Chapter 198: Auction Den!

"Ehh?" Neerak Axutar and the three village soldiers could not help but frown in response. They glanced towards the lady that was a few meters away from them with an astounded expression. Unfortunately, there was not a single trace of Kazuto Kageyama left. Thus, they can't help but glance back to Pedro and force out a smile—still not able to fully understand what really happened.

At this moment, Pedro had crossed his arms while his face wore a frown. Then, he glared towards the four NPCs and said, "How long are you guys gonna stay on the floor—sitting?! Don't tell me that you are all tired already?"

"I-It's not what you think, Sire Aron." Neerak Axutar said as he and the three village soldiers stood—not wanting to anger Pedro. Then, Neerak Axutar continued to explain, saying, "W-We suddenly passed out while a bad guy was holding the lady in front of us as a hostage."

"What bad guy? All I can remember is you guys suddenly falling into the ground! I did not see anyone attack someone, what much more get taken as a hostage!" Pedro bellowed in anger. In the next second, the murderous aura he emanated became stronger, while saying, "Besides… Do you think that I would stand still and let such a thing happen right in front of me?"

"O-Of course not!" Neerak Axutar's face went pale and was barely able to respond to Pedro.

At this moment, Pedro can't help but sigh deep inside. He thought, 'Aaaahh, how embarrassing! Acting is not my strong point… If not for the need of building a good relationship with these NPCs, I would have not done such acts even in my past life! It is a good thing that these NPCs believed my bluff… That said, with Kazuto Kageyama missing, the NPCs he was with earlier would probably start looking for him. And if I am not wrong, those NPCs are most likely vampires too. We don't know how many vampires are in this Kingdom, so it's best to avoid them instead for now. Besides… I am yet to receive any message from the whereabouts of Mathew, Sabrina, and Loren. It would be troublesome if I would need to handle everything on my own.'

He glanced to Neerak Axutar and said, "It's good that you know… Now! Follow me! There's a place I want to visit!"

Hopeless, the four NPCs could only follow behind him in response. They glanced around them and saw the other NPCs woke up just like them. That said, they did not dare question Pedro nor poke into that matter even further because they were all too afraid of Pedro.

They could only assume that they got attacked mentally—causing them to have such a bad dream, and Pedro was just strong enough to the point that he was the only one in that area who remained unaffected by it.

After walking for several minutes along the central path of the market area, they arrived at a plaza-like area. At its centermost of the plaza was a gigantic statue of a man with a gold coin in his hands. While around that gigantic statue, stalls selling different things—from food to monster loots, were scattered everywhere.

The four NPCs could not help but gasp in amazement as they personally witness the heart of Tarala Kingdom's Market Area. Their eyes surveyed around, glancing from mouth-watering food to eye-catching weapons or equipment.

At this moment, Pedro can't help but grin and murmur to himself, "It's time to go shopping. But first…"

Pedro glanced towards Neerak Axutar and the three village soldiers, and threw a pouch of silver coins to each of them, saying, "Go buy what you want! Treat this as my compensation for not even giving you a chance to prepare the things that you might need as you travel with me."

At first, the four NPCs could only stare at the pouch of silver coins in their hands. Then, they glanced back to Pedro before they checked how many silver coins they have.

Before they could start the tedious task of counting how many silver coins they have, Pedro called their attention saying, "Anyway! I'll go around too. Young man… I'll leave the three soldiers to protect you. Let's just meet at this point after three hours. In case you encountered any problem, ask the Kingdom Soldiers for help. I am sure that the Head Guard of the Teleportation Hall would even run here if he learns that one of my companions got in trouble. But… If someone dares to hurt or rob you, don't hesitate and kill on sight! I would take responsibility for it… We might as well do the King a favor and lessen the population of the criminals in this Kingdom."

Neerak Axutar and the three village soldiers could not help but force out a smile towards Pedro. It was only after a few seconds did Neerak Axutar got back to himself and said, "Y-Yes, Sire Aron!"

Pedro smirked in response and said, "Enjoy!"

Pedro did not give them a chance to even say their gratitude towards him and left. After just a few seconds, his figure vanished into the crowd—consequently creating huge smiles on the four NPCs' faces.

Pedro can't help but also smile after he caught a glimpse of the smile in the four NPCs' face, just before he completely lost sight of them. Then, he murmured, "Now… I can shop freely!"

He glanced around, looking for some things that might catch his attention. Unfortunately, most of the things that he was able to see were common items, which mostly have a bronze rating. On top of that, the materials sold are the most common ones that are easy to gather nearby the Tarala Kingdom. Thus, Pedro did not give them that much interest.

That said, he noticed that everything that he encountered so far—including the food they bought, had a price ranging from tens of bronze coins and above. So, he can't help but frown, thinking, 'Even meat of a monster costs around thirty bronze coins a slice. At this point, even commoners would have a hard time surviving each day. In my past life, living in a Kingdom cost too much. A lodging cost ten bronze coins a day—food is not included. Since we were players, we tend to hunt and cook our own food. But if the hunt was not good, and we ended up with nothing, the rice was the cheapest alternative that only cost around five bronze coins a bag. No wonder that the people in the slums would be in turmoil. If they can't even pay for a lodging worth ten bronze coins, what more about this meat?'

Then, he shook his head and thought, 'In any case… I did not have high hopes for this Free Market in the first place! After all… The hidden gems are located at the Auction Den! Thanks to Kageyama, not only did I obtain some inheritance pages from them, but… I also obtained a pouch of gold coins from him!'

'I did not count them all. But based on the size of the pouch, there is probably a hundred of gold coins inside—at the least.' He chuckled deep inside. At this moment, he entered a street leading to the north of the Free Market, while he placed his golden Katana back into his inventory bag.

It took him several minutes of walk before he arrived at the gate with a huge sign above it. It was separated by a brick wall and has several fully armored soldiers standing both outside and inside the gate. That said, the brick wall was only as high as the houses in the Kingdom that were around twenty feet high—smaller than the main wall of the Kingdom that was around forty feet high.

"Auction Den"

Pedro took a glance at the sign for a few seconds before he glanced inside and smiled, saying, "I wonder what I would get from this Kingdom's Auction Den? There's only one way to find out!"

Pedro walked into the Auction Den without wasting another second. On the other hand, the village soldiers in front of the gate had simply ignored him since he did not have any kind of weapon with him, and, at the same time, they did not see Pedro as someone who would create trouble inside.

Of course, Pedro knew about this beforehand. That is why he unequipped his Faithpursuer Katana earlier. There was a strict rule was being implemented inside Auction Dens that prohibits any weapon that would not be sold from being brought inside.

This was implemented in order to avoid conflict inside. But most importantly, it was done so to recognize the fact that it was a place where money was everyone's weapon. It is where the rich people show their power.

After all, only those who are strong enough were the only ones who had lots of money at their disposal.