DD 302 Ch 13

Misha came out of the bedroom and spun once, the skirt of her dress flaring. The dress was patterned with whales, it was bright, stylized, and beautiful. When diving the dungeon, every time I’d seen the Whaleryn, their clothes had been loose and functional. Seeing her in a fashionable, tailored dress added more charm to her already striking presence.

“You look great, Misha,” I said to the Whaleryn as she blushed bright red. The whole group was getting dressed in a store that Bellaire had brought us to so we could prepare for the evening’s party.

“What about me?” Felin asked and then launched herself into my arms to steal my attention.

I caught her as she flew across the room. She let out a low rumble, the vibration rolling through my entire body, her long blue-striped tail flicking at the front of my pants.

“You are as lovely as always, Felin,” I said, leaning forward and smelling a hint of cream on her breath.

Des caught my expression. “We bribed her with a carton of heavy whipping cream to get her into that outfit,” Des said, jabbing a finger toward Felin’s nose in accusation.

Felin exploded into giggles. “Well, you wouldn’t let me steep my clothes in Ken’s scent. But since you wouldn’t let me do that, I had to find another way.” She nuzzled against me again.

I shrugged helplessly at our ongoing Nekorian problems.

“She’s your problem now,” Des said, hands raised.

“Fair.” I sighed while her tail batted back and forth.

“Well, good thing I like you,” Felin added from my arms. She was wearing a loose white blouse that reminded me of something a pirate would wear, made all the more distinct by the fact she’d paired it with skin-tight leather pants.

“We’re trying to go with a slightly more exotic fashion tone,” Bellaire explained. “At least for Felin.”

“She doesn’t like dresses much,” I said dryly, understanding why she was the odd one out while the rest of the ladies were in dresses.

Bellaire leaned in and pecked my cheek.

“Dresses are too hard to fight in?” I whispered to the Nekorian conspiratorially.

Felin had the gall to whisper back, “I know. Still don’t like them.” Then she stuck her tongue out. The white-haired Nekorian had loose stripes on her skin. They weren’t fuzzy or anything, so they looked like tattoos on flesh like tiger stripes that tapered to points that didn’t quite touch.

Her ensemble was topped off with heavy sapphire-studded necklaces that went wonderfully with her blue eyes and the stripes, making them pop. It even highlighted where the blue color came through the white blouse where it pressed against her skin.

“So this is a party the humans are throwing you for killing some dwarves? I’m still trying to understand.” Misha asked. She looked mostly human, minus her blue hair, which shone as though it caught light from ocean waves and the pair of fin-like ears that flapped at the sides of her head whenever she turned too quickly. Her tail was mostly hidden by her dress at present.

“It’s more that a bunch of self-important people saw that Ken saved a bunch of lives, so now they want Ken to show up. They think some of his heroism will rub off on them, so they can hide their self-importance and greed,” Des explained.

Misha’s scowl deepened. “That sounds horrible.”

I shrugged. “It’s just the way of things? Don’t worry, not everyone is like that.” I paused. “Except for a few of the most powerful people in the world.”

Misha’s frown deepened further. “Do they have pods that they look after?”

“Probably something like that.” Des and I waffled, trying to sound at least moderately sincere.

“Humans are funny,” Felin shook her head. “But they make cream, so they have at least some redeeming qualities.”

I blinked at the Nekorian, then let the comment go as the rest of the group joined us. My whole party was here along with Misha and Bellaire. Sadly the elves hadn’t been able to join us. And we hadn’t seen Crimson now for a while; the UG apparently had her quite busy.

“Now, if you’re all ready, then perhaps I could rip us a portal back over?” I offered the group.

“Yes.” Des stood up straight and glanced over her shoulder to check with Bellaire, Penny, and Charlotte, who at this point were all dressed to the nines and ready to party with a bunch of rich socialites. I had to admit they looked excited, even if I was secretly dreading the event. I could put up with it if it would be fun for all of them.

“So these people are powerful adventurers?” Misha asked.

“Wealthy people,” I clarified. “Though many of them have probably been carried through the dungeon to at least have some levels.”

Misha frowned. “Carried?”

“Yeah. Someone high level brings someone low level and just kills a bunch of things for them to artificially raise their level.” I explained.

Misha’s eyes went wide in shock. “Why would anybody do that?” She said it as if a crime had been committed.

I glanced at Des for help answering.

“Because they really, really don’t want to actually put their lives at risk,” Des said. “So they find someone powerful to help them get levels and look after them so they can get the physical benefits of being an adventurer without a lick of risk.”

“A whole pod agrees to this?” Misha asked, clearly struggling to translate her culture into the way we went through the dungeon.

“Well, we don’t have those,” I said. “And honestly random grouping for adventurers can be a little dangerous. It makes sense for those not interested in diving at all to do it like this. It’s a business for adventurers. Those doing carries are likely fighting below their level to make it easy since their group essentially has some deadweight.”

Misha shook her head. “Humans are quite confusing. I can’t believe you used to be one.” She looked between me and Des. “Life probably would have been easier if you had turned yourself into a Whaleryn. Just saying.”

Felin perked up. “If he had an option, he should have become a Nekorian!” The way she yelled those words into my face made it sound like she was legitimately offended.

“Don’t worry,” I said, rubbing Felin’s head as I carried her. “And besides, I didn’t really have a choice. Des’s grimoire didn’t exactly have ‘turn me into a catboy’ as one of the options.” I felt we were ready enough and if I let them delay me longer, we were going to be late. Looking over to an empty area, I opened a portal midair.

We’d taken a taxi over to the ballroom hosting this afterparty before so that I could portal in. Personally, a ballroom party wasn’t exactly what I’d call an afterparty, but New York socialites were their own breed. And I was here to put on a good show for Haylon and the UG.

While I might not have been ecstatic about this event, if I was going to go, I was certainly going to make an entrance.

The portal opened up in the center of the ballroom, right on a stage Gary said he would prepare. I peeked out. The stage was empty, though a little small.

I stepped out of the portal, that first step landing with a loud thump.

If the portal hadn’t gotten everyone’s attention, the thump certainly did. The entire crowd spun toward me.

I held my arms out as, one by one, the others joined me, hopping through the portal one by one. I caught each of them before setting them down, then let them mix and mingle with the rest of the crowd. Then I performed a small bow and hopped down off the stage to join them.

Felin chuckled and stayed glued to my side. “These people are looking at you like you saved their lives or something. They weren’t in any actual danger, were they?”

“No, not really,” I said, plucking an entire tray of champagne and beginning to hand glasses to my group. The place was polished within an inch of its life, the patterned wooden floor reflected the bright golden light from above. The whole place was lit up like it was daylight from a single massive chandelier that hung from the center of the room.

The space was open, like a typical ballroom, with massive pillars lining two sides. My stage had been placed in the center, and was being taken away for what I could only guess was the next event of the night.

“We discussed earlier and let’s not rehash it now,” Des said, handing around the flutes.

Felin briefly grabbed a second glass, before realizing everyone else was still on their first. With a guilty little expression, she took a tiny sip of her second and slid the full one back onto the tray like it wasn’t hers.

“Please don’t get too drunk, Felin,” Des said, giving the Nekorian a long, labored look.

Felin pouted. “Nekorians do not get drunk easily.” To prove her point, she swiped another drink off a passing tray, downed it, and set the empty glass back all in a single graceful spin.

While we were trying to keep Felin’s antics contained, the crowd parted like the Red Sea as Gary walked toward us with a glass raised in toast. “Ken, my man, I’m so happy you were able to make it. We’ve even got a special show coming in a couple hours. Once rumor got around that you were joining too, this party kicked itself up a notch.”

“Oh, you didn’t need to do anything on my account,” I said quickly, already feeling out of my depths. I really hoped the show wasn’t some sort of interpretive dance that I wouldn’t know even what to comment on.

Gary waved a hand and snorted. “I have to show you a good time so that you come back, right? Besides, they should be happy to put on a show here. They’ll probably get ten more gigs off these rich sons of bitches.” He said the last part loudly while waving toward one of said sons of bitches, who turned back with a chuckle.

“Saying bad things about me again, Gary?” the older man asked, he was like the monopoly character come to life. Then he turned toward me and my group. His gaze lingered on several of the more exotic ladies before recognition struck, and his eyes snapped to me.

“Holy shit. You’re Ken Nagato,” he said, loud enough that the crowd around us stirred and tuned in. Although it was very likely they had all been paying subtle attention to him.

“Pleasure to meet you,” I said, holding out a hand. “I bet you’re a mover and shaker of the world, but, as Des can attest, I try to keep my head firmly in the dungeon these days.”

“Peter. I own, well, most social media at this point.” He chuckled as he shook my hand, and I was taken aback by how casually he dropped that ownership, before realizing the casualness was part of the bit to be overly blase about it all.

So I laughed and gave his hand an extra pump. “Well, I certainly can’t compare to that, can I?” I glanced at the girls to prompt a reaction.

Felin was the first to speak up, tilting her head as her ears flicked around. “What’s social media?”

Her words made the man bluster, almost ready to start a tirade, until he stared more closely at her.

I realized he must’ve been deep into his drinking already based on his confusion. I was about to clarify when I saw the recognition hit. He noticed the ears on her head.

“Oh. Oh. You’re a Nekorian,” he said quickly and shook his head. “I was so stunned by your beauty, I barely even noticed the ears.”

Felin tilted her head again. “That’s stupid. You should be more aware of your surroundings.”

“Alright, I’m gonna take her and show her around,” I said, grabbing Felin by the shoulders and trying to move her, only for her to plant her feet.

“What? If he’s only that aware, he’d be dead twenty times over in the dungeon, and we all know it.” She huffed.

Thankfully, he took it the comments stride and laughed. “Oh, I’m definitely past my prime in the dungeon, unlike Ken here.” He ribbed me good-naturedly, and I realized just how much these people wanted to suck up to me right now. I might as well use that to my advantage.

I doubted he ever went into the dungeon except to get carried or poke a boss while someone else held it down.

“Yeah, well, you have to put in the work while you can,” I said, trying to make light of his comment.

“Yeah, well, before too long I’m sure the Silverfangs will have the market cornered on helping guys like me get an extra ten levels and squeeze another good decade out, right?” He shot me a wink.

Suddenly I pieced together why he, and probably every wealthy person in the room, was paying me more attention than I had expected.

“Oh. Well, right now we only have contracts like that for those who work for us directly.” I answered casually.

He raised his glass toward me. “Yeah, but being directly with you or taking vague contract work, that’s all a very flexible area.” His tone insisted I agree.

“Hey, you told me no business tonight,” Bellaire chided, jumping in to save me. Peter and I both laughed.

“Well, you heard the rules.” I played it up like I could only do as Bellaire decreed. “Happy wife, happy life, as they say.”

Peter chuckled. “And in my six divorces, I can confirm the opposite is at least true.” He held his hand out to Bellaire. “Peter. Pleasure to meet you.” The guy never even said his last name. Everybody else must know it.

“Bellaire. The pleasure is all mine.” She said, leaving out her own last name in a small snub right back at him, but the move didn’t seem to affect him.

“Oh, I know who you are.” Peter shook a finger in the air. “You’ve done more than a few influencer pushes on our platforms. They moved the spreadsheets enough that even I know the name, and trust me, it takes a big move on the spreadsheets for someone like me to notice.” Peter chuckled, though it wasn’t the flex he seemed to think it was. If anything, it told me he wasn’t paying that much attention.

“Oh, well, I’m always happy that I’ve done good work. But you see, now I’ve moved on to become head of PR at the Silverfangs Guild.” She gave him a polite nod.

Peter was good natured about her response and lifted his glass slightly in her direction. “Opportunities. And if you do open up shop again, do remember me and my company. We are such pitiful things,” he said with a chuckle.

“Cream!” Felin suddenly interjected, grabbing my hand and pointing. I was happy for the distraction.

Gary, who had been standing to the side smiling like a man who was having his hobby complimented, glanced over at where Felin indicated. “Oh, I have heard that Nekorians love cream.” Gary grinned.

“This is as true as the sun rises in the east,” I said with a rueful shake of my head. “We have to buy it in bulk before every dive.”

“Wonderful! I had my assistant look up some of the best cream-based drinks,” Gary said. He motioned for one of the servers to come over. “We wanted a Nekorian opinion for our guest.”

Felin looked up at me with shining eyes, desperately wanting me not to deny her the tasty cream drinks. 

“Go ahead,” I chuckled and nodded toward the platter.

Felin nearly vibrated. “What’s this one? And this one?” she asked, pointing at half a dozen drinks in rapid fire, overwhelming the server who was about to hand them out.

I glanced around the room, a sudden intrusive instinct made me activate [Eyes of Wisdom]. I scanned the crowd for Threadspawn just in case there were some that had made their way into New York.

My heart plummeted.

I found no less than a dozen. None were in the partygoers, but they were in the serving staff, or that is who I assumed was in the kitchen beyond.

“We have a problem,” I said under my breath to Des.

“Yes, we do,” Des said into her drink. “Felin is going to be wasted. You realize that, right?”

I followed Des’s line of sight and sure enough Felin was already being handed far too many drinks by party goers with the notion that she was the new authority on cream-based drinks.

“It’s not that bad,” I tried wincing and looking at Des in hopes of agreement.

Des did not look impressed.

“Well, unfortunately, I meant a worse problem.” I clarified, keeping my voice low.

That got her attention. Des shifted to regard me fully.

“I don’t like the sound of that.” She waited, suddenly far more on guard, although she hid it to the others.

“We have a… worm problem.” I glanced around again to make sure no one was listening.

Des froze. “Please tell me that’s a new euphemism for your dick. Please.” She closed her eyes with a pained grunt.

“No.” I made a face at the idea. “Threadspawn, through that door.” I nodded.

“Can’t blame a woman for hoping,” Des muttered. She looked out over the party. “Now, what are we going to do about it?”