"W-what?" Emmet could not help but exclaim. His eyes widened at the meal placed before him.
It was a pasta meal and he could bet that he could count each line of pasta in his plate.
"This for 80 gold coins?!" It was as if his head had been crushed multiple times by the screeching tyres of a car.
"Yes sir," The waitress still retained her cool and calm demeanor. "Quality over quantity."
"You can't return it," Ashley shrugged and reached for a fork full out of his plate which she shoved into her mouth, leaving behind nothing more than five lines of the pasta.
Emmet's eyes moved over to her, his gaze unblinking. How could she eat what he was having a panic attack from, just by looking at it?
"Enjoy," The waitress gave a gentle bow and left.
' More like have a panic attack for the next three seconds of shoving five lines down my throat,' Emmet thought.
"Tastes pretty good," Ashley said after swallowing the chewed food. "Guess what else I taste?"
"What?" Emmet sighed and took the second fork in the plate to eat the remaining five lines with an expression of pain on his face.
"80 gold coins," She laughed, lashing out her tongue in mockery.
Emmet rolled his eyes and proceeded to dab around his lips with the serviette. However, he stopped when he had carried it midway near his lips.
' What if this adds up to the 80 gold coins?' He thought to himself and quickly yet, neatly placed the serviette back and resorted to wiping his lips with the back of his palm.
Ashley laughed when she noticed this and he couldn't help but send her a glare.
"You should have convinced me enough not to come here," Emmet scolded her.
"Maybe I should have put a leash around your neck for you to listen because guess what? I was quite convincing," She scoffed.
For the fear of paying a higher bill, they had not dared to order even a bottle of water to go with the meal.
"Now let's put heads together," Emmet's expression turned serious and he clasped his hands resting on the table.
"For what?" Ashley raised an eyebrow.
"How are we going to pay? You ate it first, you know," His brows furrowed.
"So?" She clicked her tongue, her lazy eyes on his face.
"I don't have a lot on me..."
"And you dare ask me to bring you here," Ashley shook her head. "You're one big circus boy, I tell you."
He simply ignored her. "I'll bring 20 gold coins for the five lines I ate and you bring 60 gold coins for the full fork you ate. Fair?"
Ashley stared lazily at him and held up her middle finger before calling out to the waiter who had served them.
The waiter had returned with a vault device used as a means of payment in most stores.
"You owe me," Ashley sneered at Emmet before opening her pouch in front of the vault.
And the digits on the small screen started going up.
[5]
[10]
[15]
[30]
[45]
...
[63]
[66]
[75]
[78]
[80]
"Thank you for stopping by the Culinary haven. We hope you come again!" The waitress bade them with a smile.
They simply responded to her with a smile as well and walked out of the place as fast as they had stepped. Perhaps if they stayed even a second longer than they were supposed to, a bill of "delay in exit" would be handed over to them.
Emmet shuddered at the thought of that. The rich and the poor or middle class were two words crazily apart.
The streets were full of lights than it had previously been when they first arrived at the Culinary haven. Streetlights adorned practically every lane and the flying ships in the air emitted neon lights that perfectly complimented the beauty of the night sky.
"I hope you learnt your lesson," Ashley nudged him with her elbow as they walked, yet to decide on their next destination.
"Definitely. Never enter a classic restaurant when you are not rich enough," Emmet replied, much to his own annoyance.
"You see, the rich people have tiny stomachs," Ashley proceeded to place her index finger over her thumb in demonstration. "Like a tiny pot. Even a tea spoon of food can fill them up in an instant."
"Are you for real?" Emmet widened his eyes.
"Sure," Ashley nodded in a way that seemed like she was assuring both him and herself. "I think it's a magic skill all rich people have."
"How do you know that?" Emmet further inquired.
"Because," She proceeded to explain confidently. "There's a big restaurant for rich people I know of but have never stepped foot in. It is said that their top delicacies include a golden fish bone and this golden fish bone is the most ordered by the rich there. Tell me now, how a fish bone would fill me up? That proves my theory right."
"It's not so," Emmet chuckled at her ignorance. "They just sometimes love to eat things expensive and of high quality as they call it."
"Plus tiny pot stomachs," She stood her grounds. "You know what, I just remembered there's a carnival at the Sterra square tonight. Want to see a little bit of street life in Emeria?"
"Sure," Emmet nodded.
Ashley then led him to wait on a lane. She then took out a small glassy device from her pouch. It appeared similar to the one that had been used in the Leaven kitchen but a lot smaller.
"What's that?" Emmet asked.
"A palet," She answered. "You don't have one?"
"No. What's it for?"
"It's used to make bookings to services that require bookings like flying ships and hotels for example," She said. "You need to get one, circus boy."
"Ah I see," He nodded. Palets sounded quite ingenious to him.
"The Earth has truly evolved over time," Liesl helped to broaden Ashley's explanation. "The only thing is that due to humanity's revolution, many things from the past no longer exist just like it had been in the beginning of humanity."
Ashley did her thing with the so-called Palet. It didn't take more than a minute and she placed the device back into her pouch.
"I booked a flying ship already. It will be hear in two minutes since its already heading here from the Northside," She said to him.
Just as she had said, a flying ship landed on the ground in front of them and the semi circular shaped glass which covered its top, opened up.
They each got in from either sides and entered into the only two passenger seats available. The driver's seat was before theirs and the driver appeared like a man in his early 40s.
In the blink of an eye, the ship took off to sail across the night sky.
From the level at which they had now gotten in the sky, Emmet could spot the other flying ships around carrying either passengers or goods within them. Some ships had two passenger seats while some had up to four.
The view made Emmet remember that flying ships also existed in his past life but he had never gotten a chance to use one. Since flying ships were expensive just like almost every other thing in his past life, he always used transportation devices made by his thief friends or walked for long hours.