I would say I have some confidence in my writing, but this chapter just wasn't feeling it, you know? Maybe I'm more stressed than I should as this has been a pretty bad week for me. I suppose a lot of people feel it at some point and for me no matter how many times I re-read this, changed the order around I just... I'm really not pleased with this I'm really so, so sorry. But I decided to leave it as is and to stop worrying. What ever happens, happens, right? Erm... I don't know what else to say.
At least it's a bit longer than usual chapters? Ok I got a bit excited towards the end because bickering dorks are adorable dorks hahaha.
Also, Half Prince chapter 68 of the manhua came out recently! How excited are you? It feels like a cliffhanger and I'm hoping... Even though the light novel was 68 chapters that the manhua isn't over yet for at least one or two chapters! I know that's not the end! We have so much to see still. I really don't want it to end. Sob sob.
{-}
Somewhere in Infinity City, stood a bar that catered to the needs of the players low in funds. It also served as a place where people could go and relax, drink decent alcohol, good food and just overall wind down from a exhausting day of playing.
The bar was a seemingly quiet place. Dimmed lights everywhere with high tables in rows of four, with enough space between them for people to pass by. The walls were painted a dark red, with mesmerizing paintings detailing Odd Squad's victories here and there.
More propaganda Gui sighed. "This is your twelfth glass by now, right, Wolf?" He said to his friend as he took a swig of his own wine filled glass. He was already on his fifteenth or so drink. The ceiling of the already barely lit place was spinning.
Gui and Wolf had the time to finally take a breather and had decided to meet up and go drinking. They were members of the quote and quote "privileged," the spot left to those lucky enough that owned pieces of land, and amongst the top players in the game but even then, everyone had their own struggles. Theirs just happened to be in the guise of a human wizard who was a part of their group.
The more coins they ended up spending, the more time Yu Lian would likely end up screaming at them, so the bar had been a good idea because one, it was cheap, and two, it was in their own territory.
It was weird that no one had recognized them yet, being that Ugly Wolf's features were hard to miss. But they had tried their best. Gui was wearing a cloak, a dark navy blue with a hoodie to hide his hair and ears. Ugly Wolf had attempted the same, his cloak a dark shade of purple. It was good that the bar had dim lights, that had really helped them out.
They sat at the very back of the bar, near where the bartender was. Taking the stools closer to the back wall, they sat down and had remained there the rest of the night, laughing like idiots and ordering glass after glass of wine.
By their twentieth glass, their words slurred and were losing coherent thoughts. Everything seemed funnier to them and the bartender had denied them anymore alcoholic drinks. They refused to leave yet and it was hard to tell which of them had ordered the coffee that did not do any job of sobering them up. Neither did three cups of water. They ended up going to the bathroom a numerous amount of time that night as well.
By the time the coffee and water had done some effect, Gui was already sitting in top of the table, guquin out and strumming it quietly.
It was safe to say everyone was as drunk as they were because there wasn't any screaming from fans or yells about them signing autographs or urging them to tell of their many adventures. Everyone was just clapping their hands at the, 'cute bard who played good music'
"Come on, Wolf," Gui said with his free hand, ushering his best friend forward, "do something. How about being my backup?"
"Unlike you," Wolf said, "I do not know how to play an instrument nor do I carry one with me."
"Pffft! You're no fun." Then Gui cheered up. "I know! You can dance."
"What?" Wolf sputtered back, as if his friend had said something completely silly. "I don't dance."
"Sure you can!"
"I don't."
"I know you can!"
"Not a chance. I don't dance," Wolf was shaking his head. "No way am I doing something as silly as that."
"I'm playing soft, traditional music." Gui stated. "You must surely know how to dance at least that. It's not like I'm asking for the impossible."
Ugly Wolf sighed. By the third attempt by the bard to get him to dance to the gentle sounds of the guquin, the priest had caved in.
Everyone who was there that night, had a treat and a lot to say, that's for sure.
{-}
It seemed that everyone from Odd Squad had gotten that weekend to go off on their own and it was to the extreme bad luck of Gui and Ugly Wolf, that in that same bar, Lolidragon had made her appearance.
She too was equipped with a cloak to cover herself and she had blended well into the crowd that no one really seemed to care who she was or noticed much about her.
Comes with the thief class I suppose she thought to herself.
And so, hearing the commotion, Lolidragon peeked towards the table where the clapping was directed towards. She snickered when she saw just what was going on and decided to enjoy the show her idiotic team members were doing. She would make sure they would never live this down though.
She snapped a few shots and then walked towards the bartender to find out how many coins the idiots had wasted in their night out.
Seriously! You can't trust either of them. I refuse to be a babysitter! Let them get back to the castle how they can!
In the end, she had quietly stayed behind until they left the bar, still not bringing any attention to herself.
It was pretty late when Gui and Wolf had managed to get out of the bar. They were still pretty tipsy and the time they managed to get back to the palace, surprised the thief, who was lurking from the shadows. She sighed in relief and decided to call it a end to her snooping ways.
At least they got home okay, right?
The thief silently hoped that Prince wouldn't see Gui drunk and that Yu Lian was in a forgiving mood.
{-}
The wizard had been pissed off, as she had been screaming to the two hungover guys the rest of the weekend.
Prince was happy that he had gotten time off from his duties, and for once was enjoying himself, doing things here and there around the castle that the wizard had permitted him to do and hadn't scolded him one bit. He was a bit eager to know why all her rage seemed fixated on Wolf and Gui though.
"Hey, hey, Sunshine. Pssst!" Prince ushered his NPC friend over and asked him. The guy shrugged, apologized that he didn't know either and ran off to find Fair Sky. Prince sighed and decided to give it a rest.
"His royal highness!" He spoke too soon, for there was Gui going towards him with outstretched arms. "Save me!"
Prince dodged out of the way and tilted his head confusedly. "Save you? From what?"
"Yu Lian has gone insane!"
Prince blinked and stared at the bard. "She's always been that way." He couldn't help but point out.
"Wolf and I went out yesterday and we kind of spent more coins than we thought we would and well..." He was rambling.
"Okay, okay, calm down and explain this again. What happened?"
{-}
"You what!?" Yu Lian exclaimed to the ever organized husband of hers. Who had managed to spend over 2,000 silver coins on wine between him and his best friend. She raised her arms in defeat. "I can't with you guys."
"In my defense," Wolf said, "I wasn't the one who ended up embarrassing himself while playing his guquin and singing ridiculous love ballads."
"Worse," Lolidragon chirped in. "you danced to those love ballads!"
Everyone rolled on the floor laughing.
"Wait... How did you know this, Lolidragon?" Prince asked from his place in his throne. Sure, he was as interested as the rest to find out what had happened to make Wolf, their most trusted team member, lose it like that. But that Lolidragon had found out before them was another thing entirely. Sure she was the intel gatherer of the group but this was just ridiculous.
"Kukuku." the thief snickered. "Don't underestimate the power I have. Who do you think I am?" She winked.
"You are the devil's reincarnate!" Prince answered calmly.
"Hmph!" Lolidragon crossed her arms.
"Didn't we all get last weekend off to do as we pleased?" Doll asked quietly. "I was practicing my skeleton forming spells. What were you all doing, Doll wonders."
"Well..." Lolidragon sweat dropped. She couldn't tell them she spent the later hours of Friday night tailing after the bard and the priest to make sure they wouldn't get into trouble. "Stuff."
No one dared to ask anyways.
{-}
On Monday afternoon, Min Gui Wen walked into his literature class to find out that everyone was in their seats and eager to start the lesson. They were all talking to each other about the occurrences in game, what they all did, how they trained, or in the worst case scenarios; about Odd Squad and the this-and-that rumors that always followed them around. It was always this way in his class, after all. He was surprised to see them be punctual and it always freaked him out a bit.
More like, they come early to gossip and ask what happened he grumbled as he took his seat in the desk and began preparing for the lecture.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Feng Lan was excitedly talking to her classmates Gu Jun Fei and Lu Jing, laughing and snickering as she pointed at something in her tablet. From where he was seated he could tell it was the Second Life homepage but he didn't know just what they were talking about.
"Alright, class." He coughed and tried to grab their attention, "we're starting."
Everyone groaned. "But professor Gui! We haven't heard any story from you yet." One of the girls said quickly. "Yes, professor. Do tell us what happened this weekend."
Yang Ming raised his hand. "I heard you and Ugly Wolf got drunk at a bar." He snickered.
"Rumors will be rumors." Gui sighed.
"A cloaked bard playing a guquin on a Friday night, and a priest dancing quite horribly do not seem like rumors if a lot of people reported to have seen them." Yang Ming countered.
He wasn't going to live this down, was he? "I'm a twenty six year old, you would think I would get a say into what I can and can't do without anyone interfering."
"You're forgetting just who you are." Lan mumbled to herself. I would knock some sense into you, you jerk but I can't right now. Do you know the trouble you and Wolf have caused me? Just wait until I log in back into the game!
Gui closed his book and smacked it against the table. "If you have any complains, they can wait until after class." He grabbed a chalk and began to write in the blackboard. "I'm assuming since you all seem to keep up with news around Second Life, you also had time to read what you were supposed to this weekend. Open to page three hundred and let us continue from there."
It's not like I got drunk in real life! He wanted to yell out.
His class kept pestering him about the in-game business and he happily gave them all extra homework, wishing them luck for the time they would enjoy reading instead of wasting time exploring their precious Second Life.
{-}
On Monday night, Prince walked into the palace throwing a hissy fit. "Stupid bard!" He was mumbling to himself. "When I catch you you're dead!" Stomping his feet loudly, knowing that the echoes resounded through the hallways he slammed open the door to the throne room and sat down without a care in the world.
Lolidragon walked in not a minute later with a folder in hand and stared at him. "Prince?"
"What!?" He raised a hand as if giving her permission to talk.
"I have that report you wanted from Yu Lian." She said handing the folder over. "Not that you would understand any of it, anyways."
"We're cutting on personal expenses until the festival and no questions about it, Lolidragon."
"Safe to assume that alcoholic beverages are included?" She said laughing.
"What if they are?" He said with a huff as he looked through the papers inside and signed his name then handed it back to her. "Give this to Yu Lian and tell her to make copies and hand them over to everyone in the palace. Gui and Ugly Wolf are the first to get this, you hear me?"
Lolidragon nodded and mockingly saluted him. "Sir!" She laughed and walked away. "The things this idiot gets serious over are hilarious."
{-}
"I knew his highness was upset with me!" Gui wailed as he scanned through the folder he was given. "I shouldn't have agreed to go with you on Friday." He pointed accusing fingers at Ugly Wolf.
"So this my fault now?" The priest couldn't help but ask. "Who's the one who got so drunk he threw our disguises away by giving a concert of sorts hmmm?"
"You danced your drunken self out as well." Gui stated.
"And you sang your drunken self out first."
Feng Wu Qing stared at both of them and laughed from where he was at. "Seriously," he wiped a tear from his eye. "This is the most hilarious thing I have seen all month other than my tranny sister's disappearance to the Southern Continent."
"His highness is not a tranny! Stop calling him that."
"Prince is a tranny, Prince is a tranny!" Feng Wu Qing was having too much fun.
"Say that again, Wu Qing," Prince said as he walked into the room, "and I will make sure it's not just Central Continent you're banned from." His words sounded sweet but lashed back in icy-like venom. Wu Qing instantly stopped and Prince plopped down in one of the bean bag chairs. His gaze softened a bit. "Who I am doesn't matter here. You should know that by now."
"It should, when you're a tranny!"
Prince's dao was out in the blink of an eye. "I told you not to say that word again you pathetic little brother of mine. You want to go, huh? I can kick your ass right here and now. What level are you? Let me send you on a one way trip to the rebirth point!"
"Okay you two, calm down..." Gui tried to make them enter into reason.
"Shut up! This is between me and him!" Prince said.
"Yeah, you're not our professor right now and it's about time someone put this problem-giving sister of mine into her place."
"I don't know what's more depressing," Wolf whispered to Gui. "That I'm rooting for him even though Prince is higher leveled, or the fact I find that Wu Qing calling him a tranny is hilarious and never gets old."
Gui was starting to panic and glanced left and right. "Do something Wolf! I don't want his highness to get hurt."
"That's what worries you?" Wolf sweat dropped. "Not that they're revealing out of game secrets but the fact that a fight could start out?"
"Yes!" Gui flailed his arms. "Not a single scratch should appear in the face of his royal highness. Wu Qing is stepping out of boundaries."
"Technically speaking, he is Prince's brother. This isn't stepping on any boundaries..."
"Wolf!"
"I don't think I could do anything even if I tried, Gui." Was his response.
"Good for nothing!"
"Training spot hogger!"
"Tiara wearing tranny!"
Prince rolled his eyes at that one. "Unoriginal dingus!"
"Dork!"
"Homework copycatter!"
Wolf stepped in between them. "Okay, okay, if you two would stop your bantering before I call Lolidragon over."
Wu Qing and Prince's face paled at the same time. "Anyone but her!" They hugged each other at the same time. "Yes, we're the bestest of friends, see?"
Gui and Wolf sighed in relief.
"I still think you're a tranny." Wu Qing whispered to her.
"And I still think you're not getting dinner tonight." Prince smirked.
Ten minutes later, Lolidragon walked info the room and huffed. "You had to call me over for this?" She pointed to Prince and Wu Qing. "When will you two behave? You act like bickering children!"
"He started it!" "She started it!"
"I don't care who started it!" She threw her arms up into the air. "Wu Qing, you are in Prince's territory. And his ally. Whether you like it or not, tranny or not, your sister is the number one player in this game get over it already." Prince snickered. "And you! Mister high and mighty! Threatening your allies is a no-no!"
They both crossed their arms. "Hmph!"
[-]
I know this is Prince's territory and his castle but seriously. How much off game stuff will they keep sputtering until at some point, someone besides them walk-in and find out their secrets? Only in fanfics lol!
Preview: "Your highness!" Gui exclaimed excitedly as he saw Prince coming around to the corner he was walking to. "If you're not too busy, can we perhaps take a walk around the gardens?"
Prince, who was looking for a way to escape from his duties, shrugged and nodded. It wouldn't hurt to accept his advances for once.
'you have to choose one of us,' Wicked's voice echoed inside his head. 'or both of us will eventually get hurt' Wolf's voice also echoed. Prince's choice was made after dealing with Long Dian, perhaps it was time he and Gui had a talk...
Basically, PROGRESS! See you next time!