Surviving as a Trash Bard in a Game

“…It seems that following my intuition was the right answer after all.”

The mad king, and the hero.

The man with two contradictory titles spoke thus.

Everyone looked at him as if they couldn’t understand.

“Your faces are full of doubt. However, doubt is not something the weak can afford to have towards the strong.”

…Ah, I’ve definitely seen this somewhere before.

What was that feeling?

‘Edgelord…!’

His gaze sweeps across the faces of the people. It was an action that seemed to be searching for someone.

Naturally, I assumed he was looking for… Skyler, who seemed to have been fighting the mad king. And my prediction was spectacularly wrong.

Roll.

His gaze stops at a point.

And my gaze and his meet in mid-air.

He was looking at me.

…Why?

“…Eyes?”

“Yes?”

“I see. So that’s why the heart was with you, you had the eyes.”

I couldn’t understand.

What does that mean?

Heart? Eyes?

…The eyes refer to my eyes.

Skyler once told me why I should avoid the mad king. He said it was because the mad king was collecting divine body parts.

If he recognized me because my eyes were the eyes of a god, then who does the heart refer to?

‘Together.’

I looked to the side.

I saw Skyler, battered and bruised, glaring at the mad king.

‘…Heart.’

I felt like the pieces of a puzzle were coming together.

Click.

I heard a sound.

The situation was understood. What choices do I have now?

None.

I can’t manipulate the status window, and the choices don’t pop up when I want them to. I was just a powerless bard.

If I had to try, I could try to charm the mad king.

However, I don’t know how to use my eyes.

–

Searching for possibilities based on your will.

Checking….

Not yet unlocked.

–

I just acted impulsively in my foolishness, and my memory and senses are faint. I don’t think the use of my eyes will be possible again.

The hidden trait hasn’t even been unlocked yet.

“Skyler.”

“…Yes.”

“Let’s talk later. Is there any way to get out of this situation?”

“No.”

“Huh?”

“There isn’t. How do you escape from a human who can create a river with a single slash of a sword?”

…A river with a single slash?

Have you ever seen someone who always confidently presented the next goal and path suddenly lose themselves, lose their spirit, and become powerless?

At least I hadn’t. But I’m seeing it now.

Since the person who seemed to be the only solution is in that state, I guess it’s up to me to solve this.

‘Let’s organize first.’

The mad king’s goal is to collect divine body parts.

I happen to have a divine body part.

He will try to take the divine body part from me.

‘…Lose my sight but save my life?’

It was a decent option, but I didn’t want to use that method.

I want to live with all my limbs intact.

Find a way.

Use your head.

“Yes. The heart. It’s a bit funny that what you finally found is such a child.”

“…It’s a bit suspicious to call her a child though. Eyal.”

“You empty shell. Whose name are you calling?”

“A crazy old man with two brains. Still pretending to be a hero.”

While I was desperately searching for a way to live, Skyler succeeded in further provoking the mad king.

I wanted to tell him to bow his head and apologize, to beg for his life, but the atmosphere was not right for me to intervene.

The two treated each other as if they were quite familiar, and the atmosphere wasn’t that bad.

‘…Frenemies?’

Just a bad relationship, or friends who have grown fond of each other despite their bickering.

However, I’m not sure if the subtle hostility in each word can be dismissed as just ‘fondness’.

‘What gives him the confidence to provoke him?’

The Skyler I know is a meticulous person.

He thoroughly hides his intentions, tries to induce my actions from behind the scenes and doesn’t tell me why he’s accompanying me, why he’s helping me… he’s that kind of person.

I can’t imagine such a person suddenly acting so emotionally and impulsively without any reason.

I began to observe Skyler with my ‘eyes’.

There’s no sign of him using a scroll.

However, I could see magic power.

It was a flow.

The sparkling light I saw before… the flowing waves… the wind that surrounds us concentrates into one point. Then it scatters and draws a circle.

Finally, he chants.

Magic power is imbued in the language.

“The first magic was a woman’s wish, begging the sky for protection.”

“You intend to use that… without a heart?”

“Around a campfire, picking up a random wooden stick thrown on the ground…”

Blood flows from Skyler’s nose and eyes.

Even I, who know nothing about magic, could tell that this flow was unusual. Like a snake that has neither an exit nor an entrance, eating its own tail.

Constantly messing up the inside of the body, neither going out nor in.

Just circling around.

Skyler reached out to me.

The mad king seemed to enjoy watching us, so he just watched.

“He won’t catch us. We’ll eventually gather again.”

“…I’ll definitely hear what that means later.”

“Okay, but the dagger first…”

Skyler took my dagger in his hand. And then, he stabbed the dagger into the back of his own hand.

Without screaming, he smeared the flowing blood on his hand.

The red hand draws a circle.

“With that wooden stick, she drew a picture on the ground.”

The mad king grinned.

“To cast such magic even after losing the heart of a god. Amazing. You’re the second human to amaze me like this.”

“I won’t bother asking why you’re not taking my eyes here.”

“Oh?”

“Because the divine body parts are drawn to each other and will eventually gather again. We’ll meet again later. We have… so much time.”

Skyler ends the conversation.

Suddenly, Skyler’s appearance… changes.

No, more precisely, it overlapped.

‘…A grown-up appearance? Skyler as an adult?’

And that image disappeared in an instant as if it were a mirage.

The mad king sheathes his sword.

As if he’s enjoying this immensely, he just watched us with a smile.

The circle drawn with bloodstains sparkles with a blue light.

“Stand beside me.”

“…Okay.”

I stood beside Skyler. And then, the scenery changed.

A flash of light.

I could only see a bright light in front of me, and nothing else.

I felt a sensation of floating, like when falling from a high place.

And then.

Thud.

***

The feeling of my heart and body suddenly sinking.

It was a sensation similar to when an airplane takes off or lands.

I looked around.

‘…Snowfield? Teleportation?’

No, before my surroundings, first…!

“Skyler.”

“Yes. I’m right here. Don’t call me so loudly. It hurts my ears.”

“There’s… a lot of blood.”

“Yes, I can see that.”

Skyler took out a scroll from his pocket.

It’s probably a healing scroll. I had many questions, but I should ask them later… after he’s healed.

A light sparkles. However, unlike before, it was a faint light, flickering precariously as if it would soon disappear. Skyler saw the worry in my eyes.

“…I can’t use any more magic.”

“What do we do?”

“You have to do it, Selina.”

“…Me?”

“Being able to see magic power means… at least the conditions are met. You have the talent. It’s not proper magic, but even a novice who just learned magic can use a scroll…”

“So, how?”

“A scroll is a path already drawn… You just have to follow the picture drawn by someone else. I can’t explain it any better…”

How am I supposed to do it with just that explanation?!

Skyler’s eyes were becoming blurry.

I still have things to hear from this person. Things I’m curious about. There are so many things I want to ask that I can’t let this person die now.

I didn’t want him to die.

I was a bard.

What kind of people were the bards I’ve seen so far? I ask myself. What kind of character did I create? What is my goal?

…A bard was not simply one who sang and played instruments.

They sometimes used swords, sometimes bows, sometimes prayed, and sometimes used magic.

They learned everything they could to protect themselves. That’s why they were versatile, and at the same time, also called by the derogatory term ‘jack-of-all-trades’.

If I have even the slightest qualification, even a trivial talent, I hope to show at least a little bit of light from this very spot…

I just wished that,

and the starlight, as always, twinkles to grant the wish of those who strongly desire.

From the tip of my hand holding the blood-stained scroll, I felt something flowing out… and a faint, but more definite sparkle than before entered my eyes.

The basics of basics.

The name of the scroll is—

“[ Heal ]”

The twinkling blue light soon turned into the light of a meadow, warmly wrapping Skyler’s body. The visible wounds and scratches gradually healed.

However, he has lost too much blood. The healing is too clumsy.

‘He hasn’t regained consciousness yet.’

I needed to find a place to rest nearby.

Somewhere… there must be a place to rest.

So, without rest, I walked.

Finally, in a dark and damp cave, I lost consciousness and collapsed.

With the relief that I was now safe.