Chapter 58: The Fox and the Angel

With no other choice, they walked along the sidewalk toward the inn the truck driver had pointed out. Unlike the metropolis, the town was fairly quiet, with only a few cars and motorcycles passing on the main road and a handful of pedestrians walking alongside them on the sidewalk.

As they kept going, they passed a row of closed storefronts, though in front of their rolling security doors, numerous roadside food stalls were set up with tables encroaching slightly onto the street.

Passing by, Clyde could see many people sitting and eating, several diverse men sat at one table enjoying skewers of satay while chatting and drinking; a waitress with angelic wings brought them their food; a couple consisting of a handsome, black-haired, blue-skinned man and a rabbit-eared girl with a rabbit face looked affectionate.

And an ordinary middle-aged human man sat reading something on his smartphone looking stressed out while a middle-aged half-snake woman across from him pouted.

"The money’s on the table," a wolfman said.

"Please come again," the angelic-winged waitress replied.

Casca noticed a stack of money on the table, narrowing her eyes as she looked at the currency, coins shaped like hexagons. She stopped dead in her tracks, turning to face Clyde and tugging on him until he stopped as well. Because Clyde halted, Celes, Craig, and Corie stopped along with him,

"Brother Clyde, those are chips, right? That means we have money after all! Didn’t Mary give us around 1,000,000 chips before we left?" Casca asked.

"Oh, that’s right! You have the money with you, don’t you, Big Brother?" Craig asked, turning to look at Clyde beside him.

"Check your bag, Big Brother," Corie added.

"Hmm... hold on a second," Clyde replied.

He immediately slid off his backpack and slung it over his chest. Opening it, he peeked inside and pulled out a pouch containing a generous amount of hexagonal coins alongside several banknotes.

"Is it this?" Clyde asked, inspecting the translucent pouch in his hand.

"Yes, Big Brother... that’s money! You’re hopeless," Casca answered.

"Here... let me hold it for a second," Corie said.

Before Clyde could even respond, Corie snatched the pouch and approached the angelic-winged waitress who was wiping down a table.

"Excuse me, Miss, can I ask, is this money usable here?" Corie asked, holding up the pouch.

The waitress stopped wiping the table and stared at Corie. She glanced at the pouch in Corie’s hand, then looked back up at her with a puzzled and bewildered expression,

"Yes, that’s right... why such a strange question? Are you looking to eat?" the waitress asked warmly.

"Um... if we wanted ten skewers of satay like that, how much would it cost?" Corie asked, pointing at a plate with satay skewers sitting on a table.

"Ah... 2 gallars... just pay with two one-gallar banknotes," the waitress said, looking amused, her face clearly projecting the thought: where did this country bumpkin come from?

"Oh... gallars? Not chips?" Corie asked, confused.

"The currency of this world is gallars, short for global dollars, it’s money that can be used in any city. The coins you have are called chips, but they’re still gallars too. Where are you guys from anyway?" the waitress asked, genuinely entertained.

"Um... from a place far away, Miss, haha," Corie answered with a laugh.

The waitress stared at Corie and studied her, then looked past her at Clyde, Celes, Casca, and Craig. Her eyes landed on the Neo Ark logo emblazoned on their jackets, and her expression instantly softened into pity,

"You just escaped from the simulations and the farms, didn’t you? You don’t know anything yet, do you?" the waitress asked.

Hearing the waitress’s question hanging in the air, Clyde, Celes, Casca, Craig, and Corie were stunned. Corie didn’t answer, but she nodded with a feigned sad expression. The waitress understood and nodded back,

"Alright, you guys take a seat here first. I’ll fetch some food from inside," the waitress said.

"Um... okay, Miss," Corie replied.

The waitress then gestured for Clyde, Celes, Craig, and Casca to sit down alongside Corie, who was already seated. Then she jogged inside, disappearing behind the stall to speak with the cook, a fox-headed, fox-tailed man wearing a chef’s uniform with an apron covered in soup stains.

"Um... how did things turn out like this, Big Brother?" Corie asked, flustered.

"It’s fine. It worked out for the best that you asked," Clyde answered, resting his hand on Corie’s head.

"So people here know about the farms and the simulations too... even though this town looks like a low-tech suburb," Craig muttered.

"Yeah... were a lot of the residents in this town previously in the simulations?" Casca asked.

"Were there demi-humans inside the simulations as well?" Celes asked.

"No... there were only humans inside the simulations. I’m certain of that," Clyde answered.

Smoke then billowed from behind the stall, signaling that the chef was grilling their food. The waitress emerged holding a tray loaded with glasses of water. She approached the table and set a glass of water down in front of Clyde, Celes, Casca, Craig, and Corie,

"Please have some water first. If you want coffee or tea, we serve that too, I can bring some over... oh right, my name is Ellie. Nice to meet you," the waitress named Ellie said with a smile, hugging her tray.

"Um... thank you, Miss Ellie," Clyde replied with a smile.

"Since you were just rescued from the farms, it’s obvious you’re still awkward and don’t understand things yet. Did the Neo Ark military tell you to come here to find work, or did you rebel against Neo Ark and head over from Safe Haven?" Ellie asked, taking a seat at their table right between Craig and Casca.

Hearing Ellie’s question, Clyde, Casca, Corie, and Craig naturally grew guarded, while Celes remained silent. They viewed Ellie as someone who knew quite a bit, making them hesitant to speak carelessly.

"We’re from Safe Haven, Miss," Clyde answered briefly with a faint smile.

"Ah... I see. A lot of humans from over there run here. Don’t worry, no one here will hurt humans, and there’s no need to be scared seeing so many different kinds of people here," Ellie replied with a smile.

"Is that so? Sorry, Miss, we’re new to all this," Clyde said, remaining cautious.

Suddenly, a plate piled with a count of satay skewers too high to tally was placed on the table. Clyde, Celes, Casca, Craig, and Corie turned to look at a young-looking man with the face, fur, and tail of a fox, dressed in a full chef’s outfit complete with an apron stained with broth, standing beside the table having just set down the plate full of food. A smile showed on his face,

"Please enjoy! Don’t worry about paying, it’s on the house," the young foxman said.

"Meet Walter, he’s my husband," Ellie said, wrapping her arms around Walter’s waist.

Hearing Ellie’s words, the jaws of Clyde, Celes, Casca, Craig, and Corie dropped. Ellie, who looked human but possessed wings, was married to a foxman wearing glasses whose tail was currently swishing back and forth.

"Oh... hi... nice to meet you," Celes said, recovering faster than the others.

"Go ahead and eat first. We can talk after you finish. Do you have a place to stay yet?" Walter asked warmly.

"Um... not yet, we just arrived in town," Clyde answered.

"Alright, I can give you a recommendation later. My father manages an inn here, so don’t worry," Walter replied.

"We live at my father-in-law’s inn as well," Ellie added.

"Oh... okay," Clyde replied, lost for words.

"Alright... enjoy your meal! Ellie and I will head back behind the stall. Come on, babe," Walter urged.

"Okay, babe... I’ll leave you to it then. Bon appétit!" Ellie said, standing up.

The two of them walked off and vanished behind the stall, leaving Clyde, Celes, Casca, Craig, and Corie stunned.

"So... are we safe then?" Craig asked suddenly.

"Not necessarily. Stay on guard. We don’t know if their kindness is genuine or if there’s an ulterior motive... I can’t trust it outright... experience tells me no good deed comes without strings attached," Clyde answered, staring toward the stall ahead.

"I agree, we need to be careful," Celes added, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I’m eating... bon appétit!" Corie said cheerfully, grabbing a satay skewer in front of her.

"Hey... you were just told to be careful, and you’re already eating," Casca replied, swatting Corie’s hand.

"Ow... what’s your problem? If we don’t eat, they’ll get suspicious, won’t they?" Corie retorted, rubbing her hand.

"Corie’s right, we need to act normal. So let’s just eat, besides, even if there’s poison or something, it won’t work on us anyway," Clyde said.

"Yeah, exactly. Alright then, it smells so good it’s making my mouth water," Craig said.

Then he turned to look at Celes. "This is your first time, right, Sister Celes? Come on, eat," Craig said, picking up a skewer and handing it to Celes.

"Yeah... thanks, Craig," Celes replied, accepting it.

In the end, they ate ravenously, though their eyes kept darting toward the stall, watching the silhouettes of Ellie and Walter behind the tarp enclosure.