Ivan boasted that he would show the basement of the Kunst auction house. Alex, who already knew about it, was surprised that Ivan Luke himself came forward and introduced it.
‘It’s not really a secret.’
Ivan is acting like that for two reasons.
One is that people are thoughtlessly stupid enough to easily expose such an important place.
The other one.
‘Even if he lets people know that such an important place exists, he is confident that they will never rob it.’
Alex thought the latter was obvious.
“Here it is. What do you think?”
Alex could feel from the moment he stood at the entrance to the underground why Ivan Luke could be so confident.
‘It’s bloody from the entrance.’
The elevator is the only way down to the basement and guards were guarding the elevator entrance.
There are only two guards but if they’re knights the story is different.
‘And even the security of the entrance.’
Surprisingly, the elevator didn’t have a separate button. Instead, Ivan took out a key he had brought beforehand and inserted it into an existing groove instead where the button should be. Then, the door of the elevator opened from side to side with a rattling sound.
‘Is this not just a lift? It looks like it’s made of pretty sophisticated machinery, so it won’t open without a key.’
Alex pretended to be surprised at the sight, but his eyes did not miss the shape of the key. An ornate key plated in gold with a red jewel on the handle.
“Come on. Let’s go in.”
“Of course, my friend.”
Ivan Luke, Alex, Pantos and other escorts got on the lift.
The driver could not follow because this was a place where only invited people could come. As a result, Pantos was holding the case instead of the person hired as driver.
The inside of the elevator was wider than expected, enough for more than 30 strong adult men to ride. It may have been made like this because a large number of objects are carried.
“Ring.”
Soon the elevator door that arrived underground opened. Contrary to what he thought it would be monotonous, the inside was quite complex with a long corridor and several passages.
“This is the basement of our Kunst Auction House, where we maintain an impenetrable security that has not been breached by anyone for the past 20 years.”
“Oh, that’s great.”
Alex clapped his hands in delight as he skimmed through the scenery inside.
“I didn’t know there was such a huge space in the basement of the auction house.”
“Ha ha. It takes that much space to store the items for auction. My father, the chairman, has thought of that issue since he built this building.”
“As expected of Chairman Luke. Ivan, are you the chairman’s successor?”
“Hmm. What do you mean by that? Not yet, but I’ll soon be. Ha-ha-ha.”
When Alex flattered him, Ivan couldn’t control his excitement and talked about things that he didn’t ask.
“This basement has a room where the guards live, and there is also a storage room. But the safest place is probably the auction room. It’s practically a safe.”
“Are you keeping my things there too?”
“Of course. The meaning of this underground space is the storage room. It’s made up of three large rooms, each with the latest artifacts to keep an eye on the interior 24/7.”
“That’s great!”
Alex was impressed but checked against the information Hans had learned and confirmed that it was all true.
“Then where should I keep this thing?”
“Of course in room number three. Actually, there are three storage rooms, but they’re not all the same. We divide the items in the order of importance and put the lesser ones in room 1, and the most important ones in room 3. Of course, everything is important since we store them, but you know what I’m talking about.”
“Of course. No matter how valuable items are, there’s definitely a difference between them.”
“Hahaha. As expected, Guar, you’re well aware of it. Poor, stinky commoners think they’re all pretty and cool things, but people like us need to know how to properly identify the true nature of these things. Look at this watch I’m wearing.”
Suddenly Ivan Luke starts boasting about the brand and ornaments of the clothes he was wearing. Alex thought they were the same, and tried to reciprocate his words, but suddenly stopped because the atmosphere of Pantos, which had been silently following him since a while ago, was not good.
Pantos was now slowly getting irritated and Alex immediately gave Pantos a hint that only he could see.
‘Hey, what are you doing? Are you trying to start a fight?’
‘.......’
Pantos had been staring at Ivan Luke for a while. The other bodyguards hadn’t noticed yet, but Alex, who was sensitive to this, realized that it was only a matter of time before he would get caught.
Alex’s eyes could not be separated from the woman looking around the restaurant.
She hadn’t figured this out yet but the moment the woman’s head turned to look around Alex unknowingly turned his back on her.
[Victor Hugo. Answer me. What happened?]
[She’s here.]
[She? Who came?]
[Enya Joynus.]
The woman who just entered the restaurant inside the Kunst auction house was dressed in a dress, but she kept twisting her body around as if she was uncomfortable. She was the Nightcrawler Knight member that was staying in Leathervelk on Trina’s orders.
[If it’s Enya, is that Enya?]
[Yeah, my ex-girlfriend.]
She was also Alex’s former lover.
* * *
Rudger, who heard the news from Alex, frowned. It wasn’t a response to the news but the opposite.
‘Enya Joynus?’
Rudger recalled that not long ago she had come to the Teachers Office to find him.
‘I see. Was it then?’
At that time, it was a knight wearing glasses called Lloyd who asked him about the werewolf incident.
Trina Ryanhowl also came to Theon but thanks to the president he never had to face her in person but he remembers seeing her from afar through the window.
At that time there was another knight with Lloyd by Trina’s side, but he didn’t pay much attention to her, so she went unnoticed.
‘It was Enya.’
Rudger also knew that Alex was an old lover of Enya. What happened to them in the past? Why did the two of them have face each other here?
“Victor Hugo. Get out of there at once. Don’t worry about anything else.”
[...I got it]
Alex’s answer came back over the communicator. He, who finished communicating with Rudger, immediately spoke to Ivan.
“Friend, I have to go.”
“Uh, are you going already?”
“Ha ha. Since I’ve come to a big city of the Empire, shouldn’t I look around a little more? Don’t worry too much. I’ve checked it in, and I’ll come back later.”
“Oh, of course. More than that, the mana stone.......”
“We’ll talk about it later. I want to talk about business at a more important place. You know what I mean right?”
“Yes, of course!”
Alex gave Pantos a signal. The operation was over, so it was time to leave.
Pantos immediately followed Alex, standing by him like an escort.
“There are places like this in the world.”
Enya’s voice echoed in his ear and Alex glanced at Enya as he left the restaurant.
She hasn’t noticed him yet because he’s Guar not Alex right now.
‘She hasn’t changed.’
But inside, he also wanted her to recognize him.
Before and now, Enya’s appearance has remained the same. No. But compared to then, he can tell that she was a little more mature.
Of course, she’s still small and looks ridiculous but Alex knew better than anyone how strong she was.
‘But...’
He bit his lips because he can no longer approach Enya.
“You’re a liar!”
He still can’t forget the voice Enya was crying at him that day. So even if he met her in a place like this now, he had to pass it as if they had never met.
“Let’s go.”
Alex swallowed his regret and left the auction house with Pantos.