Records of the Weakest Emperor

"All right... My first priority, for now, is to know how much money do I really have... I have no idea how much money I have in this pouch..." Calvin bitterly smiled.

He approached a random passerby and asked for some directions towards the nearest bank.

As it turned out, the nearest bank was a few kilometers away from Calvin's location.

He swept his gaze around the area and discovered a carriage-stop where people can hail carriage-cabs dragged by tame and modest horses. As far as Calvin could remember, he would need to pay two Joselian Pesos for a few kilometers of travel in a carriage-cab.

Calvin wanted to hail one of them, but he eventually decided against that idea.

One, it was because he was certain that the driver wouldn't have sufficient change when he gave his payment. After all, Calvin was sure that the value of these paper notes that he had in his hands was based on gold pounds.

According to Calvin's memories, a thousand Joselian Pesos was equivalent to a gold pound.

He had twelve paper notes in his hands which may amount to twelve thousand Joselian Pesos.

But Calvin wasn't so sure, this was the reason why he planned on going to a bank and fetch himself a bank-guaranteed check that he could use for any large payments, as well as convert some of these paper notes into coins and pennies.

Calvin followed the directions that he received from the stranger and he soon arrived at the vicinity of the Joselian Royal Bank.

Upon entering, Calvin discovered a lot of people wearing clothes similar to the eighteenth-century people of Earth. The men wore shirts, waistcoats, coats, and breeches while the women wore shifts, petticoats, and dresses, as well as jackets aimed for the women.

The women and men within the vicinity of the bank were fashionable, their choice of fabric was silk.

They also focused on the aesthetics of their accessories, usually made with white linen and lace.

Although their sense of fashion was definitely not practical. Calvin reckoned that all of them would wear comfortable clothes at home since it didn't make sense for them to wear these tacky clothes while in the comfort of their homes.

Standing inside the wide-halls of the Joselian Royal Bank...

Calvin glanced at his own clothes and felt completely out of place.

It felt quite awkward for him to be in a place like this as a man from modern times.

But since Calvin knew what he must do, he walked with purpose and the astonished patrons of the bank inexplicably made way for him when they saw his scruffed look and eyes radiating seriousness of a particular magnitude.

Calvin approached the front desk, and standing in front of him was a middle-aged man clad in the same fashion as the others, but with a unique monocle over his left eye.

"What business do you have with us, dear customer?"

The middle-aged man said these words in the language of the people in the world of Las Felipinas.

Calvin had no problems conversing with the natives here because was proficient in every language in existence here in the world of Las Felipinas.

Of course, he wouldn't dare to say that his proficiency was at the native level in all dialects and strange tongues, but he could at least converse with anyone in Las Felipinas.

The official language used by all inhabitants of the world of Las Felipinas was called Universal Speech.

But this name also referred to the languages that arose into popularity after the first Cataclysm that brought humans into the world of Las Felipinas named by the sages of the past as the Cataclysm of There was Nothing, Everything was Nothing.

Of course, Universal Language didn't mean that it encompassed every dialect and unique tongues dedicated to any given region. It was called Universal Language for a single and simple reason.

Because this speech was widely understood, even for demi-humans.

Languages that existed beyond the first Cataclysm of There was Nothing, Everything was Nothing were referred to as Elder Tongues.

For some reason, still unknown even for Calvin who had experienced another lifetime. Any words with proper diction and grammar — if spoken in Elder Tongues could manipulate the material world and Mana itself.

In fact, Calvin even used Elder Tongue with his Runecrafting.

Whenever he threw a piece of paper, he would say, "Gawas, release!"

In this case, the word, "Gawas" was a word said in Elder Tongue.

Any word said in this language must never be underestimated.

Calvin learned that lesson the hard way and it was one of the reasons why he loved the language so much.

"May I convert most of these paper notes into a single guaranteed cheque? As for the remaining amount, can you convert it into pennies and coins with a combined weight of no more than twenty kilograms?" Calvin politely said.

The middle-aged man's smile seemed to deepen as he received the pouch from Calvin.

After verifying the legitimacy of each paper notes and checking the existence of the anti-counterfeit watermarks. He handed over a single blank cheque towards Calvin which could only be considered valid if Calvin's biometrics were in place.

For this to work, Calvin registered his fingerprint to the bank and afterwards...

He then came out of the bank, carrying a small sack between his underarm inside his jacket to keep it safe from thieves.

After asking yet another stranger for directions, Calvin walked towards Mapayapa Street. Mapayapa Street was the most peaceful street in the city of Ashmelion. As for the reason why? it was because this street was the center of real estate commerce, pawnshops, and upscale department stores.

In fact, both ends of the one-way street had guards recruited by these private companies based on Mapayapa Street to keep the general peace of the area. They would also sometimes check every individual whom they deemed to be suspicious.

Calvin experienced this when he was about to enter Mapayapa Street.

But after flashing a bunch of coins and pennies to the guards, he was eventually permitted to go inside.

Calvin realized from what happened in the bank earlier that he needed brand-new clothes, so he wouldn't look so suspicious and out of place.

But that wasn't the only reason why he came here. He visited this street for he was interested in renting out a place that he could temporarily use while trying to catch traces of the Cavaliers.

Letting out a smile, Calvin thought to himself, "Now that I have some money to use. It's time to splurge!"

He then walked towards the nearest department store but he was stopped by a shout of desperation that came from a nearby pawnshop.

"Sir... Please... That Medallion... that medallion is from my late husband! He told me that it can fetch a thousand Joselian Pesos, but you're only buying it for fifty? No... I'm not willing! I don't want to sell it anymore!" The voice came from a woman.

Calvin couldn't see her due to the crowd that had gathered, but a frown appeared on his face when he heard what the woman had said.

"Listen here, bitch... You still owe us quite a lot of money... Did you forget about it already?"

This time, another voice reverberated.

But the voice clearly belonged to a man.

When Calvin heard what he said, enlightenment dawned upon Calvin. It seemed that the woman was a victim of these vicious loan sharks.

It's none of my business...

I can't afford to cause trouble when I still haven't recovered...

Calvin glanced at his limping arm and placed his hand over his missing eye.

Someday...

He'll get back against that bastard who maliciously manipulated the difficulty of the final phase!

Calvin let out a sigh and continued to walk.

Out of curiosity, he made a sidelong glance at the woman.

But when his eyes landed on the medallion that the man held in his hand as he taunted the woman.

Calvin's pupils constricted.

The humungous sun with eight rays of light depicted in the Medallion was imposing enough, but when the eagle holding a severed hand in its beak was added in front of the sun. The medallion became terrifying to look at. Calvin let out a gasp as his mind madly spun.

That medallion...

"The Medallion of a Crow Within the Sun!"

"That's the medallion dedicated for the members of the Cavaliers!"

"When the sun sets in the battlefield, crows descend from the heavens and feed on the dead..."

Calvin softly uttered.