Alme asked Falk to sit at the counter and brought a bowl of the liquid milk mixture from the kitchen.

When she placed the bowl in front of him from across the counter, he looked at it with interest.

“Are you going to use this liquid for ice cream? The white color is coconut… no, is it milk?”

“That’s correct. I was just making a prototype of milk ice cream today.”

Activating the ice magic, she used the spatula to mix the mixture in a circular motion. The spatula was moving smoothly, but as the liquid solidified, it began to move slowly.

Stirring the mixture to let the air in while adjusting the magic so that it does not harden too much.

After a while, a smooth and fluffy milk ice cream was completed. Taking out a transparent glass bowl from the shelf, she scooped the ice cream into a round shape in the bowl. When she put it in front of Falk with a spoon, his face was already sparkling before he ate it.

“It’s beautiful, like a snowball! It kind of reminds me of the scenery in my hometown. In my hometown, there were many such objects made of round snowballs stacked on top of each other.”

“Are you from a snow country, Mr. Falk?”

“Yes, I’m from Bereslena, a city in the far north. I’ve only just arrived in Luorio… Looking at this ice cream makes me miss the coldness of snowballs.”

“I see…if you come from a colder region, it will be hard to get used to the heat in this city.”

As they talked, she served herself a bowl and pulled out a suitable chair nearby and sat down across from Falk.

“Please enjoy your meal.”

“Yes.”

As soon as she called out to him, Falk stuffed his mouth with ice cream as if he had been waiting for permission. It was like a big dog that had been released from its “wait” command, and it made her smile.

After the ice cream melted in his mouth, he spilled his impressions with sparkling 80% increased.

“Delicious…! I can smell the vanilla. It’s wonderful, and goes well with the mellow richness and sweetness of the milk.”

“Thank you, I’m glad it was to your taste. I think I might have put a little too much egg in the mixture…Maybe it could be a little more refreshing.”

Each of them gave their own impressions as they brought the ice cream to their mouths. She thought they were eating at the same pace, but Falk finished his ice cream in no time.

“There’s still some left, would you like some more? Oh, you can try jam if you like, it changes the taste.”

“I’m sorry for bothering you. I’ll have it.”

She put a generous serving of the remaining ice cream into two empty bowl and grabbed two jams from the fridge in the back. They were orange and blueberry jam.

Alme added blueberries to hers, and Falk added both in half and half.

“It goes well with the flavor of the fruit. It’s delicious.”

“Milk ice cream goes well with anything. I’m sure it’s delicious even if you put crushed cookies in it. Also, nuts and caramel–“

“I’ll have to go to the ice cream shop every day until I try all of them.”

“… won’t it give you a stomachache?”

When she looked at Falk with his shining eyes, she’s worried that he’s really going to do it. But seeing a positive reaction is purely fun and exhilarating.

“I’m glad you liked the ice cream, Mr. Falk. I’m sorry, but for my part, I’m thankful for the heat in this city.”

“Don’t be so mean, even if it wasn’t hot, I’m sure I would have enjoyed the ice cream as much as you did. I have loved sweet and cold desserts since I was a child.”

As he said that, Falk’s brown eyes flickered slightly.

“I’m not like this now, but when I was a child, I was very weak. Whenever I fell ill, my father would buy me frozen fruit desserts. It tasted so good to my hot body that even after I…grew up, I still had a craving for it every once in a while, and I used to eat it all the time in my hometown.”

“Is that so…your father was really kind.”

“Yes, he was a very compassionate man. Excuse me for telling you this embarrassing old story.”

Falk’s story reminded Alme of the old days. When she was a child, her grandmother would make a special fruit juice for her when she caught a cold and had a fever.

It was cold and sweet…and even when she didn’t have much of an appetite, she could drink that juice down in one gulp.

She still remembers the taste of that juice, along with the image of her kind grandmother who pampered her much more than usual when she had a cold.

“Is your health alright now?”

“Yes, I am completely fine now. I can work through the night day after day without a care in the world.”

“Hey… that’s no good, sleep properly! Lack of sleep will make you collapse! It’s already hot in this city, so the combination of lack of sleep and heat is dangerous…!”

“It’s okay, I’m used to not getting enough sleep. I’ve managed to endure the heat so far.”

“Stop pretending, you’re going to collapse one day! The more you say things like that, the worse you will feel one day!”

She unconsciously shouted out a note of caution. In her previous life, Alme was a company employee who collapsed and lost her life due to the very combination of her lack of sleep and heat.

Falk, who is from the far north and is not accustomed to the heat, could suffer a similar fate. Even if it is annoying, he should be very careful here.

“Even if you think you are fine like this, you could collapse, you know. You must not underestimate the heat and the lack of sleep! When I was 25 years old… no.”

Her mouth was about to blurt out more and she hurriedly stopped herself from speaking. She had inadvertently given out the age of her previous life. If she told people that she had memories of a previous life, they would think she was weird and would probably pull away from her.

Falk widened his eyes as she was busy making a fool of herself.

“I’m sorry to talk about age with a woman, but I thought you were a teenage girl, younger than me. I am very sorry that I called you ‘young lady’ the other day. I never meant to disrespect Miss Alme–“

“Ah, no, um, I just accidentally misread your age. I’m 20 years old…!”

“Huh? Is that so? Then, you’re younger than me. Haha, Miss Alme is interesting. It’s the first time I’ve met a woman who says she’s older than me. There are many who say they’re younger.”

Falk covered his mouth and gave a small smile.

Putting aside the topic of age, she looked at that smile. He is smiling in that restrained way again. While observing his awkward smile, she casually said, 

“Um, Mr. Falk, you can smile wider than that, can’t you? I am a commoner as you can see, and I don’t care about the manner in which you smile, or whether it is good or bad. I have been thinking since we met the other day, you are not smiling normally, are you?”

“Eh, didn’t I smile well? Did I make a funny face?”

“No, it’s a modest smile… I thought it would be refreshing for you to smile and laugh more openly.”

When she told him so, Falk lowered his eyebrows as if in trouble.

“Is that so… perhaps the way I empress myself at work has become a habit. If I don’t look serious, it’s hard to gain people’s trust.”

“I see. That’s why you have that expression.”

“I try to smile as much as possible on my days off to make up for the serious face I make at work…was it too weird?

“Well, unfortunately…”

It’s hard to call it a smile, it’s awkward. He is handsome with a heartwarming personality, if he smiled more naturally it would still be quite elegant.

Falk stopped eating the ice cream and slapped his cheeks.

“Thank you for letting me know.”

“I think it’s better to let nature take its course, rather than being careful. I think it’s better to relax and have a nice smile.”

“It’s difficult, isn’t it? A natural smile… if you give me that bowl of ice cream, I might be able to smile more naturally.”

“It’s no good, because it will upset your stomach.”

This person is quite cunning. When she refused, he hunched over and started eating his ice cream again.

As it gets closer to the end, the amount of scooping with the spoon is less and less. He seems to be resisting to finish the meal.

Looking at Falk like that, she suddenly remembered something. Speaking of him being from the far north, Ena said something like that the rumored Shirotaka had also transferred from the far north.

Since this was a popular topic that she had learned, she decided to use it for small talk.

“By the way, Mr. Falk, do you know Mr. Shirotaka? Maybe he’s from a place close to Mr. Falk’s hometown. I heard that he is such a wonderful priest that he has a fan club as soon as he came to this city. I heard that for some reason, when women and girls make eye contact with him, they lose consciousness and fall down.”

“Cough…cough cough cough!”

“Are you okay?! I’m sorry, I spoke to you so suddenly.”

Falk choked as hard as he could. After coughing for a while, he let out a moan.

“… uh, I doubt he would use his magical power to charm or harm such women…”

“Well, yes. I guess the rumors are getting too outrageous. But I’ll keep an eye out for it when I get a chance to see him.”

When she said that with a laugh, Falk, whose cough finally subsided, lifted his head.

“Miss Alme, are you also infatuated with that…Shirotaka?

“I’m not really an avid fan, but I do welcome Mr. Shirotaka ――Ah, by the way, this milk ice cream is inspired by Mr. Shirotaka. It’s named Shiro, after the white color of the milk ice cream.”

“Shirotaka’s popularity will contribute to this business…”

“I’m really grateful. As a way of thanking him, I’m thinking of waving my hand when there’s a military march next time.”

She felt half sorry that she took advantage of his popularity without permission, and half thankful for the business opportunity. She thought it would be a good idea to go wave to him next time.

However, these feelings are only to be added to the message. There is something else she really want to convey.

“I would also like to express my gratitude to the military personnel for protecting our lives. Not only the military personnel themselves, but they also have family and friends around them, so from a broader perspective, wouldn’t it be true that Mr. Shirotaka is also protecting everyone’s hearts? I also have friends related to the military, so my heart is also protected by him. So I thought I would go wave my hand in appreciation, support, and for his own safety. I hope to be able to send him a thank you for coming to this city. I hear there will be a lot of people to see him off, though…so I’m sure the sentiment will be lost in the crowd.”

According to Ena, since Shirotaka arrived, they’ve seen off the army twice so far, and it’s already been very crowded.

Now that it’s completely popular, Ena seems to be looking for a little-known spot to secure a place, as the next send-off will likely attract even more people.

After finishing the last bite of ice cream, Falk looked at her and gave her a soft smile.

“I’m sure Miss Alme’s feelings will reach Mr. Shirotaka. I am sure it will be conveyed straight to him without being lost and he will be very happy to receive your kind thoughts.”

Falk’s face as he said this was a natural smile that he finally showed her – or rather, a ridiculously sweet and gentle smile.

(Ugh…so dazzling!)

Unexpectedly, she averted her eyes. Because she was attacked by a strange sense of shyness… the natural smile of this handsome man is in the realm of being dangerous.

“Um…Mr. Falk, it might be better not to smile after all.”

“I’m sorry. Did I make a funny face again?”

Falk had a puzzled look on his face and slapped his cheeks again.