"What kind of food is this? I've never seen it before?"
Big Seele blinked, sniffing the white rice in front of her. She could smell a fresh aroma of rice, something she had also never encountered before.
Because Takatsuki had moved to sit next to little Seele to teach her how to use chopsticks, big Seele took Takatsuki's original seat.
Soon, she seemed to notice that besides the dishes in the middle of the table, there were only two servings of rice in small bowls.
"Wait a minute, is this portion yours?"
Big Seele had clearly noticed this.
"It's fine, I haven't touched that portion yet, you can eat it. I'll go get another bowl of rice."
Takatsuki stood up, walked to the rice cooker, served himself another bowl of rice, then walked back to the table and took a chair from the side between the two Seeles, sitting down.
"This plant is called rice, and when cooked, we call it cooked rice. It's usually eaten as a staple food, paired with dishes. If you finish your rice and it's not enough, you can get more yourself, don't be shy."
Takatsuki smiled, picked up his chopsticks, and deftly moved them, making their tips tap together with a crisp sound: "This utensil is called chopsticks. If you don't know how to use them, you can use the spoon and fork next to you."
Big Seele tried to pick up the chopsticks, two wooden sticks in her eyes. She couldn't understand how Takatsuki used them so flexibly.
"Don't be polite, let's eat first, it won't be good if the dishes get cold."
With that, Takatsuki took the lead and picked up a piece of fish-flavored shredded pork with his chopsticks.
Little Seele also clumsily picked up a piece of food with her chopsticks, then carefully transferred it to her bowl. Seeing that she had successfully picked it up, little Seele looked very happy; after the short lesson, she could already manage to use chopsticks.
Big Seele saw this scene, and although she also wanted to use chopsticks, neither the gauntlets on her hands nor her clumsy fingers could control them well.
Looking at the delicious food in front of her, big Seele unhesitatingly gave up on the chopsticks and picked up the knife and fork.
But soon, big Seele discovered that the spoon and fork were not easy to use. Except for the crispy fried meat, which could be speared with a fork, other dishes, whether it was fish-flavored shredded pork or mixed vegetables, could only be picked up in very small amounts with either a spoon or a fork.
If she tried to get too much, some food would inevitably fall onto the table when she brought it back.
Having endured hardship, big Seele naturally couldn't allow such a thing to happen; every bit of food was precious underground.
So she could only take it little by little.
This meal didn't last very long. Takatsuki had originally prepared enough for a full two servings, as he didn't know how much little Seele could eat. However, after big Seele arrived, the food actually seemed a bit insufficient.
At least...
Takatsuki and little Seele watched as big Seele mixed even the sauce from the plate with her rice and ate it, both wondering if she hadn't eaten for a long time.
Oh, no, even if she hadn't eaten for a long time, it wouldn't be like this, because little Seele really hadn't eaten for a long time.
"Are you full?"
Takatsuki asked, watching big Seele eat the last bite of sauce and rice.
For once, big Seele's face flushed, clearly a little embarrassed: "I... I'm full, thank you."
"The food you made is even more delicious than what I tasted in the Overworld when I was little. What are these?"
"You ate it without knowing what it was?"
Big Seele: "As long as it's edible and delicious, isn't that enough?"
Takatsuki agreed with big Seele: "Indeed, instead of tracing its origins, as long as you know it's edible and there's no problem, that's fine."
"But who are you people? I haven't seen these foods even in the Overworld."
Even after eating her fill, Seele didn't forget her job, though her tone and attitude had softened considerably, as one tends to be softer-spoken after accepting hospitality.
"As I said before, we are travelers, and these things are all carried by me."
When Takatsuki saw this Seele, he thought of something miHoYo often did: an actor making crazy cameo appearances in multiple games.
And in the miHoYo family, the games he knew related to Honkai were three: Honkai Gakuen, Honkai Gakuen 2, and Honkai Impact 3rd.
He hadn't played the first two, only a part of Honkai 3rd.
But this world clearly didn't have Honkai, and Takatsuki knew miHoYo had another very famous game called Genshin Impact.
Although he hadn't seen any familiar Visions here, perhaps it was a similar world?
After seeing the almost identical Seele, Takatsuki belatedly remembered that Dr. Natasha was just like a well-known character in Honkai 3rd, Natasha Cioara.
However, the Natasha here seemed a bit older than Natasha Cioara, but her popularity with children hadn't changed.
Looking at the somewhat skeptical gaze of big Seele in front of him, Takatsuki said casually, "It doesn't matter if you don't believe me. We are mainly here to find something. Natasha said that your Wildfire people might know. Originally, Natasha said you would go to the clinic in the afternoon, so we waited there all afternoon but didn't see anyone. I didn't expect to run into you here."
"In the afternoon, there were some Wanderers causing trouble, so I didn't go to the clinic. You said you were looking for something, what was it?"
Big Seele recalled her movements from the afternoon and, after confirming that what Takatsuki said was correct, continued to ask.
"What are you looking for?"
"The Stellaron, and the Astral Express, have you heard of them?"
Hearing the two unfamiliar terms, big Seele rested her chin on one hand and thought for a while before replying.
"I haven't heard of them, but I can help you ask Uncle Oleg. He might know."
"Uncle Oleg found me. He used to be a Silvermane Guards squad leader. After the upper and lower levels were sealed off, he stayed in the Underworld, and now he's also the leader of the Wildfire."
When speaking of Oleg, big Seele's tone held a hint of admiration, indicating he was a highly respected elder.
"I see. Then I'll trouble you to ask him for us."
Takatsuki thought for a moment; this was the only clue they had at the moment.
"No problem. Should I come back here to find you tomorrow?"
Takatsuki shook his head: "Go to Natasha's clinic. We don't live here; we're just cooking."
"Coming all the way to the Great Mine just to cook?"
Big Seele didn't quite understand the meaning of Takatsuki's actions, but she wasn't good at thinking and didn't ponder it much: "Then I'll see you at the clinic tomorrow."
"Mm, see you tomorrow."