Bread and Milk

'Hmmm, I wonder what caused him to be so late…'

Arthur thought as he looked at the wall clock in the room as he waited for Zen.

The clock on the wall was circular and in some ways, looked the same as the one in modern Earth.

The only difference was that the numbers and hands on it were floating and glowing in a light blue hue, which looked magical in contrast with the modern Earth's technology.

He was inside the room where Zen slept and sat down while patiently waiting. It had been around two hours since the sun rose up in the sky.

At this moment, light blue particles manifested in the bed. It turned into a human figure which then gradually materialized, revealing Zen.

This event caused Arthur to raise his head.

It would be a lie to say that he was not upset since this was just the first day of training and Zen was already late.

However, he was also the type of person who judged the situation accordingly without hastily believing what he sees with the naked eye.

Therefore, thinking that there must be a reason to Zen's late arrival, Arthur just looked at Zen as he fidgeted around.

After a while of being tortured with awkward silence, Zen heard Arthur's voice.

"Come with me downstairs and have some breakfast first."

Huu~

With a sigh of relief, Zen followed his teacher while hearing some grumbling noises from his stomach.

The two of them were walking side by side after they left the room.

As it is Zen's first time seeing the areas outside the room, he could not help but look around with shining eyes filled with curiosity.

Arthur glanced at him and chose to let him be, he kept silent even if he was slightly intrigued by Zen's child-like curious expression.

Along the way, Zen saw various books that were scattered around the place.

Even though there were already many books in the room he slept in, he was surprised to find even more books piled up randomly in the hallway, the stairs, and even in front of the door to the bathroom.

He also noticed the designs of the various objects and items which did not look any inferior to the Earth's modern technology.

The only difference was the magical feeling one felt whenever someone looked at them.

'As if this world was even more developed than Earth, the only difference was the path it took in development'

'If Earth developed using electricity, this world developed with magic as its foundation.'

Coming to this conclusion, Zen could not help but be pleasantly surprised.

Arthur also noticed this while a slight smile appeared on his lips. He gloated in his heart as he saw Zen's surprised expression.

'Hmph, witness the magnificence of your teacher!!'

However, the words that he heard from Zen after almost made him stumble on a scattered book on the stairs.

"But teacher, why does this place look as if it suffered from a storm?"

Zen asked as he saw the interior filled with dust and cobwebs.

Fortunately, the bathroom and the room he slept in were maintained well.

"Ehem, it's because I have more important things to do. So I did not have the time to do the chores."

Soon enough, the duo arrived downstairs.

Zen's eyes widened as he saw the dining room.

It was because all it had was bread.

'What is this…'

Although shocked, Zen did not make any rash comments. He knew that people lived in different ways and it was better to not judge them as one had no way to know what the other was going through.

He looked at Arthur and saw him opening what looked like a magical refrigerator.

The refrigerator stood about 2 meters tall, it also did not have any kind of wires which provided it with power. Instead, Zen saw a crystal ball the size of a fist that was glowing placed on top of it.

There were also light blue particles that were gradually gathering towards it, which Zen assumed this to be mana.

But as soon as he saw the insides of the refrigerator opened by Arthur, his eyes widened once more!

Milk! The refrigerator was filled with milk!

'Now this is getting a little weird… I know that it's bad to judge someone but I really have to say this; is he a child?'

'Oh well, the milk and bread of this world are a hundred, if not a thousand times more delicious than that of the modern Earth's.'

'But still… does he not get tired of it?'

As random thoughts filled Zen's heart, Arthur finished preparing the food and signalled for Zen to sit down in front of him.

Walking towards the table, Zen saw a plate with a whole loaf of bread in it and a glass bottle of milk beside it.

Just as Zen was about to grab the loaf of bread Arthur said, "Let us pray."

His hand that was reaching for the loaf of bread paused. Zen used it to fix his clothes smoothly in order to avoid embarrassing himself.

He looked at Arthur who had his right hand placed on his left chest, had his head bowed and had his eyes closed, and copied it.

"I thank all the creatures who have sacrificed themselves in order to fill our stomachs, may you reincarnate peacefully and live fulfilling lives. Hail Ignis."

At first, Zen just played along. Not because he disrespected Arthur's prayer, but because he really did not have any experience in praying.

His family did not worship any god too so it could be said that they were agnostic; they do believe in the existence of gods but does not worship them.

Zen cannot really be blamed though, that was the way he was raised and it did not make him a bad person at all.

On the contrary, his upbringing was even better than some overly religious people who got twisted beliefs that hurt others.