A boulder broke apart from the mountain face and rolled down the rusty red cliff as three carriages traveled on the narrow road. Three young and weary faces looked out from the window of the carriage.

They could see a vast expanse of red and green colors extend as far as their eyes could see. These were not flowers or fruits, these were the leaves of the trees in the Daruka Forest.

Ikasa and his company had traversed through this forest for the past three weeks. . Now, they were in the Darumaka Mountain Range, just a day’s journey away from reaching their destination.

The carriage turned left, following the road winding around the mountain. Scenery before the eyes of the kids also changed with the change in direction.

“Is that the City of Elm?”

Pointing at the uniform skyline in the distance, Luo Qiqi asked Ikasa. Hearing her question, Ikasa and Xin Ruo also peeked out from the window of the carriage.

Upon closer inspection, Ikasa realized that the blackish brown structure was actually the City Wall of Elm City.

“That City Wall…  It must be at least twice as tall as the walls of Birch City!”

Xin Ruo exclaimed as she too identified the structure towering over the dense forest cover. Next to the wall, the tall trees of the forest looked like shrubs and bushes!

“This is to be expected.”

Ikasa spoke as his astonishment faded.

“The Elm City is actually an important military stronghold of the Holy Wood Empire to guard against the Furnace Fire Empire. When the peace persisted between the two, it was later converted into a trading post between the two Empires.”

Ikasa explained to his curious companions He had learned this info during the social gatherings in Beech City.

He had an idea of what to expect but hearing and seeing it with your own eyes left a very different impact.

The young man turned his attention back to the City Walls.

As their carriage ascended higher along the mountain path, the occupants of the carriage got a clearer view of the area around the boundary of the Elm City.

The forest around the area near the City Wall was cleared. Through the clearing, a long line of carriages inched towards the city extending from the gates to the forest road.

These tiny dots of the carriages looked like a line of ants marching to the sugar.

As soon as Ikasa saw the road, he knew they were just a two hours journey away from Elm City. The wide road through the forest connected directly to the descending mountain road.

Seeing their destination approach closer, excitement appeared in the tired and weary eyes of the kids. In their final stretch of their journey, Ikasa began to instruct them on some very important do’s and don’ts.

“Qiqi, you are not allowed to wander off on your own in search of food. If you are going anywhere, you need to inform either Sister Xin Ruo or me. Also, Bu Fan will always accompany you.”

Ikasa sternly warned the most likely troublemaker of the group. Not only did she have a cute and lovely appearance that may arouse desires of some pedophiles, her tongue was equally sharp.

It was better to have a sensible man like Bu Fan chaperone her.

Ikasa then handed a large bag full of coins to Chu Qing.

“This bag contains exactly One thousand gold coins.”

A giant smile bloomed on his face as Chu Qing greedily took the bag. He protectively hugged the money pouch near his chest and looked at Ikasa with a bewildered expression, confused by his change of heart.

“I fulfilled your wish. Are you happy now?”

Ikasa asked with a smile. Seeing the smile, Chu Qing had an ominous foreboding. His grip on the bag tightened as he cautiously answered ‘Yes’.

“You will be responsible for all our expenditures in Elm City. Food, Inn, any small miscellaneous purchases; all of them will be paid for by you. Understood?”

Chu Qing’s face fell.

“This- This is cheating! I asked for a thousand gold for myself.”

As if ready for his complaints, Ikasa whipped out his small diary and showed the exact words that Chu Qing wrote.

“I want a thousand gold. Not in the bank but in my hands.”

Smiling, Ikasa kept the diary back into his storage space.

“Your wish is, hence, fulfilled.”

Ikasa said pointing his chin to the bag Chu Qing held tightly to his chest.

A thousand gold was not a large sum to Ikasa anymore but it was still a significant amount for the kids.

This did not mean Ikasa was against the kids possessing such a huge amount. He just wanted them to understand the value of each of those gold coins.

In his time on Earth, he had seen many rich second generations become spoiled because they didn’t value the money their parents had earned with their sweat and blood. He did not want Chu Qing and others to become this world’s version of spoiled young masters.

Just like he had braved dangers and matched wits against much much powerful opponents, Ikasa also wanted the kids to suffer through some hardships. Even if he had to give them hundreds of thousands of gold coins for their efforts, Ikasa would then happily hand it over.

Because then these teens would’ve earned those coins.

Right now, Ikasa still thought that Chu Qing did not deserve a sum as large as 1000 gold. A hundred? Sure! But not a thousand.

So, when Chu Qing’s face fell, Ikasa immediately threw him a bone.

“Let me give you a fair offer. When we leave the City, whatever is left in that bag will belong to you. But…”

The first half of the sentence made Chu Qing’s face light up like a firecracker in the night sky. However, his joy lasted just as long as the light of the fire cracker.

Hearing the “But”, Chu Qing schooled his face and looked at Ikasa apprehensively.

“But if the money in that bag is all spent, the rest of the amount of expenditure will be deducted from your account. Do you dare to accept the offer?”

Chu Qing quickly began to calculate their possible expenses. Things like the home Ikasa would buy for Zhong Xi, things purchased in the auction house or deals made with merchants for Weapon Ores were not counted in this bet.

‘Just how much can rooms and food cost? Even if we are 6 people, and we stayed for over a week, the expenses would be around 600 gold! I can thus keep the rest 400!’

Chu Qing thought as his eyes brightened. He firmly looked at Ikasa and agreed to the bet!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep