Chapter 5 : Giveaway through a Lottery

After creating the Super Chat function, donations poured in.

These were the first noteworthy donors, so I had to answer each one diligently.

[“IamtheDemonMonarch-nim, please understand that I can’t read all the incoming messages due to time constraints. Messages arrive from billions of people, but I only have one body. Surely, if you are truly the Demon Monarch, you can show that much generosity?”]

[Anonymous (Demon Realm, 021.666): Hmm! Although not to my liking, I shall magnanimously overlook it. For I am the Demon Monarch.]

That seemed to have worked.

‘They’re really committed to the role.’

Even if they sent a Super Chat with a high-grade Mana Stone, I didn’t think they were actually the Demon Monarch.

If they were the real Demon Monarch, they wouldn’t be spamming the chat just because I didn’t read their messages. The Demon Monarch was still a monarch; they must be busy with official duties.

It was probably some idle noble from the Demon Realm messing around.

[“AloneisSad-nim, you like sandwiches? There are many kinds of sandwiches. From simple sandwiches with bacon and lettuce to meat sandwiches with ground meat, and even sandwiches with only vegetables. I prefer the ones with bacon.”]

[Anonymous (Tutankhamun Desert, 333.123): I like the ones with lots of vegetables!]

Sandwiches.

A rather humble wish for someone claiming to be stranded.

‘I could give them one as a gift.’

The Mana Stone transmission system of the network magic was connected to my inventory.

Naturally, I could take things out as well as put them in.

Overusing it would put a strain on the Soul Stream, but one sandwich should be fine.

[“Okay. Then I’ll send our AloneisSad-nim a sandwich packed with vegetables as a gift.”]

Giving out gifts was a radio broadcast tradition, wasn’t it?

‘Send us the answer to this quiz, and you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a prize’ was a long-standing tradition of FM radio.

I also intended to follow that tradition.

[Anonymous (Demon Realm, 021.666): Wait, do I get nothing?]
[Anonymous (Demon Realm, 021.666): It’s unfair to give a gift to only one person when we both sent Mana Stones.]
[Anonymous (Demon Realm, 021.666): I desire a meat sandwich filled with meat.]
[Anonymous (Demon Realm, 021.666): Mage, don’t ignore me.]
[Anonymous (Demon Realm, 021.666): Come to think of it, blindly showing generosity is not in line with the way of the king. Forgiveness comes at a price, doesn’t it? This time, I will graciously forgive you with just one sandwich.]
[Anonymous (Demon Realm, 021.666): Hey.]

[“Let’s see. The next message is from the Demon Realm. My boss has been acting irritable lately, and it’s been tough. They suddenly yell in the office, or laugh to themselves and bang on the desk. I want to quit, I’m going crazy…”]

Tutankhamun Desert. The ruins where the ancient emperor was sealed.

[“I’ll send our AloneisSad-nim a sandwich packed with vegetables as a gift.”]

A blue window opened in front of the hero, who was diligently digging, and a sandwich popped out.

A thick sandwich filled with vegetables and fruits.

“Wow! God sent me a sandwich!”

To be precise, it was a mage, not God, but the hero didn’t care about such trivial details.

The god who gave him the holy sword and the mage who gave him the sandwich were essentially the same. Since he couldn’t eat the holy sword, maybe the mage was the better person(?)?

“It even has tomatoes!”

Fresh vegetables, something he hadn’t seen in a long time.

The moment he saw the sliced tomatoes tucked between the bread, tears welled up in his eyes.

He wanted to shove the whole sandwich in his mouth and devour it, but…

Instead of gobbling it down, the hero pulled out a single lettuce leaf and ate it.

“Nom.”

Munch munch. Gulp.

After savoring the taste of the lettuce for a while, the hero jumped for joy.

Then, he carefully wrapped the remaining sandwich and stored it in the ancient emperor’s coffin.

It wouldn’t spoil, since the coffin had a preservation spell on it.

“It’s too precious to eat it all…”

The hero resumed digging with his holy sword, then…

He suddenly stopped and peeked at the ancient emperor’s coffin again.

“…It would be okay to eat just one more slice of tomato, wouldn’t it? Or maybe half a slice?”

Magic Kingdom.

The ‘unknown Archmage’s’ mansion.

[“I’ll be giving out gifts through a lottery in the next broadcast too, so don’t be disappointed if you didn’t get one today, and just relax and listen.”]

The elf s*ave, Sylvie, felt a bit peckish while listening to the broadcast.

“The ingredients…”

She opened the mansion’s (magic) refrigerator, which was filled with fresh vegetables and fruits.

There would be bread in the cupboard as well.

“Hmm… making a sandwich is too much trouble…”

But now that she had taken out the ingredients, she felt too lazy to make a sandwich.

“Nom.”

So, she put the bread back and just ate the fruits and lettuce.

Crunch. She bit into a tomato, and sweet juice burst in her mouth.

“Sweet tomatoes…”

Holy Nation.

St. Sixtina Cathedral.

[“This message is from the Holy Nation. ‘I’ve lived my whole life under the care of the Church, and this year I entered the academy and am living with my peers. I’m excited, but also anxious about living in a completely different environment.’”]

The Saint’s transfer to the academy was finalized swiftly.

The cardinals expressed reservations about the Saint’s request to live outside the Church, but they didn’t strongly object because they had all heard the ‘message’ the Saint sent to the mage’s broadcast.

Above all, the High Patriarch strongly advocated for granting the Saint’s request.

Thanks to that, the Saint was able to enter the academy, but she was still unsure if this was the right path. Normally, on such anxious days, she would have prayed to God for an answer…

[“Adapting to a new environment is difficult.”]

For some reason…

The Saint sought the answer from the mage, not from God.

[“You might be bullied or ostracized. You might miss home. The food might not suit your taste, or the foreign culture might feel strange and unpleasant. The students at the academy will be louder than the adults at the Church, and due to their inexperience, they might make mistakes with you. If you were a commoner, you would be discriminated against because of your status. If you were ugly, you would be mocked for your appearance. If you were exceptionally talented, you would be envied for it. You will likely experience many injustices that you wouldn’t have faced at the Church.”]

“…Is that so?”

And the mage’s answer was negative. It was even incredibly specific.

It was different from what the priests had told her: ‘The academy students are kind, so you’ll be fine,’ or ‘The academy professors are trustworthy.’

Was the mage trying to dissuade her?

Just as she thought that—

[“But, it’s okay now.”]
“Yes?”

Words in a gentle tone followed the previous cold explanation.

[“Children know shame. Since I’ve said this now, they won’t openly do such foolish things. This is being broadcast worldwide. If word gets out that the academy ostracized a transfer student, they won’t be able to show their faces. Even if someone with a bad personality acts up, those around them will stop them. Of course, that might not be the case… But if it happens, send me the names of the perpetrators. I’ll put them on the internet… I mean, the broadcast.”]

It was an approach the Saint, who had spent her entire life in the sheltered environment of the Church, couldn’t have imagined. Trusting not in people’s goodness or wickedness, but in… shame.

She could only hear the voice through the communication magic, but…

Somehow, the Saint felt as if the person beyond this voice was smiling playfully.

[“And if the food doesn’t suit your taste… the academy lets you borrow the kitchen if you ask, so you can cook for yourself. You probably won’t even need to; I’ve tried it, and it’s delicious. And if you miss home, you can ask your professor for permission to go back for a visit. Does that answer your question?”]

It was…

Such a specific and trustworthy revelation…

“…Yes, I believe you.”

The Saint couldn’t help but believe the revelation.

Magic Kingdom.

The Academy.

“I heard the unknown Archmage is Professor Harnen from the Magic Department?”
“I heard it was the Vice Principal.”

The academy was buzzing with talk about the ‘unknown Archmage’. It was always bustling, but today it was especially noisy.

“The academy food is good.”
“I didn’t even know there was such a thing as an absence permit until I heard the broadcast!”

The reason for this, surprisingly, was a remark the mage made during the broadcast.

The Archmage, who wielded world-class magic, had mentioned having ‘tried the academy food.’ This meant they were either a professor or a student, and since they couldn’t be a student, the natural conclusion was that they were one of the professors.

“Maybe it’s the academy’s first headmaster? I heard they were an Archmage too. Perhaps they’re still alive, living in seclusion somewhere like the Demon Lands?”
“That’s just a bluff! The Empire, the Kingdoms, everyone is trying to track down this ‘unknown Archmage’, so they’re intentionally spreading false clues.”

The students spent their break time speculating about the mage’s identity.

As a result, the theories that the mage was the ‘academy’s first headmaster’ and that ‘it’s all a bluff’ gained the most traction.

“Yawn…”

Of course, neither theory was close to the truth.

‘I stayed up all night working on server stabilization because I got more Super Chats than expected… It would be nice to have more resource slaves… Maybe if I trained 100,000 elf slaves…’

The culprit behind all this commotion…

Was dozing off at their desk, yawning repeatedly.

‘Ah, I should make keychains for the next broadcast giveaway.’

Demon Realm.

Demon Monarch’s Castle.

“Ha, haha! Hahaha! How dare you ignore me like this? Now, I must have the next giveaway item!”
“Um, Demon Monarch…?”

“What is it?!”
“Eeek?! I, I brought all the high-grade Mana Stones as you commanded.”

“Ah! Good! Stack them there.”
“Y-Yes!”

The Demon Monarch had awakened as the world’s first ‘spammer’.