****(POV)

There are moments in life that are significant.

This scene was one that the old man would always remember, even if he were to turn in a ghost.

In a vast courtyard, a man was training.

Completely drenched in sweat, he was swinging a blade.

"9997, 9998, 9999, 10 000!"

With a heavy grunt, he simply fell on his knees.

The situation would have appeared comical to any external observer for he seemed to show no power in his swings.

Every single one at a pace a snail would consider slow.

Well, he may have looked weak, but the man was in fact a rank 4 martial king.

One that had no equal in the entire city.

While others lived their lives to the fullest all he did was train.

From his awakening till night.

Such a process was one filled with loneliness, but it was the path he had chosen and the man perseverant.

Today should have been a day like any other, but for once he had an audience.

A maid sat in the shade observing his every move.

"*Teasingly* Enjoying the show?"

"*Enthusiastic* Yes, my lord!"

He expected her to be bashful about it, not in the slightest.

She had spent her day off watching him.

Something about wanting to observe his incredible technique.

He doubted she could discern the mana constraints he was applying to himself.

Yet she kept watching him peacefully.

All-day long.

He simply disregarded her.

While the technique was hard to master it wasn't any kind of secret.

Simply a very basic way to forge the body.

More often than not, the simple methods work the best when combined with superhuman efforts.

Thus ended what turned out to be a very normal day.

Nothing special happened.

Every subsequent day he would see her.

Every time she had completed her duty she would sit in the shade of the tree.

Bringing him food and water.

Sometimes sharing her experiences of the day.

Sometimes talking about her dreams.

Dreams of a city where everyone would be happy and joyful.

Thus the days kept going peacefully and eventually turned into months.

One day he couldn't help it and asked her why she even came to visit him.

"Because protecting everyone seems lonely."

That was her answer.

She knew why he was training.

For everyone's sake.

Without ever a respite.

She would contribute the only way she could.

By supporting him morally.

Then one day, she didn't show up.

That is when he truly realized how lonely he had been before.

Still, he didn't falter and kept training as always.

He did ask however a subordinate to make sure she was fine.

Good thing he did for she had run into a problem.

Surprisingly the quiet and gentle maid lived in the slums.

A place inhabited by the worst scums there were.

Some gang had claimed the territory and was now rounding up people to sell.

While it rarely happened it wasn't the first time.

Every time, the guards would eventually crack down on such groups, but they never learned.

That was the day the city was reminded of his existence.

For the first time in years, he walked outside of his courtyard.

That was the day every criminal gang was executed.

By a single man.

One that many were sure had died years ago.

That was the day the slums themselves disappeared.

He went at it the only way he knew how.

In the most optimistic and simplistic one.

He gave the city officials an ultimatum.

Everyone would contribute to renovating that part of the city.

In exchange, the dwellers would help with public work.

How crazy must one be to listen to the ramblings of a single man?

Yet they all followed his orders.

The snobbish sects, the greedy merchant, and the traditional families.

All of them contributed.

They saw it as a small price to buy peace with a man that could destroy them all.

Did this move of his truly fix anything?

Not really.

If anything for a month there was close to no crime in the city.

But then everything returned to normal.

The slums were not as bad, but shady individuals would still congregate there.

The ones that seemed to have turned a new leaf slowly returned to their wretched habits.

He assigned the maid to work for him directly.

At first, she refused, saying that it wouldn't be fair that she gets paid to barely do anything.

For a martial king, he was truly an austere man.

But he insisted for he needed the company.

He did what he had never done in the past.

He opened up to someone.

Before he had just been training.

Telling himself that the stronger he was the better he could protect.

That the peace would depend on him.

The reality was there was plenty wrong with his beloved city.

He realized that he had simply been lying to himself.

For an incredibly powerful martial king, he felt incredibly weak.

What was the point of power if he could barely make a difference?

He told her about his thoughts.

All the while training relentlessly.

He figured out there was an issue, but he didn't know how to solve it.

She simply giggled and told him that the thought was enough.

That he simply had to find like-minded people.

That with enough of them working together everything would work out.

That he should simply take one step at a time.

That she would be there with him.

For the first time in an extremely long time, the man cried.

Tears of relief.

That made her panic wondering what she had done wrong.

He would remember her caring expression forever.

Funny how everyone saw a powerhouse when looking at him.

Friends and foes alike.

She just saw a man.

Nothing else, nothing more.

One that had a lot of weight on his shoulders.

She sat on the ground and gestured to him.

Guiding the man to lie on the ground his head on her lap.

That action was extremely out of character for him.

At that moment he did not care, however.

She told him to close his eyes.

Then she simply brushed his hair while she talked.

She told him not to be too harsh on himself.

That he was the reason no external enemies dared mess with this place.

That they could slowly figure out the internal problems.

She described a future without crime.

A future where everyone would smile.

A future where there would be other protectors too.

For a second, he stopped being a warrior.

He was just a dreamer.

He remarked that he was old enough to be her great—great—grandfather.

She giggled that she knew and didn't mind.

That he had the right to be human still.

Somehow, she had read all about it before.

She knew that he was older than 120 years.

She had taught herself to read somehow.

She had researched a lot about the city.

That was the day she became his advisor.

There was a lot of opposition to that choice.

He never cared nor regretted it.