Volume 2 - CH 60

A few days have passed since she bought the bracelets, and the weekend is approaching. Alme hurried down her street with a cooling box in her hands.

An improvised wooden cooling box filled with ice magic stones, what’s inside is a container of milk ice cream.

Two glass containers are included. In terms of her previous life, it would be about 4 kilograms.

Carrying quite a bit of weight, Alme is now heading to Café Heston at a brisk walk.

Because, as it turns out, the café has placed an additional order.

It’s only been a week since they started offering coffee floats, but they didn’t expect orders to come in so quickly.

Was it the sunny heat, or was it the good location along the main street—or was it because both conditions were met?

The popularity of the float has apparently exceeded Alme’s imagination.

Walking with my package, she was indeed sweating. Using magic to cool herself down, she walked on foot and arrived at the café.

Looking at the terrace seats facing the street, Alme was dumbfounded.

In contrast to the quiet atmosphere when she visited for the first time, it was crowded with many people.

The doors to the café are open and bustling sounds from inside can be heard. Inside, as well as on the terrace, there is a wonderful crowd. There are many young women and children.

Looking at the drinks on people’s tables, she saw that in addition to the coffee float she tried the other day, there is also some kind of new drink.

A stylish two-layer café latte float with caramel dripping over the rim of the glass, the top half is coffee and the bottom half is milk.

The product has even been designed to look like it is in a coffee pool, with a large open-mouth glass filled shallowly with coffee and a scoop of Shirotaka-chan ice cream to dip into it.

Male customers enjoying black coffee with ice cream. Children enjoying a sweet milk coffee float. Everyone seems to be savoring it to their heart’s content.

The lively interior of the café made even Alme feel excited.

(Various interesting menu items are being added to ……!)

When she was taken aback, Alyssa called out loudly from the counter.

“Welcome, Miss Alme! I’m sorry for rushing you.”

“Hello Mrs. Alyssa. You’ve got a good crowd.”

Alyssa smiled mischievously as she walked over to the counter and handed her some extra ice cream.

“Will and I had a lot of fun making new products after a long time. We made a variety of prototypes and tried them out, and they turned out to be more popular than we had expected.”

“I was surprised to see more cute items on the menu! The two-layered ice latte float looks delicious.”

Seeing the glass of a customer drinking nearby, Alme gulped.

Will, who is working hard behind the counter to serve the orders, glanced over at them.

“Hello Miss Alme. If you don’t mind, how about a drink? I’ll treat you. I rushed the extra ice cream, so it’s an apology and thank you.”

“May I have one then?”

Will nodded and began preparations with familiar handling.

Alme was originally going to order a coffee float because she wanted to try one today. So she’s going to take advantage of the courtesy and gratefully accept the new item.

Alme sat down at the counter and took a cloth package from her bag. When she unfolded the cloth, several straws appeared.

This is a spoon straw made by the Citrali Hardware Workshop.

When she made shaved ice, she wanted a spoon straw, so she had a meeting with the studio manager and had this design finished.

The golden straw has a smooth finish on the part that touches the mouth. A gentle curve is drawn from the mouthpiece, and the bottom part is a spoon.　

She thought it would be perfect for a coffee float, so she brought it in earlier today to try it out.

“Yes, please wait. It’s Shirotaka-chan’s café latte float.”

“Thank you.”

Will and Alyssa made a cafe latte float and served it to Alme at the counter. The coffee and milk were exactly separated into two layers, which was pleasing to the eye.

The Shirotaka-chan milk ice cream floating above had a cute face. It’s a lovely finish.

Alme stuck a spoon straw into the ice cream and enjoyed her latte. The bitterness and sweetness are perfect. The coldness was also nice for her body, which was flushed from the walk.

“It’s a good thing we made the decision and added ice cream to the menu, in this city, cold food is more popular than warm food.”

“Even so, the number of customers is amazing. There were several carriages parked on the street, are they noble carriages?”

“Yes. Many people stop by at shops along the street where horse-drawn carriages run, even if it is a commoner’s store.”

“That’s nice because you don’t get that kind of thing very often at back alley shops.”

It is a privilege of a shop on the main street to be able to easily catch wealthy customers passing by. She can’t do that at her shop, so she’s just a little envious.

She thought that if the customer base expanded, she would be able to deliver ice cream to more people.

Tasting a latte while poking milk ice cream with a spoon straw. As she was eating, Alyssa’s eyes sparkled.

“By the way, Miss Alme, what is that convenient straw?”

“This is a spoon straw that I had made.”

The spoon straw is perfect for this use. It does not soften or lose its shape like existing paper straws. Even a slightly hard drink seems to be sucked upwards firmly, as well as soft serve ice cream.

When she had a reconciliation tea party with Falk, he described it as drinking ice cream, so she was thinking of trying to make an ice cream that people can actually drink.

If she made fruit shakes and frozen drinks, she thought he and the people in the city would be happy.

Now that she has good straws, she wanted to give it a try sometime soon.

And in addition to these spoon straws, she had brought some other straws with her today.

While making this straw, she also made a loop straw that rotates under the mouthpiece and a couples straw that two people can drink while flirting.

Will’s eyes lit up with curiosity when he saw the various straws spread out on the counter.

“I’ve never seen such unusual straws before. Are you going to offer this as an original item at Alme’s?”

“No, not at all. Aside from the spoon straws, the other straws were made for fun, and I hope someone will enjoy them as interesting items. I wonder if there is a demand for these somewhere. I wonder if they could be used at a party or something.”

As she lifted up the various straws and laughed, Will secretly suggested.

“If you don’t want to make it special for Miss Alme’s shop, can we introduce those straws at our place?”

“Eh, at the Café?

“Oh, it’s an interesting straw, and hopefully it will spread throughout the city. Because the people of Luorio have an eye for interesting things. It seems to be a good customer attraction.”

A strange straw, a party item made just for fun. If it catches people’s interest and becomes popular, it could be interesting.

They were likely to see lovers drinking floats with lovey-dovey couple straws and children enjoying the swirling loop straws.

“Sounds like fun. By all means, please take it.”

“Where are these straws made? Can I order more?”

“It’s called Citrali Hardware Workshop. I left the finished drawings with the workshop for future orders. Oh, and if you don’t mind, how about a spoon straw for the float? I don’t intend to make this one original either.”

“Are you sure? Well then, I would like to request that as well. Can I ask you to place an additional order? Of course, I will cover the cost.”

“I understand. Then I will bring you another order form.”

She made an appointment with the Heston couple over the counter and exchanged smiles.

She hoped that the new trick of introducing the straws for parties will go well.

Alme thought to describe the relationship with them as ‘comrades’. A relationship where they run together, facing the same direction in their work. It is a strange feeling, different from that of friends or acquaintances.

She felt somewhat excited at the prospect of plotting with her comrades.

If the lovey-dovey couple straws become popular, the three of them could exchange honorary high fives.