A Fulfilling Kind of Busy

Normally, four hundred million yen would have seemed like an utterly staggering sum.

Even though he had grown accustomed to throwing money around in the racing business, he had no idea how to spend such an enormous amount outside the world of horse racing.

However—

This time, he exchanged the three upgrades without much hesitation.

It was a little painful, but the Rainbow Omamori he had painstakingly saved up were meant for moments like this.

He tapped exchange.

There was no "Thank you for your patronage" or "Congratulations" notification sound. Was the system simply too impersonal, or had his expectations been too high?—

In any case, it did not quite feel real.

But that did not matter.

Once the hot water had filled about half the bathtub, he stripped off the rest of his clothes and eagerly climbed in.

He sat there blankly for several minutes, letting the hot water cover his body.

When the water reached his shoulders, he turned off the tap.

The temperature brought a faint sting.

After a full day of activity, even the slightest movement seemed to make his joints creak in protest.

He let out a weary sigh.

Then, with a head made slightly dizzy by the heat, he considered how to use his remaining Amulets.

He had eight Gold Omamori, two Silver Amulets, twenty-three Bronze Omamori, and a rather pitiful six Green Omamori—

He had not spent too many in Australia, but he had still used up nearly all the Green Omamori he had accumulated through last year.

As for the higher-tier Amulets, he had mostly managed to save them because he had never had a chance to use them.

"Let's take a look."

As he browsed the dazzling array of items in the [Shop], he absentmindedly slapped the water's surface.

"An automatic