@Thousand:
I'm sorry if I came off snappy but that scene and the argument that comes with it always pissed me off.
Let me put it as simply as I can, if cows could talk and read or showed any sign of sentient intelligence…we would NOT eat them. Maybe kidnap a couple to dissect but not massacre them for our sustenance. It's that simple. Togashi REALLY missed the mark when he wrote that scene.
In European countries most people wouldn't think of eating cat or dog because they're lovable and have personalities and kept as pet. Elsewhere in the world, those are a delicacy and the cow is sacred. We don't eat dolphin because they're smart, but tuna is oh so yummy! Can't eat panda, those are cute and endangered. Rats are horrible vermin that we need to set out poison and traps for, but squirrels are awesome and cute! (even though they're exactly the same except for the tails.)
Veal is all about eating cute younger baby animals because it tastes better.
Standards vary wildly. But ultimately it boils down to
Humans are mean fucks. We hurt other humans willingly, and have games that are incredibly abusive. (Football and boxing come to mind.) We hunt for SPORT. Using a gun (how that is sporting I'll never understand.) But the cute stuff we like or have domesticated we'll try to leave alone. Meanwhile, animals in the wild don't hunt for fun, but to eat.
Odd corollary…a housecat will chase lizards or mice and kill them... because its chasing them for fun, or to protect the house... but it won't eat them. Whereas a wild cat that isn't getting regular bowl fed meals, upon trapping such a thing... will absolutely eat it, whatever it can get. Its instincts.
Catching a bunch of wild animals that are food and aren't you and eating them is what nature does. Coming to realize that other species is also intelligent and not inherantly inferior to you... that takes time. And the chimera ants came to understand in a matter of days, rather than years or centuries. Of course the king can eat anything, its all inferior to him. But then Komugi matches and defeats him at a game constantly.
Then he's conflicted by the idea of "Okay, she is my better in this... but I'm infinitely better in every other way and she's inferior to most humans even, and this game is meaningless!
...but she's still better at it than I am. What if other humans have similar unique gifts?"
And it was a major thing for him to realize and deal with that.