Vol 1 Chapter 2 (2/2)
Of course they wouldn’t buy it. It’s the white rose insignia personally issued by the Holy King. All those who have them are renowned individuals. Who would dare to buy and keep such an insignia?
However, even though he had this insignia, Red Cloak was not swayed. He said, “This doesn’t prove much. He always loses his things.”
The bard sat stunned for a moment. Doubtful, he then asked, “What did you say?”
Red Cloak was silent for a while before he said nonchalantly, “I said, people are always losing things, so maybe you just picked it up.”
“It’s true that my teacher gave it to me!”
The bard was extremely anxious, but he himself also didn’t know how to convince Red Cloak… His teacher was indeed very good at losing his things. If anyone holding onto his teacher’s items came and told him that he was also LL’s student, even the bard himself would suspect that the item had been picked up.
“If you say it’s so, then so be it.” Red Cloak neither voiced whether he believed him nor whether he recognized him as LL’s student. He only made an offhanded remark and then returned to the main topic. “Under this kind of situation, your teacher would forgive you for not singing for one day. I believe that he also wouldn’t want to see you get beaten to death.”
“No, he wouldn’t forgive me.”
The bard was unexpectedly calm as he said, “He would only scold me, ‘To think that at that time, outside the gate of the Valley of the Crimson Blades and with just five thousand men, the Warrior Queen actually managed to defend the invasion from the demon army of fifty thousand soldiers. She even held them off for no less than three months. You, on the other hand, can’t even manage to merely sing the Ballad of the Warrior Queen for three days. Why don’t you just simply go hit your head and die under the statue of the Warrior Queen?’”
“Your teacher is wrong.” Red Cloak said coolly, “Comparing you to the Warrior Queen is like hitting a rock with a loaf of bread. From the start, it wouldn’t be a fair battle.”
The bard looked like he was about to cry as he said in grief, “You’re even more ruthless than my teacher…”
At this point in time, Red Cloak swallowed the last of his rations. With a swish from his cloak, he stood up and simply said, “Let’s go!”
“To where?” The bard lifted his head to look at him, puzzled.
Red Cloak said to him nonchalantly, “Aren’t you going to sing? Coincidentally, I also want to listen to a song, so let’s go together.”
Hearing that, the bard’s azure eyes instantly lit up in hope.
Red Cloak must be really strong!
This was not intuition, but an inference. A person who wore an eye-catching red cloak everywhere was either a reckless novice at adventuring, or a strong person who could settle any kind of trouble!
Judging from Red Cloak’s actions up until now, he was definitely not new to adventuring.
Even before the bard could spit out half a word, Red Cloak immediately cut in, coldly saying, “If you say anything that I feel contains redundant words, I will use a more direct method to make you unable to go out today— I’ll beat you up so badly that you can only lie in bed and then you wouldn’t need to sing anymore.”
“Redundant words?” The bard immediately gave a shout of astonishment. “How is it possible for me to speak redundant words? I have never said any unnecessary words before. On this, you can relax, for I am a bard! Being excessively particular about wording is my forte. I can guarantee that my every line is as elegant as singing birds and as clear as running water in a brook…”
Hearing this, Red Cloak seized the bard’s collar with one fist and then lifted him off the ground, forcibly dragging him from a sitting position to being suspended in mid-air.
The bard shut his mouth and blinked innocently. He didn’t dare move a single muscle and was completely in the dark as to why Red Cloak was angry again… But then again, his strength is really impressive. As expected, he’s a strong person!
With Red Cloak here, he would definitely not be beaten into a piece of bread by the patrol… The prerequisite being that Red Cloak could control his rage and leave him alive to go and sing.
Red Cloak held him there for quite a while. It was unclear whether he was trying to suppress his anger, or was considering which part he should start beating up first. It lasted until several of the inn’s waiters walked over. Without waiting for them to speak, Red Cloak had already put down the bard and turned around to tell them, “It’s fine.”
Turning around, Red Cloak lowered his head. The bard saw his pair of black pupils that radiated killing intent and severity from under the hood of his cloak. Red Cloak growled at the bard word-by-word, “Other than ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ all others are redundant words!”
After roaring at the bard, Red Cloak walked out of the inn without even looking back. Seeing Red Cloak’s shadow, the stunned bard mumbled, “Just like burning ebony flames.” Afterward, he immediately got to his feet and chased after Red Cloak.
After catching up with Red Cloak, he slowed down to walk beside Red Cloak. Though they were still quite far from the tavern, he had already started to hum softly.
Seasons change, time flows on
Gazing into the distance
The wandering minstrel reminisces about the past…
Oh minstrel!
The corners of your lips are always pulled into a brilliant smile.
Oh minstrel!
Your deep and distant eyes gaze beyond the people in front of you
Oh minstrel!
You who are so far out of reach
What exactly are you looking at?
Softly, the minstrel sings
Regardless of the distance
My eyes remain fixed upon that woman of legend
Oh Warrior Queen!
Have the Holy King and Queen destroyed your capacity for love?
Oh Warrior Queen!
Can the ebony flames in your eyes be lit only by battle?
Oh Warrior Queen!
With your cold and indifferent eyes,
What exactly are you looking at?
Footnotes
1 “Lancel Ornister”: Originally named Lancero Ornister by Yu Wo, as stated in the Female Warrior artbook. Both Lancel and Lancero are equally valid names, but we felt Lancel was more suiting a name for a king. Lancero is a type of military course, a type of soldier, and also less frequently used as a name.
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