NOVEL NEXT Chapter 12: Chapter 12
Zedd woke up three hours later at 7 AM. He sat up and stretched, feeling refreshed. The sleep had been good, but today there was a lot of work ahead of him.
His eyes wandered around the cabin and landed on his katana, which had dried blood on it. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about this, Zedd muttered to himself.
He stood up, stretched again, and walked over to the table where his katana rested. He picked it up and said, Time to clean you up, my friend.
Stepping outside, Zedd noticed that most of the villagers were already up and busy with their tasks. He walked over to the well, filled a bucket with water, and carefully immersed the blade into the bucket. The blood from last night had dried, so Zedd first had to wet it to soften the dried stains.
Using a small cloth, he got to work scrubbing the katana. It was no ordinary sword—crafted by the finest blacksmiths from the military academy, it was sharp, durable, and could cut through nearly anything. If Zedd wasn't careful, he could easily injure himself.
Half an hour later, he finally finished cleaning the katana. Done, he muttered.
Next, Zedd turned his attention to his bloody clothes from the night before. He soaked them in the bucket of water and scrubbed hard to get rid of the dried blood. It didn't take long, and soon he had them hanging up to dry in the bright sunlight.
As he walked back into the cabin, Zedd's eyes landed on the pouch of gold coins from the previous night's mission. He picked it up and examined it—50 gold coins. He walked over to his bed, where under it, he had hidden his bag. Pulling it out, he opened it to find another pouch containing 500 gold coins that he had earned during his time at the academy.
I have 550 gold coins now—500 from the academy and 50 from last night's mission, Zedd thought. But these are worthless in a small village like this. I need to find a way to exchange them for silver.
Zedd walked to the village restaurant and ordered a simple breakfast: bread, scrambled eggs, and meat. As he ate, his thoughts returned to how he could exchange his gold coins for silver. He knew the standard rate—1 gold coin was worth 10 silver coins, so with 550 gold coins, he could exchange them for 5500 silver. But the problem was that exchanges required identification, and Zedd couldn't afford to reveal his source of income.
After finishing his meal, he paid the usual 5 silver coins and walked out. He had 40 silver coins left. As he strolled through the village market, he spotted Elara talking to the village doctor. Not wanting to interrupt, Zedd waited patiently.
A few minutes later, Elara turned around and saw him. She squinted her eyes and grinned. "Are you stalking me?" she asked.
Zedd didn't answer.
Elara raised an eyebrow. "Hey, are you even listening? Are you mute or dead?"
Still, no response from Zedd.
"Ugh, seriously?" Elara muttered, about to walk away when Zedd finally spoke. "I'm not nice enough to talk to a spoiled brat like you who accuses people for no reason."
Elara's grin faded, and she snapped, "Okay, so what do you want from me?"
Zedd shrugged. "Do you know any place where I can exchange gold for silver?"
Elara raised an eyebrow. "Gold? You have gold? Where did you get it, and who are you?"
Zedd didn't bother responding. "Forget it," he muttered, turning away. "Wasted my time. Why the hell did I think she would help without asking questions?"
Frustrated, Zedd decided to ask around the village. He tried asking several people, but they all turned out to be greedy or nosy, wanting something in exchange or asking too many questions. He approached an innocent-looking guy, hoping for a simple answer, but the man turned out to be even greedier than the rest, demanding money and everything Zedd had.
Annoyed, Zedd walked away in a foul mood. "I should've expected this. All these people are just selfish, greedy bastards."
But then, Zedd's eyes caught sight of someone. His mood shifted. This person wasn't like the others. Zedd had found the one who could give him the information he needed
ion he needed—the person who wasn't greedy.