73 Chapter 73: Party Preparations

Saturday morning arrived before I knew it, and after a grueling session of training in the dojo, I returned to my room, only to see that I had several missed calls on my phone.

"…what the hell?"

Picking my phone up, I studied the screen and was relieved to see that the calls were from Dong Fang Yue Chu. At least it wasn't some unknown number spamming me with robot calls or scams. You know, like the ones informing you that you had committed a federal offense and telling you to pay up immediately (often asking for your credit card or bank details). That would have been awful.

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Shaking my head, I hit the call back option and watched the holographic video call materialize in front of me, above my phone. Even though I could have just sent him an email or text message, I was curious as to why he was urgently trying to contact me.

"Bro!" Dong Fang Yue Chu's anxious expression showed up on the holographic screen, his brow creased in annoyance. "I've been trying to find you for the whole day already! You're only picking up your phone now! Where have you been?!"

"The dojo," I replied shortly, frowning in response. "You know I don't bring my phone with me when I'm training. What's up?"

"What do you mean, 'what's up?'?" Dong Fang Yue Chu yelled, his eyes bulging. "Bro, are you kidding me?! The dinner party! Don't tell me you've completely forgotten about the dinner party!"

I hadn't, but I couldn't help but tease him. Suppressing a grin, I cocked my head to the side and faked a puzzled expression.

"What dinner party?"

"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!" Dong Fang Yue Chu roared. "The one Alicia personally invited you to, of course!"

"She invited me to a party?" I repeated, still feigning bewilderment. "Are you sure? When did that happen?"

"Are you serious?!" My friend looked as if he was going to collapse in tears. I was aware that he had pretty impure motives for coming along with me. One of the reasons why he was looking forward to this dinner party in particular was because of who organized it – the Black Roses. Just the thought of the beautiful girls in Black Roses Society making their appearance in elegant gowns was enough to cause Dong Fang Yue Chu to drool. He was probably praying fervently that I didn't do anything stupid and cause him to lose any chance of romancing any of those girls.

For example, by not showing up despite receiving a direct invitation from Alicia herself. That would potentially sour relations with Black Roses Society, and our little club could not afford to offend a great society like the Black Roses. Not that Alicia would be that petty, and I was sure Miranda would actually be happy if we didn't turn up, but that was still rude. In a way.

"Where are you? At home? Wait for me, I'm coming." Dong Fang Yue Chu was holding up an expensive-looking suit. "Take a shower and wash yourself up. This is a dinner party attended by elites. Not just any elites but the upper elites, you know! You need to dress for the occasion!"

"I already bought a new suit," I said, annoyed, forgetting that I was supposed to forget about the party. "You were the one who told me to get a new suit instead of wearing the previous one I used for the hotel ceremony thing."

"Oh? You really went and bought a new suit?" Dong Fang Yue Chu's jaw dropped. If I could, I wanted to transport my hand across the other side of the screen and smack him in the face. Well, at least I trolled him hard earlier, so I should be satisfied with that. "When did that happen?"

"Yesterday, after I got the monetary rewards from my mission."

Dong Fang Yue Chu stared at me blankly. "I didn't know that."

"What, were you expecting me to devote an entire chapter detailing how I went about shopping in G2000 or something, searching for an appropriate suit? The readers will be screaming 'FILLER!' and raging about how the story is moving too slowly, never mind that I had just accomplished a mission last chapter." I shook my head in disgust. "Seems like most people throw the word 'filler' around without truly understanding what it means. Filler refers to non-canonical material that isn't part of the original story, used to fill out the airtimes of an anime when it has caught up to the manga. But now readers are just blindly using it for anything they find boring or don't like to read. Come on, if every chapter is about nothing but fight scenes, fight scenes and more fight scenes, then the plot will burn out. Linking a bunch of random fight scenes together doesn't make for a good story. You need to pace it out properly. Not every chapter or scene has to be about combat. Characters need some downtime, some peace and quiet, which can contribute to character development…"

"What the fuck are you talking about, bro?" Dong Fang Yue Chu was glaring at me. "Stop rambling nonsense and get changed! Okay? We'll be meeting at the front of your house in thirty minutes. Make sure you shower!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Damn it, I originally planned on bringing you to a hair stylist…"

"Don't waste time and money," I automatically interrupted. For cutting my hair, I was fine with going to a barber and trimming it short. The styling and curling and whatever nonsense was a total waste of time and money, in my opinion. Raising my hand to the red button on the screen, I cocked my head. "If there's nothing else, then I'll hang up. See you in thirty."

With that, I cut off the call and began my preparations for war. Not that kind of physical war, mind you. Social warfare where I had to engage in verbal sparring and maintain a low profile for as long as possible.

*

At the same time, Alicia and Miranda were in the former's room. Or to be more precise, one of the Alicia's many rooms. The Violet family was a pretty rich clan, after all, and Alicia got to stay in a gigantic mansion. Being an only child, she had a lot of rooms reserved for her own use.

Good thing I wasn't there, or I would be rolling my eyes at the ridiculous amount of time they spent on dressing up alone. Time that could be spent on training, fighting or taking missions, but I was probably too much of a guy to understand that. Anyway, Alicia and Miranda were alternating between themselves, with one trying on a dress and the other offering her opinion. An entire trolley filled with dozens of differently colored dinner gowns hung to the side, with the two girls grabbing a few that hung along its endless length and throwing them onto a massive bed big enough to accommodate a whole family, never mind one person.

Geez…that amount of money spent on so many gowns of which most would probably be left untouched, unless Alicia attended several high-class parties every month (and given her family and connections, it was entirely possible)…if I were to witness it, I would recoil in horror. Then again, it was not my money, so it really was none of my business what other people decided to spend their savings on. In any case, as a guy, I never understood the interest of many girls. They obviously enjoyed taking their time to dress up and look good.

A goddess like Alicia was no exception. In fact, she was taking this more seriously than usual because she was the female host for tonight. She had to ensure that there were no slipups, that her attire was appropriate and corresponded to her standing.

Don't ask me how, but apparently one's social status could make or break based on the sort of appearance you put on, or the impression you gave off. I honestly couldn't care about looking sloppy and untidy, but these upper-class elites evidently had a different opinion regarding that. Protocols and formality and all that nonsense.

"I think this dress is perfect!" Miranda declared after she studied Alicia, moving her gaze from head to toe. Currently the latter was dressed in a snow-white, low-cut gown with lavender lace and a flowing light purple skirt that covered her legs. If I had been there, I would have agreed with Miranda about how it suited Violet extremely well. The lace hugged the curves of her body, emphasizing her gorgeous figure, and her beautifully rounded chest was partially concealed behind lavender lace. The light color of the silk fabric matched her long, similarly purple-colored hair and pure complexion. Even Miranda, who was also a girl, couldn't help but be mesmerized by Violet's goddess-like appearance.

The Black Roses vice-president giggled and shook her head. "I bet there won't be a single man tonight capable of tearing his eyes away from you."

"There's Troy…and Brother Hai is attending too," Alicia reminded her gently with a smile.

Miranda shrugged, and then she frowned. "Speaking of men, I heard that you personally invited Richard?"

Alicia chuckled and nodded. "That's right. Not just Richard, but the rest of Ultimate Outcast Society as well."

Miranda sighed slightly and shook her head. "I know you admire Richard, and he has been putting on an impressive performance as of late, but it's still too early to invite him into events like this."

"What do you mean?" Alicia asked, a little guarded.

"I mean…Richard is not the only one whose performance has improved tremendously these few months. There are other students who are just as impressive, like Jie Bing from Aurora Society, for example. Richard also lost quite a few of his matches, so it's only natural that there are many people who aren't convinced by him just yet. There are rumors that you're showing blatant favoritism toward him…you know, because…"

Alicia avoided her gaze. "…I do admire Richard, and he's not a bad person. Senior, I think everyone is underestimating him. You've seen his potential. He single-handedly team-killed the representatives of Crowley's Academy…"

"Only because their first member underestimated him." Miranda narrowed her eyes. She was realistic to admit that the whole thing was a fluke. "If you truly believe that he'll be able to repeat that in this year's tournament, then you're naïve."

"Be that as may be," Alicia conceded. "But you're just as aware as I am about how awful academy ranking was last year. And with Senior Wang and Senior Bryant graduating and leaving, it'll be even worse this year. I'm willing to bet on Richard." She smiled and shrugged. "We've nothing to lose, after all."

"Oh, we have a lot to lose," Miranda muttered. She was aware of the discussions Alicia had with Feng Hai, and she was confident that their esteemed senior would be able to root out the unqualified ones and put a stop onto this nonsense.

But if even Feng Hai himself recognized my strength and accepted me into the specially prepared training program, then Miranda didn't mind holding her hands up and admitting her mistake. After all, she prized the academy over her own pride. If it was for the sake of the academy, then she wouldn't mind eating her words and being proven wrong.

Even then, she knew Alicia possessed a keen insight that few people had, and she decided to leave it to her.

"I'll trust you then." She took a deep breath and smiled brightly as she picked up a pink gown. "Now…it's your turn to tell me. What do you think of this dress?"

*

Shortly after that, the dinner banquet began. Many upper-class elites from Jing Tian Academy were beginning to arrive, showing up in drips and drabs. Most viewed Alicia's invitation as a great honor, and they flamboyantly displayed their status, either showing up in super-expensive sports cars or branded vehicles, and dressed in luxurious suits or elegant gowns that probably cost more than the money I could earn from a year of doing missions.

Handsome guys and beautiful girls were strolling through the open gates, many of them linking hands and entering as couples. The scent of sweet perfume or musky deodorant drifted across the vast courtyard that was meticulously groomed trees, carefully trimmed shrubs and marble sculptures occupied.

"…ugh…"

Hunching and trying not to stand out as much as possible, I hid behind my group of juniors, who were fortunately wearing similarly costed suits. At least I wasn't alone, but we were totally out of place when compared to these rich bastards. We looked like absolute cheapskates when compared to them. To be fair, when viewed from a distance and without a keen eye, it was impossible to tell the difference – we were certainly dressed right for the occasion. But those other elites were wearing attires that were on a completely different pay scale from the likes of us commoners.

From the scornful looks they were shooting us, I began to have a bad feeling about this. Then again, what else was new?