After reporting to the guild, I went back home. When I returned, I heard the sound of music. Apparently, the people of the Semroid Troupe were still practicing.

I didn’t want to disturb them, so I made sure to quieten my step.

“…” Ryouma

I looked for a grassy place where I could see their rehearsal and then hid myself.

Maiya-san and Soldio-san are up on stage. They were introduced to me as sword dancers, so that’s probably what they’re going to be practicing now. Soldio-san is wielding a decorated round shield and a long sword. Maiya-san is also holding a sword, but she’s holding two of them while dancing as if she were fighting.

Past the line, which I assume demarcates the stage, is their leader, Prenence-san, and the musical band. As the two sword dancers on strange moved fiercer, so did the music accompanying them. When the sword dancers were close enough to stare at each other, the music went quiet, as if something was about to happen.

When their swords clashed, spells were cast, and sparks erupted here and there on the stage. Even though no one was talking, it was like a story was being told.

I only saw their practice a little today before leaving when I lent them the place. But that was probably just warm up considering the passion and pressure I could feel now.

I held my breath, afraid to pour water on these flames.

When the music turned to a peak, Maiya-san’s sword swung for Soldio-san’s neck, just barely missing it. It passed through the neck hidden by the glamorous cape, releasing the clasp that held it and allowing it to fall. In that same moment, Soldio-san fell. It was as if his neck had really been cut.

With the thrum of the instruments, the story came to an end.

A few seconds later, when the atmosphere had loosened up, I found myself standing up and clapping.

“Ryouma-dono, how long have you been there?” Prenence

“Sorry. I’ve been here for a while now, actually. I heard music when I came back, so…” Ryouma

Was it bad for me to watch without permission?

“Oh, we don’t mind you watching, it’s just that we didn’t notice you at all.” Soldio

“We were just surprised.

It’s our job to perform in front of others, so we pride ourselves in being sensitive to people’s gazes…” Prenence

Oh, so I startled them.

“By the way, how are the plains?” Prenence

“Not very good.” Ryouma

From what I heard when I went to report to the guild, other than the ones I’ve found, sightings of nests were being reported one after another. The receptionist was also actively looking for more help in finding nests and digging them. I was also asked to continue working.

“If it isn’t dealt with sooner, it will cause a problem with the circulation of goods, and there’s no telling how much of an influence it will have on the customers, so I’ll be focusing my efforts there for the time being. If you’re alright with using my place for your rehearsals, please feel free to continue using it.” Ryouma

“Thank you for your kindness.” Prenence

Prenence-san bowed to me first, then everyone followed. After that the people from the troupe cleaned up and then went back to town.

It seems that last program was their last rehearsal for the day.

After sending them off, I entered training myself.

On an impulse, I tried copying the way they moved like they were dancing.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go very well. It feels awkward to move when using magic.

…Looks like it might be a good idea to train using magic while fighting in order to be able to put on a performance with spells.

I need to combine my magic with my weapons. On this point, their movements are a lot smoother tan mine.

Hmm~…

The next day.

“About performing with spells?” Soldio

“Did you become interested in sword dancing?” Maiya

When I welcomed the troupe for their practice, I went and directly asked the two sword dancers.

“Seeing your performance yesterday made me want to learn it.” Ryouma

“I don’t mind teaching you, but why would you want to learn something like this?” Soldio

When asked for the reason, I responded with what I felt yesterday.

I mainly fight in close combat with my weapons and my martial arts. Although I can also use my magic, because I rarely use it during combat, I’m not used to it. I also revealed that I wanted to widen my horizons.

“In other words, you want to turn the magic we use in our performance into something you can use for combat?” Soldio

“Yes. If you have time, please teach me.” Ryouma

“Isn’t it fine?” Maiya

“Yeah. If it’s just a little, it shouldn’t take too much effort. Our weapons are different, so you’ll have to use the same weapon as ours… Are you alright with that?” Soldio

“Yes. Of course!” Ryouma

“Then let’s do the practice the same time you came back yesterday. You still have work and we have practice too, so we’ll teach you afterwards.” Soldio

“Thank you very much.” Ryouma

I didn’t know what I would do if they told me it was a secret technique and they couldn’t share it, so I was elated when they told me they would teach me just like that.

“Is there anything I need to prepare?” Ryouma

“Just your weapon. Today, I just need to determine your skill level.” Soldio

“Ah, leave some mana too.” Maiya

“Got it. I’ll be in your care in the evening then.” Ryouma

“Good luck!” Maiya

And then, evening came.

I was looking forward to the practice in the evening, so when I went to search for the nests, I was able to find twice as many as I did yesterday.

When I came back home as promised, the people of the troupe were already cleaning up.

“Sorry I’m late. Did I make you wait long?” Ryouma

“We finished just now. We’ll prepare immediately. Maiya!” Soldio

“I’m coming! I’m coming!” Maiya

Maiya appeared from the shadows of the luggage, carrying in her arms something wrapped.

“This is your portion, Ryouma-kun.” Maiya

“This is… Firewood?” Ryouma

It looked like a small log. A firewood cut just big enough for me to be able to hold it with one hand.

“We’ll start as soon as we finish cleaning up. Just wait a bit!” Maiya

“Ah, wait. Let…” Ryouma

She left.

“Just leave the cleanup to them.” Soldio

…Right. Looking at the way the people from the troupe are moving, they’re probably used to this already. If I try to help, I’ll just end up slowing them down.

“Look at this before we begin. This is the sword Maiya and I use.” Soldio

It was a sword with many decorations just like the ones I saw before, but looking at it up close like this, I see there’s also a strange pattern mixed in with all the decorations. There also seems to be something coated on the surface.

“This is paint made from the fluids of the rainbow slug. When hit by light, it has a property that allows it to store light for some time.” Soldio

Although the way they glow is different, it reminds me of fluorescent paint. Soldio-san lit the sword up with light magic. When light fell upon the sword, it followed the line of paint on the sword and glowed. When used well with swords and shields, it can give the impression of sparks erupting to the spectators.

But in order to do that, you have to be able to quickly control your magic while fighting with your sword. That’s not an easy task even if everything is scripted.

“To that end, you first need to become skilled at either the magic or the sword. That’s why, today, I first want to see how good you are at either. I’ll think about how to teach you based on the results.” Soldio

“I’ll be in your care.” Ryouma

“Hey! It’s ready!” Maiya

It seems they’re done cleaning up, so we switched places so we could begin training.

The people of the troupe were standing in a circle. Soldio-san and I walked into the center of that circle.

…Hmm?

“Everyone is…” Ryouma

“I asked them to help out.” Solido

“Half of is curiosity on our part, though.” Prenence

“I see. Thank you for your cooperation. Please take care of me.” Ryouma

“Turn your weapon to Maiya’s direction.” Soldio

I held my Iron Slime katana.

“She’ll be throwing you sticks of firewood, and you’ll have to cut them down as they come your way.” Soldio

One of the objectives of being a sword dancer is to be able to cut things thrown their way. It is also one of the steps to being able to fight multiple opponents. In my case, it’s going to serve as my test.

“You can cut the firewood however you want, but as much as possible, try to cut it at the center.” Soldio

“Got it. I’m ready!” Ryouma

“Then let’s start!” Maiya

Maiya-san threw a stick of firewood. We’re just starting, so it’s not that fast. The firewood drew a gentle parabola in the air as it fell toward me, and then I swung my katana.

“Ah, you cut it? That’s amazing! Alright. I’ll throw you some more!” Maiya

Seeing the firewood cut in two, she threw the next one. I cut the next one just like I did the other one. As Maiya-san threw one firewood after another, she gradually threw faster and increased the pace. But I was still able to handle it.

Eventually, I was able to cut all her firewood.

“This is the last one!” Maiya

“Understood!” Ryouma

After cutting the last firewood, the test concluded. I was curious how I did, so I glanced at Soldio-san. But for some reason, he was making a difficult face.

“Let’s go to the next one then.” Soldio

Everyone helped to gather all the firewood that had been cut, and then Soldio-san distributed them to everyone except me. Everyone had a pile of firewood, but Maiya-san and Soldio-san’s pile were painted red on the top and bottom part.

Apparently, my test was to dodge the firewood thrown by everyone while cutting down only the ones from Soldio-san and Maiya-san.

“Begin!” Soldio

Soldio-san threw me a stick, and as soon as I cut it down, everyone started throwing from their pile.

But usually it was only really one or two of sticks at the same time. 3 was the most they threw simultaneously. I continued dodging those firewood while cutting down only the sticks from Maiya-san and Soldio-san.

“…” Soldio

“…” Maiya

At first the two of them just threw the firewood at fixed locations, but after nodding at each other, they took their piles and started moving around. They ran around the circle formed by everyone and threw their firewood through the gaps between the members. Soldio-san specifically timed his throws with other members’, making it quite annoying to cut down.

I had to ‘focus’ to pay attention to the two of them while dodging all the firewood flying my way. At the same time, I had to ‘decide’ which firewood to cut. On top of that I also needed the ‘ability’ to execute the cutting and dodging.

After a test like that concluded…

“How did I do?” Ryouma

“I’ve got nothing to complain about regarding your sword.” Soldio

“Yep, yep. You did amazing! …But is there any point in using magic if you’re this good?” Maiya

Piles of cut firewood were in front of me. I thought I did great myself, but it seems, Maiya-san just thought I did well.

Actually, I don’t think I had any difficulties so far, but there’s probably more to it later.

“You’re so diligent.” Maiya

“You should learn from him. At this rate, he’ll surpass you before you know it.” Soldio

“I feel like he’s already better than me at swordplay, though.” Maiya

After chatting like that with each other, they next tested me for my magic.

In this test, I just had to use my magic normally and show it to them. There was nothing special to the test.

But then I heard something really interesting.

“Chantless Casting?” Ryouma

“Yeah, just as the name implies, it’s using a spell without chanting. We sword dancers have to maintain our expression while fighting. With chantless casting, we can cast spells without having to move our mouths.” Soldio

“Well, this is actually a difference in style or school of thought. There are others who would rather choose to hide their mouths, and there are others who would theatrically chant their spells atop the stage. You could also just use a magic tool for your sword. Actually, that one is probably the most common way to go about things.” Maiya

When Maiya-san said that, Soldio-san snorted.

“Those people are heretics. The old sword dancers used their mastery over sword and magic to charm others. To think that such a profession would be degraded so low as to turn to magic tools… Such people only use the sword for appearance and rely on simple magic tools to cast spells. It’s because of people like them that people think sword dancers are just for show and are worthless in actual combat.” Soldio

“Okay, okay. We get it already. Sheesh. I was just explaining.” Maiya

I don’t know long ago these ‘old sword dancers’ were from, but it seems Soldio-san really emphasizes protecting tradition.

“Anyway, do your best, alright?”

“Okay! Please take care of me.” Ryouma

It’s a rare opportunity, so I’ll do my best to learn everything.