Chapter 239
Dance Lessons from the Hero
I had what was, in effect, zero knowledge of classical music . I’d only very rarely heard it in passing when I lived in Japan, and I’d never gone out of my way to expose myself to it . That was why, while I suspected the song played by the gramophone-like device was of a classical style, I was unable to arrive at any sort of meaningful conclusion beyond the fact that it was generating the tune through magical means .
Nell and I were in a large room, a well decorated, expansive space that contained a door leading right into the castle’s greenery-filled courtyard . We were dancing . Or at least trying . It was more correct to state that I was trying to dance while Nell played the role of both my partner and instructor .
“Slow down,” she said, after giggling at my lack of comprehension . “You don’t need to try to be so quick about everything . Slowly move your body to the music . ”
“Ughhhhhh… Goddammit . ” I groaned as I tried focusing on muscles to better move in time with the rhythm .
“And you don’t need to stiffen up like that either . ”
While I was far from happy, Nell seemed to be having the time of her life . The smile on her face was one of the happiest I’d ever seen . Pulling me around the room, hand in hand, and slowly spinning around as we went, had done wonders for her mood .
I tried doing everything I could to match her movements, but for whatever reason, I just couldn’t . An absence of experience certainly played into my lack of my skill, but that alone was not enough to explain why I continued to fail so catastrophically even after a long one on one session . Several hours had passed, and yet, I was still just as bad as I had been when we started . The only difference was that my toes felt like they’d been broken . I’d stepped on them a countless number of times even though we were going at a slow, leisurely pace . Moving to the music seemed like it was flat out going to be impossible .
There was only one conclusion to be drawn from all the time I’d sunk into the effort: my talent for dance was just as non-existent as my talent with the sword .
“And even if you are having a hard time keeping up, you can’t let it show on your face,” she said as she observed my expression . “You have to smile . ”
After another long, annoyed groan, I flipped my frown on its head and gave her the most fetching smile I could muster . I knew right away that it went over perfectly . I’d long mastered the art of charming the ladies with my perfectly handsome face . Heh . Sorry girls, I know you’re swooning, but this demon lord’s already taken .
“Uhm… on second thought, that might not be all that great of an idea after all,” said Nell . “Smiling makes you look like a bit of a creep . ”
“Would it really kill you to be less blunt!?”
The involuntary scream only prompted the girl to giggle with even more intensity than she had before .
“I’m sorry,” she said, between laughs . “You don’t have to force yourself to smile . Just be natural . ” She let go of my hands and tapped my shoulders, which had once again stiffened up . “I know that this is your first time doing this, and that it’s not the easiest thing in the world, but you have to relax . Carrying yourself naturally is the most important part . If you do that right, then you should be able to at least get by even if you can’t figure out the rest . ”
“A-alright . ” I nodded meekly . “I’ll give it another shot . ”
There were no protests to be had in the face of her superior knowledge . Her role as hero, and therefore her participation in the court’s affairs, had made her surprisingly knowledgeable about etiquette . I, on the other hand, knew basically nothing . I could only imagine how I was supposed to act to please a crowd of filthy rich schemers . In all honesty, I would have preferred to keep it that way . I didn’t want to learn how to dance . I didn’t want to dress up in a tux . And personally, I did not care what Allysia’s nobles thought of me . But I couldn’t just be me . As Nell’s supposed subordinate, I had to act in a manner befitting my position else risk reflecting poorly on her . At the very least, I wanted to avoid any potential situations in which people denounced her for keeping an uncouth barbarian in her company . There would have been very little to worry about had we been attending a more private gathering, but the ball was something that those that sought to work against us were sure to be present for . Anything I messed up was something that they would nitpick, no matter how insignificant of a mistake it was .
While I did feel fairly driven to pick up on both court etiquette and dance, I wasn’t making nearly as much progress as I would have hoped . Etiquette was fine . Nell had taught me everything I needed to know, and I was confident I could carry it out . But dance? Dance was a problem . It was my first time doing it, and my lack of aptitude didn’t exactly help .
At first, I had failed to realize exactly how bad I really was . I’d assumed that, while I was beneath the bar, I wasn’t awful . And I was wrong . I was so wrong, in fact, that my demonstrations had prompted Enne, whose personality was far blunter than her edge, to fill my heart with shame by asking me if I was attempting to conduct some sort of bizarre, otherworldly ritual .
With removing the need to suppress my sense of humiliation as the main driving force behind my efforts, I desperately worked to improve . I knew that cramming wasn’t going to work as anything beyond a poor short-term stopgap; there was no way I was really going to retain Nell’s lessons if I crammed them all into such a short time-frame . But there was nothing else I could do . The ball was fast approaching, and I had to git gud, even if all my effort would end up being wasted in the long run .
“How about we try it all again from the top?” suggested Nell . “Repetition is one of the most important parts of practice . ”
“Sure,” I said, confidently . “I’ve got it all figured out now . ”
“Really?”
Nope . Not at all . I didn’t let the truth leave my lips and continued to exude an undue air of confidence .
“Okay! Then let’s make sure you memorize it while you’ve still got the hang of it . ”
After walking over to the not-gramophone and restarting the song, she closed all distance between us .
Slowly, “elegantly,” I took her hand and wrapped my other arm around her waist . Whilst keeping everything she taught me in mind, I did my utmost to twirl around the room with every bit of grace I could muster .
While it wasn’t anywhere near the size of a ballroom, the space we had been loaned was more than large enough to allow us to dance freely without having to worry about running into a wall . It was a room that the king had allowed us to reserve wholly for our use after we spoke to him of our intentions . It turned out that his castle, like mine, was vast enough to have many an unused sunroom, even in spite of the fact that it housed a great number of people .
The connected courtyard was, though usually tranquil, just as filled with energy as the makeshift ballroom . Iryll and Enne livened it up by running around and playing whatever games happened to come to mind . The pair would occasionally peek in on our activities, either through the door or one of the windows . Each time, Iryll would giggle as she made note of how little I managed to learn . Enne, on the other hand, remained expressionless, which meant she was likely pondering what we would be having for lunch .
“Hmmm…” Nell scrunched up her face as she attempted to evaluate me after we finished running through the dance . “I’m not really sure if that was better or not . It kind of was, but kind of wasn’t . ”
“Yeah uh… you’re not making all that much sense . ”
Like, what’s that even supposed to mean? Was I better? Or not? Because I thought I did a good bit better . Ughhhhhh… After some internal grumbling, I decided to throw my sunk cost out the window and invalidate all my practice . Fuck it . We don’t have time for this . I’m pulling out my last resort .
“Give me a second . . ”
“Uhm… Sure,” said Nell . “What are you opening that up for?” She regarded the floating translucent panel I’d materialized with an eye of doubt .
“I’m using it to fix my dance problem . ”
I browsed through the store and added a very specific item to my cart as I offered an explanation I knew she wouldn’t understand . Every member of my household had already gained the ability to see the dungeon’s display . That, however, didn’t necessarily mean that they understood its purpose . The concept of the user interface was one that, to this world, was foreign . The only two who were able to comprehend its functionality were Lefi and Leila . Lefi had figured it out after experimenting, as she had a version of it with limited access . Leila, on the other hand, had bugged me about it until I answered every single one of her overly inquisitive questions .
As such, the all-knowing maid was the only other member of my family that truly understood the menu as a concept . Everyone else, Lefi included, thought of it as a weird floating panel and another one of the powers I possessed as a demon lord . Their inability to read Japanese, the language displayed on the screen, was a major comprehension-impeding factor . It made it so that they were unable to understand the interactions I had with it, even if they looked over my shoulder . Lefi’s UI apparently showed up in this world’s language, but the version she had was much simpler and lacked all but a few select features . Looking over her shoulder didn’t provide enough information to explain the actions that my console made available to me .
“Alright, I’m done,” I said . “Let’s try this shit one more time . ”
“U-uhm… Mmk . ”
Nell still seemed doubtful as to whether or not I’d actually accomplished anything, but restarted the music once again regardless . Her preconceptions lasted only until we began to move .
My experience with the Sword Mastery skill and the lackluster effect it had on me had led me to realize that just purchasing a scroll and popping it wouldn’t suffice . That was why I had chosen to not only purchase the scroll for, but also pump a few points into the dance skill . At level 3, its effect was beyond just notable . It was shocking .
Nell was completely flabbergasted . Hell, even I was shocked by how lightly I was able to carry my feet, and how nimbly I was able to twirl about . My movements had, in a matter of moments, gone from being clumsy and unrefined to the very embodiment of graceful .
“T-That was incredible,” said Nell, wide-eyed . “How did you do it?”“Heh . That was nothing . ” I threw my surprise under the couch and put on the cockiest shit-eating grin I had in my repertoire . “All I did was get a tiny bit serious . ”
Dancing didn’t actually require the Dance skill . Nell didn’t have it, and most people were able to dance fairly well without it . But as someone with no talent or time, I had no choice but to acquire it in order to make myself presentable . Totally not a waste of DP and skill points . Totally . In fact, you could even say that resources exist to be used . So this is totally and perfectly acceptable . Yeah . That .
I wasn’t always able to make use of the dungeon’s power outside my territory . Only recently did I gain the ability to make purchases and access several other functions whilst not within my own realm . It was both an ability that manifested itself shortly after the Lyuu incident and a result of my growth . Becoming more powerful, as a demon lord, meant becoming capable of containing, and therefore exerting, more of the dungeon’s power . Each forward step I took changed me and brought me closer to becoming something along the lines of a mobile dungeon . Mwahahaha! Stagnancy shall never claim me! For I am a demon lord, a creature that knows only of evolution! No part of me that lacks shall remain that way for all! I need only compensate! If I cannot dance, then I will simply obtain a skill that overcomes that weakness! Vive la France! Mwahahaha!
“Thank goodness,” Nell smiled at me whilst I celebrated certain victory in France’s name . “Now we can move onto the next part of the dance . ”
“Wait . What? We’re not done?”
“Of course not, silly . We were just getting started,” she said . “I was starting to get worried that you weren’t going to be able to learn everything, but it looks like we’re going to make it in time after all . ”
“So uh… how many parts are there anyway?”
“About thirty, I think . Now let’s get started!” She pumped her fists cutely as if to encourage me . “Don’t worry, I’ll be right here for you every step of the way, so keep up the good work!”
“Oh goddammit…” With nothing left to say, I hung my head and resigned myself to my fate .
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login