26: Ellie

After Clarissa had tasted almost everything, she nodded in appreciation.

The taste was indeed excellent! Both the texture and presentation were truly good!

And with so many desserts, they weren't cloying at all.

Clarissa also took a sip of the Rose Lover drink, and its taste was indeed very unique and appealing!

No wonder Ali praised it so much and loved drinking it!

"May I ask, how much does this afternoon tea set cost?" Clarissa asked while eating.

"If I remember correctly, it should be 99 gold coins per set," Ali said after thinking for a moment.

"..." Clarissa blinked. This afternoon tea was truly expensive!

How many gold coins do ordinary people spend in a year!

One set here costs a direct 99 gold coins!

No wonder those who come here are either rich or noble...

Only such people can afford it.

And cultivators are definitely rich, after all, "poor scholars, rich warriors"... Plus, it's much easier for cultivators to make money.

For example, during her time in the Vanguard Army's auxiliary unit, Clarissa had already earned over six hundred gold coins! This was just the reward money, only counting the pure gold coins she received, not including other cultivation resources and materials.

If everything was counted, the resources were even more expensive, at least over three thousand gold coins.

"It's still quite cheap!" Ali nodded and added, then took another delightful sip. Seeing Clarissa's strange expression, she couldn't help but chuckle, "Although we have money, we're not fools. The quality of the ingredients here is definitely worth the price! Both the quality and taste are good. Just what's in front of us, the cost already exceeds seventy gold coins, so selling it for 99 gold coins is not expensive at all. Northwind Restaurant isn't just making money for the sake of making money!"

"Ah!" Clarissa nodded in sudden understanding. There was nothing she could do; she was used to being poor, and her consumer mindset wasn't on the same wavelength as Ali's. She hadn't understood before, but now that Ali explained it, it didn't seem that expensive at all.

The two had chatted enough and eaten enough.

After finally finishing the food on the table, Clarissa drank the last sip of "Rose Lover."

"Once you're done eating, I'll take you to my house to have a look! And have someone prepare a room for you. Then, how about we go to the arena? I'll treat you to a big dinner tonight! What do you think?" Ali said to Clarissa.

"No problem! I'm completely unfamiliar with the Imperial Capital! I'll listen to you! You can arrange everything," Clarissa readily agreed.

"Good!" Ali heard Clarissa agree and immediately jumped up happily.

"Let's go, let's go ~ to my house!" Ali happily said to Clarissa.

After Ali pulled Clarissa out, it took a while for Clarissa to react.

"Hey! Ali, did you pay?" Clarissa pulled Ali back.

"Don't worry! It's on account! Someone will pay later ~ It's fine!" Ali waved her hand, "Hehe ~ No one stopped us anyway! That waiter doesn't know me, but the others do, don't worry!"

"Oh ~" Clarissa indicated that she had simply seen too little of the world.

Ali walked on the street with Clarissa.

"Sister Lisa, look over there..." Ali pointed in a direction. The buildings in that area looked denser than in other places, as if they were a single entity.

"What's wrong?" Clarissa looked at it confusedly.

"That's my house, or rather, my family's..." Ali said.

"..." Clarissa suddenly looked over there, then at Ali, then back over there... Hmm... Clarissa didn't know what word to use to describe that area of buildings. It wasn't about how much The Ground it occupied. To describe it with one word... a complex of buildings?

That large area, how many people must there be!

"How big is your family!" Clarissa couldn't help but exclaim.

"I don't know. Just the family members seem to exceed a thousand, and then there are servants, guards, etc. I don't know the exact number, but over five thousand should be no problem..." Ali said after thinking for a moment.

"..." Clarissa didn't want to speak.

Goodness, it really is a super big family!

"But that doesn't count the family members outside..." Ali added.

"Cough, cough, alright, where is your house?" Clarissa stiffly changed the subject, not wanting to continue talking about it.

"Soon, soon, just two more streets and we'll be there. It's only one street away from the Adventurer's Guild!" Ali said to Clarissa.

They walked for a while.

"Here!" Ali pointed to a large mansion and said to Clarissa.

This was a two-story villa, so to speak, with a super large front and back yard.

There were also two guards standing at the entrance.

"Miss Ali!" The guards respectfully greeted Ali.

"Hmm! Get to know this one, Clarissa. From now on, seeing her is like seeing me!" Ali pointed to Clarissa and said to the guards.

"Understood! Miss Clarissa!" The guards respectfully said to Clarissa.

"No, no, no! This..." Clarissa had never encountered such a situation.

"Alright, alright, let's go!" Ali pulled Clarissa and walked inside.

When they encountered a passing maid, Ali casually said, "Prepare a guest room! It will be specially for her from now on!"

"Yes, Miss Ali!" The maid quickly said.

"Sister Lisa, how about I show you around my house, let you get familiar with it, and let everyone recognize your face, and then we go to the arena?" Ali said to Clarissa.

"Uh... No problem!" Clarissa felt like she was constantly being attacked by "extravagance."

She was led around like a "walking corpse" by Ali, and then all the servants in the mansion recognized Clarissa.

"Let's go! Let's go to the arena! The Imperial Capital Arena is very famous! It's packed every day! There are battles every day! Especially gambling fights!" Ali was very excited when talking about the arena.

On the way, Clarissa listened to Ali's "popular science."

This Imperial Capital Arena was actually somewhat similar to the Roman Colosseum on Earth.

There were many spectators, and one could bet on each match, though the betting options weren't extensive; most were just betting on wins or losses.

Those who participated in the arena were basically "contracted" knights.

Of course, there could be "challengers" every day at the arena.

Clarissa arrived at the arena, where it was bustling with people and the atmosphere was very lively.

It was clear that the Imperial Arena was very popular with the people of the Grosster Empire.

As expected of a country that advocates martial prowess!

"How is it here?" Ali lightly nudged Clarissa and said.

"Isn't this Miss Ali! You have time to come here today? Come, come! Your exclusive VIP seat!" An arena staff member saw Ali and quickly came forward to greet her.

"This is the arena manager, just call him Xiaofu," Ali said to Clarissa.

"Uh... Hello! I'm Clarissa!" Clarissa looked at the middle-aged, seemingly shrewd man in front of her. She was supposed to call him Xiaofu? Cough, cough, it was really a bit hard to say.

"Hello, hello! I am Rossfu! You are Miss Ali's friend! Then you are my friend! Come, come! I will lead the way for both of you!" Rossfu said with a smile to Ali and Clarissa, then led them through the "staff passage" to a VIP seat.