Lazy but the strongest in the dimension

009 The Legendary Gambler (2)

The way back to the mansion felt extremely uncomfortable.

I should have stayed at the casino a bit longer to strengthen my body, but I couldn’t do that.

The knights carried the palanquin. Even so, pride was blooming on their faces.

It seemed like the thought of following the saint was deeply ingrained in them, as they believed that everything I did was the will of the gods.

I had told Malik the truth, and he laughed, saying that the goddess had provided funds to arm the territory’s forces.

Of course, I decided to keep it a secret from my father and brother.

Andrew, who had been following me, asked.

“Master, why didn’t you just destroy it? With your skills, I think you could’ve completely crushed the casino.”

“I’m already exhausted to death. Gambling is so boring I almost died of it. What? Fight with them? Am I crazy?”

“……”

Andrew was left speechless, unable to say anything.

I wondered what the casino owner was doing by now. I could confidently guess that he was probably collapsing from high blood pressure and being rushed to the temple by now.

***

Three days had passed.

I was gambling again today.

I hated the act of gambling itself, but since I had decided to reach the divine realm in this life, I had no choice but to deal with the cards and gather the money.

Of course, just like on the first day, I didn’t pull in huge amounts of money recklessly.

Those involved in the underworld could do anything when their eyes became bloodshot, so I tried to win only a little bit at a time and strengthen my body without drawing too much attention.

I opened the status window that Erna had created for convenience.

Valen von Linus

Title: God of the Lazy (Incomplete)

Traits: Terminal of the Main Body

Achievements: ???

[Strength 25, Stamina 20, Agility 18, Wisdom 18, Divine Power 25 (+???), Charisma 10]
Divine Power refers to the amount of divine energy stored in the terminal. The +??? Indicates that Erna couldn’t measure how much divine power I could release in an instant.

Achievements were also unmeasurable.

The status window was still imperfect, and Erna was still developing it, so someday, she would figure out what kind of merit was needed to complete the divinity.

Once I became a deity, Erna would regain her power as well, so she would undoubtedly do her best.

Today, I won around 500,000 gold and went outside.

“The weather is disgustingly good.”

I couldn’t help but frown.

The atmosphere at the casino was dark and dreary. Moreover, people’s eyes weren’t normal. Some were gambling on their houses, others were betting on their daughters, and some even sold their wives. No one with a sane mind would do such things.

After leaving that place, I breathed in the fresh air.

“Young Master!”

Andrew, who had been sent on an errand to the guild, ran over.

After getting on the palanquin, I asked.

“What’s going on?”

“The Saintess has arrived!”

“What?”

“The Lord has sent a message asking you to hurry to the estate because the Saintess has come to visit.”

“Why would the Saintess come?”

I couldn’t understand.

If she was a saint, it would be enough to receive prophecies, so why would she come here for something?

Of course, I could somewhat guess why.

“Could it be because of you, Young Master?”

“The Goddess Caldon… Is it her doing?”

“Ah, stop! Do you want to be dragged away for blasphemy and die? How can you curse when you’ve received a terminal from the goddess?”

“Well, what can I do? It’s annoying, it’s annoying.”

I frowned even more.

I had to go to the capital and receive the emperor’s orders. After that, I would be sent to the front lines, and now the Saintess had come. That meant she would likely accompany me on my journey.

“This is going to be a headache.”

“It’s a good thing. The Saintess must have a lot of divine power, so she should be able to assist you well, Young Master.”

“I’ll see when I get there.”

Even sitting in the palanquin was annoying.

If it were up to me, I’d overturn everything, but there was hope that if I just endured this life, I could be lazy forever, so I had to bear it.

I arrived at the Lord’s estate.

Malik and the knights rushed to greet me and performed the military salute.

“Master! The Saintess has arrived!”

“I know.”

“We will escort you immediately!”

“Let’s go slowly. I’ve been training until now.”

“Truly amazing! Even we knights, who make sword fighting our trade, can’t train all night long. I truly respect you.”

Malik’s eyes sparkled.

It was the same with all the knights.

No matter what I said, they insisted it was the will of the goddess. They must have known that I had gambled at the casino, but they’d say that was part of the training and call it the will of the goddess.

What kind of crazy god would make gambling part of training? With the indulgent system in place, and since I was aiming to be the god of lazy people, it made sense.

The knights carried the palanquin.

Originally, riding in a palanquin had been prohibited by my father’s orders in the Lord’s estate, but recently, that restriction had been lifted.

Since I was training and exhausted, they allowed me to use the palanquin for some people.

However, that didn’t mean I could ride into the main hall.

The knights set down the palanquin.

“Please proceed.”

Creeeak!

When the door to the main hall opened, the gatekeeper shouted.

“The Empire’s hero has arrived!”

“Hero, my foot.”

“Such humility. I can understand why the goddess chose you, Young Master.”

Even the gatekeeper seemed to have his eyes spinning.

After I crushed the knights and accepted their oaths, there was a shift in perception among the people of the estate.

Having witnessed my power firsthand, they believed the goddess was always with me, even though it was Caldon who was hindering my training.

I entered the main hall.

Here, my father, brother, and all the retainers had gathered. They had stopped their work to crowd into the main hall to see the Saintess.

The Saintess, wearing ceremonial robes that made her look like she was in a wedding dress, turned to look back.

“Hm.”

She was… well, no, quite beautiful.

Without a doubt, I had never seen such a beauty on Earth. Plus, a holy light subtly emanated from her body, making her look like an angel.

But to me, she was just a bothersome burden.

The Saintess walked toward me.

Tap, tap.

Everyone’s gaze was fixed on her.

The holiness emanating from her caused everyone to be in awe.

The Saintess knelt before me.

“…!”

The crowd widened their eyes in shock.

A Saintess was someone who delivered prophecies. While her power was separate from that of the Pope, in terms of influence, she was about second-in-command in the church.

It was only natural for people to be astonished when such a person knelt before me.

“May the blessing of Goddess Caldon be with you. It is an honor to meet you, Valen, who has been chosen as a saint. Noble one, please allow me to accompany you.”

“No thanks.”

“…!”

A murmur spread through the crowd.

Naturally, people were shocked by my rejection.

But Silvia did not even frown and responded.

“Did I make a mistake? If I have, I will correct it.”

“I don’t know what kind of plan the goddess has in sending you to me, but I’ll handle the war myself. Don’t follow me and be a nuisance.”

“Are you saying that because you’re worried I might get hurt? You don’t need to be so sharp. You must have had a hard time hiding your true identity up until now. I’m sure you knew long ago that you were destined for greatness…”

“What kind of nonsense is that? I just think it’s a hassle.”

“You don’t have to be like that anymore.”

We weren’t communicating.

No matter what I said, she kept talking about me being a hero, a saint, or some divine being, as if everything I had done to be lazy until now was all part of the goddess’s plan.

My father approached the Saintess.

“Pardon me, but may I ask what you mean by that?”

“Many demons must have tried to hinder the saint’s journey, so until now, I’ve been hiding my identity.”

“Oh, I see!”

The surroundings buzzed again.

This woman truly had a talent for flattering me.

At this point, I felt like I needed to have a private conversation with the Saintess.

It was clear that if she kept bothering me, my laziness would drop.

“Father, may I have a private audience with the Saintess?”

“Of course, you should. There are secrets we don’t know, aren’t there?”

“Secrets?”

“I’ve heard the story. A prophecy was given to you, but it’s not the whole picture. A much greater future has been foreseen for you.”

“…”

It seemed like everything had gotten seriously tangled up.

What in the world had Silvia heard from Caldon?

“Silvia, let’s talk.”

“If I can have a private conversation, there’s nothing more honorable than that.”

She willingly followed me.

Even though a prophecy had been given, she didn’t seem to have a single shred of doubt about me, as if she were completely confident in her trust.

The moment the Saintess and Valen disappeared from the scene.

Count Linus felt his heart racing.

“Did you just hear that?”

“Yes! It seems Goddess Caldon doesn’t see Young Master as just a simple hero. Perhaps she envisions something beyond that… A path greater than that of a saint.”

“A path greater than a saint… What could that possibly be?”

“Something is happening that defies human understanding.”

The lord of the territory, Amos, made the sign of the cross as he spoke.

The vassals couldn’t hide their shock.

A path greater than a saint’s meant that one could become a legendary being or perhaps even rise to a position so noble that it couldn’t be spoken of.

The Saintess mentioned that the details beyond that were confidential, and people were busy speculating in their ways.

Lord Amos looked up at the sky.

“Lord Valen is a special person. His seemingly lazy actions up until now were all a means of protecting himself from demons. Perhaps he was even destined to defeat the Demon King.”

“Gasp! To kill the Demon King! Could it be that he’s destined to be the one to eliminate evil from this world?”

“It’s merely my conjecture.”

These ridiculous speculations spread like wildfire.

However, since the Saintess had even knelt before me, no one considered such speculations to be impossible.

The Saintess didn’t sit down before me.

Even at this moment, she was kneeling, maintaining a reverent posture with her back straight.

Erna was suspicious of her.

She seems to know a lot.

‘Could Caldon have told her everything?’

I’m not sure. Since you’re from another world, I don’t think Goddess Caldon knows everything about you. She may even be seriously mistaken about you.

Either way, by interrogating Silvia, I could probably figure out how much Caldon knew about me.

“Saintess.”

“Yes!”

“How much do you know?”

I asked outright, but the Saintess didn’t seem flustered. It was as if she had anticipated I would say something like this.

“You have accumulated great deeds in another world and earned the right to become a god. You’re currently training to become a new god. And Goddess Caldon views you as an equal deity. She believes that one day you two will become companions…”

“What? What do you think my deeds are?”

“You are the savior of this world. And I believe your great journey is to eradicate evil.”

“Such nonsense.”

In the end, a curse slipped out of my mouth.