Welcome Party and Swordsmanship

When I returned to the residence, it was almost time for dinner. Quite a bit of time had passed.

After resting in my room for a little while, I headed straight to the dining room. When I arrived, Richard-sama, Catherine-sama, and Lucien-sama were there, along with Christophe-sama, Sophia-sama, Julian-sama, and Frederic-sama.

Why was everyone here? More importantly, was I the last one to arrive!? I didn't think I was late...

I greeted everyone, somewhat flustered.

"It's been a while, everyone. I apologize for being late."

"No, we simply arrived early, so don't worry about it. More importantly, take your seat."

"Understood."

Since Richard-sama had said that, I took my seat.

"Now, let me say this properly: Welcome to the Townsend ducal family, Leon-kun. I hope we can count on you from now on. Today is a small welcome party for you. I hope you enjoy yourself."

A welcome party for me!? I never expected them to do something like this for me... I felt a little self-conscious, but I was happy. Extremely happy.

Until now, there had been a wall between me and the ducal family, but I felt like it had grown a little thinner. The difference in status between us could never be erased, but even so, I felt as if I had been welcomed as a member of the ducal family. I was truly happy.

I was always nervous whenever I came to the ducal residence, but I felt a little more at ease now.

"Thank you very much for taking the trouble to hold a welcome party for me. I'm very happy. I'll do my best to be useful to the ducal family, so I hope we can continue to get along."

I said that and bowed my head. When I looked up, everyone was watching me with gentle smiles.

Somehow, this place had become another place where I belonged.

"The pleasure is ours. Now, enjoy the delicious food."

At Richard-sama's words, the dishes began to arrive. The first was soup, but it smelled of shrimp.

Shrimp soup!? But this was the royal capital...

Perhaps he noticed my confusion, because Richard-sama explained.

"You seemed to like seafood very much, Leon-kun, so I asked His Majesty if I could use the ice-making machine. We sent an ice-making machine to the capital of our territory, and had Christophe and Sophia-sama bring seafood when they came to the royal capital. Nasser also wrote down some recipes, so the food should be delicious. Please enjoy it."

I was incredibly happy!! I thought I wouldn't be able to eat seafood for a while.

"Thank you very much! I'm so happy!!"

"I didn't know what kind of food Leon liked, so I asked Nasser. I'm glad you're happy with it."

Christophe-sama said that with a slightly wry smile.

Oh no... I might have gotten a little too excited...

I managed to calm down a little.

"I like all kinds of seafood, so anything is fine. Thank you very much for bringing it here. Did you and Sophia-sama come to the royal capital for the party?"

"That's right. There is a party hosted by the royal family at this time every year. All the nobles from their territories gather in the royal capital. Albert is still young, so he stayed behind."

Come to think of it, they had said they went to the royal capital every year at the end of winter because of a party. It was called a party, but it was definitely an exhausting gathering full of underhanded dealings. Being a noble must be hard too.

As we enjoyed the soup and talked, the next dish was brought out.

Oh!! They were oven-baked scallops!! I hadn't been able to bake them in an oven at home, so I had wanted to try them!

I took a bite... They were incredibly delicious...

"This is delicious."

"This is... I've never eaten it before either, but it's very delicious."

Sophia-sama said that with a look of surprise. Since she hadn't gone with us to the port town, she must not have tried it yet.

"This is...! I knew seafood was delicious, but this dish is especially good."

Julian-sama was the one who said that. He had probably eaten seafood when he was young, but he seemed surprised by how delicious it was when baked in an oven.

"Leon-kun came up with this dish. The cooks in the port town were very surprised too."

"Goodness... Leon can cook as well? That's amazing..."

I felt like Julian-sama had started to think I was an incredibly amazing person. I really wasn't.

"My family runs a restaurant, so I'm familiar with cooking."

"Even so, being able to come up with recipes is a talent."

I was only recreating dishes from Japan, so I couldn't honestly feel happy when he said that. However, I couldn't tell him the truth.

"Thank you very much."

While we talked, I enjoyed an incredibly delicious dinner. It was so good... I was happy.

Just as I thought the meal was over and we would soon be breaking up, the cookies I had brought were served.

They were actually going to serve my cookies to the ducal family!

"These are from Leon-sama's parents."

"My father and mother made these sweets by hand as a greeting to everyone. They wanted to come and greet you in person, but they don't know anything about etiquette, so please accept these instead."

After the attendant had finished serving them, I added that, and everyone gazed at the cookies with great interest. I hadn't seen cookies in this world before, after all.

Perhaps the culture of sweets was only just beginning to develop. Even in the central district, I had only seen things like French toast, jam-filled bread, and sweets made by hardening sugar.

"This is the first time I've seen anything like this. What does it taste like?"

"They're sweet treats made with sugar. They're called cookies."

"Cookies, you say. There appear to be two kinds. What is the thing on top of these?"

"That's an almond. It seems they only recently began to be imported. They're delicious on their own, but I thought they would go well with cookies, so I put a few on top."

"I see... Then I'll try one."

Richard-sama hesitated slightly before putting a cookie in his mouth. His expression rapidly changed to one of astonishment.

"Th-this is... delicious."

Richard-sama said only that and fell silent.

"Everyone, please try them too."

When I said that, everyone reached for a cookie at the same time.

"These are delicious! The crisp texture, the mild sweetness, and the fragrant aroma are all wonderful!"

"I-I'm glad you like them."

Catherine-sama was incredibly excited. I had never seen her like this before. She must have really liked sweet things.

"Yes. This is delicious."

"I could eat these endlessly."

"They have a wonderful flavor."

Everyone seemed to love them. That was a relief.

Feeling reassured, I reached for the cookies placed in front of me as well. Mmm, they really were incredibly delicious!

"L-Leon-kun! Did you come up with this recipe?"

"Yes."

"It's magnificent!"

"R-Richard-sama?"

Richard-sama clenched his fists, looked up at the ceiling, and stood up. What was wrong with him? Had Richard-sama broken down?

"This recipe is revolutionary! It will cause the art of making sweets to develop rapidly."

"Is it really that amazing?"

"Without a doubt! This was clearly made using a method unlike anything seen before, wasn't it? Until now, when it came to sweet things, all people did was put sugar on bread, dissolve sugar in eggs and soak bread in it, or add sugar to jam. That was about it."

It might have been a recipe they had never seen before... but was it really worth that much praise? French toast and jam already existed, so things like cookies would probably have been developed eventually anyway.

"Would you teach me this recipe? Of course, I will pay you an appropriate amount for it."

Richard-sama seemed to have calmed down a little, so he sat back down and asked me about it. Was a recipe like this really worth paying for? It wasn't anything that impressive...

"I'll teach you the recipe, but there's no need to pay me."

"But it wouldn't be right for you to receive nothing for something you developed yourself."

"No, the ducal family has treated me so well, so this is also my way of thanking you. Besides, it's not that amazing a recipe."

"But..."

"Hmm... Then, in exchange for teaching you the recipe, I'd be happy if you let me eat cookies regularly."

"Are you really all right with that?"

"Yes."

It wasn't that amazing a recipe, and I had wanted to repay the ducal family in some small way.

Besides, I would probably be making new dishes and sweets from time to time in the future. Rather than make money from recipes, I would be happier if I spread them around and helped the food culture develop.

"Then please teach it to the head chef later."

"Understood."

For the week leading up to the entrance ceremony, I spent every day practicing dancing and swordsmanship with Lucien.

Today was the day before the entrance ceremony, and we were going to see how much progress we had made over the past week. We would start with dancing.

"Now, I will assess the results of your practice. Leon-sama has only been able to practice for one week, but I would like to see his skill level at this point."

"Understood. I look forward to it."

For dancing, we would perform one basic routine from beginning to end so our skill could be assessed. Dancing among the nobles of this country meant ballroom dancing, so we needed partners. Apparently, the dance teacher had brought a girl to serve as our partner. When I asked who she was, I was told that she was the teacher's student.

Lucien went first. He danced extremely elegantly and fluidly. He already looked perfect to me. However, after the routine ended, the teacher gave him a great deal of detailed instruction, so I supposed he still had a long way to go.

If he still had a long way to go at that level, what would happen to me? I wasn't even sure I could make it through an entire dance. Well, I had only practiced for a week, so I couldn't help it.

I decided to make the best of it and danced with all my might. I was awkward, but I managed not to step on my partner's feet, and I thought I had maintained my posture. I was satisfied with myself.

"Leon-sama's dancing is still quite stiff, and you look every bit the beginner. However, I could feel your effort to match your partner, and more importantly, you never lost your posture. Being able to dance this well after only one week is more than sufficient. If you continue practicing, I think you will soon be able to dance skillfully."

I did it!! I had actually been praised!!

I was incredibly happy.

"Thank you very much. I'll continue practicing."

I had never danced even once in Japan, so this was the result of my own efforts. I was much happier than I expected to be that those efforts had been recognized!

"Then both of you should continue practicing. That concludes today's lesson."

"Yes. Thank you very much."

"Thank you very much."

After finishing the dance lesson, Lucien and I went to the garden for swordsmanship practice.

"Today, I will assess the results of your practice. I will do so through mock battles against me. Lucien-sama will go first."

Jack-san said that, then took up a wooden sword and faced Lucien.

"Here I come!"

Jack-san made the first move. He slashed at Lucien from the upper right. Lucien deflected it with his sword, circled to the left, and tried to slash at Jack-san from that side. However, Jack-san swiftly twisted his body and blocked Lucien's sword.

Lucien was at a disadvantage in the contest of strength and was gradually being pushed back. He tried to knock Jack-san's sword aside and retreat to regain his balance, but Jack-san was one step ahead of him. The instant Lucien tried to knock his sword aside, Jack-san relaxed the pressure, and when Lucien stumbled forward, Jack-san placed his wooden sword against his neck.

"I win."

"Jack really is strong. I still can't beat him."

"No, I don't know how things will turn out once you grow and gain more strength, Lucien-sama."

After that, Jack-san spent some time explaining what Lucien had done well and what he had done poorly, and then Lucien's match seemed to be over.

I was next. I was starting to get nervous.

"Next is Leon. You probably haven't mastered the forms yet, but come at me with all you've got. Swordsmanship improves through fighting at full strength."

"Yes! I look forward to it!"

"Begin!"

As soon as I heard that, I slashed at Jack-san from the upper right. Jack-san prepared to deflect it with his sword, but just before our swords collided, I stopped my downward swing, raised my sword again, and swung it with all my might at his neck from the left. I had thought that a feint was my only chance of winning.

However, Jack-san reacted instantly and easily deflected my attack from the left. Then, while I was off balance, he placed his wooden sword against my neck.

"It's over."

Whew... I suppose it was too much after all. I never thought I could actually beat him, but I had hoped I might at least make him lose his composure a little.

"That was pretty good, Leon. Using a feint was interesting. However, you also need to think about what to do after your feint is blocked. You still have a long way to go."

"Yes!"

I still had a long way to go, but I was happy to be praised. I would keep working hard.

"The entrance ceremony is tomorrow, so we'll finish here for today. Even after you enroll in the Royal Academy, make sure you don't neglect your swordsmanship training."

"Got it."

"Yes!"

Lucien and I returned to our rooms, feeling pleasantly tired. The entrance ceremony was tomorrow.