Song

Before I could regret and take back my actions, Raisa dragged me out onto the dance floor. Almost immediately, I felt that this was a stupid decision. I didn't even know the first thing about dancing, so what the hell was I expected to do?

Maybe I could somehow work something out if it was just on my own and improvising, but improvising was several times more difficult when you had a partner and no prior plan together.

It almost made me feel like I should just lie down and look at the ceiling as though there were stars. Actually, I was quite tempted to just do that, but while I didn't really care if other people thought I was strange, Raisa got me up here in the first place because she really cared about her own image.

Even if that went against my own values, I wasn't expecting everyone to follow what I thought.

Still, nothing would change the awkward situation I found myself in.

Upon getting near the center, we naturally attracted gazes from the crowd. For a little while, the two of us just stood there, without moving. Raisa seemed a little clueless as to what to do, and I wasn't any better.

...Yeah, I really shouldn't have agreed to this.

Still, we couldn't just stand here and do nothing. I saw the other people seemed to be some weird sort of tango dance and tried to imitate them, but Raisa was grossly unprepared. When I tried to hold onto her hand, she panicked and froze up when I grabbed it.

Despite trying to lead, it didn't really work because she was essentially unresponsive.

I could feel my eyebrow twitch. She seemed to be rather overwhelmed for whatever reason. Huh, now that I think about it, Raisa still had her puppy love, didn't she?

With that in mind, she probably broke down because she just couldn't take physical contact.

I let go of her hand, which made her blink in surprise, realizing that she had been frozen in place. With a bitter smile, I whispered to her.

"If we can't dance like the others, then we could try to do it our own way."

I took a step back and took a deep breath. From there, I got down on one knee and held out my hand to the side. From there, I just decided to begin softly singing some random lyrics I could think of.

"Hello, it's me again.

I'm just here to see how you're doing.

And I know you told me not to talk to you again.

But I hope you're well."

I offered my hand to her, which she grabbed. After pulling me up, I improvised with some more modern dance moves and began dragging her along with me.

"Still I'll tell you I'm sorry, even if it doesn't feel like my fault.

And maybe no one's to blame, or maybe we both are.

But don't you remember what it was like to talk?

Or was it only me that thought we cared?"

Occasionally, I would stomp my foot along the ground, creating a secondary beat to go with the instruments in the background, making it feel more like a pop song. Despite not really knowing what I was doing, Raisa seemed to get into it as well, sometimes matching my movements, or swaying along with the song I was singing.

"No this isn't some sick game.

I know you don't care about what happens.

Maybe you will never feel the same.

Are you still chasing the ideal that blackened?"

Somehow, despite both singing and dancing, I felt myself meditating once more. It was honestly a bit of a surprise, but I just went along with it, feeling the mana in my body.

"I only told you the truth.

But I know you think it's a lie.

And I don't why you can't believe,

But I guess that's why you had to leave."

To be honest, I had no idea what I was even really singing. It wasn't like this was a song I heard back on Earth, at least not one I remember. I was just making things up as I went.

"Please don't throw a tantrum.

Maybe it's already far too late.

And maybe your thoughts are gone.

But I'm not here for a debate."

Raisa was looking at me rather strangely. It was sad in a way, but also curious. Perhaps she was thinking I was somehow talking about her and making fun of her or something. Still, I didn't stop.

"I guess this will only hurt you,

Yet, I still want you to know.

Sometimes it all works,

And sometimes it won't.

Even if all you have left is hate,

I hope at least you don't regret."

I continued to sing whatever came to my mind, but the general theme was all the same. The dance that I was having with Raisa gradually picked up as the both of us moved faster, doing movements that must've been very unconventional.

I've honestly never been to a nightclub, but if I was, I imagine this would be the kind of dance there.

Eventually, I was getting rather tired, and I could tell Raisa was too. Unlike the slow dances that everyone else was doing, this was more fast-paced. In the end, we gradually began slowing down.

As I felt us feel the need to stop, I sang a few last words.

"What we built may never be something like Rome,

But I know at least for me, it was something like home."

From there, Raisa and I both stopped. As I started to pant a little, I realized that every single person was looking at us once more. When I think about it, that was only to be expected when I boldly started singing.

However, it was far too late to take any of that now.

The other people that had been dancing had stopped, only looking at us even though we had left. In fact, even the musicians had stopped playing their songs.

Eventually, Raisa muttered to me.

"How... did you sing like that?"

I blinked a few times. To be honest, my singing couldn't even be considered average among singers on earth. I was just a person that liked music and often sang along when alone. The overall melody wasn't even that stable and was kind of all over the place since I didn't know what the musicians were going to do.

It was at this point that Douglas, who was also in the center watching, spoke up.

"You sing in such a unique way, Son of the Arden family. Is it purposeful that your notes don't move parallel to the music? Also, why did you add a second melody using your foot?"

...Huh? What the fuck was this guy talking about?

I was just singing.

It couldn't be anything that special right? I mean, I honestly can't imagine singing being all that complicated. And since medieval people knew the concept of notes and how to play music, this much shouldn't be all that strange.

I scratched the side of my head.

"Songs similar to this nature were something I remember hearing while in my residence. I don't truly understand anything like the proper formatting or similar aspects."

That wasn't a lie because I did indeed listen to music from my computer. Douglas couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and rubbed his chin in thought.

"It appears the head of your family may be more of a muse than he looks!"

...Hm. Sorry, Bryson's dad, you're a singer now, alright? I mean, nobody's going to know since you never show up.

"Perhaps so."

Douglas let out a laugh.

"Well, it appears that the mood for dancing has come to a rest. Let us all move on to our final event, the spars!"

I paused for a moment before looking over at Raisa, showing how clueless I was. She seemed to recognize my confusion before whispering to me.

"All of the archdukes and dukes nominate one of their children to spar with wooden weapons, and they compete in a tournament."

Oh, that didn't sound too bad. But... how was it going to work if the supposed Duke of the Arden family wasn't even here?

Um...

"What happens if the Duke is missing?"

Raisa tilted her head to the side.

"I suppose you just pick among the two of you instead."

Before we could talk about it any further, people seemed to be focused on moving to another different room, which was basically a miniature coliseum, with a large platform in the middle.

There appeared to be arranged seats for each rank, and it followed the trend with those of higher rank having higher seats. As I sat down, Jess sat down next to me. She whispered to me.

"I'll go up for the sparring nomination."

Although I did want to have a bit more combat experience, this probably wasn't the best setting for that. Not to mention, Jess was obviously stronger than me since she had been learning for longer.

As such, I simply nodded. It would save me the trouble after all.

From there, Douglas called out each family one after another. With each call, all the nominations had stood up and walked to the edges of the platform.

When he called for the Arden family, Jess had walked up.

However, when she did end up at the correct position, instead of calling out the next family, he called out our decision.

"The Arden family sent Jess? I would've imagined that the new and rising star, Bryson would've shown himself."

I blinked a few times. Was I really a rising star? If you think about it strictly, all I did was promote some meat that I didn't even directly make in any way, then sing a song.

Maybe the standard for this world was just... really low or something.

Despite being called out, Jess was not afraid.

"We agreed that I would represent the Arden family in this spar."

Douglas leaned to the side and lazily rested his head on his fist.

"But the Arden family normally skips out on the spars, no? I believe the person that is responsible for this sudden shift should be the one that represents the Arden family."

I mean, the real person responsible was Raisa who guilt-tripped me into staying, but she couldn't exactly do that now could she?

Jess continued to stare back at Douglas stubbornly, however, it seemed like she was too afraid to continue arguing back. This didn't seem to make Douglas angry though. Rather, he seemed to be amused as his smile began to grow.

"Oh? Is it that the Arden family wishes to decline my request? That would be rather rude..."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and stood up. After sighing, I spoke.

"I will represent the Arden family in this spar. That will do, right?"

Douglas promptly nodded with a smirk.

"Of course, Bryson."

Jess looked back at me with a reluctant look but didn't go against my decision in the end. I began walking down while Jess went back up. There was a set of wooden weapons, so I took the wooden sword and got ready to fight.

I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted to fight seriously or just throw the fight early so that I could just go back.

"The spar will start with the Arden family against the Louis family."

Well, it looked like I would have to come to a decision soon.