I'm being scolded.
"Listen to me, Rain. Even if Claudia asked you to accompany her, you should at least tell me where you're going! That way at least I know where you are"
"I'm sorry, sis"
"I wanted to show this dress to you first after I'm putting it on, but you're nowhere to be found. The person who picked the dress for me was gone without even giving me his opinion, do you know how I feel, Rain?"
"I'm truly sorry, sis"
The only I could do was to apologize to her. Now that she mentioned it, I really should at least tell her where we're going.
I turned my gaze at her.
Irina was wearing a deep blue dress that I picked for her. She was also wearing the ring and the necklace. It suits her more than I expected. The combination of scarlet red hair and deep blue sea color was unexpected.
"You look so beautiful, sis. As expected of my beautiful, lovely and caring big sister"
I gave her a thumbs up.
"Hmm, even if you praise me I still haven't forgive you yet"
She said so, but she was smiling so clearly.
"Let me tell you this, Rain. If you're thinking of making a move on Claudia just forget it. Even though you're my little brother, I won't give Claudia over to you. She is mine after all"
She went to Claudia and hugged her while looking at me with threatening look.
What the hell is she saying!? Are you her mother!?
"What are you saying!?"
"A-Anyway, we're already done here. Let's go buy some matching items for us. It's the first time we went out together after all"
Claudia face was a bit red when she said so.
"That's a good idea! What about matching magic bags?"
Irina exclaimed.
"Should we get a matching bracelets or rings?"
Rosetta suggested.
Those were good suggestions, but it's lacking as a symbol.
I looked through my memories about all the items in the game that could be found at this place.
And then an item came up.
"How about a charm? In this floor there were various kinds of magic talismans, charms and amulets. I remembered there was something called lucky charm. It is said it could bring luck and happiness"
"A lucky charm?"
Claudia asked curiously.
"Yes. I think hoping for luck and happiness as a commemorative items are much meaningful than any other items. No one wants bad luck and unhappiness in their life after all"
"I guess so"
Irina nodded.
"It's decided then"
After we agreed, I took a few magic scrolls and went to get the lucky charms.
It was a simple charm made of wooden piece shaped like a japanese charm with four-leaf clover symbol engraved on the middle.
There were some kind of runic writing engraved on the back side.
Unlike earth, charm in this world was blessed with magic and the making was not as simple as carving woods. There are a lot of things need to be prepared to make a charm including ritual to blessed it and engraving runes for it's effects.
Some charm have effect to block damage, some give buff to the wearer and some have effect to guard against curses.
Back in the game, lucky charm was a consumable item that could be used to increase drop rate by 10%. Drop rate was not something that exist as reality, however it might increase luck instead.
The charm was more than just a symbol. I was hoping the effect to actually works in bringing us luck and happiness.
After getting the charms, we went back to the store outside using teleportation circle.
The store was the same as before, however the sunlight outside was brighter. I looked at the clock behind the counter and it showed 02:13 in the afternoon.
Unknowingly, we spent around 5 hours inside.
"Hmm?"
May opened her eyes and looked at our directions. It seemed like the magic fluctuations woke her up.
"You're done? It sure took quite a while"
She yawned and stretched her body.
"Here"
I gave the magic bag for her to calculate the price.
"Ara! Ufufufu! What a naughty boy. So who is your target?"
May was grinning at me.
Damn it! She must be grinning because of that damn love potion!
"I don't know what you're talking about"
I completely denied her words.
"Come on, don't be shy. Being young must be nice~ Just don't go overboard, okay?"
She winked at me.
Damn granny! Mind your own damn business!
"So, how much?"
"How cold~ Let me see. Hmm, that's some interesting stuff you get. It's a total of 1650 gold"
I handed 16 platinum coins and 50 gold coins to her and hurriedly put the things into my personal magic bag.
"Don't get caugh, okay~"
Shut your mouth damn granny!
Irina looked at me curiously.
"What did you buy?"
"Sweets and some potions"
"Hmm"
She was looking at me doubtful eyes.
Luckily she doesn't seem to be curious. Next, it was Irina's turn to handed stuffs. She didn't bothered to change her clothes back and just showed what she was wearing.
"Ohh! That's some nice stuff you have, young lady! A total of 7000 gold"
She directly handed over 70 platinum coins. My heart bleed for a bit even though it wasn't my money.
Rosetta put the magic bag filled with the fruits on the counter.
"Also this dress and necklace"
Claudia pointed the dress and the necklace she was wearing.
"Hmm~ 6000, 3000 and 1700. A total of 10.700 gold"
"Can we pay with this?"
Rosetta took out a purple card from her pocket. It was a bank card that served like a credit card. It could be used anywhere within the continent.
Only those who were approved and verified could get the card. Most of the time, only the head of the noble house have the card. The only exceptions were outstanding heir from prestigious family like Claudia and the royal heirs.
The cards were divided into purple, blue and golden. Purple has a limit of 20.000 gold. Blue has a limit of 50.000 gold. And golden have a limit of 150.000 gold.
"Ohh~ Yes, you can!"
May took the card and swipe it into a magic tools in the counter. It sure is convenient.
However, I still prefered cash since the existences of bank itself would be useless when the chaotic war started.
"Thank you for your patronage! As the rewards I will give you these"
May gave 3 bronze cards to Irina, Rosetta and Claudia.
"With these cards, you can get 10% discount whenever you shop here"
May explained.
"I didn't get any?"
I asked her curiously.
"Ufufu~ I have a separate card for you"
She took out a silver card and handed it to me.
"You can get 15% discount with this! I will also give this to you as a bonus. How is it? I'm generous, right~"
She gave me a sealed black envelope along with the card.
"What is this?"
"It's an invitation for an auction this evening"
"Auction?"
I tried to recalled the game informations about auction around this time. But, nothing came to mind.
"Yes. There will be an auction this evening held by the Silver Wolf"
"Silver Wolf? Wasn't that an organization made by some retired adventurers who has connections with the nobles on the south?"
Rosetta asked.
"Yes. It's that Silver Wolf. I heard they have some nice items from some ruins. It's a private auction, so only those who have invitations could attend"
"What do you think?"
I asked the group.
"I don't have money to buy things in the auction, since I just spent my money. However, it looks fun so I want to go"
Irina said.
"Rosetta, do we have any plans this evening?"
"No, milady"
"Let's attend the auction then"
Even if I refused, I have no choice but to go at this rate.
"Let's chill out somewhere while filling our stomaches until the evening. Rain, is there any good place to hang out nearby?"
"Yes. However, before that please change back to your uniform. We don't know what kind of trouble we will have in the auction. It's best if we could avoid as much trouble as possible"
"Okay"
"Alright"
Claudia and Irina reluctantly agreed. It seemed they really like their new dress.
And so I led the group to a cafe in the east district.
∆ ∆ ∆
Silver Wolf, an organization made by a group of retired adventurers. Their leader used to be an A-rank adventurers.
They have ties with the nobles from the south and some connections with the mercenaries and some black merchants.
Assasination, human trafficking, ruins and dungeon explorations, monster extermination, spying, buying and selling illegal goods and even money laundering. They did all of these things for the right price.
Of course, for things like assasination and kidnapping, they have their own standard requirements. The will not accept things related to nobles and royalties.
They were an organization who walked on the grey zones. This informations was only known to some people. On the outside, they were mainly dealt with escorting, informations gathering and some adventurer jobs.
However, to my knowledge, they were secretly backed by the Eurasia Kingdom to gather informations about the students and find some weakness to blackmail their family to do their biddings in the upcoming war.
In the act 3, they were destroyed because of a kidnapping request.
The person they kidnapped have a relationship with a member of the protagonist party which lead them to their demise.
I tried to recall everything I know about the Silver Wolf, but no informations about the upcoming auction was found.
The only auction that happened in this place to my knowledge was after the monster invasion. There is still around a month left before the monster invasion. I haven't done anything drastic so the butterfly effects shouldn't affect it.
There are too many informations gap between the things that I know from the main story and things that is happening in real life.
My strength should be enough to survive the invasion, but there might be some unexpected things happening outside the main story.
Although even if something unexpected happens, Mayleen and the headmaster should be able to deal it.
"What's wrong, Rain? You've been silent for some time"
Irina asked worriedly.
"Nothing. I was wondering what kind of items will be put up on the auction"
"Ah, I understand that feeling"
"There is 30 minutes left before the auction start, should we go now?"
"Alright"
We left the cafe after paying the bills. Before going to the auction house, I brought them to one of the street stalls to buy some masks.
"Old man, give me 4 masks. How much is it?"
"5 silvers each"
"Alright, here"
I paid the money and get the masks.
"Why are you buying masks?"
"It's to hide our face. The three of you are beautiful, so it's better to cover your faces to avoid unnecessary attention"
"It looks fun"
Claudia grabbed a fox mask after saying so.
"Since when did you know how to sweet talk?"
Irina giggled and picked a bunny mask. Rosetta took a cat mask silently.
I, on the other hand chose a smiling skull mask. I picked it because of my red hair and thought it should match well.
"Rain, you look weird"
Irina teased me.
"At least it's cooler than your bunny mask"
I snorted at her.
After picking our masks, we headed toward the building where the auction was held. The building was easy to find because there was flag hanging with silver wolf drawn on it.
There were some people outside with big builds with swords hanging on their waist.
People with formal clothes were going inside in pairs. Some of them were wearing masks, while others came without hiding their face.
There was a certain pair that caught my interest walking side-by-side.
A pink-haired girl and a golden-haired boy.
It was the main heroine, Lily and the second prince, Grid de Cassias.
"Why the hell are the two of them here?"
I muttered in a low voice.
"What's wrong, Rain?"
"I just saw some familiar faces"
"Do you want to greet them?"
"No"
I shook my head.
As if I could greet them! The three of them have problem with Lily, especially Irina. And I never met Grid ever since I became Rain.
I have a bad feeling. I really want to go home right away, but...
Looking at the 3 girls behind me, it doesn't seem like they would let me go home.
I sighed.
"Let's go"
I showed the invitation to the guards and they let us pass without any trouble. A maid came and guided us inside. After taking turns several times and walking through several passages and stairs, we finally arrived in a large hall with a stage on the center.
The hall was located 3 floor underground. The building doesn't looke that big from the outside, but it was quite complicated once we entered. There were 5 minutes left before the appointed time, but the seat was almost full.
Fortunately, our seats wasn't near Lily and Grid.
Soon, lights went out and the lights above the stage lit up revealing a beautiful woman with revealing clothes.
"Ladies and gentlements, welcome to the Silver Wolf auction. My name is Rose, the host for tonight's auction. There will be 10 items auctioned in total"
The host introduced herself.
"Before we begin, let me tell you the rules of the auction first. When you bid, please raise the number plate and state your bid. We don't accept credit, so please be careful when making your bid"
She winked at the audiences.
After a few simple words, she went straight to the point.
"The auction starts now. The first item that will be auctioned is this"
As soon as she finished her words, a maid holding a silver box came up slowly.
The audiences looked expectantly at the silver box. Rose smiled charmingly and looked at everyone.
"The first item is a magic-tier dagger, the Crimson Dagger"
"Crimson Dagger!"
"It was a weapon used by a former B-Rank assassin! I heard it could absorb the enemy's blood to heal the user"
When Rose announced the item inside the silver box, the audiences became restless.
Some mercenaries stared at the box with greed.
For people like them who fight in the front lines, item with lifesteal effect were great. A pity this was only a dagger and not a sword. Moreover, it was only a magic-tier. It only heal 1% of the damage dealt. If it was a rare of epic tier then it might be more interesting.
"The opening price is 500 gold. The minimum bid increase is 50 gold"
"800"
"1000"
"1250"
In the end, the dagger was taken by a slim man wearing tuxedo for 2200 gold. Having money must be nice. I could get a rare-tier sword at the same price in May's store instead.
I shook my head while lamenting my poor wallet.
The second item was a long sword.
The sword was inlaid with wind magic crystal. The wind magic crystal enchanted it's sharpness.
"700"
"900"
"1400"
This time not many people participated in the bidding. Although it was good sword, it's effect was mediocre compared to the dagger with rare lifesteal effect.
The sword was sold for 1500 gold to a mercenary.
"Next, let's start with the next item"
A maid cane with small box into the stage.
Ross opened the small box and said to the audiences.
"This is a pair of earrings made of eudalyte crystal. It has the power to defense against mental attack"
Hearing what Rose said, the audiences was moved.
"Interesting"
I muttered.
A magic-tier earrings with debuff resistances. It only gives 10% resistances without any bonus stats.
What makes it interesting was back in the game it belongs to Lily.
"The starting price is 1000 gold. Each bids must be at least 100 gold"
As soon as she finished her words, I heard a familiar voice.
"2000"
A golden-haired boy stood up and shouted his bids while holding a number plate of 36.
Irina, Claudia and Rosetta also found this voice was familiar and looked at his direction.
"Why is the second prince here?"
Claudia tilted her head in doubt.
"Did His Highness came here alone or with someー"
Before Rosetta finished her words, Irina interrupted her in annoyed voice.
"Why is that bitch hmphー!?"
I managed to close her mouth with my hand before she yelled out.
"Calm down, sis. We don't want to get kicked out because of you"
Irina looked at me with a sharp gaze, however she calmed down after a bit. She took a deep breath trying to adjust her emotions.
"Remember your promise"
"Alright"
She finally calmed down.
Phew.
What a close call.
The earrings was taken by Grid for 4000 gold. It was far too expensive for a magic-tier equipments.
Although the effects was rare, it's not worth the price. At least for me, since I know a few items with abnormal status resistances that gives additional stats.
Well, with this I finally knew the reason why Lily suddenly have that earrings. I thought it was her family treasure or something but Grid gave it to her instead.
I wonder whether Leonhardt knew the girl he likes went out alone with his best friend.
Back in the game, Lily ended up marrying Grid if the player choose Arteria's route. I'm looking forward to which route he will choose in the future.