Lucas Reeve didn't know why Surtr was so passionate about this ice cream thing.
Perhaps it was the same principle as FrostNova's passion for scalding hot food.
To be honest, a constitution that allowed one to eat their favorite food without any restraint would make countless people green with envy.
Ice cream was indeed good.
But eating too much gives you the runs, hurts your stomach, and raises your blood sugar.
All these negative risks meant that even those who loved it could at most down a whole tub.
But for someone like Surtr, let alone one tub, she could eat ten without any problem. Her stomach was like a steel furnace; any bacteria or viruses that entered her body would get a good thrashing. Who knows how many people would envy that.
And, Surtr also had Oripathy...
This was something Lucas Reeve had only recently found out.
However, Surtr's Oripathy was so mild it was barely perceptible.
And it didn't spread. The concept of acute Oripathy simply didn't exist for her. This likely had nothing to do with her constitution; Patriot, as a pure-blood Wendigo with a ridiculously strong constitution, still saw his Oripathy worsen.
Surtr's case was probably related to the divinity of Laevatainn.
The divinity of an Old God directly suppressed the dreaded Oripathy, preventing it from daring to spread.
And when Lucas Reeve asked Surtr when she first ate ice cream.
Surtr answered very calmly.
She didn't remember clearly, vaguely recalling it was over a year ago. When passing through a small town, she helped a child get a balloon that had flown into a tree. As a reward... she took a liking to the unopened ice cream in the child's hand.
She had never seen such a food before, but its cool exterior interested Surtr. She took it from the child, took the first bite, and a whole new world opened up. The taste of ice cream, just like the names Surtr and Laevatainn, became an unforgettable term in Surtr's scattered and chaotic memory.
Even if, in the future, she forgot everything and became a madman with confused memories, she would still coldly and hysterically say one thing.
"Give me some ice cream."
Surtr's obsession with ice cream and popsicles, while not reaching the almost pathological fanaticism Ceobe had for food, wasn't far off.
Sora was incredibly enthusiastic after learning that Surtr was a friend of Jessica's.
On top of that, the essence of being an idol is being a social butterfly. A shy and timid girl would find it difficult to become an excellent idol. Even if they faked such a persona, fans would eventually get tired of the lack of interaction.
She familiarly attached herself to Lucas Reeve's side, asking about this and that, like a light and beautiful butterfly, flitting freely among the flowers.
Behind her followed Texas and Croissant.
Texas was calm and not fond of talking much, possibly due to her early life experiences. As for Croissant, she was simply not very interested. She was only interested in Lungmen Dollars, and this red-haired girl before her was identified as a pauper at a glance—she even had to ask Sora to pay for 800 dollars' worth of ice cream. It seemed there was no money to be made from her, so Croissant wasn't particularly interested.
On the contrary.
Exusiai's personality was the complete opposite of Texas's.
Texas was too cool to bother with small talk.
Exusiai was the type to be overly friendly and ask all sorts of questions.
For example...
Your name is so strange, Miss Surtr.
Your eyes are exactly the same as Miss Jessica's back then, Miss Surtr.
Are you relatives? Miss Surtr.
But you don't look alike at all. I remember Miss Jessica is a Feline, while you, Miss Surtr, seem to be a Sarkaz.
Blah, blah, blah...
Exusiai's personality was exactly the same as when they first met over half a year ago. She loved to talk nonstop and acted like a long-lost friend to everyone. For ordinary people, it was easy to develop a good impression and get close to someone like her. But for a super socially awkward person like Jessica back then, Exusiai was a nightmare.
And for someone like Surtr who didn't talk much.
After spending some time with her, she'd probably be summoning Laevatainn to purify everything with fire.
Sora also asked a lot of questions related to Jessica.
For example...
What Jessica had been busy with recently.
Lucas Reeve mentioned that Jessica had recently founded a pharmaceutical company. It wasn't a secret anymore; nowadays, any boss in Columbia knew that the owner of Raythean Medica was the heiress of Raythean Industries.
Along the way.
Sora asked Lucas Reeve many other things.
And the more she asked, the stranger Sora felt. She began to wonder if there was something wrong with her perception.
This way of speaking, this unique aura, these deep eyes like a cold pond—so familiar, almost identical to the expression Jessica occasionally showed.
A person's aura is unique.
Sora knew many people, and even the cool Miss Texas was far from having the same profound expression that Jessica sometimes had. But... this Miss Surtr, why....
It's so strange.
Surtr herself didn't particularly like talking much with others. She was used to quiet and being alone.
So, for occasions like this that involved talking to others, Surtr was more than happy to let Lucas Reeve handle it, while she herself silently recorded everything before her through her eyes.
Sora hadn't moved; she still lived in the same small apartment from a few months ago.
Although in the past few months, thanks to Jessica's almost tycoon-like chart-boosting and her company's operations, Sora's fame and income had risen considerably, she had no plans to move. This small studio apartment of a few dozen square meters was more than enough for Sora to live alone.
"By the way.... Sora, are you sure this... will be okay? It's January right now..."
In the dining room.
Texas looked at a copper pot, similar to a hot pot. Sora had added hard chocolate into the pot, then heated it over a low flame underneath. The chocolate gradually warmed and melted, finally turning into a warm chocolate sauce. On the table were all sorts of ice cream scoops.
It would have been fine in the summer.
But... it was winter now, with the temperature at only 3 degrees. Eating this stuff in the middle of winter... and so much of it as a meal, was that really okay?
At least, Texas felt her scalp tingle.
This lethal level of sweetness, shouldn't it be paired with a few bottles of insulin? And this absurd amount of calories—one meal would require at least ten hours of exercise to burn off. If Sora's manager knew she was secretly eating this kind of stuff, he'd probably have a stroke from high blood pressure.
"Aiya~"
Sora patted Texas's shoulder and said shyly.
"Don't say that, Texas-chan. I only eat this occasionally, it should be fine. Please don't tell my manager!!"
Texas blinked, silently took out a new box of Pocky from her pocket, and slowly put a stick in her mouth.
Meanwhile, Surtr, who had switched with Lucas Reeve, silently entered the non-talking, food-focused state. Following Sora's example, she scooped up a large spoonful of ice cream and dipped it into the warm, bubbling hot chocolate sauce, coating the cold ice cream with hot chocolate. This was a novel way of eating that Surtr had never seen before.
She silently put it in her mouth.
In an instant.
A golden glow, representing divinity, flashed in her purple eyes. She muttered under her breath.
"Decent..."
In contrast, the others looked at Surtr with a strange expression.
Another switch?
Exactly the same as Jessica back then.
Jessica would also inexplicably become cold and profound, then switch back to her cute and shy personality. This Miss Surtr was the same. One moment, her temperament and speech were indistinguishable from Jessica's, but now she seemed to have reverted to the 'condescending' cool demeanor from when she was unwilling to pay.
She was quite talkative on the way here.
But when it was time to eat, she became aloof again, barely squeezing out two words after a long time.
As for Texas, her attention was entirely on the greatsword that Surtr always kept by her side.
The shape of this greatsword was extremely unique.
At least, the battle-hardened Texas had never seen anything like it. And besides the sharp blade, when Texas's eyes met the sword, for some reason, she always saw the phantom of a terrifying demon. This shadow made Texas extremely wary.
Perhaps others didn't know.
But as a wolf, Texas's senses were far stronger than Exusiai's or Croissant's. The strong sense of crisis made her very uncomfortable.
If it were a stranger.
Texas would absolutely not get too close to such an incredibly dangerous person.
After all.
Wolves may not fear death, but they don't make pointless sacrifices either.
Throughout the entire ice cream meal, Surtr barely said a word, basically keeping her head down and eating quietly.
In reality.
Surtr wasn't that cold inside.
On the contrary.
After Lucas Reeve helped her seal away a part of her memories, she felt as if she had been reborn, filled with interest in everything she saw. She wasn't good with words, but that didn't mean she wasn't interested. Surtr would silently listen to the conversations between Sora and Exusiai and the others, committing them to memory.
Suddenly.
A conversation between Texas and the others piqued the interest of Surtr, who had been focused on her food, and she rarely lifted her head.
Sora asked Texas while eating ice cream.
"By the way, are you guys going to Minos again in a few days? Is it the same mission as a few months ago?"
Texas and Exusiai nodded.
"That's right. On the previous mission, just as we were about to reach Minos, we were attacked by an enemy we'd never seen before. The precious cargo we were transporting fell into a bottomless valley nearby during the attack."
But Exusiai said happily.
"I have to say, that client is really a nice person. We clearly failed the mission and even lost the cargo in the valley, but he didn't blame us at all. Instead, he paid us the final payment that he shouldn't have. To be honest, you don't find many conscientious clients like that these days."
"He even recently gave us a new mission. The client specially sent over a sensor designed to find that item, hoping we can go into the valley and find it. He even offered a much higher commission than the last mission."
Sora, however, was a little worried.
"By the way, it's been so long, can you really find it? And... that kind of valley is very dangerous.... Why don't you have the boss turn down this commission? I feel like it's not very safe..."
Texas shook her head.
"It's fine, this is what we do for a living."
"And... the boss knows the specific details of this commission. He took it on his own initiative, which means... the boss might also be interested in that item. The boss specifically told me that if we really find it, we should bring it back to Penguin Logistics first, not send it to Minos."
Sora let out a cute "Oh."
"Since the boss said so himself, then it's fine. So, what exactly is that item? I'm suddenly a bit curious. Texas-chan, do you know?"
Texas glanced at Exusiai beside her.
Exusiai said with a smile.
"We didn't know at first, but during the fight with the enemies who were trying to snatch it, the protective case around the item broke, and a blade fell out from inside."
Sora scratched her head in confusion: "A blade??"
Exusiai nodded: "A very, very broken blade. But the blade seemed to be entirely crimson, and it was scorching hot. The moment it came out of the protective case and stuck into the ground, I felt like the ground at that time was about to melt. It was terrifying. I'm sure it's some kind of treasure."
Surtr, who was eating ice cream, suddenly looked up.
She gently covered her head with her hand.
In her memory, one particular memory suddenly became exceptionally clear.
It was the memory of a world-shaking battle, of a giant sword shattering into several small fragments.
Surtr's change made the Penguin Logistics girls a bit confused. They stopped their conversation and looked at her.
Then.
Surtr spoke the third sentence she had said since arriving at Sora's home.
"I'm going too...."
Everyone: "Huh?"