Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Note: These chapters will reveal what the others had been doing while Raven and the others were at Rose's house.

The once lone garden of 'The phordite mansion was now painted a tangerine glow. Lamps lit the path from the gates to the entrance hall and stalls decorated both sides with the maids serving drinks and different food items to those who were grateful for once. The gazebos were filled with chatter and so was every inch of grass with the commoners and their families enjoying a meal together.

The adult had some wine and the children fruit juices, although, under Tan's watchful eyes, the adults were rationed stiffly over the alcohol.

Yet even the usual drunks didn't complain, for the taste of grinded cashews turned dough with sweetened rosewater had sparked up their mind with a tingle like no other. The cashews, however, weren't the only sweet served at the stalls, from candied fruits to chocolate puddings, the contrast was plenty and there was enough for everyone to try at least a taste.

"Aye, kid…" But with the head maid walking up to Tan who'd been keeping track of everything, a small problem was about to be revealed. Glaring down at the racoon boy with her usual grumpy look, the head maid shadowed the moon with her tall dark hair and stared at the young demi-human for a while. "We're running out of fish oil, didn't I say we would!"

A bit uncomfortable with how close she was, Tan took a step back and quickly turned his eyes to his notes. Turning a few pages, he slipped one thumb on a sheet of paper as a bookmark while lightly lifting the rest of the stack from the edge to reveal an empty page. Writing something down on it, he tore it up and quickly handed it to the head maid.

"What's this?" She said looking at the note.

The note itself was brief and explained that a new rack of fish oil was arriving soon enough as the merchants had ran out before and were importing it as they spoke.

"Couldn't say that yourself–" By the time the head maid turned to the raccoon, he was already gone. It irked her how he treated her, never speaking a word and only communicating through the written word. But what she failed to realize was that she was a scary woman, especially when angered–thanks to the fact that she had to manage about a hundred workers around the premises.

'You snaky racoon…' Crumbling the note, she returned to her station, ever more determined to make the boy talk to her soon enough.

In the meantime, Tan was busy greeting the visitors. His masters were away even Erika and Aria weren't there, thus leaving the pleasantries for him to take care of. One after the other, he moved through the smiling faces, greeting them; even asking if they needed anything else–some did and he provided to the best of his abilities.

The hospitality of the red racoon had mellowed even the most vehement opposers of his masters. They were smiling with their children, eating together with Raven's many friends. Darius, Aelin, Moxy and even her father were there and enjoying a meal. It wasn't hard to spy them out either as Dune had an entire table stacked with meat and meat alone.

Most people still refrained from approaching the gargantuan wolf, but there were plenty of curious children interested in both him and the horned devil Aelin.

Smiling at the sight of Dune lifting a pack of human kids on both arms, Tan approached them for a greeting, although with the little girls trying to grab Aelin's horns and the boys trying to bite her tail, he had to quickly jump to the rescue instead.

"The candies are almost finished, if you still want some–" Before his words came to a close, the children looked at him with the widest pair of eyes. A bit spooked by the sudden attention, Tan stood there frozen while the children began screaming and rushing from his side to get to the stalls full of candy.

Watching them wander off screaming, he turned to the table again, and while Aelin smiled at him with a thankful nod, Dune glared at the racoon, not angry but dissatisfied with him. Taking that glare as a hint, he quickly greeted everyone on the table, asked if they needed anything and when they refused quickly went off to check on the last few groups.

The first group he walked up to was that of Tanya, Aura as well as Monty and Lincy. Since they knew each other beforehand, they'd decided to share the spot and chatter while enjoying the wine and the food. Everything seemed normal at first, but looking more closely as he approached, Tan noticed Lincy's body quivering lightly.

However, with a squeeze from Monty's hand on her hand that laid on the grass, her brother managed to soothe her nerves.

'Is she scared of people too?' Thought Tan. Closely watching the nervous look in Lincy's eyes, he noticed them moving with a jolt at every light movement around her from other people. But that fear quickly disappeared as her brother helped her with a spoonful of cake right next to her mouth.

For a moment she forgot about her fears, but even to someone like Tan who'd just met her, it was clear that it would return the moment the taste in her mouth fizzled out.

Greeting that group as quickly as possible, Tan moved through a few more before arriving at the last. Stuffed in a corner like a group of mischievous children on a trip, the very last group consisted of Raven's friends from when he used to be just an adventurer.

'They seem like a jolly bunch.' Walking up close to a dozen people sitting on two tables joined into one, Tan stood there for a while simply listening to their cheerful chatter. The spillage of wine across the table, the laughs and the audible sound of someone chewing loudly felt to him a bit disorderly but being a racoon himself, he didn't exactly mind a bit of filth.

'Albeit, I would never eat like this.'

In a rush to walk away, Tan allowed the group to continue until finally one of the girls noticed him from the edge of her eyes. Setting down her mug, she whistled for the others to get their attention on Tan. With all eyes on him, the young butler felt slightly intimated, but what would come next would leave him far more overwhelmed than he could've ever expected.

"Are you–" Being pulled closer halfway through his words, one of the warrior girls picked him off the ground like a stuffed toy and sat him down on her lap. "Wha-what are you doing?!"

"Oh hush it and drink, ahaha~" Having sneaked more drinks than what was allowed, everyone on the table, even the girl now holding Tan like a stuffed toy had gotten far too comfortable being a guest in someone else's house.

Feeling her hands wrapping around him from the back and her breasts squeezing around his neck, Tan's face turned a blushing red but at the time he felt a chill up his spine reminding him of the horrors committed against him. Those feelings, however, didn't last long for the girls and the boys around the table continued to chatter until those horrific memories fled out of Tan's mind.

'I guess…I can stay like this for a few more minutes.' He thought, shutting his eyes as the gentle touch of another person slowly drowned his trauma. But sleep wasn't something he could enjoy just yet, as the group was chatty and kept him up throughout the night.