Chapter 3: Oh, You Truly Are My Dear Grandfather

Whether it was An Xia or Melva, both followed the principle of taking things as they came.

Anders was more or less the same.

The carriage had already been sold, and there was no way to get it back.

So An Xia led the other two to find a nearby inn, where they rented one double room and one single room.

After settling that, the three of them began dividing the spoils.

The cost of staying at the inn for two days was fifty silver coins.

One hundred silver coins equaled one gold coin.

After subtracting An Xia’s fifty silver coins, they still had three hundred gold coins.

Each of them took fifty gold coins as spending money, while the remaining one hundred and fifty gold coins were taken by An Xia to reserve a carriage for their journey to Lance Magic Academy two days later.

An hour later, An Xia returned from the carriage shop.

Hiring a fourth-tier magical beast was expensive—it cost twenty gold coins per trip.

The remaining one hundred and thirty gold coins would serve as backup funds.

Back at the inn, neither Melva nor Anders went out to explore.

They felt it was better for the three of them to move together.

More importantly, they were unfamiliar with the place, and among them, only An Xia knew the city well.

With her storage ring full of magic scrolls confiscated, Melva felt a lack of security.

As for Anders, he was simply too afraid.

After all, An Xia had committed the outrageous act of selling the academy’s carriage.

If he went out alone and was caught by the academy, someone as insignificant as him would not be able to bear the consequences.

Better to share blessings and hardships alike—if they were caught together, at least the responsibility would be divided, and the punishment might not be as severe.

It was not that he could not afford compensation.

He just wanted everyone to experience it together.

At this, An Xia could only sigh.

They were already this old, yet still so timid.

“Come on, let’s go. I’ll show you around Leos.” An Xia first returned to the double room and dragged Anders out, then knocked on the single room door and brought Melva along.

The three of them walked through the streets, with pedestrians coming and going.

Anders looked around constantly, his vigilance raised to the maximum.

Melva clenched her hands tightly, her entire body tense—she was clearly very nervous.

An Xia, on the other hand, appeared completely at ease.

However, when someone inside a black tent recognized him and tried to greet him, An Xia quickly blinked repeatedly to signal them to stop. Only after intercepting the greeting did he let out a sigh of relief.

“The most famous thing in Leos is this temple.”

The three of them now stood before a grand church temple. Its luxurious structure radiated the unmistakable scent of wealth.

Anders lowered his head, calculating how much it must have cost to build such a place.

Melva, meanwhile, wondered how many temples like this her elders had torn down.

An Xia took the lead and walked inside.

The temple doors were always open, as they welcomed worshippers during the day.

As soon as they entered, a member of the clergy approached them to promote their deity.

After all, it was obvious that An Xia and the others were not believers.

“No money.” Anders immediately turned all his pockets to prove his poverty.

“Leave.” Melva cast the cleric a cold glance.

Before the man could even speak, the icy look in her eyes made him believe that if he said one more word, the girl might strike him down.

The cleric circled around and returned to An Xia.

Among the three, this was the only one who seemed normal, which gave him some comfort.

He began enthusiastically explaining which church the temple belonged to, and An Xia did not interrupt him once.

After finishing his speech, just as he was about to ask whether An Xia wished to join the church, the boy suddenly looked up with a blank expression.

“Ah, sorry, I zoned out just now. What were you saying? Could you repeat it?”

The cleric felt a surge of blood rise to his chest.

The veins near his temples throbbed as he clenched his fists, only to force himself to relax again.

Calm down. Stay calm.

Damn it, he should never have approached these three in the first place!

Watching the cleric storm off in anger, An Xia looked utterly confused.

“What happened to him?” An Xia turned to Melva and Anders.

“No idea,” the two replied in unison.

After wandering around the temple for a while, the three left.

Without someone to explain things, it was nothing more than an interesting building.

After one round, there was nothing left to see.

“Where did you hide your gold coins?” Melva asked Anders curiously.

Just now, Anders had emptied all his pockets to prove he had no money, yet he had clearly received fifty gold coins earlier.

Anders raised his right hand. “Of course, in my storage ring.”

He looked puzzled as to why Melva would ask, but being cared about felt nice. He could not help but smile.

Melva raised an eyebrow. Right—she had forgotten that Anders also had a storage ring.

“The roasted meat in Leos is very famous,” An Xia said. “Probably because it’s right next to the Magical Beast Mountain Range. There’s an abundance of meat, and some of the magical beasts living on the outskirts have even been listed as endangered species. I think it’s because people here have eaten them into near extinction.”

Melva nodded. “Last year, a magical beast king known to my family even petitioned the Amethyst Emperor of the Emerald Kingdom to establish a protected zone. It said the poachers were too rampant. Even though they are already classified as second-tier endangered magical beasts, poachers keep coming one after another.”

Anders was stunned speechless.

He had not read much, and the conversation between An Xia and Melva was truly expanding his horizons.

The three suddenly stopped in their tracks, as an old man had blocked their path.

The old man had darted out of an alley in an instant. An Xia remained calm, Melva still wore a cold expression, but Anders was so startled he nearly jumped a full meter into the air.

Melva frowned slightly.

She had no desire to deal with the old man, so she stepped back and positioned An Xia and Anders in front of her.

An Xia felt that the old man was somewhat unusual and that he should observe him first rather than approach recklessly. He took a step back and pushed Anders forward.

Anders was clearly socially anxious.

He could barely manage conversations with people his own age, let alone an elderly stranger.

He was about to ask An Xia to step in, only to realize that both of them had retreated behind him.

“Go on, Ankachu.”

An Xia placed a hand on Anders’s back and gave him a push.

Anders stumbled forward, his face filled with terror as he ended up standing directly in front of the old man.

Gulp.

Anders swallowed hard.

His hands trembled, almost at the same frequency as the old man’s.

“Y-You… what do you want?!”

There was no escaping fate—whether good or bad. With that thought, Anders shut his eyes and shouted.

“Young man, you’re the first person who has spoken so clearly,” the old man said calmly, unfazed by the outburst. He patted his ears. “I’m getting old—my hearing isn’t what it used to be.”

The old man smiled, then reached behind his back as if grabbing something.

An Xia and Melva immediately became alert, while Anders stood there blankly, unmoving.

The next moment, the old man pulled out a cylindrical object and unfolded it.

An Xia’s eyes widened.

This… this was a free ticket to a roasted meat banquet!

He took a large step forward, pushing Anders aside, and accepted three tickets from the old man with a beaming smile.

He even waved the old man off as if seeing off his own beloved grandfather.

Anders leaned in, trying to see what it was.

He had been pushed aside before he could get a good look.

Each of them received a ticket.

Holding hers, Melva softly read aloud:

“July Cicada Master Roasted Meat Banquet?”