Well, it turns out, gems really are that great. After they had parked in front of a jewelry store and entered, Edna had been utterly thrilled to witness the wide variety of gold, silver, and everything in between, as well as the varied diamonds and gems. With shining eyes, she was unable to restrain herself as she goggled at the various items. Her enthralled attitude had the jeweler quite amused.

Jason was not only their chauffeur, but also their chaperone, so he made sure to keep an eye on them. “How about this one?” George offered Edna a rather weighty golden amulet, embedded with several diamonds, with a big one taking the center. “Ehhh…” To everyone’s surprise, after regaining her composure, Edna demonstrated a passive attitude towards diamonds, which were the most popular gem women desired.

Rather, she was more interested in gemstones such as Emerald, and especially rubies, since they matched her hair and eyes. “I want…this one!” she said, pointing to a simple necklace. Rather than being gold or silver, the chain was varnished with a blackish colored tone, and the pendant itself was embedded with a square, finely polished ruby. “Ah, you have a good eye,” the jeweler remarked, picking up the necklace and holding it out towards Edna, allowing her to take it gingerly.

“The necklace itself is made out of, a rather peculiar metal mined in one of the mining towns. It doesn’t have the shine or appeal of platinum or gold, but it’s excellent for conducting magic, and it’s unusually tough, too. That gem itself is a high quality cut ruby from a rather peculiar vein found in the mountains. You’ll be hard pressed to find one with a better color or depth than that particular one, if I say so myself…”

Edna was unable to keep herself from admiring the gem, which a deep shade of red. Best of all, while it was quite attractive for Edna, it was not at all flashy or extravagant in any way, likely the reason why it had yet to be sold. “How much?” Jason asked the jeweler, who laughed. “I like this young lady, so I’ll give you a good discount on it. 5 gold coins.” Edna couldn’t help but gasp at hearing that price.

In Apollyn, there was a simple coin currency system in place, consisting of copper, silver, golden, and platinum coins. 10 copper coins were 10 large copper coins, 10 large copper coins were 1 silver coin, and 10 silver coins was 1 gold, while 10 gold was 1 platinum coin. For Edna, who had rarely dealt with prices higher than a single silver, this was a prodigiously large amount.

However, Jason smiled in gratitude, handing the man the specified amount of coins. “Thank you,” George said. “Not at all! Please give my regards to your father!” The jeweler said. Edna put the necklace on, a wide grin on her face. “Hm, you expressed a desire for plain clothes, did you not, Miss Edna?” Jason asked her. Edna frowned, pulled away from her continued staring at her necklace. “Er, yes, that’s correct…” Having some jewelry was enough for Edna, and she felt that was pushing things. To get someone like her fancy clothes was a waste, given her lifestyle.

She’d much rather have simple, durable clothes that could last long and wouldn’t earn her stares from everyone. “We will have to go to the Wye District, then. Incidentally, that’s also where the aquarium should be, so we can tackle two birds with one stone. It’s about lunchtime, so shall we go eat?” Jason asked the two.

“Oh, um, sure!” Edna said. “I’ve just the perfect place!” George said, clapping his hands together. “Let’s go to Fernando’s!”

As it turned out, Fernando’s was a restaurant run by a rather posh man, who was, unsurprisingly, named Fernando. While it was high class, it was about in the middle of the rankings of the restaurants enjoyed by the wealthy upper class. Not too famous, not too obscure.

But for George, the food was the best thing in the world. Edna fidgeted nervously as George opened the door for her, allowing her to come in. “Welcome!” A man in a suit greeted them cheerfully.

“We would like seating for three, please,” Jason told the waiter, who nodded. “Names, please?”

Jason provided their names, which the man jotted down on a notepad. “Right this way, please!” He guided them to an empty table, and after procuring some special chairs to accommodate George’s and Edna’s short statures, handed them all menus. “Please, take your time. What would you like to drink?”

“I will have some earl grey tea, with two cubes, please,” Jason said warmly. “I’d like some apple juice, please!” George proclaimed. “Um, er, ah…” Edna, for her part, couldn’t figure out for the life of her what she wanted. She hadn’t really drunk anything other than water or tea (rarely) in her life. “Um…I guess tea, please,” she said after some deliberation.

“What kind would you like?” The waiter asked her. Oh, Darn!

What the heck was she supposed to say now? However, she realized a particular trick. She had seen it many times on signs on various restaurants. With a smirk, she proudly proclaimed, “I’ll have the Chef’s recommendation!” It was a genius idea!

George looked at her inquisitively, the unspoken question of ‘why are you smiling?’ quite evident on his face. “...ah, that’s usually for food, you know?” The waiter told her with a chuckle. “But I’ll make sure to let him know…” he walked off, and Edna exhaled, realizing she had been holding her breath.

“That was a close one…” she murmured. “Have you decided on what to get?” George asked her, after recovering his composure. Edna stared at the menu, then looked up, noticing that George looked horrified. “Edna…I forgot to ask, but can you….read?”

“Hm? Of course I can, silly. Why wouldn’t I know how to read?” Edna asked him. George let out a soft exhalation, while Jason could only nod approvingly. “You are lucky, miss Edna. Many in your position often don’t get a proper education. As unrefined as yours is, it is quite excellent for someone of your status,” he told her warmly. “Oh, wow!” Edna had no idea how special knowing how to read (at least fluently and without difficulty) was.

While unlike in the olden days when illiteracy was high, technological innovations and legislative reforms had prioritized education, allowing even lower class citizens to get a chance at learning, although higher education was still out of reach for anyone who wasn’t high class. Ultimately, however, that benefit did not extend to the homeless and beggars who were born and raised in the slums. After quietly telling herself how amazingly awesome she was a few times mentally, she returned to look down at the menu.

“What is foe grass?” she asked him. “Oh, you must mean foie gras,” George remarked with a chuckle. “It’s basically when they take a duck and overfeed it, and then they cook it afterwards.”

“Ehhh? Seriously?” Edna asked. “Doesn’t that hurt the duck?”

“Mm…maybe? But I don’t think that’s the point…”

“Poor ducky….” Edna felt sympathy for ducks all around the world, although she returned to looking at the menu after only a few moments, finding a particularly funny word.

“Hm…um, what about this cavier?” she asked, pointing to it on the menu.

“That’s caviar. It’s fish eggs.”

“……………what?” Edna asked, aghast. “Fish eggs,” George repeated what he said. Edna eyed the exotic dishes with trembling hands. “R-rich people eat s-scary things….” She whispered, though George did not hear her. Jason, on the other hand, couldn’t suppress his amused smile.

In the end, she went with some steak, cooked medium rare, along with some potatoes au gratin along with steamed succotash, along with a salad and some hors douvres. When the food was delivered, along with their drinks, Edna couldn’t suppress her delight upon smelling how delicious it was. “Wow, so this is steak!”

“Have you not had it before?” George asked her. Edna shook her head. “No…” It was hard enough getting three square meals when one was homeless, let alone eating something as extravagant as steak. “Please enjoy it, Miss Edna,” Jason told her. Edna hesitantly picked up the silverware, stabbing her fork into the salad. “Edna….” George mumbled, coughing. “Eh? What?” Edna asked them.

“That’s the wrong fork.” Edna looked like she’d just been zapped with electricity. “Eh?”

“You’re supposed to use the salad fork, this one…” George pointed out another fork as well, only that one had longer tines than the one she was using. “What the heck? How do you tell them apart?”

“The tines are longer on the salad fork.”

“What the heck is a tine!?”

“These little points on the fork…”

“Ueehhh….”

After a quick crash course on silverware etiquette, Edna was under the thorough impression the rich had a fixation on excessive overspecialization of silverware.