The Stark Troops poured into Metgard from Votgard, holding trays of food. Kintar had modeled the cockpit into a large sitting area with bubbly cushions, chairs, and tables, allowing everyone to rest comfortably as though they were in Limgard (Amanas' designated relaxing space).

The majority of the Troops served each other, while Ruge, Gerriey, and Timmit served the Unlimited Stars.

Gerriey carried a tray where Pherdanta was sitting with Uyuniya, chatting. The Commander had cleaned herself following her evaluation of the new experts, who were currently recovering from the traumatic experience in Limgard. The thoughtful look on her face as she listened to what the terrestrial princess was saying melted away when Gerriey approached and placed her tray on the table before her.

Pherdanta's eyes sparkled as she scanned the variety of pastries, the two plates full of steaming portions of some bizarre meals, and the tall pitcher full of some dark liquid cooled with blocks of ice.

"Sorry it took so long," said Gerriey, breathing out a hefty sigh. "Amanas – and by extension, Votgard – doesn't exactly give training wheels. We had to do a lot of experimentation with the ingredients in storage, not to mention the appliances we had to use for the cooking."

"I'm not complaining," said Pherdanta as she poured herself a glass of the cold, dark liquid. As soon as she took a whiff and detected dense doses of sweetness, she smiled brightly. Gerriey beamed at that. She knew Pherdanta was secretly a sweet tooth.

"Neither am I," said Uyuniya. She'd had a taste of the cooked grains glazed with some spicy, salty sauce on her plate. The way she held her spoon – as though it were too dirty for her fingers – reminded Gerriey of her identity.

Nodding repeatedly, she left the two.

Pherdanta took a sip of the dark juice and savored its rich, sweet flavor.

"I get it," she said, placing her glass on the table and looking intently at Zelozeld's princess. "I always figured roles like mine had more grounded meaning in fixed domains like your family's kingdom. It's relieving to hear that even on a different world, captains, commanders, and knights, all adopt some manner of… callousness when needed." She took a bite of one of the pastries.

Uyuniya, on the other hand, didn't indulge. In all honesty, she would rather not eat than dine on a subpar meal like this. As a Divine, she could afford to do so for many Consternals.

Smiling, she said, "Feel free to ask exactly what you want to know about my home."

Pherdanta sighed. She was rather embarrassed that Uyuniya saw through her so easily. She'd been asking roundabout questions in an attempt to tactfully get an answer for something she couldn't stop thinking about. Humming, she donned a solemn expression.

"How do I compare as a Swordmaster compared to the experts from Zelozeld?"

Uyuniya chuckled.

Meanwhile, near Metgard's consoles, Timmit had just delivered a tray to Kintar and Savast. He zipped away immediately, in case Kintar found a reason to chastise him. He'd know that both Ruge and Gerriey had deliberately skimped out on serving the diminutive Deputy.

Had he stuck around long enough, he would have seen how pleased Kintar was with the buttery, pillowy, warm bread on her tray, smothered in the middle with tender fried flesh. She held a whole piece with her chubby hands and munched happily.

"I wonder who bothered with keeping track of my preferences," she said, cheeks swollen. "Oh, this is so bloody delicious!"

"Is it… that good?" said Savast, watching Kintar eat. "You know I've never liked human food."

"Baddan likes it. I think."

"That's racist. Do Baddan and I look alike?"

Kintar rolled her eyes. "Of all the times for you to doubt me." She swallowed and wiped her lips for crumbs with a stubby finger. "This is one of the things we have to do, you know?"

Savast frowned. "What?"

"To be part of a family – a real family," said Kintar with a serious face, "we have to share our peers' interests – to try what they like, acknowledge the things they hate, and so on."

"Don't you mean our friends?"

"Whatever you want to call them," said Kintar dismissively. "The point is that's how we get rid of the feeling of isolation – of being misunderstood. We have to make an effort to understand others before they bother with understanding us – no matter how weak or significant they may be. That's the human way. Apparently."

Savast mulled it over. Not being human seemed to matter more to the development of the kind of Cluster beast he was than it did for the kind Baddan was. He closed his multiple eyes.

"How far are you in putting this into practice?" he asked Kintar.

Kintar flung her hands up and grinned. "Hardly left the ground."

Savast disagreed thoroughly. Something had changed about Kintar since that battle on Aigas.

A couple dozen steps from them, Grim and Baddan were chewing delightedly, savoury juices slipping from the corners of their lips. Ruge was standing next to them, glowing with pride. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"There are more kinds of meat where this came from, right?" asked Baddan, pointing at his empty plate.

"Er – yeah," said Ruge, and he chuckled. "Not sure if all of them are good for mortals like us to eat, but—"

"You always worry about the details needlessly, Ruge. Meat is meat," said Grim, interrupting him. "Set 'em up! Get us more!"

As Ruge dashed back to Votgard, passing by where Elita and Yuyui were sitting, the former suddenly lost her appetite.

"You know, now that I look closely, I can't even be certain that he is even human," she said, her eyes on Grim.

"He doesn't want to be just human," said Yuyui after she devoured a kebab of some fish-like flesh. "That's his thing. Isn't it cute? He always gets excited when confronted with different assortments of beasts."

"You're not worried he'll bite off more than he can chew at some point? His powers are amazing and all, but everyone has limits. There's a price to pay for unrestrained passion," said Elita.

"Maybe," said Yuyui. "But we don't have the luxury of being tame about our wants. Nor the time."

Kenno was eavesdropping on the conversation as he ate his own food, next to him, Ashema. The Carven hadn't touched his food at all. The Unlimited Star had been trying to get him to talk since what had happened earlier on Aigas: He had received something inexplicable from the blue.

"You heard her, right? There really is no time to be lax with our choices."

Still, Ashema said nothing. Deep down, though, he mocked that word. Choice. For him, that was an illusion.

"Why did you even bother following us on this vessel if you weren't going to say or do anything?" asked Kenno, brows furrowing.

For a moment, it seemed as though Ashema would finally speak – that he would answer – but a flash of a series of colors on the consoles up ahead stole Kenno and everyone's attention.

Kintar rushed towards the consoles, and upon studying them, she scowled.

"Huh? What do you mean the vessel is suddenly moving 45% faster?"