The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

Even though she had various guesses in her heart, Evelyn did not show any outward signs of surprise for fear of startling the little thing. She knew how timid the little thing was, especially in front of people she didn't know that well, such as Cecilia.

Evelyn gently rubbed the little puppy's fluffy head. "Like anything?"

The big green eyes turned to her in slight confusion before Bree tapped her paw on one of the menu items twice.

Evelyn still wasn't quite sure if the little puppy was just doing it on a whim, or if perhaps some of Bree's intelligence was starting to shine through.

Nevertheless, there was no harm in getting whatever the little puppy wanted.

"Please add, uhm, ten bowls of frozen serenity dew drops."

Of course, she had no idea what it was, or how much it cost. The menu did not mention any prices, after all.

The serving lady stared at her in surprise. "T-Ten? Are you sure? Each bowl has two hundred droplets, after all. It's enough for two people. And they're sweet. You'll get sick if you take too many."

The pink haired girl smiled. "Don't worry, I plan to keep them for later."

"Oh. Alright then, give me a moment, please."

The lady took the orders from the others as well before fetching two bowls full of hundreds of tiny blue beads from her cart.

Although the food carts did not look much different from an ice cream cart in her previous world, she was sure they were far from ordinary given the sheer amount of food being taken out from them as all four serving ladies fulfilled the orders from students in the compartment.

Shortly after, another lady came to their table with a plate containing a delicate looking purplish shortcake along with two tall, crystal clear glasses filled with rainbow colored ice cream, topped off with what seemed to be large purple fish scales.

"Miss… here's your trimbleberry shortcake, and two orders of karpesian parfait. We currently have only two bowls of serenity drops. We'll fetch the rest once we come by for the second round, alright?"

As she saw Evelyn about to touch her jewelled belt, Cecilia quickly grabbed her hand.

"My treat, please?"

Evelyn blinked twice in surprise before nodding. Although she didn't like having others 'take care' of her like this, she felt it would be a bit unsightly to argue over it in front of the serving ladies.

Cecilia puffed out her chest in pride as she took out a fat, heavy looking purse from her storage necklace, slamming it down on the table with a loud thump. "How much is it?"

Evelyn was looking at the fat pig shaped wallet in amusement when the bill left her gobsmacked.

"For now it would be 501 gold coins, and 50 silver coins. You can pay the remaining 2000 gold coins when the remaining eight bowls of serenity drops are delivered."

Feeling that the palm she was holding got a little tighter after hearing the price, Cecilia knew that Evelyn wouldn't let her pay for the rest if she didn't do it now.

"Can't you take it all at once?"

The serving lady did not seem to get her hint, and shook her head. "No need, miss. Please pay only for what you have already received. You can make the rest of the payment later, it's not a small amount."

Cecilia sighed as she dug into her fat purse to open the smaller compartment within, taking out five spirit stones. The lady carefully put them away in a locker on the cart before accepting the additional gold and fifty silver coins, which she simply slid into her apron pocket before moving on to the next compartment.

Cecilia smiled at her deeply frowning friend. Not to mention her, even Amara and Vivian looked a little awkward.

"What, are you going to count this small thing between us?"

Evelyn sighed. "I didn't know it was so expensive. Shouldn't they mark it clearly on the menu if it is so absurdly pricey?"

Cecilia laughed openly before lowering her voice so only the girls at her table could hear. "Don't you know that most of the children who come to the academy on this ride carry enough money to last them throughout their academy life? This is their way of lightening their fat pockets a little."

The girl patted her fat pig wallet, which had not lost much volume from the transaction, and then put it away in her necklace.

Evelyn blinked. That's right, although the food was absurdly expensive, she really could easily afford it. But considering that the hundred spirit stones she had were meant to last her through years of academy life, she knew that splurging it like this was just being stupid.

Of course, she never planned to depend on this little sum to last her for years. But what about regular students?

Looking at the commoner's table, the ones with Aeron were looking at him with admiration as they chewed on luxurious looking food. The other two tables were not in as good a mood, but they were also happily eating and drinking what was probably the best meal of their lives.

Too bad these children didn't realize that this one meal was probably worth weeks or even months of their parents' hard work. Even if it looked like they only used a fraction of what they had been given, the funds that should have been more than sufficient would slowly dwindle into nothing.

And sending additional funding in the middle of the year was impossible without taking the huge risk of passing this forest. The only reliable and safe way was this yearly expedition under the protection of the 'Thousand Eyed God'.

Of course, there were some ways, such as the one she used to exchange letters with Cecilia, but that was only thanks to a family artifact of the Fulbright's.

Vivian didn't seem to care for anything other than her ice cream, but the two other girls seemed to realize the true purpose of these sumptuous meals.

Cecilia smiled. "You must have guessed it by now, right? Many at the academy believe that only when they're desperate will they learn how to improve the most. Of course, all these things are definitely worth the amount they are being sold for, but they're mostly top end luxurious goods. Probably only the royal families can look down on this food."

Amara rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Right. And to make matters worse, even if you realize your folly after paying for it once, how many can resist the temptation on the second day? Two weeks is enough time for them to fall for it multiple times, gutting their savings substantially."

Cecilia seemed to finally hit it off with Amara as the two of them discussed the financial 'opportunities' provided by the academy to 'make up' for the student's mistakes.

"The outstanding students can directly earn their keep with just stipends?"

"Right. The better you perform, the more you get. Of course, most students don't get anything at all, and even have to pay the yearly fee at the end."

Amara had been a little reserved against Cecilia, given her status. But since she was committed to assisting Evelyn as best as she could, the redhead felt the need to know as much as possible. Moreover, Cecilia had been more than welcoming, and it cleared off a lot of her previous anxiety against the girl.

"And what is the criteria for 'outstanding'?"

Cecilia smiled as she flicked one of her pigtails. "Of course, "best in class", nothing less. There are quite a few different classes though. And your position is counted no matter if you best the others in a standard style or club style class. It only needs to be recognized by the academy."

"Oh…"

"And aside from that, you can also perform well in competitions—"

Evelyn sighed as she kept one ear open to listen in on their conversation while the girls enjoyed their shortcake and ice cream, chatting away.

She gingerly picked up a single clear blue bead from the bowl with her fingers. A careful look revealed what seemed to be a white snowflake design inside the bead. Although it was small, it was undoubtedly beautiful to look at.

Her probe skill did not prove to be very useful, but it still gave her some insight.

[ Serenity Dew Drop ]

— Fresh dew formed near the serenity lake, preserved and frozen. Contains some of the lake's aura.

— Effects: Temporarily enhances the clarity of mind, relieves pain, and prevents headache.

— If more than a thousand drops are consumed by a single individual within a short period, it may have unexpected consequences as the lake's aura manifests within their body.

"Unexpected consequences, huh..."