Chapter 76 : My Debut Into The Fashionable Society Is Still Far Away
「No way…」(Cecil)
Cecil was shocked when I showed her my invitation letter.
「No way, no way! Impossible! I mean… you’re a blunt weapon user! There’s no way the royal family would invite a person who uses such a vile and evil weapon!」(Cecil)
「You’re very rude as always…」(Hanna)
Why does she hate blunt weapons so much?
Were her parents killed with a blunt weapon?
Well, there’s a possibility that I’ll crush her father’s head later, though.
「Is it because you fixed Ludley Bridge? Or is it because of the difficulty level A quest that you stole from me!?」(Cecil)
「Stole? Pfftー Said the one who lost the contest.」(Hanna)
「Ahaha! Hanna, well said!」(Rozelia)
Cecil glared angrily at Rozelia who agreed with me.
「Yada yadaー Cecil, I’m just kidding~ I’m always on your side, you know that, don’t you?」(Rozelia)
「H, Hmph…!」(Cecil)
「Uhyaa~ Jealous Cecil is so cute~☆」(Rozelia)
Rozelia jumped and hugged Cecil.
Hmm… I always thought that Rozelia was the one who always chased after Cecil, but recently I feel like it’s the opposite.
Cecil will be in a bad mood when Rozelia is on my side.
Wait, what the heck am I thinking about?
I felt chills on my spine imagining Rozelia was on my side.
Let’s not talk about it…
「I know, I know! Roze, stop hugging me! Geez…… And? You feel uneasy going alone so you bring your store’s receptionist with you, huh? If I’m not mistaken, your name’s Mira, right? Hmm, hmm. I see. You will look good in a dress unlike this pipsqueak.」(Cecil)
「Right? Right!? Mira-san is beautiful after all!…… Hold on, why do I feel like you’re insulting me at the end…?」(Hanna)
「Don’t worry, it’s not just your imagination.」(Cecil)
「I knew it!」(Hanna)
She’s so annoying, but I don’t feel bad that she praised Mira-san, so let’s forgive her just this once.
When I thought that, Mira-san stepped forward.
Wow! The shy Mira-san is trying to confront Cecil!?
「What? Do you also have a complaint?」(Cecil)
「You… Do you love Hanna?」(Mira)
Eh? What did she say…?
Cecil and I were shocked.
Even I, who live with her, can’t even understand what she means.
「H, Huh!? What are you talking about? As you can see, we hate each other!」(Cecil)
「But, you have Hanna’s sword on your waist.」(Mira)
「Ughh!」(Cecil)
「Your armor too. It’s made by Hanna.」(Mira)
「Guh…!」(Cecil)
「Are you a tsundere?」(Mira)
Aah, I forgot to tell Mira-san about this.
Cecil’s punishment for losing a contest against me was to wear the armor and bring the sword I made wherever she went.
「N, No! This is because I lost a bet to Hanna! This is definitely not my intention! There’s no way I wanna use these filthy things!」(Cecil)
Hey! Those are my masterpieces, you know!
What a rude woman, really!
But honestly, I’m impressed that she’s keeping her promise.
Well, maybe she is wearing my armor because she didn’t think that she would meet me in this place…
「I see. Thank you for promoting our store.」(Mira)
「Gu,haー!」(Cecil)
Mira-san didn’t mean any harm but Cecil took damage from Mira-san’s words.
「I… I won’t forget this humiliation! Hanna, I’ll definitely make you cry the next time we fight!」(Cecil)
She said she would make me cry but she got teary eyes when she said that.
The damage from Mira-san’s words must be pretty big.
Surprisingly, Mira-san might become Cecil’s natural enemy…
Perhaps I should take Mira-san when I go to the Adventurer Guild next time.
「Hmph!!」(Cecil)
Cecil turned around and walked away.
When Rozelia was about to chase after Cecil, she turned to us.
「Hanna, Mira-chan, see you at the party~ I’m looking forward to dancing with you two~☆」(Rozelia)
「Hm? Dancing…?」(Hanna)
「Yup. At the Moon Viewing Party, you have to dance in pairs with someone. Normally, women will be in pairs with men, but there’s no way I’m dancing with a man. I only dance with cute girls like you two~☆」(Rozelia)
「Uhh… that’s not what I was trying to ask, though…」(Hanna)
I was about to ask in more detail, but Rozelia turned her back and ran toward Cecil before I could ask.
「……Dancing, huh…?」(Hanna)
Dancing at a formal party is like un, deux, troisー un, deux, troisー kinda thing, right?
I wonder if I can do that…
I don’t know when I have to move my hands and when I have to move my legs.
Furthermore, I have to match my movements with the music, right? Or with the others’ movements?
Ahh, I have no idea…
「Since this is the party for aristocrats and important people in this kingdom, maybe it will be the so-called ballroom dancing?」(Mira)
「Ehh….. From the name of the party, I thought we would just watch the moon for a while then leave…」(Hanna)
「Maybe we will watch the moon while dancing?」(Mira)
「Umm… Oh, right. I just realized that I haven’t read the invitation letter.」(Hanna)
I read the invitation letter in my hand to get information.
There was a note that said, “Please avoid wearing clothes with too many accessories so that you can dance comfortably.”
So we’re really going to dance, huh…?
Why didn’t Marian-chan say anything about this?
Ah, maybe this is just a normal thing for her so she didn’t think she had to tell us…
Well, she is a member of the royal family who has aristocratic common sense after all.
For some reason, I can imagine Marian-chan looking down on the peasants from the palace balcony while saying, “If they don’t have bread, let them dance.”
I don’t think Marian-chan would do something like that, though.
*/The original phrase was “If they don’t have bread, let them eat cake”.
It was a phrase that had been spoken by Princess Marie Antoinette in the 17th century upon being told that the peasants had no bread.
「What should we do…? I can’t dance…」(Hanna)
Other than practicing, you can dance really well if you have a high shoe level.
Shoe skills can make your steps lighter and allow you to move your legs very smoothly and precisely.
And my shoe level is, of course… zero.
「I can’t really dance either. I only danced at a festival in the shopping district once a year.」(Mira)
「But at least you can dance, right? Look at me. During dance lessons when I was at school, everyone called me “a slime mimicking a human being” or “a vampire being burned by the sun” or “a fish stranded on land” when they saw me dancing!」(Hanna)
And of course, those nicknames came from Rozelia…
「That’s terrible… but I wanna see you dancing.」(Mira)
「No way!」(Hanna)
「But if you want to attend the party, you have to dance. It’s still okay if I’ll be the only one watching you dancing, but not only me, everyone will watch you dancing at the party.」(Mira)
「U, Uuu…. You’re right….」(Hanna)
We can’t just decide not to attend the party and go back to Tiaret…
Anyway, I have to be able to dance!
Otherwise, Cecil and Rozelia will make a fool of me!
I have a feeling they will say something like, “Yada yada! Hanna can’t dance at all. She’s only good at swinging a hammer after all!” or “Hmph. It’s a hundred years too early for a blunt weapon user like you to attend a royal party!”
Guaahh! It’s only my imagination, but I feel like I can really hear their voices!
Looks like I have no choice but to master dance techniques in five days before the party starts.
Even if I can’t be the belle of the ball, I will practice hard enough so that I won’t embarrass myself at the party!
＊＊＊
「Eeehh….. Teaching you how to dance? Why me?」(Slad)
「Because there’s no one else I can rely on. I can’t ask the Princess since she is really busy.」(Hanna)
After eating around for a while, I entered the royal palace and talked with Slad-san, who was treated as a state guest, in a luxurious room.
Slad-san used to be a master of a stubborn girl like Cecil, so that means he has a really good leadership and patience.
Besidesー
「Slad-san, I heard from March-san that you raised the level of various tools to master your seven spears. So that means you’re also good at dancing, right?」(Hanna)
Dancing movements can also be applied in battle sometimes, so there’s no way Slad-san didn’t learn how to dance.
「Well, I’ve never seen a man who dances better than me.」(Slad)
Since he said that proudly, he seemed to be really good at dancing.
「Ohh! As expected from Slad-san!」(Hanna)
Alright, one more push and he will agree to teach us how to dance.
I looked at Mira-san and gave her a signal to say the line I told her.
Mira-san then folded her hands in front of her chest, looked at Slad-san in the eyes and saidー
「I want to dance with a cool man like Slad-san, but unfortunately I can’t dance well…」(Mira)
「ー! Very well! I’ll teach you how to dance!」(Slad)
Uwaa… He looks really excited…
His reaction is completely different from when I asked him in the beginning…
Well, no man could refuse a request from a beautiful woman like Mira-san after all.