The next day, having carved out a break from my duties, I stood before Alicia’s room to extend my invitation.
Before knocking, I made sure to sweep away the Magic Insects clustered around the door. They kept crawling in through the gaps in the manor walls, but no matter how many times they came back, the result remained the same: I would simply crush them.
"Hmm... is it creepy to just show up out of the blue?"
We weren't exactly on dining terms yet, and we certainly hadn't bonded through a duel. So, how was I supposed to bridge the gap and become friends?
Then, I remembered something. I knew that at the Academy, they held social gatherings called tea parties!
Why not try to replicate that? An elegant morning spent conversing over coffee and breakfast. Every girl loves a fancy morning spread, right?
"Alicia-sama, good morning. I’ve brought breakfast."
There was no answer. It would have been much easier to just click the door open and walk in, but I couldn't exactly do that with a lady.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Creak, groan, splinter!
"It's that morning meal everyone loves! Let's eat together!"
"I'm awake! I'm awake, so just come in! You’re going to break the door!"
Good, she seemed to be up. Unlike those spineless nobles who lacked the courage to even face their own deaths, a well-bred, educated lady might actually resolve herself to commit suicide—I had been worried about that, but she seemed fine.
"Excuse me."
As I pushed the breakfast cart into the room, I found Alicia sitting quietly in her chair like a captive princess. She glared at me, her expression still somewhat haggard.
"That was violent. What would you have done if the door actually broke?"
"If it breaks, I’ll just fix it. Things break all the time in the Brave Territory. Thanks to that, I’ve become quite the handyman."
During my childhood, having parts of the house destroyed was a daily occurrence. When war broke out, neighboring villages were often reduced to scorched earth. Even a simple monster riot could do the job. Despite that, the people who lived in the Brave Territory possessed the stubborn tenacity of weeds.
"I... I see..."
"More importantly! Here, breakfast is served."
The meal—which the maid who had survived and remained at the manor suggested I deliver personally—was ham sandwiches. Bread this soft never appeared for my own breakfast. The boys of House Brave were essentially forced to eat monster meat. It was technically poisonous, but if you grew accustomed to it from a young age, it was surprisingly manageable.
"What do you mean 'more importantly'..."
"This is my first time sharing breakfast with a lady, so I’m sure I’ll be uncouth. I would appreciate it if you could point out my failings as we go."
I moved the plates from the cart to the table and poured the coffee.
"Would you like milk? How about sugar? In the Brave Territory, they say women prefer their coffee sweet."
Since she remained silent, I just kept talking.
"...I don't know," Alicia eventually muttered. "I’ve never had it, so I don't know. At my home, tea was the standard."
"Is that so?"
What a waste to have never had coffee. It was a common, cheap commodity in this world, wasn't it? In fact, tea was so expensive we could never afford it, so our house had always been a coffee household. From a noble’s perspective, was high-quality tea simply better than "cheap" coffee?
No, tea wouldn't give you any strength. You couldn't handle a mountain of paperwork without pumping yourself full of caffeine from the break of dawn. Sometimes we had to fight for days without sleep or rest, after all. In the Brave Territory, cheap coffee was the source of power.
"I apologize for not being able to provide tea. We are, after all, a rural frontier territory."
"...I don't mind."
Saying that, Alicia took a long gulp of the coffee without adding anything to it. People often said "When in Rome, do as the Romans do," but few actually practiced it. To drink it without a single complaint—she was quite the woman, wasn't she?
"Cough! Cough! It’s... it's bitter..."
Then she started choking.
"That’s because you drank it black without warning. Let’s start you off with some sweet coffee instead."
That was how it went when you weren't used to it, right? Even I didn't care for tea since I wasn't accustomed to the taste. I wanted to serve her something she liked, but tea was outside the scope of our supplies. It was prohibitively expensive in the frontier, so she would just have to bear with us.
"...It’s sweet. I can manage this."
"Just be careful; if you aren't used to it, drinking coffee that isn't sweet before bed will keep you awake. Mmm, look at that richness."
Since it seemed to be to her liking, I savored my own cup. When I was doing paperwork, I drank it black, but I was a sweet-tooth at heart. I loved drinking sugary concoctions where you couldn't tell if it was coffee or milk anymore. Life in another world was hard enough—the least I could do was have my coffee sweet.
"After you’ve eaten and rested a bit, I’ll send someone to help you. Let’s get changed and head outside. Staying cooped up in this room isn't good for your body or your mind."
When times were tough, the best thing to do was forget your troubles through exercise. You could even vent your vengeance on the monsters. No matter how many you killed, they just kept coming back.
"...I’ve been wondering."
Holding her cup in one hand, Alicia stared intently at my face.
"Why did you go out of your way to bring me breakfast when you have servants?"
"Why? Because we’re short-staffed. If necessary, the servants fight too, and most of them died during the war."
"...Oh."
When I told her plainly, Alicia gasped. She must have finally realized why this place was called the Abandoned Land. But there was no need for her to worry. House Brave had a duty to stand on the front lines, but the women didn't. Though, if a woman wanted to fight, she was more than welcome to. Such women were actually quite popular in these parts.
That was why—
"—Alicia-sama, you are magnificent."
I reached out and lifted the hair hanging near her left eye to look at the burn.
"!"
It was likely a wound she didn't want to remember. She tried to pull away slightly, but I didn't let go.
"Here, this is proof that you fought with pride. It is a symbol of courage."
"Uh..."
If you died, it was over. But she had survived. In House Brave, a defeat without death wasn't a loss. To stubbornly survive and stand back up—that was where the honor lay.
"Of course, I have them too."
I swept back my bangs to show her the scar on my forehead. It was a gash from an Orc when I was a child, and the mark still remained. In that moment, I had learned the fear of battle, overcome it, and become the man I am today.
"In our house, we don't reject scars. We take pride in them."
As I said that, I realized my face was incredibly close to hers. I had only meant to look at the burn, but I was holding her chin rather roughly. Oops—I had done it out of habit, treating her like a soldier I was inspecting for a head wound.
"Hahaha! Well, the reason I brought breakfast myself was so that I could talk to you like this."
I quickly let go and changed the subject.
"This is a desolate territory full of ruffians, but even so, the nature here is breathtaking. Won't you walk with me? Faced with the vastness of nature, human disputes seem quite trivial in this land."
"Trivial..."
That’s right. Before the scale of the wild, we humans were tiny, insignificant things. Dragons, Fenrirs, and Giants were the same. A mere duel between nobles was even smaller.
"...I'll go."
While I was lost in thought, Alicia let the words slip out.
"Will you show me around?"
"Yes, with pleasure."
Her eyes looked a little better than they had five days ago. They were the kind of eyes I liked.