"Attention everyone," the voice rang through the spaceship.
The voice sounded like it came from a battle-hardened military commander.
The candidates of the Imperial Academy were currently in the ship's main section, everyone lined up like soldiers ready for war.
"We are approaching the Imperial Sector, Milky Way, in 10 hours."
The person said.
It was a tall, bulky man with black hair that reached his back.
His eyes were a deep green.
Standing behind him was Levi, and a few other personnel sent by the academy to pick them up.
The man dismissed them with a wave of his palm.
They all saluted, their feet stomping against the floor of the spaceship.
It felt like a magnitude 7 earthquake had erupted in the ship.
But the impact could not even leave a scratch on the highly fortified spaceship.
The student candidates marched back to their rooms, their movements in sync.
As they each entered their rooms, the man nodded and walked away.
Five minutes passed.
The students began to walk out of their rooms with tired expressions.
"I still preferred it when it was just Levi," Silas could not help but say to Asher with a sigh.
Asher smiled at his complaints.
"There's nothing you can do about it. This is what you all should have been doing normally, but Lord Levi was too indifferent to care."
Silas groaned more.
"Whose side are you on?"
Asher raised his hand slowly.
"Yours. We should probably start a rebellion."
"Try that on a child," Silas sighed.
The cabin was filled with the student candidates, everyone gathering to get whatever they wanted.
Silas walked straight to the restaurant.
Although at his stage he did not need food to survive anymore, Silas still ate out of habit.
To him, just enjoying the flavor of the food was enough satisfaction.
'This peace is really nice,' Silas could not help but think.
All his life, he had always been in one group or another.
From the orphanage, to school on Veritas, to when he stayed at Max's mansion.
He was always surrounded.
The thought of cutting all connection with the others flashed through his mind.
But he dismissed it immediately.
"I can't be a loner even if I want this kind of peace regularly," he muttered out loud.
Asher heard him, but he did not think too much about what Silas had said.
"I would go alone from here," Silas said to Asher without turning back.
Asher nodded and stayed back, not carrying another foot forward.
"Why is this place so full?" Silas asked, seeing the long queue that stretched as far as he could see.
The person in front of him turned.
"Haven't you heard?" he asked.
Silas sighed.
'Would I ask if I had heard?' he wondered, but did not voice it out.
He shook his head slowly.
"What happened?"
The person in front of him turned back with a smile.
"The chef is cooking a special meal for us as congratulations on reaching the Milky Way."
Silas's eyes brightened at the mention of the person cooking.
It was the chef of the crew on this spaceship.
As a military mercenary vessel, they had a complete space crew.
His meals were always a delight to eat; that was one thing Silas knew.
"Oh, you can take my spot," the person who had told Silas about the food suddenly said, shifting aside for Silas to move forward.
'Here we go again,' Silas muttered.
Several people recognized him and stepped aside, smiling. Before Silas realized it, he had somehow ended up near the front of the queue again.
Silas sighed.
He was already so popular among the students that they were willing to do anything for him.
'If I started a cult, I wonder how many followers I would get,' he thought.
Then he realized what had just surfaced in his mind.
'What are these crazy thoughts I am having?' he pondered.
The queue moved again, and it was Silas's turn to enter.
Without hesitation, he entered.
The person who had opened the door was none other than The Chef himself.
As Silas entered, he quickly locked the kitchen's door.
He gave Silas a calm look as he waited for Silas to find a seat.
After looking around for a while, Silas chose an empty table at the end of the room.
Without uttering any words, he made his way towards the table's position.
His eyes caught his friends.
But he ignored them completely.
The urge to approach them struck his chest but he refused.
"It wouldn't be a vacation anymore if I am seeing them."
The Chef opened the door again, seeing that Silas had gotten himself a seat.
Another student walked in, found a seat, and the door was opened again.
This was another thing Silas liked about The Chef, besides his good food.
He was very orderly.
Like now, he would rather spend hours arranging than get it done quickly but chaotically.
The last student entered and The Chef shut the door behind him.
"I welcome you all to a showcase of my finest production yet on this journey."
The chef was a short and stout man with short, trimmed brown hair and brown eyes.
Robots began to swarm in from behind the counter, each one carrying hundreds of plates.
They moved from table to table, allowing each student candidate to take their own plate before moving away.
Silas took his own plate and set it cleanly on the table.
"I would need your reviews on how it tastes later, so enjoy."
The Chef walked away from the spotlight immediately.
The students, too, did not hear what he said.
Their minds were on the food before them.
'This is truly new,' Silas thought, examining what was on the table.
It was fish. Just fish.
No seasoning, chilli, or salt.
That was what made it look new to Silas.
If there was no flavor, how were they expected to like the food?
Reluctantly, Silas took his fork from the side tray.
His eyes were plastered on the fish. His hesitation was obvious from the way he held the fork far from it.
"I should give it a try first," Silas muttered, taking a cut of the fish with his side knife.
It was a small piece from the fish, then he picked it up with the fork and pushed it into his mouth.
For a moment, Silas said nothing.
Silence stretched long in the hall as everyone took a bite of the fish.
The silver flesh of the fish melted in their mouths, releasing a savory liquid that washed down their tongues.
Three tastes were intertwined together on his tongue.
The flavor was sweet, sour, and bitter, all at the same time, creating a blend that Silas had never felt before.
'Why was I even doubting his food before?' The thought rose in Silas's mind.
Just as he had expected, The Chef's special food was definitely not something ordinary.
Without pause, Silas dug in.
He began to cut through the fish, one piece at a time.
His cuts were masterful and precise, each one the same size as the previous one.
Silas looked at the last fish cut.
"Let's see if I can buy more," he said, biting into it.
Just then, as if The Chef was already waiting for him to finish, he came out again.
"Also, due to lack of ingredients, we don't have more rainbow fish."
Like cold water splashed over him, Silas shook his head.
He did not think too much about it.
It was just fish; he would definitely find sweeter ones later.
He picked a napkin from the table and dabbed his mouth.
Then he stood up, walking out of the room with the calm steps of someone who had nothing else to do.
His friends saw him at this moment.
It was impossible not to see Silas here; he was the only one standing up.
But they ignored him.
They were the ones who had suggested a vacation for him; they could not suddenly drag him out of it.
"Who suggested we let him stay alone?" Sylvester asked.
The question had been ringing in his mind, but he had not gotten the time to ask.
But at this moment, it felt like the right time had finally come.
"I was the one," Amelia said calmly, still eating her fish.
Sylvester sighed, glancing at Billie from the side.
"What? Even if I was the one, there's nothing you can do," Billie said, clicking her tongue.
Sylvester did not reply.
...
A gentle smile was on Silas's lips as he exited the kitchen.
He had heard everything they said clearly.
"Yeah, this trouble is probably why I find staying alone peaceful," he muttered, already walking towards another section of the spaceship.
It was the training room.
This place had turned out to become Silas's favorite place in the entire ship.
It was equipped with everything one could think of.
Gravity chambers where one could adjust gravity at any moment.
A virtual training ground that could be accessed without the need to enter the Nexus Dimension.
And an AI that tracks the growth of users.
Although those were not the only things there, they were the most iconic, the things that had made Silas like the place.
But Silas was not here to train.
He wanted to give this place one last check before they reached the capital planet.
'Even while I was supposed to be on vacation, I still trained.'
He thought as he walked out of the room.
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