It took us quite a long time, but both Aoi-chan and Hina-chan seemed to have decided on a satisfactory outfit, and we collectively paid the bill.
As one would expect from an establishment oriented toward nobles, their items were very expensive…… but still, just like that time when I was shopping for the Six Kings Festival, the clothes I bought from Alice, including those for Anima, were much more expensive, so I wasn’t that surprised to see the bill.
Since they had to do size adjustments and other stuff, they apparently needed 3 days before we could collect them, and each customer would receive an exchange ticket and come back later to pick up the items.
After leaving the store, I checked my watch and saw that it was 3 pm…… Good time for a snack.
[What are you two going to do? We could go home right away, but since we’re at it, why don’t we go to a cafe or something and have a snack?][Ahh, Kaito-senpai! Parfait! I want a parfait!!!]
Hina-chan cheerfully declared with her hands raised in the air…… Speaking of which, she mentioned at the White God Festival that she likes parfaits.
[Parfaits huh…… I see, is there a good place we could go nearby?]
For the time being, I took out Kuro’s Eating Tour in its Entirety Guide and flipped through it. We were in the Central Area that had a lot of high-class stores, so I’m sure cafes themselves existed here…… but I didn’t know if they had parfaits or not.
As I flipped through the pages, one store caught my attention.
[Oh, how about we go here? It’s a bit of a walking distance from here, but it seems that they’re famous for their fruit parfaits.]
[Let’s go there!][Ahaha, Aoi-chan, are you fine with this place too?]
[Yes.]
I showed them the page of the book and confirmed that they both seemed to be okay, so we started walking toward the restaurant.
[Speaking of cafes, there’s often a division in preference between coffee and tea, but what do you prefer, Kaito-senpai? ]
[Hmmm, I wonder? I haven’t really thought about it that much…… I drink a lot of coffee and tea, and I like both.]
[Arehh? Kaito-san, you drink coffee? I think I see you drinking tea more often……]
[Most of the time, tea is served to me…… but Kuro often brings me coffee.]
When Kuro comes to visit at night, she brings baby castellas and coffee, so you could say I drink coffee almost everyday.
However, I feel that tea is the mainstream drink for people in this world, and in fact, I have had many opportunities to drink tea here and there, so in terms of amount, since I came to this world, I suppose I’ve drank tea more?
[Does Kuromu-sama like coffee?]
[Kuro drinks both coffee and tea, but when she eats baby castellas, she almost always has coffee as accompaniment. Errr, if I’m not mistaken……]
While answering Aoi-chan’s question, I took out a small bag from my magic box.
[This is an original blend of coffee made by a trading company Kuro owns.]
[It has a baby castella symbol on it.]
[It’s a blend that was created in pursuit of a coffee that goes well with baby castellas, and even the name of the product ended up being Baby Castella Blend.]
Seeing the coffee I showed them, the both of them somehow looked like they understood. They both knew about Kuro’s obsession with baby castellas, so I guess it would make sense that it was just like Kuro to make a coffee blend for baby castellas.
[As for my other acquaintances, there’s Ozma-san and Amel-san, who I recently got acquainted with, who are also coffee lovers. I heard that Archlesia Empire is famous for their coffee, and she gave me some beans that she recommended.]
[I see, there are kinds like the Blue Mountain Blend back in our world, so the high-altitude mountains of Archlesia Empire may be a good environment for growing coffee beans.]
The coffee beans given to me by Amel-san were made by the Wingeds, and although they’re normally distributed in the market, they’re still a rare commodity in their own right.
[How about you, Aoi-chan, Hina-chan? Which do you prefer, coffee or tea?]
[I definitely prefer black tea. Coffee is so bitter for me that I can only drink café au lait.]
[Just like Kaito-san, I like both of them and don’t have a preference for one or the other.]
The answers of the two of them were somewhat as I had imagined, but for some reason, Hina-chan, upon hearing Aoi-chan’s reply, had a complicated expression on her face.
[Aoi-senpai…… You have a sweet tooth, don’t you?]
[Eh? W- Why?]
[……When we go to coffee shops together, aren’t you just ordering caramel lattes?]
[Hnnn…… That’s not it, it’s not that I have a sweet tooth or anything like that. I just like caramel lattes, and I can drink other coffee blends just fine…… If I just put three teaspoons of sugar and three portions of milk in it……]
[Isn’t that almost the same as a café au lait already?]
This may have been a little surprising. I had the impression that Aoi-chan would drink coffee or tea straight, but surprisingly, that didn’t seem to be the case.
I think it’s cute and nice that she likes sweet things…… but it seems that Aoi-chan herself wants to look a little better and even though she doesn’t deny that she likes sweet things…… She continued to insist to Hina-chan that she could drink coffee. Watching such a scene made me smile, and feel warm and fuzzy inside.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [Kaito feels like an older brother when he’s around the two kouhais. Rather, even if it’s heartwarming, it’s a little refreshing.]
? ? ? : [I mean, it sure is rare for him to be around someone younger than him after all.]
