Ugly bastard

After counting his money, Josh thought,

'This should be good for three days. The most basic meal should cost about 10 copper coins... I have 10 silvers here... so 10 meals at most. Good!'

Josh stood in front of the counter and was greeted,

"Good Afternoon young sir. What is your order?"

"May I get a basic meal not exceeding 10 copper coins?"

"Ohh... But, our cheapest meal is 5 silver..."

'!?' Josh's eyes bulged a little upon hearing the so-called cheap price.

"Don't worry though. We offer free meals for students of the academy. Although it's free, it is nutritious enough. We recycle and recook the left-over food, so we won't have much waste."

"Ohh! That's cool! Do you serve them for breakfast and dinner as well?"

"A-ah? Y-yes we do." The counterman can't help but smile wryly.

'How cheap can you get?'

"Thanks! Then, I'll have that."

"Thank you for your order, sir! Please queue at the receiving counter for your food."

Josh waited for five minutes. He found an empty table at the center to eat his food.

"Hmm... Rice, vegetables, matchbox-sized meat, and a soup... Whoaa! Not bad for a free meal."

When Josh was on half of his meal, a girl with short black hair wearing glasses came over to his table. She has a pink iris and red pupil for her eyes. She wears a black thick jacket and jeans pants.

"Uhmm... Excuse me, may I sit here? The other tables are either filled or too far away..."

Josh looked up and thought,

'What beautiful eyes...'

"Yes you may, you can also sit beside me if you want," Josh said with a wink.

'...'

"Uhmm... Thank you, I'll just occupy this corner here to not bother you."

Josh just nodded.

'She must be shy from my smart handsomeness. It's truly a sin to be handsome.'

On the other tables quite near to Josh's,

"Hey! Hey! Isn't that the ugly bastard? Where's his 'onii-chan shirt'?"

"I don't know. What the fuck? Why'd you even bother with him? Do you have a thing for ugly bastards?"

"What!? Of course not! Stupid Ella!"

"Hahaha! Just kidding, just kidding. He looks quite decent you know—without his 'onii-chan shirt'. But, his buttoned-down shirt is quite bulgy, so he might be fat... Not really my type... And his glasses... Where'd he even got those? Those look more antique than my grandfather's... he really looks quite the nerd... and degenerate... with the bonnet. I've become really judgmental, aren't I? Haaaa~ Forget about him, let's just eat."

"Yep let's not think much about it. The mana might not bless us with good incantations if we thought too much bad about him without him doing anything to us at all."

"Yeah, yeah. Just eat faster. We'll still have to walk to our classes after this."

"Okay, okay."