The Dark Auction House ‘Lucky Box’.
By the client’s request, regardless of whether it is a person, an object, or information, it will be fulfilled by any means necessary. This guild is one of the most famous intermediary guilds within the Empire that boasts for its success, and is well-known for its 99.9% completion rate.
Moreover, since all requested items are listed on the ‘Lucky Box’s’ auction list, which is held irregularly throughout the capital, with prices set through bidding, it has already become a place considered as a necessary evil in the underworld.
In the end, the client must risk the possibility of having to bid for the item they requested at the auction again, facing double danger.
If the advertisement of the claimed 99.9% completion rate is true, then one can definitely obtain what they need, even if it costs hundreds of millions of ruels. And due to the nature of the auction, there are cases where it could be won for as little as 1 ruel. In a way, it’s all a matter of luck you wouldn’t want to miss.
“He’s going that way.”
“….”
“The place is so dark, perfect for cheating. What a piece of trash.”
“….”
“Huh? Another old man is going in too. It can’t be right?”
When Ian lifted his head, vague human figures with intricately designed masks on their faces began arriving one after another, entering the building. On the small bronze plaque next to the entrance, four 7s were engraved, with [GIFTS] written in flowing handwriting beneath it.
‘It’s the Lucky Box.’
Ian recalled the illegal auction house that was recently being pursued by the Western Sunset Tailor.
If only they had chased after them instead of leisurely doing some stitching. They would have caught them by now…
Detective ‘Ray Vaughn’, no, Emperor Ian, clicked his tongue inwardly in disappointment.
‘I guess I have been too lenient. I need to take care of that guy, Lian first. The rest….’
“Detective!”
Ian turned his head to look at Klisha. Klisha, with her almond-colored eyes darting around, opened her mouth.
“What do we do now? Should we just barge in and take them down?”
The forbidden scene of two old men entangled, she might go blind if she witnesses that… Oh my eyes. Ian stared quietly at Klisha, who was mumbling something about possibly losing her eyesight, and finally spoke in a low voice.
“It’ll be dangerous from here. You don’t need to go in.”
“Huh?”
Ian pulled his cloak up to the tip of his nose and threw a small card to Klisha.
“If you go back to the plaza, there’s a tailor shop named Western Sunset at the southeast corner. Go there, show them the cards, and let them know your location. Then, they will take care of the rest.”
“What? Tailor shop? Then, what about you, Detective?”
“I have to go in.”
Klisha instinctively grabbed the end of Ian’s sleeve.
“No! It’s dangerous!”
Ian’s green eyes widened slightly.
“You’re a weakling, you can’t even use magic. You can’t go alone.”
“….”
“I’ll go in instead. It’s not like I haven’t seen worse things for a day or two, and my eyesight will recover soon….”
Ian, who had been staring blankly at Klisha’s small hand holding the end of his shirt, soon let out a quiet laugh and patted Klisha’s round head.
Suddenly, he recalled the scene from a long time ago, when young Lian was choking back tears while holding the end of his sleeve at the farewell ceremony.
“It’s okay.”
At the soft voice of the Detective she had just met, Klisha’s mouth slightly parted.
Ian spoke, his green eyes narrowing into a gaze that was more than enough to be considered beautiful.
“Shasha-mon. Go and bring the tailors. Once you’re done, your job is finished. I’ll buy you meat afterwards. Go on.”
[T/N: In Korean language, use of ‘몬’ or ‘Mon’ in a nickname can give the name a cute or endearing connotation, similar how certain English nicknames might use “-y” or “-ie” (e.g., “Johnny” or “Bobby”), or Japanese use ‘kun’ or ‘chan’.]
As she watched Ian’s disappearing figure, Klisha’s face inexplicably flushed with a reddened hue.
Thump.
‘What.’
* * *
The men making suits, no, the tailors, or rather the knights of the Royal Knight’s Information Division, who had rushed over after hearing the message, paused to catch their breath in front of the collapsed building, already reduced to rubble.
“Yeah. We’ve been too negligent lately. This kind of thing has become a daily occurrence.”
“What should we do now, Captain? Should we gather the passing witnesses and interrogate them, maybe with Red Sun?”
“If you have that kind of ability, you should try it.”
Behind the knights, along with a cool breeze, a whispering voice flowed.
“Wow. It collapsed cleanly.”
Hiick.
The knights slowly turned their heads, their necks creaking like old, rusty screws. Behind them, a young man with stunning golden hair, like a field of autumn wheat, and eyes as blue as the summer sea, was surveying the ruins of the building reflected in the moonlight.
“Lo, Lord Lian!”
As the knights stepped forward to secure the area, the leader of the Royal Escort Knights and the Emperor’s Guardian Sword, His Highness the Duke Lian Bartier, quietly opened his mouth.
“Report.”
“This is the headquarters of the dark auction house Lucky Box that I mentioned before. A child brought His Majesty’s royal insignia and summoned us here, so we left immediately, but by the time we arrived, it has already collapsed.”
“A child?”
“It’s a child who’s been sleeping in the plaza. When I asked, the child said he also received the request to convey the message by a passerby.”
“Hmm.”
“As for who told him to transfer the information, we don’t know.”
“It’s fine. It’s not like the information was traded over here. The rest of the knights will take care of it.”
Brother, no, His Majesty the Emperor’s royal insignia was in his hand. A subtle smile appeared on Lian’s face as he held the insignia.
“Nevertheless. This auction building is so shabby and old. What part of this broken place has caught His Majesty’s interest?”
As Lian lifted his head, his brilliant golden hair, slightly tousled by the night breeze, shone brightly under the pale moonlight.
“And our beloved Majesty… I wonder where he has disappeared to once again.”
* * *
The young man with brilliant crimson locks, cutting through the moonlight as he raced through the darkness, opened his mouth as he spoke to the person beside him.
“Is it really right to keep running like this? How much longer do we have to run? Aren’t you hungry?”
The figure cloaked in black, wrapped in a dark shroud from head to toe, and running beside the red-haired boy, spoke quietly without slowing down.
“Since you knew that. Who told you to blow up the building?”
“Because, because….”
The red-haired boy answered with a bashful smile after patting the ‘baggage’ on his shoulder.
“But I was really pissed earlier. You looked like you were in danger too, Detective.”
“….”
About an hour ago.
Klisha stopped her feet several times, which were carrying her away from the auction house but couldn’t make herself to leave the place as the Detective’s last smile kept flashing in her mind. The smile, radiating an inexplicable sense of self-assurance despite not having any power, somehow lingered in her mind for a long while.
‘Is he really not my type at all? Hmm.’
As she thought about that, she really hadn’t seen his face properly. He was quite tall. And he would always look away at those awkward moments…
Aside from the last time he patted her head to reassure her, they didn’t even make proper eye contact.
Klisha gently touched her own head. The place where the Detective had patted earlier…
‘I can’t do this.’
Klisha called over the small boy passing by her, handed him the card, and said.
“Little boy. Can you do me a favor?”
At that moment.
Ian was leaning against the wall at the back of the building and waiting. Just in time, he received an entry pass and a silver mask from a middle-aged man dressed in luxurious clothes who was passing by. He wasn’t threatening at all, of course. The middle-aged man had offered them voluntarily.
His Majesty the Emperor, ever so dignified wherever he went, seemed to have some expertise in these illegal trading exchanges. Without missing a beat, he casually passed through the entrance as though he had always been a VIP customer of Lucky Box, and settled into a suitable position.
Unlike the shabby exterior, the interior of Lucky Box was splendid enough to blind the eyes.
Through the smoky steam surrounding the stage, red and yellow beams of light illuminated the stage, while the deafening music seemed to steal away one’s senses. Drinking and gambling were hosted at each of the meticulously arranged tables.
“Customer. Here is the auction list.”
“Leave it.”
Ian didn’t know yet. The little bomb he left outside couldn’t enter as smoothly as he did and was lurking nearby.
* * *
She quickly returned, but the Detective was nowhere to be found. No matter where she looked, it seemed there was no way to get into the building without any invitation. Klisha lightly tugged at her hair in frustration.
‘Those guys….’
Just moments ago, Klisha had also walked confidently toward the building, only to be stopped by guards as large as mountains. But how did the Detective get in? Did he manage to get inside at all?
It seemed that the place for having illegal affairs had surprisingly strong security. Well, in a way, it made sense. If they were caught, it wouldn’t end with just the two parties pulling their hair, but a serious legal violation.
After a moment of hesitation, Klisha subtly released some of her mana and climbed to the rooftop of the building. Since she couldn’t get in naturally, she’d infiltrate from above!
Concealing her presence, Klisha avoided the guard’s watchful gaze and used the rooftop chimney of the four-story building to climb inside. Normally, chimneys are connected all the way to the basement, and since it was summer, it was unlikely to be in use.
Cough, cough.
As an infiltration route, it wasn’t that bad. Except that it was covered with dust and soot.
Peering through cleaning vents at intervals to check the situation outside, Klisha finally reached the corner of the restaurant in the basement level of the building, safely arriving at her destination.
‘It seems fine, except for the soot.’
Klisha quickly wiped her face with a dry rag from the restaurant, then, avoiding any attention, made her way toward the area where the music was playing.
“Detective, where are youuuuu….”
The corners of Ian’s lips slightly rose as he scanned the auction list in the darkness, as if he couldn’t hear the sound of someone desperately looking for him.
「Today’s PICK, Lucky Box Auction Lists」
> 20:40, Product Name: Wind Ridder/ Demon Beast Hybrid Horse/ SA-rank/ Minimum Bid: 250,000 Ruel
> 20:50, Product Name: Tears of the Desert/ Slave/ AA-rank/ Minimum Bid: 100,000 Ruel
> 21:00, Product Name: Royal Crown/ Information/ SSS-rank / Minimum Bid: 500,000 Ruel
‘Beast hybrid horse, slave, and even the Royal Crown? They’re really going all out.’
The Great Emperor of the empire snorted and lifted his head, but his movements paused for a moment.
At the end of his gaze, the red-haired boy he left outside to wait, covered in black dust and soot, was seen checking the faces of the people passing by.
‘Oh.’
The Emperor, who hadn’t received concern from anyone in a long time, couldn’t help but burst into laughter at this surprisingly new experience.
‘Did she come looking for me?’
However.
When Ian lowered the silver mask that had been covering half of his face, a sculptural face that was said to be the embodiment of the Goddess of Beauty was revealed.
‘The effect has already worn off. What should I do?’
A slightly awkward smile appeared at the corner of Ian’s lips.
T/N: My Kofi is up again! Check out my page to read advanced chapters 😘
