Ascension of the Harem King : From Fugitive to Lord

It was the redhead from earlier. Zedd replied,"Watch it."

The redhead glared at him and shot back, "You watch it. You bumped into me first."

Zedd retorted, "Good way to repay your debt to me after I gave you money."

The redhead scoffed. "I didn't ask for your help; you just gave it. And who are you? What are you doing here in this village?"

Zedd responded coldly, "None of your business, brat. I'm leaving. I have work to do."

The redhead wasn't done. "At least ask for my name, you helped me, right?"

Zedd sighed. "Oh, sorry. What's your name?"

The redhead smirked. "It's Elara."

Zedd raised an eyebrow. "What a weird name."

Elara squinted her eyes and shot back, "You tell me your name, then I'll judge whether it's weird or not."

Zedd sighed again. "Zedd. It's Zedd. That's my name."

Elara chuckled. "Zedd? What a weird name. Can't believe humans give each other such strange names," she muttered.

Zedd almost lost his composure. What did she mean by that? He thought, It's as if she's saying she isn't human.

Elara glanced at him again. "I'll be seeing you around."

Zedd paused, then asked, "Wait, what's the name of that other girl from earlier? What's her name?"

Elara replied, "Reina. That's her name. And also, don't try anything funny with her. If you do, I won't tolerate it. She's extremely shy and innocent."

Zedd nodded. "Okay, okay." He turned to leave, but his thoughts kept drifting back to what Elara had muttered.

What a weird day, Zedd thought. Well, back to work.

By the end of the day, Zedd had saved up 40 silver coins. He'd worked twice as hard, and he was happy with the amount he had earned. Hard work was second nature to him.

But tonight, he muttered to himself, "I'm going to make a big amount."

Zedd entered the same restaurant as yesterday, sat at a corner, ordered some food, and began eating. He finished, paid the bill, and returned to his cabin. He needed rest before his task began.

Zedd believed that rest was crucial to increasing focus and strength while performing a task. Eventually, he fell asleep.

At exactly 1 AM, he woke up. He rose from his bed, splashed his face with water to wash off the remnants of sleep, then slung his katana over his back. His pockets were filled with kunai and shuriken, along with a vial of poison neutralizer. He covered his face with a piece of cloth.

He slipped out of his cabin and made his way to the village border, exiting easily. He walked for about an hour, then entered a small alleyway.

A man emerged, wearing a dark cloak, his hoodie pulled over his face, blending into the shadows.

Zedd spoke to the man, "I want work. Bounty hunting."

The man sized him up. "Never seen you before. Are you new? Some amateur wannabe?"

Zedd's patience was wearing thin. "Will you give me work or not?"

The man grunted. "Okay." He handed Zedd a piece of paper. Zedd glanced at it—details of the target, name, address, and bounty.

Zedd looked at the man and said, "Consider the work done. When I return, it will be with the head of this target. Keep the amount."

Zedd turned and left. During his time at the academy, he'd read about agents hiring mercenaries and assassins to handle high-profile tasks like killing corrupt officials or national officers.

Zedd reached his target's location—a heavily guarded compound. Guards stood outside the gates and inside the compound.

Zedd muttered, "Time to put my infiltration skills to the test."

He unsheathed his katana, which gleamed under the moonlight, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared and reappeared.

Slash! Slash!

The guards outside, guarding the gates, didn't have time to react before they were cleaved in two, their bodies collapsing to the ground. Zedd stood tall, his katana dripping with blood.

He muttered, "Man, I expected them to be stronger. Guess they were just for show."

Zedd opened the gate and entered. More guards were stationed inside, but Zedd counted them—eight in total.

Another ten bodies for my kill count, he thought.

With a blink, he moved again, cutting the guards into two with ruthless efficiency.

"Infiltration complete," Zedd mused. " time to kill the target and make some quick money."