Kiana picked up the notice on the table, and tucked inside was the menu the receptionist had mentioned. There were many dishes on it, but besides rice and noodle soup, she didn't recognize any of them, so she just called and ordered one of everything.
By the time Ryn came out of the shower, Kiana was just asking the waiter to swipe her card to pay. The waiter took out a card reader from under the dining cart, telling Kiana to insert the card and enter the password. Kiana simply swiped the card and said there was no password.
After paying, the waiter placed the dishes on the table one by one. The variety of dishes made Kiana, who had only ever eaten Siegfried's charcoal creations and various types of bread, unable to look away.
After seeing the waiter off, Ryn turned around to find that a quarter of the full table of food had already vanished. Kiana was holding up plates and pouring the food into her mouth. After finishing each plate, she would gasp from the heat, then continue with the next one.
"Eat slower. It's just the two of us, no one's going to fight you for it." Ryn opened a bottle of mineral water from the side and handed it to Kiana.
"Yoo don unnerstan, is muh firs time eatin so much delishus food." Kiana's mouth was stuffed full, her words muffled. Her cheeks were puffed out like a little white-haired hamster.
Ryn took a steak and a pork knuckle for himself, leaving the rest for Kiana. Anyway, with a Kaslana's stomach, he didn't have to worry about her getting sick.
Kiana's wild eating style unknowingly influenced Ryn as well. Unable to use a knife and fork, he got frustrated with the pork knuckle and just picked it up and gnawed on it, a pork knuckle in one hand and a steak in the other, eating with great relish.
Before he had taken more than a few bites, Kiana had finished all the food on the table and was now staring at him expectantly. Ryn looked at the half-eaten pork knuckle in his hand, hesitated for a moment, and handed it to Kiana.
Kiana pushed the pork knuckle back with a look of disgust. With her face covered in crumbs, she said with a grin, "I'm not full. Let's order another round."
"?"
Ryn looked in disbelief at the twenty-odd plates on the table, then at Kiana's flat stomach. Damn you, Honkai Beasts at least have the decency to look bloated. Do you digest these ordinary dishes so fast you don't even need time!
"What's with that look?! I said I'm not full... What's there to be shocked about..." Kiana said with a wronged expression, then picked up the menu and placed it next to Ryn. She pointed to a few dishes on the table that she had intentionally left a little of. "I really liked a few of the dishes I just ate, but I don't know their names. Can you see if you know them and help me order a few more portions?"
"Let's see, fried whole chicken, fried chicken legs, braised lion's head meatballs, white-cut chicken..." Ryn read out the dish names one by one as he compared them. Kiana silently memorized the names, planning to bring her stinky old dad to try these delicacies once she found him. They were much better than charcoal.
Ryn called the front desk, ordered the dishes Kiana wanted, requesting two extra portions of each, and then ordered some more that he wanted to eat.
Hanging up the phone, Ryn couldn't help but marvel. What a magical other world. A small hotel actually had so many dishes.
"Let's pack a few dozen portions to go when we leave tomorrow! That way we'll have food for the next few days. Though I have a feeling you might eat it all in one day."
"Hee hee hee..."
Later, after the waiter had run back and forth several more times, Kiana lay satisfied on the bed, moving her arms and legs up and down as if she were swimming.
Ryn turned on the TV in the room, then scooted Kiana over with his butt and got under the covers to watch.
"Kiana, is there anything you want to watch?"
"Mmm... Is there Arahato or Homu Adventure? My stinky old dad brought me a lot of those comics. Although I've only read most of them once, it would be nice to watch the anime version of Arahato or Homu Adventure."
"Let's go with Homu Adventure then. The popular recommendations say this thing is very popular."
And so, the two of them watched several episodes of Homu Adventure under the covers.
Suddenly, Kiana poked Ryn in the side and asked curiously, "By the way, why did you lie to that receptionist earlier? You told so many different lies to so many people today."
Looking at Kiana's innocent face, Ryn pinched her small, round cheek and said with a smile, "Kiana, the real world isn't a fairy tale. The real world is a blurry shade of gray. Everyone is born with their own selfish desires, and our upbringing uses morality to restrain those desires. But not everyone has been educated or possesses morals. Their desires are often satisfied by hurting others, whether unintentionally or deliberately. You can know a person's face but not their heart, so I don't mind using the worst-case scenario as a reference when it comes to people.
Especially since we're children, the easiest targets for deception and harm. What if someone on the road has ill intentions towards us? What do we do then?"
"Punch them into next week!"
"..."
Ryn's words sounded reasonable, but it was clear Kiana didn't understand. To her, if anyone dared to do something bad in front of her, she would just punch them into next week.
Ryn really wanted to give Kiana a thumbs up, but the reality of his old world told him that even if the other party was in the wrong, once you threw a punch, both of you were done for. But then again, I'm in another world, why should I care so much?
"Indeed, if someone really intends to do something bad, just punch them into next week. But Kiana, as much as I'd like to do that, once we start fighting, it will inevitably lead to all sorts of trouble. So if we can solve some problems with words, it's better to use our mouths. I really don't like getting into trouble."
"But if we run away, won't the next person who can't run away become the victim? Doesn't that make us accomplices?" Kiana looked at Ryn with unwavering determination.
"We're not running away, Kiana. Avoiding a crime before it happens isn't running away. If a crime happens in front of us, we must stop it. But if we can use words to make the other person think they shouldn't mess with us, we protect ourselves and also dispel their possible criminal intent. It's a win-win situation."
"I don't get it... It's so complicated... I still feel like punching them is better."
"Stupid Kiana."
"You're the stupid one!"
Ryn didn't intend to preach any grand principles to Kiana, because he himself didn't know what the hell he was talking about. As expected, he didn't have the protagonist's silver tongue, able to change someone's will with a single speech.
"Then just forget what I said before. O pure maiden, may you forever maintain the innocence of your heart, and with a fervent heart of justice, sweep away all injustice. And your most loyal knight shall be your sword and your shield, and fight for you."
"Your eighth-grade syndrome is acting up again, isn't it?"
"Ehe."