Ch.139139. The Empire Now

Empire Lottery Round 2.

As expected, sales had surpassed those of the first round. Even before the deadline, total sales had reached 22 billion.

While increased lottery sales meant more tax revenue, it wasn’t entirely a cause for celebration.

“Your Highness. Perhaps we should temper enthusiasm before people become too fixated on the lottery…”

“Sales will continue to increase regardless. According to the Hero, if the imperial family tries to restrain it, the controversy will only grow larger.”

“At this rate, won’t the prize money become excessively large?”

“More people will certainly be drawn to the lottery hoping for a large sum. But that also increases the probability of multiple winners. In that case, we simply divide the prize money equally among them.”

The Crown Prince only issued orders to monitor the sales offices in real-time, inside and out.

The original intention of the lottery system was to give people something to hope for rather than engaging in life-threatening activities.

Since it was impossible to restrain people’s desires anyway, preventing fraud was the most efficient measure.

Yes, high sales volume itself wasn’t particularly concerning.

‘Of course, I would have worried without the prophecy book.’

Fortunately, the Crown Prince had the book left behind by the Hero.

A book that listed various accidents likely to occur in a crazed Empire, along with brief instructions on how to handle them.

Its contents were proving remarkably accurate. It wasn’t called a prophecy book for nothing.

The first prediction to come true concerned “lucky spots.”

The tiny room in the tenement house where Hans, the first winner, had lived, and the church where he was baptized were still swarming with people.

– Your Highness. Hans’s family has occupied his former room. Not only that, they’re allowing outsiders entry at their discretion and charging admission fees. They claim receiving energy from that room increases one’s chances of winning.

– There’s a small church in District 14 where Hans was baptized, which had been temporarily closed due to declining membership. But now it’s apparently swarming with people.

– I’m concerned that at this rate, every location where Hans briefly stayed might become sanctified.

Hans’s family profiting from his name.

Fortunately, this problem had already been resolved. The Crown Prince had dispatched personnel five days ago to forcibly remove Hans’s family.

However, the justification for using force wasn’t spreading rumors or occupying private property.

The grounds for stopping Hans’s family was that “they were selling for money an opportunity that citizens should enjoy equally.”

Naturally, this was a measure taken according to the Hero’s book. It stated that obsession with Hans would weaken once another winner emerged.

‘Yes, this is indeed the best approach.’

This wasn’t the only case where the Hero’s book had proven accurate.

The next prediction to come true concerned “number prediction.”

Efforts to predict winning numbers were becoming increasingly active even at this moment.

This was only the second round of the Empire Lottery. There wasn’t enough data to predict winning numbers through pattern analysis.

However, in the Empire, there was one means of obtaining numbers without having to filter through adjacent numbers, mirror numbers, or long-overdue numbers.

The Godess.

A transcendent being who observed her creations, humans, day and night.

While there were quite a few people in the Empire who despised or were cynical about the Godess, none denied her existence. This was because of the Hero, who displayed transcendent abilities with the Godess’s blessing, and the Saintess, who had made contact with the Godess.

Wouldn’t such a Godess find it simple to predict just four numbers?

It was natural for people to harbor such shallow expectations. The church’s rapid recovery of influence was also thanks to this belief.

Fortunately, the Crown Prince had already taken appropriate measures by consulting the book. This was possible thanks to the cooperation of the Holy Emperor who was staying in the imperial capital.

Currently, two directives had been issued to all dioceses in the Empire.

First. Do not prohibit prayers for winning the lottery.

Second. Clergy must never respond to those begging for winning numbers.

The imperial family judged that these two measures alone could prevent extreme side effects.

While they couldn’t stop people from kneeling before the Godess’s statue and praying for winning numbers, there was no chance of such prayers being answered. Unless the Godess had gone mad, she wouldn’t actually give out numbers.

And as long as clergy didn’t directly provide numbers, there was no possibility of the church being held responsible. It would be a different story if active priests or nuns won the lottery, but that had been prohibited by the Holy Emperor’s order long ago.

This meant all possible measures for the current situation had been implemented.

No matter how miraculous the Hero’s book was, it was impossible to prevent all side effects of the lottery, but the situation wasn’t beyond control.

At the very least, it was much safer than the times when people were imitating the Tetrad’s crimes or selling out Matthias in the Papal State.

Yet the reason a surprised “Huh?” escaped from the Crown Prince’s lips was simple.

It was because of a report that had just come in from the lottery sales office.

“Your Highness. The number of people selecting the number 8 is excessively high.”

Number 8, which had already appeared as a winning number in the first round.

It wasn’t particularly lucky or unlucky, and there was nothing wrong with choosing it.

Since it had appeared once before, it wasn’t entirely strange to consider it a number with good energy.

The problem was that it was being chosen too frequently. So much so that the sales office had noticed the anomaly and reviewed their sales records.

“About 4.4 out of 10 people are including the number 8 in their combinations.”

“…”

“According to the sales office staff, there was someone who claimed to have received a revelation of the number 8 while praying at church. …There were even people who said the Godess told them to pick 8 in their dreams. It seems number 8 became popular as everyone agreed with this.”

“Hmm.”

This meant number 8 was being perceived as a number chosen by the Godess.

At first glance, it seemed like a trivial report. Surely the Godess wouldn’t just hand out a single number.

It was probably someone “claiming” to have received a revelation, with others joining in and blowing things out of proportion.

However, the Crown Prince couldn’t dismiss this report.

“What if number 8 is actually included in the second round’s winning numbers?”

“Your Highness, that’s…”

“Then the theory that the Godess was playing around, or rather intervening, would be accepted as truth. We can’t predict what aftermath such a perception might leave. Perhaps churches would be treated as sanctuaries that provide lottery numbers.”

“Ah…!”

Of course, even if number 8 did appear, the aftermath wouldn’t last forever. After all, it would just be a coincidence.

However, despite knowing this, the Crown Prince couldn’t shake off his unease.

It was because of a childish worry sprouting in a corner of his mind.

What if, just what if, the Godess was really intervening?

Of course, he knew it was an absurd thought.

But he couldn’t help finding it suspicious that over 40% of buyers were fixated on a single number. It didn’t seem likely that so many people would harbor false beliefs just from whispers at churches and sales offices.

Though unlikely, it was possible the Godess was actually intervening.

If that were the case, how should they handle the lottery system they had already set in motion?

‘This isn’t even in the book. Sigh.’

The Crown Prince began to pray with his hands neatly folded.

Though aware of how ridiculous his behavior was, his prayer was sincere. Perhaps even more desperate than the devotees praying for winning numbers.

It was because he didn’t have confidence to endure if the Godess started playing tricks on top of the continuous chaos.

‘Godess, please.’

Crown Prince Simon wanted to believe that he was holding up reasonably well.

He really wanted to believe that.

***

The day of the drawing, at the sales office.

Just like the first round, the drawing began amidst a crowd of buyers.

The differences from before were that communication magic devices were being operated so that winning numbers could be confirmed in real-time at sales offices in two ducal territories, and that people’s gazes had become a bit more intense.

Fifty balls chaotically mixing, a blindfolded drawer, balls being drawn one by one.

And a resounding voice announcing the winning numbers.

“48!”

“3!”

“…46!”

“And the final number is… 22!”

3, 22, 46, 48.

The drawing ended in an instant.

Sighs escaped from all the buyers gathered inside and outside the sales office.

It was a scene remarkably similar to the first drawing. Even after the drawing ended, thousands of people lingered, murmuring among themselves.

And among them were many who had firmly believed the Godess had chosen number 8, only to be disappointed.

“Damn it. Who was the person who confidently claimed number 8 would come up? I’d like to see their face.”

“How could not even one number match?”

“I wasted money for nothing. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have needed to pray while putting money in the offering box. I guess prayer isn’t the right way after all?”

“That’s why statistical analysis is the answer. We need more rounds…!”

It was a moment when faith in the Godess withered instantly.

While most faces in the crowd were painted with disappointment, the Crown Prince, upon receiving the drawing results shortly after, breathed a sigh of relief.

It was a win-win situation as churches would no longer be overrun with lottery buyers, and doubts about the Godess could be dispelled.

After reviewing sales records over the next seven hours, it was determined there were two winners.

Perhaps because of Hans’s example, the winners didn’t reveal themselves and risk danger. They would likely come quietly to present their tickets after the crowd dispersed. This too was very fortunate from the palace’s perspective.

“It seems my worries were excessive.”

Only then did the Crown Prince relax and wear a faint smile.

…

…

However, that smile didn’t last long.

One of the two winners was an ordinary gardener. He came the day after the drawing, received his prize money, and quietly disappeared.

Up to this point, everything was fine.

What wiped the smile off the Crown Prince’s face was the second winner.

“Senior! Didn’t you say we’d share the money equally no matter who wins?”

“I didn’t think I’d actually win!”

“But why did you say you’d share with that person from House Arknite? Are you discriminating?”

Dozens of Academy students shouting in front of the sales office. What started as a dispute didn’t take long to escalate into violence. When “Kyle,” a student from the magic department, cast a spell in anger that knocked out a passerby, the situation spiraled out of control.