As the two women conversed regarding the intricacies of business deals, Ryker started to feel like he did not belong there. But, he could not just leave Miriam with Sophia on her own, could he?
He was about to get bored when one of the servants rushed into the room, breathing heavily like she had just run.
"What is the meaning of this?" Sophia asked with a stern voice. Miriam and he froze, a bit of her Noble realm cultivation leaking while she asked such a question.
Fortunately for the servant, she was used to the aura and so able to shrug it off easily.
"He's here!" Ryker did not know who was there but judging from how the manager groaned, he did not sound like good news.
"Tell him to not bother me," Sophia told the servant.
"I already did but he kept pestering the other servants to tell you that he had come here," the servant told the manager, clearly distraught and annoyed by whoever she was complaining about.
"Should we leave now?" Ryker asked the manager, who looked at him like some kind of jewelry.
"Depends, can I use you for the moment?" Ryker raised his brows. The question took him but surprise but he is good at adapting.
"As long as we can ask for a favor" Miriam decided to trade his service for a favor, a reasonable exchange in his opinions.
"As long as it is not too unreasonable or crazy, and I could refuse your request if it reached either one of the spectrum," the manager added more conditions, which Ryker felt reasonable enough.
"Yes," the manager let out a sigh of relief. From the look of things, whoever the person is is a source of trouble for the manager.
-x-
Both he and Sophia exited the office, Miriam staying behind for reasons he was not sure of. However, he thrust the manager of Elkom Auction House to not do anything towards his lover.
As they exited the office, Ryker spotted a handsome young man in a blue court dress and white pants with a regal bearing. His black hair was slick back as he and his group of entourage were being blocked by the manager's servant.
"But I must insist on seeing the manager," the young man told the servants, who all looked determined to keep him from coming towards the office.
"Let him through," the manager told the servants, who obeyed her order. The young man's eyes brightened at the sight of Sophia. However, a clear look of surprise was seen when he spotted Ryker, who remained by her side.
However, he maintained his regal bearing before slightly bowing to the manager.
"Miss Sophia, how nice for you to come see this one," the young man said.
"It is a pleasure to have the heir of the Eletor Family in the auction house, though should not the young master go straight to the arranged room," the manager said politely, though Ryker swore he heard gritting teeth between each word.
"Yes, but I desire to see the beautiful Miss Sophia first before going to witness the dull auction that will happen tonight. Well, dull compared to Miss Sophia's beauty that is," Ryker had only been here for about 20 seconds and he already planned more than 40 different ways to kill the young man in front of him, powerful family or not.
From how Manager Sophia's eyes seemed to twitch, he was not alone in thinking such a way.
"There are a lot of interesting items for sale, young master. I assure you that you will be entertained by tonight's auction," somehow, Manager Sophia managed to keep herself from killing the young man, and it would be easy too, though his backer is likely more powerful than the manager herself.
"Of course, I am looking forward to seeing what the auction has to offer, though, I have to ask, who might this young gentleman be?" while he said it politely and used a polite tone, somehow, Ryker could tell he meant nothing of it.
He smiled, "I am just someone who has a business deal with the manager, that is all. We are just discussing certain details," which is a lie, as the business deal had been finished even before today, but it still had certain truth, as Miriam had discussed the deal he had made with the Elkom Auction House with the manager.
"Truly, then I might be trying to poach the deal, so I can talk to the miss herself," from the smug smile, he think the deal he had made with Sophia is not anything noteworthy. Well, time to give the young man a bit of face-slapping.
"Sure, as long as the young master can provide 20 materials from Tier 9 Genesis Beast, weekly," the dumbstruck look on the young master's face showed how he did not expect such a number.
"Y-you a-are lying," he managed to say. Ryker merely took out one of the copies of the contract he had signed before giving it to the young master.
He took it before reading it like a man possessed. Unfortunately for him, the result is his dissatisfaction, "Wh-wha-" "Unless the young master could provide more than what I currently did, then there is no reason why I should cut the deal between the manager and me," the smug smile on Ryker's face make the young man's face turned ugly.
Before he could attempt anything, not that he could be much of a threat to Ryker, who can even beat up a 7th Stage Genesis Sea expert, the man himself is a Genesis Lake expert, and the manager walked between them.
"Please go back to your arranged room, young master. The gentleman and I need to discuss more of our future collaboration," the young man wanted to say something but decided against it.
However, he did give Ryker a scathing glare, one he ignored. After the young man was gone, the manager sighed.
"Nuisance that try to propose more time than one could count?" Ryker guessed. The manager nodded, her energy sapped by the man's arrival.
"How strong is the man's family?" he asked. After all, he likely got himself a feud with the young man, over a woman whom he did not even have any relation with except for pure business.
"The young man is Eugin Eletor, the heir of the Eletor Family. They are a Duke family, his ancestor being the current Duke. The old man is at the 4th Stage of Noble Realm, someone I could not hope to contend, the reason I play nice with them all this time.
However, they have been targeting me, or to be exact, the Elkom Auction House. However, I am still a Noble expert and under the protection of the Duke of Elkom himself. However, if I say, marry the young master of the Eletor Family, they could increase the influence they possessed,"