They don't even have salad dressing…

What kind of place serves this kind of salad without dressing? And it's not like the salad itself tasted good either.

I waved the waiter away and decided maybe the soup would taste better.

Dipping my spoon into the bowl, I brought up a spoonful of it and tasted it.

…

Well… How should I say this?

It's not bad… But it's… I guess for the lack of a better word… It's normal?

I would say this tastes like those kinds of canned soup that you might find in supermarkets that you simply heat up in a microwave.

It's like… So watery too… Ughhh…

"As I thought. It's that bad huh?" Mara mused, pushing the food idly with her fork.

The doctor tried a mouthful of the salad, chewing it slowly with her mouth before shaking her head to show her displeasure at it. At least she did not stop eating it.

Lea only tasted just a little bit before she outright just pushed the bowl of salad away from her, as though the mere sight of it disgusts her.

Ries seemed a little unsure and scooped up a few pieces of the salad to put in her mouth.

Unlike the other two, the cat girl gasped before she started to shovel even more of it into her mouth, clearly enjoying the food in front of her.

I felt something poking on my arm and I turned to see Amber waiting there with an expectant look on her face.

"You sure you want this?" I asked.

She nodded, "Yes, please!"

I shrugged, stabbing the fork to pick up several pieces of the salad before bringing it over to her mouth.

She opened wide and let me feed her the greens. I was fully expecting her to make a face of disappointment but surprisingly, she squealed a little and swallowed before looking at me again.

I raised an eyebrow at her, "Is it good?"

"Oh no, not at all~ It's definitely tasteless as compared to the food you usually make for us~" She giggled.

"But you were eating it like it's delicious?"

"Because you're the one feeding it to me, Tera~ Hehehe~"

I groaned, "Was this why you wanted to give your share to Ries? Just so that I could feed you?"

"Would you be mad if I said yes?"

"No… But it feels like this was unnecessary… If you wanted me to feed you, you could just ask…"

"I could, but it's not like I would be able to stomach these after tasting the food you've made, after all. And I already knew that you wouldn't like it either so this is a win-win for us!"

"Hmm… It's only the appetisers for now, right? Maybe the main courses would be better."

Mara scoffed, "I wouldn't count on it."

At least let me dream a bit, Mara…

I fed Amber the rest of my food and she ate it all without complaints.

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Mara also finished her food though I could tell she was disappointed with it. Lea refused to touch the salad but she did finish her soup while Ries licked her plate and bowl clean and even finished off Lea's salad after the Alv gave it to her.

The waiters soon returned and took away our empty plates before replacing it with what looked like a slice of seared fish.

I had expected it to be completely devoid of any sauces since they didn't even know what a 'dressing' was, but surprisingly this one at least had sauce on it.

Ries looked down at her plate and there was a line of drool going down the side of her lips.

"Can I… Really eat this? This is fish, isn't it?" She asked.

Amber gasped, "Oh, this is fish? This is my first time seeing one!"

Mara nodded, "Now I think this is truly worth the money we paid. This is quite decadent indeed."

I poked the fish with my fork, frowning when I felt the fish push back against my fork.

This thing is overcooked… How the fuck do you fuck this up?

I watched the others and Ries was pretty much devouring a piece of fish ravenously like it was the first thing she had eaten in months.

Even Lea and Mara seemed to be enjoying the fish as they cut a piece of it to savour the taste.

Hmm… Maybe it's just my fish that was overcooked?

I sliced into the piece of white meat and popped it in my mouth before doing the same for Amber.

Hmm… Yeah… It's overcooked, but I'll admit that it wasn't as big of a disappointment as the salad and soup.

Amber moaned, "Ohhh~ This one is actually pretty good, Tera~ But maybe it's because this is my first time eating fish~"

Mara turned towards me, "How is this one, Tera?"

"I think mine's overcooked," I muttered, feeling a little unsure.

I don't know what fish this was so maybe it was just supposed to taste this way? But something tells me that was not the case here.

Mara shifted herself over to me with her plate, "What about mine?"

I pressed my fork into the meat and found the same consistency as mine.

"I think yours is overcooked too, Mara…"

"What about mine, Captain?" Lea asked, also moving beside me.

"I just want to preface this by saying I've not made any fish dishes here yet, so I'm basing my answer on what remains of my memories, ok?"

"That's ok, we trust you, Captain."

If you say so…

I stuck my fork into her fish and sure enough, I got the same results.

All three pieces were consistently overcooked… That's a little suspicious… How does one overcook three different plates of fish at the exact same consistency?

Unless…

I looked at the other girls, "These foods were made by machines…"

Amber tilted her head at me, "Is that a problem?"

"I think these might not be actual organic food…"

Lea looked up from her empty plate, "It's not? That can't be… It's so delicious though!"

"Do you mind if I go and look at their kitchens?" I asked.

Amber grinned, "Oh, we were actually taking bets on when you would decide to go there on your own~ Looks like I win, bitches~"

Mara rolled her eyes at her before going ahead to push the button that would call for the waiter.

We didn't need to wait long before the door slid open and a waiter came in with a bow.

"Honoured guests, how may I assist you?"

I pointed at the fish, "Are all your ingredients organic?"

He paused, as though completely caught off guard by the question.

"We do have synthfood stocked in our kitchens, but the course planned for dear honoured guests are all made using organic ingredients."

"Can we see your kitchens?"

He blinked at me, "I… I will need to check with the chefs. Could honoured guests wait for a moment?"

I was about to agree with his request but Amber stood up, "There's no need for that. We're just paying a visit to the kitchens, it shouldn't be that big of a problem right? We'll just take a look around and go."

No, no, you can't just barge into a kitchen like that Amber, that's definitely not ok.

I gave Mara a look silently asking her to help me and she stood up from her seat.

"That's right. If there's nothing wrong in there, it shouldn't matter right? We're just going to take a look."

Wait, seriously? Am I the one that is weird for thinking that it isn't ok?

On second thought, don't answer that… Because I think it really would be me that is weird.

The waiter seemed quite unsure now and it was obvious he wanted to stop us but either couldn't or didn't know how to.

Ries was also looking at us in surprise, "Eh… Wait a minute… Are you all seriously doing this?"

The Waiter seemed to return to his senses at that moment, "Plea… Please wait a moment, honoured guests! I will get the manager here to guide you as I do not have the clearance for this!"

Mara turned to him, "Are you seriously asking us to wait on you? Quite audacious, aren't you?"

"N… No, that is not what I mean, honoured guests! He will be here in a moment!"

As though on cue, there was a knock on the door and the waiter quickly scrambled to open the door for the person behind it.

A man in a suit stepped in and gave us a curt bow, "Greetings, honoured guests. I was made aware that you wish to visit our kitchens. May I inquire about the reason? It is not a place for people of as high status as honoured guests to step foot in."

Now It was Lea's turn to stand up, "Our reasons are our own. Will you guide us there or not?"

I thought the manager guy would actually say no but he simply bowed again, "Of course. Please follow me, honoured guests."

Hmm… I wonder why the girls were being so insistent on this?