An Englishman in Castle Aincrad

Intermission - The Best Laid Plans

February 20th, 2023 - Floor 1 - Town of Beginnings

The unlikely group sat at a table in the Town of Beginnings consisted of a wannabe knight and his older sister, a pariah, a fencer, a wannabe samurai, a responsible adult, a treasure hunter and a swordswoman. Probably the strangest council in history... certainly in Aincrad's history, anyway. Jet began the meeting, with words he rarely used - ''So... We need your help.''

''Our help? Who've you annoyed now, and who are they sending after you?'' - Klein joked, whilst Strea recovered after a spit take. Her brother... asking for help? Had she died, and woke up in a... alright.

''Har bloody har, Klein. No, it's Koharu's birthday in three days, and well...'' - Jet looked awkwardly to the roof.

''You want our help to do something big, right?'' - Agil hit the nail on the head.

''Bingo. It's her eighteenth too, so...''

''Whaddya need, Knight-boy?'' - A familiar hood, and tuft of blonde hair popped up out of nowhere... 25 minutes late, leading to Jet feeling as if he'd just jumped a mile in the vertical direction. Really, it was a shame there wasn't a Surprise skill in this game, as Argo would've mastered it by now...

''Argo, one of these days, you are going to give me a heart attack... but, what we need, is a distraction, and some help setting everything up.''

''Setting what up?''

''I'm planning something for Koharu's birthday, so -'' - If it were possible to see the inner machinations of someone's mind, Jet would've sworn he saw Argo's mind just whirr into life... - ''Consider it done. Me an' Kii-boy'll handle the distraction, you six handle the set up.''

''You will?'' - Jet asked, questioning the change in plan.

''We will!?'' - Kirito asked in surprise, having not been privy to Argo's plan.

''We will.'' - Argo stated, confirming the knight's query, and ignoring the swordsman's interjection.

''Okay then... how much do I owe you for this...'' - Jet - and more importantly, Jet's wallet - asked, fearful of the reply.

''On the house.'' - Jet rubbed his ears, in disbelief at the reply. Had he heard that correctly? Argo doing something out of the kindness of her heart? Had he gone to an alternate dimension... or had Argo been replaced by someone less money grabbing?! He really hoped it was the latter...

''So... uhh, what is the plan?'' - Klein, for once being the voice of reason, and dreading the next sentence, asked...

''So glad you asked...'' - Putting on a very posh British accent, and laying on the RP pronunciation, Jet wore the same smirk he often did, usually when describing a plan that could only be answered with the phrase ''That's insane!''...

February 22nd, 2023 - Floor 7, Volupta

A curious fact about Floor 7. On that floor lay a casino... one where the owners particularly struggled for cash. Of course, given this was an NPC owned establishment, it wasn't like it would ever have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but it did mean that the owners had taken to renting the place out... for a reasonable price, according to the resident rat. All they'd have to do is ask for the owner, and hopefully that would activate the quest that allowed them to rent the place for Koharu's party...

As Strea, Rain and Agil had chosen to prepare the non perishable elements of the party, and the actual decorations, whilst Phillia took Koharu on a quest on the Tenth Floor, to find some 'treasure', the actual quest duty fell to Jet, Klein and Asuna. As the unlikely trio of a knight wannabe, a fencer and a samurai wannabe approached the building, it was Jet who spoke up first...