Chapter 58 - Bounty Head and Awakening [1] (1/2)

The day after the First-Year War.

Today was a holiday, and I was thinking of taking a proper rest after a long time, but…

Suddenly an appointment came up, so I was now hastily heading towards an ice cream shop in the center of Orest.

「Err, I’m sure it should be around this area …」

As I looked around with the brochure of the shop in one hand,

「Allen-kun! Here, here!」

From behind, I heard the president’s loud voice.

Looking behind, there was the figure of the president calling out to me while hopping lightly, in lovely casual clothes.

「-Sorry, did I make you wait long?」

「No, I just arrived as well, so it’s alright.」

The president smiled gently and glanced at me from top to bottom.

「…… Allen-kun’s casual clothes are fresh. Un, I think it looks very good.」

Due to the president’s wish, I went out in casual clothes after a long time

My top is a simple white shirt with black haori, and the bottom is dark blue pants. 1

All of these are things that Paula-san presented to me on my birthday.

「Thank you. President, you look good too.」

Her top is a loose white blouse.

Bottom is a long skirt with a deep slit.

A red pendant hanging from her neck..

Cool and elegant, this outfit suits the president very well.

「Fufu, thanks」

And now that the greetings were over,

「Even so, you invited me so suddenly yesterday…」

I immediately asked the thing that was bothering me.

Yesterday.

Shortly after receiving the First-Year War trophy and on the way towards the infirmary where Ria and Rose were, I received a letter from the president.

The content was very simple.

『I am going to treat you to ice cream to thank you for helping me with the student council’s work the other day. Let’s meet at the clock tower on Oriana Street at noon tomorrow. -Sie Arcstria』

However, three conditions were written under it.

Keep it a secret from Ria and Rose, and come alone.

Come in casual clothes, not uniform.

Don’t bring a sword because it stands out.

And in the lovely envelope that contained the letter, the pamphlet of the ice cream shop which was the destination was enclosed.

「Fufu, 『women are as fickle as autumn weather』, right?」2

「…Is that so?」

I think the meaning is completely different though…

Well, the president being so sudden is a usual occurrence.

If I was surprised by this degree of antics, I wouldn’t be able to stand her.

And then,

「Nee Nee. Ria-san and Rose-san, haven’t found out, right?」

The president looked around the surroundings and whispered.

「Yeah, you don’t have to worry about that.」

I just said to Ria「I’m going out for a moment」and I don’t have plans to train with Rose today.

「But why keep it a secret? I don’t think there’s any need to hide it.」

When I asked frankly,

「Mou, you’re so thick-skinned…」

The president heaved a loud sigh as she shook her head.

「Well, that’s fine. More importantly, today is a holiday after all! Let’s play around all day long!」

「All day…? We simply talked about eating ice cream.」

「Now, Let’s Go!」

Having said that, the president walked in high spirits.

「Ah, wait a moment, president!」

Then I followed her and arrived at the destination ice cream shop.

It looked like a small castle, and many women were already queued in long lines.

「Wow, there’s a great number of people here…」

「Fufu, it just opened recently, so it’s quite popular.」

We lined up at the end of the line and waited for our turn while looking through the menu handed to us by the employee.

「Umm… I’ll go with the summer exclusive… the Mandarin Orange Ice-cream. Have you decided yet, Allen-kun?」

「Let’s see… I’m going with vanilla ice cream.」

After the order was decided, the two of us had some small talk.

The president was a good story-teller and a good listener, so the wait was over in no time, and by the time I realised, we were at the head of the line.

「Excuse me. I’d like a regular-sized vanilla and a summer mandarin orange.」

「Thank you very much! Please wait a little!」

The cheerful employee moved quickly and immediately handed us spherical ice-creams in a cutely designed cup.

After that, we moved to a two-person table set up in the store and sat down.

And then,

「Nee Nee, Allen-kun. It’s hard to eat with that hand, isn’t it? Why don’t you let onee-chan feed you? Say『aaa-n』?」

The president had an impish smile seeing my right hand wrapped with a thick bandage.

「No, I can’t use my right hand, but I can still eat it with my left hand.」

I held a small spoon with my left hand and ate the ice cream in the cup smoothly.

「Mu, you’re so not adorable…」

「A-Ahaha… President, if you don’t eat yours soon, your ice cream will melt…」

After the two of us enjoyed the delicious ice cream, we decided to go around a fashion clothing store.

「-Welcome!」

A young store clerk wearing fashionable clothes welcomed us with a sweet smile.

「H-Hello…」