Zu Mari entered the 'bank'. It was a rather ordinary building, bigger than some, smaller than others, made of the same pearly shell stuff as the rest of the buildings around here. He pondered for a moment the question: did they harvest giant clams or something for the shell, or was it grown with some spell or technique?

He didn't waste time asking though, he was here for a loan, not a lesson on construction techniques in the city he planned to burn to the ground.

"Good day, Vermelis," said the glass-worker. "I have someone to introduce you to."

"Really? Is that why you've drug some stray into my pristine greeting room?" Vermelis had a sharp edge to his voice that made Zu immediately want to punch him. Far too arrogant for one whose job was handing out money.

"I wish to withdraw my entire account," continued the glass-worker. "in whole zeples only. The remainder can stay to hold my place." He turned to Zu. "That is acceptable?"

Zu waved him away. "Yes, yes." He was studying Vermelis closely. The man was thin and gaunt, with an oddly bulbous nose and eyes the color of a fading sunset. Disconcerting eyes, that watched Zu without compassion or interest. He was far too used to dispassionate eyes, and they did not evoke pleasant memories.

"One hundred twenty three zeples, withdrawn on this day, nineteenth malombre, year eighty-seven of the glorious advent." Vermelis wrote as he was speaking, handed a page to the glass-worker to sign, then snatched it back and tossed a sack of something that clinked dully like stones. "And your friend?"

"I am Zu Mari, and I need a loan of three hundred zeples."

Vermelis stared at him a moment, then burst out laughing. "You? Borrow three hundred zeples? Do I look like I'm here to give out charity? You could buy a mansion with that. Or squander it all in a night of gambling. What confidence do I have that you'd ever pay me back?"

Zu very much wanted to draw his godsword and pin the man to the wall with it, but restrained his urge. For now. Making a large fuss would help nothing. "You have my word."

"Your word? What's that worth to me? I need some assurances." His eyes picked out the hilt at Zu's side, and a greedy look came over them. "Perhaps your swords can serve as collateral."

"Collateral?"

"I'll keep them here until you pay me back, just to be sure you won't run off and leave us with nothing for our trouble."

"One," Zu said, reluctantly detaching the starsteel blade. "I need the other. But you may hold this as collateral."

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"I promise, he is honorable," the glass-worker put in. "I will vouch for him against my future profits."

Vermelis nodded slowly, snatched the starsteel sword, and nodded again. "Wait here."

He carried the sword away through a nearby door, then returned a minute later with a larger bag which he placed on the counter just out of Zu's reach.

"I'll need you to sign here and here," he said, placing some indecipherable pages of nonsense in front of Zu. "One for the loan, and another for the sword."

Zu signed with a flourish, then let the man take the paper and accepted the bag of zeples. "I'll return," he said.

He turned to the glass-worker who wordlessly handed over his life savings and current profits. "Good luck, Zu Mari," he said with a happy smile. "Pay me back whenever it's convenient. I trust you."

"I will. Now you should return to your work. I have business to attend to."

Without pause, Zu strode straight to the blademaster's shop and plunked down the two sacks of zeples. "There. Paid fully. Your conscience may be clear, I own the sword and am binding it to my soul of my own volition and without trying to frame you for my murder or whatever it is you're imagining."

The man stared at the sacks of money, then at Zu, then back at the money. "Truly?" he asked, his voice faint. "I assumed... that is to say, usually it takes at least a year to pay off a single sword, let alone two, but you... in a single afternoon...?"

"Yes, yes. I am amazing, you may bask in my glory another time. Right now, I need this godsword bound to my soul. How do I go about doing that?"

"Ah, uh, yes. Of course. The sword that consumes life essence to power its continued existence. Connected directly to your soul."

"You repeating it over and over isn't going to dissuade me," Zu said. "I know what I want and you won't persuade me otherwise."

The man threw his hands in the air. "Well, if that is your will, so be it. The customer makes the calls, as they say. I will help you do this utterly idiotic, suicidal, moronic thing, if that is really what you want."

"It is."

"Then come with me. Bring the sword." He pushed open a door at the back of his shop and descended a flight of steps into a dimly lit basement. Half-finished weapons of all sorts lay about, most looking like they'd been discarded or tossed aside rather than as though they were in the process of being completed.

"I'll need your consent to perform soul evisceration," he said, as he selected a thin blade from a side cabinet. It had been wrapped in pale blue cloth and the blade was so thin Zu could see through it. A blue gem adorned its pommel, glowing faintly in the dimness.

"You have whatever permissions are required."

"This is going to hurt a lot," warned the blade-smith.

"I understand. I've been killed more ways than you could believe. I can handle whatever you're going to do."

The man stared at him, unsure of what to think, then stabbed the blade into Zu's throat. It didn't hurt, leaving a cold numbness in its wake, but it felt wrong on an existential level. Zu's whole being rebelled at the thing being driven into his physical space.

The blade shattered, Zu’s essence overwhelming its fragile being and splintering it into fragments.

The bladesmith stared at the jagged hilt in his hand, then at Zu's throat, where the tiny incision was closing over the shards of the blade. "Uh..."

Zu blinked, then laughed faintly. "Sorry about that.” He lowered his voice. “Luja, any chance of going back a minute or so?"

"I am sorry, my power is of one nature only," Luja whispered. "I can send you back to the beginning. That is all."

Zu shrugged, turning back to the bladesmith with a smile. "Sorry about that. I wasn't prepared properly. Could you try again?"

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