Chapter 157 - Collecting the money (1/2)
After going down the stairs and entering the open area of the auction house, Ham guided us all the way to the reception area of the building. From there, three big corridors lead to three different directions.
”By following the main corridor, one can enter the auctioning hall. The road on our right leads toward the warehouse while the one on our left leads to the collection points.”
Noticing my interest in the layout of the building, our fat friend quickly explained it. Probably thinking that slowing his steps down would make me displeased, he didn't stop even for a second, leading us towards the collection area at once.
After travelling through the corridor which walls were decorated with beautiful paintings and glass cabinets with various treasures, he quickly stood before one of the many doors embedded into the wall.
”Sirs can enter this room. As a mere servant, I'm not allowed to follow Sirs inside!”
Explaining himself as soon as he saw my stare falling on him, Ham straightened himself up, trying to pretend to be a guardian of our peace.
Not wasting any moment, we entered the room, only to be greeted with a pair of simple chairs, a small desk and a tiny receptionist sitting on the other side of a big glass window.
”Please sit down, and pass your auction card through the lift.”
Pointing her hand at a small, squarish hole on our side of the room, she didn't even lift her head over the documents stacked right in front of her.
I guess paperwork is just as despised as it was back on earth. While I never got to experience horrors of filling countless documents myself, I had my fair bit of watching my parents do it! Unable to blame this small girl for her attitude when she had so much of this abhorred work to do, I simply put the golden card inside the hole.
As soon as my hand retracted from the so-called 'lift', the hole sealed itself with kind of automatic gate, only to appear on the other side of the window. Taking a quick look with the corner of her eye at the content of the lift, the small receptionist froze in place. Turning her whole body to face the hole, she carefully picked the card, before turning back to face me with a stunned expression on her face.
”I'm sorry, I didn't know you were an esteemed guest… Why did you enter a standard booth sir? With this card, Sir is entitled to a private collection!”
As if I could be bothered about something like this, even if I had any knowledge about that fact! I was lead to this place by my guide, so how could I know I could do it somewhere else?
”Do you know someone called a Ham by a chance?”
With my curiosity piqued, I couldn't help but ask. While this fat guy outside didn't look reliable at all, from his conduct back in the lodge or even the fact that he had connections to the woman I traded my stones with, I highly doubted that leading us to this exact booth was in any way coincidental!