"Look! We're so high up!" Nate was amused as he and Tatiana pressed their faces to the train's window glass with awe on the opposite side of our seat.
The train is now crossing the suspended bridge high above sea level and the tall buildings of the city were already in sight.
["Attention, all passengers. We will be arriving in the City of Fitalica shortly. "]
"Finally! I was starting to get dizzy with those shaking tracks…" Roy claimed from the seat in front of us, wearing a pale face.
"Oh, don't be such a baby. Even the children are enjoying the ride." Josie stated as she chuckled then her face straightened as her gaze stumbled from behind. "But that said, do we really have to include these guys?"
In the back seats, people from the city observe intently in our every conversation, and seems like the last made them a bit frustrated.
At first, it was originally only 13 of us who would ride off to the city but some problems arose about us being allowed to board while the other city survivors were stuck waiting. To ease the problem of further going to unnecessary paths, I had to include them as well.
But of course, not everyone from the city was willing to board with our gold. Some were disgusted by the idea and some were too fond of the city to even leave.
"It's not a big deal. We still have enough funds to start over and I'm sure it won't be much of a problem later. So just ignore them." I stated, continuing to read the magazine provided by the train.
It was still the same. The top powerful guilds are still leading most of the country's economy, especially the fashion industry. All the models I've been seeing were familiar faces of players all over the covers, and not even a single quote tells how rubbish their attitude is.
"Woah, is that the latest issue?" Ellie stole the magazine in excitement as her eyes sparkled reading over it. "And it's starring the Golden Star's guild!"
"What's so good about that guild?" Josie asked.
"Well, you haven't heard about it but they're in the top 5 most powerful guilds in our country, and they have two S-class players! And one of them is Emma Hearthstone!" Ellie cheerfully claimed.
"Oh…" Should I tell her? Probably not. Didn't want to ruin her admiration of a fact that still hasn't happened yet.
["Attention all passengers. We arrived at Fitalica's train station. Please prepare your luggage on your departure and we hope you board our Golden Railways again."]
The doors of the train opened and we exited the vehicle. The underground station greeted us with its crowded grounds and busy people. It wasn't a typical terminal like the one back in the city as the whole place was filled with shops and
"I guess we're here," I claimed. "Now, what should we do first? Eat or shop for clothes?"
"I want to eat…" Nate grumbled.
"No, we should shop first. You guys can't eat in restaurants were that clothing. The guards would kick us off before we could even order" Ellie grumbled.
"Why don't we split up then?" I asked. "Ellie, go with Gabby and Simon for some shopping. The others and I will wait at the food court."
"Hold on, kid. Why me?" Simon complains.
"Transportation of goods and public safety for little girls?" Josie teased.
"You go as well, Josie since you look like you're volunteering."
"What!? I am not!" she claimed. "… ugh, fine. Just reserve something for us to eat when we get back."
"And also, what should we do about them?" Josie added.
"About who?" Josie pointed behind, and a few meters away were the people from the city. The number had decreased but there were a few still waiting. "What are you guys still doing here? Aren't you going?"
"We don't have any place to go…"
"Huh? You insisted on coming along yet you guys don't even have a place to stay here? Am I hearing this right, Cipher?" Josie asked.
"So, what do you want? Just like we said, we agreed on funding your fare and that's the only agreement we had with everyone. If you guys are thinking of asking for more, I'm sorry but I won't be providing anything."
"What gives! You can't do this!" A man complained.
"Yeah. Take responsibility and give us money!" another person claimed.
"What is this? The city folks are begging for money from the slum folks? I'd say that's rather quite funny" Josie grins, intentionally raising her voice for the crowd to hear and most of them who were bad-mouthing had left. "What are you guys still doing here?"
"... w-we…"
"Josie, aren't you being too harsh?" Ellie questioned.
"Oh, is the city girl in the band of slums gonna scold me? Do you really think you have the right to do that?" Josie asked in return. "No, you don't. You haven't scrimped and begged just to have something to put on your table. Heck, we don't even have a table. All we had were four corners of damp and fragile pieces of wood hammered together with rusted nails. Mine even collapsed thanks to someone here."
"Hey, I already paid it and it was bound to be destroyed by the chaos, anyway," I claimed.
"So, what reason do I have to help someone who doesn't even help us? Huh!?" Josie asked.
"Okay, fine. You have your point." Ellie replied. "And Cipher, you don't have to give anything to them. I was the one who asked for your help in their situation"
In her own storage, she took out the goblin sack filled with gold and handed it off. And without even a hint of gratitude, the people stormed out in such haste, leaving one family behind.
"Talk about showing true colors. Satisfied, city girl?" Josie asked.
"Yes… At least I proved one thing. I wasn't selfish like them. Like you" Ellie replied. "Come on, Gab. I want to shop for clothes to ease my frustration…"
She took flight, taking Gabby into the escalator as Simon follows. And Josie on the other hand… just stood there, contemplating before she rushed to the folks left within the vicinity.
"Here! Waste it and you guys are dead!" she claimed then ran after the others upstairs, leaving the receivers shocked and I guess a little traumatized.
"Don't worry about her. She might have a bit of an attitude but she's a kind person. So rest assured she won't come back to take back what she had already given." Roy claimed. Then remaining family expressed their gratitude with a silent vow before leaving.
"So… You really do know a lot about your girlfriend," Carl said.
"Yeah, she's… the f*ck dude! She's not my girlfriend!" he denied it but continued blushing as we all stared with sleazy faces. "Oh, come on! Even you, Cipher?"
"Well, it's not like you two don't have any chemistry."
"Dude! Are you serious!?" Roy complained.
"You mean water tossed with sodium and potassium?" Archie chuckled.
"Exactly! Our chemistry makes an unstable bomb! Not harmony!" Roy replied but the others just couldn't shake their grins. "Never mind. I saw you took off earlier and thought you left the party for good. Where did you go, Carl?"
Now that he mentioned it, I noticed something wrong. Ruri and Sam weren't around, and I was sure she didn't follow Ellie and the others.
"Oh, I almost forgot. We found a nice spot in the food court and Ruri is already waiting there."
"Already?" I asked.
"Yeah. We slipped out since it was getting too noisy for sleeping Sam and we already ordered as well. It should be prepared by the time we get there." Carl replied and brought everyone into the food court.
And to my surprise, he had Ruri seated at a long table with Sam and had ordered a large set of meals not limited to fried chicken.
"What in the world…"
"Ah, looks like it arrived!" Carl claimed. "Fast foods for everyone and vegetable salad for our young Kate."
"T-thank you, Carl," Kate replied.
"No need. It's an entrepreneur's job to remember what his customer likes." Carl grins in reply.
Everyone had already taken their seat, excited to gobble up the food. "I know but what with all of these? Isn't this a bit too much?"
"No-no-no. Having heard your story and us, surviving an almost-death experience. Adding our new abilities, I think it's only fair we get to celebrate." he claimed. "And don't worry, you can just cut the food expenses from our deal later."
There was no beating him in this argument and he also had a point. All those days of hard work trying to keep everyone alive every second need at least an award. They were supposed to be dead after all in my previous timeline and this amount should be just fine as a reward for being alive up to this point.
And it's probably their first time eating fast food too.
Seeing their faces enjoying every bite of the burger reminds me of my first time eating one. It was like tasting heaven. And watching them only makes my mouth water.
"Geez, you got us any sundae ice cream?"