Chapter 225: Sword Dance (2) (1/2)
Cordelia just blinked her eyes at Jude’s comment, but Princess Leica was different.
Because she was genuinely surprised.
‘How did you know?!’
Even if you inherited Valencia’s sword, how did you know that the number of people in the sword dance in front of you, the Banquet of Spirits, was lacking?
Like what she had explained earlier, the swordsmen who participated in the Banquet of Spirits were taught and handed down the sword dance for each part individually.
The reason why six people had to perform a sword dance that was originally danced by seven people was because the part of the sword dance for the seventh swordsman was not properly handed down.
‘Ah, did Valencia also leave a record about the Banquet of Spirits?’
He had only seen the Banquet of Spirits today.
The movements of the seven swordsmen were said to be very harmonious.
And it was only passed down to seven people.
‘Wait. I didn’t tell him that this is the Banquet of Spirits though.’
Did he just figure it out from watching?
‘And he looks like he is sure of it.’
Princess Leica wasn’t particularly authoritative, but she was conscious of the fact that she was royalty and that she was also the crown princess.
She knew that it was not right to say such things in front of someone like her.
‘Do humans have a different culture?’
I don’t think it’s that different.
Especially when it comes to basic etiquette.
Princess Leica eventually ended her contemplation and decided to take her own approach.
“You are right. How did you find out?”
When she asked it openly, Midas and Vanessa heard her words because they were near her, so they also looked at Jude in curiosity.
The same was true of Cordelia.
Therefore, Jude alternated between Princess Leica and Cordelia before speaking.
“The fact that seven people are needed for the Banquet of Spirits is something that I learned from the records of Master Valencia. And… the sword dance in front of us is definitely beautiful, but there’s this sense of incongruity. A sense of incongruity that one person is lacking.
Moreover, I remembered you saying that it’s a dance to commemorate the elves’ communication with the spirits, so I thought that this was the Banquet of Spirits, and from that point of view, I was convinced that it was lacking one person.”
Princess Leica was in admiration of Jude’s reasonable explanation, while Cordelia looked at him reflexively.
‘Is that true?’
‘I’ll tell you more about it later.’
Because he only wanted to tell Cordelia the truth.
What he just said to Princess Leica was not exactly false as it was almost true, but the story regarding Valencia was a little different from the truth.
‘All right. You’ll surely tell me, right?’
‘Yes, I’ll definitely tell you.’
Cordelia smiled in satisfaction at Jude’s answer, and Jude looked back at Princess Leica with a strangely relieved face.
And it was at that moment.
“Then Jude, do you know the sword dance of the seventh swordsman?”
Midas, who was sitting behind Princess Leica, asked in an urgent tone.
“Midas?”
Princess Leica turned to her advisor in surprise.
Because in front of her, he always showered her with nagging, but in front of others, he was always serious.
Moreover, his voice, tone, and facial expression differed.
Because she also glimpsed some eagerness.
“Tell me, Jude. Do you know anything?”
When Midas asked again without even thinking of answering Princess Leica, Vanessa quickly cast a soundproofing magic.
Because many of those who were watching the sword dance had looked their way when Midas raised his voice.
In particular, it attracted the attention of Kelthur’s biological mother, Canaria Solfege, who turned towards them.
‘Jude, what’s wrong? Do you know anything of importance?’
Cordelia asked again with a glance when the atmosphere turned unusual, but for Jude, he didn’t have to guess why that happened.
He could somehow figure out on what had happened to the seventh swordsman’s sword dance based on Midas’ eagerness to know.
‘It was lost.’
The seventh swordsman’s sword dance was not handed down.
But a human who might know about that sword dance had appeared.
So Midas had asked in excitement.
‘He’s desperate.’
There’s something here.
Perhaps there’s something secret regarding the Banquet of Spirits.
“Jude, do you know anything?”
As disappointment spread on Midas’ face, even Princess Leica turned to Jude and asked with a strange expression, and Jude replied after some consideration.
“Please give me a moment to think.”
“Are you saying that you’re thinking of whether to answer or not?”
“No, I just need time to think about the seventh sword dance.”
Jude gave a rather vague answer and closed his eyes, so Princess Leica, Midas, and Vanessa naturally turned to Cordelia.
They seemed to be asking on what Jude was doing now.
“D-do you know about… the Memory Palace?”
As Cordelia began to explain about the Memory Palace while stuttering, Princess Leica stared at Jude as if she was looking at a very strange creature.
‘I know. I’m also amazed every time I see him do it.’
Cordelia spoke to herself before looking at Midas and Vanessa. The former found Jude to be interesting while the latter looked more desperate than before, but still hopeful.
And then.
The sword dance was still continuing, but most of the elves were looking at Princess Leica who was surrounded by a soundproof magic barrier.
On the other hand, Jude recited the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors instead of using his Memory Palace.
He dived down the surface of his consciousness, just like what he did when he opened the sixth door.
“Valencia!”
If you can hear me, please answer!
Show yourself like how you did back then!
Jude recalled the Sword Origin and called out Valencia’s name again.
And an answer came back.
The black surroundings changed in an instant, and a beautiful woman with long and platinum blonde hair appeared in front of him.
“My successor.”
The Elf Sword, Valencia.
Now that he saw her, she really looked like Princess Leica, or rather, it was Princess Leica who looked like her. In any case, Valencia had a lot of similarities with Princess Leica.
‘I think that Valencia is a bit prettier than her.’
Of course, Cordelia is prettier than them.
“My successor?”
“Valencia-nim. Can you see on what is happening outside?”
“Not really. Because I’m sleeping most of the time. Will you share me your memories then?”
At Valencia’s question, Jude quickly recalled his memories of the sword dance.
Then Valencia said with a very joyful face.
“It’s the Spirit’s sword dance! The tradition is still being continued, but it’s a pity that its form is incomplete.”
“You’re right, Valencia-nim. The elves seem to regret it too. Do you happen to know the sword dance of the seventh swordsman?”
“Yes, I know how to dance it.”
“Wow, really?”
“Yes.”
“Was Valencia-nim the seventh swordsman?”
Jude wondered if Valencia, who could no longer held a sword because of Sword Origin, was the reason why the sword dance of the seventh swordsman had stopped being handed down.
It was quite a reasonable theory, but he was wrong.
Because Valencia shook her head as soon as she heard him.
“No, I wasn’t a swordsman of the Banquet of Spirits.”
“Then how did you…”
Wasn’t the sword dance something that was handed down from one swordsman to another?
When Jude asked again, Valencia replied with an expression as if it was something natural.
“Because it’s swordsmanship.”
“Eh?”
“Swordsmanship.”
What do you mean?
Jude tilted his head for a moment but soon understood it.
Because it was swordsmanship.
She carefully watched it because it was swordsmanship, and even memorized how to dance it.
She figured out the sword skills necessary for the sword dance.
‘She really is a sword fanatic.’
It’s unfortunate that she can’t use dual wielding because she thinks it’s two-timing.
“Then, do you know how to dance entire sword dance of the seventh swordsman?”
“Yes, because it’s swordsmanship.”
“I-I see.”
This is why fanatics are scary.
If Cordelia had heard her thoughts, she definitely would have said that his Memory Palace was scarier.
“Anyway… it seems that it’s very important for the elves to resurrect the seventh swordsman’s sword dance. Do you know the reason why?”
“Yes, I can roughly guess why.”
“What’s the reason…”
“If you dance it, you’ll know why.”
Valencia giggled as she lightly blushed before speaking again.
“Do you want to learn it?”
“Yes, is it possible?”
“I’ll share my memories with you. Oh, of course, knowing it with your head is different from actually dancing it. You’ll need to practice it first, okay?”
At Valencia’s question, Jude thought about what to answer, but he just grinned afterwards.
Because his Cheonmujiche allowed him to be good at everything he did with his body.
It wasn’t even a problem to move his body accordingly as long as he had the memories on how to do it.
“Then close your eyes and concentrate. I’ll show it to you.”
“Yes, Valencia-nim.”
Jude closed his eyes.
The world turned black again, and in the meantime, only Valencia shined.
“This is how you do it.”
She seemed to be excited of the fact that she was dancing the sword dance.
Valencia was grinning with a glow on her face as she began performing the sword dance.
The seventh sword dance was beautiful and dazzling.
***
Jude opened his eyes.
And he thought.
‘It’s really beautiful.’
Valencia’s sword dance.
Frankly, he was ecstatic. Just by watching it made it difficult to breathe because his heart was pounding fast.
‘However, Cordelia is still the most beautiful.’
Cordelia was literally a goddess when she stood under the moonlight with her wet hair in order to summon the fairies.
‘Jude?’
Jude faced Cordelia who was puzzled as she tilted her head, and he smiled before he immediately looked back at Princess Leica and Midas.
“I can dance it.”
“Oooh, is that true? You can dance the seventh swordsman’s sword dance?”
“Yes.”
Jude answered confidently, and Midas turned to Princess Leica with a very excited look.
“Your Highness.”
“Don’t tell me… you want them to dance again but with Jude this time?”
“That’s right.”
She could see that a flame was burning on Midas’ eyes.
Therefore, Princess Leica nodded instead of thinking about it more deeply.
“All right. It’s been a long time since Midas has asked me to do something like this.”
Because for Princess Leica, Midas was a father-like teacher and an adviser whom she had relied on for many years.
So she now wanted to listen to whatever he wanted.
“Jude, can I ask you to dance it?”
“With pleasure.”
Princess Leica was satisfied with Jude’s answer again before she sent a glance to Vanessa, telling her to remove the soundproof magic barrier.
“The dance will be over in a little while. I shall tell them about it then.”