Jack approached Silverwing. He gave him a salute and said, "thank you for helping us."
"It's no problem," Silverwing replied with a smile.
Jack looked at the people of Death Associates who were already in the distance. "I think making an enemy of them is quite a big problem, if I may say so."
Silverwing laughed. "It might be, but it might have been worth it."
"Oh, how so?"
"This is not a good place to have a discussion. How about you come to our place?" Silverwing gestured towards the City Hall. "You can wait out the remaining days with us there. It has much better accommodations compared to sleeping on the grass here."
Jack was conflicted, he disliked going into a stranger's territory without knowing what he was getting into. But it would also be extremely rude to reject the guy's offer after he just saved them.
Jack finally said, "Alright if my friends come with me?" Jack was worried that either Death Associates or Weary Wolf would find an opportunity to harm Bowler or Fierce Flame when he was not around.
"Of course," Silverwing agreed and directed them to the City Hall.
As they came closer to the City Hall, they could see the majestic building in greater detail. It was built in a classical style with numerous large pillars as the building's main foundation. At the front of the building was a wide staircase leading up to large wooden double doors. Rows of windows decorated the façade with an extremely symmetrical look. Its style was completely opposite in feel to the modern abstract sculpture at the center of the park.
As Silverwing led them up the staircase, they could see a large number of people patrolling the perimeter of the building. It was apparent that the sixty people that Silverwing had summoned to intimidate Death Associates were only a small fraction of his guild.
They entered the building into a massive main hall with a glass-covered domed ceiling. The glow from the light beam in the sky created an ethereal beauty in the hall as it filtered through the glass dome.
The white stucco walls were lined with paintings and drawings of past mayors and past city projects. Four silver chandeliers hung at the four corners of the ceiling where the glass dome ended. Several members of White Scarfs were lounging at ease around the hall.
Silverwing took his three guests deeper inside the building and into the Mayor's office. The office was quite luxurious with dark hardwood floors, paneled walls and a beautifully decorated plaster ceiling. Two large leather sofas were positioned in the middle of the room facing each other with a square rosewood coffee table between them. A large desk with a plush executive office chair was situated at the far end of the office with a full glass wall behind it, showcasing an outstanding view of a small garden with the city skyline in the distance.
Silverwing took a seat on one of the sofas. He was joined by one of the two women who had been in his original party. The teenager stood beside the entrance door, while the other woman and the old man stood at either end of the sofa. Silverwing gestured for his three guests to take seats on the other sofa opposite him. When they were all seated, a young girl came in bringing a tray with several glasses and two bottles of red wine. She placed the tray on the coffee table, filled each glass and served them to each of the people sitting on the sofas.
While the girl was serving the drinks, Silverwing introduced his people.
"We haven't been formally introduced. As you have heard, my name is Silverwing, I am the co-leader of White Scarfs guild. This is my second in command, Bluedaze," he nodded to the woman sitting beside him. "These two are the elders of our guild, Sinreaper and Honeycomb," he gestured to the old man and woman standing beside his sofa. "And that grumpy yet reliable boy over there is Dashrunner," he pointed to the teenager.
Jack nodded and introduced his group in turn, "I am Storm Wind, this is Star Bowler, and the lady here is Fierce Flame."
Silverwing nodded to the three of them, he then lifted his glass and took a sip. He motioned for the others to help themselves, "Our city's finest wine, courtesy of our hard-working taxpayers."
Bowler was happy to help himself. He took his glass and had a taste of the wine. "A fine wine this is," he said.
Flame left her glass alone, while Jack politely held his glass but didn't drink it.
"You certainly have made yourself at home," he commented.
Silverwing laughed. "The City Hall was meant for the city's leader. And the city's leader has always been from the party with the largest community support, hasn't he? With the population now reduced to just that crowd outside, I currently lead the largest community. By rights, then, this place should be mine."
"That's a convenient way to look at it," Jack acknowledged.
"Well, let's be honest then. This building is mine because I am strong enough to hold it. End of story."
Jack nodded. "So, can we get to the point of why you saved us?"
Silverwing grinned, "You are a direct person, so I will treat you the same way. What do you think of joining our guild?"
"Not interested," Jack answered without hesitation.
The teenager who stood by the door stamped his foot.
"You ungrateful jerk! After we went through the trouble of bailing you out? Do you know it's an honor to receive an invitation from our guild? Many people have begged for the opportunity to join."
Silverwing, whose smile had never diminished, waved his hand to calm the teenager.
"I did foresee the possibility of your declining my offer, but I didn't expect you to decline so straightforwardly. May I know your reason?"
"It's nothing against you, really, I just don't like getting tied down."
"I see, you are one of those independent players who have no interest in joining a faction."
"That's right," Jack nodded. "If I may ask, why are you interested in having me join?"
"Well, every organization is always looking for the best assets. And a guild's best assets, for the most part, are its members."
"But we haven't met each other before this. What makes you think we are valuable assets?"
"Not we, Mr. Storm Wind, it's only you whom I'm interested in. As for the reason, it is a pretty common one. Any guild would want to recruit strong members."
"Oh? And how do you know I'm strong?"
Silverwing's smile went wider. "I didn't get to my position just because of my good looks, you know. I have many eyes and ears. Even in such a chaotic situation, where no one knows what exactly has happened and whether we can go back to the real world, I still find it important to know as much as I can about what is happening in my surroundings. Your tussle with the Weary Wolf gang didn't go unnoticed, especially the fact that you could easily defeat two level 9 and 10 players within seconds."
"I was just lucky," Jack said.
"Luck is an ability as well, otherwise it wouldn't be included as one of our attribute stats."
"I suppose that's true."
"Well then, since you have rejected my offer. We are at an impasse here. You see, I have offended Death Associates for you, nasty people that they are. I can't just go uncompensated, right?"
"Wait! We didn't ask for your help," Bowler suddenly piped in.
"Whether you asked it or not, you definitely needed it at that time."
Jack signaled for Bowler to calm down. He said to Silverwing, "Your coming to save us could be seen as your just being busybodies. Nevertheless, I do appreciate what you did and I am not the type to owe a favor. Let's leave it this way: if you need help or a favor in the future, as long as it is not against my moral code, I will help you. This is the best I can offer. Otherwise, just throw us to those Death Associates people and let us fend for ourselves."