Chapter 92: Departure

The group proceeded into the city of Ashmelion.

With the banner of the Fayke family attached to the carriages of the caravan. None of the guards, nor peasants dared to cause any trouble. Calvin took a deep breath, after eight long months. He had family arrived in the City of Ashmelion. The reason why Calvin chose this stupidly distant city was that this city was untainted from the influence of Earthlings.

Despicable companies such as Fivecent and the influence of other Earthlings simply didn't exist in this place. One couldn't find any other city that was more vanilla than the city of Ashmelion.

Of course, it was probably because the City of Ashmelion was quite far from the capital city of the Joselian Kingdom, Laguna.

Calvin's plans also stretched to Laguna, but until he was stronger enough.

He planned on pretending that the capital city of Laguna didn't exist. After all, it was a place full of monsters. If Calvin went there, then he must ensure that he was strong enough or else, he'd be swept up by the tumultuous currents of the capital.

The carriage eventually stopped and the guards, as well as the other passengers, walked out of the individual carriages.

Calvin swept his gaze at everyone, particularly at Luisa and Elena.

Within the past eight months...

Luisa and Elena always came to talk to him and they brought colors to Calvin's mundane life. Whenever the two of them came to talk with Calvin, their faces would inexplicably turn red. Calvin had an idea as to what they were thinking but he could only shake his head.

They were people that belonged in two different worlds.

It was fate that brought them together, but it was also fate that would separate them.

On a bridge separating the northern and the southern parts of Ashmelion, Calvin said goodbye to Elena and Luisa. Even though their relationship and the time that they spent together wasn't that deep nor too long. The three had grown fond of each other.

Luisa even bragged that if ever Calvin ran into trouble in the city of Ashmelion, she would personally get her father to act and solve his troubles. Of course, Elena took advantage of Luisa's bragging to knock her down a notch.

Afterwards, she gave Calvin a sizeable sum as compensation for helping them reach the City of Ashmelion with the fewest casualties possible.

Usually, whenever Elene and Luisa went to the Forest of Everlasting Light every three years.

They would always lose dozens of men upon leaving Ashmelion and returning. This explained why they had a lot of guards with them clad in extravagant armors and topnotch weapons. It was their effort of reducing the number of casualties as far as they could.

But this year, Calvin graced them with his presence and bestowed upon them the gift of relatively safe routes in the form of a map.

The map that Calvin gave to them was incredibly valuable, for it not only marked monster dens and beasts territories, it also had lines indicating the routes that bandits usually took while looking for their prey.

At first, no one believed Calvin's bullshit.

But after the caravan paid a heavy price of blood for not obeying Calvin's instructions, everyone's attitude towards Calvin instantly changed overnight.

Then, the very next morning...

They followed Calvin's map and instructions.

Upon realizing that Calvin's advice was genuine and he wasn't trying to show off to the beautiful girls, Elena and Luisa.

Calvin earned the caravan's respect.

But Calvin himself felt that they treated him far better than what he had expected. Of course, Calvin didn't refuse their grace. It was something that he desperately needed at this moment. After all, he didn't want to be in the City of Ashmelion without any money to rent a place.

Receiving the pouch containing thousands of Joselian Pesos...

Calvin checked and found that the currency was made out of paper.

A look of astonishment appeared on Calvin's face, but it wasn't because he was ignorant about the existence of paper money in the world of Las Felipinas.

He just didn't expect that it would appear so early. Back then, on the previous timeline, it took at least a decade before paper money was widely known and utilized.

"Is this your first time seeing paper money?"

Calvin nodded his head out of convenience.

"All right, let me explain how it works."

Luisa lightly chuckled and took a paper note from the pouch.

She held it at the sun and said, "Take a look at the purple watermark shining when the note is placed against the sunlight..."

"If you can see this watermark guaranteed by the Joselian Royal Bank, then you can rest assured that your money is legitimate and is guaranteed and pegged directly by gold."

Calvin smiled, "I see... Now, I understand. Thank you, Madame Luisa." Calvin raised his hand and placed his clenched fist on his left chest and slightly bowed. Bowing like this as a sign of gratitude was a tradition in the world of Las Felipinas.

Seeing his actions, Luisa held the hem of her skirt and spread it to the side while bending her knees and bowing.

"Your words are wasted on me."

The pleasantries concluded soon and it was time for Calvin to leave.

Seeing that Calvin was about to leave, Luisa was suddenly overcome with melancholy.

From the eight months that she spent together with Calvin, she came to know that Calvin was different from other men.

Luisa was a beautiful woman and frequently coveted by others. Whenever those men stared at her, she could easily see their desires spilling out of their eyes. But when Calvin's eyes first landed on her body — Luisa saw that Calvin's eyes contained nothing but indifference.

Either he was a true gentleman, or he was a pervert that knew how to keep a facade.

Luisa grew intrigued.

She told Elena and both girls agreed to test Calvin's integrity and personality.

But within the past eight months, both girls had discovered that instead of Calvin falling for them.

What happened was the opposite. It was them that fell in love with Calvin. His ethereal, attractive, and heroic stories, as well as his ballad, that seemed to have come from his heart and genuine experiences thoroughly hooked both women.

They wished that their journey wouldn't end, but unfortunately...

It was time for them to awaken from their reverie.

As both girls stared at Calvin's disappearing back.

They took a deep breath and let out a sigh.

The hot air that they breathed out carried with it the fleeting feelings that they had for Calvin.

As they turned around to leave with the others, a different glint could be seen in their eyes and their bodies didn't seem to radiate that air of immaturity anymore.

"Old Gran, let's go..." Elena softly uttered.

"As you wish, Madame..."

Old Gran, the old butler of the Fayke family tasked to ensure the safety of both women slightly bowed and obliged.

But as he left, he stared at the direction where Calvin had disappeared and slightly bowed his head.

"Thank you, sir Calvin..."

He whispered into the air, though no one around him heard what he had said.