After purchasing some supplies for Nimbus, Charlie, and Squire from Julie, James found his own stomach rumbling. It was essentially lunchtime so James headed down to the commons.

  Edward and Ken said they would catch up later.

  He went past Anne’s office and found the hole in the wall was no longer there. A new door was there, but it had a normal lock with no elaborate runes.

  He knocked thrice, no response.

  He gave up and followed the smell of sausages to the commons.

  When he got closer, he found a party underway.

  A shout went up when James, Charlie, and Squire walked in.

  “James, James, James” rang out, led by a very loud, very drunk female voice near the bar.

  There was a ring of people, mainly human, around her as Janine, drunk, cheered, and otherwise had fun.

  He nearly turned back, right there.

  Charlie must have decided the smell wasn’t worth the food because he disappeared.

  Squire, however, was in her element.

  People that were familiar with her flung scraps of food into the air and, flexing Swift

  James went to the bar himself and ordered some sausages in bread. They didn’t have tomato sauce, but they did have fried onions and a slightly spicy flavour that made up for it.

  A mug of beer landed on the bench in front of him.

  It was Mark’s smiling face beamed across from him, not Janine as he’d expected.

  James raised the mug in a cheers motion. “Thanks, Mark”.

  His smile widened, then he said. “Thank Janine over there.” Mark walked off.

  Right, waiter.

  James turned and raised the mug in the air as a salute to Janine instead.

  James could remember a little from the day before.

  He knew Charlie’d gotten fed, and at some stage he’d given out a lot of chunks of meat as fifty pieces were now missing.

  He’d wanted to use a Silver Room himself but found that they were all booked out by the silver rank team members.

  Janine had invited him to use hers but he’d declined when it was clear she would be there as well.

  Fortunately Wait—NO!

  Even drunk James knew that that would get messy quickly. Maybe once he was Silver ranked too.

  He was missing all of his Bone Arrows

  He checked his status sheet and found he still had alcohol poisoning.

  He was tempted to use Cleanse on himself but decided it was not worth consuming his Command-Self card for 24 hours.

  Instead he did the old fashioned thing. He quickly went to the toilet then fell back asleep again.

  He woke up again to a pounding on his door.

  “Keep it down,” he shouted.

  “James Cooper, The head of House Grant, Jasper Grant, has requested your attendance, on the tourney field across the way.” A male voice spoke through the door. “You have thirty minutes”.

  James deemed it important and consumed one of his potions of minor rejuvenation. His head cleared, body rejuvenated, and energy levels restored.

  James realised he did not have clothing of sufficient quality to be worn in front of nobility.

  Twenty-five minutes later, he regretted that thought.

  He contacted Edward via party chat.

  James:

  Edward:

  Edward:

  He made his way to the Guild entrance.

  Janine came out of nowhere and hooked her arm through his a few steps before the exit.

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  Janine:

  James:

  Janine:

  James missed his step due to reading the chat.

  She tightened her grip on his elbow, making a motion to pay attention in front.

  He squared his shoulders and took the last steps with a bit more confidence out the guild’s double doors.

  What looked like a circus tent met his gaze from the grounds across the way.

  The massive tent’s entrance was tied back, and a few uniformed guards stood watch. Their hardened leather armour was hidden beneath tabards bearing the image of a rider, sword raised high on a hillside.

  Edward walked out of the tent opening. For once Ken wasn’t there, yet he was not alone. A man slightly older and taller than Edward stood imposingly before him. The family resemblance was striking: a classic jaw, solid build, and brown hair.

  Strapped to his back was what James thought was a two-handed zweihander, its hilt poking up over his shoulder. He wore a kind of mail armour reinforced with steel strips.

  James:

  Edward:

  “Greetings James Cooper, Commander, Dungeon Break Raid leader, and leader of Team Rock, Paper, Squirrel,” the man said.

  James didn’t like the way he emphasized ‘current’.

  “You have the honour of being in the presence of Nathan Grant, Scion of house Grant, leader of the Grant army, and…” the voice lost a lot of its rigidness “favorite brother to this budding adventurer.”

  Nathan grinned and held out his gloved hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  James readied his hand to be crushed and gripped Nathan’s hand as hard as he could.

  They shook hands, but it was Nathan who released the shake, not the other way around. James wanted to throw a Quick Heal

  Nathan smiled and turned toward Janine. James wasn’t sure if it was confidence or charm. “And you must be Anne Lorian?” he guessed.

  Janine looked amused and released her grip on James's left elbow, long enough to curtsey demurely. “My lord.” It was disconcertingly unexpected.

  James took the opportunity to notice that she was wearing a rather fetching blue-black silk dress that nicely highlighted her strong, yet graceful form.

  If she had any weapons on her they were well hidden. This was the first time seeing Janine out of her guild-issued leathers, and he regretted his poor judgement last night.

  Edward interjected. “This is substitute Guild Master Janine Bloom”

  James mouthed ‘Bloom’ and noticed a twinkle in Edward’s eyes.

  Edward:

  James:

  He said it as a joke, but noticed that Edward was focusing, a little indelicately, at Janine.

  Nathan didn’t seem to notice the exchange and bowed.

  “My apologies, Guild Master Bloom,” he said, his tone slightly grating as he glanced at Edward. “I was not informed that Guild Master Anne was away.” Nathan finished his bow and took a step back.

  “My lord, Jasper Grant, Master of Horse and Head of House Grant, caretaker of the Fields of Alafor, and team leader of the Golden Knights dungeon party, awaits your pleasure for brunch.

  Nathan’s arm flung wide in a welcoming gesture to the open tent flap.

  Janine returned to her place on his left and they walked in.

  James was confused for a minute before he realised that he was the arm candy, and she was the guest of honour.

  The inside of the tent was cooler than expected, the air carrying the faint scent of spice, smoke, and polished metal. Rugs covered the packed earth, and a long buffet-style table stretched across the center, laden with trays of roasted meat, fresh bread, and pitchers of amber drink. Behind it stood a line of servants in crisp uniforms, silent and efficient, refilling platters and clearing dishes with practiced rhythm. Lanterns hung from the central pole, casting a steady golden light over the scene, soft enough to warm the canvas but bright enough to gleam off steel and silver alike.

  They were not the only invitees, though he only recognised a few. There were a few serving people that were from Turk’s Café. He recognized a lot of merchants he’d seen in the market and some shop owners he didn’t know personally.

  The Guild was not underrepresented either. Julie was there, nonplussed as usual. Joe was busily piling his plate up with bread, sausages, and little yellow triangles that may have been potato based in nature.

  There were also a very well dressed group of people in the middle of the tent, that appeared to be largely military in nature based on demeanor. The circle parted as they entered, and what appeared to be Edward and Nathan’s father stepped forwards.

  “Janine, ever the picture of perfection. You are most welcome to my pavilion.” The man bowed.

  He thought a little uncharitably.

  By pure chance James noticed someone beyond the pack staring at him in disbelief.

  James instantly brought to mind the foulest pile of shit he could, really trying to conjure in his mind the smell and feel to boot.

  A look of disgust crossed the otherwise bland face before it turned away.

  “James!” Janine said as she stomped on his foot.

  James took his eyes off the robed figure in reaction.

  There was a souring look on Jasper's face at whatever discourtesy he’d just given.

  “Sorry, forgive me.” he started, “No, actually I’m not.” James was rattled yet trying to get to his point.

  “Excuse me?” The look on Jasper’s face was turning angry.

  James raised his voice and pointed. “That man just read my mind.” He expected a reaction, outrage perhaps.

  He was not expecting Jasper to burst out laughing.

  Edward smiled as well and gave James a thumbs up.

  Nathan and Janine were smiling as well.

  “What! If we stop everyone from leaving I’m sure I can identify him”

  Jasper got control of himself and called out. “Master Killian, please join us”

  James stopped to look properly at Jasper. He could see Edward and Nathan got their good looks, though strangely not their height. There was a small amount of grey in the hair and trimmed, almost sculpted beard.

  The same figure from before walked up to the group.

  There was still a martial feel to him, yet he wore full length robes. As he approached, he removed his hands from the folds of his robes, to reveal quite a bit of jewelry. With that cue, he also noticed the bands around his wrists, and a necklace.

  Master Killian bowed to Jasper.

  “My lord?” Killian said.

  “It appears that James here picked up on your discrete skill set.”

  “Yes, my lord.” Killian responded.

  “When’s the last time someone discovered your abilities, let alone from across the room?” Jasper asked leadingly.

  “That was yourself, my lord” Killian said, clearly not enjoying this game but playing along.

  “And when did that happen?” Jasper said.

  “When we first met, eight years ago,” Killian responded.

  “Okay James, you have my respect. Tell me, what gave it away?” Jasper said.

  “Ahhh…” he stuttered.

  Jasper interrupted. “I’m guessing it was something you thought about me. Still, that can’t have been enough to be as sure as you were?”

  “I envisioned poo, stinky, gooey poo.” He pointed at Killian. “He had such a look of disgust on his face that there could have been no other explanation”.

  Jasper clapped. “Well done!”

  “Thank you Master Killian for humouring me, and ensuring my safety” Jasper said in clear dismissal.

  Master Killian bowed and moved away.

  James guarded his thoughts by being one hundred percent present in the moment. The focus was wearing, but he was now able to not think about things he didn’t want to. Thanks, mind, stat.

  He didn’t let his guard down until he was back behind the guild walls.

  System Notification - Party System Quest received - Free Vern.