“Welcome!”
He was immediately greeted by a waitress, who gave him a big smile and bowed in front of him, as if trying to match his height.
“A new customer? Just yourself?” The waitress asked with a smile.
He nodded slowly with flushed cheeks, “Y-yeah.”
There was something catching his eye–no, two things that were catching his gaze. Though they were tucked into the white-and-green waitress uniform that was matched with a medium-length skirt that stopped just above the knees, those two mounds bounced with the slightest movement from the woman.
Boobs, he thought.
–A simple thought, but such a sight tended to make him devolve millions of years back into a caveman.
The waitress smiled, ushering for him to follow to his seat. She had long, curly hair of a dark-red shade and freckles on her pale cheeks. There was no denying her natural beauty, and her bubbliness amplified that.
I picked the right place, he thought.
Guided to a table that was near enough to the fireplace to experience its warmth, he sat down as the waitress handed him a menu.
“Here ya go! I’d recommend the ‘Over The Moon Fluffcakes’!” The waitress told him.
It definitely sounded like an intriguing name for a dish, though he looked over the menu for a moment, he decided to put his trust in the words of the cute woman–definitely not swayed by the movement of her chest.
“…I’ll have that, then…and a coffee—black,” he told her with flushed cheeks, trying not to stare.
“Comin’ right up!” She smiled, leaving the tableside.
Sitting there, waiting for his order as he sat by the fireplace at the smooth, wooden table, he felt like an adult for once.
I was an adult in my previous life. Even so, I didn’t have an ounce of freedom or responsibility. My mom took care of everything, never letting me handle anything. You could call it being ‘pampered’ but…I hated it, he thought.
Though he was still just fourteen, he felt more independent already than he ever felt before.
He had his own money, choices, and self to take care of. Though this stop in Elsia would likely be the last sheer freedom he’d have until reaching the Guild Foundation, he was going to squeeze every last bit out of it he could.
What a lovely view, he thought.
The waitress returned, carrying a mug of steaming, fragrant coffee and a plate, though the view he was focused on were more of the chest variety.
He was interested to see exactly what “Over The Moon Fluffcakes” were, as they presented such an over-the-top name for a dish.
What was presented to him on the plate certainly was the counterpart of pancakes in this world, but they did seem slightly different in some ways. They were larger, fluffier in texture, and taller than normal pancakes.
But, what was more eye-catching to him was the dark-brown, sticky sauce that had lathered the fluffcakes: syrup.
“Enjoy!” The waitress said before leaving.
“Mhm! Thanks!” He smiled.
It wasn’t more than seconds after that he delved into his breakfast, getting to experience the sweet joy of syrup for himself at last.
“Ah…it’s all worth it just for this,” he said to himself in delight.
For somebody that mostly got their nutrients through a tube in his last life, the explosion of flavor that syrup brought was heaven to his taste buds.
After finishing his meal, he paid for his meal, leaving an extra crown as a tip for the busty waitress before he went on with his day.
“–Thank you very much! Have a good day, young man!” The waitress waved him off.
‘Young man’? He thought.
To him, the waitress hardly looked older than eighteen, so to be called ‘young’ certainly dampened his feeling of adulthood, but he simply smiled and waved before returning to the streets of Elsia.
As he walked around, he tried to figure out how he should spend his final day in Elsia–though again, he found himself with the problem of not knowing much about the city’s layout.
…That’s right. Reno was going to show me. I kind of just…left in the middle of the night without saying anything so, there goes that. Hope she didn’t get the wrong idea about that, he thought.
Sighing out, he stopped for a moment to watch one of the street performers, who was a man dressed eccentrically in a purple suit with a fluffy, pink afro.
He was performing some sort of magic trick with floating cards, swaying them around in front of the eyes of the onlookers.
I bet being a magician is pretty easy in this world. I mean, there’s actual magic to use. Maybe that makes it harder? You have to “wow” people who’ve seen magic, he thought.
Magic tricks like this weren’t particularly entertaining for him anymore, not with the existence of spell-casting, but he did find himself intrigued by whatever spell the afro man was using to levitate the cards around his body.
Is it wind magic? If so, it’s incredibly precise and quiet. I can’t hear or feel any shift in wind, he thought.
He had his hand to his chin, trying to figure out if wind magic was being used or not by the card magician as the decorated cards danced in the air with precision.
Though before he could fully decide, he felt something swoop by–a weight left his side as the sack of coins he kept on his belt was taken.
“Hey–!”
He spun around in a hurry, but found a familiar face behind him, holding a playful grin. It was unexpected at first, but not so much so as he remembered the very first encounter he had with the scarf-wearing girl.
“Reno?” He said, surprised.
“Gotcha,” Reno laughed.
The sapphire-eyed girl tossed the sack of coins back to him, which he caught with a breath of relief leaving his lips.
“How’d you find me?” He asked.
Reno nudged him with her elbow, laughing again, “Ya think I came lookin’ for ya? Just a pure chance, is all!”
“Right…” He chuckled.
Though it seemed like the golden-haired girl had something more to say as she looked at him, keeping her hands on her sides.
“Didja forget already?” Reno asked.
“Huh? Oh…right!” He remembered.
Reno nodded, “Ya wanted to see the city, right? Well, I happen to be free today!”
“You’re free everyday, aren’t you?”
“As if! I’m totally busy, ya know! I’ve got…stuff I do!” Reno huffed.
He laughed as he began to stroll around the bustling street alongside the girl, who he was relieved to reunite with.
I was scared that last night would be the last time I’d see her. That’d be a sorry goodbye, he thought.