Chapter 128: Double Date
Peter didn’t expect to find himself getting taken somewhere by someone, but here he was, getting dragged into the city by Cia.
"Trust me, this place is awesome," Cia smiled.
It didn’t take long before the two were in front of a fancy looking restaurant with decor that was styled with deep rich wood, warm lights, and red accents, creating a very homey vibe. It was also a place that looked three times as expensive as Peter.
"You should try the Alfredo pasta, the chicken is SO good," Cia mentioned as she casually brought Peter inside, "Or the pink lemonade, that one is a personal favorite."
Before he knew it, Peter found himself inside of the restaurant, seated across from Cia.
"W— How did I get here?" Peter gasped.
"Don’t worry about it— Now, get yourself a drink, I’m getting myself the pink lemonade," Cia said, her face behind a large menu.
"I..." Peter whispered.
Despite the sudden change in scenery, it was kinda nice having someone take charge in Peter’s life, and not be a bad person for once. This place was probably her favorite restaurant in the city, and she was just excited to share it with someone. Maybe he could be fine with this.
"How’d you find out about this place?" Peter asked.
"I don’t like to stick around in one spot a lot, so I go on walks in the town," Cia said, not looking up from her menu.
That kind of thing didn’t seem like something Peter could do willingly, not unless he had some friends to go along with him. With his low ability level, it was just asking for trouble if he went alone.
’But I am a level 2 now, maybe people won’t bother me as much,’ Peter wondered.
"Hello, what would you two like to order today?" A waitress asked.
Suddenly, Peter was on the spot as he didn’t know what to say. He had been too busy talking with Cia to even properly look at the menu.
"Hi, I would like two chicken Alfredos with a pink lemonade," Cia ordered.
"Okay, and you? Did you want any drinks?" The waitress said, turning towards Peter.
"Uh," Peter quickly glanced at the menu for a random drink option, "... Mango soda."
"Alright, your food should be here soon."
The waitress left, leaving Cia and Peter alone.
"Wow, thankfully I ordered for us both," Cia stated with a chuckle, "Trust me, you’re not going to regret this."
Peter awkwardly chuckled back, but he was actually thankful that he didn’t need to worry about ordering food at a new place.
It didn’t take long for the waitress to come back with the meals, and the two began to eat. Just like Cia said, the food was genuinely really good. The sauce provided a creamy texture, and the chicken was cooked precisely at just the right temperature, making it practically melt in his mouth. The two began to chat about random things, and she even asked to try out Peter’s drink.
After taking a sip, Cia was taking in the flavor.
"I should definitely buy this for myself when I come here next time," Cia stated.
Over on the restaurant music speakers, soft music began to play. With the ambience of the restaurant, Cia’s company, and the music, Peter was beginning to let his guard down.
Suddenly, Peter’s watch started flashing, and he held it up to see who had sent him a voice message.
"Huh? Who’s messaging you?" Cia asked, sitting up to get a closer look.
Tapping on the screen to listen to it, both Cia and Peter were able to hear who it was.
"This is General Duke. Peter Chuck, you are required to come to my office in the second year building immediately. I have some important things to discuss with you."
—
Erin and Layla found themselves at the boy’s dorm building, but instead of being on the first or second floor where most of the male students resided, they were on the third floor. If the two girls had to take a guess, then this was above where Quinn and his roommates slept. The last thing that was strange was that this was still the first year building, meaning that the person they were going to was also a first year.
’He said to meet with him here,’ Erin thought, looking for a particular boy’s room.
"Why do you need me here?" Layla asked, "Shouldn’t I try to figure out what being a ghoul is all about?"
"This person will help with that," Erin replied.
There was a deeper reason as to why Erin brought Layla along, but she kept it to herself.
This floor of the dorms had doors that were further spread apart than the dorms in the lower floors. This was because they were fewer in number, and larger spaced on the inside.
"Wait, so you mean you know someone from the VIP rooms?" Layla gasped.
"So that’s why this place is so different," Erin thought out loud.
Erin hadn’t paid much attention to the VIP rooms. Not because she thought they were weak people— far from it, but she just didn’t have a reason to go here.
"I thought you would know more about this place, considering that most of the people here would’ve come from powerful families," Layla spoke.
"Just because they’re powerful does not mean I care to know where they sleep," Erin retorted.
Once they made it to the end of the hallway, they finally arrived at the dorm room Erin was looking for. Walking up to the door, Erin knocked on it as delicately, and softly as possible, careful not to offend.
As if by command, the door opened, revealing a dark room, and the two girls glanced at each other before slowly entering.
Thankfully, due to Erin’s and now Layla’s improved eyesight, they were able to see the place just fine. The area was twice the size of their own dorm room with only one bed, but whoever lived here seemed to take full advantage of the bigger space as they just let lumps of scrap metal pile up next to gadgets, controllers and other mechanical knick knacks.
In the corner was a personal VR pod, making Layla wonder just how rich its owner was. These things were expensive at 100,000 credits, so even someone like Erin couldn’t seriously consider buying one, not unless she wanted to cut out a significant part of her savings.
In the other corner was a human sized tube with a bunch of wires and tubes almost haphazardly hooked up to a computer. In comparison, the expensive VR pod looked far more normal than the strange tube contraption.
Those things weren’t the things Erin was here for, as there was a person sitting in a mechanical chair that had turned around the moment the two had entered. In the chair was a boy with green hair, and large eye bags.
"I’ve been expecting you."
