Chapter 211: Preparation for Auction, Part 1!

"Anyway…" Pedro said as he clapped his hands. "I don't want the both of you to fight empty-handed. And… This is not some sort of test after all! So… Feel free to tell me what kind of weapon you need. I would try my best to obtain the proper and decent weapon as you request."

Clara simply glanced towards Ragas—checking whether he was about to ask a thing or two. However, Ragas seemed like he was not going to utter a word, thus, Clara took this chance to ask, "Captain Aron, are you really gonna provide us with weapons despite not being bond on any kind of contract with us?"

Pedro lowered his head a tad bit and glared towards Clara, saying, "It's not that you guys are gonna stab me behind my back, right? Anyway… With or Without a contract, it does not matter. We can discuss it later on. For now… Let's focus in preparation for what is to come!"

Clara simply remained silent in response. Truth be told, she was not Pedro's slave on any point. There was even no written contract made or prepared by Duke Albert for them. She was just like a random stranger that became a party member of Pedro's group at that moment.

She can leave or stay with Pedro at her own discretion. Thus, there was no contract binding them together. Well… Pedro knew about this risk beforehand. However, Clara's identity and ability were too special—which was enough for Pedro to ignore the risks that he might get from choosing her.

That said, since obtaining her was just a 'gift' given by Duke Albert, he had nothing much to lose in choosing her in the first place. If Clara would stay with him, then she would be a great asset to Pedro's force. But if she won't join him, he could only let her go and find what she truly wants… as long as she won't stand in the way of Pedro's plans.

On the other hand, Ragas remained silent for almost a minute. Then, he glanced towards Pedro and said, "I don't need any weapon, young master! However… I would like to trouble, young master, for some change of clothes instead."

At this moment, Pedro remembered that Ragas was a humanoid from the wyvern lineage—which are typically descendants of the Dragons in ancient times. Thus, based on this lore in the real world and other games, Pedro had hypothesized that Ragas has a similar problem with him, where their clothes in their humanoid form get destroyed if they transform to their true forms.

So, Pedro could only nod in response to Ragas and said, "I understand. Just inform me if ever you need something else."

Ragas bowed slightly in response and said, "Thanks, Young Master!"

Pedro nodded once again—dismissing Ragas' bow, as he glanced towards Clara and asked, "How about you Clara? Do you have any questions, or perhaps, you also do not need any weapon on hand?"

Clara shook her head in response and said, "Any two-handed sword would do, Captain Aron! Just kindly make sure that the sword is not to the point of breaking. I am not quite fond of fighting with broken swords!"

Pedro simply chuckled in response. At the same time, he opened his inventory bag and took one Silver Sword inside. Then, he threw it to Clara and said, "Take this! It's not as good as the sword stuck in the middle of the Auction Hall, but… It is good as new at the least."

Despite receiving a decent sword, Clara retained her calm demeanor. She stood and familiarized herself with the sword by swinging it lightly a couple of times. Then, she nodded in satisfaction and glanced to Pedro.

But before she could utter a word, Pedro threw an empty inventory bag towards her and said, "Weapons are not allowed inside the Auction Den. Hide the sword in that bag."

After being able to watch Pedro 'magically' took the silver sword out of a similar bag, Clara did not ask any questions to Pedro about it. She simply wore it around her and tried placing the sword in and out of it.

"A magic bag?" She asked with a frown on her face. "Isn't these kinds of bags rare and expensive? Why did you give one to me?"

"Rare???" Pedro could not help but shook his head in response. It was only a norm that Clara—who was kept inside a cell underground, would not know about the mysteriously appearing adventurers all over the world. For her, such magic bags were naturally rare since they could store a certain amount of items that would normally require a wagon or a carriage to carry. Thus, Pedro could not help but say, "Yes… It is rare… Probably a few days ago! But now, they are like cabbages that you can simply pick up nearby the villages. So… Don't think much about something that you can get easily even by yourself."

At this moment, Pedro also handed over an inventory bag to Ragas and said, "That said, please don't think that I gave these inventory bags out of pure kindness... Later—after defeating the vampires, I would trouble the two of you to pick their corpses and store them inside the bags. I have some uses to them."

"So… Are you telling us to catch them as clean as possible?" Clara asked with a frown.

Pedro simply chuckled in response and asked, "Why? You can't catch a mere bug?"

Clara held herself from cursing Pedro in response by forcing out a smile. That said, her annoyance to Pedro was revealed by her gritted teeth—that was hiding behind her forced smile, and the few lines weaved on her forehead.

This, in turn, made Ragas stand. He clenched his fists as tight as he can, while his eyes emanated a strong killing intent, consequently making the atmosphere inside the discussion room tense. Then, he said, "I AM WARNING YOU, HUMAN! If you dare lay your hand to the young master… I won't hold back and turn you into paste! You may be strong… But you are still young and naïve! Consider, yourself warned!"

Pedro could not help but force out a smile in response. He does not know the real reason as to why Ragas was so protective of him as if he was his personal bodyguard. Though he had a hunch that it has something to do with his Dragon Transformation and Ragas' being a wyvernoid, there was still no certainty that it was the reason behind Ragas' actions. Thus, Pedro was at loss for words at this moment and could only watch the two converse.

On the other hand, Clara had seemingly got back to herself. The lines on her forehead disappeared as her smile straightened. Then, she sighed and said, "I would not mind if you come!"

At this moment, the time had seemingly stopped. Ragas clenched his fists even tighter to the point that the veins in his hand seemed like it was about to burst. While Clara frowned as she, reactively, placed her hand inside the inventory bag.

With a blink of an eye, Ragas appeared in front of Clara. His fist—which was covered with dark green spikey scales, clashed with the blade of the silver sword in Clara's two hands and was emitting a faint golden aura that was visible to Pedro's eyes.

Ragas' slightly reddish eyes stared at Clara's golden glowing eyes, where both of them emanated a strong killing intent. At this moment, a delayed force blew past to their backs with the point of contact of Clara's sword and Ragas' fist as its origin.

'Ah, Shit!' Pedro could not help but curse deep inside. Then, in the next second, he took a deep breath and said, "Enough! Save your strengths for later! Though we'd be fighting bugs, there's still a possibility that a demon would be with them! So, rather than a childish fight… I recommend that you both sit down and rest."

Pedro took out two roasted Flocoloso bird and two wooden cups filled with half a liter of water. Then, he stood and walked to the door, saying, "Both of you… Eat your food and follow me. I would have to trouble you to protect me while I am asleep."

Pedro did not give them time to respond and immediately walked out of the door. At this moment, he took out a dummy inventory bag and placed the other half of the bonded inventory bag—his other main inventory bag, into his spatial inventory. Then, he walks to the bed and said, "Auction Guide Weese… I would trouble you to prepare ten sets of spare clothes for Ragas. Use the remaining money that I gave to you earlier."

"C-Clothes?" Auction Guide Weese stuttered as her attention was shifted from Pedro to Ragas—who just came out of the discussion room. Then, she bowed respectfully to Pedro and said, "R-Right away, young master!"

Auction Guide Weese left the room, consequently making Pedro sigh and relaxed. Pedro opened his player interface and thought, 'It's been a long time since I logged out of the game… I wonder how my treatment was doing? I hope that I could be discharged soon so that I could manage the base of the guild.'