"Remember to involve the Divine Hall of the Wealth Goddess; your prestige among the followers of the Wealth Goddess is actually greater than you think, because... you are divinely blessed."

Louis's vision darkened.

Why mention the followers of the Wealth Goddess again?

Strictly speaking, he had no real grievances with the Wealth Goddess Church.

Even the blessing given by the Wealth Goddess was quite useful.

Just by spending a little money, he could create armor-piercing damage. For a cash player like him, this was a friendly skill indeed.

With the mindset of "as long as it's useful, I'll believe it," there was a period when he indeed considered "perhaps believing in it."

But this thought was quickly dispelled.

No way.

The title of being blessed by the Wealth Goddess was huge; it could even attract a horde of Wealth Goddess adherents to him.

But you have to look at what kind of people those core followers really are.

Those who can become core members, while not necessarily overly wealthy, are at least moderately well-off.

In business circles, who among them would be a naive saint?

If you truly believe their nonsense, you won't even know how you'll end up dead.

Interacting with them, hearing them say things like "why not invest a hundred thousand Gold Coins to crush the neighboring country's vegetable market, then raise the prices of living essentials"...

Louis quickly made a reporting action.

If he was any slower, there would soon be that blue guy standing up on stage to give a speech, urging everyone to turn those merchants from the Am Empire into soap.

Stay away, don't let blood splatter on me!

Working with these damn merchants truly provides no sense of security.

He sure doesn't want to be on par with the streetlight seats.

But... when it's time to call for people, he still has to pinch his nose and do it.

Uniting all possible forces is the only chance to withstand the world-destroying crisis.

...

The next day.

The funeral of the Sword Master took place as scheduled.

Louis attended the funeral on behalf of Ense.

There weren't many people at the funeral, which was the wish of Cialdini's daughter Vier.

Her father didn't want to see those annoying people even after death.

A phrase was left on Cialdini's tombstone:

"May the deceased's activities be free from overtime."

Louis found it both amusing and touching.

But laughing at a funeral seemed inappropriate.

Chief Bart, who was closest to Louis, sighed and said:

"Cialdini was an extremely exceptional warrior; perhaps he was still complaining about not being allowed to rest well even before he died."

Louis did not speak.

The relationship between Chief Bart and the Sword Master seemed rather good.

At this time, he wasn't trying to discuss the Sword Master's past for nostalgia; he simply had hidden feelings he wanted to express to someone.

That someone could be him.

It could also be anyone else.

"He loved his swordsmanship the most in his life, achieved greatness in a very short time, and had already bested young swordsmen across various countries, carefree and unrestrained.

A hundred years ago, turmoil erupted all over Star Continent, and Lokeshi was no exception.

Adding insult to injury, our burdens grew heavier, forcing us to delegate some tasks to the younger generation.

After much deliberation, he set aside his free-spirited swordsman's heart and chose to root himself in Lokeshi.

More than once, he told me he wanted to travel abroad, see the outside world, and meet people from elsewhere.

Not just swordsmanship, but archery, swordsmanship... there are so many strong individuals in the world he wanted to compete against...

To communicate with the pinnacle of experts, he might be able to advance further, rather than being stuck in the Legendary Realm for years.

Flowers grown in the Magic Garden ultimately struggle against the biting cold winds.

We all knew this.

But due to prophecies and our investigations of various forces, the conclusion was clear: stepping outside could truly lead to his death.

This was a cost we absolutely could not bear.

Furthermore, after he got married, amidst the push and pull, he still remained in Lokeshi.

But even then, it couldn't provide him with a stable life.

On normal days, he loved reading various martial arts books, researching ways to elevate swordsmanship to the next level.

These were his few joys after staying in the empire.

Yet, as our pressures increased, many tasks were inevitably handed over to him.

Once or twice was fine, but with prolonged tasks, his time for study reduced greatly.

Thus, he was always complaining, complaining about why there was so much work left unfinished.

This greatly annoyed him, who constantly wanted to progress further."

Louis said softly, "But he still completed the tasks well, didn't he?"

Even in other countries, Louis had heard about the Sword Master patrolling the Lokeshi Empire, eliminating various hidden threats.

Bart nodded and said, "Complaining was his inner thought, but his hand wielding the sword never hesitated. It's good... it's good... now he can finally rest well."

"...Actually, if he could have become part of the Curse Binding Legion, wouldn't it have been great? At least on days not requiring me to fight, I could have taken him to challenge the powerful from multiple countries."

"Do you think he would be willing?"

"..." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"He was inherently a free wind, kept on this land for a hundred years, already mired in the swamp, let alone subservient to others."

"True, if he had been willing to be subservient to me, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation."

"So this time, let's allow him to rest well."

"...So, Mr. Bart, if there's something you want to say, you can directly say it. There's no need to tell me so much." Louis glanced at Bart Jean.