It took us quite an amount of time, but both Aoi-chan and Hina-chan seemed to have decided on satisfactory coordination, and we collectively paid the bill.
As one would expect from an establishment oriented toward nobles, their items are very expensive... but still, just like that time when I was shopping for the Six Kings Festival, the clothes I bought from Alice, including those for Anima, were much more expensive, so I wasn't that surprised to see that bill.
Since they had to do size adjustments and other stuff, they apparently needed 3 days before we could take them, and each customer would receive an exchange ticket and come back later to pick up the items.
After leaving the store, I checked my watch and saw that it was 3 pm... Good time for a snack.
[What are you two going to do? We could go home right away, but since we're at it, why don't we go to a cafe or something and have a snack?]
[Ahh, Kaito-senpai! Parfait! I want a parfait!!!]
Hina-chan cheerfully declared with her hands raised in the air... Speaking of which, she mentioned at the White God Festival that she likes parfaits.
[Parfait huh... I see, is there a good place we could go nearby?]
For the time being, I took out Kuro's Eating Tour in its Entirety Guide and flipped through it. We're in the Central Area with a lot of high-class stores, so I'm sure cafes in itself exist here... but I don't know if they have parfaits or not.
As I flipped through the pages, one store caught my attention.
[Oh, how about we go here? It's a few walking distances from here, but it seems that they're famous for their fruit parfaits.]
[Let's go there!]
[Ahaha, Aoi-chan, are you fine with this place too?]
[Yes.]
I showed them the page of the book and confirmed that they both seemed to be okay, so we started walking toward the restaurant.
[Speaking of cafes, there's often a division in preference between coffee and tea, but what do you prefer, Kaito-senpai? ]
[Hmmm, I wonder? I haven't really thought about it that much... I drink a lot of coffee and tea, and I like both.]
[Arehh? Kaito-san, you drink coffee? I think I see you drinking tea more often...]
[There were often times tea was served to me... but Kuro often brings me coffee.]
When Kuro comes to visit at night, she brings baby castellas and coffee, so you could say I drink coffee almost everyday.
However, I feel that tea is the mainstream drink for people in this world, and in fact, I have had many opportunities to drink tea here and there, so in terms of amount, since I came to this world, I suppose I've drunk tea more?
[Does Kuromu-sama like coffee?]
[Kuro drinks both coffee and tea, but when she eats baby castellas, she would almost always has coffee as accompaniment. Errr, if I'm not mistaken...]
While answering Aoi-chan's question, I took out a small bag from my magic box.
[This is an original blend of coffee made by a trading company Kuro owns.]
[It has a baby castella symbol on it.]
[It's a blend that was created in pursuit of a coffee that goes well with baby castellas, and even the name of the product ended up being Baby Castella Blend.]
Seeing the coffee I showed them, the both of them somehow looked like they understood. They both know about Kuro's obsession with baby castellas, so I guess it would make sense that it's just like Kuro to make a coffee blend for baby castellas.
[As for my other acquaintances, there's Ozma-san and Amel-san, who I recently got acquainted with, who are also coffee lovers. I heard that Archlesia Empire is famous for their coffee, and she gave me some beans that she recommended.]
[I see, there are kinds like the Blue Mountain Blend back in our world, so the high-altitude mountains of Archlesia Empire may be a good environment for it.]
The coffee beans given by Amel-san are made by the Wingeds, and although they're normally distributed in the market, they're still a rare commodity in their own right.
[How about you, Aoi-chan, Hina-chan? Which do you prefer, coffee or tea?]
[I definitely prefer black tea. Coffee is so bitter for me that I can only drink café au lait.]
[Just like Kaito-san, I like both of them and don't have a preference for one or the other.]
The answer of the two of them was somewhat as I had imagined, but for some reason, Hina-chan, upon hearing Aoi-chan's reply, had a complicated expression on her face.
[Aoi-senpai... You have a sweet tooth, don't you?]
[Eh? W- Why?]
[...When we go to coffee shops together, aren't you just ordering caramel lattes?]
[Hnnn... That's not it, it's not that I have a sweet tooth or anything like that. I just like caramel lattes, and I can drink other coffee blends just fine... If I just put three teaspoons of sugar and three portions of milk in it...]
[Isn't that almost the same as a café au lait already?]
This may have been a little surprising. I had the impression that Aoi-chan would drink coffee or tea straight, but surprisingly, that doesn't seem to be the case.
I think it's cute and nice that she likes sweet things... but it seems that Aoi-chan herself wants to look a little better and even though she doesn't deny that she likes sweet things... She continued to insist to Hina-chan that she could drink coffee. Watching such a scene makes me smile, and feel warm and fuzzy inside.