"The last time I"ve been to this village was decades ago. Back then it was a tiny village with few people. Now it"s a bustling little village, that"s growing by the day. Humans sure are quick to progress."

Hearing her talk like that just reminds me that though she looked young she was older by decades than him, even counting his past life experience.

"Speaking like a true old woman," Eri commented while walking beside me. Tsukiyomi looked at the stoic Eri and answered back.

"Well, it is true I"m old compared to you little girl. But when you grow old and wrinkled, I"ll still be this young and beautiful, so it doesn"t really matter." Tsukiyomi smiled at Eri.

"..." Eri then started to emit a tiny bit of bloodl.u.s.t.

"Well, before this gets any more exciting how about we eat first? Let"s head to Uncle Vern"s restaurant." Gerard chimed in while looking a bit happy. "Also, maybe later we can spar a bit more Tsukiyomi-san."

"Kukuku, very well, I will beat you down no matter how many times you want me to."

"Thank you for your guidance Tsukiyomi-san."

While everyone was talking with each other we finally reached the restaurant. It was a normal-looking restaurant, it wasn"t even the best restaurant in the village. But it was the restaurant we always return to after training.

†

A middle-aged man with a scruffy black beard looked at the incoming group of people and smiled.

"Edge, Gerard, Eri, and little Sarah... Oh, and who"s this new one? h.e.l.lo there, I"m Vern the owner of this little establishment." The middle-aged man looked at Tsukiyomi, waiting for her to respond.

"Good day to you little chef, you may call me Tsukiyomi." Tsukiyomi"s introduction was said with her usual haughtiness. Hearing the little girl call him little chef, made Vern laugh heartily. He was such a big man, that being called little was a first for him. It was even more amusing knowing that a little girl was the one who called him such.

"It"s a pleasure to meet you, Tsukiyomi."

†

I was a bit anxious that Tsukiyomi"s overbearing personality might make Uncle Vern"s mood go bad. But contrary to my expectations Uncle Vern was laughing heartily.

"So what will you guys be having?" After laughing merrily Uncle Vern finally asked us for our orders.

"Today I"m going to eat some of your roast beef," I answered first.

"I"ll have around thirteen hard-boiled eggs," Gerard ordered next.

"Salmon, please," Eri gave out her order.

"I want the same thing as big bro." Sarah happily ordered while taking her seat beside me. The person on my left aka Tsukiyomi remained quiet and didn"t order.

"How about you little lady what will you be having?" Uncle Vern asked the silent Tsukiyomi.

"There"s no need. I don"t need to eat to survive." When I heard Tsukiyomi say that, I finally noticed that not once did I ever see her eat.

"Surely you need to eat something, little lady." Uncle Vern spoke out of concern.

"She"ll be having roast beef as well," I answered before Tsukiyomi could give her own reply.

"Alright then, just wait a bit while I prepare your food." Uncle Vern gave a thumbs up and headed into the kitchen.

†

When Uncle Vern left, Tsukiyomi was now looking at me. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Why did you order food for me? Like I said I do not need that kind of sustenance to survive."

"Then what do you need to survive."

"Mana, mana is all I need to survive. My race only needs mana to exist, as long as we have even a tiny bit of mana left we can never truly die. Though once upon a time back, in the beginning, we did eat normally like any other living being, but then we found out that we could no longer convert the energy we gain from eating. So even though we can still eat, human food, but we don"t need it."

"I see... So you can eat, right? Why don"t you just try it, you never know you might like it."

"... Very well, I have never tried eating human food before. I guess it"s not a bad thing to try some every now and then."

†

After a few minutes of waiting I could already smell Uncle Vern"s delicious food. He then placed the food in front of us.

Tsukiyomi looked at the food as she hesitated a bit. As she gathered enough resolve to eat, she cut a portion of the meat and placed it in her mouth. As I watched her step by step, the moment she started chewing I saw a different reaction from her than I expected.

"What is this?!" Tsukiyomi who always seems to have this invisible aura of dignity and aloofness suddenly changed as she ate her meal. It only took her a few seconds before everything on her plate disappeared into her stomach. She then looked at me and spoke.

"I was wrong, Edge eating is great. I can"t understand why my ancestors forgo food for mana consumption. Even if we can"t gain anything from this, just the experience of taste alone is reason enough to eat."

It was at that moment I knew I made a mistake. As Tsukiyomi ate until all of Uncle Vern"s supplies were near empty.

†

After eating I paid Uncle Vern and apologized for eating most of his food supplies. Uncle Vern responded with a laugh.

"That"s no problem Edge, you already paid for the meal so everything is alright. Still, the little lady is full of surprises."

Once we were done talking with Uncle Vern we all headed back to our own houses.

†

While I was in my room about to go to bed, I heard someone knock on my door. "Who is it?"

"It"s me Edge." I heard Tsukiyomi on the other side of the door. I was about to head towards the door and invite her in, but before I could open the door, she spoke.

"I just want to say thanks."

"Huh, thanks for what, for the food?"

"No not just that... I want to thank you for everything. That"s all I wanted to say, good night, Edge." I wasn"t able to respond as I heard her footsteps and then her closing the door of the room across.

"Why are you thanking me? Shouldn"t I be the one thanking you?" Now that I think about it, I have never said thank you to her for saving my life back in the forest. I actually forgot, if I get the chance I better thank her properly.