"Okay, please wait a moment."
The staff member took out a box and placed it in front of the bard. The previous box had just been sold out, so he had brought out a new one.
Venti casually grabbed a hundred tickets.
As it turned out, they were all empty—all just lottery tickets for the grand prize that hadn't been drawn yet.
"Why is it like this? They're all empty!"
He scratched his head, refusing to believe that his luck as the Anemo Archon was actually worse than that of those ordinary people.
And so, Venti took out another hundred Mora and drew another hundred times.
The result… still nothing!
"Heavens… I don't accept this!" Venti was so angry he was scratching his ears and cheeks. He had originally come to earn some Mora, but he never thought his luck would be this bad.
The staff member, seeing him like this, couldn't help but advise, "Sir, the grand prize drawing will be later tonight."
"No! How can I, the dignified Anemo Archon, Barbatos, not win a prize? Give me another five hundred tickets!"
"Alright, sir." The staff member could only give him more tickets.
This time, however, Venti used his divine power. A ticket worth fifty thousand Mora was obtained by him through cheating.
"Haha, I won! Fifty thousand Mora!"
Venti cheered happily, attracting the attention of many people, who all looked over.
Sure enough, it was a fifty-thousand-Mora lottery ticket.
The crowd gathered around, and when they discovered that the winner was a bard, the atmosphere became even more heated!
On the Knights' platform, Su Han covered his face and sighed. "Barbatos, can you please do something useful?"
As an Archon, he's actually coming here to fleece the wool. What kind of Archon are you?
But him cheating like this is also good. It's completely drummed up the publicity. The people are even more excited now.
Even Xiangling and the others had bought a few tickets.
"What a pity, the winning rate is too low." Xiangling placed her ten tickets down and couldn't help but sigh.
Lisa covered her mouth and chuckled. "With so many people, the chances of winning the one million or five hundred thousand prizes are too low. And Su Han didn't even put them out from the beginning. He's probably waiting until tonight to release those big prizes."
"Then can Klee buy two tickets, too?" At this moment, the little sun looked at Su Han, her eyes full of desire.
Everyone else was playing, so she naturally wanted to buy a couple to play, too.
Seeing her expression, Su Han couldn't bear to refuse and nodded. "Alright, but you can only buy ten! No more."
"By the way, Klee, why do you want to buy lottery tickets? I don't recall you being short on Mora," Jean asked, looking at her with confusion.
Klee giggled. "Because Big Brother Su Han is always buying me lots and lots of good food, so Klee wants to buy some lottery tickets. If I win, I'll buy some presents for Big Brother Su Han! Hehe."
"I didn't realize Klee was so thoughtful. Go on, do you have Mora in your pocket?"
"I do, Auntie Li… I mean, Sister Lisa!"
Having received permission, Klee hopped away.
It was already dark now, and there weren't many people left in line to buy tickets. So, it only took Klee fifteen minutes to arrive at the sales counter.
"Isn't this Klee? Are you here to buy lottery tickets, too?"
"Mhm! Give me ten."
"Alright!"
After the transaction was complete, Klee jumped onto the platform, reached into the box, and a moment later, ten lottery tickets were in her hand.
"How does this work?"
"Uh… you don't know how to open them?"
"No, Klee doesn't know!"
The staff member, looking at the clueless Klee, could only teach her how to scratch off the coating. If a pattern appeared, she won. If it was a number, she would have to wait until nine o'clock at night.
Just as the staff member was patiently explaining, Klee suddenly saw that a wolf pattern had appeared on the ticket in her hand.
"This… did I win?"
"What?"
"I mean, if a pattern appears, it counts as a win, right?"
The staff member looked down and saw that the little loli was holding a "Wolf of the North" lottery ticket!
"What?! This is… this is the 500,000 Mora grand prize!"
"Five hundred thousand?!"
The surrounding people were dumbfounded. Is this for real? Someone actually won the 500,000 Mora grand prize!
Everyone gathered around, and the staff member from the Knights of Favonius confirmed it again. It really was the Wolf of the North pattern.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The sound of fireworks erupted in the skies above Mondstadt City.
At this time, Su Han, Jean, and the others were having a meal at the entrance of the Knights' headquarters. Seeing the fireworks light up the sky, they couldn't help but be surprised. "The grand prize has already appeared? I wonder who it is."
"It must be a lucky one," Lisa, who was enjoying her black tea, said with a light laugh.
Only the top three prizes would trigger the fireworks.
At this moment, a knight ran over, his face looking strange. "Reporting to the lords! Someone has won the second prize."
"Who won?"
"Uh… that would be… the Spark Knight, Klee!"
Everyone froze on the spot.
Jean and Lisa both looked at Su Han. Don't tell me there's some inside dealing going on here.
Su Han was speechless. "Don't look at me like that. The lottery is being run by the Knights of Favonius. I'm only responsible for the final part."
If he were to rig the prizes, the people of Mondstadt weren't fools. It wouldn't take long for them to realize. As for Klee winning, it was basically just her pure, good luck. Who could he blame for that?
A moment later, Klee came running over, holding a "Liyue Bank" savings card, and stuffed it into Su Han's hand.
"Hehehe, I can't believe I really won! Big Brother Su Han, this is for you!"
"You… you little sun, your luck is just too good."
"Of course! Klee's luck is the best!"
"Alright, alright, let's eat first. We still have to announce the grand prize later."
"Okay!"
The group began to eat.
The already lively lottery, with Klee's second-prize win, was pushed to a new high.
Of course, some people in the city began to spread rumors, saying that the Knights of Favonius were cheating, and how else could Klee have won the second prize with just a few tickets.
But others retorted. When Klee drew her tickets, it was from the same box as everyone else. Are you just sour because you didn't win?
"Do you really not believe that there's something fishy going on here? I, for one, think there's a problem. Just think about it… Klee is a Knight of Mondstadt, and the people who released the lottery are also the Knights of Favonius."
"Who… who's patting me?"
"Old brother, come with us. Who are you?"
"The Blackflame unit of the Knights of Favonius. You are currently suspected of disrupting the peace of Mondstadt City. You're under arrest!"
"You!" The man tried to struggle, but the Haki-wielding knight easily subdued him.
Outside, Kaedehara Kazuha looked at the arrested criminal and said to Kaeya, "We must act quickly. We must use this Ludi Harpastum to at least quiet the city down. The Master cannot stay for long."
"Mm, I understand. I will interrogate this man properly. Take him away."
The nearby people, seeing this, looked at each other. Is this another major case?
In just two short hours, the Knights of Favonius's "Blackflame unit" had arrested thirty people who were spreading rumors. And their identities, without exception, were all Fatui.
"Escort them to Falcon Coast. Let them do hard labor. If anyone resists, kill them on the spot."
"Yes, Diluc."
Kaeya was in charge of the arrests, and Diluc was in charge of the sentencing. The two of them worked together with great tacit understanding.
Su Han had naturally calculated that the Fatui would cause trouble during today's lottery, and as expected, they were all caught.
However, the rumors had spread, and some people did believe them. For example, Eula's uncle had publicly stated that he wondered why the first prize had still not appeared.
But no one paid him any attention, because the third prize had been exposed not long ago: the owner of the flower shop, Flora.
By eight o'clock, the first prize was finally drawn.
This lucky winner was someone no one could have imagined, because he was so ordinary: the blacksmith's apprentice, Schulz!
"Hahaha! It was really me who won! Master Wagner, I won! One million Mora!"
"Damn, I can't believe you, kid, have this kind of dog-shit luck!"
Everyone revealed envious expressions. An ordinary little apprentice had become a millionaire. This was too enviable.
At this moment, Kaeya walked onto the stage. "Just now, some people were deliberately spreading rumors in the city, saying that there was an inside story to Klee's win. Everyone, don't worry. Those scoundrels were just guys who were deliberately trying to disrupt the peace of Mondstadt. I have already severely punished them! With the Anemo Archon watching over us, who would dare to cheat on such a sacred festival?"
"Well said, Vice-Grand Master Kaeya!"
"We also support you!"
"Those people should be exiled from Mondstadt!"
Seeing the citizens' support, Kaeya smiled and continued, "I don't care what Mondstadt was like in the past, but from today onwards, I hope that everyone can work together with one heart. If I find that anyone dares to disrupt the peace of Mondstadt, I and the knights under my command will hunt that person to the ends of the earth!"
"Long live Mondstadt!"
"Long live the Knights!"
The people cheered.
Soon, the time arrived at nine o'clock. The drawing for the highly anticipated special grand prize was about to begin.
Jean stood under the lights and began to turn the lottery tumbler.
The first number was [9].
The second number was [7].
The third number was [7].
The fourth number was [0].
The fifth number was [8].
The sixth number was [6].
The seventh number was [2].
The eighth number was [3].
When the numbers were announced, countless hearts were broken.
"Heavens! I was just one digit off!"
"Wuwuwu, me too!"
"Damn, I'm the most miserable. None of my numbers are right! I'm so mad!"
At this moment, a voice came from the crowd.
"It's her! It's actually her who won! It's Glory! The blind girl!"
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