Surviving as a Useless Bard in a Game

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I felt like my brain just froze for a second.

Let’s reassess things here.

The Emperor told me… to use Charm on him. And next to me, Skylar was biting down hard enough that I thought something might break.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you really going to do it?”

“Yep.”

“…Really?”

“The Emperor dislikes repetitive words. Hurry up and do it.”

“I just said a moment ago. My charm doesn’t just make someone feel love; it can turn them into blind followers. The duration depends on how strong and mentally resilient the target is.”

“Are you underestimating my willpower and strength?”

“No… what I mean is while I was distracted for a moment, Skylar and I could kill you.”

“You don’t think you can kill the Emperor and escape the Regan Palace, do you? This room is the Grand Reception Room. It was specifically designed to welcome guests. The security here is not that easy to breach.”

This is ridiculous.

How long has it been since we met that you trust us this much? No, it feels less like trust and more like, ‘You all can’t kill me anyway.’

‘Alright, since you asked me to, I guess I have to.’

While I was lost in thought, Skylar reached out and grabbed my wrist.

“…What?”

“Wait a second.”

“Okay.”

He took out a scroll from his pocket and stuck it near my cloak.

…[ Flame ]? Why now?

‘Can you hear me?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Good. If you get hit by my Charm, let’s try to kill the Emperor. I’ll see if I can trigger teleportation somehow.’

‘…Huh?’

It seems that Skylar hates the Emperor more than I expected. Right now, he’s losing all rationality and deciding things based on emotion.

He’s babbling something way dumber than ‘stupid me.’

He probably made that judgment based on the fact that the Emperor might have a body, but I can confirm for sure since I currently have a body.

It’s not resonating. There’s no allure.

‘Calm down for now.’

‘No, this is the most rational… well, it’s not rational, but it’s beneficial. The Emperor might have a body too, right? This is your opportunity to get another body.’

‘Not a chance.’

‘Why not?’

‘When I met the Mad King, and when I met Nisha and Propertyius, I felt a sense of discomfort or something strange. But with the Emperor, there’s no such sensation at all.’

‘…So, it was resonance. The Emperor was an ordinary human without a body. The platinum adventurer, Framea, is the Emperor after all.’

‘Think rationally, Skylar.’

The Emperor slowly started to rise from his seat.

He hadn’t spoken for too long. Perhaps feeling something strange, he began to walk slowly towards where Skylar and I were seated.

Just a few steps, but I felt a surge of tension, making me sweat even more.

“Are you done deliberating in your head?”

He realized. He may not know the contents of our conversation, but he sensed that some kind of communication was happening through the flow of magic. Is he really platinum?

“Yes.”

“Good. What’s the conclusion?”

“…I will try to use Charm.”

“What are the conditions?”

“Just looking into your eyes is enough. It doesn’t even need to be a direct gaze.”

“Got it.”

The Emperor brought his face close to mine.

…It’s close. Very close.

He had a pretty face, but it felt strangely void of any sensation.

If it were the old me, I would’ve probably been excited about being so close to a beauty—but why doesn’t it feel like anything?

“Still not yet?”

“Look into my eyes. Straightforwardly. Don’t avoid it.”

I began to spin my magic.

I kept my eyes on him.

—Guiding a possibility.

–

[ Charm – 20 or higher ]

[ 11 + 5 ]

The target is a being of a certain elevation.

Mental resilience is extraordinarily high.

[ Failed! ]

–

“Still not yet?”

“Just a bit longer, please.”

Even without choosing options, the dice modifiers pop up.

Honestly, I was low-key hoping the status window would slyly leak hidden info like it did with Skylar, giving me hints about the failure reason.

‘It won’t go that smoothly.’

The dice are rolling.

Over and over again.

Until I get the number I want.

Until I attain my desired possibility.

–

[ Success! ]

–

And finally, it came.

I got it.

Charm.

The tip of my gaze met his gaze. A faint magic… no, something almost divine stretched out like branches towards that moment, finally reaching his eyes.

“…Ah, I see.”

“Are you okay?”

“You, you are my fated love… no, I’m not sure. My heart is racing.”

It seems the Emperor treats the emotion of ‘love’ as something special. Or maybe it feels more like he’s never experienced it?

I don’t quite get whether Skylar inherently has resistance to the feeling of love or if it’s because his own sister is a Crazy Psycho, but this definitely wasn’t as intense.

It was simply a matter of becoming a little more honest about everything.

‘…Could it be that this Emperor has never had a lover before?’

He mentioned that he’s been ruling for 15 years. If he ascended to the throne as an adult… at least he must be in his 30s. Does that imply he’s a single old lady?

…Right, I should probably choose my words carefully.

If I openly call the Emperor a single old lady, my head might be on the chopping block in Regan the next morning.

Time passes.

“……”

In the awkward silence, the Emperor stared at me with vacant eyes. Slowly, he began to step back.

He looked like he was frightened. It was a sensation he was experiencing for the first time. Something unknown. Fear of ignorance.

The platinum adventurer, known as the superhuman, even the emperor of the largest empire, is scared of knowing something. Even feels fear from his own emotions.

​

I’ve obtained good information……Is this just me being correct?

“I’m scared.”

“Honestly, I don’t really use it much. There have been plenty of situations that could be solved without it.”

“Controlling another’s emotions. It’s far stronger than I expected. I feel ashamed that I even doubted for a moment whether this brief power to charm someone could rival a god’s strength.”

“I don’t think it’s that strong…”

“I stood still and did nothing for over 15 seconds. What do you think that means?”

“Well, I’m not sure?”

“…You’re lacking in a peculiar way.”

Ah, that’s probably just me experiencing a bit of withdrawal from alcohol? My head feels like it’s slowly hardening.

The thoughts that were spinning rapidly just moments ago are now gradually slowing down, returning to their original pace. I’m feeling dumber. Ugh… I hate this.

Is there any way to keep this state for a longer time? Like a hangover curse or something.

That’s not a bad idea, right? If you stay drunk all the time, your mind should stay sharp, right?

‘…I’ll have to experiment with that later.’

For now, what could the Emperor’s words mean?

The ability to daze a particular target for more than 15 seconds.

“…Oh.”

“Yeah, it seems you finally understand. Didn’t your fellow mage teach you this application?”

“I’ve instinctively used it before. During a sparring match.”

“You won that spar, right?”

“Actually, I lost.”

“To lose a spar despite having such abilities, impressive.”

The Emperor began to jest with me.

Just a while ago, he was singing praises about my song and skills, and now he’s throwing insults. He’s just embarrassed that he got hit by my charm and is trying to cover up his feelings.

And honestly, it’s not that amazing of a talent.

I mean, would it really affect the outcome if a Mad King or an Emperor like him stood still for 15 seconds? They couldn’t escape, nor could they rush forward to stab me.

Even if I were lucky enough to stab a motionless target during that time, the platinum adventurer’s body isn’t the same as a regular human’s.

It could heal or the knife might not even pierce. Worst-case scenario, he recognizes the ‘abnormal emotion’ and, thinking it’s a mental assault, could very well decide to take me out instead!

‘This is such an inability that’s far from enough to survive against crazy monsters.’

Anyway, the conversation ended like that.

However, I still had one question left. The Emperor mentioned ‘cooperation’ to us, but I was still unsure what that collaboration would entail.

“Let’s get back to the main point. What do you desire from our cooperation? And what will we gain?”

“It’s simple. You all just need to continue your journey until we’re ready.”

“…Huh?”

“The Empire cannot yet assemble an army. To face the Mad King, we need troops, money, and nobles. The more individuals with bodies we have, the better.”

“How many bodies does the Empire possess right now?”

“Just one.”

“……That’s hopeless.”

“But time will change things. One body owned by the Empire, one body owned by you, and all the other bodies you’ll gather during your travels.”

“W-wait. You expect us to gather what?”

“You’re going to gather bodies. Naturally, we will support what’s necessary. Even personnel.”

It was a trade.

The Emperor would support us with people, money, and equipment. And we were to gather bodies until we can take down the Mad King. We could either rob them or persuade the owners; it didn’t matter how as long as we bring them to our side.

—There’s one unusual point.

“Do you really think we can do it?”

“No?”

“Then why…?”

“Didn’t I say I would support even ‘people’?”

Surveillance and support.

A brilliant strategy of fulfilling both requirements at once.

The Emperor was planning to send one of his people along with us on this adventure.