Volume 1 - CH 12

After Falk left the store, neighbors from the small square visited the shop in the morning.

Once again, she made an opening greeting, asked for publicity, and dealt with the sales–while she was doing that, the sun rose directly above the sky.

It was noon, and people began to appear in the small square strolling about. A group of women came up to the ice cream counter, chatting happily and enjoying the cool air.

“Wow, cool.”

“Doesn’t it look delicious? Would you like to eat it?”

“I like white! It’s my lucky color today.”

“You say that every day!”

Hearing the laughing women’s conversation, Alme felt inside her heart like she wanted to do a victory pose.

(After all, white is becoming popular in this world…! I’m glad I made milk ice cream!)

When she went out to serve customers and introduced the Shirotaka-chan ice cream to the women, they all ordered a set of milk ice cream and another ice cream.

After paying the bill and handing over the ice cream bowls, the women sat outside at the table under the umbrella. Alme listened to their laughing conversation.

“Look! Its’ face is so cute!”

“It’s a white falcon chick, isn’t it?”

“It’s a pity to eat this… Ah, it’s delicious!”

“It’s cold! The berries are delicious too. Shall I give you a bite? May I try the orange too?”

The group of women were laughing and having a blast with ice cream. It seemed that they liked it.

As she smiled, Alme noticed that the tourists who had gathered around the information board in the small plaza were glancing at the group of women in front of the shop.

If she can get them to eat outside the shop, that alone will serve as an advertisement for other people. Thanking the group of women in her mind, Alme rolled up her sleeves again.

Well, today’s performance begins here. She put on her best customer service smile as she watched the tourists walk up to the shop.

Tourists to Luorio, an elderly couple taking a walk, neighborhood kids. –It was a good turnout for a first day.

Former colleagues from the the library also showed up. Two old ladies who like to chat and complain. Alme sent postcards with the opening date of the ice cream shop and a message to everyone she had worked with…except for Julio, of course.

Even though the old ladies are former colleagues, Alme didn’t have a close relationship with them, and she didn’t expect them to come on the day of the opening. Even still, she is happy to see them.

—That’s what she thought, until in front of Alme, a conversation that made her smile bitterly, began unfolding.

These two old ladies, her former colleagues, came to eat ice cream and to complain about their work. They sat down near the counter in the shop and chatted with Alme while enjoying their ice cream.

The topic of conversation was exclusively about her former fiancé, Julio Beatos.

“—So, Mr. Beatos finally got a good scolding from the director.”

“Mr. Beatos, even though he had Ms. Campbellina by his side under the pretext of being an assistant, Ms. Campbellina didn’t do any work at all and was just flirting with him all day.”

“Oh, well, that’s true, isn’t it?

Alme let out a bitter laugh and just humored them appropriately.

The reason why the old ladies are talking about this to Alme is because they want to “complain together and get rid of their sorrows”. She guessed they are trying to make her feel better.

She’s at work right now, so she won’t get too involved in this, dodging so as not to get too deep into the conversation.

“Julio was scolded by the library director, do you think he’ll properly reflect on it? I don’t think he’ll still flirt inside the library…”

“It’s all right now! Mr. Beatos, it seems that his personal office has been taken away.”

“He must have been slacking off at work and doing something naughty in the room anyway.”

When Alme heard the story, she inadvertently nodded deeply with a sullen face. In fact, she had almost encountered the scene… This is entirely Julio’s own fault.

The old ladies continued to complain oodles and oodles.

“It looks like he’s working in the same room with apprentice restorers now.”

“Everyone is saying that his work is slower than the apprentices.”

“Is he slow? I think Julio is quite quick at work.”

“Well, how quick is it actually? We don’t know much about restoration work, but we heard the apprentices whispering about it.”

She tried to remember Julio’s work while listening to them. From what Alme remembers, he seemed to be getting the job done rather quickly. He always met his work goals for the day.

(… but yeah, that’s right. He might have had trouble with the clerical things he was working on.)

She suddenly remembered. In between the craftsmanship of restoring books, another clerical task cuts in, slowing the pace. It seems that the concentration is interrupted and it takes time to recover. Alme was supporting Julio by taking care of the small administrative tasks in his place.

She wondered if he could have asked Campbellina to support him, but then she thought to herself that it was no longer her concern.

She returned the appropriate comments to the ladies.

“Well, I hope Julio and his partner, Campbellina, will work hand in hand and Julio will do his best.”

She implied that it had nothing to do with her anymore.

After the ladies had finished their workplace gossip, they left the table with satisfied looks on their faces. Looking at the ice cream counter, they were talking about having this and that the next time they come back.

It seems they will come again. She is happy for them, but she also wishes they would refrain from telling her stories about Julio…it’s complicated.

As they were leaving, they looked at the paper bag with a yellow ribbon on it that was behind the counter.

“Oh my! Alme, could that paper bag with the ribbon be from ‘Fairy Bee Honey Shop’?”

“Huh? I don’t know. It’s a gift… Come to think of it, I forgot to ask about the name of the shop. They say it’s delicious honey.”

The paper bag with the yellow ribbon was given to her by Falk in the morning. She had left it on the desk behind the counter, intending to open it during her break.

“You don’t know about this? It’s a famous shop! The one on the main street near the central temple.

“I’m not really familiar with the shops along the main street…”

She knew a lot about the alleys and underground malls in her neighborhood, but she is not familiar with the main streets.

Many of the shops in the prime areas along the main street cater to the wealthy, so it is not an atmosphere where a commoner girl can drop by alone.

She is sure that she has passed by the shop before, but it is impossible for her to remember the names of countless shops.

–That’s mostly a pretext, and it’s more like Alme just doesn’t like the world’s fads…

She looked into the distance and was astonished by one of the old ladies comment.

“The honey in that store is 50,000 G even for a small bottle. I went there once to see if I could get some for my niece’s wedding present, but my husband and I were surprised to find it was so pricey in that store.”

“50,000!?”

Looking at her, Alme hurriedly flew to the paper bag. When she took it out of the bag and checked the inside, there was an ornate box with beautiful flowers drawn on it. Taking it out carefully and opening the box, a golden light filled her hand as she gently removed the jar inside. There are sparkling light particles in the honey.

“Hey… it’s shining… the honey is shining…”

The light in the honey reflects off the stylish glass jar, which has been delicately etched. It looks more like jewelry than honey.

With rounded eyes, she asked the ladies.

“Um… is this the size of a small bottle…?”

“Isn’t that about the size of a medium bottle?”

“Somehow the bottle is more beautiful than usual, so it looks like it comes with options!”

–So, it is certain that it costs more than 50,000 G.

The moment she figured it out, Alme let out a loud groan inside her mind, holding the honey in her trembling hands.

(Isn’t this honey…quite valuable? Should I…put it in the safe?)

Should this be locked away? –Such a ridiculous thought crossed her mind.