Sitting Together - Awkwardness - Grandiose Serving - New Introductions - Spirits and Deities

After everyone greeted and cheered for Philip, they all went ahead and sat on their respective seats that were provided for them via nameplates, as Tenshi prepared it because of reason

The moment they sat down, as Jude and Mathilda practiced earlier with the most experienced maids and butlers with a few maids and butlers in-training, the maids and butlers immediately went out of the double doors that leads to the Grand Kitchen

There are trolleys and trolleys of additional dishes covered in cloches that went out. The butlers are carrying trays upon trays while the maids pushes the trolleys. A few maids carry napkins on their arms and several butlers entered a formation and stood still against the walls of the Dining Hall. There are at least two to three butlers in each wall

The trolleys lined up behind everyone and there are at least three trolleys in each side. Twenty seven maids then went behind everyone and folded the napkins on their arms. They placed it on everyone's laps and made sure everyone is comfortable

One maid also knelt down in front of Merry and softly tied a napkin around her neck and collar

After a few moments, all plates and dishes has been placed down and the steel cloches were removed. The aroma of all the dishes spread across the Dining Hall and everyone's noses twitched

The dishes were a variety that came from different culture and cuisines. Like, French, Indian, American, Mexican, and especially Filipino since Philip came from the Philippines. There are Filipino Spaghetti, his favorite Chicken Tamarind Soup with Tamarind Leaves, there is even an entire roasted pig, commonly known as Lechon in the Philippines, and many more

Of course, there is another bigger blueberry cheesecake served for other people. The blueberry cheesecake that was used as Philip's birthday cake was intended only for himself

Now that everything has been set, everyone started eating

At least that's what supposed to happen

Everyone was quiet, not because it was awkward due to the seating arrangement, but because of the new faces in the room, particularly in the gods section of the table. The three gods were exuding their own divine auras that could cover the entire Dining Hall

It was overbearing for ordinary mortals such as Satou, Clara, Corleona, and the three fire sisters. Surprisingly, Rue doesn't seem to feel very uncomfortable, especially Braudain. Mei'er's family wasn't fazed by it because they have the Spirit Bloodline, so the gods' divine aura are keeping them safe

Spirits have high affinities to deities and deities protect spirits

Meanwhile, Jude and Mathilda feels extremely uncomfortable because they're not used to eating along everyone else. They usually stand behind the head of the table, waiting to serve anyone who needed serving

That only happens when everyone in the mansion gets and eat together, but that rarely happens because everyone was busy, especially before Philip arrived in the mansion. This is the second time everyone got together and ate after a long time and both Jude and Mathilda get to eat with everyone

"..."

Natsume noticed the awkwardness of the Dining Hall, so she decided to break the ice

"So, how old are you, Philip?"

"Just 25, I think?? 24? 23... I forgot. Maybe 26?"

"Ah--"

"Before we continue... Can we address the elephant in the room?"

Ken interrupted the idle chatter

"I let the Sword Concept's greeting pass because it's important, but now that that's out of the way... What is this little girl doing here?!"

Ken pointed to Katara, who is just one seat on his left. He is a little furious, confused, and fearful at the same time

"Ho?! What do you mean little girl, old man?!"

"Old man?!"

"Yeah! I said it! Anyways, I'm here because of Philip"

"Sword Concept Philip?!"

Ken turned towards Philip as he's showing an empty smile

"Yeah, it's a long story..."

"..."

"Basically, when I changed Camille's fate because the curse that was bestowed on her... I met Katara"

"I'm surprised you lived"

"That's the thing, I should've died... She applied 100 curses on me at the same time"

"!!!"

Everyone suddenly looked at Katara with angry and questioning eyes. They were ready to fight Katara just because she hurt Philip. Though, Sai seems indifferent and find it normal that she applied 100 curses to Philip

The only thing that's stopping everyone is the fact that Katara is sitting on the dining table with them right now

"But don't worry guys, everything's been resolved. We signed a contract to never hurt anyone I know and close to me. So, basically, she became interested in me and decided to live here and protect everyone"

"...!"

"So, that means..."

Ken exclaimed in realization

"Yes, another divine being has joined us"

"..."

Ken became quiet

"So, why was Ken-sama angry at her?"

Natsume asked in a joyful tone to break the stagnant atmosphere

"Well, they have a history..."

"History, you say?"

Natsume and a few people snickered. They're misunderstanding though because it is not what they think it is

"Well, the history is... This Sword God cut my left hand and a few of my right fingers"

"!!!"

"!!!"

The moment Katara mentioned her fingers, Rue and Satou made a realization

"Huh? Why?"

Natsume asked in curiosity, even other started to calm down and become interested

"I don't know... Why did you cut my body parts, huh?! You should've went ahead and cut my limbs into pieces"

Katara started to wriggle with her mouth turning into zigzags and her cheeks blushing

"..."

Everyone that saw Katara's demeanor looked at her with confusion, some with slight disgust. Meanwhile, Philip facepalmed when Katara's masochist tendecies came out

"You were wild god back then. You curse everyone and everything when you feel like it when it wasn't needed. So, I had to cut one of your fingers in the battle with Zeus"

"Wait... We keep talking about curses... What is Katara the god of?"

Natsu caught everyone's words and asked

"Goddess of Curses, the second generation at that... Meaning, she has been living almost the creation of the universe. She's really really old"

"!!!"

"!!!"

"Calling me really really old is too much..."

Katara pouted and everyone was genuinely surprised at Katara's identity

"Such a god is now our ally?"

"Yes"

Philip confirmed and he began to reach for the food in front of him. He was about to stand up ro reach for the furthest food, but a maid assisted him and reached the dish closer to him

"C'mon guys, let's start eating!"

Philip urged everyone to start eating and they followed suit. Each and everyone of them picked the food that they're interested in. The maids helped serve them food that they wanted

Clara, Corleona, and Braudain has already adjusted their palates during a few months that they transferred on Earthenmana. Since they were asleep for a long time after transmigration, they only had a few months of adjustment

Natsume, Natsuki, and Mathilda were the ones who helped them the most in adjusting to their new life, of course with Sai's help by translating Saykrandae language to English

Everyone began eating and everyone seem to be enjoying the food. Bari and Marielle are the ones who are going to adjust the most since they just came from the Terra Spirit World

Bari helped Mei'er eat her food since Mei'er seems still out of it because of her condition. At least she's awake now because of Philip's awakening and Bari's return, but the Crystal Flower is still mysterious and it's affecting Mei'er in some way

A few minutes has passed, Natsume became the center of attention as she kept entertaining everyone with her witty banter and conversations

Several minutes more has passed and some people began to address several more elephants in the room

"By the way, not only we have Goddess Katara now... There are also new faces that has joined us?"

Sai spoke

"Ah, yes! Sai, this person next to Mei'er is Bari and her little sister Marielle"

"...!"

Bari was startled at suddenly being the topic of everyone

"Oh? I feel something peculiar about them"

"Yeah, Bari is the Spirit King of Flowers and Marielle is her daughter, also known as the Thorn Princess"

"Spirit King?!"

"..."

"..."

Sai was plety surprised, as well as Katara and Ken

"Yes, she's the spirit that's responsible for everything that are flowers, am I right?"

Philip passed the attention towards Bari

"Ah! Y-yes! I can basically command every and all flowers in existence. Though, I am not the Goddess of Flowers, I have authority over flowers to some extent"

"Oooooh! Bari-san... What does it mean to be a spirit?"

Natsume asked

"Being a spirit means you are closer to Spirituality and the Voice of the World could reach you..."

"..."

Philip's ears perked up

"Spirits and humans are different in a way that the bodies of the spirits are more sacred. They are almost the manifestation of souls or the materialized form of souls"

"Interesting..."

"Also, spirit have a special relationship to divine beings"

"Oh! Is that true, Sai-sama?"

Natsume asked Sai

"Yes, it is true. To us, spirits are sacred and are to be protected. They are like the gateway or gatekeepers between the Mortal Realm to the Divine Realm"

'Hm? Is this true, Emily?'

「 There are some truth to her words, but not entirely true. There are some facts that are missing 」

'Is Sai mistaken or she's forgotten most of it?'

「 It may probably be that she was given wrong information? It depends, we could ask Katara since she's the wisest out of everyone here 」

'I see...'

"Sai is right. As Bari said, spirits are sacred. Even I wouldn't dare cut any spirits myself"

Ken spoke

"So, these children of yours are pure blooded spirits?"

Katara asked Bari

"Ah, yes! Marielle inherited the thorns while I am not too sure about Mei'er yet since she's half"

"Hm, I see... Very well. As a Spirit King, surely you have your own kingdom or empire, right?"

"Uhhh..."

"I destroyed the entire Floral Empire in the Terra Spirit World"

"!!!"

"!!?"

"!?!?!"

"..."

The three gods abruptly turned their heads towards Philip after he interjected. The others were silent because Philip casually said that he killed spirits after the gods just said that spirits are sacred and needs to be protected

"You killed spirits?!"

"Terra Spirit World?!"

"Why?"

Katara, Ken, and Sai spoke as they glared at Philip with slight hostility while their eyes seem to be glowing. Even though they have been considered as allies, killing spirits seems to have irked them

"The Floral Empire has been corrupted and tainted to the point that they are turning into evil spirits. Of course I had to eradicate everything, including the very roots of the empire until nothing was left. Bari doesn't seem to be corrupted or tainted and I saved Marielle feom being corrupted further"

"..."

The gods were silent. Philip's reasoning seems to be valid and they wanted to thank him for that

"I see... If they were turning into evil spirits, that would be fine, I guess..."

Katara explained

"By the way, what do you mean by Terra Spirit World?"

Sai asked

"Oh! Uh, it's the name of this world's Spirit World"

Philip didn't reveal to the gods that there are two Spirit Worlds Earthenmana. He wanted to keep it a secret for now because it is tied to Terra's true identity. He would want to wait and let Terra reveal his identity himself to everyone when the time comes

"Why's it called Terra?"

"Terra is another word for Earth"

"Ah, interesting..."

"Sai... Isn't it strange?"

Katara called out to Sai

"Yeah, it is..."

"What's strange?"

Philip asked in curiosity

"Usually... Spirit Worlds have a universal name..."

"..."

Philip realized his mistake. Sai is a World Goddess, so she should be knowledgeable in this field

"All Spirit Worlds in every world in the universe that has life and civilization all have the same name of Spirit World, even though they are not connected in a way, except for connection through Intergalactic Spirit Gates. I never heard of any Spirit World that are named as something different such as Terra Spirit World"