“Mr. Roosevelt, would you mind answering some of the questions I’ve been collecting?” I asked nervously.

He smiled in amusement before replying, “Of course, ask away,” while positioning himself to show that I had his full attention.

Haa, I don’t like that smile. “Okay, so, what’s wrong with the food?”

“Oh? Why don’t you tell me?” He asks in an unsurprised voice. Haa, while his attitude is annoying, at least he seems like he will actually answer my question.

“Why is it glowing and releasing green light?” I asked, more directly this time.

“That’s the fuel for Level Ups.”

“Divinity?” That’s divinity?

“Not at all. It’s what I like to call: experience.”

“Experience…” I wonder as I take another bite of food. “Yeah, that fits, a portion of it does remind me of memories and the like. What about the rest though?”

He just shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. All I will add is that something seems to be created whenever someone surpasses their expected limits, I just don’t know what it is, or even what it does or is needed for. I only know that it is a major component in the leveling process.”

“Hmm, I see. And lacking this ‘something,’ makes you feel ‘hungry’?” He nodded. “Okay, then why don’t I feel ‘hungry’ then?”

“Why don’t you ask the Gods?” I almost got annoyed before I realized that felt like a hint.

A potentially great hint, truthfully, as it might imply that he can’t actually tell me for some reason. Hmm, is he under some sort of restriction? If he is, though, I probably can’t ask him about it…

So, for his actual hint, what could he mean by telling me to ask the Gods? Hmm, is it because of Divine energy? Like, I know that I can draw out power to get some of that energy… That should also count as surpassing your limits, right? Hmm, maybe all acts of drawing out power create that energy.

Though, if it is because of that, the Hero presumably would have given me a different hint; like to ask the dragon or something. Especially since it is possible for those that have fused with a core to draw out power.

Haa, going around in circles like this won’t accomplish anything, so let’s just go with Divine energy as the reason for now. Hopefully, that means I won’t need extra energy to Level Up. Cool.

As I nodded my head in approval of my thoughts, I was reminded that I was still wearing my halo, sticking to my head via its mysterious means.

“So, uh, magnets are ridiculous,” I stated more than asked.

The Hero burst out laughing as soon as he heard my question. “Hey! What’s so funny? I’m being serious!” I pouted. Noticing my frustration, the Hero just laughed even harder. Haa, at least someone is having fun…

Eventually, he was able to stop laughing long enough to answer me. “Phew, that was good. Anyway, I could say the same about magic.”

“What? How?” I questioned.

“My world doesn’t have mana, remember. So instead of being just another part of the world like air or gravity, it feels foreign and nonsensical.” Ah! I’d forgotten about that with how all-knowing the Hero acts. It’s kinda funny that in the past such a world was thought to be completely impossible though…

Still, a civilization without mana, huh? I can’t really imagine what that’d be like. Hmm… if they lack magic, they should also lack most means of empowering themselves, right? Maybe that’s why they have so much knowledge and technology, they needed it just to survive.

Huh, I’d always thought that they were ahead of us because they started sooner, like a helpful older sibling, but what if it was because they were desperate, so without advancing, they wouldn’t survive…

Magnets though? Those seem more like something that theoretically could exist, like ghosts, but currently aren’t real. Like, the only reason ghosts aren’t real is that, as far as we know, only the life force produced by your body can sustain your soul. So, until we can find some substitute, they will remain fictional.

As such, “Magnets don’t make sense to me.”

“Just what is so confusing about them?”

“That they can just stick to anything!”

“Oh, that’s why you think they are ridiculous.” He laughed. “So, magnets can only stick to certain metals and other magnets. They can’t just stick to anything.”

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“Oh, that’s much more reasonable. But if they can't, how does my halo work?” I wondered.

“Don’t bother trying to figure that out, it, like everything the Gods made, is beyond conventional understanding.” He said seriously.

“...Fine…” I reluctantly agreed. That’s probably for the best, anyway.

“Good. So, do you have any more questions?” He asked with an amused smile.

“Yes.” I took a deep breath. “So, how do you know so much?”

“As I said, the Gods told me.” He said as his smile grew.

“You knew that’s not true. The Gods can’t-”

“Ah, that was soo good,” Melly said with a stretch, interrupting me.

“Ah, would you look at that, I guess we will have to continue this some other time.” The Hero declared, his amused smile was truly massive now.

Wait… I’ve been had! He knew when everyone was going to wake up, so he timed it so I wouldn’t be able to ask the most important question! Arg! I should have started with this one!

Haa, well, I guess he would have just come up with some other excuse instead. Hmm, actually, he might not even be able to tell me, considering how he gave me a hint earlier. Haa, asking might just be pointless, huh.

Well, even if it is, I have to try at least, right? However, that will have to wait as everyone is now waking up.

“Hello, everyone. Did you all have a good rest?” I asked.

“Ah, yeah, I did,” Melly responded. “Did you not?”

“I didn’t actually rest, so I feel the same as usual.”

“You didn’t fall into a food coma? How?” Rapunzel questioned.

“I don’t know. But it’s not like it’s that strange. I mean, Mr.Roosevelt didn’t either.” I pointed out.

“Ah, so he did not. That is interesting. Though that does make sense, as he is a true chef, it stands to reason that he would be affected less than those unfamiliar with true food, such as yourself.” Greg explained.

“Huh, I guess you are right. Um, why wasn’t I affected then?” I wondered.

“Was there anything different about the food this time?”

“Well, it was glowing and smoking.” I got a lot of strange stares once I said that.

“The food was what?” Melly asked.

“Yeah, it was slowly releasing this weird green smoke while also glowing. It was almost as if it was made of fire or something. And, the smell and taste were off as well.”

“Was there anything different about today’s meal, Hero?” Rapunzel asked.

“Not at all.” He smiled. “So, that means it probably has something to do with Eli, right?” He pointed out.

“I see, does that mean it has something to do with the dragon core?”

“Likely.”

“Well, it should either be my mana density or the power of my trait then. Though I guess my robe and halo might also be the cause, huh.” I sighed. There were actually quite a few things that could be the cause.

“I believe we should be able to dismiss the density of Eli’s mana, as while powerful, it should not be able to give her anything other than linear improvement. Unless the only reason that our mana sight could not perceive such a thing was that it lacked the energy to do so. I highly doubt that, though, as I would likely have also noticed in that case.”

“Indeed. That also wouldn’t explain why she was fine after eating either.” Hansen added.

“So, that just leaves her robes and trait,” Melly reported.

“In that case, I think my trait is the more likely reason.” I guessed.

“Oh, and why is that?” Greg asked.

“Other than the fact that both are fairly linked, if it was because of my robes or halo, all the other saintesses would likely have had a similar thing happen to them, but I’ve not read about that as being an odd bit of trivia.”

“Oh, you are correct. I have not heard of any such rumors. While there is always the possibility of such a thing being hidden, I believe the Inquisition would have released such information to increase the church’s prestige.” Greg agreed.

“Why would that be the case?” Melly asked.

“Because the inquisition would take any opportunity to prove the church’s superiority they could get. Showing that the saintess could overcome true food would be seen as another reason why the church should be in charge of everything.” Greg explained.

“But why would anyone even care?”

“Well, it’s not just that the church can overcome true food, it’s that it can overcome true food, and the might of countries, and the influence of countries, and the talent of the rest of the world, and so on. It’s just another one of their many justifications. And, it would also increase how close the church is to being truly unrivaled, as there were only a handful of things that the church wasn’t the best at, so showing that they were overcoming such situations, even slowly, would help prove that it was only a matter of time until the church was the best at everything, which would cause people to lose any hope of competing and just join the church, further growing its dominance in an endless spiral. That is also why the church was so hostile towards people like Milo, they were able to show people that the church wasn’t invincible, causing more and more people to resist the church. So, it wasn’t the victory in and of itself that was important, but the perception that followed it.” I explained.

“OOkaay then…” Melly replied blankly.

“Ah, sorry, I got into a bit of a tangent there,” I said in embarrassment.

“It’s fine, I’m just once again reminded how much you enjoy history.”

“Yeah, though I wish I didn’t go into those long tangents as much.” I sighed.

“Do not worry, you are quite proficient at controlling yourself. Most passionate individuals I have conversed with would have talked for several minutes at minimum, and they often subconsciously try to bring up their hobby at any opportunity. While you do also display these habits, you are much more subdued about it.” Greg comforted.

“I see. That’s good.” I sighed in relief.

“Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just one of your interesting quirks.” Melly agreed.

“Thank you.” I smiled.