains unchanged. Just be grateful you’re not tied to a stake and go to the labor camp. There’s enough manpower in the camps these days, so you won’t be worked to death.”

“…You call that consolation.”

The merchant looked at me with a sadly distorted face. I decided to send him away, suspecting he might say something like, “We weren’t strangers, after all.”

“It may not sound like much, but that’s how it is. Take him away.”

“Yes!”

As he was dragged away, the merchant shouted in an angry voice, “Do you think I’ll work obediently in the labor camp?!”

He seemed to believe that if he slacked off, I would suffer financial loss. He didn’t realize that the labor camp he was headed to wasn’t my property but belonged to the imperial family.

‘He won’t last long there.’

I didn’t feel sorry for him. Even if his indignation was genuine, it didn’t move me. Considering the number of people I’d sent away, it would be stranger if I were shaken by this.

However, watching him did bring something to mind.

I suspected that the various labor camps must be struggling with prisoner management these days. Managing Cordana investors and those sentenced due to Cordana’s aftermath must be quite different from handling ordinary murderers and thieves.

With the right approach, the lottery system could be adapted to improve productivity in the labor camps.

While I was contemplating this, someone beat me to it.

“Excuse me, Hero. I’ve been thinking…”

It was Lord Necker, the Minister of Justice.

“Go ahead.”

Lord Necker hesitated for a moment with an expression that said, “Is this really appropriate?” before finally presenting an idea targeting laborers.

Surprisingly, his idea was quite similar to my own.

“Hero, not exactly a lottery, but what if we distributed some kind of tokens to prisoners who work without causing trouble, and held regular drawings…? The life of a labor camp prisoner makes it very easy to give up hope. Even the penal battalions at least resemble military life.”

“We could select a few winners and provide alcohol or rest days. Or perhaps reduce their sentences.”

“Ah, you were already thinking along these lines.”

Lord Necker humbly said he shouldn’t have interjected, but I was secretly amazed. I wasn’t impressed by the brilliance of his idea.

Rather, I was surprised at how my actions had influenced those around me.

To think we’d reached a time when even a court count serving as a minister would propose “governing people through false hope.”

Of course, there was context for this.

Lord Necker had actually purchased lottery tickets two days ago. He said he had visited the sales office with his wife, paid one gold Lyra worth 100,000, and they had each received a ticket and happily filled in their numbers, hoping for luck.

“…Working while holding a lottery ticket made me think differently. If I feel this way, imagine how commoners must feel.”

Either way, it was beneficial for me. I wouldn’t need to give detailed instructions.

I directed the Minister of Justice to examine whether a lottery-like system could be implemented specifically for labor camps, including logging camps and quarries.

“Yes, Hero. I’ll see to it.”

It seemed that a pseudo-lottery system using a few bottles of alcohol or a reduction of several months in sentences as bait would soon be implemented in the labor camps. I just hoped it would be even slightly more efficient than governing through punishment alone.

‘Exaggerating a bit, it’s like running a country with lotteries.’

The one fortunate thing was that I didn’t even have time to feel bitter about it.

…Two days before the first drawing.

This time, the Beast King contacted me through communication magic.