NOVEL NEXT Chapter 18: Renovation
After returning to Noah's room, Lane pulled out a large suitcase, and started carelessly throwing in some of his things. He wasn't planning on taking much - he didn't like Noah's clothes, so he was going to buy the new ones for himself. Not to mention, he had to wear the uniform at work anyway. So, he only had to pack some necessities, just so that he would have stuff to wear until he had time to go on a shopping spree.
The inspections took longer than he expected, so he was in a bit of a rush. He had some deliveries arriving, as well as the contractors coming later in the day. Of course, he could reschedule the appointment… But he wanted to get it out of the way, so that everything would be ready when he needed to switch.
In the end, he arrived at his new apartment at the same time as the contractors. But that was okay - he only needed to show them to the room he wanted to be soundproofed and go through some minor details. It wasn't the first time Lane hired them - although the contractors naturally weren't aware of it - so he was familiar with the process. As a result, everything went smoothly.
After a short conversation, Lane just left the contractors on their own, while he himself moved to the other bedroom, the bigger one of the two. He carelessly tossed his clothes into the walk-in closet, and threw himself on the queen-size bed, turning on the TV.
His Team Leader told him to 'take a good rest,' and that's precisely what Lane intended to do. All the work that needed to be done could just be done by someone else, it was enough that Lane would pay. So, he just made himself comfortable as he waited.
Shortly after noon, his grocery delivery arrived. Although, in fact, it was hard to call it 'groceries' - it was just five big boxes of snacks, mainly sweets, a few crates of beer, and around two dozen tubes of ice cream. Lane just left it all on the kitchen counter - except for beers and ice cream, of course, which went in the fridge and freezer respectively. He wasn't going to cook anything anyway, so he didn't need the space. What was the point in arranging things nicely in the cupboards, if he was going to take it out eventually anyway?
And finally, in the evening, arrived the most important delivery of the day - the safe.
Lane had already started getting annoyed, as it was running late - who knew when he would have time to reschedule it? Luckily, shortly after 7PM, the intercom rang. The delivery men were downstairs.
A few minutes later, they were by the door, dragging the safe on the wheels. Lane showed them into the room, where the contractors were finishing up their renovations. They still had some work left to do, but upon the sight, they couldn't help but pause to take a look.
"That's… quite a safe," one of them said, not trying to hide his surprise. He hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he couldn't help but ask, "May I ask what is it for?"
The contractors' reaction was rather understandable. The safe was massive - you could easily fit a grown man, even with the shelves. It was certainly not the kind of safe you would expect to find in someone's home.
"Oh, for weapons, of course!" Lane answered with a bright smile. "I am a high-ranking Guide working in the field, so I am planning to buy some quality weapons I could use in dungeons! But they are very expensive, so I don't want to have them lying around out in the open. You know, just in case…"
The contractors exchanged looks. If it was for the weapons for the Awakened, then it made sense - spears, swords, shields, or bows, there were plenty of weapons that took a lot of space. However…
"Why don't you just use spacial bags? You could put the weapons in a spacial bag, and then use a regular safe," one of the men suggested. "I know that they can get expensive, but…"
Someone who could afford to hire the Awakened contractors just to have a room renovated and soundproofed within a day most certainly would be able to easily afford spacial bags. And it would be far more practical, as he could then use them out in the field, not just to save space in the safe!
"Ahaha," Lane laughed with embarrassment, scratching his head. "Yeah, I… didn't think of that. I have only awakened just recently, you see…"
"You should have asked someone!" one of the contractors shook his head.
"Yeah, well… I just followed my father's advice… But he's not an Awakened, so I guess he didn't know well…" Lane laughed awkwardly, before shrugging his shoulders with a helpless sigh. "Well, I've already bought the safe, so I might as well use it. I'll know better next time."
"Then this soundproofing is…?"
"Yeah, it's so that I can train here. I don't want to disturb my neighbors with the noise."
"Doesn't your Guild have a gym you could use?"
"I work for the Association, and we do have gyms… But I like to have my own private space at home, you know?"
"Well, I can relate to that. It's nice to have some peace and quiet while you train. So, what sort of weapons do you use?"
"Oh, I actually still haven't decided on that. I was thinking about…"
The conversation continued for a while longer, as Lane just stuck around with the contractors as they were finishing their work, chatting about dungeons and abilities. It was only after they left that Lane had returned to his new bedroom.
Of course, he was nowhere as ignorant as he just pretended to be. He had naturally considered using spacial bags before - he already had several of them, of various grades. Spacial bags were extremely convenient - although they were small, they could store things much larger than themselves. Whatever you put inside, you couldn't feel any change in the weight. Any perishable items, such as food, would always remain fresh. And with the highest grade spacial bag that Lane had, it could only be opened with his wavelengths, which made it even more secure than any safe!
Despite all those features, however, all spacial bags had one fatal flaw - they couldn't store any living organisms. All of the attempts resulted in the permanent failure of all the life functions, with no possibility of revival. Whether it were monsters, animals, plants, or even bacteria and fungus, they would all inevitably end up dead.
And because of that, the spacial bags were useless for Lane's plans.