CRYSTALLUM LOST DREAMS | Fantasy Novel |

Chapter 3 - Part 2

With the heat making their hands sweat and Marmorel's constant complaining, they finally arrived at the station. A large rose window covered the main facade and under it stood the columns that supported the ceiling, creating a porch that anticipated the entrance.

They lost a few minutes searching for the contact and Aran found him near the station entrance. The man was Polkan, Katia's brother, the Allet family's maid. After the greetings, they discovered that he worked in the Kharzanian mines near the city of Lafkai. Older than Cora expected. He exchanged the race tickets, gave them the cards to enter Kharzan and handed him a piece of paper with notes. Aran was not his only client that day, Polkan had other tickets for the Grand Prix and they bought one for Elidana and one for Marmorel. After a couple of jokes about the old times at the Allet mansion, Polkan greeted them affectionately, hugging Aran, and walked away in the direction of the main street.

"First of all, we need to find the exchange office. Fez, check near the ticket booths, Cora and I will look between the tracks," Aran said.

Cora wandered through the station with his eyes darting here and there, confused. He had never seen so many people in one place. All the men were dressed in extremely refined clothing and with a long cylinder on their heads even at that temperature. He observed the large clock above the tracks and stared at the roof of the building for a long time. Very high, more than was necessary. The long metal beams supported a glass base, but the windows were partially obscured and the light struggled to penetrate.

"Hey, I think the exchange office is over there," Elidana shouted, indicating its location to Cora and Aran.

"Dragging these bags has been a nightmare," grumbled Marmorel. Fez approached. "You can't stay here alone. I'll keep you company!" He looked at the others with eyes shining like a mirror in the daylight. "You guys go ahead! Take your time, okay. There's no hurry!

Cora raised an eyebrow and elbowed Aran.

"Yes, we're in a hurry," the latter replied, shaking his head.

The exchange counter official was old and wrinkled, with a prominent gold tooth. He seemed tired of the working day, slumped over the table fiddling with a feather.

"What do kids want?" he asked.

Aran glanced right and left, and finally put the heavy luggage on the table. "I want to exchange them for shields." He also brought the green card given to him by Polkan. The man opened the sack and took a look inside.

He widened his eyes, which suddenly became alert and snapping. "Hmm ... where did you find all this gold?" the man blustered.

Aran slammed his hand on the table. "It's not your business! Do you have the shields? Or do we have to go somewhere else?" he said irritably.

"No no, of course ... excuse me. It's rare to see someone your age with such a treasure," the man quickly counted the coins to assess their value. "Fifteen thousand gold coins. Calculating the exchange rate, it's seven thousand seven hundred shields." He bent down under the counter and handed Aran a metal box the size of a finger. He took the sack of gold coins and pushed it into the safe behind him.

"That's it?" asked Cora. He shook the insignificant object in search of the money. Inside was a charged Seorite shard, visible from a small indentation.

"That's it, boy? This is a 'Piggy Bank', you already know how it works?" asked the man.

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, you just need to swipe it next to a similar system and it makes the payment," Aran replied.

The old man nodded and showed Cora how to use the device he was holding. The amount of shields appeared in bright numbers. "Just remember, you must not lose it. No one will refund the contents and remember that it is valuable only within the Kharzanian borders."