It was a weekend, with summer vacation looming just a week away.
—Bang!
The door to my room flew open with a deafening crash.
"Huh?" I blurted out, looking up to see Alicia standing there. She was dressed in a tracksuit with a headscarf tied over her hair, her arms crossed as she stood in a defiant, wide-legged pose.
"We’re weeding the garden," she declared. "You're helping."
"Y-Yes, ma'am."
She hardly looked like a duke's daughter, but the healthy, active look actually suited her quite well.
"Uh, you kind of broke the door, though...?"
"Then fix it. That’s the Brave way, isn't it?"
"Ah, right. Yes."
She brushed my concern aside using a line I’d once said to her. My, how this young lady was being thoroughly assimilated into the Brave way of life. She really had grown into a remarkably tough woman.
Alicia looked at me, her eyes burning with a powerful resolve.
"Laguna, this is war."
"W-War, you say?"
"A war against the insects ravaging my fields and my garden...!"
Her eyes snapped open wide, filled with a distinct flash of murderous intent. How gallant, Alicia. She felt more and more like a strong woman every day, and I found her more charming for it.
"I will exterminate them all!"
There was a faint hint of madness in her voice, but there was a very clear reason why she had reached this point. It was the height of summer, and Alicia had decided to plant radishes in her patch. She’d chosen them because they could be grown year-round and matured quickly, making them a good starter crop.
However, as anyone who gardens knows, planting those in the dead of summer makes them nothing but fodder for pests and disease. Summer radishes are notoriously fragile.
Consequently, Alicia’s vegetable patch was a disaster. Even when she pulled them up, the radishes were so pathetic they seemed to ask, "Wait, are you sure it’s okay to harvest me yet?" They looked like the scrawny legs of some spindly noble who skipped every sword practice session—the kind of legs that looked like they'd snap if I so much as kicked them.
To make matters worse, the infestation had spread to the beautiful flower beds she’d painstakingly cultivated at the front entrance. Alicia was absolutely livid.
Personally, I didn't think the pests from the back garden were necessarily the same ones affecting the front, but Alicia was so cute when she was huffing and puffing in a rage that I just let it go.
"Answer me!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"I believe the correct response is 'Woof'!"
"W-Woof!"
Before I knew it, I’d raised a tyrant. She was already holding a collar in her right hand as part of her standard equipment. She was a total despot. And yet, this unprecedented pressure made my heart race in a way I couldn't quite explain.
"Mariana is coming to help too, so this will be a total mobilization of our forces," Alicia added.
"Oh, I see..."
The moment Mariana was mentioned, Alicia’s intensity vanished, and she returned to her usual self as if the tyrant from a second ago had never existed. I was just glad she was becoming more emotionally expressive.
Still, being dragged out to pull weeds and kill bugs on a day off... Mariana really was unlucky. Though when she heard about it, she apparently said, "Is it really okay for me to intrude on the two of you in your Love Nest? Hieee!"
She was clearly excited. She was definitely a weird one. Then again, as a former heroine, her character traits were bound to be a bit extreme.
"When we’re finished, we’ll have her coffee and some handmade scones," Alicia said.
"Really? Okay, now I’m motivated!"
If Mariana was making coffee, I could survive anything. Ideally, I would have liked to ingest some high-quality caffeine before starting the labor, but I wasn't about to complain.
"Hehe. Weeding is hard work, so you need a reward to look forward to, right?"
Alicia really was impressive, having the entire afternoon schedule planned out so thoroughly. She knew exactly how to motivate people. Was this that "Imperial Studies" curriculum passed down through the House of the Duke? Or maybe she was just a natural. It didn't really matter.
"Alicia, if you told me to kill something, I’d do it even without a reward."
"Don't say such stupid things."
I was being relatively serious, but if she was going to give me a reward, I’d put even more effort into it. Three hundred percent extermination rate, guaranteed. Honestly, just the thought of getting a reward from the person I liked made my chest feel tight. Thump-thump.
"Good morning! Alicia-san? Laguna-san? Ho-ho, so this is where the two of you... is it? It smells wonderful in here!"
"It sounds like she's here. Hurry up and get changed."
Mariana’s voice drifted in from the front entrance, and I hurried to change into my own tracksuit. I didn't quite understand why she was talking about sniffing the air, but I decided to ignore it.
"If we finish this morning, we can spend the afternoon relaxing," Alicia said. "Mariana and I will handle the scones, so you make sure you move those muscles and earn your share."
"Leave the bugs to me."
"I’m counting on you."
With my barrier control, I could perform miracles—I'd root out every single harmful insect while sparing the beneficial ones. I was going to show her that House Brave didn't just excel at exterminating magic insects.
"Alicia, these turned out perfectly! They smell delicious."
"Oh, you're right!"
As Mariana opened the oven, a heavenly aroma filled the kitchen. The scones she pulled out were puffed up and baked to a beautiful golden brown. The table was already lined with a variety of them, ranging from simple plain ones to batches mixed with nuts and fruits.
"Mariana, you really are talented at baking, aren't you?" Alicia praised.
"Leave it to me!" Mariana puffed out her chest and gave a proud little snort. "When it comes to coffee and sweets, I pride myself on being more skilled than I am at magic."
"I’ve been wanting to learn, so this is a huge help."
"I’m just glad I can be of use. Are you going to give these to Laguna-san? Sweets filled with love in your very own Sweet House? Snort-snort-sniff!"
Ignoring Mariana’s heavy breathing, Alicia replied, "I mostly want to share these with the servants of House Brave. Laguna will eat pretty much anything as long as it isn't a monster, and he always makes it look delicious."
"A... monster?"
"Oh, that’s just standard for House Brave. Don't worry about it."
"Fueee... so monsters are edible? I might actually be a little curious."
"He did say that normal food is 'normally delicious,' though."
"Still, Laguna-san is taking a while, isn't he?" Mariana asked.
"He is. I wonder where he’s wandered off to."
The weeding and pest control had finished early in the morning. While Alicia and Mariana had moved on to baking, Laguna had gone to dispose of the piles of pulled weeds. However, a significant amount of time had passed, and he still hadn't returned.
"Well, there was a lot of it. He’ll be back soon enough."
"True. It’s more than the two of us can eat, anyway. Let’s take a break first. Now that Laguna-san isn't around, there are a million things I want to ask you, Alicia!"
"G-Go easy on me, okay...?"
"To be blunt! Have the two of you kissed yet?! A man and woman who are promised to each other, living under one roof... there’s no way nothing has happened!"
While the two girls were engrossed in their "girls' talk," the subject of their conversation was currently occupied elsewhere.
"I’m really sorry about this," I said, standing in a small clearing behind the incinerator where I’d dumped the weeds. "But I honestly don't have time to deal with you people right now."
I was surrounded by a group of mages.
"So, you are Laguna," one of them said.
"Look, I’ll let you off the hook, just please come back at night or something! I’m begging you!"
"No more talk."