Surviving as a Useless Bard in a Game

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I hit Skylar on the head hard, but nothing much happened afterward.

I just closed my eyes and went to bed, hoping for tomorrow.

If there hadn’t been only two beds in the new place we found in Gateway City, I might have just skipped to the next day.

“…Ah.”

Right. We hadn’t gone to bed yet.

The reason, as already mentioned above, was that there were only two beds.

There were two choices.

Fura, with her flying ability, didn’t really need a bed since she could comfortably sleep in the air.

Before we even asked, she just said, “It’s fine,” and shut her eyes to sleep.

And she even gave a little lightning warning to not wake her up.

“I can just sleep with Auris since we’re the same gender, and you can sleep with Scipio.”

Skylar looked completely disgusted, and for some reason, Scipio’s expression darkened a bit.

…The little kid I could understand, but why you?

I squinted and scrutinized Scipio’s face.

Since I hadn’t used any magic power, even after staring at Scipio for a long time, no special information came to mind. It was night, and my brain wasn’t exactly working properly.

In this situation, without any alcohol in my system, I didn’t want to waste my energy on conversation.

I just wanted to leave everything to Skylar and get some sleep.

I felt a bit anxious about whether it was okay to keep relying on him, but then again, it was proof that I trusted him, so I wasn’t overly worried.

I believe in him, and in turn, I believe in myself.

In other words, this was self-trust.

“…Ah, that’s a bit much.”

“……”

For the first time, Skylar, who had been traveling with me without any complaints, couldn’t hold back and shot back a response. Scipio looked a bit flustered, too.

“To be honest, I’d rather sleep on the floor.”

“Kid, I’d like to sleep on the floor too.”

“…Go ahead and call me ‘kid’ one more time.”

Skylar pulled out a scroll from his pocket.

He seemed to have more than just the scroll he was spreading out on the floor.

How exciting.

‘…I feel like I need some popcorn.’

Unfortunately, there was no corn.

Maybe I should try making some later. I feel like I haven’t used my ‘Cooking’ skill in a while.

‘Oh…! They’re fighting!’

It sparkled.

And then, it exploded.

I backed away, wondering if Skylar would make a mess of the place like he did when he visited Gateway City before, but surprisingly, he seemed to be a bit controlled.

Nothing in the place broke, nor were there any visible damages.

Just a very bright light flickered, and that was it.

It was a bit of an anticlimactic ending.

The scene I was expecting didn’t happen.

Scipio just pretended to swing his sword without actually doing it, so aside from the flash that woke everyone up at night, nothing particularly entertaining took place.

But it was like the fun was just beginning when Fura opened her eyes.

“…I clearly said not to wake me.”

Lightning crackled from Fura’s hands.

Skylar and Scipio jumped back, creating some distance.

What had started as a joke had suddenly turned into a three-way battle.

I immediately took out my lute and started playing a melody.

—♫♫-♫♫-♫♫

Half of it was to tease them, and the other half was to liven the atmosphere for more fighting.

—♫♫-♫♫-♫♫

As I continued to play, Skylar, Scipio, and Fura all switched their stances in surprise.

“…Why? Are you not going to keep going?”

“No, uh, Selina, since you started playing, suddenly we realized how pathetic we were trying to act.”

“I wasn’t trying to ruin the mood. I was trying to lift it!”

“……That’s the problem.”

How disappointing.

I really hoped they would actually fight next time.

But isn’t there still an important matter at hand?

“So, what bed are we going to use?”

“I was thinking of the same bed as my granddaughter—”

“Don’t tell me you still want to sleep with your granddaughter at your age?”

“No—”

“Should I ask Auris what she thinks?”

I slowly walked over to Auris and stood next to her.

Auris looked at me with a puzzled expression.

Scipio gazed at Auris with pleading eyes, but Auris didn’t care about him and focused only on me.

So this is what it feels like to steal someone’s attention. Not bad.

“Auris, who do you want to sleep with?”

“With my sister.”

“…Exactly!”

I stroked Auris’s head and immediately went into the room.

In the living room of our lodging were Fura preparing to sleep in the air like a fetus position, a gray cat sprawled out on the floor, a bewildered Scipio, and Skylar comforting him beside.

It was just another day of adventure, where the winds never seemed to calm.

Unfortunately for Skylar, it seemed he was destined to sleep right next to a scruffy old man.

He’d probably miss me while he slept.

That’s a bit amusing.

***

It was a quiet night.

Sleep didn’t come easily today.

Ever since my narcolepsy kicked in again, I had been overly optimistic thinking I could comfortably fall asleep.

Positive traits, negative traits.

The secrets of my eyes.

Another personality that popped out while I lost consciousness.

And that damned status window.

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I clearly chose a late-bloomer trait. I also chose a hidden trait.

Yeah. It’s all my choice.

But that doesn’t mean I’ll just stand by and let this happen to me.

My head hurts.

Throbbing.

Just thinking a little complicated thought seems to interfere with my mind. This is a situation that makes it hard not to curse. Still, I have to think.

In the sleepless dawn, with my blurry consciousness, I had to think hard while my status influence was weakest.

Because that’s who I am.

I feel like I’m losing myself.

I feel like I’m not myself anymore.

I feel like I’m becoming someone else.

It was terrifying. I couldn’t stop. It was beyond my will. It felt like a disaster befalling the human mind. That’s why I didn’t stop thinking to exist as myself.

A natural disaster.

I’ve survived this long in this unfamiliar world. I’ve gained trusted companions. We’re gradually progressing on this journey. Moving forward, never stopping, all the way until now.

How many more crises do I have to go through, and how much more do I need to change to return to my original world?

Or can I even return at all?

Doubt.

There was no certainty anywhere.

In the end, all I could do was cling to memories of the past, deny the current me, reminisce about old memories, and act out the image of myself that I remember.

Memories connect. Thoughts connect.

If there’s anything continuous, then I can exist as myself.

The Ship of Theseus.

—It’s a famous paradox, so everyone who’s read a bit of literature knows about it.

I think this way.

As long as there’s an observer looking at the Ship of Theseus and someone exists to testify that the before and after are the same during the replacement process, that ship will remain the Ship of Theseus indefinitely.

Thus, I am both the observer and the Ship of Theseus.

I am, me.

It’s simple.

As long as I think of myself as me, I will be me forever.

With that, I closed my eyes and continued thinking.

I drifted into sleep.

Slowly, I opened my eyes.

It’s morning.

It felt like only a moment had passed, but birds were already perched on the window singing.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a crow.

I glanced at the clock.

It didn’t feel like I had slept long.

…Actually, it seemed I hadn’t slept long at all.

Looking at the clock, it seemed I had barely slept for two hours.

Wow, I really didn’t sleep for long, huh.

“…My head hurts.”

I personally dislike talking to myself.

What kind of person just voices their thoughts out loud?

So, naturally, I hated protagonists who talked to themselves.

Even when reading a book, if the protagonist started talking to themselves, I’d quickly shut the book and pick up another one. It was a huge turn-off.

But now, I could kind of understand.

Not completely, but just a tiny bit.

Perhaps… they just wanted to vent to someone. That’s what I think.

The door to the room opened, and Fura walked in.

Divine energy gathered in her hands and sparkled.

A small light flickered above my head, and my headache disappeared.

“…Thank you.”

“I heard some noise and came. How’s your head?”

“Feeling a bit better.”

“‘A bit’ better?”

“…Completely better.”

“There you go! Who do you think treated you!”

“Skylar… has he already left?”

“Are you really looking for your boyfriend so early in the morning?”

“…It’s not like that.”

“Skylar went to the Mage Tower to get a scroll. It’s safer for someone without a body to go, you know. Makes sense, right?”

“Yeah.”

Fura proudly placed her hands on her hips and smiled.

…Right now, I had people around me who made it so that when I talked to myself, it didn’t feel like I was talking to myself. Today, I converse with them again.

Time passed, and Skylar entered the lodge with a massive scroll tucked under his arm.