Chapter 1417 - Captivating Sukiyaki ③
A frontier city in Archlesia Empire where Kuro, Alice and I came to buy vegetables. Although this was in a remote area, this place kinda has this tourist spot-like feel to it. Well, though I say that, there weren’t that many people around, and it was a peaceful place with a nice atmosphere.
[The atmosphere around here feels like I’m in a tourist spot.]
[This place is quite famous as a tourist spot. They sell vegetables and fruits, so it’s quite popular as a travel destination.]
[The fact that there is a lot of good food here is a good appeal point. This place is also famous for dishes using vegetables and sweets using fruits.]
Indeed, having delicious food is a strong appealing point in itself. Moreover, my personal impression of Archlesia Empire is that it’s a country that puts a lot of effort into tourism.
Though it may have just been a part of Chris-san’s plans, she often introduces tourist attractions in the letters she exchanges with me, and magazines often feature tourist attractions in the Archlesia Empire.
[Ahh, Kaito-kun! Shalltear! They’re selling ice cream over there, let’s have some!]
[It’s a local fruit soft-serve ice cream that is a staple at tourist spots like this. Then, I’ll be holding myself back and just have 3 of every kind.]
[And where exactly are you holding yourself back on?]
Just like Alice said, it’s a soft-serve ice cream made with fruits that I feel like I see quite often. They had quite a lot of different types here…… Personally, my favorite are citrus-flavored ones like orange ice cream, but I’m kinda in the mood for grapes today, so I chose a grape soft-serve ice cream.
Meanwhile, Kuro bought a peach soft-serve ice cream, and Alice, as she declared, bought 3 of each kind…… making 21 servings from the seven kinds of soft-serve ice cream.
Normally, it would be difficult to hold them, but Alice received them by magically levitating those soft-serve ice cream. Unnn, that’s very convenient.
[Hmmm, the soft-serve ice cream with its simple sweetness is delicious. I mean, the soft-serve ice cream Kaito-kun got also looked amazing.]
[There are many berries of grapes included in. It certainly looks like it has quite the volume…… It does make it a bit difficult to eat, but since this seems to be made from seedless grapes, it’s not that difficult.]
The soft-serve ice cream at this store is a bit interesting, and the cone they were served in has a wide open shape, so it felt like a decorated soft-serve ice cream made up of soft-serve ice cream + fresh fruit.
It’s beautiful to look at, and perhaps they are trying to look good as a tourist attraction.
[……Fumu.]
[Kuro-san, if you replace those grapes with baby castellas, I’ll say this now, but that won’t be harmonious, okay? That’s just soft-serve ice cream and baby castellas.]
[……I’m totally not thinking like that.]
Yep, she’s definitely thinking like that. She was seriously thinking of making a baby castella soft-serve ice cream. However, just as Alice said, it’s not like those two different sweets could mix with each other, so it would simply just be soft-serve ice cream and baby castellas served together in a single dish.
[……How about baby castella-flavored soft-serve ice cream?]
[That wouldn’t be baby castella anymore, just a soft-serve ice cream, you know?]
[Gununu, t- then, soft-serve ice cream-flavored baby castella……]
[And now, that’s just vanilla-filled baby castella.]
[……Mnghh.]
Alice is able to accurately block Kuro’s attempts to combine the ice cream with baby castellas. She’s really dependable in situations like this.
[……Well, leaving thinking of baby castellas for later……]
[You really won’t give up huh. Well, that’s just like Kuro……]
[Gimme a bite of your ice cream, Kaito-kun!]
[Unnn? Ahh, here.]
[Thanks~~ Here, have a bite of mine too.]
After changing the subject, Kuro asked to sample my ice cream, so we exchanged bites of soft-serve ice cream with each other. As expected, even I wouldn’t feel embarra.s.sed about indirect kisses now, so us trading bites feel natural.
[Ahh, that’s right. Alice, can I have a bite of your orange-flavored ice cream? I’ve been wondering if I should get that earlier.]
[Ehh? A- Ahh, well, it’s fine by me…… Ahh, I- I’d better get a new spoon……]
Meanwhile, this guy doesn’t feel like she’s accustomed at all, clearly looking like she’s feeling conscious. Well, this certainly feels just like Alice, and I couldn’t help grinning.
[Even so, the atmosphere feels nice……]
[You’re right~~ This place certainly feels great to leisurely go sightseeing around in, but if we just go around like this, I think we’d consume too much time.]
[Well, wouldn’t it be alright if we look around for about an hour or so? I mean, Kuro-san and I could just use Teleportation Magic anyway, so we could get back in an instant.]
[I guess so. Then, let’s go to the botanical garden!]
[We don’t have to go out of our way to check them out, but there are mountains of plants there, you know? How about we go pick some strawberries over there?]
[You just ate 21 servings of soft-serve ice cream and you still want to eat more……?]
How should I say this…… both Kuro and Alice get along well and are on good terms with each other, so us three going around like this is quite fun. Speaking of which, Alice also mentioned how she’s fine with having a three-person date when it’s with Kuro.
Well, for the time being, their opinions are split between going to the botanical garden and strawberry picking, but I’ll just agree with Kuro here and decide on going to the botanical garden. No, I mean, we just had soft-serve ice cream……
Makina : [Hey, mind if I ask something? Why is Serious-senpai stuck on the wall?]
? ? ? : [Because I was playing darts.]
Makina : [……Darts? Errr, using Serious-senpai as the dart?]
? ? ? : [Yes, I was having a zero-one game.]
Makina : [Zero-one…… How many points had you set?]
? ? ? : [1501, what of it?]
Makina : [……Are you seriously trying to kill her?]
(T/N: Zero-one games are when the player/s decides on a set number of points ending with 01, like 301, 501, 701, etc. You would start with the number you decide, and the game ends when the score becomes exactly 0. For multiple players, first to lower their score to 0 wins. Incidentally, if your score goes below zero, your points return back to 12 instead.)