Chapter 151: The Knight Hates Balls (6)

“Kunta, question!”

“What is it?”

“Why the sultan and mage come to meet Mage Chick?”

“Hmm… This is just by guess, but I think in the case of the Magic Tower, they want to see if Miss Irene’s talent is as good as the rumors say.”

“Why?”

“They probably want to take the young miss to the Magic Tower.”

“Why?”

“That’s just how they are. They want all mages with exceptional talents to be under their command, they probably think it’s a kind of trophy or something.”

“…Evil reason. Kunta understands why the instructor hates mages.”

“Well, in the instructor’s case, he doesn’t just hate them. He treats them like pests that need to be exterminated.”

“Hmm. True.”

Arno and Galand answered Kunta’s questions, as always. They had been sparring and training together for a while. At some point, this kind of dynamic was formed between them.

“Then, why ‘Master of the Desert’ come?”

“Master of the Desert? Oh, you mean the sultan?”

“The sultan…probably covets Miss Irene’s abilities. Water magic has always been prized in the West. Considering Miss Irene’s magic could make whole rivers gushing out of nowhere, it isn’t strange that the sultan covets her—no, the entire West covets her.”

In the West, where water sources were limited, Irene’s magic that could bring forth rain and discover hidden underground water veins was like a miracle of God. If they were to take her, it would further solidify the sultan’s authority and power base.

“Hmm. So the sultan needs a trophy too!”

“More or less, yeah.”

“But it won’t be easy. After all, His Excellency the Duke of the Demon Sword is backing Miss Irene. According to my father, His Excellency could burn down the entire West if he wanted to. I doubt that they have the courage to offend such a person.”

“…The chick’s father is scary.”

“Calling him scary is undermining it.”

Looking at it this way, the action of the sultan and the Magic Tower seemed excessive at first glance. After all, it was no different from moths gathering to a flame.

“Ugh, my head hurts.”

The Barbarian’s head started to heat up at the explanations that his friends gave him. He wondered if it was the side effect of receiving too much information at once.

“We didn’t even give out too much information. Is it a weakness of the Barbarian as a race?”

“Nope, I don’t think so. That guy is just the kind of the guy who only uses his brain to move his body. I know a Barbarian merc in the Mercenary Union who’s smart enough to handle the Union’s accounting.”

“…I see, even Barbarians have their own individual differences, huh? Anyway, I want to meet that accountant Barbarian.”

“Hehe, I’ll introduce him to you later if we get the chance.”

That marked the end of their conversation, and they were about to go back to training.

Ever since the first time they tasted the might of the [Barrier of Sacrifice], the cadets of the Swordsmanship Department caught a training fever. So, the top-tier cadets had to push their asses to work harder as well if they didn’t want their positions to be taken over by the others.

However…

“Um…”

“Is there anything else you’re curious about?”

“Yeah. What’s the instructor doing?”

“…”

“Is he practicing a new joint technique? Striking technique? It looks weird.”

“…Hmm.”

Hearing Kunta’s remark, their gazes shifted towards the instructor. What they saw was…

Bang-!

Bang-!

…A sight of more than ten heavy sand dolls being destroyed in a brutal manner.

“Haa… This is hard.”

The instructor showed his rarely-seen frustrated look, leaving the two cadets dumbfounded.

“To think that’s a dancing practice…”

“I should pray for the soul of his partner in advance.”

Indeed. Dance practice.

To be exact, he was learning a dance called social dance. The reason why he had difficulty learning it was none other than…

Bang-!

…Because he kept on using a technique on his ‘dance partner’.

To be exact, the techniques that were meant to kill the others.

“…He did that purely by instinct too… Scary…”

“Scary? No, no, it’s just downright terrifying.”

Killing dance.

The instructor’s dance moves were like the steps of death, sending shivers down their spines.

Crunch-!

At that moment, another doll’s waist completely broke.

“For fuck sake. I have more to prepare than I thought.”

Lee Han grumbled.

An unexpected chance to meet the mage of the Magic Tower had come to his lap, but in order to do that, he had to attend the party.

He could just sneak into the party, but Lee Han decided to approach him in a proper way.

Of course, it wasn’t because he was afraid of the Magic Tower.

Rather…

-Please, I beg you, Master…

Because he couldn’t stand to go against Female Bear’s desperate eyes as she clasped her hands together and begged him.

Just where did she learn such a strange skill?

Whatever was that she had learned, she learned it properly.

Her hand gestures, eyes, even her body language, all aroused sympathy from within him. On top of that, she even amplified the sad atmosphere around her, forcing him to give up his reckless plan. Now, since he had decided to approach the mage in a proper way, he was forced to learn party etiquette and culture.

However, unlike his resolution…

“You aren’t allowed to touch the party food. Those aren’t meant to be eaten, only to be seen and enjoyed.”

“…But why? Such a thing…”

Everything was so difficult from the start.

Hearing that thing about the food, Lee Han was furious. Wasting food was one of his top five most hated things.

On the other hand, Levy, who taught him about party etiquette and culture, quickly added while sweating.

“O-Of course, the food will be eaten by the servants! T-They won’t just throw it away!”

“At least they have the decency to do that.”

“A-Also, if you need something to drink, it isn’t gentlemanly or ladylike to raise your hand, so you should wait until the people who serve you the drinks come to you.”

“…”

“You should also do this when using a glass.”

“…I’m going insane.”

The more he listened, the more dizzy Lee Han got.

If I had known this would happen, I shoulda accepted Jake’s offer to teach me this shit.

At the end of the day, he was a knight.

As a knight, he was supposed to learn the basics of noble culture, but he preferred to lift another rep than learning such things. Because of that, he knew jack about noble etiquette.

Now, learning how to dance for the first time, he was also experiencing a lot of difficult situations in many ways.

“…I never thought that learning how to dance would be this hard.”

“Rather than learning how to dance itself is difficult, it’s more like you aren’t good at controlling your strength, Instructor.”

“I’m confident that I could control my own strength. My problem is that I have a habit of tripping or threatening people when I’m in front of them.”

“…That’s a great instinct for a knight, but it’s a bad one for dancing.”

Levy let out a wry laugh. At a first glance, his habit was a habit she could totally understand given his occupation, but it was indeed a habit that could interfere greatly with his daily life.

However…

“But, that habit only appears on strangers.”

Tap-!

“See? I won’t threaten people I’m close with even when they approach me.”

“…”

“Female Bear?”

“Ha, haaaaah…!”

“??”

At that moment, Levy’s waist just gave in. She was surprised that he had approached her without hesitation like that.

This person…

Levy realized that her appearance was extremely unsightly, but she couldn’t stop herself from blushing. After all, surprise was surprise, and joy was joy.

He’s comfortable with me…

As he had said, he wouldn’t trip or threaten people close to him instinctively.

In other words, he trusted her—as a woman, but this was just what she was thinking—and that fact brought a great joy to her. After all, she had found out the man she liked also liked her back. Knowing that, there was no way that she wouldn’t feel much joy.

But, this wasn’t even the end of it.

“Oh, right. Now that I think about it, there is also that…”

“?”

Rustle-!

Lee Han took out a dark navy ribbon from his pocket; a color that matched the girl well. The act of a man taking out a ribbon and handing it to a woman had this meaning in Pendragon:

“Will you go to the ball with me?”

“…”

“T-This is how you do it, right?”

“…”

“?”

Levy froze without giving any response, and Lee Han quickly figured out why.

“…So it’s possible for someone to faint with their eyes open, huh?”

This discovery left him fascinated.

On the other hand, Levy experienced with her body directly how too much happiness could cause someone to lose consciousness.

“What happened to Miss Levy?”

“I don’t know either.”

Lee Han shrugged as he laid the girl down in the shaded hammock.

He was being truthful, he really had no idea.

“Luckily I happened to bring a blanket with me!”

“…But how?”

“Hehehe.”

The maid, Leila Winter, who wore braids that completely suited her looks, covered Levy’s body affectionately with a blanket.

“I see a smile on her lips, so I guess she’s having a good dream!”

“…So, not only can you see through people’s minds, you can even see through their dreams, huh, Maid?”

“??”

“…You really look so innocent when you are like this.”

Sometimes, the maid would show sharper eyes than anyone else, and he would strangely become a docile lamb in front of her. Although, the latter was probably because he knew that she was a weak and innocent woman, not a behemoth that could kill him in one shot.

“More than that, Sir, are you having difficulties learning how to dance?”

“…My progress is slow, but I’m learning little by little.”

“Do you think it’s possible to learn everything in four days?”

“…”

Four days. The remaining time until the party.

It was a sharp assessment on her part, making Lee Han feel embarrassed towards her.

Step-!

“Alright! Why don’t you practice with me instead, Sir?”

“Maid?”

“I know how to dance too.”

“T-That…”

Her words surprised him. Moreover, he was afraid that he might hurt her by accident.

However…

Tap-!

“Okay, let’s start~.”

“…”

There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation in her movements.

She just clung to his body as if hugging him and started dancing. Before he knew it, he was already dancing, following her lead.

“…Huh?”

After less than two seconds of the dance, his eyes widened in surprise.

…I’m dancing…?

His movements were awkward—which was a given—but the important thing was that he was dancing normally.

“It’s like this! But, normally, the man is the one who leads his partner, so Sir, you need to hold your partner’s waist! No need to be afraid!”

“…But, won’t it just break?”

“No worries! My body is strong!”

“…Good point…”

Her waist was thin and soft. Lee Han was worried that holding her waist might hurt her, but knowing her unusual strength, he thought he could ease his worries, but…

It’s strange… I can’t really do it…

When their bodies were in contact like this, he could only feel that she was weak and precious. He felt that she was something he had to protect.

“Okay! Make a turn! Carefully!”

“…Like this?”

“Yes! As expected, you use your body well, Sir.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes!”

“Haa…”

The gestures and movements of her hands and feet, the eyes that resembled the beautiful color of honey, all were solely focused on him, making it a beautiful and dreamy moment; like a dream of a summer day.

And then at some point…

“How was it? You can do it, right?”

“…Yes.”

Just like how dreams were meant to end, the dance was over. Although Lee Han succeeded in dancing properly for the first time, he was still in a daze, unable to feel even the slightest sense of accomplishment.

“Hehe, I danced better than expected! Sometimes, royal maids have to attend balls or parties, so they learn how to dance in advance! I made a lot of mistakes when I first started learning too.”

“…”

…When he thought of the possibility that the girl could just go to a party with someone other than him, an uncomfortable feeling crept up in his heart.

For some reason, he was heartbroken by the thought that those eyes could be directed at another man.

“…”

“Why are you looking at me like that, Sir?”

“No, I was just having a wild thought.”

“Hmm…?”

“…”

She stared at him with a gaze that seemed to be able to see right through him, and he looked away, as if trying to exercise his right to remain silent.

And then…

Ah, I suddenly hate balls.

Hatred for balls suddenly arose in his heart.

A great, great hatred.