As soon as the two old women left the shop, they were immediately replaced by another pair of acquaintances. A loud, cheerful voice rang out in the shop. “Hey, Alme! Congrats on opening your ice-cream shop!” “Alme! We came as soon as we heard about it! You’ve got quite a few customers, too!” The new visitors were Ena and her fiancé, Aiden. Aiden Maltoni, like Ena, was Alme's childhood friend. He was a soldier, a swordsman who fought monsters on the front lines. His voice matched his muscular build, and he had bright, short-cropped red hair with orange eyes, like rays of sunlight. Striding up to Alme with exaggerated steps, with an exaggerated grimace on his face he said, “Ena told me everything. Um, well, about this whole situation... what should I even say...” “If you sugarcoat things with me, Aiden, I won’t be able to keep my spirits up. Please just say what’s on your mind.” “...All right, I will. To be perfectly frank, I think it was the right decision to break up with that piece-of-shit cheater!” Aiden spoke in a loud, soldier’s voice. He was trying to cheer Alme up... but he was being a little too loud. Immediately, Ena scolded him and smacked him on the back. “Whoa, sorry, I didn’t mean to shout. I mean, I’m just glad you seem to be doing better than I expected. If you’d been down in the dumps, I was just about to say I’d punch that cheater one time for you.” “Hey, you can’t go around punching civilians! Forget about Julio. I’m just going to do my best with the shop from now on.” Alme smiled cheerfully, and Aiden finally stopped grimacing, breaking into a hearty laugh that showed his teeth. “All right then, in that case, I'll eat my heart out to celebrate your fresh start!” “Yes, please. I’d love to hear your thoughts.” “Is this the milk ice cream you mentioned before?” Ena asked, pointing to the white ice cream in the display case. Alme chuckled jokingly and gave an explanation of the menu. “Yes, it’s ice cream made from milk. If I present it under the name ‘White Falcon-chan ice cream’ every female customer buys it.” “In that case, I’ll have one White Falcon-chan ice cream too.” “Hey, what’s this? You’re picking White Falcon when I’m right in front of you...” Aiden puffed out his cheeks and pouted. As Alme prepared bowls for the two of them, she asked Aiden for his order. “What will it be for you, Aiden? I can mix different flavors if you like.” “In that case, I’ll have berry, orange, and coffee.” “Got it. Just give me a moment.” Alme couldn't help but smile as she scooped out the ice cream. Aiden had ordered different flavors so that he and Ena could try them all together. They really were a sweet couple. She quickly scooped out the ice cream into round balls and decorated Ena’s milk ice cream to look like White Falcon-chan. Then she placed the ice cream in front of the two of them and pulled a nearby chair for herself and joined them. Service at the cafe was fairly lax, since most of the customers were commoners. When things weren’t busy, it wasn’t a problem to take it easy for a little while. Ena cackled with laughter when she saw the White Falcon-chan ice cream, while Aiden wore a complicated expression. “Oh my gosh, it’s so cute! The name White Falcon-chan is perfect.” “Doesn’t it look more like a baby chick than a falcon?” “Don’t be so harsh. It’s hard to make a falcon out of ice cream, so a baby chick is the best I can do. Now, please enjoy it before it melts.” The two of them said “Thank you” in unison, picked up their spoons, and began shoveling the ice cream into their mouths. “Mm, it’s sweet and delicious! Not only does it look the part, but it tastes good, too!” Ena exclaimed. “It’s great! This would hit the spot on a hot day for sure.” “The fruit is really good, too. You should add more flavors, like peaches and apples.” “I think the orange is the best out of these. It’s refreshing and delicious! Maybe lemon would be good, too. It would be really refreshing.” The two of them compared all four flavors of ice cream, giving their impressions on each one. Alme was relieved to hear that they all seemed to be to their liking. “Thank you, both of you. I’ll take your opinions into consideration for the future,” she said. “Yeah! I’m glad I got to eat something delicious before heading off to war.” “Oh, that’s right. Alme,” Ena started, as if something had just occurred to her. “The Lorio Army is scheduled to march out tomorrow morning. Since you just opened your shop, I wasn’t sure if I should invite you to see them off, but what do you think?” “Oh! Are you going with them this time, Aiden?” “Yeah! I’m part of the elite, you know! Anyway, this is a pretty big operation this time, so most of the younger soldiers are going.” “That sounds... tough... Please be careful. I promised Ena, so I'll close the shop and see you off, too. I’ll wave at you like crazy!” When Alme answered, Aiden looked at her with a puzzled expression. “It’s been a while since you came to see us off, Alme. Are you one of those girls who gets all worked up over the sight of a bunch of guys marching?”

“Wh-What...? I’m not going there to squeal like a fangirl, you know.” Apparently, the soldiers themselves saw marching off to war as a kind of event. They assumed that anyone going to see them off was doing so to get a good look at the men... Ena joined in on the fun, too. “Alme, you’re really going to see White Falcon-sama, aren’t you?” “Hey, Ena...! I'm going to cheer everyone on with pure intentions!” “But you’ve never seen him before, so you must be curious, right?” “W-Well... it wouldn't hurt to take a look, I suppose.” Of course, she was curious to see him. But she wasn’t going just to squeal over anyone. Absolutely not. Aiden let out an exasperated sigh as he looked at Alme and Ena. “Ugh, so it’s White Falcon you’re after after all... I wonder why he’s so popular.” “He’s not popular within the army?” “What do you expect us to do, scream 'Oh, he's so manly!' at each other?” “No, that’s not what I meant... White Falcon-sama is the one who heals your wounds, right? Isn’t he relied on by everyone?” Alme was curious, so she asked the question. Aiden looked troubled. “I'm grateful for the healing magic, but... most people don't have a good impression of the military priests.” “Why is that?” Alme asked, puzzled. “It’s a complicated matter for a warriors heart...” Aiden said grimly, while Ena smiled awkwardly. Alme looked at the two of them, confused. Aiden took a large mouthful of his orange ice cream and spoke while chewing. “You see, the military priests send healing magic from behind us while we're fighting. They're surrounded by several shield bearers, you know? While we're getting scratched and bitten by monsters, they just send their magic from a safe distance.” “Well, that’s their job, isn’t it? Isn’t that why they’re there?” “Yeah, I guess so. But it’s still irritating. Especially when you’re in the middle of a tough battle, and you feel like saying, ‘Why don’t you come out here and fight with us?’” Alme didn’t know much about what it was like to be a soldier, but Ena smacked Aiden’s hand and scolded him for being rude. “If I may say something a little more serious, the priests get exhausted just from traveling to the front lines, and when they’re exhausted, their healing takes longer. In the end, it means more damage for us. There are many cases where soldiers end up with lasting injuries because the priests weren’t at their best.” Healing magic wasn’t omnipotent. Healing magic reduced inflammation, removed pain, and sped up the rate at which the body healed itself. If the wound wasn’t properly treated first, the healing magic wouldn’t do much of anything. For example, if you used healing magic on someone without first removing a foreign object stuck in their body, the flesh would grow back, but the object would still be inside. Similarly, if you didn’t remove a malignant growth, the cancer would just come back. Even when it came to something as simple as setting a broken bone, if the healer used the magic carelessly, it could leave the patient with nerve damage or make it difficult to move the limb. For that reason, priests were required to have medical skills on par with a surgeon from Alme’s previous life. Clerics serving in the army were expected to be particularly skilled. Aiden continued, his voice sullen. “On top of that, no matter how bad a healer is, they’re always treated better than us because of their rank. They get better pay than us, and they’re treated better on the battlefield, too... It’s hard not to resent them a little.” “I see what you’re saying.” Alme nodded solemnly. Now it was Ena’s turn to ask Aiden a question. “What’s White Falcon like on the battlefield?” “Hmm, I still don’t know much about White Falcon. He seemed to be mostly focused on guiding the other clerics we brought along. We’ve only had easy battles lately, so I don’t think we’ve seen his true nature yet.” “His true nature…? You really shouldn’t talk like that,” Ena scolded. “No, I’m serious. You see people’s true colors in a war of attrition like this one. There are priests who act all high and mighty, but when the going gets tough, they’ll cry and beg for help, clinging to low-ranking swordsmen. Others who were always so serious end up running away.” “Wow… So cleanups are really tough, huh…?” Alme murmured thoughtfully, listening to a conversation she didn't usually hear. What kind of fierce battle would reveal someone's true nature...? She couldn't imagine, but it sounded terribly frightening. She was definitely going to send the soldiers off on their next campaign with all the enthusiasm she could muster, waving and cheering them on. Aiden raised his voice cheerfully, as if to change the mood. “Well, let’s put a stop to this depressing talk. I’ll see if I can get any information about White Falcon that might help Alme’s shop. Maybe if we find out what he likes to eat, we could add it to the menu, and it would sell really well!” Aiden spoke up in his usual loud voice, and all the female customers in the shop turned to look at him, their eyes glaring. Ena pounded on Aiden, saying his voice was too loud, while Alme broke out in a cold sweat and thought to herself. (This... might actually be good for sales.) Before long, they might have to add a menu item like "White Falcon's favorite XYZ!"