Surviving as a Trash Bard in a Game

“Alright. Back to square one. If you can’t remember the question, shall I ask it again?”

“No, there’s no need for that.”

Skyler accepted it surprisingly calmly.

This was different from my expectations.

Honestly… I was hoping he would get angry.

I felt like I had been on the receiving end all this time, and the way he treated me was always like dealing with a child younger than himself.

This time I want to win—I might have thought that without realizing it.

“Are you going to answer?”

“Yes. Because I’m a mage. I can avoid answering or hide the information you want, but I can’t utter a lie.”

“Good. Why are you avoiding the mad king?”

“The mad king is collecting divine bodies, and I have a bad history with him.”

“I’d appreciate it if you could elaborate.”

“The answer ends here. A mage speaks the truth, but has no obligation to answer the same question twice. That’s the contract.”

“Right. I see.”

Sleepiness slowly creeps in.

I’ll fall asleep again, and wake up again.

But when I wake up… which me will I be?

My head throbbed.

I need to push the conversation as far as possible before falling asleep. So that the foolish me, when I wake up, can sufficiently interpret it…

What question should I ask?

Skyler will likely evade most questions. So, a simple question would be preferable.

Even if I can’t outright discern his personality and goals… I needed a question that could be related. What kind of question? Starting with the simplest?

Yes. This will do.

Like throwing a stone into a calm lake.

Likewise, I threw out a question.

“What do you think of me?”

Lying in bed, with a slightly clouded mind, I asked Skyler.

There are many reasons why a man would help a woman without any particular reason. Because she’s pretty, or because he has other motives.

Of course, Skyler belongs to the type with other motives.

Because he was a child to begin with.

Maybe, it’s simply because I was an ‘experiment subject.’ In reality, I wasn’t, but he was under that misconception.

Sympathy is a great fuel. It makes people help others without any reason.

So, what kind of answer will I get?

“I think… you’re vicious.”

“…Huh?”

“The foolish you might not know, but the current you is vicious. Yes.”

I wanted to get angry, but I couldn’t overcome the pouring sleepiness.

With my teeth clenched tightly, my consciousness faded away.

When I wake up… just you wait.

You little brat.

***

‘Finally, it’s a bit quiet.’

The foolish personality had its cute aspects, and apart from using her eyes recklessly, it was easy to deal with.

It seems the personality to be careful of is the smart one.

To erase memories for the sake of using her as an experiment subject, yet adding a bigger variable, ‘multiple personalities,’ are they sane? It doesn’t seem like the thought process of a mage.

If you’re going to control variables, at least do it properly.

‘…It seems like the memories are shared between personalities, and the cycle of personality change is random. Some trigger is needed for the change.’

I organized what I had found out so far.

Skyler is a mage.

He was a scroll-user who couldn’t move or see magic, yet he was still a mage.

Unconsciously analyzing, organizing, and dismantling the opponent. That is the work of a mage. He is a very skilled mage, capable of unconsciously handling the work of a mage.

Among mages, it would be hard to find one with more experience than him…

‘A valuable experiment subject, an observation target, and at the same time… a compass that can find another body.’

Skyler wasn’t a body hunter. Rather, he could be said to be on the run. Then, what is his purpose?

***

I open my eyes. Still a tired sensation.

My body felt heavy.

I looked around. Nothing special.

Two beds.

One bed I was using, the other was empty.

A fruit basket… perhaps? Inside was an apple and a note. I’ll check it later, let’s look around more. For some reason, my head felt light.

I put my feet down from the bed. …Bare feet.

The rough wooden floor slightly scratched my skin. It was just a slight scratch, and an ordinary person might just ignore it, but my skin is thin.

I wonder if there might be blood. I lifted my foot to check.

Fortunately, there were no cuts or tears. Just a graze from a sharp wooden splinter.

‘…Where is Skyler?’

My companion was nowhere to be seen.

The reason must be written on the note.

I unfolded the note.

—

I’ll be out for a bit to resupply.

Replenishing scrolls, I have a lot to do.

I’ll look for a doable quest, but a quest of the same rank won’t even cover meals.

You should quickly find a way to raise your rank.

If you go to the first floor of the association and ask, they’ll explain it to you.

I don’t have the confidence to explain it to you easily in your current state.

–

Doesn’t have the confidence to explain it to me easily in my current state?

‘He’s really looking down on me.’

Even if I’m a bit erratic due to the influence of my status, to say he doesn’t have the confidence to explain it to a person… It feels like my pride is being deeply wounded.

But more importantly.

‘There’s another way to raise the rank besides solving quests?’

The method I know is from the previous game. Just how much has the system changed… Now, just hearing a new setting makes my head throb.

How are the fans of the previous game supposed to live!

Modern games have no respect for old fans.

In the old days, there were traditions like shouting “hurrah” when drinking a potion… or if a quest target escaped, you’d plant a tracking bullet or magic on them…

‘No, come to think of it, maybe it’s a good thing this changed.’

Anyway, if there’s a way to raise the rank besides quests, it’s very good news for me.

It would be impossible to solve many quests in a row with such a weak body.

The method from the previous game was simple and crude.

‘Just solve a lot, and it naturally rises… something like that.’

Because of that, the community was always flooded with newbies who didn’t even bother to search and just spammed questions like ‘How do I raise my adventurer rank?’ to the point where it even made it to the announcements.

Was that too much rambling?

I feel like I’ve been having a lot more thoughts lately.

I used to just vent my thoughts on the community, but now there’s no internet, no humans I could call friends, and the mage I’m traveling with is suspicious.

‘In the end, it’s most comfortable to think internally.’

Anyway, should I go to the adventurer’s guild?

Just staying still like this, nothing will happen. It’s better to try something than to waste time in vain.

***

It was a slightly larger street than the previous town.

How can I tell?

‘Just… the road is wider.’

The road in the previous town was narrow enough for only two carriages to barely pass, but this town’s road was wide enough for four carriages.

There were also many more people walking on the streets, and the quality of their clothes was generally higher.

In the previous town, I could roughly guess the purpose of a building by looking at its exterior, but this town properly indicated the purpose of buildings with signs and writing.

Thanks to that, there was no difficulty in finding the way.

There was a sign that clearly said Adventurer’s Guild.

Not a two-story, but a five-story building.

This adventurer’s guild is probably… rich.

I carefully opened the door.

Inside, there were more adventurers who looked like they were properly managed than those with rough impressions. There were also several people who appeared to be mages.

Considering that Skyler was the only mage in the previous town, it definitely felt like it exceeded the scope of a small town.

The gazes and attention of others gathered on me.

Although it was larger than the previous town, it was still a small town that couldn’t be called a metropolis. Yes. It was still the countryside.

What is the characteristic of the countryside?

There were many characteristics, but the biggest one is that everyone knows each other’s faces.

‘…Because a new face has appeared.’

Yes. Not only did a new face appear… but what if that face is quite pretty?

What kind of situation would occur?

Honestly, I was slightly looking forward to it.

Receiving the attention of others is a surprisingly pleasant feeling, and for some reason, after receiving the lute, I became more sensitive to the attention of others.

But surprisingly… nothing happened.

Whether it’s because of high self-control, or because they’ve seen more pretty women than the rural small-town adventurers, I don’t know the reason… but the important thing now is that I’m disappointed.

I glanced at the mirror as I passed by.

‘It seems Skyler fixed my eyes while I was sleeping. They’re black.’

Anyway, I shouldn’t forget the purpose of coming here.

Postponing the disappointment for later, I asked the receptionist.

“Can I renew my adventurer rank in a way other than quests?”

“…Yes. But, are you going to?”

What does that mean?

And why are people around me looking surprised?