Corey was the son of one of the most powerful families in Brimmopolis. Naturally, his friends were all relatives of bureaucrats or the scions of rich families as well.
None of his friends knew who Nathan was.
Silently, they wondered why the all-important Corey was treating him like an honored guest.
However, at long last, they realized that this man was the General!
Their faces turned white with shock. Hastily, they darted forward to pay respects to him, greeting him courteously by his rank—the General.
In a calm voice, Nathan said, “I've come here in my own personal time. Hence, please feel free to address me as Cross or Nathan instead of by my occupation and rank.”
But who amongst the boys would dare to call him by his first name?
Everyone quickly addressed him as Mr. Cross.
Laughing, Corey said, “Yes, it's just a drinking party among my close friends tonight. Let's forget about our ranks and stuff. If anyone addresses Mr. Cross by his title, they'll have to drink a bottle of wine as punishment. Deal?”
Everyone burst into laughter. As they settled down in the seats according to their status, they lifted their glasses and toasted Nathan happily.
Nathan was a very easy-going man. Regardless of who was toasting him, he returned their toast politely. Met with his generosity, the young scions felt extremely delighted and puffed out their chests with pride.
In actual fact, Corey had invited all his friends to this drinking party for another reason that had nothing to do with drinking.
His father, Zion, was recently contesting in the presidential election against Mr. Clifford Davier.
Both Zion and Clifford had been putting their best effort into this endeavor to try and garner as many supporters as possible.
As Zion's son, Corey had a moral obligation to do a little something for his father's campaign, too.
Hence, he decided to invite his important friends to go drinking with him. He would take the opportunity to urge them to return home and get their fathers and families to lend Zion their support.
Nathan was someone he particularly wanted to impress.
Nathan had never openly expressed his support for either Zion or Clifford, but everyone suspected that he probably supported Zion.
However, Corey still wanted a definite response from him.
He toasted Nathan twice and decided that now was the time. He was going to change the topic to that of the presidential election and ask Nathan which side he supported.
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