As expected, when I played around with Umi like this, time passed quickly. By the time I realized it, we had arrived at a service area we planned to rest at. According to our plans, we would be having a light meal here before continuing.
"Mom, we're going to look around for a bit."
"Take care~ We're going to have our lunch at grandma's house, so don't eat too much, okay?"
"Jeez, I know! Let's go, Maki."
"Mm… Sora-san, Riku-san, I'm off."
"Yes, please take care of my daughter."
"Keep a close eye on that idiot."
And so, we left the car and went to the toilet first before taking a look around the area.
It was currently Saturday right before noon, the parking lot was filled with trucks and cars, many of which were likely people going on a weekend trip like we were. Because of that, the souvenir and snack stores were packed with people.
"Umi. Hand."
"Mm."
After we got out of the restroom, we walked into the crowd while holding each other's hands tightly so we wouldn't get separated.
Normally, Umi was the one dragging me along, but I wanted to lead her around at times like this. This would also make it easier for me to protect her.
"Ah, Maki, that's…"
"Hm?"
I looked in the direction Umi, who had somehow clung to my arm at some point, pointed and found a large soft-serve ice cream stand.
Ice cream shops were common at places like this, but the large letters on the blackboard next to the stand drew our attention.
[Special! 1m tall swirl of soft serve! 500 yen only! (Tax included)]
"O-One…"
One meter.
A hundred centimeters. Was it even safe to serve it that tall? Wait, was it even possible?
Next to the blackboard was a picture of what appeared to be a 1m soft serve.
…It was gigantic.
"Let's try it out, Maki!"
"Can we even finish it?"
The portions were an absolute bargain at 500 yen, but it was still too much for us to eat. The whole thing should be as much as the large ice cream tubs you could find in convenience stores.
Besides, Sora-san told us to not eat too much.
"Don't worry about that, we can always ask mom and brother to help us finish it! Anyway, finishing it is not important, having fun is!"
"Well… Fine, you win… Let's do it…"
Because it was the shop's specialty, there were many customers that ordered it. Everyone was curious about it too, huh?
Well, this would make a nice memory at least.
"Hehe, thank you, Maki! Hello, two of the 1m soft serves please!"
"Just one."
"Ehh…"
"Don't give me that response!"
I took out a 500 yen coin and waited for a few minutes.
The waiter then brought the ice cream to us. It looked exactly the same as the picture and it didn't fall over like I expected it to. The one who made it should be considerably skilled.
I could feel the weight of the thing when I received it.
"It feels like I'm holding a sword."
"Hahaha. It's a shame that we gotta eat it quickly, it's going to melt if we don't."
I took a picture of it before sitting down in an empty seat and proceeded to eat the soft serve carefully.
"Here's the spoon, Umi."
"Thank you, but I want to taste the first bite directly with my mouth~ Nom."
She stood up, opened her mouth wide and took a bite from the tip of it.
It wasn't the most polite way to eat it, but it was definitely the best way to enjoy it.
"How was it, Umi?"
"Mm! It tastes better than your usual soft serve! Come here, Maki! Take a bite!"
I obeyed her and took a bite from the tip of the soft serve.
"Hm… Yeah, it tastes better than your regular vanilla ice cream. The milk tastes richer."
"Right?"
"Yeah, it's good."
I thought that it would taste like any other vanilla ice cream because of the price, but the moment I tried it, the sweetness of the soft serve filled my mouth while my nose was indulged by the rich scent of milk.
According to the description on the menu, surely enough, the ice cream was made with a well-known brand of milk that was available in this region. Beside the 500 yen price, there was a small 'we're actually in the red' written in the corner.
I guess they kept the price low to attract more customers, huh?
"This is bad, Maki… I can't stop eating this thing!"
"I feel you… I really want to order another one…"
"500 yen is too cheap for this."
"I know right?"
We proceeded to eat more of the soft-serve.
50cm, 30, 10… The thing was getting smaller and smaller until we eventually finished eating everything including the cone.
"We ended up eating everything by ourselves…"
"Do you still have space to eat lunch at grandma's house, Maki?"
"I'll do my best…"
"Me too…"
When we were eating, we kept begging for more, but as expected, after consuming this much sugar, it was inevitable that we felt full.
It would take another hour or two before we arrived at Mizore-san's house. Could we digest everything by then?
In any case, I should apologize to Sora-san first.