Chapter 246: Dress To Impress

Hearing that there was an increase in pots and pans clattering around in the kitchen as the two approached Walker prepared to get dragged in to food prep work. The two came to the sight of Hilda running about at an incredible speed. Vegetables would flee in terror if they could. Her knife was expertly cutting them on to various shapes for a stuffing that would fill the already dry rubbed horned rabbit on the counter. 

"Mother, are you planning on roasting the entire thing today?" The horned rabbit was one of the smaller ones they had defeated but it would still take up almost the entire oven with its size.

"Well what else should I be doing so early in the morning? I seasoned it last night so that the herbs and spices could sink in, now I will roast it with that oak that Gil's father brought back from the forest. Maybe twelve hours or so and it will be done." Walker had learned that his mother would not take any shortcuts and was willing to spend the longer amount of time to get a better product but this was getting more and more due to her experiments. "If I don't take the time then how do you expect me to have good enough food to feed the high priest. Even Remey told me she invited a master alchemist, a master!" Hilda threw her arms up with an exasperated look. These kids were really challenging her more and more by inviting these high class guests.

"Ha ha… well they are our friends but you don't need to worry about it. Everything you cook is great and I am sure they will love it." Walker wanted to take at least a little stress away from his mother since they were the cause of it. 

"Yea yea sweet words will do nothing until I have served all the food I have planned. Now if you have time get over there and start washing the fruit so that I can prepare it for some desserts later. Su I will need your help measuring out some flour and sugar over there." With that the two were put in to work just as Walker had expected.

They cooked and cleaned food for an hour. Hilda deemed them free to go, for their assistance they had gained some berry muffins that she had made the night before just for breakfast. The sweet cinnamon topping that she put on it was a favorite out of all the toppings she had ever made. It was especially a hit among the guards after she had sent Garret with a dozen one day to give them as a gift. The next time she had been out to order ingredients every single guard she walked by had told her how amazing they were and that they couldn't wait for her to make them again. Understandably it was now a monthly bake for them, they would all pool together some gold to buy the ingredients themselves and send them over.

With their prized muffins the pair headed towards the dining hall to see who else had made it awake. Surprisingly Gil and Remey were already up and bickering about close combat battles. "If I am right in front of someone why would I push them away? I should just use my dagger to attack them first." 

"No, if you are too close they already have the upper hand, you need the space to get your dagger ready and pick out the place you will attack. By the time you have started your movement they will have already attacked you!" It looked like Gil had been taking his training seriously and decided to ask the party's main front line attack for some close combat advice. Unfortunately Gil and Remey had the tendency to butt heads a little more than talk smoothly.

Walker decided to show Gil what Remey was talking about, "Think fast!" He used his hand to poke Gil in the side. "Again" Walker moved in closer doing the same thing, Gil had no space to even move his arm to block.

"Walker, gahhhh what are you doing!?" Gil was shocked by the first attack but stuck on the second.

"See what I am saying, you can't even move your arm to block anything, how will you even draw that dagger you plan to get?" Gil had no words his theory had been proven false and he had to submit to what Remey had explained. 

"So are you two excited for the auction?" Su wanted to keep Gil from starting up the argument since it looked like he had already taken a good lesson from things. 

"Yes! We are going to get the best things and no one can stop us. The old man is going to buy out all the vials of pure water we put up so we will have plenty of gold to spend." Remey was practically bouncing with excitement.

"What if someone bids against him, aren't there going to be a lot of nobles or high ranking people with deep pockets? I would be surprised if we can sneak out with some of the less rare items." Gil was a little more realistic.

"To be honest I think Gil has a point, but something tells me that with the high priest we may have some more luck. I just hope that he doesn't try to bid against us too much." Walker did worry that if a large amount of light crystals or some light related gear showed up they would be out bid by the church in one move.

However there was the added bonus that since the high priest would be with them the other participants would be adverse to bidding against the whole group. It was a general practice to keep the church in good graces. There would also be the fact that nobles who had their own influence or high tier adventurers could show up. What if royalty even sent someone? How could anyone justify bidding against a royal?

"Well there is no point in worrying too much we just need to be ready to accept that there are those with more gold than us. But if we can get a few things that can help our gear it will be all the better. The greater ice imp bones and the pure water should sell very well." Midnight and Onyx had been bumming around by the fire but were attracted by the conversation, Walker was very happy to see the two of them bonding so much as of late. 

"Brother, we both want to try and get something to help us get stronger too." Onyx rarely expressed to Walker that he wanted something so he would have no reason to say no.

"Just keep an eye out and if you see something let me know, I will do my best to win it." Walker let Onyx slither up on to his shoulders like usual and decided that they should all start to get ready. The auction was a special event with only VIP invites. This meant that it was much longer than the previous one they had attended. They had much more chances to socialize beforehand. This could work very well for them since the last time they are able to let the tamers know that they had the corpse spider eggs. Maybe they would run in to someone who really wanted to bid on the pure water of the greater ice imp bones.

The party split up to put on their nicest clothes. Each one of them made sure to keep their adventurers plaque, travel medal, and the insignia from the demi-human kingdom sigil and visible. These three symbols would go far in the socializing aspect of the auction to forge new connections and also keep those with higher status at bay. If they played their cards right they may gain some insight in what others were selling, it could make all the difference in them winning a good item or not.

Su and Remey had left their gear behind and wore some of the winter robes and clean clothing they had. They matched very well making the two seem like they were a distant family. They had brushed their hair and cleaned their faces giving them an extra glow about them. Walker and Gil had used similar clothing choices and matched well with the girls. If anyone looked it was clear to see the party relation. This was another very good choice since they could show off their strong binds to others.

Midnight and Onyx had obviously taken time to polish up their scales as well since they seemed much cleaner than the previous day. Walker wondered if that was why the two were by the fireplace this morning to dry out. Midnight was already walking around with a little more pride today alone, he couldn't imagine how she would act when there were some high class guests asking about her and swarming them with attention. That was one thing Walker was not fully prepared for, would people swarm them or would people avoid them because of Midnight? He was not sure which would be worse.

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