Translator: Saitamsensei Editor:Ryunakama
58. Bounty Head and Awakening [1]
The day after the First-Year War.
Today was a holiday, and I was thinking of taking a proper rest after a long time, but…
Suddenly an appointment came up, so I was now hastily heading towards an ice cream shop in the center of Orest.
「Err, I"m sure it should be around this area …」
As I looked around with the brochure of the shop in one hand,
「Allen-kun! Here, here!」
From behind, I heard the president"s loud voice.
Looking behind, there was the figure of the president calling out to me while hopping lightly, in lovely casual clothes.
「-Sorry, did I make you wait long?」
「No, I just arrived as well, so it"s alright.」
The president smiled gently and glanced at me from top to bottom.
「…… Allen-kun"s casual clothes are fresh. Un, I think it looks very good.」
Due to the president"s wish, I went out in casual clothes after a long time
My top is a simple white shirt with black haori, and the bottom is dark blue pants. 1
All of these are things that Paulsan presented to me on my birthday.
「Thank you. President, you look good too.」
Her top is a loose white blouse.
Bottom is a long skirt with a deep slit.
A red pendant hanging from her neck..
Cool and elegant, this outfit suits the president very well.
「Fufu, thanks」
And now that the greetings were over,
「Even so, you invited me so suddenly yesterday…」
I immediately asked the thing that was bothering me.
Yesterday.
Shortly after receiving the First-Year War trophy and on the way towards the infirmary where Ria and Rose were, I received a letter from the president.
The content was very simple.
『I am going to treat you to ice cream to thank you for helping me with the student council"s work the other day. Let"s meet at the clock tower on Oriana Street at noon tomorrow. -Sie Arcstria』
However, three conditions were written under it.
Keep it a secret from Ria and Rose, and come alone.
Come in casual clothes, not uniform.
Don"t bring a sword because it stands out.
And in the lovely envelope that contained the letter, the pamphlet of the ice cream shop which was the destination was enclosed.
「Fufu, 『women are as fickle as autumn weather』, right?」2
「…Is that so?」
I think the meaning is completely different though…
Well, the president being so sudden is a usual occurrence.
If I was surprised by this degree of antics, I wouldn"t be able to stand her.
And then,
「Nee Nee. Risan and Rose-san, haven"t found out, right?」
The president looked around the surroundings and whispered.
「Yeah, you don"t have to worry about that.」
I just said to Ria「I"m going out for a moment」and I don"t have plans to train with Rose today.
「But why keep it a secret? I don"t think there"s any need to hide it.」
When I asked frankly,
「Mou, you"re so thick-skinned…」
The president heaved a loud sigh as she shook her head.
「Well, that"s fine. More importantly, today is a holiday after all! Let"s play around all day long!」
「All day…? We simply talked about eating ice cream.」
「Now, Let"s Go!」
Having said that, the president walked in high spirits.
「Ah, wait a moment, president!」
Then I followed her and arrived at the destination ice cream shop.
It looked like a small castle, and many women were already queued in long lines.
「Wow, there"s a great number of people here…」
「Fufu, it just opened recently, so it"s quite popular.」
We lined up at the end of the line and waited for our turn while looking through the menu handed to us by the employee.
「Umm… I"ll go with the summer exclusive… the Mandarin Orange Ice-cream. Have you decided yet, Allen-kun?」
「Let"s see… I"m going with vanilla ice cream.」
After the order was decided, the two of us had some small talk.
The president was a good story-teller and a good listener, so the wait was over in no time, and by the time I realised, we were at the head of the line.
「Excuse me. I"d like a regular-sized vanilla and a summer mandarin orange.」
「Thank you very much! Please wait a little!」
The cheerful employee moved quickly and immediately handed us spherical ice-creams in a cutely designed cup.
After that, we moved to a two-person table set up in the store and sat down.
And then,
「Nee Nee, Allen-kun. It"s hard to eat with that hand, isn"t it? Why don"t you let onee-chan feed you? Say『aan』?」
The president had an impish smile seeing my right hand wrapped with a thick bandage.
「No, I can"t use my right hand, but I can still eat it with my left hand.」
I held a small spoon with my left hand and ate the ice cream in the cup smoothly.
「Mu, you"re so not adorable…」
「Ahaha… President, if you don"t eat yours soon, your ice cream will melt…」
After the two of us enjoyed the delicious ice cream, we decided to go around a fashion clothing store.
「-Welcome!」
A young store clerk wearing fashionable clothes welcomed us with a sweet smile.
「H-h.e.l.lo…」
And when I nodded lightly,
「-Hey Allen-kun, this way!」
The president proceeded steadily to the back of the store.
「Fumu fumu… so the lovely ones are lined up over here…」
The president looked at the clothes on display with sparkling eyes.
Then, she held what she was interested in on her body and checked it by the full length mirror installed in the store.
「Allen-kun, do you know? This year"s trendy color is green.」
「Oh, is that so? This is the first time I"ve heard of it.」
Occasionally with such short conversations, I followed behind the president who moved around the store without hesitation.
Meanwhile, I felt very restless.
(How do I put this… I can"t seem to calm down…)
Whether I look to the right or to the left, everyone is『sparkling』.
The hairstyle and clothes were all very fashionable, and I just felt very out-of-place.
(To get used to the city… will take more time it seems…)
It"s hard for me to get used to the city when I grew up in such a rural area; Goza Village, where there are far more livestock than people.
After 15 minutes pa.s.sed,
「Nee, Allen-kun. This one-piece with polka dots and this one-piece with young leaves here… Which one do you think is better?」
The president tilted her head with two types of pretty one-piece dresses in her hand.
The moment I heard that question, a terrible shock ran through my whole body.
(I thought it was an urban legend, but it really does exist …)
The two-choice question of h.e.l.l that is unleashed when going shopping with a woman.
If you answer incorrectly, the woman"s mood gets worse immediately, and you"ll see h.e.l.l that day… Is what I"ve heard.
(But there"s no problem… ! The winning formula in such a case has already been given by Paulsan…!)
In my mind, a conversation with Paulsan that I had a few years ago came back to me.
「Okay, Allen? Girls, including me, are creatures who want『a.s.sent』」
「a.s.sent, you say…?」
「Aa, yes. In such cases, the girl herself already has the answer.」
「HHaa…」
「In other words, what is required is a.s.sent, not your opinion.」
「…It"s a difficult thing, isn"t it? So how do I find the『answer』?」
「That is easy. If you look at the girl"s eyes, you can discern it right away!」
「Look in the eye…」
「Girls are pure and honest. Their gazes unintentionally follow the one they like.」
「Oh, I see…」
「Well, a crude man is unable to understand a woman"s delicate heart… So, it"s important to meet halfway, okay!?」
Paulsan said that, and with a huge butcher knife, she sent a pig"s head flying.
(…How nostalgic)
The pork simmered that day was really delicious…
(Oops, concentrate, concentrate… Now focus on the problem at hand …)
I returned to the problem at hand after a little derailment. I casually glanced at the president"s eyes while pretending to compare the two types of one-piece.
Then I realized that her gaze tends to shift to leaf pattern one-piece.
(……Which reminds me, didn"t she say that this year"s trendy color is green?)
This year"s trendy color and the president"s gaze, if I tie the two together, the answer will naturally become one…!
「Um… I think that the one-piece with young leaf pattern is good…」
I said it clearly.
There is no turning back.
Sweat began flowing in the palm of my hand, and tension increased my heart beat.
(…What is the result?! )
As I gulped in my throat,
「Really!? That"s good, I thought so too! Then I"ll take it!」
The president, with a flower-like smile blooming on her face, ran to the cash register with the young leaf pattern one-piece.
(Fuu… This was the most difficult thing today, but I managed to get through it…)
As I thanked Paulsan in my heart, I exhaled a sigh of relief.
Then I was taken by the president and walked around various shops.
(Food shops, general stores, jewelry shops, handicraft shops… I guess we also went to an antique dealer…)
A store that I would never stop by if I was alone, products that I had never seen, it was exciting and fun today, coming into contact with many unknowns.
And the president was smiling happily all the time, thus I can say that today was a good day.
「Aah… The sun is going to set soon.」
「Yeah」
The time is already seven o"clock at night.
The president and I were walking down Oriana Street side by side.
There was a little silence between us, and we simply continued walking for a short while.
(…Today was quite tiring)
Should I bring up a topic?
Or should I walk silently?
As I was thinking about what to do,
「…Nee, Allen-kun.」
The president spoke with an unusually serious expression.
「What is it?」
「Would you be interested to join the『government』?」
「…Eh?」
With a serious expression, the president brought up a ridiculous solicitation topic.
TL Note: "Haori" is a traditional j.a.panese kimono-style jacket. ↩ TL Note:"women are as fickle as autumn weather" is a j.a.panese proverb emphasizing on how difficult it is to understand women"s mind and sometimes how the weather in autumn changes so suddenly ↩