"Leanne, what do you think?" Ada said as she pointed at her plate. She hoped Leanne would get the hint to use her Divine Eye.

The girl squinted and took a moment before she replied, "There is nothing here for either of our dishes."

"Nothing at all?"

"No, just a toad and a carpelfish."

"Master Obar, when do we pay for the meal?" Ada turned to the old man who was blatantly staring at them. He looked more curious than confused.

"No need to worry about that. I already paid for everyone here."

"Does that mean all the food here are ours?"

"I paid for all of you to eat. I can't possibly eat everything here and the food was meant for you as guests to start with."

"Does that mean all the food here are ours?" Ada repeated the question.

"Yes, of course they are all yours," Obar said.

"Can you say that again but more specifically the names of what we are eating?" Ada asked.

"I suppose it is only right that you know what exactly you're eating," Obar mused. "Some of us are merchants and we are truly fortunate to have access to these ingredients. We are also fortunate enough to have such wonderful chefs. The slow braised carpelfish and the pan fried male Exicozan toad I ordered are all yours. They are spiced with salt, garlic, vegetable oil and a variety of local spices. The seafood stews which your servants are eating is composed of oysters, shrimp and crab are also yours."

"And the water?"

"Those are yours as well."

Ada was glad that the Gunders doesn't understand English for she wasn't sure how they would react being called servants. As expected, a familiar voice resounded in her head.

"Pause systemhelper," she said immediately without much thought. Master Obar raised another eyebrow. Ada presumed that by this point, his mind was likely a ball of confusion yet he had the decorum to not inquire what she meant.

"I can guarantee you that we have not drugged any of this food," Obar said.

"I know. It is not poisoned. Calories for the fish is 576 and for the toad is 493. The two bowls of seafood stew has 457 and 478 calories. There is a lot of protein in all the dishes but almost no carbohydrates or fibers unlike the bread. None of the water have any calories. Do you want me to tell you more?" Leanne said.

"No, that's alright. I don't need any more details," Ada said.

"I did not know we have two magic practitioners here," Obar remarked.

"Magic? No, this is science which I thought your club knows plenty about," Ada did not mean for it to come out so snarky but it did.

"I know of no means to sense what is inside an object with just your naked eyes," Obar said. "Also, you clearly have knowledge which we do not. I have never heard of the terminology you used. What are calories and proteins?"

He would definitely have failed health class, Ada thought. Turning to Obar, she said, "I would love to explain but I think everything would be more clear after our walk tonight. I am not going to let the cat out of the bag this soon."

"Cat?"

"Oh my God, don't tell me that you don't have cats here," Ada exclaimed. "You know, fluffy cute little creatures with quite the attitude?"

"No, we have cats though I am unfamiliar with that expression," Obar replied. "I have a few myself at my home to handle the rats."

"I'll put your name down as the second student for my remedial course on colloquial divine tongue," Ada said. She was going to say English but decided that adding more confusion would just derail the conversation further.

"I thought I learned a fair amount of the divine tongue but you talk differently from anyone I have met."

"Well, they can sign up for my course as well when the time comes."

Ada looked over at the Gunders and mused on how they would do as students. She supposed the kids would learn faster than their parents. Speaking of the kids, they looked very anxious to start eating. Despite being poor and uneducated, the parents have definitely taught the kids some manners. They were just sitting there tapping their spoons quietly. Ada didn't want them to wait any longer. "Let's start. Bon appetit!"

"Bon appetit!"

Though Ada knew that her goddess form would not allow her to throw up and she can probably turn off her taste if she wanted to, she still couldn't hide a sense of distaste from looking at the fish in front of her. Grabbing the knife, she carefully cut off a tiny piece from the tail and gingerly placed it in her mouth. It tasted crispy with a mix of tangy and salty flavor. There was none of the fishy taste that she anticipated. Taking it up one notch further, she tried a piece of the head. It was even more flavorful.

"Wow, this is really good," Ada said in between bites.

"Yes, it is," Leanne said while jabbing a piece of the toad skin.

"I am glad you two like it. For my guests, I can only order the finest," Obar said. If he was standing, he would probably have bowed.

Alfre Gunder also said a few words which was obviously an indication of gratitude for the food. Obar replied with a smile and a nod.

Leanne dug into her toad voraciously. Ada would never have thought that such a petite girl would have a black hole for a stomach. In hindsight, she's surprised that Leanne lasted so long on the cloud palace without bringing up food. She must have incredible fortitude. From her side, Ada ate and chewed each fish piece slowly. Obar worked on his food methodically. From the looks of it, it was an assortment of crustaceans.

"Master Obar, I have a few questions I was wondering if you can answer," Leanne suddenly spoke up. 

I was hoping she would take the initiative to speak up, Ada thought. There would definitely be less confusing words or corny jokes that Obar just couldn't grasp. Ada noticed that Leanne was staring at Obar's right hand for a brief moment. Obar didn't seem to notice since he was presently tackling a piece of shrimp in his mouth. He looked up and simply nodded for Leanne to continue.

"Is Galacia affiliated with any gods in particular?"

"The agreements bind us to all eight gods who engaged in the war: Alula, Mara, Serina, Karren, Edayth, Thuro, Yuano and Catiano. In other words, all the gods except for the primal gods and Sludomo."

He missed the Goddess of Sky and the God of Fools, Ada thought. Leanne didn't know of them and it seemed that was true for the Galacia Club as well.

"And who taught you the divine tongue?"

"Lady Shani, I need to clarify something. Though I did just say earlier that I will not reveal our secret of understanding the language to non-members, you no doubt will probably tell your friend here when I am not around. Long story short, though most of us these days are not blessed by the Divine Tongue, all of us in the early days were blessed directly by the gods so that we can be teachers for our future members."

"Who blessed you with the Divine Tongue?"

"I initially prayed to Catiano for wisdom and understanding."

"And he answered?"

"No, unfortunately, he did not. I prayed to Yuano and he did answer. And that is why I have some wealth but no wisdom whatsoever."

Leanne giggled. She continued, "If I recall my history, Catiano, Mara, Yuano and Karren were on one side and Serina, Thuro, Edayth and Alula were on the other. Since Catiano's group supported the pursuit of knowledge, does the Galacia Club only interact with them?"

"No, actually, we have not heard from any of them in a while. The gods only revealed themselves to us to dictate the initial rules and nudged us in the appropriate direction from time to time."

"Do you or any in your group pray to any of them?"

"One of the requirements of the Galacia Club which you may have noticed when you decided to join is an open mind. We do not discriminate against anyone who has faith in the gods or those who do not."

"Does this mean you still pray to Yuano?"

"I do so once in a while but I have not heard from him in almost two decades. I have not heard any others to have been in touch with any of the gods either. This is not uncommon since the gods have a different concept of time than we mortals do."

"That is understandable. I have a few more questions but I do need to excuse myself for a bit for the restroom."

"I'll join her. By the way, the water was quite refreshing," Ada said.

There was an awkward silence before Obar spoke, "That was to wash your hands after the meal."

"Oh," she said sheepishly.

"It is fine. I almost drank it too. Usually, it's in a bowl and not a cup," Leanne tried to cover for Ada's faux pas.

"We ran out of bowls earlier," Obar apologized. "Our customs may be different from yours and I should not have assumed you know all of them. We can have some wine after you two come back. I believe drinking is an area of common ground in every culture. The bathroom is through the door and all the way down to your left."

"Thank you," Ada said.

The bathroom was distinctively labeled with a picture of a woman etched on the door. Once Ada and Leanne went inside, she took a glance around and noted that there was no one else here. It was a fairly modern bathroom considering the rest of the technology in this world. The sight of indoor plumbing and faucets almost brought tears to Ada's eyes. And she saw that there was some toilet paper. She would need to add these amenities to her palace now that she knew these classes existed in the standard library.

"He is lying," Leanne interrupted Ada's thoughts.

"What?!" Ada was stunned. He had seemed so trustworthy to her.

"I said he is lying."

"About what?"

"About not talking to any of the gods."