"Could you tell me your names?"
When those words came from the mouth of the princess-like girl before them, it was not only Yukina—even Luo Zhen felt an instinctive urge to answer her directly.
There was such a natural, matter-of-fact force in her tone that it made her impossible to refuse. Rather, it made it impossible even to come up with the thought of refusing.
That was probably why the owner of the ice cream stand had been unable to refuse the Princess's request and had obediently done as she asked.
"I..."
Yukina looked somewhat confused and was about to give her name.
However, before she could...
"You're from Aldeia, aren't you?"
Luo Zhen suddenly spoke up, interrupting Yukina.
"Aldeia?"
Yukina was slightly startled and looked at the silver-haired woman before her.
——"Aldeia."
It was a small country in Northern Europe, facing the Baltic Sea and renowned for its natural beauty and highly developed industry. Because of its distant geographical location, it did not have particularly close ties with Japan, but it was a Magical Kingdom famous throughout the world.
In this country, the Magical Industry far surpassed that of some major powers. Even the three great Night Imperial states could only look on from behind, while Aldeia's Magical Technology was especially outstanding and ranked among the finest in the world. Several of its technologies had even caused a sensation worldwide. Thus, although Aldeia was only a small country, even the great powers could not afford to ignore it, and its international standing was far higher than anyone might imagine.
Therefore, if one looked down on Aldeia simply because it was a small country, even a great power ranked among the world's foremost would suffer for it.
The proof was Aldeia's proximity to the War King's Domain. Part of its