< Chapter 80 - Sword Dance #2 >
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Cordelia simply blinked at Uther’s comment, but Princess Lyca was different.
Because I was genuinely surprised.
‘how?!’
Even though he inherited the sword spirit of Velencia, how did he realize that there were not enough people for the sword dance and spirit banquet before his eyes?
As explained earlier, the swordsmen who participated in the spirit banquet were inheriting swordsmanship through a one-man tradition.
The reason why the dance that was supposed to be performed by seven people had to be performed by six people was because the seventh sword dance was not performed properly.
‘Oh, did Lady Velencia leave any records of the spirit banquet?’
Today I saw the spirits’ banquet.
The movements of the seven inspectors were very harmonious.
Then, it could have continued to be about seven people.
‘No. But I didn’t tell you that it was a spirit banquet.’
Did you just guess with your eyes?
‘But you were sure?’
Although she did not have a particularly authoritarian personality, Princess Lyca was aware of the fact that she was a princess, and a crown princess at that.
It was quite unreasonable to say anything like “no” in front of someone like that.
‘Do humans have different cultures?’
I don’t think it’s that different.
Especially when it comes to these basic etiquettes.
In the end, Leica, who had been worrying about this, decided to just do it her own way.
“You’re right. How did you figure that out?”
Let’s just ask outright. Midas and Vanessa, who were nearby and heard the story, also looked at Yuder with very curious eyes.
The same was true for Cordelia.
So, Yuder looked back and forth between Princess Lyca and Cordelia as he answered.
“I knew that seven people were needed for the spirit banquet from the records left by Lady Belencia. And… the dance before my eyes was certainly beautiful, but I felt uneasy. I felt uneasy because one person was missing. Furthermore, I remembered that you said it was a dance to commemorate communication with the spirits, so when I watched it from the perspective that it might be the spirit banquet, I was certain that one person was missing.”
Princess Lyca was impressed by Yuder’s plausible explanation, and Cordelia reflexively returned the gaze.
‘really?’
‘I’ll tell you more later.’
After all, I only wanted to tell Cordelia the truth if possible.
What I just said to Princess Lyca wasn’t entirely false, but it was close to the truth, but the story about Velencia was slightly different from the truth.
‘Okay. Is that right?’
‘Oh, sure.’
Cordelia smiled bashfully, satisfied with the look in Yuder’s eyes, and Yuder also looked back at Princess Lyca with a strangely relieved expression.
And that was when it happened.
“Then, Yuder, do you know anything about the seventh swordsman’s sword dance?”
Midas, who was sitting behind Princess Lyca, asked in an urgent tone.
“Midas?”
Princess Lyca looked back at her advisor with a surprised expression.
Although he would nag her like a shower in front of her, he was always serious in front of others.
Moreover, there were problems with the voice, tone, and facial expressions.
Because the earnestness was evident.
“Tell me, Uther. Do you know anything?”
When Midas asked Princess Lyca again without even thinking of answering, Vanessa quickly used a soundproofing spell.
Because Midas raised his voice, many of those watching the sword dance turned to look in his direction.
In particular, I was concerned that Canary Solphage, Keltur’s biological mother, was looking this way.
‘Yuder, what’s wrong with him? Is something important?’
As the atmosphere became tense, Cordelia asked again with her eyes, but Yuder didn’t seem to have much idea.
It was only possible to sense that Midas was very curious about the seventh sword dance.
‘Is this even a real-life situation?’
The seventh sword dance that was performed.
But then a human appeared who might not know about the sword dance.
That’s why I got excited and asked.
‘Earnestness.’
There was something.
Maybe there was some secret to the spirit’s dance.
“Uder, don’t you know anything?”
As a look of disappointment spread across Midas’ face, Princess Lyca also looked at Yuder with a strange expression, and Yuder answered after some thought.
“Please give me a moment to think about it.”
“Are you thinking about whether or not to answer?”
“No, I need time to think about the seventh sword dance.”
After giving a somewhat ambiguous answer, Yuder closed his eyes, and Princess Lyca, Midas, and Vanessa naturally turned their gazes to Cordelia.
The looks on their faces were like, “What is Yuder doing now?”
“That, that is… the palace of memories… do you know?”
As Cordelia continued her stammering explanation of the Memory Palace, Princess Lyca looked at Uther as if she was seeing a very strange creature.
‘I understand. Even I find it strange, seeing it every day.’
Cordelia, speaking to herself, looked at Midas and Venessa, Venessa’s face looked excited and Midas’s face looked more earnest, yet hopeful.
And then.
The spirit’s dance continues, but most eyes are focused on Princess Laika and her party, who are inside the soundproof magic field.
Instead of unfolding the palace of memories, Yuder memorized the nine verses of the nine heavenly gates.
I pushed myself beneath the surface of consciousness as if I had opened the sixth door.
‘Velencia!’
If you can hear me, please answer.
Show me your appearance just like that!
Yuder called out Velencia’s name again, recalling Sword Origin.
And the answer came back.
The surrounding scenery, which had been dark, suddenly changed, and a beautiful woman with long, blonde hair appeared before my eyes.
“Your successor.”
Fairy Sword Velencia.
Now that I look at it, she really does resemble Princess Laika – no, Princess Laika resembles her. In any case, Velencia had many similarities to Princess Laika.
‘I think Belencia is a bit prettier, though.’
Of course Cordelia is prettier.
“Your successor?”
“Lady Velencia. Do you happen to know everything that’s going on outside?”
“I don’t know exactly. I’m sleeping most of the time. Can you share your memories?”
At Velencia’s question, Uder quickly recalled his memories of the spirit’s dance.
Then, Velencia said with a very happy face.
“Spirit Sword Dance! It’s still being practiced in its original form. It’s a shame that it’s incomplete.”
“Yes, Lady Velencia. The elves also seemed to regret that. Do you happen to know about the seventh swordsman’s sword dance?”
“Yes, I know how to get out.”
“Wow, really?”
“yes.”
“Did Lady Valencia do the seventh inspection?”
Could it be that Velencia, who could no longer wield a sword because of Sword Origin, stopped dancing to the sword, and that the tradition of the seventh swordsman was cut off because of that?
It was a pretty plausible story, but it wasn’t.
Because Belencia shook her head as soon as she heard it.
“No, I wasn’t the inspector of the spirit’s smoke.”
“But how······.”
Didn’t the spirit’s dance say that it was a one-shot tradition?
When Yuder asked again, Belencia answered with an expression of surprise.
“But it’s swordsmanship.”
“yes?”
“It’s swordsmanship.”
What does this mean?
Yuder tilted his head for a moment, but soon understood.
Because it’s swordsmanship.
I watched it closely because it was a swordsmanship technique, and I even memorized the technique.
I figured out things like the use of internal energy required for swordsmanship.
‘You’re a real swordsman.’
It wasn’t for nothing that they talked about dual swordsmanship and two-timing.
“Excuse me, do you happen to know how to dance all seven swordsmanship moves?”
“Yes, because it’s swordsmanship.”
“Oh, I see.”
This is why nerds are scary.
Of course, if Cordelia had seen it, she would have said that the Palace of Memory was even scarier.
“Anyway… it seemed like reviving the seventh sword dance was a very important task for the elves. Do you know why?”
“Yes, I can guess.”
“For some reason······.”
“You’ll know once you try it.”
Belencia smiled bashfully and continued speaking with a slight blush on her cheeks.
“You want to learn?”
“Yes, is that possible?”
“I’ll share my memories with you. Oh, of course, knowing it in your head and actually doing it are different things. You’ll need to practice, right?”
To Belencia’s question, Yuder hesitated for an answer, then simply smiled.
Because he was a genius who could do anything with his body.
As long as you have a memory, it’s not a problem to move your body accordingly.
“Then close your eyes and concentrate. I will tell you.”
“Yes, Lady Velencia.”
Uther closed his eyes.
The world turned black again, and only Velencia shone through.
“This is how you do it.”
Was it the fact that he was dancing that excited him?
Belencia smiled bashfully with the aforementioned face and began to dance with her sword.
The seventh sword dance is beautiful and dazzling.
&
Uder opened his eyes.
And I thought.
‘It’s really beautiful.’
The sword dance of Valencia.
Honestly, it was ecstatic. Just looking at it made my heart race and it was hard to breathe.
‘But still, Cordelia is the best.’
Cordelia, with her wet hair standing under the moonlight to summon the fairies, was truly a goddess.
‘Yuderya?’
Yuder, who was facing Cordelia who was tilting her head in confusion, smiled brightly again and then turned to Princess Lyca and Midas and said.
“You can come out.”
“Oh, really? You can do the seventh sword dance?”
“yes.”
As Yuder answered confidently, Midas looked back at Princess Lyca with an excited face.
“Your Highness the Crown Princess.”
“Are you telling me to do it again with Yuder included?”
“That’s right.”
It was the eye of Midas that could be said to be burning brightly.
So instead of measuring this and that, Princess Leica nodded.
“Okay, it’s been a while since Midas asked me for something like this.”
In any case, to Princess Lyca, he was a father-like teacher and an advisor she had relied on for a long time.
She was the type of woman who would want to grant any wish he had.
“Uder, can I ask you a favor?”
“Yes, you can.”
Princess Lyca, once again satisfied with Uder’s answer, nodded to Vanessa and had her lift the sound barrier.
“The performance will be over soon. I will tell you the story then.”
And about a minute later.
As soon as the performance ended, applause broke out among the elves.
Princess Lyca also stood up, clapped her hands, and then stepped forward and spoke.
“It was a truly wonderful dance. I can’t help but be amazed whenever I see it.”
The inspectors smiled happily at Princess Lyca’s praise, and the elves applauded loudly once again. Keltur’s reaction was especially good, and it seemed like he was applauding Princess Lyca more than the inspectors.
‘You really like it.’
Princess Lyca also looked at Keltur with affectionate eyes and then revealed her business.
“You’ve probably already heard some of the story. The story of the human heroes who helped me defeat Javawalk.”
Everyone’s attention naturally turned to Yuder and Cordelia, and Princess Lyca spoke briefly about their activities.
About Cordelia’s boldness in persuading the Fairy Queen and Uther’s bravery in repelling Javawalk.
‘Oh, that’s embarrassing.’
Fortunately, thanks to Princess Lyca, who appropriately packaged the truth instead of telling it as it was, the negotiation process with the fairies was actually close to a fabrication, but Cordelia’s face turned red in embarrassment.
And this appearance of Cordelia drew quite a good response from the elves.
Because, as Uther claimed, Cordelia was so cute and lovable, even when she was shy.
‘Of course, that’s not all.’
It probably came across as a humble attitude.
Anyway, Princess Laika, who had been talking about the subjugation of Javawalk and giving a speech to herself here and there, brought up the main topic.
“Count Juder August Bayer is the successor to the swordsmanship of Lady Velencia, the Fairy Sword. And surprisingly, he also knows about the Spirit Dance – the seventh sword dance that we have lost.”
All the elves looked surprised at Princess Lyca’s words and turned to look at Yuder.
In particular, the swordsmen who performed the sword dance seemed to be very surprised.
“So I’d like to make a suggestion. How about performing the complete spirit dance with the seventh sword dance added right here and now?”
The meaning was clear.
Princess Laika looked back at the inspectors, and the inspectors who looked back at each other nodded almost simultaneously, and then the first inspector, who was the representative, bowed to Princess Laika and said.
“Rather, it is something we would like to ask you to do. We will follow the Crown Princess’s wishes.”
“I am grateful that you readily allowed me to join the spirit dance, even though it was a different race.”
Princess Lyca answered softly, looking at Keltur and his biological mother, Viscountess Solphage of Canaria, for a moment before turning back to Juder.
“Yuder, come forward and dance the sword dance with me.”
“Yes, Your Highness the Crown Princess.”
Yuder answered honestly, took the sword offered by Midas, and stepped forward.
‘Well, is that okay?’
If you take up a sword, won’t Belencia say something weird like “adultery” or something?
If that was the case in the first place, I wouldn’t have taught you the seventh sword dance.
‘and······.’
Because in the first place, Uther himself belonged to Cordelia.
If Cordelia heard that, Yuder would get angry, but he couldn’t control the corners of his mouth, so he naturally mingled with the inspectors.
The dance that six people used to dance is now being danced by seven people.
Not only does the circle get bigger, but the interlocking movements also change subtly.
But Uther wasn’t worried.
The spirit dance was originally a dance performed by seven people, so if each person properly performed their assigned role, the dance could be completed much more naturally than if it were performed by six people.
“Okay, let’s begin.”
As the first judge spoke, Princess Lyca sat back down, and the orchestra began to play again.
‘Softly at first.’
The seven swordsmen, including Yuder, slowly raised their swords. They began to dance to the music.
“Oh.”
“It’s real. It’s a real spirit dance.”
Exclamations of admiration arose among the elves.
Even when there were six of us, I thought we had perfect harmony, but when there were seven of us, my thoughts changed.
The smoke that was unfolding before my eyes was truly a perfect harmony.
But it was still too early to be amazed.
The true value of the spirit dance was not just a perfect dance.
“uh?”
Cordelia, with her keen senses, was the first to notice.
Although there had been no visual change yet, she could tell because she was sensitive to the flow of magical energy.
The spirit dance was not just any ordinary dance.
It was a kind of ritual to activate great magic.
And the changes continued.
That’s why the elves, including Princess Lyca, were able to know.
“Oh!”
“It’s a spirit!”
“They are spirits!”
It wasn’t just a matter of exclamation. The elves were so surprised that they raised their voices, and some of them even jumped up from their seats.
Seven spirits who made a pact with the descendants of Magellan of the Magic Kingdom.
Darkness spread.
The glass ceiling was covered to create a night.
The light came on.
The moon and stars shone through the curtains of night, and each dancing swordsman was bathed in a soft light as if in a spotlight.
The spirit of light and the spirit of darkness.
Other spirits also appeared one by one.
Green leaves were sprouting between the trees that formed part of the building, and a pleasant humidity spread throughout the banquet hall.
Earth spirits and water spirits.
And it continued.
Beautiful fire spirits danced beneath the veil of darkness.
A gentle breeze blowing from somewhere tickled everyone’s ears.
The spirit of fire and the spirit of wind.
Six spirits appeared.
And these six were those who had been interacting with the elves of the Eternal Forest, both past and present.
So the elves swallowed dry saliva.
I waited for the appearance of the seventh spirit, my heart pounding with excitement.
And at that moment.
At that very moment, Yuder’s sword, which was dancing, pointed towards the sky.
Quagga River!
The curtain of darkness split with a loud noise. The glass ceiling shattered and a fierce wind blew and swept through the surroundings.
And thus the sky was revealed.
A bright light poured through the darkness that filled the banquet hall.
And everyone could feel it.
A powerful force that could not even be compared to the six spirits that had appeared before was descending from the sky.
Light and darkness, wind and fire, earth and water.
The six spirits danced and worshipped.
The six inspectors, excluding Yuder, unconsciously stepped back and bowed, and Yuder, standing in the center of the stage, performed the final movement of the seventh inspector.
It’s worship.
It’s a tribute.
The proper posture for someone welcoming a king.
The music stopped.
The elves’ palace began to glow, releasing all the magical power they had accumulated.
A price was paid to summon the king from the open sky.
And then the wind blew again.
A gigantic being finally appeared from the open sky.
“Ahhh, ahhhh!”
Most of the elves, including Midas, bowed down in awe.
Princess Lyca was also so surprised that she hesitated for a moment, but soon bowed and greeted the king.
The spirit’s dance.
A ritual to summon the seven spirits who made a pact with the elves of the Eternal Forest led by the Prime Royal Family.
But this time, things were a little different.
Because the King of the Seven Spirits, who had not been invited for a long time due to the discontinuation of the sword dance, had revealed himself.
[Do you remember the oath?]
A voice came from heaven.
It was so magnificent and sacred that it seemed as if the whole world was in a state of shock.
Princess Lyca took a deep breath. As the elven princess, she raised her head and faced the seventh spirit lord.
He was a very strong and huge man, swept by the strong wind.
But he was beautiful at the same time.
Cordelia unconsciously thought of Zeus from Greco-Roman mythology.
“I remember you, King of the Seven Spirits. You who are with the storm.”
There were many spirits in the world.
During the time of the Magic Kingdom of Mazeran, there were dozens of types of spirits that made pacts with the elves.
One of them.
Among the seven spirits that continued their alliance with the elves even after the destruction of Magellan, he is the leader of the most powerful spirits.
The spirit king of storms and lightning.
He looked at Princess Lyca. He looked down at all the other elves and opened his mouth again to speak.
[I will continue the oath. That is why I will now once again make a contract with one of you.]
All the elves became tense at the Spirit King’s declaration.
Midas and Vanessa looked at Princess Lyca, while Countess Solphage, Keltur’s biological mother, looked urgently at Keltur.
It was a contract with the Spirit King, not an ordinary spirit.
Depending on the contract, the next elf king could change.
Princess Lyca took a slow breath.
He mustered up his courage and stood up, and Keltur, unable to resist his mother’s wrath, stood up.
1st and 2nd in line to the throne.
The elves swallowed hard, tense, and Midas glared at Count Solphage.
And then the craze started.
The spirit king came down from heaven and stood in the banquet hall.
He, in the form of a giant, passed by Juder. Without even looking at Keltur, he went towards Princess Lyca.
‘Ohhh!’
Midas clenched his fist.
Count Solpage looked extremely resentful, but there was nothing he could do.
And Princess Lyca tried to calm her pounding heart.
He bowed once again to the spirit king who had come right in front of him, showing his respect.
“King of storms and lightning.”
He said it with a trembling voice.
And the Spirit King passed by even Princess Lyca.
From the very beginning, ever since he descended, he had been looking at only one person.
[Of all those present, you are the child with the most beautiful soul. You are the child with a soul like a storm. Only you can bear me.]
A red-haired human girl standing among the elves.
Cordelia looked at the Spirit King with a blank expression, and the Spirit King smiled. He lifted Cordelia’s chin with his large hand and asked again.
[Will you make a contract with me, beautiful girl?]
The Spirit King’s Selection.
Cordelia blinked and looked at Uther, and she couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Uther’s face, which was a mixture of joy and a little anger.
‘Hey, it’s the Spirit King. The Spirit King. Not a human.’
At Cordelia’s gaze, Uther narrowed his brows and nodded with a helpless expression, and Cordelia tried hard to suppress her laughter.
Instead, she faced the Spirit King with a beautiful and bright smile.
“I will do so, O King of Storms and Lightning.”
I felt a little sorry for Princess Leica, but what could I do?
The Spirit King chose him.
[At this very moment, the oath will be fulfilled.]
The Spirit King responded with an identical smile, transformed from a giant into a beautiful boy, and lightly kissed Cordelia on the forehead.
[My contractor, my girl.]
The Spirit King’s Whispers.
But the word got out to everyone.
Cordelia glanced at Uther, and a clumsy smile appeared on his face, just as she had expected.
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< Chapter 80 - Sword Dance #2 > End
