Chapter Fifteen: The Red Flight Crisis Part Two

The whole gang was here. My phone had received their messages that they were coming. Now that everything was back to normal, we were going to have a celebratory lunch for completing our first high-class quest.

I held my breath and opened the door, just slightly enough for my head to stick out.

“Hey,” Wilt greeted.

“Hey,” I replied.

After a brief pause, he said, “May we come in?”

“Um, yeah, sure.” I swung the door wide open. Upon entering, they were astonished to see mounds of gift baskets and letters all over my apartment.

After we got back home, I’d been getting invites and gifts from different guilds for eight straight days. That was why I was a bit embarrassed about letting them in.

Li was staring at the basket of chocolates on top of my desk.

“Go ahead,” I told him. “Help yourselves.”

“Thank you.” He bowed before making a dash toward the chocolates.

“Don’t mind if I do.” Brock followed behind, so was Alex after giving me a nod.

“Hey, don’t eat too many sweets, okay?” Katie said. “We’re going to have lunch at Zhang Lang’s in an hour.”

Wilt picked up a few letters from a nearby stack, reading the addresses on the envelopes. “Argus, Megalodon, Blue Bucephalus… these are invitations to join their guilds.”

“Really?” Katie asked. “How come we don’t get any?”

“That’s because he took out an army of raiders all by himself,” Alex replied without glancing at us as she gobbled some chocolate balls.

“Wait, those are invites?” Brock said to his surprise. All our attention turned to him. “I’ve got a bunch of those since day one.” He chewed a piece of candy bar before swallowing. “I thought they were spam letters.”

After another glance at the surrounding gifts, I deduced that some guilds wanted to recruit him since he defeated hundreds of newcomers and an Asura.

“Duh,” Katie said. “How else are they going to send invitations to their recruits?”

“Internet.” Brock shrugged before taking another bite out of his candy bar.

Wilt turned toward me. “You still want to stay in this party? We’ve been through a lot out there.”

Katie shuddered, remembering our battle with the raiders. “Let’s never take another silver-class job ever again.”

We all responded with one firm nod, including Brock. Our battle with the raiders did give him some senses.

“So, you’re still with us?” Wilt asked me again.

“Yeah.” Brock unwrapped another candy bar without looking at us, not knowing the question was for me. “I’m not gonna be bribed that easily.”

“He wasn’t asking you, dunderhead,” Katie groaned with the tone of her voice sounding annoyed instead of the usual abrasiveness she had towards him.

“It’s okay, Katie,” Wilt said. “But all of you are staying, right?”

“Of course.” Katie grinned.

Alex and Li nodded in response while their mouths were full of chocolate.

“Sam?” Wilt called, waiting to hear my answer.

“S-sure.”

“Still friends?”

“…Yes, yes, we are.” A smile rose on my face, and everyone did the same as well. Seeing their smiles eased my heavy heart. Perhaps these were the friends I’d been looking for. Real friends, not like the people I knew back on Earth.

“Oh, I love this friendship you have here.”

“Thanks,” Katie said. “…Wait, who said that?” It wasn’t me, nor the rest of us. The voice was male, deep and jazzy, and the unknown accent sounded exotic.

“I did.” The voice was coming from the door. Upon turning around, there was a stranger with his arms crossed on his chest and his back resting against the doorframe. He was tall, slender, and dark-skinned, and he wore a navy-blue swallow-tailed coat, knee-length trousers, sandals, and a top hat. He was shirtless underneath, with lots and lots of necklaces of multicolored beads covering the entirety of his neck.

“Who’re you?” Wilt demanded.

The stranger bowed curtly. “Zeki of the Boston Tea Party Guild, at your service.” He pulled out a letter from his coat. “I’m here to deliver this to Mr. Sam Roche.”

Great, another one. “Thanks, you can put it right there, please.” I pointed at the chair beside the door.

Zeki scanned the mounds all over my apartment. He laughed in realization, “No, no, this isn’t an invitation to join the Boston Tea Party. This is an invitation to the par-tay.” He coated that last word in a singsong tone.

“You mean like party-party?” Katie said in clarification. “Like food, music, and stuff?”

“Food, music, and stuff, the Boston Tea Party offered the best of the best.”

“Would there be chocolate?” Li inquired.

“All twenty-eight flavors.”

The Shaolin agape to his astonishment. Alex snapped her fingers in front of his face a couple of times when his mouth began salivating.

“Hey, hey,” she exclaimed. “You’re a monk. Act like one.”

“Is this about me defeating those raiders days ago?” What other reason did he invite me? I’d been in this world for over a month.

“Yes, sir,” Zeki replied. “I’m not sure you have heard this, but you’re a hero in this city.”

We were all surprised by that.

“M-m-me, a hero?” I stuttered.

Zeki sat in my chair near the doorway and explained, “Well, not only you saved a big shot but also the minor guilds and non-guild members they hired. I even have friends among them. On behalf of all the citizens of New Beginning City, we thank you, Mr. Roche.”

My cheeks glowed pink.

“To express our deepest gratitude, the Party King has invited you and your friends to come to our par-tay.” Again, he exaggerated that last word.

“I’m down,” Brock accepted.

“Wait,” Wilt said. “This isn’t some scheme to recruit Sam to your guild, right?”

He had a point there, but Zeki casually shrugged. “Then we’ll be in trouble with our invitees. Jormungand, Dragonheart, Golden Griff, Wolf Reign, lots of big names, and celebrities will be coming to the par-tay. We, the Boston Tea Party, are a neutral guild. And festivity is our specialty, you know.

“People from all over the continent are begging us to let them enter our little paradise, so everyone has to get along once they get in. Even long-time enemies become friends. Well, that is until the par-tay’s over.” He got up from the chair and offered the letter to Wilt. “What do you say? I heard you’re the leader of this bunch, interested?”

Wilt asked us, “What do you think?”

“Well,” Alex replied. “This is maybe a good alternative for our celebratory lunch.”

“Yeah,” Katie agreed, so was Li. “And we don’t have to spend a single dime. Or a chaff or whatever.”

“I’m still down,” Brock said.

After some thinking, I answered with a nod. As long as I was with my friends, it wouldn’t be too bad for me to go.

Now that the gang had approved, Wilt took the letter.

“Wonderful!” Zeki shot his hands in the air. “His Majesty is looking forward to meeting you all. Par-tay will be at the castle tomorrow night, as always.” Giving his farewell bow, he went straight for the door.

“Wait, what are we supposed to wear for the party?” Wilt asked as Zeki was about to take a step outside.

“Par-tay, Mr. Wallace, par-tay,” he corrected. “We’d like to stand out from whatever second-rate party guilds out there. As for what to wear, anything suits you.”

“Really?” Katie asked. “Nothing fancy or trendy?”

“As long as you don’t dress like a peacock.” He gave another bow before leaping out of the building.

Flabbergasted, we bolted outside, only to find him floating through the air in a direction toward Rad’s castle. Strange, I didn’t see him wearing a pair of winged shoes like Andromeda and the rainbow-haired girl.