Volume 2 - CH 61

In the evening, Jayla and Alme were working on closing the shop when a man arrived.

A male customer with brown skin, silver hair, and loose-fitting clothes – he is Charikot.

She had just put away the table outside when he called out to her casually.

“Hi. My sister is here today, right? I promised to buy her dinner, so I came to pick her up. Is the ice cream shop closed? I was thinking of having a bite to eat…”

“Mr. Charikot! We just closed for the day, but we’ll treat you inside.”

“Oh, really? Okay!”

Charikot entered the shop with a carefree reply.

Falk also has a laid-back side, but Charikot has a different laid-back vibe…it could be called lethargic or rather a leisurely swagger.

Once inside the store, Charikot called out to Jayla, who was counting the sales at the counter.

“Yo, sis. I’m here to pick you up. Give me some ice cream. A big serving.”

“You know, it’s not your own home.”

“I’ll pay you~”

Hearing the banter between the brother and sister made Alme feel warm. Do these two always have this kind of conversation at home?

Alme also entered the shop and joined the conversation. She washed her hands and grabbed her ice cream scoop.

“Which ice cream would you like?”

“Which is the most popular?”

“The most popular is…um…Shirotaka-chan ice cream.”

“Huh! What the hell is that ice cream?”

When Alme answered the name of the product, Charikot exaggeratedly collapsed onto the counter. Jayla held her belly and laughed.

He groaned as he fell on his face.

“That bastard, he even encroached on the ice cream shop…”

“Ahahaha! But Shirotaka-chan ice cream is delicious.”

“It’s milk and vanilla ice cream. It is quite sweet, but the coldness gives it a refreshing taste, so it is popular among men as well.”

“Damn, that looks good! But I’m not giving in to my appetite! I’ll have honey lemon ice cream!”

Laughing at Charikot who is suffering in a funny way, she took the ice cream as ordered and served it in a bowl.

When she served it with a spoon, he popped up from the counter and happily took a bite.

“This is so good! I wish I had come here earlier! It’s great on a hot day!”

“Thank you, I’m glad you like it.”

“If I had a freezer at home, I could stockpile and eat every day~. I wish I had an ice mage at home~”

While saying so, he glanced at Alme and gave her a wink.

Alme, who received it, secretly broke into a cold sweat. It seems that he is demanding “that reply”…

Determined, she pulled two small drawstring bags out of the drawer behind the counter.

Inside the drawstring bag was a bracelet she had recently purchased. She checked the one she was going to give to Charikot and offered it to him.

“… Um, Mr. Charikot. Regarding my previous reply… I’m very sorry. May you be blessed by the God of war.”

“Jeez~ you missed the blessing from the God of love~”

Charikot accepted the bracelet and looked reluctant. But his mood remained the same, laid-back.

The awkwardness she was prepared for did not come, and Alme relaxed her shoulders.

Charikot quickly took the bracelet and put it on his left hand.

He already has another orange bracelet wrapped around his wrist. This must have been a gift from Jayla.

The red bracelet given by Alme and the orange bracelet given by Jayla are lined up on the wrist.

Holding it up to eye level and looking at it, he nodded in satisfaction.

“Sorry to hear back like this, but my divine protection has increased. Thanks.”

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, but I couldn’t give you a good answer…”

“It’s okay. Let’s go out to eat together as friends again…. Well, if there’s a next time.”

“Huh?”

Charikot’s slow voice changed to a slightly lower tone at the end of his words.

Jayla also noticed and entered the conversation.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know…my fortune-telling results were bad the other day…”

“Fortune-telling?”

Hearing the fortune-telling, Alme made a mysterious face.

She didn’t really believe in fortune-telling before, but after the fortune-telling about financial difficulties and injuries came true, she believed in it more recently.

The accuracy of the results depends on the fortune teller’s ability, but she is honestly concerned about the bad results.

Charikot muttered and began to speak while eating the honey lemon ice cream.

“After drinking with some of my army buddies the other day, we got drunk and had a fortune-telling match! So, I went to a fortune-telling shop nearby.”

“What do you mean by fortune-telling match?”

“Whoever has the best luck wins.”

Alme wondered if it feels like an omikuji from her previous life. It feels like winning or losing is decided by fortune from good luck to bad luck.

“The shop I randomly entered was a card fortune-telling shop. I drew a card that was turned upside down and foretold the future with the pattern that came out, but it was kind of subtle.”

“Did you draw a card with a bad picture?”

“Yeah. It’s black and has horns and wings. It’s a ‘Dragon’ card.”

“When it comes to card fortune-telling, a dragon card is normal. I just happened to draw it.”

Jayla shrugged it off, but Charikot remained unsettled.

He continued to mumble.

“We all drew the same card. Even though there were five of us, we all drew a ‘dragon’. We had to shuffle the cards after each round. We only had one card in the deck, and we all drew the same card.”

A chill ran down Alme’s back. Is there such a coincidence?

Seeing Alme frozen, Charikot softened his tone of voice. He returned his expression and laughed loosely.

“Well, since we got such a result, everyone sobered up at once, we entered the fortune teller’s shop laughing and joking, but by the time we left, no one was talking. It was like after being scolded by the captain, it turned out to be kinda funny.”

“Is this a laughing matter…?”

Looking at Charikot, who shook his shoulders and started laughing as if he remembered, Alme also loosened the tension in her body.

Jayla went back to calculating the sales and reached for Charikot.

“Soldiers usually say they don’t believe in that stuff! Anyway, come on, give me the money quickly!”

“Okay, fine.”

After paying for the ice cream, Charikot sat up and stretched. He looked at the counter and pointed to the other remaining drawstring bag.

“Another bracelet, huh? Alme-chan, do you have someone else you want to turn down?”

“No, this one…it’s not like that.”

“That bracelet over there is for her favorite! It’s for Mr. Shirotaka.”

“He’s not my favorite or anything like that!”

Jayla’s teasing was quickly retorted, and Charikot collapsed again as if taking an arrow through the heart.

“Sheesh! What is this? I shouldn’t have asked! You chose Shirotaka, didn’t you, Alme-chan~ Damn you, Shirotaka, I won’t forgive you! Next time we meet, I’ll make you cry!”

“Please stop! Please don’t bully him…!”

Alme leaned forward and stopped. She wanted him to stop arguing with others over trivial matters.

“No, no, no, I’m just kidding. I mean, what kind of a sulky-looking falcon cries on the cold bitter battlefield?”

“Uh, well, in case you’re wondering, Mr. Shirotaka is a human being, too.”

Alme has seen that crying face, so she’s stopping it like this.

Shirotaka, who was kneeling on the ground and exposing his crying face, was like a frail chick. When she thought of that figure, she felt like she had to protect him.

Since she doesn’t know how he looks on the battlefield, this impression is stronger for Alme.

While she was talking to Charikot, Jayla finished the work.

“Okay, it’s all done. Then, I’m taking off now.”

“Thanks again for today. Good job.”

Jayla picked up the bag that had been put aside and pulled on Charikot.

“Good job! See you soon!”

“Alme-chan, thank you for the bracelet~!”

“Please come and eat again.”

After saying goodbye, the two left the shop, chatting amiably.

Returning the reply to the confession was a big event for Alme, but it ended up being smoother than she thought.

“Mr. Charikot is mature…this is the difference in experience.”

She muttered in a sullen voice.

Anyway, she really appreciated the fact that he kept it light and didn’t make it awkward. She would like to thank him for his thoughtfulness.

She hoped they could have a nice dinner as friends again. If possible, this time with Ena, Aiden, and Falk.