Chapter 104
The next day, I went to school and told Ronnie that the crepes were ready.
"Good morning, Ronnie!"
"Morning. You're awfully energetic this early. What's up?"
"I tried making crepes yesterday, and they turned out great!"
"Really? That's great!"
Ronnie's face lit up with delight. He probably wanted to start working as soon as possible too.
"So, is it okay if we start the food stall on the next Recovery Day?"
"Of course!"
"I have to go to the Royal Palace early in the morning with Longo-sensei to register the magic tool and its technology. So, once that's done, can I go to your house, Ronnie?"
"That's fine, but you don't know where I live, do you? We could meet at the stall instead."
Come to think of it, I didn't know where Ronnie lived. I certainly didn't need to go to his house... But Ronnie normally went from his house to the stall, buying ingredients along the way, so I wanted to practice that part with him.
"But you'll have to carry the supplies to the stall every time, buying the ingredients along the way, so I'd like you to practice that too."
Come to think of it, I needed to tell Ronnie that he would have to transport the supplies every time.
"Ronnie, we can't leave the supplies at the stall, so we'll have to keep them at your house and have you bring them every time you open the stall. Is that okay?"
"How much will there be? My room isn't very big..."
"Less than half a cartful. I've arranged a cart too, so I think transporting it should be fine."
"That much will be fine!"
"That's good. Then, on the next Recovery Day, shall we meet in front of the school's main gate, take the supplies to your house, and then head to the stall while shopping at the market?"
"Yes, that works for me."
"Then that's the plan! Around noon, right?"
"That works, but I don't have a clock, so I'll have to head to school after the noon bell rings."
Right... I'd been using clocks like they were perfectly ordinary recently and had forgotten, but clocks were expensive... Maybe I should give Ronnie one sometime? But I had no reason to... Perhaps I could give him one as a work bonus? That might work.
"That's fine. I'll adjust my timing."
"Thanks! Then that's the plan."
All right, then all I had left was shopping and teaching Ronnie how to make crepes.
Come to think of it, I had just realized that I would need to give Ronnie money for ingredients regularly. We might also need some large bags to carry the supplies from the cart to his room, as well as a large cloth to cover the supplies on the cart.
We could buy those together on the next Recovery Day.
Just then, the teacher arrived. For now, I needed to focus on today's lessons.
After that, I took my lessons seriously, and before long it was time for the final class. Today's last class was a joint dance class.
I reviewed dance diligently every day, but I was still pretty awkward... Well, commoners naturally wouldn't know how to dance, so it should be fine.
Dance class was held in the training grounds too, so we had to hurry there.
"Ronnie, shall we head to the training grounds?"
"Yeah. We need to hurry."
Ronnie and I talked as we walked briskly toward the training grounds.
"Have you danced before, Leon?"
"I only learned a little at the ducal estate."
"You've taken lessons!?"
"Yeah. But only a little, so I'm still awkward and can't dance very well."
"Even so, you can dance at least a little, right? I've never done it before..."
Ronnie grew depressed again. Ronnie, you don't need to feel down. If anything, I'm the strange one here! It made me sad to say it myself, though...
"Um... Commoners normally don't get a chance to dance, so it's only natural that you can't! I'm sure they'll teach us from the basics, so it'll be fine."
"Do you think so...? Then that's good."
It depended on what kind of teacher we had. Please let the teacher be someone who teaches carefully from the basics!
Ronnie and I put our bags in the changing room and headed to the training grounds. It looked like almost none of the students had arrived yet... What a relief.
After a while, the students began gathering one after another, and the teacher entered.
The teacher was a tall, slender woman who looked to be in her forties. She had a somewhat stern expression. I had a bad feeling about this.
"We will now begin dance class. I am Adel Gramillian, and I will be strict in my instruction, so make sure you keep up. Not being able to dance is simply unacceptable for a human being, is it not? I assume all of you can already dance, so this class will focus on how elegantly and beautifully you can dance."
This was the worst possible teacher... There was absolutely no way she would teach us from the basics. Besides, she had said that being unable to dance was practically inhuman, which meant all commoners were basically not human!
She was the type of person who looked down on commoners... I had been prepared for the possibility that there would be teachers like that, but having to deal with one in reality was incredibly troublesome!
The school claimed that social status did not matter here, but was it really all right for a teacher to discriminate so openly?
...Actually, perhaps this teacher wasn't explicitly discriminating against commoners. All she'd said was that being unable to dance was inconceivable for a human being... Though indirectly discriminating against us was practically the same thing.
Whew, this class was going to be exhausting...
"The purpose of dance class is to ensure that you can dance at the Royal Academy's graduation party. Your parents will also attend the graduation party, so let us practice properly. If you begin practicing seriously now, you should be able to dance perfectly by the time you graduate. Now, I would like you to dance all the way through one basic song. We will do this in three rounds, but since there are fewer female students, several of you will have to dance twice."
What!? We were going to dance through an entire song right from the start!?
This class completely assumed that we could dance! They were ignoring commoners entirely!!
"Leon, what should I do...? I can't dance."
Ronnie whispered to me. He was right... I could only barely manage to dance myself.
But I didn't think any commoners could dance properly, so he wouldn't be the only one who couldn't...
"Most commoners probably can't dance, so I don't think you'll be the only one who stands out..."
Looking around, I saw quite a few people whose faces had gone pale, so I thought it would be fine. There were plenty of them among the children of knightly families too, not just commoners.
"First, I'd like everyone from Classes A and B to dance. We are short a few female partners, so ladies from Class C, please assist us."
At the teacher's words, the girls all swarmed Stephan, while the boys swarmed Martine. Amazing... I felt sorry for them both.
The sheer intensity was incredible. I understood that nobles had to be assertive to get by, but weren't they taking it a little too far? They looked demure at first glance, but they reminded me of a pack of carnivores.
"Thank you, everyone. However, I've already decided to dance with Martine."
"That's right. I'm dancing with my older brother, so I can't dance with any of you. I'm sorry."
They were twins, so it really was fortunate that they could dance together... That settled everything peacefully. It was frightening to imagine what would have happened if there had been only one of them. No matter whom they chose, a fight would have broken out.
Everyone gave up and paired off with someone nearby. I wonder who Lucien's partner is?
...Oh! She's a very cute blonde girl.
Maybe it was because I was comparing her to the other nobles, but she seemed quite quiet and gentle. In the middle of this pack of carnivores, she looked like an oasis.
Lucien, impressive as always...
"Now, please begin dancing."
When Gramillian-sensei said that, the two people who had come to the training grounds with her began playing music.
Everyone danced along with it. As expected... They were all quite good. They must have practiced diligently until now.
Artur-sama was dancing too, and he was very good... He hadn't neglected the effort required to remain a noble.
Whew... People like that were the most troublesome. If he had been someone who rested on his noble status, used his privileges, and avoided his duties, it would have been easy to bring him down.
As I watched while thinking that, the dance came to an end.
"Everyone, that was very good. If you can dance at this level already, you should be able to perform wonderfully by the time you graduate. Being able to dance is only natural. What matters is how elegantly and beautifully you can dance. Continue practicing diligently from now on. Next, we will have Classes C and D."
The students from Classes C and D were also quite good. Being able to dance really was just a basic skill for nobles.
"And finally, Class E."
What was I supposed to do...? It was finally our turn.