Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: How About We Do It This Way? - 1
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The princess, who had been a total shut-in up until now, had finally begun to grow and take action as the heir.
Naturally, the queen was overjoyed and was preparing a proper birthday party for Lucille, something that had been small-scale for the past few years.
As a result, the palace was quite bustling inside, and of course, I wasn't exactly idle either.
Among the things keeping me busy, I turned my eyes to one particular culprit.
"Ah! Sage bro! Why is the world like this? Waaah~! Why is this happening~! Why is it so hard~!"
"Why are you doing this to me? I'm suffering too, you punk."
Lark, who had promised Lucille to perform at the birthday party, had already shown up at the palace even though the party hadn't started yet.
He'd staked out a spot in the royal castle and started squealing like a pig nonstop.
In other words, he was practicing.
With everything already so hectic, having that kind of noise blasting every day must have driven the maids and servants insane.
That's why they kept begging me every time they saw me to please do something about Lark, and in the end, I ordered his quarters and practice space moved to the annex where I was staying.
It was no big deal for me.
"Ugh..."
But there was no way to avoid all the fallout.
Whether he was squealing like a pig every day or not, Lark was still an honored guest invited by Lucille.
We couldn't just leave such a guest unattended, so a maid had been assigned to attend to him—and she had no choice but to endure the awful singing.
It had already been several days of this.
The maid, who had been managing her expression somehow, finally started bleeding from her ears.
...Lately, she'd been complaining that her hearing wasn't what it used to be...
"Let me see. Cure."
One Cure spell stopped the bleeding and healed the injury.
But the maid's expression turned sullen for just a split second.
Was she hoping to use the injury as an excuse to switch shifts?
Tough luck, but unavoidable.
Still, she was pitiful, so I'd overlook the failed expression management.
"...S-Sorry."
As I looked at her, the maid's face drained of color.
I patted the shoulder of the trembling girl, who was at a loss out of fear of getting scolded, then picked up a stone and chucked it at Lark, who was about to start singing again.
-Smack!
"Ow!"
"Noise!! Stop!!!"
"I can't help it for the best performance!! Practice! Practice is the only way!!"
Lark yelled back, so I threw another stone at him. Only then did he slink off sullenly, fiddling with his lute.
"I get that you're working hard, but try to hold it in a bit."
As he shut his mouth, the maid let out a sigh of relief, and I gave her a smile.
Soon, everyone attending the party would be suffering too.
"Anyway, could you brew some tea? This is tasty."
"Yes!!"
Was it because I didn't grill her for the failed expression management?
The freckled maid beamed and quickly started brewing the tea.
As I sipped the apple tea she'd made, a knight approached from across the garden.
"Sage."
"What."
"Guests invited by the princess have arrived."
Following behind him to this spot were none other than Valtin and his wife, Lukendi.
"I was thinking of going somewhere else, actually. But the princess insisted we come. Still, is it really okay for adventurers like us to attend a royal birthday party?"
"You're the benefactors of the royal family who took down the River Spirit and captured Sasdin. Don't worry about it."
If anyone made a fuss, I'd punch them into orbit.
Only after I reassured him did Valtin calm down a bit, smoothing out his puffed-up mane.
But unlike him, who still looked tense, his wife Lukendi just seemed thrilled.
"You look fine."
"Hee hee. I've always envied this kind of thing. What do you think? Cool dress, right?"
A lioness beastkin who could one-shot most monsters spinning in a dress was a pretty surreal sight.
If furries saw this, would they say it's not authentic?
Anyway, it seemed like everyone from the adventurer side who was coming had arrived.
Willkurs said he couldn't make it because of a commission in the west, according to Lark...
"So when's the birthday party?"
"About a week left?"
I checked the calendar and took another sip of tea.
"Nobles and guests from other races will keep arriving until then, and there'll be small parties... tea parties, I guess? They'll be happening nonstop. If you're bored, check those out. You might run into some clients."
Valtin, Lukendi, and even Lark.
Their expressions stiffened awkwardly.
And understandably so—nobles were basically clients to adventurers.
If it were a one-off meeting, no big deal, but since they'd have to interact multiple times in a client-adventurer dynamic, they were naturally worried about causing issues at a tea party.
"It's fine. Don't chicken out."
I set down my teacup.
"If anything happens, I'll take responsibility."
This party was going to succeed, no matter what.
It was dawn. As always, while meditating in the garden, I heard footsteps on the grass.
"You're here?"
"Yes, Master."
Her voice was thick with tension. I slowly stood and turned, and there stood my disciple Lucille: red hair, an expensive red elven silk dress, and high heels crafted by dwarves.
I held out my hand to the hesitant girl.
"Shall we start today too?"
"Ah... Yes. P-Please treat me well."
Since returning to the palace, I'd been meeting Lucille every dawn to teach her to dance.
Normally, I'd teach her magic, but this party had to succeed.
That way, Lucille's reputation would rise, and I could claim the achievement.
I'd already set up everything else, so no issues there—the only thing left was dance.
"You have to do well at this party. You've been holed up in your room for so long that many nobles still don't acknowledge you."
"Y-Yes..."
She'd been busy lately building fame, but changing entrenched perceptions isn't easy.
Sure, her recent actions had shifted things somewhat.
But some nobles still wouldn't be satisfied.
This party would change that completely.
"That's why you need to master the noble art of dance perfectly. Got it?"
"Y-Yes..."
She answered well, but lacked confidence, so I extended my hand.
As the hesitant Lucille took it, I whistled the tune that would play at the party.
Or tried to.
"Ugh... What're you doing this early..."
Why was he crawling out instead of sleeping more?
It wasn't like this early-rising lizardman was off to catch more fish.
Lark stumbled out, swishing his cool tail a few times, blinked, then smirked.
"A secret rendezvous?"
"N-No!!"
"Then?"
"Teaching her to dance. Hey, don't interfere and scram."
"Dance... without music? Want me to do some background tunes? Huh?"
As Lark eagerly grabbed his lute and went to pluck the strings, I infused my glare with killing intent.
"If you're gonna do it, do it right. Not your artsy stuff—something popular. I'm serious."
No one was going to ruin my achievement.
If she got used to his bizarre playing, she wouldn't adapt to the waltz at the party.
When I growled in earnest, Lark reluctantly nodded and strummed the lute.
A soft, gentle, popular waltz.
I'd noticed it when he sang hymns before—that guy really had insane musical talent.
Who knew a lute could pull off something like this?
So why was he wasting it on weird crap?
"Wow, whoa..."
"They say this is the trend lately. Probably what'll play at the party too... Hmm. Still doesn't suit me..."
True to his hipster nature, he clearly wasn't thrilled playing mainstream music.
But when I shot him another look, he kept playing without complaint, and I signaled Lucille and pulled her hand.
"Alright. Let's start. One, two, three, one-and-two. Step. Step. Turn. Forward. Spin."
Thanks to all the practice so far, it was way better than our first time dancing.
But still not up to my standards.
"...Sorry, Master. I-I tried my best."
"No. More practice will do it. Come on, let's try again..."
"Sage."
A voice utterly out of place here—purely businesslike—cut in.
Lark, finishing one song and about to start another, spotted her and yelped, dropping his lute.
"Argh. Why is she here...?!"
"Oh dear. An amateur too."
"Krah!!"
It was true, so why get so mad?
I scanned the beauty in white uniform entering the garden—Raysi—from head to toe and asked.
"Why'd you come?"
"I finished all my important business from the territory, and I'm staying at the castle starting today. So I greeted the queen, and they said you were here when I went to greet the princess."
Raysi approached Lucille and bowed politely.
"Greetings, Princess Lucille. I am Raysi Tralman, the Sword of the Kingdom."
"N-Nice to meet you, Marchioness Raysi..."
Lucille greeted her back with a tense face.
Guess there wasn't much else to say.
Lucille was still shy around strangers like Raysi, whom she didn't know well.
"But... what were you doing with the Sage?"
"...Well."
"Teaching her to dance. Why."
"Hmm... Dance."
Raysi stroked her slender chin with her gloved hand, then nodded.
"You're already good at it now, so do you really need more practice?"
"It doesn't seem to meet Master's standards."
"I see. Well, the Sage does have unnecessarily high standards..."
Stroking her chin thoughtfully, Raysi nodded naturally.
"Ah, this'll work. If it's alright with you, Princess, may the Sage and I demonstrate?"
"Yes?!"
"If you see the ideal dance from us, your skills will improve more. Watching is important too."
"...The ideal dance from Master and the Marchioness?"
Lucille's voice stiffened slightly. She was smiling, but her flame-red eyes trembled.
Raysi, oblivious or uncaring, nodded in her usual businesslike manner.
"...Then, could we see it? I'm curious just how good you have to be to call it ideal."
"The Tralman family's swordsmanship is like dance. To master it, you must know how to dance."
She sounded humbly modest, but Raysi was seriously good at dancing.
Probably better than anyone on the continent right now.
Even in the game, no one could match her in dance—it was so perfected it was rotten.
And like a true veteran, she loved showing off to noobs and giving pointers.
"...Oh? Then please do."
"The princess permits it, Sage."
Raysi's suggestion was actually great for Lucille, who was stuck in a rut.
She truly had little experience seeing proper dances.
She'd learned from instructors while I handled other things and seen their dances, but it was lacking.
Even if a picture's worth a thousand words, imprinting the ideal form would be good training...
"Ready? Sage."
"Yeah. Of course, Marchioness."
I took Raysi's hand and glanced at Lucille.
Her fists were clenched tightly on her knees, tense.
"Lucille. Dance doesn't always go as you think."
That's why seeing the ideal form properly is key.
Lucille nodded slightly,
and Raysi naturally took my hand and spoke.
"So isn't that what makes dance fun?"
Fun, sure.
"The old tales where watching a mediocre dance a few times and practicing awakens you to dance perfectly? Time to retire those."
They never get old.
Always fresh and thrilling.
I hoped Lucille would feel that too.
But griping wouldn't magically boost her skills.
If only she had the passive skill 'Musical Talent' from clowns or performers and could nail it without much practice.
But as a mage, Lucille didn't, so we had to use every trick.
Surely, watching our dance would break her plateau.
-Ding-a-ling~!
Lark strummed the lute, I took my steps, and as we danced, Lucille's eyes watching us grew wider and wider.
"Not rusty, Sage."
After four straight songs, Raysi and I parted hands and stepped back.
I extended a hand to Lucille, whose mouth hung open in shock.
"Alright. Got the idea now? Let's go again."
"M-Master. H-How... How do you two... match so perfectly... I-It's amazing."
"You're too kind."
Lucille spoke through gritted teeth, like she was apologizing to an enemy, and Raysi replied flatly.
"We won the Continental Dance Competition and set a record no one else has matched. This is basic."
At "Dance Competition win," Lucille stared daggers at me, and I shrugged.
Thanks to Raysi, I'd entered once and snagged two fat achievements.
Teaming with veterans makes everything easy, no matter what.
Author's Note
See you at 10 later~ Have a great weekend~ Bye~