By the time Ekko finally managed to free himself from the pile of trash and tried to eavesdrop again, Lux and Ino had already finished their conversation—Klein was almost done speaking, and next was the action phase.
Seeing Lux and Ino start to pack up, Ekko could only pout, then reluctantly climbed down from the rooftop. The moment his feet touched the ground, Lux grabbed his ear.
"Ekko, right?" Lux's tone was calm, but it made Ekko's heart sink. "What are you doing climbing on my roof?"
"I—" Ekko wanted to make up an excuse, but awkwardly, he wasn't good at lying. "I just…"
"Just trying to peek at what two girls are doing in their room." Lux completed his sentence without hesitation. "It seems I need to talk to Vander about the security of the rental house he provides…"
"It's not like that!" Hearing Lux say this, Ekko immediately became anxious. "I never peeked when Powder lived here!"
"Powder… I remember Vi mentioned her too. So she's a girl?" Lux seemed to be a natural at catching people off guard. "You wanted to peek into her life?"
"I—this?!" Ekko was speechless. "Damn it, I just wanted to know what you, an outsider, were trying to do—it has nothing to do with you being a girl or with Powder!"
"Vander told you to do it?" Lux narrowed her eyes. "He's really not honest—"
"It has nothing to do with Vander either!" Ekko was flustered by Lux's presumptuous guesses. "Alright, alright, actually, this used to be Powder's room, and we just wanted to know why you're staying here, what your intentions are. If we figure it out, maybe it would help Vander, that's all."
"If that's the case, then it's a pity." Hearing this, Lux finally released Ekko. "We were just considering a business deal—speaking of which, would you like to earn some money?"
"Earn some money?" Ekko was startled. "What are you going to do? Vander won't allow us to participate in those dangerous experiments."
"It's not illegal human experimentation."
"Being a thug isn't allowed either!"
"Nor is it being a thug." Lux shook her head. "How about helping me find a few people to dig up something?"
"Mining?" Ekko's eyes widened. "Zaun is full of miners. Six out of ten people in the Dark Alley have been down a mine shaft. Where can't you find people?"
"It's not mining, it's clearing a passage." Lux shook her head. "It's digging up something my predecessor left here…"
"Your predecessor?" Ekko was even more confused now. "Didn't you say you were… a Demacian? How could your predecessor's belongings be left in Zaun?"
"One gold hex per person per day."
"Alright, maybe you also have Zaunite blood. I heard the city of Zaun has thousands of years of history." Ekko decisively stopped asking further questions. "How many people do you need?"
"Within ten people, depending on your speed." Lux shrugged. "Do you have any professional tools to recommend? That passage is over a hundred meters long; relying solely on shovels would take forever."
"Do you need demolition?" Ekko patted his chest without hesitation, putting on a confident look. "This is a big job—but, entrusting it to me is absolutely no problem!"
"I hope so." Seeing Ekko's demeanor, Lux nodded in satisfaction. "I hope you can find reliable enough helpers—otherwise, I'll have to ask Vander."
"Why don't you just ask Vander directly?" Ekko was a bit puzzled by this question. "He has a wide network. Many people in Zaun—not just the Dark Alley—get jobs through him."
"It's just a job for ten people." Lux said dismissively. "It's not worth owing Vander a favor."
"Oh." Ekko nodded, not asking further. "Got it, I'll go ask Powder and them…"
After speaking, Ekko rubbed his red and swollen ear while nimbly climbing the wall, disappearing into the alley in the blink of an eye.
A moment later, a bluebird flew over and landed on Lux's shoulder, bringing her the latest news.
"Ekko went around in a circle and then returned to the tavern."
"He really went to find Vander!" Lux said, somewhat surprised. "I thought he would show off and directly contact the other four kids… Klein, how did you know Ekko would find Vander?"
"Because even though he's the youngest, he's the most reliable." Klein said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Actually, even though this little guy was in a sorry state when he first met you, compared to the other four, he has the most tricks up his sleeve—that group of kids pretended to move things to cover his actions, and their acting was no less impressive than the professional actors you saw at the Piltover Grand Theater."
"That doesn't prove anything, does it?" Lux didn't quite agree with Klein's statement. "As for petty theft skills, the group we met in Kalamanda who pretended to argue were much more convincing than them."
"Now that I think about it, he probably wasn't really trying to steal something." At this, Klein sighed with a touch of melancholy. "Do you remember what he said back then? This is an equal retaliation—if he was really stealing, his target should have been the gold hex in your bag, not that key. From the beginning, he acted with the intention of causing trouble for the Piltover people."
"…"
Lux blinked, a little dazed—apparently, she had subconsciously assumed Ekko was just a Zaunite rascal, but hadn't realized that, in terms of theft, Ekko was actually a novice.
"Alright, these minor details, it's not a big problem if you didn't notice them." Seemingly sensing Lux's mood, Klein chuckled, fast-forwarding to the next topic. "In short, through Ekko, Vander already knows that we want to excavate something. Soon we will find the manpower we need, and the excavation work will begin shortly. Let's go, let's move on to the next step, we still have a lot of work to do!"
"Then why didn't you just tell me to find Vander directly?" Lux was still a bit confused. "Why go through Ekko?"
"Doesn't that make us seem more straightforward?" Klein chuckled. "Vander has been a bit nervous lately, always suspicious. If we find some work through Ekko, and Ekko then informs Vander, Vander will definitely send the most reliable people, both to work and to supervise—such opportunities for self-display are rare!"
"Hmm… that's true, but Klein, I still feel that compared to me, you're more like a noble who schemes against people all day."
"Don't mind these details."
Klein's Small Class · Zaun's Guarantors:
In Zaun, a reliable guarantor is often essential—in this city where everyone is practically a dropout from prenatal education, people often trust influential recommenders more than written contracts, and Vander is Zaun's most famous and reliable guarantor.