The dining hall we arrived at under Isil’s guidance was empty, perhaps because it was still early.
However, the sight of all kinds of dishes laid out in a long line across the enormous table created the illusion that the space was packed full even without a single person in it.
“...All the food’s already here? I don’t see anywhere nearby to cook, so who brought all this in?”
“I don’t know either. But when I came yesterday, I didn’t see anyone preparing the food... The first-year seats are this way. Follow me.”
Isil shook her head as if she did not know the answer to my question either, then led me to the table on the far left.
According to her, of the four rectangular tables in this dining hall, the table on the right closest to the entrance was for the first-years.
Following her guidance, I sat down at the table, smacking my lips at the smell of various rich, greasy foods wafting into my nose as I asked,
“Can we eat first by ourselves?”
“...The professor said that if we’re hungry, we can eat first and leave. But since the next people have to eat too, we shouldn’t take too much of one dish and should eat a variety.”
“Mm. I guess the rules of group life are similar no matter where you go. Then let’s not hold back and eat first.”
“Okay.”
Clatter, clatter.
I picked up the long tongs placed in front of my seat and took some of the dishes in the middle of the table, setting them onto my plate.
This buffet-style meal was quite familiar to me, even without going as far as my memories from my previous life, since it was similar to the way banquets were held in the Prah family.
It was only natural that the more noble one was, the stronger one’s craving for food became. And in order to eat as wide a variety of rare and precious dishes as possible, one could only end up with this buffet format, where everyone served food onto their own plates.
“Hmm, hm.”
Humming to myself, I quickly picked five or six dishes that looked tasty from among the many foods before me.
A large chunk of tenderloin covered in a brown sauce like gravy, nicely browned sausages with a vivid yellow sauce studded with whole mustard seeds on top, mashed potatoes made by boiling and crushing potatoes before mixing them with cheese into a thick texture, a salad to cleanse the palate, and a few other things such as grilled mushrooms and slices of fresh fruit.
Once a hearty meal to start the day had been completed on my plate, I brought over one of the long water bottles placed among the dishes and poured it into my cup.
Glug, glug, glug.
Perhaps it was not water, because a pale violet liquid quickly filled the glass cup.
Sniff, sniff.
Just in case, I smelled the liquid in the cup, but unfortunately, it was not alcohol. It seemed to be some kind of tea with a floral fragrance like lavender.
“...Jin, didn’t you take too much? Can you eat all that?”
“Hm? This isn’t even that much.”
Isil looked down at my plate with a surprised expression.
“Meat, meat, and more meat... It’s all meat.”
“Come on, even if it’s meat, not all meat is the same. One is tenderloin, another is sausage made from innards, and this one isn’t meat but a dish made from mashed potatoes.”
“Ah, I couldn’t tell because it was covered in brown. So that was potato.”
“Yeah. Then let’s see what food you brought...”
“?”
I lost my words as I looked at the few scraps of greens sitting on Isil’s plate.
“I’m asking just in case, but that’s an appetizer, right?”
“What’s an appetizer?”
“I mean, is it for cleansing your palate?”
“? No, this is my breakfast. I was a little hungry today too, so I brought a lot.”
With an expression that infuriatingly seemed to say, “Aren’t I impressive?” Isil pushed her plate toward me.
On her plate, there were only a few large-leafed vegetables, a white sauce like aioli on top of them, a few slices of tomato, and black sauce dotted over them like droplets.
This was...
“What kind of rabbit’s breakfast is this?”
“Huh?”
Feeling the blood of the Korean from my previous life boil up at the sight of her looking bewildered by my question, I shouted weakly.
“Hey! You’re tiny because you’ve been eating like that all this time! You’re still at an age where you should be growing like crazy, so what is this supposed to be? There’s no protein! Protein!”
“...Uh, did I do something wrong?”
“Yes! You’re not supplying enough nutrients to grow your body! This is abuse against your own body! What are you, a vegan? Even a vegan would starve to death eating this much!”
“...”
I quietly stared at the small, thin, silver-haired girl and shook my head.
No wonder she was this tiny if she ate like this.
This would not do.
The grandmother inside me was shouting at me to feed this young grandchild until she was full.
I had to feed this skinny, pitiful? child until she plumped up.
“You don’t have some kind of aversion to meat, do you?”
“...Uh, not really. It’s just that I’m not used to it. Where I lived, there were plenty of greens and vegetables, but not much edible meat.”
“Okay. So you’re not saying you dislike it, right? Then give that here.”
“Ah.”
I gently moved my hand, took the plate Isil was holding, and glared at the various dishes laid out on the table.
She said she was not used to meat, so I would exclude parts with a strong meaty smell or foods that might be tough.
Her palate did not seem used to pungent spices yet either, so I would also exclude red foods or dishes with intense colors.
Lastly, if I looked for foods made from tender, soft parts that she could eat easily...
Swish, swish, swish.
My hands moved too fast to be seen as I quickly placed the three dishes I had marked out in advance onto her plate.
One was a roasted poultry thigh that I had not taken because it was not to my taste, but it would be easy to chew.
The second was the flesh of a fish like a flounder, wide and flat, though its glistening eyes were burdensome because the head had not been removed.
Lastly, I placed a few small pieces of white bread, carbohydrates as important as protein, and added a small dollop of fruit jam on top.
Thud!
I set her completed plate down in front of Isil with a sound and said to her,
“I don’t know what foods you dislike, so I picked a variety. If the food doesn’t suit your taste, you don’t need to worry about me and can leave it, so eat comfortably.”
“...It feels like something incredible just happened in front of my eyes.”
Isil stared blankly down at the plate placed before her with a dazed expression, then picked up a utensil nearby and stabbed at the food.
I watched her for a moment, then picked up a tomato-like vegetable from my own plate and tossed it into my mouth.
Chew, chew.
Juice that tasted just like the tomatoes I had eaten in my previous life slid down my throat and into my esophagus.
So it was not just that it looked like a tomato; it tasted like one too?
Come to think of it, I remembered reading in the newspaper that the southern continent, where the Empire’s colonies were located, produced not only rare minerals but also crops like tobacco, sugar, and coffee, just like the Americas in my previous life.
Even on Earth in my previous life, crops that did not exist in the old continent called Europe were brought in from the new continent, and there were often scenes of people finding them unfamiliar or fascinating.
The tomato I was eating right now was also considered similar to a poisonous plant native to the Empire in its early days, to the point that records said it had been fed to death-row inmates instead of poison.
Thinking of such cases, I could not erase the thought that this world truly resembled the Earth of my previous life like a reflection in a mirror.
Of course, on Earth, there were no beings that could walk above the clouds or things like mysterious disasters.
“Gulp. How is it? Does it suit your taste?”
“...Your gaze is making me uncomfortable, Jin.”
“I’ll look away once you show me you swallowed the food.”
“...Annoying.”
With an expression that said she was fed up with my stare, Isil gulped down the meat that had been in her mouth.
“...Ugh, the texture is weird.”
“It’s not disgusting or making you feel like it’s coming back up?”
“No, not that. But the smell and texture are different from the food I usually ate, so it feels unfamiliar.”
“Mm. If it’s really hard to eat, you don’t have to.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Though you’ll have to accept that future. The future where Hwaryeong and I keep eating meat and grow up big and tall, while only you stay the same size as you are now and spend your whole life looking up at us.”
“...!”
Seeing Isil’s mouth open into a triangle, shocked by the future I had described, I clicked my tongue.
“Isil, you’ll spend your whole life breathing the lower air. I’ll grow even taller than I am now and live breathing the refreshing upper air.”
“...You and I aren’t that different in height yet, you know?”
“You don’t know anything, do you? At this age, people shoot up every year. While you’re being arrogant and thinking there isn’t much difference, one day, when you look back at me, you won’t be looking at my face but at my neck or chest.”
“...”
To drive the wedge into my words, I put on the kindest face I could and patted Isil on the shoulder like a teacher as I spoke.
Pat, pat.
“It’s okay, Isil. Even if you’re short, we’ll still be friends. So even if, while walking down the street, we don’t see you because you’re too small and pass you by without noticing, please understand.”
“...I’ll eat.”
Smack!
Isil smacked away the hand I had placed on her shoulder and began chewing through the food on her plate with a combative air.
Mm-hmm. She had definitely taken the bait.
Just as I was secretly sighing in relief at the sight of her and about to begin my own meal...
Rumble.
I saw three people enter the dining hall.
Click.
And among the group entering the dining hall, the one in front, leading the two behind her—
I met eyes with Rin Edenborough, who had been brushing her brown hair behind her ear as she looked this way.