Chapter 57

Chapter 57

“It’s a shame… this is really delicious.” I imagined myself eating a watermelon under the willow tree. Should I travel to that region once and learn how to grow watermelons?

“I was going to throw it away, but you can take them if you want.”

“But wasn’t it very expensive for you to import them from such a far place?”

“But it’s better to give it to someone who wants it rather than throwing it away.”

“Azel…,” I said with gratefulness, “Thank you.” I stuffed the wooden box with watermelons in my magic bag. Azel helped to stuff it in the bag because it was too heavy for me to carry it by myself.

“I can’t take it for free, though,” I said and handed her a pass. “Take this.”

“What’s this?”

“It’s an Acrab pass. I got it by chance, but you can have it.”

“Oh my! Acrab?”

“Yeah. The situation there is… not very good right now but it will definitely come in use someday. If you show this pass at the border, you don’t need to pay the toll.”

“Oh, my!” Azel put her hand on her cheek and looked at the pass I had given her. It was of immense difficulty (not to mention extremely expensive) to get the pass. It did not compare to a box of Siron at all. But I didn’t feel like it was a waste. Azel had been very kind to me. The pass will allow ten people to travel within Acrab at a time. The toll money was too expensive even for me who used Kaichen’s money to even shop for groceries.

I had heard people say money can’t buy happiness, or that poverty wasn’t a crime. They were all wrong. It was all lies. Poverty makes people impossible to be happy because they are always stressed over how to live the day. So, in that respect, money did buy some amount of happiness. I wish Dalia had known this before she gambled and drank away her fortune on alcohol. Because of that, I was poor. I used the money that Kaichen handed to me for shopping. I had given every little amount I had to Angel to manage the mansion back in Acrab.

“Isn’t Acrab a place you can’t easily get into unless you’re a merchant or a craftsman of extraordinary talent? If Janmer knew about this, he would swoon.”

I laughed at the prospect of Hanmer, a giant of a man, swooning. “Well, with that pass you can have ten people accompany you. Of course, you will have to go through with an identity check but that’s will be okay. Use it wisely.”

“Wow, really? But can you really give me something so precious just for a box of Sirons?”

“Not just a box of Sirons, but you have been so kind to me. You offer me fruits and fresh juice. And are always there for me. You might not know it but oftentimes that was all it took so that I wouldn’t faint by the roadside. I am very grateful to you.” I smiled.

Azel wrapped me in a bear-hug. “Azel… I can’t breathe.”

“Oh! Sorry… I am just so happy.” She released me and smiled brightly, tears in her eyes.

Was a pass to Acrab really this precious to people? I smiled at her and made a mental note of the passes I had in my bag. Acrab was closed and no merchant groups were travelling inside Acrab for now. The passes had all piled up. I was glad to see her happy, either way.

I didn’t know if I will ever get back to this quiet, little village in the future, but these people had helped me so much with the pain and the guilt I felt whenever I thought of Acrab and its people. I was immensely grateful for that.

Afterwards I headed for home. When I came out of Hanmer’s carpentry, it was still sunny. I left the village, walked a little away and came to a meadow where no one was there. I took out the piece of paper that Kaichen had given me and ripped it.

I was so touched when he had given a few of them o me to use when returning from the market. In the original novel, Kaichen had only given these magical pieces of paper to Julius, and his teacher Matabju.