Donovan looked over towards the entrance to the restaurant, and so did the others.
Clara, Vincent, and a girl with blue hair entered inside.
Donovan recognized the girl with blue hair as someone from the other group he couldn't socialize with.
Sasha got out of her seat, approached Clara, and hugged her. "What took you so long?" she asked.
"My sister called me to buy her something, so I got a bit delayed. My apologies," Clara answered. Meanwhile, Vincent approached the table where Donovan, Dean, and the others were sitting.
"Well, isn't this an interesting group? Mind if I join you guys?" Vincent smiled, taking off his coat.
The man with thin short black hair, Joseph, said, "Uh, the seat there's for Sasha. Ask her first—" Suddenly, Sasha interrupted Joseph by saying, "Oh, go ahead, Vin! I don't mind at all!"
With that, Vincent took a seat beside Donovan.
Finally, Juliana, the freakishly tall girl with a wolfcut hairstyle, returned to the table. She had finished ordering. But upon seeing that the table was now full of guys and no longer had Sasha in it, she walked away and sat at a different table.
Seeing this happen, Donovan's gaze landed on Dean, trying to see his reaction. And just as he expected, he had a face that screamed disappointment.
He once again suppressed another chuckle.
Meanwhile, Sasha also hugged the girl with blue hair. She said, "Ashley, glad to see you! I'm sorry we couldn't talk earlier…"
The girl with blue hair dressed in a long, black overcoat and a three-piece suit, Ashley, said with a smile, "It's perfectly fine, Sasha."
And so, Clara, Sasha, and Ashley both sat at the table where Juliana was sitting.
Meanwhile, at the table with Donovan and the others.
"Does anyone want to play cards?" asked Nick, the man with long, brown hair that reached up to his neck.
And upon saying this, the entire table said "No" simultaneously, except for Dean, who was still busy staring at the tall woman sitting beside Clara.
But suddenly, Joseph interrupted him by nudging his arm and saying in a low voice, "She ain't for you, pal."
The entire table heard this, making them draw their gaze at the two.
Dean exhaled, slowly turning his head to look at Joseph who was sitting beside him.
"What do you mean by that?" Dean asked with a forced smile.
"I'm saying she's out of your league." Joseph chuckled, looking at the others' faces. "I mean, she's 6'5"! Can you believe that?"
Donovan checked his watch. It had already been 35 minutes since Tiero dismissed them to change into heavy attire.
Plus, his social battery was running out, but upon seeing Dean and Joseph's exchange, it slightly went up.
I'm sorry, bro, but this guy Joseph is right…
Vincent chuckled, "Wait, is this what I think it is…?"
"Damn right, Vincent," Nick said with a smile.
Vincent continued, "Ooooh, our little man Dean is in love!"
As for Dean, the "little man" angered him. He stood up in an instant. "Who's the little man?!" he yelled, making everyone inside the restaurant stare at him, including the girls.
"Okay, okay, my bad." Vincent apologized.
Sasha shouted, "Hey, you guys, don't fight! If you do, I'll go over there and—"
"Oh, yeah?! What will you do, huh?!" Dean yelled once again.
"Woah, dude, calm down." Joseph stood up, grabbing him by the arm. But suddenly, Dean yanked his arm away from him. "Don't touch me."
Donovan gritted his teeth. He couldn't help but sigh.
Bro, your ego is…
Upon hearing Dean yell, Sasha stood up, walking towards him.
"Excuse me?" she said. Her face was oddly calm, composed, and… "gentle," "sweet," and "warm." But also, her face was laced with a strange malice.
"What are you gonna do, huh?!" Dean tried to walk towards her, but he was stopped by both Joseph and Vincent.
Meanwhile, Clara, Juliana, and Ashley, didn't do a thing.
Suddenly, Ashley said to the two of them, "Uh, why aren't we doing anything…?"
"Oh, let her have her fun," replied Clara. As for Juliana, she watched everything with a smile on her face.
As for Donovan, he didn't know what to do.
What the hell was in that bubble tea?!
"Hey, hey, calm down!" Vincent tried hard to get him back to sit down.
But suddenly, in one single moment, as Sasha stopped in front of Dean, she slapped him on the cheek with great ferocity!
Sasha shook her hand that she used to slap him with. Then, with a huff, she said, "Please fix your anger issues, Dean. And also your arrogant and condescending attitude, as well as your ego. In fact, fix everything about yourself. You need a factory reset."
The entire restaurant grew silent. The rest of the Visitors were speechless at this.
Dean slowly took a seat, unable to look her in the eye. Sasha walked back to her table with the others.
Meanwhile, Nick and Donovan were on the verge of laughing. Nick was trying to cover it up with coughing, but it was just making it worse. Meanwhile, Donovan was just straight up covering his mouth, busying himself with his phone.
Vincent and Joseph sat down. Joseph didn't even try to comfort Dean, as he thought it'd just make him angry again.
Suddenly, the doors of the restaurant burst open, and a man with gray hair in winter clothes entered.
The man was holding a can of beer, and upon entering, he yelled with a grin, "Whew! Let's get this mission started! Who's excited?!"
But his enthusiasm was met with silence with a bit of coughing.
"What the hell? Did a fight happen or what?" The man asked, scratching his head as he sipped on his can of beer.
Vincent gestured for him to come, and the man with gray hair approached Vincent's table with the others.
"What's the matter? What happened here?" The man asked once again.
"Rayman, take a seat," said Vincent.
The seats surrounded the table in a "C" shape. It could fit about six or seven people. The seats were orange in color, and the table was circular shaped.
Dean was sitting next to Joseph, Donovan was sitting next to Vincent, and Nick was at the center.
The man with gray hair, Rayman, approached the seat where Dean was sitting next to.
But Vincent quickly said, "Not there. Here, beside me."
Rayman nodded, and sat beside Vincent.
"So what the hell happened here?" Rayman asked for the third time. Vincent shook his head, saying, "Not important."
But suddenly, two robots walked over, carrying a tray of their orders.
They all gave everyone the drinks and food that Juliana had ordered for them earlier.
But as for Rayman, who had only just arrived, said to the robots, "Hey, uh, I'll have some spaghetti, thank you."
The robots nodded, and walked back to the counter.
Nick couldn't help but ask, "Are we paying for this?"
Joseph chuckled, "No, man. Mr. Tiero's paying for it. We can eat and drink as much as we want, and order as much as we want."
Vincent cleared his throat, "Don't. He'll be pissed."
As for Donovan, he sipped on a cup of coffee and got lost in his thoughts.
Everyone's finally here… Three Fighters, one Assassin, one Tank, two Rangers, two Healers, and… me, one Mage.
Now all that's left is for Mr. Tiero to come back.
It's been more than 40 minutes, where is he…?
Meanwhile, at the Portal Chamber.
Tiero was facing an old man with a thick beard dressed in a black suit, and next to Tiero was the messenger that the ten Visitors were going to protect and escort for the mission.
"What do you think? Do you think they're enough for the mission?" Tiero asked, his voice rough. He was using his right hand with a red metal glove to scratch his head.
The man with a thick beard answered, "Why'd you bring along that youngster Dean Aldridge? He's a ticking time bomb, and his attitude is dangerous."
"Mr. Null, Dean Aldridge is an excellent Assassin. Sure, he might be short-tempered, but his past missions were always a success." Tiero stopped scratching his head. "Plus, I assure you, he won't be causing any trouble anymore with me as his handler. His previous handler, Ma'am Mei Mori, has transferred him over to me. I'm sure he's getting along quite nicely with the others right about now."
"Oh, he better act like a good dog. If he jeopardizes this mission, that's on you," said the man that Tiero addressed as "Mr. Null."
The man, Null, continued, "And what about this Donovan Volgard? I seem to remember that you've said good things about him, saying he's the 'ideal' Visitor. I'd like this mission to prove your words are correct, Tiero."
"But I'll be expecting you to be wrong. I can't believe you'd have high expectations on a Shower Rank! Guess age is starting to catch up to you, huh? Just because he's related to Benedict doesn't mean he's special," said Null with a condescending smile.
Tiero gritted his teeth, and said, "And if I'm right, I'd like you to increase my pay."
Null humphed, and walked away, smoking a cigar.