Surviving as a Trash Bard in a Game

When I opened the door and stepped out, Skyler was looking at me with sharp golden eyes.

The long staff in his hand… it must be a mage’s staff, right? He wouldn’t carry such an object around just for show.

It looks a bit unusual.

“Time.”

“…Huh?”

“You’re late.”

“Sorry.”

It’s better to apologize when you’ve done something wrong. In this quest, I was the passenger, and he was the bus driver.

Using an RPG game as an example, I was in a position similar to receiving a ‘carry’ from him. My personality wasn’t so trashy that I would act shamelessly in this situation.

The part where I decided to be shameless was only ‘when I was in danger.’

More than that, these mage folks are still sensitive to time. Even though time passes and settings change, some things remain the same.

‘It’s oddly reassuring.’

There was no particular reason, but it just felt comfortable. This is what fantasy is like, I guess?

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

“We’ll take the carriage nearby, and we’ll have to walk from the area where the road ends. If we move diligently, we should be able to finish before nightfall.”

“By the way, is it really necessary to check the movements of the nearby monsters?”

“Pardon?”

“We can just go and subdue them.”

“Monsters are a rare species. Back when the demon king was resurrected, or during the chaos, maybe… but now they’ve all been subdued, so it’s hard to find materials. That’s why some areas are managed by prohibiting hunting and closing off the surroundings.”

“A farm?”

“Yes, you could say that.”

“Then why are we going to observe?”

“Because it’s getting harder to manage when the numbers get too high. A few guards are not enough. We have to see every corner that is out of sight, check how many individuals have increased, and issue a subjugation request.”

“…Really?”

“Why?”

“It seems like there were too many observation requests for that.”

The receptionist at the association is, of course, responsible for issuing, managing, and recommending requests. However, a silver tag is sufficient to view requests of the same rank.

Requests to observe the movements of monsters are classified as the same rank, perhaps because the actual difficulty is low compared to the brutal name.

In other words, I was able to look through enough easy requests that I could handle.

I ended up taking this request after flipping to the very end because there were no easy requests… Ugh.

‘Anyway, that’s the point.’

According to Skyler, it doesn’t make sense that there are so many requests to observe monster movements.

A farm needs temporary workers to help out for a day because they’re short-staffed? That’s possible. But for a rural adventurer’s association to have so many observation requests?

‘…Then, how many requests are there in the city?’

As I was deeply immersed in my thoughts, Skyler let out a deep sigh right in front of my face.

“Sigh… That’s right. It’s been a mess since the Mad King’s rebellion.”

“Mad King?”

“I wish you wouldn’t show others that you lack basic knowledge. Where can you find a bard who looks like a noble lady and handles instruments carelessly? Maybe in a red-light district.”

“Explain.”

“What?”

“Last time, you pretended to dislike it but explained everything kindly.”

“Well…”

–

1. [Request]

2. [Question]

3. [Persuade] (Speech Bonus)

4. [Provoke] (Speech Bonus)

5. [Charm] (Charisma Bonus)

–

Oh… choices.

It didn’t show up when I needed it, but it pops up when I’m just having a normal conversation? A bit annoying, isn’t it?

It would be a bit much to charm this kid, right? I don’t even know what effect charming would have. Love is an unpredictable emotion.

Then, provoke or persuade?

I could just ask or question, but honestly, isn’t it a man’s instinct to choose the option with ‘bonus’ written on it in this situation?

Well, maybe not.

–

[Provoke]

–

I could have chosen persuade, but honestly… I was annoyed every time I talked to this kid mage because I felt like I was being ignored.

Yeah, I was a little angry.

So I thought I wanted to make this kid a little angry too. That was all.

–

[Provoke – 15 or higher]

[7 + 5]

[Failure!]

–

“…Huh?”

–

Unfortunately, you failed to combine words that would make the other person angry. Nothing happened.

–

No, why is it suddenly 15 or higher? Because the opponent’s status is higher than mine? Or… is this kid not easily provoked?

As a result of failing the choice, I had to shut my mouth and look at the kid mage.

My body wouldn’t move freely.

“…What are you looking at?”

“…”

“Oh, alright. I’ll explain, okay?!”

“Why did you take so long when you were going to explain anyway?”

“For a mage, and for a merchant, information is always money. It feels like a loss to chat idly like this without getting anything in return.”

“Really?”

“Anyway, are you curious about the Mad King?”

“Yeah.”

Skyler opened his mouth and was about to start the story.

But he immediately closed his mouth.

A rumbling sound came from behind.

The carriage that Skyler had called before I came had just arrived. The carriage pulled up close to the entrance of the adventurer’s association to pick us up.

“Let’s talk about it later. This story is a bit sensitive. For everyone.”

“Huh?”

“It’s politics.”

I shut my mouth. I understood.

Talking about the Mad King in the carriage… it’s as dangerous as bringing up politics in a taxi.

I gained another piece of knowledge today.

***

How much time had passed in the rumbling carriage?

I was so bored with nothing to do that I couldn’t stand it anymore and opened my mouth first.

Silence is one of the hardest things to endure on a boring journey. I had been sitting on a hard wooden chair for hours. It even rumbled!

I wanted to forget the terrible sensation in my butt by talking.

“Hey…”

“Yes?”

“You’re a mage, right?”

“A mage… well, it’s ambiguous.”

“Huh?”

“I’m a scroll-user.”

In the previous work, the classification of mages was not professional. There were always debates in the community, and the descriptions were ambiguous.

But… a scroll-user? I tilted my head at the unfamiliar term.

“…”

“Seriously.”

Skyler looked at me with disbelief.

“Well, I might not know.”

“You can’t.”

“Ugh.”

“You don’t even have basic common sense. Asking a mage ‘What’s that?’… it’s extremely rude.”

“You can just tell me.”

“Can you stop treating me like a convenient crystal ball? Honestly, I don’t want to get involved.”

“Huh?”

“…Let’s talk about it later in the forest.”

“Alright.”

Honestly, I wanted to ask right away, but it was understandable since it was foolish to talk loudly where there were listening ears.

There are stories you don’t want others to hear, and there are stories that would be troublesome if others heard them.

The awkward atmosphere continued… and a long time passed again.

The rumbling carriage finally stopped, and my butt’s nerves were so dead that it didn’t even hurt anymore.

“This is the entrance.”

“Yes. Please make the bill payable later. Is that okay?”

“Sure. You’re a silver tag. You won’t die on a quest like this.”

“Even if I die, you’ll just take it from the association anyway.”

“Haha.”

The owner of the carriage was an old man, and I felt that he was very good at hiding his true intentions behind a friendly smile.

He treated us with a smile until the end, turned the carriage around, and went back the way he came.

Only after his figure disappeared beyond the ridge did Skyler open his mouth.

“Shall we go back to the story we were having earlier?”

“Yes.”

“First, I’ll explain about scroll-users. You don’t know anything about the types of mages, do you?”

“Thank you.”

“…Let’s split the quest reward 7:3. That’s the cost of information.”

I was a little worried, but I could afford that much.

I hadn’t planned on splitting the reward 5:5 in the first place.

There was nothing I could do, and he had to do the work of two people on this quest.

“Alright!”

“…Okay. Scroll-users are people who can’t form complex circuits or formulas with their magic. They are those who wanted to become mages but couldn’t.”

“Then… you can’t use magic?”

“Yes. I just let my magic flow through circuits and formulas that someone else has drawn on paper in advance. Then the scroll burns, and the magic is used.”

“And?”

“Other types of mages?”

“Yes.”

“Enchanters for the mind, Sorcerers for innate talent, Mages for acquired talent… you don’t need to know the rest. It’s a detailed classification.”

“I see.”

And then, a moment of silence.

Skyler hesitated for a while, then began to speak.

“Lastly, the reason why I don’t want to get involved with you—”