In the evening, Alme was taken away by Jayla to the barbecue restaurant.

The restaurant is located on the edge of the East District, on a slightly elevated site. It is a garden-type barbecue restaurant where Jayla works as her main business.

The scenery is good, and the color of the sky is beautiful during the time when it changes from evening to night. It was dinner time, and the restaurant was overflowing with people.

Each table has a small barbecue stove. The smell of meat and smoke wafts through the air, and the space is truly exhilarating.

It should be. Alme, who is nervous, does not have time to enjoy this atmosphere.

Alme and Jayla are seated at a table for four, and Jayla’s brother -Charikot – is seated across from them.

Since Ena returned home with the closing of the ice cream shop, today was a dinner party for the three of them.

Charikot, who was late, took a seat, and the meeting had just started. After each of them ordered a drink, Jayla randomly ordered some meat, and for the moment they had a toast.

“Then, I’m happy for Alme-chan and Charikot’s marriage proposal!”

“Marriage proposal!? that a little bit…we’re not at that stage yet!”

“Cheers to matchmaking, then!”

Aside from Alme, who was shaken from the very beginning, the siblings laughed and raised their glasses.

After drinking, Charikot turned to Alme to introduce himself.

“Well, let me introduce myself first. I am Charikot Eldante, 21 years old. I belong to the Luorio Army’s 3rd Corps. Nice to meet you!”

“Um… my name is Alme Titty. I’m 20 years old and I run an ice cream shop. Nice to meet you.”

When she bowed her head, Charikot squinted and smiled.

Short silver hair with brown skin. His ear has a dangling earring, and he wears a shirt that is wide open at the chest.

The way he talks and his facial expressions are languid, and he has a somewhat sweet atmosphere. The world would call a man like him “sexy”.

This is what Jayla would look like if she were a man, and it is a brother who looks a lot like her.

Ena had laughed and called him flirtatious, but that’s certainly the impression Alme got.

It’s hard to find a place to focus her eyes because his strong pectoral muscles are exposed. When she was flustered, Charikot connected the story.

“Alme-chan, are you nervous? You’re so cute~”

“No, umm, Mr. Charikot, I can see your skin…there…and well, I’m having trouble finding a place to focus my eyes…”

“Eh, what’s this? Do you want to touch it? Ok. It’s pectoral muscles that I’ve trained just to get girls to touch me!”

“I won’t touch it! Don’t train for that, train with a sword instead!”

Alme inadvertently made a ‘tsk-tsk’ noise at Charikot, who was being a bit too informal. Jayla said he’s a bit out of line, but maybe that’s the way he is.

But Alme also felt like he is surprisingly easy to talk to. In that respect, he really resembles Jayla.

Jayla skillfully grilled the meat and piled it up on each plate. The grilled skewers with bite-sized pieces of meat and vegetables are beautifully browned and look really delicious.

Jayla bit into her own skewer as she tossed the meat onto each plate. As she mumbled, she mentioned a new topic.

“Alme-chan is friends with Mr. Shirotaka. I met him the other day. I saw him up close, and he was really handsome. Good luck trying to impress her, Charikot.”

“Seriously? you’re friends with Shirotaka?”

As soon as Shirotaka’s name came up, Charikot leaned forward. Perhaps he is also a fan of Shirotaka.

“Mr. Charikot, are you a fan of Mr. Shirotaka?”

“No way! He’s the enemy, the enemy! My rival!”

“Rival…?”

“Yes! That ‘white falcon’ stole all my girl fans, so I’m going to take him down someday.”

“Please don’t resort to violence for such a personal grudge.”

Alme was worried about Falk’s safety. They had just talked the other day about ‘just in case he doesn’t come back from the battlefield,’ but it would be unfathomable if he was stabbed by his own comrade in the meantime.

Charikot sulked as Alme glared at him.

“Ah, damn it! Are you going to protect Shirotaka too, Alme-chan?”

“Well, that’s because we’re friends.”

“Eh~ we’re eating together like this right now, so aren’t we friends now? Alme-chan, if it’s me or Shirotaka, which one would you choose?”

“Which one…”

Alme was suddenly asked a strange question and her eyes widened. Even if she is asked which one to choose, she doesn’t know how to answer.

She tried to ask Jayla for help, but she just smiled happily. She thoroughly enjoys being a spectator.

“Uh…I can’t choose.”

“Oh, seriously. Okay, if you don’t choose Shirotaka right away, that means I have a chance, too.”

“If you ask the women of the city this question, they will immediately reply with Shirotaka!”

“Is that so? After all, he’s popular…”

According to the brother and sister, this question seems to be popular as a chat topic in town now. A woman who doesn’t make a quick decision on Shirotaka is easy to target.

Charikot pointed to Alme’s hair ornament.

“I thought you were an avid fan of Shirotaka since you wear a white flower in your hair ornament.”

“That happened by chance, it was a gift from a friend.”

That friend is Shirataka himself, but… Charikot seems to see Shirotaka as a rival, so let’s not say anything unnecessary.

He seemed to have recovered from the fact that Alme didn’t choose Shirotaka, and he started to get riled up again.

“Then, if I give you a hair ornament of a different color, will you wear it?”

“No, I’m sorry I can’t accept it.”

This white flower hair ornament is her favorite, so to tell the truth, she’d feel a bit embarrassed if she received another one.

Just as she was thinking that, Jayla came to the rescue.

“Charikot has no taste in gifts for women, so don’t even try it.”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad. I gave my sister a sword, but for Alme-chan, I’ll give you something better.”

Mumbling something, Charikot began rummaging through his bag. He picked up something and put it on the table.

What was presented to Alme, was a knife the size of her palm.

“Hmm, I only have a knife on me right now.”

“Um… I don’t know how to use it, so I’m in trouble. I can’t take it.”

“I knew it wasn’t good. You don’t understand a woman’s heart at all~!”

Alme refused politely and Jayla laughed loudly.

He picked up the knife and brought up another topic.

“Come to think of it, Alme-chan can use ice magic, right? Is it possible to make an ice sword with your magic? My captain sometimes shows it to me, and it’s cool.”

“Your captain can use ice magic?”

“It doesn’t seem to be strong magic, but it seems to be able to slow down the demons.”

“That’s amazing! My magical power is so small that it can only be used on a daily basis, so I can’t make an ice sword.”

The captain of Charikot’s unit seems to be an ice mage. When Alme was a child attending school, she had seen people who used ice magic, but as an adult I hadn’t encountered any at all.

Somehow she felt a sense of familiarity with him, and let out a high-pitched voice. She wondered if Charikot was also excited.

“Even if it’s for everyday use, it’s strong enough to be used for work, isn’t it? Can you freeze this liquor or something?”

“If it’s this much, you can do it right away.”

He offered Alme a glass of grape wine that was half consumed already. Alme put her hand on it and let the cold air of the ice magic flow through it. The wine hardened quickly.

Charikot stuck a fork in the frozen wine and pulled it out of the glass. It’s a beautiful reddish purple color, like a popsicle.

“Oh! Awesome! Cold and delicious!”

“I want to try it! Do mine too! I want to try it!”

“Frozen wine seems to be good too.”

In a previous life, Alme had seen a fashionable recipe for putting round popsicles in a shochu highball. It might be a good idea to consider this in the future as a menu item for adults.

For a while after that, the three of them had a lot of fun making popsicles out of our drinks.

They ask for other drinks to try, and there are colorful popsicles on the table. It is quite a beautiful and pleasing view to the eye.

As Alme was doing so, a child from the family group at the next table pointed at her and raised their voice.

“Mom, look! It’s so beautiful! I want some of that!”

“Hey, hey, you can’t have any alcohol.”

“-Um, I can also make frozen juice. If you don’t mind, would you like to make it?”

Alme called out to the child, who was starting to whine. The mother at the next table looked apologetic and handed her the child’s glass of juice.

“Excuse me, could you please?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Wow! It’s frozen!”

Seeing the juice in the glass that had frozen in no time, the child was in high spirits. He poked it with a fork, picked it up, and ate it quickly.

Seeing his happiness, Alme’s face broke into a smile.

Shye wondered if it would be popular to serve popsicles for children at the shop. She watched over the happy child with such a thought in her mind.

When she turned her gaze back to the table, Charikot was looking at her with a smile on his face.

He said with a wide smile, his droopy eyes still narrowed.

“I like people who are kind to children. I feel like I can get along well with Alme-chan. Hey, why don’t you go out with me?”

“What?”

Is this what is called a confession? Is a confession something that can be uttered so casually ……?

Alme was surprised and froze, but for Charikot, the conversation seemed to be nothing of the sort. A loose confession followed.

“I swear to God I won’t cheat on you and I’ll take good care of you~ My sister, Aiden, and Ena would kill me if I did anything strange.”

“No, uh, but…”

“You’re looking for a boyfriend, right? Why don’t you go out with me? If you try going out with me and it turns out to be too weird, you can reject me.”

Charikot casually made a proposal while biting into a liquor popsicle. Alme wondered if this carefree attitude comes from the difference in experience.

She also wants to have this type of easygoing attitude in the future.

It’s not the time to be impressed. How should she answer…

And just as she was wondering what to say, the city bell rang. A clock bell that rings several times during the day. With this bell as an indicator, night time comes to the city.

Charikot let out a short “Oh”

“I have to go to the garrison soon. It’s my sister’s treat today. Alme-chan, please think of a reply by the next time you see me.”

“Yes…yes!”

“See you later. Good job, both of you.”

Charikot picked up a skewer and left the table while eating. He waved his hand lightly and said goodbye.

At the last minute before leaving, he blew a kiss at Alme from a distance and laughed happily.

After watching his back, Alme quietly exhaled.

(If I respond to the confession…we’ll be in a lovers relationship, right…?)

Alme felt like was a big promise already…

In a group of drunk uncle customers nearby, one of them strummed a ukulele, just as Alme seemed to be feeling overwhelmed again.

The man sang a song that everyone in this city knows, “Life is easy, love is true.”

(…… take it easy, huh? I know, I should …… take it easy and think about how I feel…)

A cheerful song pulled Alme up from the sinking depths of her troubled thoughts. She’ll take it easy and think about how to reply to his confession.