"W-What did the hero mean by confession, Mizuki?" Sli-Mai stuttered.
Mizuki blinked. "He asked me out? Isn't that what a confession means?" She told her, looking slightly confused.
Sli-Mai and Noburo glanced at each other.
"A-And what did you answer him with?" Noburo questioned.
"...I told him I don't know much about love, so I can't answer him right now?" As soon as Mizuki explained, both Sli-Mai and Noburo facepalmed. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked.
"N-No… I guess not, let's just meet back at the adventurers guild tomorrow…" Sli-Mai stated, they all went to sleep within their respective residences. 2 days until tragedy.
The next day, they gave Chiyo the Shroomy Flower, completing their second quest. They set off toward the Rising Mountains in the west.
"M-Mizuki, we really should've brought climbing equipment…" Sli-Mai pointed out. They had climbed to a reasonable point of the Rising Mountains.
"Yeah, I guess I didn't think we would've needed to climb…" She laughed before a Rising Goblin tried to ambush her. "Fireball!" The goblin started to burn, but it didn't seem that effective.
"O-Oh crap. Um… Electric Shot!" A bolt of electricity shot out from her staff, electrocuting the goblin as it perished.
"M-Mizuki, are you alright?" Sli-Mai questioned, slightly worried.
Mizuki shrugged it off. "I'm fine… We just need to be on guard while we are on this mountain I guess…" Five minutes passed, and they had successfully completed "Rising Goblins 1", Mizuki sighed. "Well, for better or for worse we did that pretty quickly… Did you two bring winter clothing with you?" She asked.
Sli-Mai and Noburo blinked with confusion. "Why would we- OH, the snow…" Noburo realized midway. Mizuki sighed and grabbed two sets of winter clothing she had prepared in case they forgot to bring any. She handed the clothing to them.
"C-Could you look away, Noburo?" Sli-Mai glanced at him. "Excuse me? Why would I look at you changing? Who do you think I am?" Noburo turned around. "Not to mention… Aren't you a slime? Why do you need clothes?" He questioned.
"J-Just look that way! Mizuki… Look in the same direction I am looking." Sli-Mai told her. They quickly changed. "There… Are you happy now, Mizuki?" Noburo questioned skeptically.
Mizuki shook her head. "Yeah! Now… …We have to climb back down and go to the north of Hirano's outskirts…" Noburo let out a painful grunt as they climbed back down.
Now, they were in the snowy area of Snow Falls, found north of the Slimey Flatlands. Noburo gripped his jacket. "M-Mizuki… Where are we going?" He shivered.
"We are going to, Snowy Desserts… It's the name of both a village, and a restaurant in the village…" She explained as they caught a glimpse of a village in the snow.
Upon entering the village, they felt a warmth suddenly coming from every direction. "H-Huh? How the heck did they manage to make the entire village a heater?" A resident walked up to them.
"It is said that a party member of the hero, set a barrier on this village, which blocks the coldness of the snow from coming inside… Nevertheless, welcome to our village, humble adventurers…" She walked away afterwards.
"Wow… So there was a party member of the hero here? How interesting…" Mizuki mumbled. "I am not going to like walking back to Hirano…" Noburo sighed.
They noticed a cozy building in the center of the village. "That must be Snowy Desserts itself…" As they took a step inside, they could immediately feel comfort.
They walked up to the counter. "Welcome! My name is Shirogane, it's nice to meet you… What would you like from Snowy Desserts? If you like, you could take a look at our menu…" She said while smiling.
Mizuki glanced at the menu and then back at the quest they were given. "It seems we need to order the ice cream… But how would we keep it cold until we got to Hirano?" She asked curiously.
"Oh! You can hold the ice cream and put it inside a spatial storage… You're a mage aren't you? So you should be able to do that…" She explained.
Mizuki thought to herself, "Might as well buy desserts for us too while we're here…" She thought about what kind of dessert Sli-Mai would enjoy. "Um… Could we also order 3 chocolate parfaits…" She asked.
"Sure! That'll be 25 gold coins…" Mizuki handed her the gold coins and then they sat down in the corner of the restaurant.
"Mizuki, what are… "Chocolate Parfaits"?" She questioned with curiosity.
"Parfaits are… a mixture of ice cream, fruits, and a few other sweets… They're really good!" Mizuki explained.
Shirogane walked up to them. "Here you go, three chocolate parfaits and one ice cream." She handed the ice cream to Mizuki first and then put the parfaits on the table.
Mizuki held the ice cream. "Okay, I just need to say item box right…? Item Box!" The ice cream disappeared into thin air. "Oh… So that's how it works…"
"Let's eat then…" Mizuki scooped up a bit of the parfait with a spoon and ate it. "It's… So good…"
Sli-Mai and Noburo followed shortly after. "I-It's like the chocolate melts into your mouth… It's amazing…!" Sli-Mai pointed out.
"This… Slightly made coming here worth it…" Noburo hesitantly agreed.
After they had finished, they left Snowy Desserts and started walking back to Hirano.
"N-Nevermind… I hate this.." Noburo said while shivering. Causing Mizuki and Sli-Mai to laugh.
Once they made it back to Hirano, Mizuki sighed. "Everything's going so well… A little too well…" She thought.
Chiyo noticed them returning and ran toward them. "U-Um… Mizuki, you're going to the Windy Jungle, right?"
"Yeah…?" Mizuki looked confused.
"W-Whatever you do, if you see a rather strange area in the jungle, do NOT enter it under any circumstances… We recently received reports that adventurers haven't come back from Windy Jungle recently, and upon our inspection it seemed that there was an area inside the jungle that we didn't know about until now." She explained
"O-Ok…? Don't go near any suspicious looking areas inside the jungle… Got it." Mizuki shook her head. "Sli-Mai, Noburo. We should stay at an inn tonight… Since sooner or later we won't be anywhere near Hirano anyway…" She suggested.
"Sure…" Sli-Mai agreed, Noburo silently shook his head in agreement as they proceeded to stay at an inn for the night.
As Mizuki fell asleep, she couldn't help but feel as if something was about to go terribly wrong. 1 day until Tragedy.