Chapter 337

337 Blade Dance

Beatrix returned and *Clink, thud* A bag of coins dropped on the desk. “One, two...” Beatrix placed copper coin after the other until she counted sixty. Then she continued with the silver coins until she counted fourteen.

“Fourteen silver coins and sixty copper coins have been prepared for the promise make Vincent.” Beatrix looked at Vincent and Ester proudly as if she had accomplished an arduous task. It made the both of them think they should praise Beatrix for counting the silver and copper coins.

Vincent touched the coins and stored them in his Soul Dimensional Storage. “I see you have become accustomed to this... heroic job.” Vincent praised Beatrix after he succumbed to her boastful expression.

*Hiss* “Peepee think~a Beatrix is~a genius~a.” Peepee praised Beatrix through the roof.

Beatrix lightly blushed. “I-I am happy I did good, hehe.” She broke off character and quickly realized *cough* “Only this heroine is suitable for this imposing assignment.”

[Vincent, look over there. I think the event a few adventurers mentioned is about to start.]

-Now you tell me?-

[To my defense, I didn’t know when it was going to start.]

“Ahem. May I have your attention, please.” A man standing on a large platform next to the bar said. “My friend got promoted to Rank C today, but there is no bard here. I am willing to buy drinks for anyone willing to offer a little show. ”

.....

“Buy me a drink then.” A man placed his drink on the table and smirked. “I have an interesting fire trick.”

Vincent looked at Beatrix, and she was watching the show with curiosity. “Does this happen often?” He asked.

“The mortal man received my blessing and advanced in rank. Such celebrations aren’t usual, yet this heroine appreciates mortals celebrating in her presence.” Beatrix said while she smiled at the adventurer doing the trick with his fire manipulation mastery.

Vincent lowered his head, and his mouth approached Ester’s ear. “I would like to see my beautiful girl dance today.” He whispered.

Ester flustered and nervously gulped. She became afraid to hear the words freak or monster, yet it was different this time. Someone who doesn’t care how much her body can contort was beside her. Ester wasn’t alone in the world anymore.

[Vincent, even if Ester has become more confident, I don’t think she will dance in front of so many people.]

However, to Kazumi’s surprise, Ester nervously responded, “I will dance if my man protects me.”

Beatrix became interested in their conversation after hearing the word dance. “This heroine is interested in witnessing a dance. Bards are... ugh, annoying.”

Beatrix looked at Ester, and her eyes barely blinked. It made Ester feel a little pressured, but after she leaned back and rested on Vincent’s chest, her fears waned.

“We’ll go to get our drinks. See you next time Beatrix.” Vincent was about to head for the bar when he remembered to invite the BABBO team. “Before I forget, your family and aunt’s family are invited to my wedding, but I don’t have a formal letter on me to give. It will be on the twenty-fourth of August, and your mother, aunt, brother Ollie, and cousin Abigail, should know.”

“But...”

“Come and have fun. There will be five children that might need a heroine to teach them the ways of evil slaying.” Vincent waved his hand and left the open office area.

Beatrix saw Vincent leave. She smiled and looked at her snake. “They want me to go.” She looked happy as she rubbed the snake’s head gently.

*Hiss* “Peepee never saw~a the heroine~a invited to~a parties” *Hiss* “Peepee happy to~a visit party~a in many~a many~a years.”

Beatrix feels the intentions of others. Until she could learn to control her gift or curse depending on how it is seen, she lost her friends and made it difficult to make new ones. Even the children who like to hang out with Beatrix were never allowed to invite her.

“Thank you.” She mumbled in a quiet voice.

Vincent approached the platform and told the man looking for more people to show their talents. “My woman can dance very well, but she never had stranger for an audience.” Vincent pulled Ester beside him by her waist and continued, “I hope she can feel welcomed and her dance pleases your friend.”

“Haha. Don’t worry. My friend did the same thing when I became a C Ranker. A dancer offered to demonstrate her erotic dance, but she shook her hips too much, and...” *sigh* “we ended up paying for her treatment because we felt bad.”

“Half of my woman’s life was spent dancing. She captured my heart.” Vincent looked at Ester and continued, “I hope no one decides to steal my woman today, hehe.”

Ester blushed, but she wanted to dance after hearing Vincent praise her dancing skills. On the other hand, Kazumi giggled while carefully looking at the audience to remember those who mock Ester.

The man stepped on the platform and introduced Ester as a dancer that only danced in front of her family. He winked at Vincent and asked the audience to keep the criticism low.

Vincent found an empty table. The waiter placed two pitchers of beer and told him it was already paid for.

Ester stepped on the platform. Her heart raced the moment she saw over a dozen tables with at least six people looking at her. Memories of ridicule and hate flashed in her mind, but she felt reassured when she saw Vincent waving at her.

Ester closed her eyes. She recalled memories of her younger days when her mother decided to teach her daughter the blade dance at ten years old.

Ester pulled out the dormant hiltless blade Elsir from her bag of holding. She held the cloth-wrapped hilt tightly and opened her eyes.

Ester swung her sword, yet she did not stop. Her body spun and soon transitioned into a series of cartwheels and flips.

The sword soon left her hand and spun in the air. The crimson-haired dancer made a backflip and amazingly caught the sword as if it was attached to her hand by an invisible thread.

The adventurers couldn’t take their eyes off of Ester. The choreographed, ever-changing yet dynamic moves made each viewer feel like they wanted to see more. They became hooked to her mysterious and unusual dancing.

-Looks like Ester is having fun. I can see her smile even if she is constantly moving. I hope she stops to catch a breath.-

[Overprotective as always, hehe.]

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[But Ester never told me she could dance with a sword in her hands. I thought her dancing was similar to rhythmic dancers on Earth.]

The adventurers sitting watching Ester dance and the rest scattered around the guildhall started chatting with Ester as the main focus of their discussions.

“How can a person bend like that? My bones will break if I imitate her.”

“Yeah. I don’t want to go against that C Ranker team, but I feel like she is a... freak.”

“Hah! Ignorant twats! She is one of the famous Pale Dancers group of the other continent. They remain pale, and their skin never suffers sunburns. They can contort because of their blood or something like that. ”

“I remember you were lucky two years ago and scored a red-headed dancer.”

“Then, no wonder she can contort her body like that.”

“Really? I thought she was a defective woman with soft bones.”

“Soft bones, haha. No soft bones can handle a blade like that.”

It took one adventurer to inform the others about Ester’s mother’s origin. A group of people, possibly dancer nomads that don’t fear the sun and all of them can contort like Ester.

The adventurers soon began to praise Ester, yet she couldn’t hear them. Ester was in a trance, and she enjoyed every movement her body made. Her crimson eyes faintly glowed, and her movements became more refined.

Ester moved the side edge of the platform. She threw her sword up in the air without the slightest glance of where the sword was headed.

Ester started running, then transitioned to a cartwheel and continued flipping numerous times, causing everyone’s attention to focus on Ester and the falling sword.

Even Vincent held his breath as he saw Ester making his heart flutter and recalled how captivating he thought she was the first time he saw her.

Ester was ready for the finale of her blade dance. She jumped, spun in mid-air, raised her legs, and performed a split the moment her legs touched the platform.

Ester closed her eyes, placed one hand on her chest, and raised the other. Ester closed her hand and opened her eyes. The sword was in her hand, and it was caught with her eyes closed.

*Clap* *Whistle*

The guildhall became lively. The adventurers caused an uproar of cheers, praises, clapping, whistling, and mugs and fists banging on the tables.

Ester stood up, and a tear of joy formed on the edge of her eyes. She moved her gaze on the most important person in the guildhall. However, he wasn’t cheering; instead, he looked at her with a welcoming smile on his face.

Ester calmed her breathing and climbed down the platform.

“Great dance, missy. But it’s sad to see you are taken.”

“Thanks for the show. Your drinks are on me.”

“No, me!”

“I will offer some too, haha.”

Ester quickened her pace and sat beside Vincent. A waiter arrived and placed a couple more beers. Their table soon had more beer than they could drink.

“Rest for a while before you start drinking.” Vincent curved a smile and continued, “You stole my heart again like the time I faked being lost and interuppted your dancing.”