Artifact Reading Inspector

The thing Giorgio carefully picked up with tweezers was a brown piece of pottery, about 5cm long, and it had regular patterns often seen on very old potteries.

“It’s a piece of pottery.”

“Yes. Can you see what exactly it is?”

He slowly put it down on the table. Haejin examined it close and said, “It is a krater (vessel used to for watering down wine in ancient Greece).”

Giorgio smiled content and said, “Yes. This is the reason why I came looking for you.”

Ancient Greeks always drank wine mixed with water. For that reason, kraters of ancient Greece were still acknowledged as very important and precious artifacts.

There are various types of krater: some have handles and some don’t, but basically, a krater’s bottom is narrow, and its top is wide.

Warriors, kings, and mythical figures were often painted on them. It might remind you of the Egyptian wall painting, but Greek paintings were slightly more active.

“What am I supposed to…” Haejin started to ask.

“Actually, we think this krater was kept somewhere that has a great historical value. If you see this part…”

Haejin looked where the man was pointing at, and there was a severed head of an animal. It was probably the head of a lion.

“Lion… does that mean king?”

“Excellent. Yes, this krater was used by a king. However, the problem lies in where it was found. It was found at the airport’s customs.”

“It was being smuggled into Italy?”

“Yes. I don’t know if you know this, but Italy has an extremely strict customs process when it comes to artifacts. Going in or going out… either way, it is hard to bribe the customs workers.”

It is never impossible to bribe the government officials. It is not only a matter of how hard it is, but it also depends on how much you pay them.

Haejin didn’t think Giorgio Sayor didn’t know that. He was just that much proud of how Italian officials handle artifacts.

“I envy that,” Haejin admired his confidence, but he didn’t believe what he said. Italy was quite famous for corruption.

“It’s because it has suffered a lot.”

Before and after the two World Wars, the artifacts of many countries were either stolen or robbed.

Most of the victims were the weak countries, but technically speaking, Italy was more of a perpetrator than a victim.

“Hmm… really?” Haejin asked while smiling bitterly.

However, Giorgio protested, “There were many criminal organizations in Italy. We want to get rid of them very much, but it’s not easy at all.”

It meant the country itself was innocent, it was just because of evil criminal organizations.

“It’s a shame. Anyway, you grabbed one of those criminals while he was trying to smuggle this in through the airport. I get it.”

Giorgio remained silent for a while before saying, “This krater used to be in Musei Vaticani, and then it was leased to the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, but it was lost in 1991.”

“Oh…”

“However, the problem is that this krater isn’t the only artifact that was lost at the time,” Giorgio continued.

Haejin nodded but then he raised his hand: he had a question.

“I’m sorry, but I have a question. I did help Mat Vellin once, but I am an appraiser. I’m sure he didn’t tell you I was capable of tracking down lost artifacts.”

Giorgio smiled and said, “Do you think I came here to ask you to find those artifacts? No, no… that’s not it at all. The members of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities are the best experts in Europe. Since it was founded, it has stored knowledge through decades of research and experience, and it has chased many criminals.”

“Then…”

“I heard that Koreans are impatient, I see you are no exception. Could you hear the rest of my explanation?”

Haejin smiled with embarrassment.

“I’m sorry. Please, continue.”

Giorgio cleared his throat and started again, “At the time, this krater wasn’t the only thing that was lost. Raphael’s painting and Caravaggio’s painting were also lost.”

“What? But I never heard about that!”

If such a thing had happened, Haejin would have seen news about it, but this was completely new to him.

“That’s because those paintings were not well known. In fact, they were not sent to Greece to be exhibited for the public. At the time, we were not sure if they were real. Actually, there was only one reason we sent this krater with them. We wanted to know who had drawn the pattern on it,” Giorgio said.

“Oh… I see.”

“There were great appraisers in Italy but, at the time, there was a Greek appraiser who was the best. We wanted the two paintings appraised by him, too. But… unexpectedly, the transportation process went wrong, and all the artifacts disappeared somewhere in north-east Greece before they were appraised.”

“But this showed up again now,” Haejin made a conclusion.

“Yes. We found this at the airport two years ago. After a long chase that took more than a year, we were able to retrieve one of Raphael’s paintings.”

Haejin couldn’t help but applaud.

Clap clap!

“Congratulations!”

“Haha, thank you. Anyway, that painting is important. You might as well call it our only hope. That’s why I came all the way here.”

“Then, have you brought the painting with you?” Haejin asked.

“No. I am hoping for you to come to Italy with me.”

“Then why didn’t you persuade me with a phone call or document?”

Giorgio looked into Haejin’s eyes and said, “Works of art created by a master artist are more than just a painting. I don’t think just anyone can appraise that kind of painting. I believe the appraiser has to be another artist. It is also my job to find that kind of people, I cannot do that with a phone call or papers.”

“Then, you came all the way here just to meet me yourself and judge me?”

Haejin couldn’t see why that was necessary, but Giorgio just smiled and nodded as if it was only right.

“Of course.”

Haejin then asked, “I guess I passed your test?”

“You did. I am hoping for you to come to Firenze as soon as possible.”

Haejin hadn’t thought he would have to go to Italy, he couldn’t just say yes right away.

“Hmm… do you know how much I charge for my service?”

“I’ve heard about it from Mat Vellin, my old friend. You charge more than any other appraisers, right? I understand that. I believe I should pay that much for the best appraiser. You will get your fee without any problem.”

“Then I shall go to Firenze and appraise Raphael’s painting. Is that all?”

Giorgio smiled warmly and shook his head.

“What we have retrieved so far are one painting and the pieces of the krater in front of you. Those pieces are not perfect, so we can’t try to put them back together yet. However, we want to find out what it is.”

It meant he wanted to know who had made that krater.

“Okay, I will do it.”

“Excellent choice. You just took a huge burden off our shoulders,” Giorgio said.

That was somewhat too much, but it seemed that the man always spoke like that.

“There must have been someone to do that for you even if it weren’t for me.”

“I’m not so sure of that. Anyway, I should go back now. Have you examined this enough?”

At this, Haejin checked the krater piece once again. Then, he used magic to look into the past right away.

He realized he might not get the chance to do that in Italy.

However, he was a little surprised after that. He could see the man who had made it, but there was no clue to find out who he was.

If it was about finding the people who had stolen and broken it, he had found out who they were. However, he couldn’t tell that to Giorgio. Additionally, the maker of this krater couldn’t be identified by using Haejin’s knowledge.

“Can I take some photos of this?” Haejin asked.

“As long as you are going to keep them well.”

It meant he couldn’t show the photos to others.

“Of course.”

Haejin took about a dozen photos, photographing every detail.

“Thank you and when can you leave?” Giorgio asked.

“I must check my schedule first. Please rest at the hotel and I will call you.”

“I will look around this museum. I haven’t taken a proper look yet, but I know that you have quite a number of impressive artifacts.”

“Your trip to Korea will be meaningful if you enjoy the artifacts here. Spend a day here and visit the National Museum, too. You will get to know even more about eastern artifacts.”

“Thank you for your advice. Then…”

He went out with his huge 007 case. After about an hour, Eunhae came in, her brown wavy hair fluttering.

“Oh, who was it? I had a meeting with the officials from Seoul City so I couldn’t join you.”

She looked disappointed, but Haejin smiled and asked, “Oh, you changed your hairstyle. It looks pretty.”

“You are not just saying that, right? You always compliment people.”

“But you really are pretty. Go out and ask any passerby, he will say you are pretty, too.”

“Really?”

She smiled brightly. Then, she looked at Haejin again and asked, “Oh, and what did the Italian man say? I asked Hyojeong, and she said he looked very nice.”

Haejin showed her the photo of the krater piece he had taken.

“Italy lost a few paintings and one krater a long time ago.”

“Krater… that’s ancient pottery, more than a millennium old!”

“Yes. And this is part of that krater… they probably have retrieved a number of pieces of that krater. So, they want to restore it, and they want to know who made this.”

Eunhae took a closer look at the photo.

“Hmm… I cannot tell with just this. I can’t even guess the shape of the krater, much less the maker.”

“Same here. I will have to see the other pieces and guess,” Haejin replied even though he had seen the past with his magic. Therefore, he knew the krater’s shape, but he pretended to not know.

“However, why do they want to know who made this?” Eunhae asked.

“Because they think this krater was used by a king. They believe not just any craftsman could have made a king’s krater. So, it is right for them to try to find out who he is.”

“Oh…”

“And I also have to appraise a painting for them. It is Raphael’s, and it has never been shown to the public.”

“Oh… really?”

“Yes. Will you come with me to Italy?”

She didn’t have to think about it. She immediately nodded, “Of course!”

Then, a member of the staff came in and spoke urgently.

“Ms. Eunhae, you should see the TV, now.”