Surviving as a Trash Bard in a Game

The silence of that day was unexpectedly long.

Skyler believed that time was the best medicine, but as the day passed without a single footstep approaching, a corner of his heart grew heavy.

As the sunset light shining through the window painted the room red, his anxiety deepened.

How on earth could he appease Selina's anger?

'How, you ask? There's no way.'

That's right. There was no way.

It was impossible to use the characteristic of physical attraction to uncover his past karma, and it was impossible to protect her from harm by her side.

He was stripped of his status as a companion and became a complete stranger.

The temptation of self-rationalization subtly raised its head.

It was certainly his fault for forcibly seeing another person's naked body, but shouldn't Selina, who had been hiding an important secret, also bear some responsibility? But he immediately erased that thought.

'No, that's crazy talk.'

No excuse could cover the sin of invading another person's private space.

He had to ask for forgiveness.

But there was a bigger concern. The smell of blood and the blood-stained clothes he had seen in the room kept flashing through his mind.

An anxiety, reminiscent of a child left alone by the water, gripped him.

In the first place, if he quit this companionship now, he would be the only one at a loss.

Selina said her goal was to head to the capital, and she didn't necessarily need a companion to get there.

He had imposed the condition that he would cover the expenses, and at the same time, he was playing the role of protecting her, so he was useful in his own way... but the escort could be replaced, and the expenses could be easily covered by the money she had.

In other words, he could be replaced at any time from his position as a companion.

If it were the old, less intelligent her, it might not be possible, but with her increased intelligence, she could certainly make such a judgment.

'I can't check her current status.'

Skyler momentarily shifted the direction of his thoughts.

It was his fault for forcibly opening the room, but it was an undeniable fact that the smell of blood was coming from inside the room and that there were blood-stained clothes on the bed.

The anxiety of leaving a child abandoned by the water began to overwhelm him.

'No, she's not a child.'

Technically, Selina was an adult.

Apart from being a little lacking in common sense, periodically experiencing a drop in intelligence, and being weak in physical strength and muscle power, her mental age was that of an adult.

Wasn't it a little strange for him, whose appearance was that of a child, to worry about Selina, whose appearance and mind were both adult?

In the end, after much deliberation, Skyler postponed his decision.

It was a decision deeply rooted in escapism, lacking courage, determination to swallow his pride, and the desire to confirm his worries with his own two eyes.

That was when it happened.

Knock, knock.

A familiar knocking sound broke the silence.

'...There's only one person who would come to visit.'

Skyler slowly opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, damp air rushed in.

Originally, mages are sensitive to their environment. Not just their surroundings, but most of the objects that make up the world.

The reason is simple. Their experiments are very delicate and require a controlled environment. Even a simple measurement can be skewed by a spirit of the wind that sneaks in through the window.

Therefore, Skyler was surprised as soon as the door opened.

The smell.

The environment.

The humidity.

It didn't take long to grasp the situation.

It wasn't much of an assessment since his eyes immediately caught sight of the slightly soiled clothes.

It was one of the few moments when his expressionless face, like an iron fortress, crumbled.

"Selina?"

"..."

"Wh-why...?"

Honestly, Skyler couldn't read Selina's mood.

He certainly had female family members, but they weren't very close, so the nature and physiology of women were very unfamiliar to him.

He even felt an unknown fear at the sight of her standing there silently, staring at him.

"...Clothes."

"Yes?"

"Do you have any spare underwear?"

"...Yes?"

Skyler wasn't stupid. In fact, being a mage was a profession that required a sharp mind, and even after losing his magic, he had constantly been writing scrolls, so it was fair to say that his application and memory were unparalleled.

In short, Skyler immediately understood the meaning of Selina's words.

It was thanks to his high intelligence and quick-witted nature.

However, high intelligence and quick-wittedness weren't always advantageous. When combined with certain tendencies, they could often lead to great disasters.

What tendencies could lead to such disasters, you ask?

"It's that time of the month."

This is precisely such a situation.

Skyler, with his brilliant mind, immediately figured out what Selina was going through. And he uttered the correct answer out loud.

The mage, with his brilliant mind, completely failed to realize that human relationships are not a quiz game. Most of them, across generations, failed to grasp this fact.

'...Then the blood smell wasn't that kind of blood. That's a relief.'

Even though quite some time had passed since the journey began and no symptoms had appeared, he had speculated that the related system might be damaged, but fortunately, her body seemed to be fine.

If his guess was correct, Selina was likely a test subject created by a certain organization for some purpose, so it was a rational concern for now.

"..."

"I'll look for some spare underwear for now. Why don't you come inside for a moment—"

"You, son of a bitch."

Strictly speaking, Skyler had never seen Selina directly curse out loud. No, to be precise, he 'almost' never had.

Except for the time when Haroon made a pass at Selina and she cursed about his parents, Selina had never cursed even once.

It's already a scary situation when a person who doesn't usually get angry does, but she's even cursing now?

'...Ah.'

Even a socially inept pseudo-mage would quickly realize that something was wrong.

Due to certain circumstances, Skyler had been separated from his family for a long time, had few people he could call friends, and had almost no experience of accompanying someone. To him, 'consideration' was a very unfamiliar word.

"First of all... I'm sorry."

He bowed his head and then raised it, his eyes meeting Selina's face.

***

...I don't understand myself.

Many people don't know themselves 100%. It's the mystery of the animal called humans that they sometimes do things they can't understand themselves.

But this time, it was too much.

My emotions were fluctuating like a roller coaster. There were no rules, no reasons, just a wild ride. Actions that I wouldn't normally do kept bursting out one after another.

There was no regularity to the cycle, and the only rule was that there were no rules for my emotions.

I was dragged around with a leash on my emotions, doing things I wouldn't normally do and saying things I wouldn't normally say.

Suddenly, all of this was so embarrassing.

Skyler bowed his head deeply and apologized to me. There were no flowery words like his consideration was lacking or that he was sorry for suddenly opening the door.

I know.

I definitely know. I know that he understands his mistake. But for some reason, that apology sounded hollow. It was a baseless feeling, but my emotions were already flowing uncontrollably.

There was no basis for these emotions, for this logic.

Yes. There was no basis, but my emotions, actions, and words moved on their own.

Impulsive, uncontrollable, my body creaked, and my heart ached as if it were being torn by something sharp. In the end, I chose to freeze in place.

Impulsive, uncontrollable, my whole body creaked, and my heart ached as if it were being torn by a sharp blade. In the end, I froze in place.

And I cried.

There's a discriminatory saying that a man only cries three times in his life.

Excluding the time I cried as a child, I have one left. If I cry one more time, that's really the end. This will be the last cry of my life.

I never imagined that a person who didn't even cry when his family died would cry like this in this situation.

My reason was strangely clear.

It was as if my soul had left my body and was looking at it from a third person's perspective. It was definitely my body that was crying, but at the same time, I thought, 'That's not me.'

Skyler slowly approached and took my wrist.

And led me into the room.

I heard the door close.

"Wait a little. I'll find some clothes you can wear and something to wipe yourself with."

"...I'm sorry."

"No, I think I'm the one who should apologize."

"You agree too quickly."

I smiled faintly with swollen eyes.

I hoped it wouldn't be pretty, but at least not unsightly.

I took out my notebook, recorded the date, and closed it again.

After a while, Skyler came with a pair of short pants.

The status window suddenly popped up.

-

Drawers.

Cleanly laundered underwear.

It appears to have been used by a mage of unknown age.

-

"...There are only drawers."

"Are those your underwear?"

"They've been washed."

I felt like I was going to burst into tears again.