?
Time flew by, and more than half a month passed in the blink of an eye...
Annie's ranch was doing well. All sorts of summer crops—tomatoes, corn, onions, pumpkins, pineapples, and the like—had started coming in by the batch. Even eggs, wool, and milk were being produced in small quantities. The ranch Annie had taken over had finally earned the unanimous praise of most of the residents of Mineral Town!
Of course, it was all thanks to those hardworking House-elves and Dwarves. Annie had generously handed all the work over to them, even plowing and sowing the fields, and trusted them to handle everything. As for her, she was definitely just going to eat, drink, have fun, and wander around. She hardly bothered with any of the ranch chores.
Like right now. Because of the hot weather, she'd let herself wander all the way to the beach again without even noticing...
"!!"
!(;?o?)o
"I ended up here again. Looks like it really is so hot that my body instinctively wants ice cream..."
?°(°ˉ??ˉ?°)°?
"Whatever! Since I'm already here, I might as well have a little, right?"
o(′▽｀)o =3 =3 =3
That was right. Just a little—maybe a few big bowls? And Annie swore she hadn't deliberately come to the beach to get something cold to drink. She'd just been wandering around, got a little distracted, and naturally wound up here.
"Is anyone here?"
|?˙?˙) Hello?
The ice cream shop's door was only half shut. Thinking it might not be open yet, Annie peeked her head inside and looked around. Before long, she noticed two older boys inside, whispering about something.
"Kai, is it ready?"
"It is!"
"Then hurry up and let me try it."
"Of course! Try this one first, and this one too..."
"!!"
"That's delicious..."
"Really?"
"I'm