When Ed spoke, the limping old village chief initially didn't understand. It wasn't until he saw the suspicion in Ed's gaze that he grew flustered and quickly said, "Hunter, what do you mean by that? These gold coins are my savings, not some questionable money."
Ed, still confused, asked again, "Did I say these gold coins were from dubious sources?"
The old village chief didn't know what to say. His face stiffened into an awkward smile, and he replied, "N-no, these gold coins are all my hard-earned savings. Every one of them was earned with great effort."
Ed didn't waste time with further words. He took a gold coin out of his pocket and motioned for the old village chief to examine it closely.
The old village chief looked at the coin for a while but couldn't see anything wrong with it. It was just a little dirty, stained with some smudges, but otherwise it seemed real—definitely not fake!
