Chapter 86: Received a Huge Amount of Money! [BONUS - ]

Ethan was completely caught off guard by the invitation.

His first instinct was to refuse.

He had grown so accustomed to being alone that the thought of casually sitting down with people he had only met recently felt strangely unfamiliar. Apart from Rin, he had never really bothered with mingling with anyone, especially after spending so long being treated like someone who wasn’t worth approaching in the first place.

However, one glance at Lara’s bright expression and Jake’s expectant look told him that saying no probably wasn’t going to be an option anyway.

They would most likely find some way to drag him along.

Ethan sighed inwardly before giving in.

"Sure. Let’s go."

The moment he agreed, Lara’s face lit up as though she had just won a battle, and the three of them soon left the classroom together.

However, by the time they reached the cafeteria, Ethan found himself slowing down slightly in awe.

When Lara had said cafeteria, he had imagined the same cafeteria he had always gone to back in his previous class, but he should have known better.

As usual, everything in this academy seemed to be classified according to rank.

And as usual that included food too.

The cafeteria available to Class 5D was completely different from the one Ethan had known in his old class. Back when he had been in the lower classes, he had only had access to the cafeteria designated for F- and E-class students, and now that he thought about it, he realized he had barely ever bothered eating there unless he happened to be hungry between classes.

Most of the time, he had simply eaten whatever he could get from his dorm cafeteria which was far better than his old class cafeteria.

The difference was almost ridiculous.

The first floor, where Ethan and the others currently stood, was already crowded with students moving around the spacious dining hall and lining up at the various food stations. The meals available were considerably better than what Ethan remembered from his previous cafeteria, with a much wider selection and noticeably higher-quality ingredients.

But apparently, this was still considered the bottom of the hierarchy.

Above them was a second floor that looked less like a school cafeteria and more like an actual restaurant. The students seated there weren’t lining up for their meals at all because they were served directly at their tables, with attendants moving around to take orders and deliver food.

Then there was the third floor.

Ethan’s gaze briefly drifted upward.

It was meticulously designed, almost luxurious compared to the other two floors, yet strangely quiet, with barely any students occupying the spacious dining area.

Even the food being served on each floor appeared different, with the meals becoming more carefully prepared and refined the higher they went.

Ethan forced himself to look away.

Of course.

Even the cafeteria had classism.

"Ethan," Lara asked curiously as they joined the line, "how different is this cafeteria from the one in your previous class?"

Ethan thought about it for a moment.

Well, apart from the few times when he had been hungry between classes, he had mostly avoided the old cafeteria altogether, so he didn’t have that much experience with its food. Still, he had eaten there enough times to know that the quality was nowhere near what he was seeing now.

He turned toward Lara with a sigh before chuckling.

"My old one? It was terrible!"

Lara burst into laughter.

Jake, however, folded his arms with a slight pout.

"Well, I hope you enjoy the food in this one, although it’s not as good as the next floors above us. The students there still look down on us, but at least this is far better than the food they serve in the lower-ranked cafeterias."

Ethan nodded casually. "I don’t mind. So long as I get to eat good food, really, they can look down on us for all I care!"

"See? That’s why I like you!"

Ethan nearly choked on his own saliva. He turned toward Lara with wide eyes.

"What?"

Jake immediately rolled his eyes.

"Jeez, mind your choice of words, Lara!"

Lara rolled her eyes right back at him. "You’re just jealous that I never said that to you!"

Ethan stared at the two of them for a moment before a smile slowly crept onto his face.

They were ridiculous.

Yet somehow, their little banter felt strangely comfortable.

He hadn’t realized how much he had missed being around people who could argue over completely meaningless things without there being any genuine hostility behind it.

Eventually, the line moved forward until it was Ethan’s turn.

The operation was similar to the one in his old cafeteria, with certain meals available for free while other, more desirable options required payment.

Ethan glanced over the free selections.

They actually looked pretty delicious, and under normal circumstances, he probably would have been perfectly satisfied with them.

Unfortunately, he wanted two things that weren’t available among the free meals.

Meat.

And fruits.

For obvious reasons, he couldn’t pass up either of them now.

Since both were available on the paid menu, Ethan decided to buy them.

The academy provided every student with a small annual allowance intended to cover basic personal expenses, including food and other necessities. However, the amount wasn’t the same for everyone.

Naturally, the academy had decided to rank that too.

Students with higher ranks received larger allowances, while lower-ranked students received considerably less.

Where was the surprise in that?

Ethan had been an F-rank Guide when this year’s allowance had been distributed, so his student card had contained a painfully small amount of money.

It had been only 2,000 Crest Credits.

Because of that, Ethan had always been extremely careful about touching the balance after he transmigrated unless it was absolutely necessary.

The last time he had used the card had also been to buy food, leaving him with only 1,350 Imperial Credits afterward.

At the time, even spending a few hundred credits had made him hesitate.

Now, however, Ethan selected the free food he wanted, added the meat and fruits he had been craving to his order, and placed his student card against the scanner terminal.

The machine beeped.

The screen above the terminal flashed as the payment was processed.

Ethan barely paid attention to it at first.

Then the updated balance appeared.

His eyes widened.

Lara, who had been standing behind him, suddenly went silent.

Jake’s expression changed as well.

All three of them stared at the screen.

Ethan blinked.

Then he blinked again.

He slowly leaned closer, wondering if he had somehow read the numbers incorrectly.

His mouth gradually fell open.

Since when had he acquired such a ridiculously huge amount of money?!