"I'm so sorry, Iris—he didn't mean to do that."
The other woman sitting at the blond man's table quickly stood up and offered an apology to the waitress, who was busy taking orders.
She then leaned in and whispered a reproachful question to the blond man:
"Why did you just let go of the cup?"
Her name was Jane Foster; she was an astrophysicist and a professor at New York University.
The young woman sitting to her left was Darcy Lewis, her graduate student. Sitting to her right was the elderly man, Erik Selvig—a renowned physicist and the late father's closest friend.
The three of them had traveled to the small town of Puente Antiguo, New Mexico, specifically to conduct an observational experiment in astrophysics.
However, just last night, the celestial phenomena—which had previously appeared normal— suddenly underwent a drastic and anomalous change.
They had driven their RV out to observe these strange celestial events up close, only to suddenly collide with—and send flying—a blond man who had literally fallen out of the sky.
That man was the very person now sitting across from them—the one who claimed to hail from Asgard, the Son of Odin, Thor, the God of Thunder.
Though, truth be told, none of them actually believed him.
Nevertheless—partly because they *had* crashed into him, and partly because he *had* indeed fallen from the sky at the exact moment of the celestial anomaly—and, of course, because he was undeniably handsome and possessed a magnificent physique...
So they offered him some assistance, and...
...treated him to a meal.
But now, it seemed this man wasn't exactly—
—normal.
"Because this tastes so good, I'd like another..."
Thor wore an expression of absolute entitlement; that was simply how things were done in Asgard.
Jane spoke up, sounding a bit annoyed:
"If you want another drink, you can just *ask* for it."
"I *did* ask for it."
Thor looked somewhat puzzled.
Jane took a deep breath:
"You have to ask *properly*. Acting like that is disrespectful to others."
"I meant no disrespect."
Thor finally realized that the customs here in Midgard must differ from those in Asgard.
"Alright, well, from now on—no smashing glasses."
Jane said with resignation.
"Then it's a deal!"
Thor smiled and nodded. His smile was so charming that it actually made Jane feel a little flustered.
The waitress nearby—a young woman named Iris who had been startled by the commotion—waved her hand to signal that everything was fine, then turned her attention to Goku:
"I didn't quite catch that just now. How many orders did you want?"
"Fifty."
Goku repeated his answer.
"One order to eat here, and the remaining forty-nine to go?"
Iris asked in surprise, seeking confirmation. Inwardly, she muttered to herself: *What kind of irresponsible parents would send a kid to pick up this many takeout meals?*
She assumed the boy's parents were probably shopping nearby and would be back shortly to join him for the meal—and, while they were at it, load the forty-nine takeout orders into their car to take home.
"No need to pack them up. I'm going to eat them all right here. I have a pretty big appetite."
Goku replied quite honestly.
Iris—along with the other customers seated nearby—immediately turned to stare at Goku, their faces all wearing expressions of utter disbelief.
Being able to consume fifty "Giant Family Meals" wasn't something that could simply be explained away as having a "big appetite."
Let alone a child, even the world's most legendary competitive eater couldn't possibly finish that much food.
Therefore, there was only one logical conclusion: the kid was lying.
Of course, whether or not he was lying didn't really matter much to Iris; she was just the waitress, after all.
As long as the customer could afford it—even if the child standing before her bought a hundred meal sets only to toss them in the trash the moment he walked out the door—it was none of her business.
Therefore, her immediate priority was to verify whether this child actually had the funds to pay for fifty "Big Mac Family Sets."
"Little one, fifty Big Mac Family Sets come to a total of one thousand dollars. Do you have enough money on you to cover the payment?"
"I don't have your local currency here. Is it alright if I pay with this instead?"
Goku took out his small box, fished a handful of Galleons from inside, and placed them on the table.
Gazing at the table piled high with Galleons, Iris was instantly struck dumb with astonishment.
It wasn't just the act of pulling out gold coins to pay that startled her; more importantly, she couldn't fathom how such a tiny box could possibly yield such a massive handful of coins.
Magic? Could this child actually be a pint-sized magician?
"I'm terribly sorry, but we don't accept this form of payment here," she said.
After a moment's thought, Iris replied with a somewhat awkward expression.
She served as a waitress in this establishment, but she was also the owner's daughter, which gave her the authority to make such a decision.
It wasn't that she was unwilling to accept gold; rather, she simply didn't believe that the coins before her were actually made of genuine gold.
She suspected they were likely made of steel or some similar metal, merely coated with a thin layer of gold-colored paint.
However, she couldn't very well call him out on it directly; even if the customer was just a child, doing so would reflect poorly on the establishment.
Thus, she simply stated that they did not accept gold coins—a response that was both reasonable and logical.
"Oh, is that so? In that case, never mind."
Upon hearing this, Goku didn't press the issue or insist that his order be served.
Although he was currently famished and truly craved the food offered here, if the staff were unwilling to accept Galleons, he certainly wouldn't make things difficult for them.
At worst, he could simply scout around the vicinity to see if he could hunt down a tiger, a leopard, or perhaps even a dinosaur.
If all else failed, he could always fall back on his emergency rations—and as for the flavor, he could use the food-altering magic derived from his Transfiguration spells to tweak the taste before eating. However, just as he was pocketing his Gold Galleons and preparing to stand up,
Thor, seated beside him, spoke up with a hearty air:
"I never imagined that wizards still existed here in Midgard! My friend, this meal is on me!"
But almost immediately, something else occurred to him; he turned his head to look at Jane, who was sitting across from him:
"Jane, I don't possess any of your Midgardian currency. I must ask you to kindly front the cost for now; once I regain my powers, I shall repay you handsomely."
He had been stripped of his divine powers by his father, Odin; yet, thanks to the wisdom gained over fifteen hundred years of existence, he recognized at a glance that the box Goku carried was a magical artifact.
And seeing Goku pull gold coins from that box to pay for his meal led him to conclude that the boy must be a wizard.
Jane turned to cast a look at Goku, then smiled and said:
"Little one, I'll pick up the tab for whatever you eat—but only for what you consume right here; no taking food to go."
Even without Thor's prompting, she wouldn't have minded treating a young child to a meal.
As a renowned professor of astrophysics, her income was certainly substantial.
However—eating in was fine, but taking food away was not; she wasn't about to let herself be taken for a sucker.
"Wow! Thank you both! You're such nice people! In that case, please accept these as a gift."
Upon hearing the people at the neighboring table offer to treat him to a meal,
Goku's eyes lit up instantly; his affinity toward the four individuals at the next table soared upward.
At the same time, he took the handful of Gold Galleons he had just pulled out and placed them upon Jane and her companions' table.
"Don't mention it; you're a very polite little boy."
Jane smiled, paying no mind to the gold coins on the table. Much like Izzy, she didn't believe that Goku—being just a child—could actually be carrying around that much gold.
However, Selvig, who was seated beside Jane, cast a glance at the coins on the table and wore a look of mild bewilderment.
He casually picked up one of the coins and examined it closely; then, his pupils suddenly constricted:
"This actually looks like a real gold coin!"