If her earlier actions had perhaps been a deliberate act for some purpose, then the sorrow now revealed through them was brought on by genuine emotion—her eyes reddened slightly, and her raised face lowered.
"Is that so..." Her voice was somewhat low. "Surtr... You must have put in a lot of effort to deliver that news. How should I... repay you?"
"I didn't actually do much. The others forgave you mainly because your mistake hadn't been serious enough for them to find you unforgivable. But if you really want to repay me..."
The Flame-haired Sarkaz tilted her head and handed one of the ice creams in her shopping bag to Talulah.
"I bought two extra ice creams. Leave one for Alina, and help me eat this one. I'm already full, and I can't be bothered to reach for it myself."
"Surtr..." Dragon Girl held the ice cream, her gaze complicated—the ice cream itself was simple, but its flavor happened to be the one Talulah liked.
On the northern frontier's wastelands, ice cream was not something that appeared on any menu. Dragon Girl remembered that she had only once casually mentioned her favorite flavor in front of Surtr.
That had been three years ago, a matter so trivial it could not have been any smaller. Yet even this detail had not been forgotten by Miss Surtr.
"You once said that ice cream was very important to you. You would even go to war for ice cream with the right flavor."
"Yes, I did say that." Miss Surtr tapped her forehead, her memories flashing with the handmade Häagen-Dazs made by Theresia. "Ice cream can calm my emotions, so I need it very much... So? Talulah, don't you like ice cream?"
"No, I love it." Talulah held the ice cream, climbed back into