After resting a little bit. Grand Ecstasy is now ready to venture outside but Beatrice stops them before they even make their first step outside.
"What is it?" Mateo asked.
"Are you sure you going to go outside with that thing exposed?" Beatrice asked while pointing on Shirna's elf ears.
Mateo facepalms himself.
"I forgot."
"What's the matter with my ears?" Shirna asked with innocence.
"Elves doesn't exist in this world." Claustrine answers the question quivkly. Shirna's eyes got wide before returning to normal.
"I see..." Shirna's short response.
"Maybe we should make him wear some hat to hide his ears?" Beltrand asked.
"Theres no need for that."
Everyone looks at Claustrine who just proceed to walk in front of Shirna. She touch Shirna's both ears and her hands glows for a moment. When Claustrine removes her hand, Shirna now have human ears.
"Wow..." Everyone is amazed on the magic. Shirna touches his ears when she notices that her fingers hit something near supposed his human ears.
"Why I touch something in the air?" Shirna asked.
"That's your Elf ears currently invisible."
"Claustrine. What exactly is that magic?" Sophia asked.
"Illusion magic related to the Midnight Cloaking spell. It can create false image in a selected target to conceal it.
"This is the first time I see you using that spell." Mateo asked.
"Because I just recently learned it while we're stucked on that cave system." Claustrine explained.
"Ohhhh... So that's the reason why you always reading your books at that time." Beltrand's realization.
"Shirna. Just be careful as someone can still touch your real ears. Also, that spell drains your mana."
"Drain my mana?! Are you sure this is safe?" Shirna panics. Claustrine just give him a headpat.
"Don't worry. It only drains a miniscule amount. Also, such mana requirements is not detremental for an elf like you." Claustrine explained then she smiles.
"Fine... Also, stop rubbing my head."
Mateo just sigh with relief.
"Did you study that spell for this day?" Mateo asked with admiration. Claustrine just give a confident smile.
"Yes."
Mateo also remembers to tell his strict rules to his friends then Grand Ecstasy gives their farewell to the Agbayani family.
"Take care." Ligaya said.
~~~~~~°~~~~~~
"Wow... This is truly another world..." Sophia said while sightseeing.
"Those weird carriages. There's so many variations. Also, this vehicle is HUGEEEE AND COLD. AND DOESN'T NEED A HORSE LIKE OTHERS!." Shirna's amazement as he looks on the cars on the street.
Sophia and Shirna asked so many questions which Claustrine or Mateo answers to the best of their abilities.
Grand Ecstasy is currently riding a bus on their way to Stadium supermarket. Thankfully, there's only few passengers on the moment who either sleeping or wearing earphones so they can't hear the shenanigans they're talking.
"Those buildings looks so weird." -Sophia.
"Who's the one playing music in this carriage? I don't see any musicians." -Shirna.
Mateo just sigh. But he notices that Beltrand behind them is surprisingly quiet and when he takes a look. Mateo almost laugh.
Beltrand just sitting cross-armed while looking at Mateo. Sitting on his side is a high school girl leaning her head on Beltrand's shoulder. She might look like sleeping but her excited smile says a different feeling.
Behind Beltrand and the girl are two high school girls trying to hide their excitement.
"Good grief... Even here?" Mateo said with disbelief.
Beltrand makes a quiet gesture.
After some time. The bus stop and the high school girls exits the vehicle. Mateo can hear the excitement of the three.
"You're so lucky girl!"
"He's so handsome what the hell!"
"You should asked for his name!"
Then the bus continues its ride.
"What a very weird moment." Beltrand says.
"I agree..." -Mateo.
After several minutes. Grand Ecstasy finally reach their location and Sophia, Shirna and Beltrand are amazed as they look on the sheer size of the supermarket.
"This is far more bigger than everything we just saw earlier." Sophia commented.
"It looks like a castle." Beltrand commented.
"It's very intimidating." Shirna said then he gulps.
After the guards investigate them for a brief seconds. Grand Ecstasy finally enters the supermarket and instantly greeted by numerous stores and crowds of people minding their own businesses.
"Woah. Is this even real?" Beltrand0 asked.
"This is completely different on the city market in our world." Sophia commented.
"This place is so lively." Shirna said.
Mateo acts like their guide with a little help from Claustrine. Sophia, Shirna and Beltrand are pretty much engrossed on looking on everything as almost all of them are new to them.
"Hmmmm... I can smell so many food." Shirna's excited words as she gently sniff the air, smelling unfamiliar foods.
"Still feels amazing." -Claustrine.
"Where we should go first?" Beltrand asked.
Mateo sees a coffee shop from a distance and decides for their first stop.
"Guys, do you want some coffee?"
~~~~~~°~~~~~~
Sophia, Shirna and Beltrand is patiently waiting in one of the tables of the coffee shop and observing the surroundings until Mateo and Claustrine brings them the coffee.
"I decide to order what I think is your liking. I hope you enjoy it." Mateo said while placing the coffees.
Sophia recieves a hot cup of cappucino with a little bunny art.
"Awwww... So cute. Is this a... Rabbit?" Sophia asked.
"Yup."
"Awww... Now I don't want to drink it." Sophia frown a little bit.
Shirna recieves a hot cup of chocolate.
"Hmmmm... I already loving the smell..."
Beltrand got a mug of barako coffee.
"Thanks bro. Anyway, what you guys ordered for yourselves?" Beltrand asked both Claustrine and Mateo.
"We just both ordered the same." Mateo said while holding a cup of iced caramel machiatto with cream.
"Drink your coffee before it becomes cold." Claustrine's suggestion.
The three follows Claustrine and each takes a sip."
...
..
.
"!!!"
"!!!"
"!!!"
The three makes very shocked expression then gently placed their cups on the table.
"Amazing!" -Sophia.
"W-what is this?!" -Shirna.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
"Wooo... Is this really the same coffee we drinked in the caves?"." Beltrand asked.
The three takes a sip... And more...
And more...
Until their cups are now empty and Sophia, Shirna and Beltrand having a satisfied look on their face.
"It seems that you really enjoy your drinks guys." Mateo commented.
"Yes! It was soooo delicious!" Sophia commented.
"Mateo. The thing I drink is not really coffee right? It taste similar to the one I drinked but much sweeter and soil-like." Shirna asked.
"That's 100% chocolate. Do you like the true chocolate taste?"
"I... I LOVE IT!" Shirna smiles brightly.
"Thats great. How about you Beltrand?"
"This coffee is far more amazing than those on packs that you give to us. The taste feels more real."
"I see..."
Mateo just looks on the three and see them have sad expressions on their faces while looking on their now empty cups.
"Guys... How abour another cup of coffee?"
Sophia, Shirna and Beltrand's faces brightens up. Each have smiles of excitement.
"Yes!"
~~~~~~°~~~~~~
Mateo and Claustrine are just waiting outside of the the public restroom.
"This might take a little longer." Claustrine commented.
"Our short explanation must be enough for them to use the toilet properly." Mateo answered.
Claustrine sighs.
"To think that coffee can have such effect. Wait, isn't Shirna didn't drink coffee?"
"He said that he's fine. He just need to piss."
Sophia, Shirna and and Beltrand finally finish their business. Sophia and Beltrand is still slightly in distress while Shirna is fine but some guy exiting the restroom gives him a very confused look.
"Are you guys... Fine?" Mateo asked.
"Yeah... But this is just too sudden." Sophia said.
"Because you guys drink too much coffee. That's one of the effects."
"Probably say that to us first." Beltrand's complaint.
"Sorry. It's just that you guys are so happy while drinking coffee. I can't stomach to stop your happiness." Mateo said while acting like guilty.
"Haha. Cut it off bro." Beltrand sees that Mateo is just pretending.
"Hehe. Ah also, you two might feel so awake for a while because of that amount of coffee." Mateo added.
"The what?!" Sophia and Beltrand's surprised reaction as they doesn't have any idea what Mateo is talking about.
.
.
.
Several minutes later...
"My heart beats so fast!" Sophia complains while putting her hand on her chest.
"I feel too much energy in my body!"
"I feel... Nothing." Shirna jokingly joins the two.
"I glad I didn't drinked that much coffee earlier." Claustrine said while just looking at her friend's palpitation.
Meanwhile, Mateo just observing the surroundings as he can feel that everyone is looking at them. But he can't feel any sort of malice on those stares as he soon find out.
Girls focused their gaze on Beltrand. With his handsome European-like looks and tall stature. With the fit polo shirt, Beltrand's well endowed body.
The Guys meanwhile focused their gazed on Claustrine, Sophia and Shirna. Most of it are directed to Sophia.
"Shirna? Hahaha." Mateo whispers to himself.
"Mateo?" Claustrine notices that Mateo seems to chuckling.
"Ah... What's wrong?"
"We're we should go next?" Claustrine asked.
Mateo sees Sophia and Beltrand still energized by the coffee so an idea comes up on his mind.
"Let's go shopping. We should burn those energy away until these two gets tired."
~~~~~~°~~~~~~
"WOAHHH..." Sophia, Shirna and Beltrand are in amazement as they see for them what looks like a maze of clothes and other attires.
"Ok! Let's go shopping!" Claustrine says with ethusiasm.
Everyone except Mateo picks their desired clothes and tries them in the dressing room.
"Guys is this look good to me?" Sophia asked while wearing a well designed red dress.
Mateo, Shirna, Claustrine and Beltrand gives a thumbs up.
"Then I pick this." Sophia decides with a smile.
Sophia choose some dress, sandals, underwears, socks, a pair of white rubber shoes and some hats with different varieties.
Shirna picks leggings, jogging pants, cargo shorts, hoodies, and a black shades which surprised Mateo. Seeing that Shirna didn't add any formal attire, Mateo helps Shirna to find some formal clothes for occasions.
Beltrand meanwhile are more diversed on picking clothes. T-shirts, jeans, pants, shorts, long sleeves, tank tops, hawaiian shirts for some reason, sandals, underwears and some hats he views are unqiue.
Claustrine just picked some clothes that piqued her interest to add to her collection of clothes she buy a month ago.
All of their picks are in accordance on Mateo's rule except for some outliers which Mateo just hopelessly agreed upon when his friends pressure him.
The cashiers are surprised to see the amount of clothes that Grand Ecstasy buy. After one of the managers recognizes Mateo and Claustrine and happingly gives a slight discount. Hoping for their patronage.
.
.
.
After some time... In a different shop.
"Bro... All of these leather shoes looks amazing. I can't decide." Beltrand said while meticulously looking at the arrangement of shoes.
"How about you pick three of your favorites?" Mateo suggested.
"Are you sure?!"
"Yup."
"Ok then! I choose these three!"
Mateo also pick a leather shoes for himself before going in the counter and pay some cash. Grand Ecstasy leaves the store, Beltrand happily carrying the box of shoes in a plastic bag alongside other bags of clothing.
"Phew. Carrying too many things is surely a hassle. I wish we can also bring our bag of storage." Sophia said as she was also carrying bags containing her clothes.
"I feel you..." Shirna agrees.
"Sorry for you. You need to follow my rules." Mateo said with conviction.
Mateo's phone suddenly rings and he answered it for a moment then drops the call after few seconds.
"Guys. Let's go outside for a while."
Grand Ecstasy goes outside the mall and Mateo is looking everywhere until he find what he's looking for.
Mateo sees the familiar white Kei truck parked in front of the mall. His friends just follow Mateo, curious on what he's doing.
"Yo!" The familiar driver said.
"Who is he?" Beltrand asked.
"He's my brother. Shiva."
Shiva goes off and picks the bags Grand Ecstasy are holding, they just casually give the bags while Limuel arrange them beside the driver's seat as the back is full of items and bucket of grease, used for Shiva's small Auto-repair shop.
Shiva then gives an observing look on Mateo's friend.
"To think that you really bring the whole party here."
Mateo just scratched his head.
"I have no choice. They got me."
Shiva laughs. Then he face Mateo's friends with a smile.
"I'm Shiva. It's nice to finally see my brother's friends from another world. I hope you enjoy your stay here on Earth."
Shiva shake hands with Shirna, Sophia and Beltrand then gives her farewell before finally going home bringing every clothes Grand Ecstasy just bought.
"I'm glad your family is very kind to us." Sophia said happily.
Grand Ecstasy spends more time having fun inside the mall. Eating new foods from different countries, buying some perfumes, watching movies...
"Woaaahhh!"
Sophia, Shirna, Beltrand and Claustrines amazement as they watch an epic sci-fi movie in high definition.
They also try playing in arcade. With no prior knowledge to video games, Grand Ecstasy just play some easy-to-grasp games like...
Basketball
"You almost got the highest score. But still, it's impressive that you grasp it easily that you might also become good in the real thing." Mateo's compliment.
"Real thing?" Beltrand asked, curious on what Mateo meant.
"That's one of the most famous sports in Earth called Basketball. But this is just a surface level compared to the real sport."
"Now I'm interested."
In the other Basket beside Beltrand are Claustrine and Sophia trying their best to get some scores but.
"Ah it always happened!" Sophia said as she sees that the ball her and Claustrine thrown just bump each other and nothing enters the hoop.
"We should alternate our shots."
On the other side is Shirna throwing barrage of basketballs. Despite the speed, most of the balls are miss.
...
Claw Machine...
"Steady..." Sophia softly said.
The claw drops to Sophia's target which is a cute and small cat plushie.
"Steady..."
The claw pulls the cat plushie.
"Almost thereeeeee!"
The claw slowly brings the plushie to the drop site... But tragedy happened when plushie slips on the claw's grasp.
"Nooooooo!!!" Sophia cries as she was desperately watch the plushie. Her friiends laughs on her misfortune then also tries the claw machine.
And also screams in despair as they almost got what they want.
...
That arcade game where you drop coins that is going to get pushed by the machine to drop more coins as a price.
"This game is... Weird." Claustrine said.
"Yeah." Sophia, Shirna and Beltrand agrees.
...
And finally, a shooter arcade game which only Shirna plays. He surprisingly good on the game despite only trying it for the first time.
But he finally meets his end on the third boss.
"Damn. That's absurd." Shirna complains.
"Those attacks would not hit if its a real combat." Beltrand commented.
"Why you need to just catch those attacks in the first place anyway?" Sophia's rant.
"To be honest. You did a very good job on that game despite playing it for the first time. Perhaps these type of weapons really suitable for you." Mateo's compliment while holding the fake gun.
"Y-yeah... It feels familiar and easier to use. Now I want to try the real thing. You know, the one we saw on your movies." Shirna's opinion.
"Yooo calm your horses." Mateo's surprised reaction.
After enjoying themselves especially Sophia and Claustrine who also get a 2 hours beauty spa treatment. Grand Ecstasy leaves the mall and go for a short walk until they reach their last destination for today.
~~~~~~°~~~~~~
They're now in front of a well decorated shop with numerous suits displayed on the windows. The shop name is called Del Paz Suits and Tailoring.
"But we already buy clothes earlier right?" Beltrand asked.
"Yes. But we need more formal attire for the royal ceremony." Mateo answered.
"Is me and Sophia also need it?" Claustrine asked.
"You two already picked some good formal dresses while we're shopping in the mall. Those are great ."
"Thanks. I can see it." Claustrine smiles.
"But Me, Beltrand, and Shirna needs a more formal attire so we going to get a tailored suit."
Everyone is shocked.
"T-t-t-tailored?!" Isn't that expensive?!" Beltrand asked.
"I-I-I-I really appreciate that you treat us so many things but that might hurt my consciencee." Shirna's opinion.
"Oh come on. It's not like that only you two needs it. I also need a good suit for that occasion especially if we going to enter the nobility's world." Mateo's reasoning
"F-fare enough. But still, we would our best to pay you back." Beltrand's conviction.
"I-I also do the same!"
"Me too!" -Sophia.
"I also do my best." -Claustrine.
Mateo sighs.
"You don't really need to do that guys. But if you insist, I appreciate it. Anyway, let's enter shall we?"
Grand Ecstasy enters the shop and they're greeted by a beautiful lady wearing simple yet still striking attire that speaks confidence.
"Hello ma'am and sir. How can I help you?" The lady asked.
"Uhmmm... My friend Ailan recommend me this shop. We want to order some suits." Mateo said and he gives a business card to the Lady.
The Lady's eyes widen as she becomes interested after hearing Ailan's name and looking at the business card.
"I see... My name is Crisalyne and welcome to our shop. Please follow me so we can start the measurements."
Grand Ecstasy follows Crisalyne on another larger room where they can see few workers busy on their works. Crisalyne guides them to a middle aged man approximately on his 50's.
"Who are they? Are they new clients?" The man asked.
"Yes pops. And Ailan sends them here." Crisalyne answered.
"Ohhh... If he's the one recommended you here. Then let's start the measurements. But before that, what is your name mister?" The man asked Mateo.
"My name is Mateo Agbayani."
The man's eyes wided for a moment. Even Crisalyne is surprised after hearing Mateo's name. The man offers his hand.
"My name is Gilberto del Paz, and this is my daughter Crisalyne. It's great to have business with you."
Mateo accepts the handshake. Mateo's friends also shortly introduce themselves after.
.
.
.
Gilberto is currently measuring Beltrand while the others just watch patiently on the procedure.
"Let me ask. What is the occasion you going to attend with?" Gilberto's question.
"We're going to attend a gathering of elite people so we wish for attire that would blend with them." Mateo's prepared answer as he don't want to say that the occasion is a royal ceremony and noble's gathering.
"Is the gathering a fancy one?"
"Yes."
"Is it going to be a reoccuring thing?"
Mateo is caught off-guard on the question. He thinks for a while, imagining what Ailan said and the fact that they got involved on something huge.
"Yes sir."
"Is he's the only one that needs a formal suit?"
"No. Me and him also need one." Mateo's answer while pointing his thumb to Shirna.
"And when do you need those suits?"
"4 days from now."
"I see... Well thats all I need. Let's continue the measurement.
It takes 2 hours before Gilberto finishes measuring Beltrand, Shirna and Mateo and then Grand Ecstasy says their farewell.
It's already night time when they finished their little adventure. Grand Ecstasy is now on a slightly crowded bus on their way home. But they don't mind the people as Claustrine, Sophia, Shirna and Beltrand are peacefully sleeping. Totally exhausted.
Mateo just watch outside, watching the busy night life of the street full of people and lights. He smiles as he appreciates the companionship of his friends.
As the bus stops numerous times, the people also become fewer and fewer until the Bus is slowly reaching their destination. Mateo wakes up his friends.
"Uhmmm..." Claustrine is still sleepy but still managed to wake up followed by others.
"We're here. Let's go home guys."