Ice Cream At The End Of Winter (1)

Snow is falling. It’s falling too much.

The piled-up snow covered the restaurant. And for some reason, Rurin was eating that snow.

“Does the snow taste good?”

Talking nonsense, I too ate the snow. But it wasn’t snow. It was ice cream, and very delicious, top-quality ice cream.

The ice cream was piled up in front of the restaurant like snow.

So I opened my mouth wide and lunged at the ice cream. And at that moment, I woke up.

What kind of dream was that?

I held my head and brought myself back to reality.

Of course, the snow piled up outside is real. But it’s slowly melting.

The end of winter seems to be easing up a bit.

Such a morning.

Naturally, Rurin is sleeping soundly beside me.

“Snore! Puhahaa!”

Scratching her belly frequently. There’s no modesty to be found. Of course, that’s part of this dragon’s charm. There’s no point in trying to wake her in the morning. As usual, I left Rurin and went outside.

The place I live now is not the second floor of the restaurant. The second floor of the restaurant has turned into a storage room.

The place I’m in is my bedroom in the lair. The bedroom has a top-quality luxury bed brought from the modern world.

The bed is that thing called science.

It’s true that it’s comfortable. It’s far superior to the beds of this era in many ways.

Rurin’s bedroom is next door, but the situation hasn’t changed from when we stayed on the second floor of the restaurant. She crawls into bed with me at dawn.

Actually, Rurin’s original bedroom is at the very bottom of the lair, in the main chamber. But I wonder if Rurin will ever use that room.

Rather, Sereina was the first to use that room. And she made me raise my arms up all day.

I pass through the bedroom, the time-stopping warehouse, the dressing room, and enter the bathroom beyond the main chamber to take a shower.

When I come out, I take a towel from Lurun, the lair management monster, and dry myself.

Then I go up to the restaurant and prepare for business. This is my usual routine.

Until the day before yesterday, this routine was not followed.

Because I was in the Elf Forest.

I suddenly think of Ilimantium.

That poor dragon was thoroughly beaten by Rurin and Sereina. And he knelt down in amazement at the Dragon Heart that I had.

In the end, he just chose to go back to sleep pitifully.

After that, I couldn’t return immediately. The elves held a festival in the Elf Forest. Although an elf festival is quite bland, I had to teach them how to make dressing while being admired by the elves.

So after spending a few days in the Elf Forest, I returned to the restaurant. On a normal morning, I would prepare for business, but today my thoughts changed. If ice cream is embedded in my subconscious, I need to make and eat some to clear my head.

So I won’t have such strange dreams.

Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since I had ice cream. Maybe that’s why I dreamed about it.

Shall I make some ice cream for myself, who worked hard in the Elf Forest?

Dragged around here and there, the elves asked me to teach them this, teach them that.

Of course, I didn’t just give without receiving anything. I got everything I could, like expensive fatigue recovery potions and items related to healing magic.

Since neither I nor Rurin can use healing magic, these are quite important items.

Standing in the kitchen, I pondered for a while what kind of ice cream to make. In winter, I crave spoonable milk ice cream.

In summer, I crave bar-type ice creams like Screw Bar or Melona Bar.

The one I saw in my dream was also a simple, spoonable milk ice cream.

So I went up to the restaurant and prepared the milk. It’s very fresh milk from the uka ranch that I got yesterday.

And Palenque eggs.

Fresh cream is essential here.

Sugar is also essential.

“Let’s see.”

First, I pour the milk into the bowl. When the fresh milk fills the bowl, I quickly cool it with magic. By blowing cold air under the bowl, bubbles form in the milk.

After mixing sugar and eggs, I pour it into the milk.

Again, pour. Well, pouring sugar and eggs isn’t exactly pouring.

The expression is wrong.

Anyway, after adding the fresh cream, I mix it vigorously with high-speed rotation magic. This magic mixes better than a whisk.

Then, I just have to put it in the freezer and freeze it.

Putting it in an airtight container with a lid to use as an ice cream tub.

If I mix in chocolate in a similar way to make chocolate ice cream, my morning tasks are done.

Then I just need to go to Mr. Knoll’s shop and buy some meat. Not meat to put in the ice cream, but meat for business.

In the afternoon, I take the ice cream out.

The theory is perfect, but it’s my first time making it myself.

I scooped the seemingly perfect ice cream with a spoon and brought it to my mouth.

“Mmm.”

The rich taste of milk and sweetness. And this coldness that melts away in my mouth.

This is why you eat ice cream.

I think especially the women, Sereina and Elena, will love this. I should share it.

Fortunately, Elena, a vegetarian, has no aversion to dairy products. So I took the finished ice cream and went down to Elena’s clinic. The cold wind boasting sub-zero temperatures means the ice cream won’t melt easily, which is better than in summer.

“Hello.”

“Mr. El, what brings you here at a time when you should be working?”

Elena, who was sitting idly in the clinic, got up in surprise and ran to me.

“Where’s Sereina?”

“She’s sleeping.”

Dragons sure sleep a lot. It’s noon and neither Rurin nor Sereina are thinking of waking up.

I guess other dragons are the same.

Elena had already opened the clinic and was seeing patients. She is a perfect morning person who wakes up earlier than me. Or rather, she’s an elf.

Perhaps ‘dawn person’ suits her better.

Elena stared at me blankly. When I shifted my gaze to her face, she quickly lowered her head. This is something she has been doing very often lately.

I placed the ice cream in front of Elena.

“Wh-what is this?”

Elena’s blonde hair tilted to the side. She looked at the ice cream in front of her with a puzzled expression. That puppy-like face is something you would never see on Rurin or Sereina.

Of course, it’s certain that Elena, being an elf, is older than me, but she looks so cute that I suddenly felt playful.

“Well, would you like to touch it?”

“Yes…?”

With an innocent expression, Elena brought her finger to the ice cream without any doubt. Soon, her hand touched the ice cream.

It must be cold.

Elena quickly pulled her finger back and recoiled in surprise because of the cold.

“Is this snow?”

Elena made a puzzled face. But even though the color is like snow, she would know from touching it that it’s completely different. That’s why her elven eyes were filled with more curiosity.

She had a culture-shocked expression about something that’s not snow or ice but is cold.

“It’s not snow, it’s something you eat.”

“What?”

“Haha, do I look like I’m lying?”

Looking into the eyes of the elf who can see through lies, I spoke, and Elena shook her head in surprise.

A cold and strange thing. But something you eat. In front of Elena, who was full of caution with that expression, I started scooping chocolate and milk ice cream from the tub.

Since it’s the first time, I made it a bit fancier. The chocolate ice cream was served parfait-style with a cookie stick. The milk ice cream was best enjoyed in its simple, natural taste.

“This is a type of dessert called ice cream.”

Yes, it’s a dessert. Come to think of it, Berna, who loves desserts, would really like this. I should send some to the castle and see their reaction.

“Ice cream?”

“Yes, try it.”

Elena carefully took the spoon I handed her. The unknown coldness was scary, but she couldn’t refuse it. And since it was something I made, she trusted it and brought it to her mouth.

Elena carefully brought the spoon to her mouth, closing her eyes as if she were taking poison. What she brought to her mouth was the milk ice cream that looked like snow.

And Elena’s expression changed in an instant after she ate it.

“It’s cold! But it’s delicious. Cold and sweet. It’s a bit chilly, but it’s still delicious!”

Elena looked at me with eyes that seemed ready to pop out, then her expression changed to one of delight as she brought her hand to her cheek.

Then she began shoveling the ice cream into her mouth. Then, curious, she reached for the chocolate ice cream. She was still calm, moving with elegant motions without rushing.

She looked more like a high-ranking being than the greater race of dragons. Thanks to that, she didn’t fall into the ice cream trap and ate it all carefully. Then she looked at me with a worried face.

“I-I ate it all. It was too delicious. What about Sereina’s…”

“Don’t worry, there’s some separately.”

“Oh, really?”

When I showed her the tub I was holding, she finally looked relieved.

Then, the next in line was Sereina, as she said. When I went in, Sereina was sleeping soundly, occupying a bed in the corner of the clinic.

Her sprawled out appearance was very familiar. I didn’t feel like just passing by. I quietly opened the ice cream tub and placed a spoonful of ice cream on the forehead of the sleeping dragon.

It must be cold. But she doesn’t wake up. Then, on both cheeks as well.

“Mnyah…?”

Then Sereina, with her red hair, tossed and turned, raising her upper body.

“It’s cold, cold, cold! My face is cold! What is this!”

She looked at me with a surprised face, then looked at Elena. And she shouted.

“You, what is that? And you’re eating something alone? Traitor!”

“What? That’s not it. You weren’t waking up.”

“Shut up!”

“You’re the one who’s loud.”

I karate-chopped the Red Dragon’s head.

“I tried to feed you too. But you refused, so it got on your forehead and cheeks.”

“Come to think of it, something cold was on me.”

The Red Dragon rubbed her face.

“Why are you messing with someone’s face? Just because you’re strong? Unbelievable.”

“No, I made something delicious to share. If you say that, I won’t give it to you?”

I put the ice cream in front of the dragon, who looked as if she couldn’t believe what I was saying. Then the Red Dragon blinked and took the plate with the ice cream.

“Oh? It’s cold. But it’s sweet. What is this?”

“I told you, it’s ice cream.”

“Hey! Elena. How dare you eat this alone and not wake me?”

“What? No. You weren’t waking up, so I couldn’t.”

“Don’t make me laugh! Why don’t you wipe off the ice cream on your lips before talking.”

“Eek!”

Elena, who was enchanted by the ice cream, hurriedly covered her lips, while the Red Dragon started devouring the ice cream like crazy. A stark contrast to the calm savoring of Elena’s.

Sure enough, that frantic devouring soon brought pain, and her face contorted.