Negotiation

"Haap!" Zane swung his axe down, chopping a block of wood cleanly.

"You're quite good at this, have you done this before?" Edwin wiped of the sweat on his forehead.

"Yes, I used to cut the firewood and my sister used to cook the dinner back in my town." Zane replied.

"Oh! You have a sister? How old is she?" Edwin asked, surprised to hear about his sister.

"Oh...Uh.... She's uh.. 6 years younger than me.. So, 10 or 11 now." He replied with a complex look on his face.

Edwin noticed Zane's complex emotion and switched the topic. "Zane... Do you know the real reason why I wanted you to stay?"

Zane was startled by the sudden topic change. "Yes?"

Edwin sighed. "We.... We used to have a son. He was your age. We used to come here to chop wood together. But some months ago I... I became sick. While I was bedridden, he came here alone to chop wood. I told him to take a break until I became fine but he insisted on working."

"One day, he came back from chopping wood but he was not himself. It looked like he was injured but we couldn't see any injuries. We asked him to take a rest from work and he finally agreed."

"He began to get worse day by day. He'd cough up buckets of blood with bits and pieces of his organs everyday, It was like his internal organs had shattered into pieces." Hearing this, Zane's eyes widened.

"He held on for a week like that, but after that, passed away." Edwin spoke, grief on his face and tears on his eyes.

He looked at Zane. "So, I wanted you to stay for Jannie. I know she is heart-broken but she pretends to be strong."

"Maybe I'm wrong for doing this but... I wanted you to stay so she would feel like she had a son again." He looked towards the ground and clenched his teeth.

"Sorry for being selfish.."

"It's okay Edwin. I understand." Zane put his hand on his shoulder and gave a kind smile.

"I've changed my mind. I'll stay here for some time and help you guys. I don't have anywhere important to be anyway."

Edwin looked at Zane, confused. "What about your sister? Won't she be waiting for you?"

"... My sister... and my whole town... they're all dead." Zane replied in a low voice.

"Oh! I'm really sorry..." Edwin's couldn't say anything more than that, he was shocked.

"Edwin... I just need you to tell me. Did your son tell you what happened to him? What he encountered?" Zane looked at Edwin with a determined look.

"Uh.. No.. He didn't say anything about it. He just warned me not to go deep into the forest, especially the east side."

"The east side huh.... Okay, let's get back to work, we have to get back before night falls after all." Zane smiled at him and went back to chopping woods.

Edwin took a look at Zane for a moment and he also got back to chopping wood.

---

"Zane, wake up. We're here!" Edwin nudged Zane awake, who was sleeping on the back of the cart, amidst a pile of wood logs.

"Already? I was having a nice sleep too.." Zane woke up complaining to see that they had arrived at Rivenport's boat making compounds.

"Hahaha, you slept for the whole trip Zane, come, let's start this week by selling all these!" Edwin pointed at the logs happily.

"Sure sure.." Zane jumped down from the cart and started heading inside the compound to deal with the buyers.

It had already been a month since Zane started staying with Edwin and Jannie, so he was accustomed to this routine.

They'd cut trees deep within the Boatwood Forest all week and on the weekends, they'd head to Rivenport to sell the wood.

Zane had grown to like the middle-aged couple after staying with them for so long. He would joke with Edwin while cutting trees, console Jannie while she was feeling down and they all would talk and share laughter on the dinner table.

Zane had started to feel as if they were his own parents. They also treated Zane as their son.

'Val would've loved them. I'd wished for her to have parents back then..' While thinking, Zane reached the person in charge for buying the woods.

"Mr. Buck. We've come to sell wood again." Zane spoke.

"Oh have you! Hahahaha good good." Buck looked at Zane. He was wearing loose comfortable clothes, but his fat belly could still be seen stretching them.

"MEN! COME LOAD UP THE WOOD!" He shouted.

4 burly workers immediately came out of the shop in the compound and started taking the logs with them.

Buck looked at Zane, "Good, your pay will be as we discussed last time, 2 Taels for every log."

"Make it 3." Zane looked at Buck and smiled.

"We agreed to 2 last time!" he shouted at Zane.

"Yes but now we have to go further deep into the forest and it's not safe anymore. We have to risk our lives just to cut down these woods so the rich can enjoy their boat trips." Zane still had a warm smile on his face.

"Hrrr.. Okay I'll make it 3 this time. It is risky after all." Buck returned back the smile but a nerve was already visible on his forehead.

"Thank you! You're really kind to us workers Mr. Buck!" Zane replied happily.

"Of course. And about the dangers in the forest, you don't have to worry for long. I'm really close with the Commander of the Everlasting Storm Legion here. I'll be sure to inform him of the dangers of the forest so they can eradicate the beasts. So, the next time, it'll be 2 Taels as there won't be any risks." He smiled.

"Huh? Uh.. Sure." The smile from Zane's face faded. He was caught off-guard by the last comment.

"Just give us the money and we'll be on our way." He added.

After getting his money, he headed towards Edwin while counting what he got.

"34...35..." He reached Edwin.

"Oh you're back?" Edwin waved at Zane.

"Yes.. How many logs did we bring?" Zane asked Edwin.

"Uh.. 45 logs, so we should get 90 Taels." Edwin answered.

"3 Taels." Zane looked at Edwin.

"What?" Edwin replied, confused.

"3 Taels for 1 log. So we got 1 Quirsh and 35 Taels total."

Edwin widened his eyes. "What!? Zane you bastard! You did great!" He then proceeded to hug Zane, who was smiling proudly.

"Hahah.. This is nothing for me. Come now, let's go!" They got on the cart and headed back to Lastwind.