The sudden sounds of footfalls coming from the corner startled Jot'un, causing him to push Michael towards a deep recess in the wall.
They hid there for a few seconds as the Thunderfoot employees passed by.
"Phew…" Jot'un wiped the bead of sweat on his forehead.
"What was that?"
Jot'un looked through the corner, making sure no one was there before answering Keo's question.
"Sorry, outsiders are not allowed in our compound right now. Especially because—you know what, it's nothing."
Michael could tell that Jot'un wanted to let out his frustrations about the 'incident' that was currently embroiling their company in a giant oven, but somehow, he was able to restrain his very talkative mouth.
"Anyway, what was that again about buying GodForge pieces?"
Not wanting to pry, Michael let the obviously sensitive topic pass. "I wanted to buy some GodForge pieces, but saw that there was a very long line in your reception area."
Jot'un exasperatedly sighed. "Yeah, I know. Truthfully, as much as I want to brag, our customers usually aren't that fervent. But today is the start of the Archery Competition as you may remember, so a lot of them are trying to empower themselves at the very last moment thinking that they could achieve better results. But who are they kidding? Surgery would require weeks of recovery, but whatever.
Of course, we're busy ourselves as we're participating in the competition too. But, something else came up, so right now, it's just a perfect coalescence of bad timing, causing such a clogged queue."
From Jot'un's words, it seemed that this 'problem' of theirs only popped up around midnight or very early in the morning. Just in time for the Lunar Celebrations.
Now that could be a total coincidence or it could be a pre-planned nefarious plan. He didn't know yet.
"It's good that you sought me. You would have had to wait half a day before you're able to buy GodForge pieces. Come with me. I'll speed up the process," Jot'un said, guiding Michael away from their private compound and back towards the entrance.
There, they were met with a lot of Thunderfoot employees bowing 90 degrees as they apologized for the wait their customers had to go through.
They bowed even lower as they saw Jot'un coming towards them.
Eventually, they reached near the entrance and Jot'un immediately took a hard right, going towards one of the doors that led somewhere only employees were allowed.
"Not the reception area?"
Jot'un shook his head. "Our customers are already angry enough. I can only imagine their wrath once they find out someone cut the line. Let's go to the warehouse directly and I can help you with your transaction."
But just as they were about to enter, a figure flashed in front of them, blocking them from opening the door.
"Young Master Jot'un and… who is this young man?"
"Oh Jasper! What are you doing here? Isn't a butler's job supposed to tend to my father's business?" Jot'un said with nervousness, his eyes furtively glancing at the half-opened door.
Jasper eyed at the two of them with his keen, narrow eyes. Especially Michael. "I am. He's entrusted me to make sure that no more strangers enter our establishment."
Jot'un, knowing the Lead Butler of the Thunderfoot family to be the most incisive of all of them, pivoted to telling the truth. Lies would only get them in trouble with this guy.
"Listen, Jasper. This guy here is Keo. He's a friend I made at the Soiree. And he's here to buy some GodForge pieces."
Hearing this, Jasper's suspicious eyes softened.
"Now, can we enter the warehouse?" Jot'un tried to push through the butler, but was rebuffed by the man's stance. Though lanky, Jot'un was like an immovable monolith!
"I'm glad you made a friend despite your blabbering mouth, Young Master. But you must know that our receptionists are perfectly capable of handling orders. In the reception area," Jasper said sternly, almost pushing Jot'un back with only his words.
"But this is a special order! Don't you know who he is?"
"I don't care, young master. Even the venerable Alaric Goldstone can't be given any special advantages—"
"He's Keo!'
"Like I said, no one—"
"Professor Lichtenstein's protege! The one I talked to everyone about!"
Jasper started, his eyes bulging. "The prof… him?"
Awe and disbelief was written on the butler's face. "Ahem… I stand corrected. My apologies, sir Keo. I didn't know I was standing in the face of an esteemed person such as you.
In such cases, I am allowed to give you special privileges. This does not include entrance to our warehouse, but I can retrieve the GodForge pieces for you instead. How much will you be purchasing?"
Michael, satisfied with this compromise, opened his mouth to say something.
But Jot'un interrupted him with a frantic expression on his face. "Wait!"
Both looked at him, confused.
"Um… can't you allow us inside just this once? Keo has some sensitive circumstances for his purchase, right?"
Jot'un looked at him expectantly, eyes furtively glancing back and forth to Jasper.
He wanted Michael to go along with this ruse.
As for why, Michael didn't know.
"Uh… yeah, actually. I'm hoping to buy a lot of GodForge pieces. Like, a lot."
"See?"
"How many kilos can 7 million Sand Dollars get me?"
"See?---say what now?"
Michael nodded nonchalantly. "You heard me. 7 million."
The two Thunderfoot guys stared at Michael with wide eyes and an open jaw. Was he serious?
"Se…seven million," Jasper muttered, gulping.
Jot'un immediately pulled Michael to the side, whispering, "What are you doing? That's way too far-fetched! Jasper won't believe that without proof! You should have thought of a more mundane excuse!"
Michael looked back at him with reproach. "And why would I do that? I really want 7 million Sand Dollars worth of GodForge pieces."
A slight chuckle came out of Jot'un, but seeing the silence and seriousness in Michael's eyes, he realized the truth.
"7 MILLION?! YOU REALLY WANT TO BUY THAT MUCH?!"