276 Chapter 276: Socialization (1/2)
As you should all know by now, the sole reason why I deigned to participate in Lilith's party was because of the free food.
Just as she promised, there was a long table that provided a sumptuous buffet. I was quite enamored in particular with the seafood, and I grabbed a huge plate of cockles, mussels, shrimps, lobster and crab parts, and sashimi. Yay! They even served raw salmon! I missed that!
”Are you seriously treating this like an all-you-can-eat buffet?” Harrison commented dryly when he saw the amount of food on my plate. I shrugged.
”I guess?”
”Have some dignity, dude.” Harrison was burying his face in his palm. ”You do realize we're here to represent our school?”
”Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't eat. Or all the food here will go to waste. You want some?” I offered him some of my food, and Harrison raised an eyebrow. I realized that it wasn't very polite to offer him my plate of half-eaten stuff, so I withdrew it and gestured toward the table. ”There's still quite a lot there. And they are really delicious.”
Harrison sighed and shook his head. ”Yeah, I'll have some.”
”Don't let the food go to waste!” Theodore lumbered over, his plate having twice the amount of food that I had. The guy was bigger than me and so it was natural that he had a larger appetite. ”They are really good!”
”You guys…” Harrison tried not to roll his eyes, but he relented. As he scooped moderate amounts of food into his plate, he glanced at us. Dong Fang Yue Chu, Lily, Craig, Sheila, Theodore and I were all gathered together and eating almost side by side. Pearl was off somewhere, speaking to one of the girls from another school while Cody Crosby was nowhere to be seen. Well, he was an Assassin, so he was always hiding somewhere, his presence concealed.
There was no need to mention Bu Fan. He hated my guts and looked down on the rest of us, and therefore refused to be caught dead in our company. Too bad Zhang Hou Zi wasn't with him, but other than his bro, Bu Fan was a lone wolf anyway. I rarely saw him with any other guys other than Zhang Hou Zi. In contrast, he was always surrounded by girls by some unknown reason. I bet it was the harem protagonist aura or pheromones that drew them to him.
”You do realize that the whole purpose of this party is to socialize and expand your network, right?” Harrison continued, almost unable to hide his annoyance. ”How are you going to do that if you guys just hang out with each other?”
We all exchanged a glance, and then shrugged in unison. Say what you will, but our team was pretty synchronized and coordinated.
”Do you have to greet the elders later?” Lily asked. ”I heard that all the team captains have to go to the main hall to greet the elders of Vermillion City.”
”And where are the arrogant young masters and elites looking down on our third-rate school?” Dong Fan Yue Chu added, looking around. ”I was half-expecting a vice-captain from another academy to approach us and make fun of us or something.”
”Why would they do that?” Craig demanded, annoyed. ”See if they dare, I'll cut their tongue out.”
I sighed heavily. ”Do you guys think this is some Chinese cultivation or fantasy magic novel or something? Do you really think people will just come and provoke us and hate on us for no reason other than because we are the main characters, and despite all evidence to the contrary, they continue to judge us as trash for some unfathomable reason? You think people just walk up and scorn random strangers for no reason other than to provoke conflict for the sake of advancing the plot and having antagonists?”
Everyone stared at me. ”I have no idea what you just said,” Sheila said.
”Never mind.” I waved dismissively. ”At least we didn't receive a random challenge from some vice-captain from some random school who is mocking us for no reason other than because we are the main characters.”
”…huh?”
”Stop breaking the fourth wall,” Craig complained. ”Not all of us have read Battle Frenzy. And I don't plan to read it either.”
”Returning to Lily's question…” Harrison dragged us back to reality. ”No, we are not going to any main hall. The elders will be coming here and joining the buffet. They probably want to have a good look at all the students, not just the team captains.”
As if on cue, there was a furor at the entrance, and a group of people trickled in. Middle-aged adults, accompanied by entourages of bodyguards and the like. The world of the rich – once again, I was reminded of the engagement party I attended. The one organized by Lionel Stuart and which ended in quite the disaster. The middle-aged adults in the middle were led to seats and tables at the far end of the main hall that the students were populated, and served glasses of wine and other finger food. It wasn't just middle-aged men, but young men and women in their twenties and early thirties, mingling with the students and speaking to them. A few of them raised their glasses of wine to a toast, and chuckled as they conversed.
”Good evening, everybody.”
Dressed in a lovely lavender velvet evening gown, Lilith stood in the middle of the main hall, drawing everyone's attention to her. Her figure was spectacular, and more than enough reason for the guys to ogle her, while the girls whispered enviously to each other, admiring her style. Unaffected by the combined gazes of everyone in the main hall, Lilith continued.
”The ladies and gentlemen from the Cyan family, the Lavender family, and the Maroon family have always supported the Porter Clan as the main pillars of Vermillion City. Everyone, please introduce yourselves. I hope that after this evening, you'll all get to know each other a little more.”
In other words, she was telling us to socialize with the elites of Vermillion City.
Several of the adults, seated in couches and sipping their wine, offered encouraging smiles and put on friendly expressions. One of them waved at us in a welcoming manner.
”I'm so heartened to see such a gathering of so many young, talented people in one place!”
”You can relax. Don't mind our ages, please come to talk to us freely. We prefer it that way.”
”Yeah, let's dispense with formality and get to know each other!”
The students whispered among themselves, but more than a few of them had already begun their approach. Even though these families weren't among the top Ten Great Families of the Federation, they were still pretty renowned and wealthy, and persuading them to invest in one's talent and future was the goal of many of the students here.
”Better get started.” Harrison sighed and wandered toward one of the adults, probably to pay his greetings. I bade him farewell. Honestly, I couldn't care less about this nonsense. I wasn't interested in sponsorships or backing, not when I wanted to be a mercenary. If I was really that desperate, I would rather join Feng Hai and his Silver Wolves, though ideally I would just tag along with Dad on his missions once I graduated from university and received my actual combat mage license.
Quite frankly, there was no reason for me to socialize with these guys, and they most likely were not interested in funding mercenary missions and guilds. They were here to…probably employ future bodyguards or representatives for their clans in big-money tournaments. Nothing to do with actual combat. Perhaps some of them funded paramilitary organizations, but if that was the case I might as well join the Federation military.
Good thing I could just leave this socializing nonsense to Harrison. I decided to continue eating.
”Oh hey…Richie! So you really did come!”
Unfortunately, while I didn't want to socialize with the old fogeys, the same couldn't be said of the other party. Fortunately, the voice belonged to someone I was really familiar with.
”Uncle Glen! You're actually here?”
My jaw dropped when Glen Porter wandered over to the buffet table where my team and I had gathered. Harrison froze in the middle of his walk, then he slowly did a 180 degree and discreetly rejoined us.
”Who…?” Dong Fang Yue Chu blurted out. Lily, Craig and the rest looked just as puzzled, but Harrison elbowed him.
”He's Glen Porter! The Divine Tiger of Vermillion City! The son of Principal Henry Porter, the current head of the Porter Clan!”
”…oh.”
”Why do you know such a big shot?” Craig hissed into my ear before Theodore shoved him aside, to maintain some modicum of politeness.
”Excuse our rudeness,” the big guy apologized to Uncle Glen, who didn't look at all bothered. Instead, he chuckled.
”Ha ha! Don't worry about it!” Uncle Glen waved Theodore's apology away, and then turned back to me with a grin. ”Your friends?”
”Yeah. We're all from Jing Tian Academy.”
”I see, I see. I'm glad that you have a lot of friends.” He chuckled. ”I was worried that you will take after your dad and become some sort of edgy lone wolf who wants to hide his strength for some reason even though his harem…I mean, female subordinates were getting beaten up.”
”Don't mistake my dad for Ichinose Guren, and this isn't some side-story for Owari no Seraph.”
”I know, I know. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying yourself. My daughter worked hard to organize this.” he then ducked his head behind a waiter who was carrying a tray of glasses filled with wine. ”Don't tell her I'm here. She'll probably get mad.”
”Huh? I'm sure she already knows you're here.”
”…eh?”
Uncle Glen froze for a moment, and then slowly turned around. His daughter was glaring at him, and I could literally see an inferno rage behind her.
”DAD~”