The Saga of Eden

Chapter 2, part 4

After leaving the building, they head straight back to Astraka's house. It is now nightfall, but Eden and Lela aren't in a rush to return home. With so much money on their hands, it's not safe to flaunt their wealth out in public. After Astraka has closed the door and everyone is now inside, Lela can't help leaping in joy. 

"We're f*****g rich! Now I don't have to worry about buying stuff that I want, in your face, mother!" She cheers.

Right, it's time for some notes. The coins they received are platinum coins,￡, which is worth 10 gold coins each, and 100 silver coins, and 1000 copper coins. Platinum coins are very rare and valuable, many among the lower class don't even know about their existence. 

Each of them is now as rich as the lower nobility class in Ella. So... yeah, I think Lela is right, they're rich... not like I would know what that means. 

Eden wants to ask her further about Lela's relationship with her mom. Still, he knows her enough to know it's not a good idea, so instead, he says something else.

"I guess we should discuss splitting the money now."

"You're right." Astraka nods. "I wouldn't mind giving you the Lion's Share since you're the one who contributed the most and was the key player, after all."

"No, no, I can't possibly do that." Eden waves his hands in dismissal. "You're the one who came up with the plan and studied the demons' locations and characteristics after all."

"Yet without your help, I would have been a dead man with an uncertain chance of success," Astraka speaks the blatant truth that shocks both of his relatives. He thinks for a while longer and shrugs. "Since we've come to such an impasse, how about we just split equally. We all contributed, and I wouldn't mind."

"I don't mind either. Let's just do that." Eden nods.

And so, the five of them then stand around the table, each taking 20 coins from the lockbox in the middle. As they're amid doing so, Lela suddenly tells them to stop.

"Wait a minute, I don't think this way of splitting is fair."

"...This way isn't fair? Well then, what do you suggest?" Astraka respectfully stops and asks, a hint of annoyance can be seen on his face. He has begun disliking Lela since the moment he asked her to join forces, but he remained patient. Sooner or later, he might not be able to tolerate her.

"Eden and I are in a separate team, just like you and your relatives," Lela answers calmly. She doesn't have the etiquette that Astraka possesses, so her tone might not seem as respectful. Still, her face and voice show true determination… Well, driven by greed, but determination regardless.

"We risk our lives to save yours, you said it yourself. I'd say we split evenly between each team instead." She continues.

For a moment, there is only silence. Astraka glares at Lela, he breathes heavily, and his fingers are moving back and forth, ready to cast a spell. Lela also notices this, but she's not in a hurry to make her move in response. Then, the old wizard finally replies.

"It was Eden who did most of the work. If it were his idea, I would gladly accept it. Yet, you, of all people, dare suggest such an outrageous proposal?" His voice is calm but full of threats hidden behind it.

Before Lela can antagonize Astraka any further, Eden decides to jump in between them and mediate this conflict.

"No, we are not going to fight. Not now, not never." He calmly says while raising his hands to both sides, telling them to stop.

"Please excuse her behavior, it has been a rough day for all of us," Eden first turns to Astraka and apologizes, which makes him cool off a little bit.

"And Lela, you probably need the money more than I do. If you want to split it like that, how about you just take my portion instead? That way, you can get 25 while everyone is happy." 

Everyone is surprised at his decision, while Lela only glares at him since he makes her look bad by being the bigger person. Still, it's no time to think about pride when so much money is involved.

"Fine." She answers simply and continues taking her share.

"Eden, what are you doing? You can't do that?" Harmani suddenly speaks up.

"It's fine, it is better this way," Eden smiles and replies. "In the future, we certainly can make much more money if we continue like this."

"What?" Lela stops hoarding her share and looks at Eden incredulously.

"Speaking of which, everyone, I want to make an announcement," Eden continues. The rest then stop taking their share and look at him.

"I know that we just met very recently, but what we did during this short amount of time has shown that we have the potential to achieve great things. My dream has always been to one day have a saga (*hint* *hint*) written about me, or now, about us, that is comparable to that of Narnatic and the Great Twenty. I don't know what we will face in the future, but I hope that we will be together along the way until the saga is complete. We make a great team, and we WILL become unstoppable if we continue working together." His speech is overly ambitious, but it's well enough and has the persuasive power coming from such a proven young man. "So, will you all be with me in this saga?"

"I-I will join you!" Surprisingly, Nara is the first to speak, frighteningly quick, actually.

"You're someone worthy of respect. It would be my honor to follow you." Harmani speaks next while clapping his palms together and bows, a sign of respect.

"Heh, well then, my answer is obvious." Astraka smiles while stroking his long white beard. 

The rest of them then look at Lela, who is staring at Eden in amusement. 

"So you want a saga for yourself, comparable to the Great Twenty even? Heh." Lela crosses her arms and teases. "Wild ambition, I like it. But the big question is: Who is going to write a saga worthy of the feats of our great Eden then? Or will the epic stories of our hero be forever forgotten in the abyss of time~?" She says this last part in a dramatic tone. 

"Not to worry!" Eden answers excitedly. "I regularly record my stories in a journal. Someday, when our saga is complete, I will show it to the world!"

"... Well, I hope that at least we'll be famous enough that everyone will know our stories even if my journal is lost." He continues.

…

Yeah, I intentionally left out that part. Eden wrote pretty often. Honestly, it's for your (and my) own good. I can hear, speak, and read Godian language well enough, but Eden's writings... aren't Godian language. It's some bizarre, incomprehensible language. His ability to write readable words is like my ability to speak; that's right, neither of them exists. I doubt that when Eden goes back and reads, even he can decipher what he wrote. Let's hope that Eden will become famous enough that some bards will write about him.

…

"Well, if you promise to get us more money like this, then I'm in." Lela shrugs.

"Fantastic!" Eden cheers happily. "I promise I won't let you down."

"Well, now that we're a team, a name would be fitting, don't you think?" Astraka smiles and says while looking at Eden's cheerful face.

"Eden, you wanna do the honor?" Lela says.

"Alright then! How about… Fingers, since there are 5 of us." Eden thinks for a few seconds and answers. Lela then frowns.

"Can I take back my words and ban him from naming things ever again?" She turns to Astraka and asks.

"Hush, will you? It's his night, after all. Let him have it. Besides, I think Fingers is a decent name, and it makes sense." The old wizard replies.

"I like it," Harmani says, followed by his sister. "Me too."

 "Ughhhh, fine. But I'm not gonna let you name things again, Eden." She says half-jokingly while touching his nose with her finger… I think she's flirting with him. I'm still not too familiar with human interactions yet.  

Afterward, they have a few more small talks, then Eden and Lela bid them farewell and return to their inn. They are now officially a team.

"Wait." Eden suddenly says when he's at the door. The rest stop and wait to hear what he wants to say.

"It's probably just for formalities, but who should be the leader of our team?"

Lela, Harmani, and Nara are unsure how to respond to this question, but Astraka immediately chuckles. 

"I think the one who unites everyone into a team deserves to be their leader, no?" He answers amusingly while still chuckling.

"Really? I thought you have the seniority, so you would want to be the leader." Lela asks. She's genuinely surprised.

"Like how Eden said earlier: It's fine, it is better this way." Astraka answers, still smiling.

Eden looks at him, confused, but he still smiles and thanks Astraka. "Thank you! I'll do my best!" Afterward, he and Lela quickly return to their place.

----------------

"Eden, you up?" The young man suddenly hears a knock on his door during the night and the voice of his teammate. He quickly opens the door to see her.

"Yeah, what is it?"

Lela doesn't answer. Instead, she puts her hands up, revealing 5 platinum coins in it.

"Here, I want to return it to you." She says softly. "I...was a jerk, I let money get the better of me. You should have it back."

"Don't worry about it." He holds that hand with both of his and closes her palm. She looks at it, blushing a bit, but doesn't say anything. "You need this money more than me, I'm sure. Take it, I promise I'm not mad."

"... That's... really sweet of you." She holds her head down and says quietly. "But I can't. It's not fair to you, and I can't allow that. Please take it!" 

Before he can respond, she shoves the coins into his hand, quickly closes the door, and runs back to her room. Eden just shakes his head, puts the money in his pouch, and goes back to bed.

Honestly, I'm also curious why Eden decides to give up such a large sum of money for her. That's really odd and doesn't fit his personality. Let me check real quick.

[Those coins...are silver coins, right? Our family makes more than 50 silver coins each harvest. I don't get why she has to make such a fuss over 5 coins. We can certainly make much more for the subsequent bounties… I guess it's best not to think about it. Teacher said women are an enigma, after all.]

Did he just... confuse those coins as silver coins?

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