Breakfast in Carne Village that morning was held in the village center, everyone seated in a wide circle. Though it was meant to be a meal, it was also a council — a discussion on how to fill the losses from yesterday, and how the village should move forward.
The villagers sat directly on the packed earth, but in front of Momonga, they prepared a clean wooden table and chair. Asking a goddess to sit on bare soil was unthinkable to them, and allowing dirt to touch her magnificent dress felt far too disrespectful.
"I'm sorry it's so simple, but… this is what we managed to prepare."
Enri set down a wooden tray.
A bowl of soup.
A round loaf of hard bread.
Tired-looking vegetables.
A few scraps of dried meat.
Salt — and little else.
The villagers felt guilty offering such a poor meal to their savior… but it was the best they could make, with all their hearts.
"Thank you," Momonga said, accepting it with a gentle smile.
Steam drifted from the bowl, carrying a faint, honest aroma.
It smells good, he thought.
He had never eaten soup with real vegetables. Not once.
Come to think of it… this is my first proper meal in this world. I'm a demon — technically I don't need food or sleep, but…
Momonga — Suzuki Satoru — had lived on a dying Earth. True vegetables and meat were luxuries reserved for the very rich. His own meals had always been nutrient jelly, claylike energy bars, and supplements. Eating had never been a pleasure — only a tiresome chore.
He scooped the floating greens with a wooden spoon and stared at them.
Vegetables.
Actual vegetables — grown by sun and water, not printed by machines.
He had never imagined a day he would taste such a thing.
"…Itadakimasu."
He brought the spoon to his lips—
And lightning shot through his entire body.
His eyes widened, trembling.
The sweetness of the vegetables.
The salt.
The faint savor of dried meat.
The whisper of fat on the surface.
The hint of herbs, barely present, yet alive.
Every one of these sensations awakened a sense he had forgotten existed.
U—
Stars burst behind his eyes.
Fireworks danced along his nerves.
And everyone watching — Gazef, Enri, Nemu, the villagers — realized instantly that something immense had changed in Momonga's aura.
Momonga was, to them, an untouchable divine being — impossibly beautiful, serene yet alluring, merciful, elegant, beyond human understanding.
But now—
Just for this moment—
That unearthly aura melted into something soft and childlike.
Not a goddess.
But a girl — delighted beyond words, glowing with innocent joy.
Delicious—!!
Momonga nearly looked skyward as emotion flooded her.
She had never known delicious.
Never known flavor.
The impact overwhelmed her entirely.
"Lady Albedo, is it yummy?" Nemu bounced beside her.
Momonga nodded rapidly — repeatedly — like an excited child.
"Yummy? Really?"
"So yummy…"
"Yaaay!"
Enri and Gazef were stunned into silence.
They exchanged glances of disbelief.
It was just vegetable scraps and salt water — a poor village's poor breakfast.
Yet it had transformed the goddess.
Momonga reached for the bread next.
Hard.
Light.
Rough.
Smelling faintly of wheat.
She took a bite—
"————!!!"
Delicious.
This is delicious too.
Hard bread, but rich with wheat fragrance.
A world apart from the flavorless paste she had once swallowed merely to stay alive.
Nemu leaned forward.
"Lady Albedo, bread gets soft and tasty if you soak it in the soup~."
A genius, Momonga thought solemnly.
She copied Nemu's example, dipping the bread, letting it soften—
U-UMAAAAAA—!!!
A new realm of flavor.
Her head spun with joy.
She kept eating, tiny mouth working earnestly, cheeks puffing as her eyes sparkled.
The villagers stared, dumbfounded.
"Lady Albedo, you must have been really hungry…"
After the meal, Enri spoke hesitantly.
Momonga felt her face heat.
I got carried away… it was too good… embarrassing… too embarrassing…
Everyone — Gazef included — had wide eyes fixed on her.
Only Nemu smiled proudly at having helped.
"S-sorry… I behaved a bit improperly…"
"No, no, never! We're the ones who should apologize… serving something so humble—"
"Not humble at all. It was… truly delicious."
Momonga shook her head hard.
She couldn't let them misunderstand.
She had to explain — at least enough to ease her own mortification.
"My homeland… no, my world… was terribly polluted. The sky was always covered in smog. You'd get sick if you went outside without a mask. Birds, fish… even insects couldn't survive. It was a dead land."
Everyone fell silent.
"Food was artificial. Tasteless. Colorless. Emotionless. Eating was never pleasure — only survival. I've never eaten real vegetables. Or real meat. So this… this was the first time in my life something tasted good."
Her voice softened.
"…Thank you, everyone in Carne Village. Truly. Thank you for the meal."
Shock spread through the crowd.
Some even sobbed.
To think that their goddess — their savior — had lived such a cruel life… and found joy in their meager soup…
"Lady Albedo… would you like seconds?"
Someone whispered it — and everyone snapped back to life.
If she had never known the joy of food…
Then they would show her.
"Lady Albedo, please take my bread!"
"I've got cheese at home — let me fetch it!"
"Someone go pick fruit from the forest!"
"I'll make fruit water!"
"Tonight we'll cook a chicken — start preparing it!"
"Do we offer her wine? Wait, no — it's morning!"
"Lady Albedo! I can bake pies! A pie is—"
Now it was Momonga's turn to widen her eyes.
Food poured toward her from every direction.
The village began planning special dishes for lunch and dinner.
It became a small festival.
On this day, Momonga learned joy.
She learned the delight of eating.
And it wouldn't be long before she thought:
Perhaps I should travel this world…
just to discover more delicious food.