A minute after the bell was rung, waiters and waitresses started to flood in, pushing carts with tes covered with metallic silver cloches. Behind them, the chef who presumably prepared their meal also tagged along, a smile of pride fitted on his face.


    "Good evening,dies and gentlemen. I''m the Head Chef of Yeon Hwa Restaurant, Philippe! It is my honor to serve dinner to everyone present here."


    As he spoke, the tes were ced before each of them, still covered with the cloche. The added mystery made them anticipate what was toe, not only inducing their hunger more but also sating their inquisitive minds.


    "First, we''ll be having our hors d''oeuvre!" The chef, Philippe, announced in an energized tone.


    The cloche covering the foods was removed at the same time, revealing a small, fluffy blini topped with a delicate slice of smoked salmon, topped with creme fraiche.


    "This is a Smoke Salmon Blini with Dill Creme Fraiche! The concept was..."


    As the chef started to exin the ideas as he prepared the dish, the girls, and even Aster, skipped listening to him and instead took the small, bite-sized food and ate it in one go.


    It was light and slightly tangy, paired beautifully with the rich, smoky salmon and the creamy, herby creme fraiche. Cassy showed a reserved smile, her face saying that it didn''t meet her expectations. It was too bad for the chef, but the girls'' pte was already trained to perfection with Aster''s level 99 cooking!


    After that, just before the chef finished his exnation, another cart was pushed over, again, containing several tes covered with silver cloche. This repeated one after another as they went from the appetizer, fish course, main course, pte cleanser, cheese course, and dessert.


    The entire meal took about an hour and a half before it was finished!


    "I''m still hungry..." Cassymented.


    As expected of a high-ss restaurant, the food they were served practically had too few portions. It was impossible to get filled after eating those, making Aster wonder just what the purpose of such meals was, other than entertainment.


    As if finding a bright idea, Cassy leaned across the table, exposing her deep cleavage to Aster directly. "Right! Star! Let''s have a second meal in your roomter!"


    "Hmm? Well, I don''t mind, but... looking at the time, this would mean you''ll be staying over again. Are you fine with that?"


    "Yep! Who wants toe too?" Cassy nodded while raising her hand, scanning everyone else''s faces.


    The first to raise their hands were Tina, followed by Kali, and then Liz, who reservedly raised her hand. Right, although Liz was originally from a higher-ss family, she, too, didn''t like expensive course meals like this.


    "So that''s everyone..." Aster sighed, wondering how he''d sleep tonight.


    "Ahem!"


    Right then, Lori cleared her throat as she took a small swig of her red wine, swirling it in her ss like a virtuoso.


    "Do you remember what I said before the meal started?" She asked Aster as if to confirm if he was listening.


    "You mean... about something you want to ask of me?" Of course, he wouldn''t forget it so easily, as it was just about an hour ago. "Thanks for this wonderful meal, by the way. I''ll try to recreate these recipester and try them. Anyway, what is it you want to ask?"


    Mixing his gratitude with moving on to business, Lori showed a wry smile and chuckled.


    "Alright. I guess we can''t waste time." She started. "Actually, after half of my party died, it was dissolved by the leader, so now, I don''t have a party to hunt with. I was wondering if... you could add me to your party? It seems like there are still vacancies, after all."


    "You want to join our party?" Aster raised a brow, surprised by the suddenness of her request.


    "Yes. I''m a Witch, specializing in debuffs and curses. I''m sure you''ll find me useful since there are no spellcasters in your party."


    Aster turned to Cassy and thought that a healer wasn''t really counted as a spellcaster.


    "Why not? We''re still looking for more members anyway, and her job has great utility for our party." The first one to voice her approval was Liz, who was drinking the after-meal coffee.


    "Right. A debuffer would be a good addition to our party, increasing our versatility and responsiveness to unexpected situations."


    Kali added in fast speech, with her cheeks slightly red. Her hand was holding a ss of red wine, the same one Lori was drinking, which was now almost drained of its contents.


    Tina was also holding a ss of wine as she pressed her assets tight against Aster''s arm, waving the ss randomly as she spoke. "As long as she doesn''t bother me and darling''s confirmation of love, then I don''t mind either way."


    "Of course, I don''t have any problems with it either~!" Even Cassy was giving a thumbs-up to her offer.


    "..."


    Aster pondered for a bit, before facing Lori once more. He stared straight into her eyes and started to feel lightheaded. He wasn''t drinking alcohol, yet the feeling was as if he were drunk!


    "... Alright. Then, tomorrow, we''ll go to the guild and register you as our new member." He slurred a little as he replied.


    "Yes! I did it! Thanks!"


    Lori smiled sweetly, making everyone feel warm toward her.


    ---


    After that, Aster and the rest went back to his room in the Twister Hotel, while Lori split up with them, saying that she still had things to prepare for tomorrow.


    She walked to a high-ss hotel, a different one from the Twister Hotel, and went to the 177th floor, where her rented room was. As soon as she ced the keycard against the door, the lock released with a click.


    After entering, she didn''t bother turning on the lights and went straight to her sofa, plopping down and letting out a long sigh.


    "With this, I''ve now infiltrated their party."


    The order she received was originally to "control" Aster and bring him to *** City for "safekeeping."


    ''But if I do that, I''ll just return to being thepdog of that fucking general.''


    She ced a hand over her left eye, as if wanting to pull it out if she could. However, she stopped. Behind her left eye was a microchip—the thing that the general was using to control and monitor her actions.


    If it ever detected that she was trying to get rid of it, then the small explosive installed inside it would activate, and cause a small explosion inside her head, enough to destroy arge part of her brain, leading to instant death.


    In short, she couldn''t escape from their clutch, even if she wanted to!


    ''Soon...'' She mused, smiling lightly. ''Soon enough, I''ll be able to free myself from this curse!''


    She gently closed her eyes and slowly drifted into the world of dreams. And as she fell asleep, from her closed left eye, a red dot of light came to life, blinking like a heartbeat.