Surviving as a Useless Bard in a Game

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What do you think is the most important element for a Bard?

Is it persuasion?

No, if it were persuasion, most professions could do it.

How many people wouldn’t be persuaded in front of a sword, bow, spear, axe, or staff?

So why is it that the Bard has this image of being a master of persuasion?

It’s simple.

Bards could handle swords, bows, spears, axes, and staves.

Unfortunately, I was a pure Bard. I wasn’t capable of handling weapons or any physical activities; I was just a simple musician.

The only thing a musician who can move their tongue can do in this situation is quite limited.

… Sorry for anyone expecting something great, but what I can do is the same thing I’ve always done. Nothing has changed.

‘…Dice.’

The Status Window didn’t appear.

It must have determined that I wasn’t desperate yet or that I wasn’t in a life-threatening situation.

It’s clear that the Status Window isn’t an absolute truth or premise, but it’s still more reliable than my current judgment and reasoning. It means I’m in a somewhat safe situation.

Back in Osidens, there was no option immediately available either.

In the case of the Mad King… well, there weren’t any options then, but at least I managed to escape in one piece, and the Mad King let us go even though he had the chance to catch us. He probably didn’t intend to catch us in the first place.

So, I can interpret this lack of options now as similar.

I’m thinking pretty clearly.

Is it the power of alcohol? It seems that storing alcohol in different containers a bit at a time was the right choice.

‘… I feel like my brain is working better than when I drank cheap booze, but could it really be that the value and taste of the alcohol make a difference?’

I’d prefer to avoid unnecessary expenditures.

Alright. I should choose my words carefully. I’m just picking the right words for now.

After all, with the cards I have in hand… there aren’t many words I can say. It’s an easy choice. There’s no need for stress or fear. I’ll talk calmly. To myself.

“Are you sure we have bodies?”

“Yeah.”

“Can we know the reason?”

“The Mad King had no reason to break the contract and come out of his territory except for the bodies. In other words, he came out targeting your bodies.”

“… So it seems we can naturally disregard the possibility of us being minions of the Mad King.”

“The Mad King is a very greedy man. Why would he allow his people to go outside his territory, let alone send them all the way to Regan? That’s just absurd.”

“…”

“Anyway, for that reason, I judged you to be body holders who managed to escape from the Mad King. That’s the conclusion from compiling all the information.”

The Emperor was sharp.

I still couldn’t see anyone else’s Status Windows… but their stats were likely mostly between 5 and 7 or higher.

“I’ll admit it.”

Skylar looked at me from the side. He was channeling magic.

If he spun or unleashed uncontrolled magic, it would definitely impact his body just like it did when we first encountered the Mad King.

I’d prefer to avoid such a situation.

I turned my head to look at Skylar’s face.

‘—Trust me right now.’

Then, I immediately turned back to the Emperor.

It was a brief eye contact, but I’m sure the meaning was conveyed. I didn’t think we’d travel together just to not be able to communicate this little intent.

The magic slowly subsided.

The Emperor was still sitting at the head seat of the Grand Reception Room, just observing us quietly.

I couldn’t read his intentions. I didn’t understand the meaning. What reason is there for this conversation? Why on earth is he acting like this? I couldn’t find the answers.

Then, I’ll gamble.

The opponent’s face, expression, atmosphere, actions, hand and foot movements, lip angles, frequency of blinking, breathing.

Everything is a clue.

Gambling is a battle of probabilities. The same goes for conversation. It’s all about success or failure. Just simple coin tossing.

There’s no way to know beforehand whether it will land heads or tails.

I’m only given opportunities and clues to determine whether what I’m holding is a coin, a die, or a card.

‘Let’s think. Don’t stop, keep thinking. If it were me, I could figure it out.’

—Yeah. If it were me, I could have done it.

I’m an elite. I graduated from a university in Seoul. I had the grades to get into medical school if I wanted.

Gathering clues.

The Emperor is somehow certain we’re body holders, yet he’s dragging his feet.

If our bodies were the target, he could have easily taken them by force.

He even kindly approached us as adventurers to test us further.

He has an agenda.

What could be the reason for dragging his feet in such a favorable, overwhelming, and absolute circumstance? Likely because of his personality.

It’s probably not in his nature to forcibly take the bodies of innocent people.

It’s just speculation, though, and one could argue that he might genuinely be a terrible person, dragging his feet to mess with us… but let’s discard such grim possibilities for now.

In short, the Emperor has no intention of taking them from us.

He knows we aren’t minions of the Mad King, and he knows we possess our bodies. But why…?

Now the realm of reason is over. I’m stepping back into the realm of emotion, feeling, probability, and uncertainty. I hope my guesses hold true—.

Words inherently carry risk with every single utterance. In other words, the essence of conversation is a perilous act performed on the tightrope of human relationships. It’s a gamble that continues in succession over and over.

Though I didn’t have dice, I threw an idea like dice.

The number 20 flashes through my mind. I just hoped it would be a great success.

“Shall we say what we want simultaneously?”

“Let’s do that.”

The Emperor and I exchanged glances and slightly raised the corners of our mouths.

We showed confidence.

“ “ Cooperation. ” ”

—The gamble succeeded.

What felt like an eternity passed, and the Emperor smiled. At that moment, I was able to relax my expression and smile too. Our hearts aligned.

“Then, it’s time to reveal.”

“What do you mean?”

“To say what we have and what you have.”

“Please go first.”

“I can offer equipment, privileges, titles, and if you want, I can even supply money. If you’re hostile to the Mad King, I’d even consider providing troops. So, what do you have? This is a trade.”

Cooperation is always a transaction.

When you wrap a transaction in pleasant words, it just turns into cooperation.

For someone who has been through the grind of modern society, those are very familiar words that slipped from the Emperor’s lips.

“My body is… my eyes.”

Skylar watched me from the side. He trusted me, but I could sense his anxiety growing as he couldn’t stay still.

I turned my head back and winked at him.

Skylar’s face turned slightly red.

The conversation continued.

“What about your eyes? What kind of power do they have?”

There were two options given for this question.

1. Lie.

2. Tell the truth.

If I inflated my eye’s abilities, I could secure a favorable position in subsequent dealings, but if caught, the backlash could be devastating.

If I was honest, he might think my eye’s abilities are less impressive than expected, which might lead him to reconsider cooperating with us.

If I think about the long-term future, option 2 is correct.

“I can enchant my opponents.”

“Is that so? Then what about the kid next to you?”

Skylar flinched a bit at the word ‘kid’ and frowned.

“He used to have a heart, but now it has been taken by the Mad King.”

“Then the Mad King has two bodies with powers. What’s the ability of the heart?”

“…Infinite magic power.”

“……Hah. How did he have such a power and still lose to the Mad King?”

The Emperor sighed deeply and expressed his complaint.

The thought that his enemy can use magic infinitely surely painted a grim picture for the future.

As the conversation progressed, Skylar began nearing his breaking point.

Given his personality and lack of social skills, one could hardly say he was well-prepared for this situation, which made me uneasy.

Even though I was in discomfort, time continued to flow relentlessly. The conversation kept pushing forward with questions and psychological battles that offered no respite.

I tackled each point steadily.

And the end of this conversation started to come into view.

—And now, the end of the dialogue has arrived. The tension finally released. My back was drenched in sweat as it pressed against the chair. If I stood up from my seat, my body would look completely transparent from the moisture.

Finally, the Emperor asked.

“Ah, you want to test your abilities. Show me your charm.”

“…What?”

Crack. Tick.

Skylar beside me clenched his teeth. I heard something break.