22. Conversion

「Damn it! I’ll go collect more lottery tickets if this keeps happening!」

The man looked deeply frustrated and bolted out of the lottery booth.

More and more…… that meant he was planning to collect well over a hundred tickets. What on earth was he doing to gather so many? How had he even managed to collect a hundred of them in the first place? I figured I’d ask him the next time our paths crossed.

「This is the 4th Prize, a 50% discount shopping coupon,」 the staff member announced, producing a golden card.

It looked just like a high-end gold credit card, but the texture felt completely unique—like something I had never touched before in my life.

「If you show this to a merchant while shopping, you will receive a 50% discount on everything. You can use it as many times as you want, but please note that it can only be utilized by the person who originally accepted it.」

「It’s basically the same rule as the Warp Feather. Got it.」

I carefully put away the 50% off shopping coupon. Eleanor proceeded to spin the machine for my remaining ten pulls, but every single one of them turned out to be just another baseline magic ball.

⸻

Now that I possessed a coupon granting a 50% discount on my purchases, there was one specific theory I needed to test. It was about how much I actually had to spend to earn a lottery ticket.

Previously, the baseline was one ticket for every three hundred silver coins spent. I wanted to verify if the 50% discount would adjust that threshold—meaning I’d now need to spend three hundred coins to get a ticket, or if the system tracked the actual cash spent, requiring one hundred and fifty coins instead.

I decided to drop three hundred silver coins all at once. Earning that amount had become relatively straightforward now, considering I could rake it in within a single day of heavy hunting. The main reason for using a full three hundred coins as a test sum was to see if it would yield two lottery tickets under the discounted rate instead of just one. If the system didn’t scale down, spending three hundred coins straight would at least guarantee my standard single ticket without wasting the leftover half-value.

With that experiment in mind, I warped straight from the lottery booth back to the mansion, intending to head out to the mountain ox meadows.

「Good morning!」

A voice called out to me just as I stepped out. It was Io. She was standing right in front of me, still dressed in her standard magician robes.

「Good morning.」

「Ar—are you heading out somewhere today, Kakeru-san?」

「Yeah, I’m going to go hunt some mountain oxen…… want to come along?」

Remembering my promise to form a party with her, I casually invited her to tag along.

「Yes!」 she nodded eagerly, beaming with a massive smile. Well, that was the whole point of making her a party member in the first place.

「Alright, let’s go then. Stand close to me.」

「Eh? Yes……」

Io looked at me with a slightly confused expression, but stepped up close. I pulled out my Warp Feather and instantly teleported us straight to the mountain ox meadow.

「……Eeeeeeeeehh?!」

She was completely shell-shocked, exactly as I expected.

「Where are we?! We were just in the city a second ago, weren’t we?!」

「This is a pasture where mountain oxen spawn. We flew all the way out here using magic,」 I explained, choosing to pass the Warp Feather off as simple spellcasting.

「Teleportation magic…… I’ve never even heard of such advanced magic.」

「Well, I’m the only one who can pull it off.」

「That’s amazing…… I can’t believe you can use something like that.」

「I can only warp to places I’ve physically visited before, though.」

「Still, it’s incredible!」

While walking alongside an utterly awestruck Io, we began scanning the plains for our target. Speaking of which, since we were officially adventuring together as a party, I wondered what her combat capabilities looked like.

「What kind of combat magic can you use, Io?」

「I specialize in offensive lightning magic. Though it takes a little time to chant and activate, so it might cause some trouble if enemies close in too fast.」

「Oh, so the vanguard has to hold the line longer? Does that make the spell hit harder?」

「The attack power is about standard, but because it’s electricity, it completely ignores an opponent’s physical defense.」

「Lightning, huh…」

I see. Lightning magic sounded useful. I made a mental note to ask her to shoot a harmless bolt at me sometime so I could try to absorb it and learn the spell myself. In this world, surviving a magical attack gave you a chance to acquire it.

While chatting about various things, we finally spotted a mountain ox roaming in the distance.

「Alright, let’s get started.」

I pulled out Eleanor—but something immediately felt off about the mountain ox. The moment the beast caught sight of us, its eyes went wide, it awkwardly spun around on its hooves, and it bolted away in the opposite direction at full speed.

「……Eh?」

I scowled in confusion. Did it just… run away?

Quickly regaining my composure, I flicked my Warp Feather, materialized directly in front of its escape path, and quickly finished off the fleeing mountain ox with a clean strike.

「What was that just now……?」 I muttered, staring down at the fallen beast.

From everything I had experienced so far, these creatures were supposed to be aggressive brutes that never backed down from a fight. Mountain oxen were naturally ferocious, reckless beasts with the stubborn heart of a wild boar. Seeing one tuck its tail and flee was genuinely shocking.

Just then, Io finally caught up to me, panting slightly.

「Amazing…… I’ve never seen a mountain ox run away from a human before.」

「I’m just as surprised. Anyway, let’s go cash this thing in.」

Using the Warp Feather, I teleported straight to the Andreu Trading Company with both the mountain ox carcass and Io in tow. I handed the beast over to Andreu—who had grown progressively more formal and deferential toward me over time—and collected my payout.

After stepping back outside the trading post with Io to figure out our next move, I heard a familiar voice call out.

「Kakeru-sama.」

I turned around and saw Princess Helene standing there. She wasn’t wearing her usual immaculate royal dress; instead, she had changed into light, functional traveling clothes optimized for easy movement, and her long blonde hair was tied up into a neat ponytail. To be honest, her entire vibe was completely different—it was a casual disguise, but an effective one.

「Helene? What’s with that outfit?」

「I really wanted to see Kakeru-sama, so I managed to sneak out of the palace for a little while.」

「So that’s why…… yeah.」

I stared at Helene for a moment. The princess’s standard attire was always stunningly beautiful, but her active look was equally incredible. Seeing her looking so lively and athletic made her radiance pop even more. I had to admit, I was a little stunned.

「……Umm, is it strange? I’ve never dressed like this before, so I wasn’t sure how it would look……」 she muttered, looking away self-consciously.

I gently grabbed Helene’s hand before she could turn around in embarrassment and pulled her into a soft embrace.

「It’s not weird at all. It has a great vibe.」

「Thank you very much, Kakeru-sama.」

Helene giggled happily against my chest. I found myself getting lost in her smile all over again.

「I’m going to go hunt a few more beasts. Do you want to come along, Helene?」

「I’ll come with you!」 she answered immediately.

When I glanced back over at Io, the young mage was standing frozen in absolute, unadulterated shock.

「Io? What’s wrong?」

「Ka—Kakeru-san… Is that person, by any chance…… Helene-sama?」

「Aaaah, yeah.」

「Could it really be Princess Helene herself……?!」

「Well, exactly as you see it.」

My casual confirmation sent Io’s brain straight into a tailspin of disbelief. Helene just giggled even more at the reaction.

「Having the Princess herself tagging along with you…… Kakeru-san is just amazing……」 Io breathed out.

「Yes, Kakeru-sama is truly an extraordinary person,」 Helene agreed proudly. 「After all, even though he carries the legendary cursed sword Eleanor, he is completely uncorrupted by it and wields it effortlessly. As far as historical records show, he is the only person in existence who can do that.」

「Eeeeeeh?! Eleanor?!」 Io shrieked, backing away in sheer terror.

「Yeah, this one right here,」 I said, casually pulling Eleanor out from my belt.

(Don’t just introduce me like I’m a household tool!) Eleanor protested telepathically, but I blithely ignored her.

「Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh?!」

Io screamed even louder, drawing the startled attention of several passersby on the street. I hastily rushed over to clamp my hand over her mouth.

「Th-That sword is actually the legendary Eleanor?!」

「Ah, yeah.」

……Wait, was this sword really that famous of a historical disaster?

「Eleanor is a notorious legendary magic sword that has appeared repeatedly throughout history, leading legions of dead spirits to ruin multiple great empires,」 Io babbled frantically once I let go. 「Everyone who touches it without exception has their mind instantly broken, trading their soul for overwhelming destructive power!」

「Well, she doesn’t lead legions of dead spirits anymore. Now she just summons a ghost girl instead,」 I reasoned.

I gave a mental nudge, and Tania—the ghost maid—popped out from Eleanor to give a polite little wave.

「Hello there. I’m Tania Chitiakis,」 she greeted demurely.

Since we were standing out in the middle of a public street, I immediately dismissed Tania back into the blade before causing another panic.

「He’s so strong…… he’s in that kind of romantic relationship with the actual princess…… he completely ignores the curse of a legendary magic sword and just uses it normally…… he’s just…… he’s just too amazing! Kakeru-san is terrifyingly amazing!」 Io babbled, her eyes swirling with hero-worship.

(I feel like she’s about to start founding a literal religion dedicated to you, Eleanor giggled inside my head.)

At this rate, it honestly looked like she might actually do it. Well, I certainly wasn’t going to complain about having a loyal, starry-eyed party member.