Taboo Matters

Taking a bite of the sandwich. It's not about whether it's delicious or not; rather, it has that taste like something you'd get at a hotel or somewhere fancy.

"Hmm? This is it. A copy of an afternoon tea set from a famous Japanese hotel, right? They just pasted it over."
Alecto starts munching on it.

"In our line of work, food is a luxury. Nutrition and body shape can be handled through property processing. However, Japanese junk food is strange. Some people gorge on it as if it were addictive."
Junk food is popular here too, then.

"This job isn't easy either. Snackable foods are in demand. In that sense, Earth's culinary culture is extreme. Few planets can showcase such diversity from a server. Especially with Japanese fast food and sweets, there's an obsession to it."
Alecto takes a sip from the cup and continues.

"There should be potato chips, right? Those are the most popular. It's laughable how they manage to create diversity from such a simple dish. Every time a new variant comes out, people copy it. When you return, it would be good to spread them. Currently, proper management isn't in place, and some have mistaken the leaves for poison based on past experiences. However, as a famine crop, they're effective. If you move, governance will adjust."
Potato chips are popular here too. There must be hits and misses. It's something to look forward to.
Ah. Store them in a cool, dark place, and make sure not to eat the leaves or shoots... That seems manageable around me. But changing one's mindset will take some effort. Plus, oil is expensive. Maybe start by using them as an alternative to other tubers.

"Earlier, we talked about civilization. The method for promoting Earth's divine civilization is simple: make people fight among themselves. Concentrate wealth and civilization to create surplus. Surplus spawns new civilizations. These spread and balance the whole. From there, outstanding individuals start new conflicts. The rest is just repeating this process."
Alecto leans on the table, supporting his cheek with his hand.

"When you were around, they called it an economic war or a tech war, but this process was clearly present. It's an effective method. I have my preferences, but when applied to this planet, it'll be a bit gentler."

"Wars did happen then. I thought there were countries without wars, but I guess competition is inevitable."

"That's just one form of war. However, on this planet, the surplus needed for the earlier process isn't possible. Due to isolated civilizations, wealth and culture can't be plundered or applied. To protect oneself, weapons and spells evolve, but as you felt, infrastructure technology lags behind. Still, feedback from these tools makes some areas more advanced than your perceived timeline."

"I often felt out of place with the level of flora, cuisine, and tools. Some things that should exist don't, and others that shouldn't do."

"Well put, earlier I mentioned Earth's games. This planet heavily borrows from those game sources. It's not laziness; they use it because analyzing content makes future predictions easier."

"I thought the world had a bit of a game-like feel to it, but this explains it."

"Hmph. What you'd call 'convenient world-building' perhaps? Treat it as such. Strict civilization building with historical patterns is pointless since outcomes change with origins and premises."

"Speaking of games, I remember hearing about divine arts alongside offensive spells."

"While called divine arts, only one manages them. Healing handles terminal property protection. Praying to healing compares your current state to a backed-up normal property, repairing abnormalities or losses. That's divine art."

"Is it similar to magic?"

"Hmph. Converting magic elements into mana as a cost and communicating with gods is no different from spells. Mastery increases capabilities. Low levels can repair minor defects. Higher mastery repairs major ones—removing abnormal tissues like cancer, for example. However, large tissue losses require significant skill. Details are taboo, but skilled users can restore missing fingertips or severe wounds. Masters can fix lost limbs or major organs."
Cancer can be cured too? That's amazing.

"However, without clear communication about illnesses or internal conditions, healing might make mistakes due to complexity. Hence, medical knowledge is preserved, and pharmacology has developed. It improves through evidence and verification loops. Still, relying solely on divine art isn't wise."
Ah, that explains why there are alchemy guilds. Divine arts seem versatile, but medicine is still crucial. Good, I got the most important question answered.

"So resurrection exists?"

"That's also taboo. However, death is terminal damage. You can't manipulate properties after that. Keep that in mind."
The answer came with some hidden meaning.