Tales of the Legendary Magus

"This is where the guests you are supposed to protect will be coming," Eveline explained to Villin and Alexi after showing them to the first special VIP room. She gave them both a special key that could be used to open the main door to this auction room, just in case something happened that made them have to take the guests outside.

Even though it was supposed to just be a VIP auction room, it looked more like a suite. It was extremely large, luxurious foods and drinks could be seen everywhere and expensive rugs and chairs were placed by the dozens. There was also a room they weren't allowed to enter which was the bathroom as only the guest and herself had the key to that one.

The room was large enough for over a dozen people to live permanently with extreme comfort and if it was just for the auction, Villin figured they could've probably fit close to a hundred people inside if a few more chairs were added.

The luxury of the main room was so extreme that Villin thought it took away from what was truly important here. The massive wall which most of the chairs and couches were facing. It was completely transparent, or at least it was from this side. Allowing whoever was here to look out onto the main venue.

The main venue was massive and was separated into five sections. The first was the auction platform,  from inside here you could look down on it but a few screens were also placed inside of the room allowing you a more close-up look of both the podium as a whole and the items being shown.

The second section was the ground beside the auction platform. There were no chairs there but a lot of place. The vast majority of guests would be there and most of those wouldn't buy anything either, they were here for the experience after gathering enough crystals to be allowed entry. Thousands would be standing there packed closely together. Villin also saw the guards there were getting into position, this included some of those he recognized that failed the first or second test his guard regiment went through.

Then there was the third section. This consisted of the seats places around the second section going upwards. It was similar to a baseball or football stadium in that regard. People didn't have a lot of space in between each other but at least they could sit.

The fourth section was where the important factions sat. Just like the suite he was in, each of them was hidden by a one-way window. There were about fifty of these in total all besides each other with the people inside having plenty of space. The major factions that didn't have their truly important members here were placed inside of these luxurious boxes.

Then finally, there was the final, fifth section. Sitting above the fourth section were nine, much larger boxes where the forces that had their leading forces here would be allowed to sit. If there were more than nine, the nine most powerful factions would be allowed to sit here but that hadn't happened in a long time. 

This time three of these boxes were taken, with Villin and Alexi protecting the first. The enchantments on the room's door and walls made it clear that whoever was inside here was almost absolutely safe. The only way someone could break in would be by an extended siege.

"So, let me say what you are supposed to do one final time. You are not to speak to the guest unless they speak first. You may go silent at any time and are not supposed to follow any orders. You must remain respectful towards the guest even if you disagree with their viewpoints. You may only use your wand if something happens or if you need to do your business. You may only open the door to leave the room if something happens that jeopardizes the safety of the guests within the room. Such as a large crack appearing within the wall.

"If anything happens to any of the guests inside, such as some of them betraying the head of the family or someone getting sick or poisoned, you must first ensure the safety of the head of the main family before turning to the others. If the former situation happens and you are able to take care of the threats, you are not to open the door. If the latter happens you may open the door to request assistance from our finest healers, they would be able to arrive within a few minutes, the guard situated within the hallway will know how to contact them.

"Now, any questions?" Eveline asked, having gone through most of the important information.

"What if we have to sleep?" Villin immediately asked, it was something he had been wondering.

You will do so sitting down at the locations you will be keeping an eye on things from. Both of you will never sleep at the same time and if someone wishes to exit the room, open the door, or if anything of note happens, including the appearance of one of the main rare prizes, you must wake the other guard up to make sure the guest's safety is guaranteed."

Villin nodded to show he understood and Alexi did as well.

"Oh right, there is one individual other than the ones you are already taking orders from whose words you are sometimes supposed to follow. His name is Jeonardi, you'll see him enter with the main guest later. He takes care of the high-stakes betting in the auction and never does business without seeing someone. He may ask to leave or enter the room, always allow the former and allow the latter if the main guest doesn't oppose it."

Eveline then looked at the watch she was wearing, upon seeing the time she revealed, "The guest will arrive in exactly ten minutes, you are no longer allowed to leave, so I'll now disclose his identity. The person you two will be guarding is Grand Von Hauser, a high council member and one of the most powerful men in this world. He'll be staying here with some of his associates."

Upon hearing the name, Villin just barely managed to keep the surprise on his face away. To think he would be guarding Ruby's father.

"All right then, I'll be getting the last few in position. Don't mess this up, mister Von Hauser is a powerful man who could complicate things for the Goodlaw family."

Soon after saying this, Eveline was gone leaving Alexi and Villin as the final ones within the suite. The two had a quick look around before deciding on locations to stand at. Alexi chose to stand near the door, most likely for no other reason than to properly do his guarding duty. Villin chose to stand close to the one-way wall, he would be close to the VIP which gave him a good reason to do this while he also could keep an eye on the auction without a problem. 

He hadn't thought about how to place a bet yet since he didn't know how bets were made. He just hoped he'd have the opportunity to buy what he wanted when the time came, it was bound to be a pain though, considering it would be impossible to blend in within a VIP lounge. If only messed up in the beginning then he would stand amongst the regular people. He would probably be able to find a way to sneak out of his guard uniform and place a bet then, but that became impossible in the current situation, not that there was anything he could do about it anymore.

For the last day, Alexi had been keeping a close eye on Villin. He always stayed out of distance while the other was healing or doing whatever else but he made sure he knew where he was. He still remembered that feeling of vines moving through his body, a stand wrapping itself around his heart, capable of killing him at any time.

But, his fear was no longer for Villin the person, it was more for his skills than anything, thanks to this he didn't fear speaking to him anymore, or not all that much anyway, even though he vowed to remain very careful and think about his words deeply.

"My brother made a deal with Grand Von Hauser again, he's a dangerous man. I suggest you don't talk to him. He's capable of knowing when someone lies or tells the truth. From what I've heard he's a skilled magus but that's not why he's feared." Alexi said to Villin as they were waiting for the mentioned man to come.

Villin didn't feel the need to shut him down currently so he responded, "I know. I have an associate from the same family. She's a force to be reckoned with for sure, I doubt the head of her family would be any worse." 

He kept the exact identity of the family member a secret to avoid Alexi from being able to dig for his information too easily.

Alexi intended to respond but before he could, the door opened and he stood straight as a pole, remaining silent as he waited for the person to enter.