Vol 1 Chapter 1 (2/2)
The night was dark, and the h Red Cloak returned quite late and went to his own roo the bard in the neighboring room
While res, he looked at the list of missions in his hand The more he looked thehow to complete theabout how to reach his destinations
At first, he had also used the sun, the uide him in his journeys, but later on there were always people by his side Since they were always better than hi skill was shelved He had never thought thatable to get his bearings had suddenly beco life!
Not long after, there were a few knocks on the door
“Who is it?” Red Cloak didn’t even lift his head to ask
“It’sthis, the person outside the door suddenly realized that he himself was apparently not so familiar with the person beyond the door as to be able to use “me” as a substitute, so he quickly clarified, “The bard who sings the Ballad of the Warrior Queen”
Red Cloak looked at his cloak, unsure of whether or not to put it on once h he felt that it was unnecessary since he didn’t have any particular intention of hiding his appearance He felt rather annoyed as he asked afterup?”
The other party stammered a bit and inquired, “Do y-you have any medicine to treat wounds?”
“Medicine to treat wounds?” Red Cloak laughed It couldn’t actually be that because he sang the Ballad of the Warrior Queen, the supporters of the Holy King and Queen beat hiht?
Red Cloak pondered for a rabbed the cloak and draped it on While rue for wound medicine, he shouted, “I have some, come in”
Red Cloak had found the wound , so he turned around to look…
“What happened to your face?” He blurted out, astonished
The bard had a bloody nose and a swollen face Co, he almost seemed like a completely different person If it wasn’t for that head of blond hair and the fact that he was dressed in the sanized him His face already looks this bad Who kno severe the injuries hidden beneath his clothes are?
But then again, no matter how one looked at the bard, he didn’t seem like the sort to clash with others This was apparent fro from his personality and profession all the way to his equip There wasn’t ht and letting him die
How could a bard, that practically has no fighting strength to speak of, end up with a bloody nose and a swollen face, looking as if he went through a desperate battle? Even singing the Ballad of the Warrior Queen shouldn’t have caused people to go as far as to beat hiht?
“Could you help me apply the medicine?” The bard walked in, saw the wound medicine in Red Cloak’s hands and pleaded, “There are also wounds on my back, so I’m unable to apply the medicine myself”
Hearing this, Red Cloak frowned and bluntly shouted, “Come here, take off your shi+rt and pants and then sit on the bed”
The bard obediently did so After taking off his shi+rt, the wounds originally hidden beneath his clothes became apparent As expected, they were not much different from the wounds on his face, black and blue all over
Red Cloak felt up the bard’s body all over until the latter felt an unnerving sensation from head to toe and retreated several steps to withdraw into the corner of the bed, both his hands crossed over his chest He asked with a shaky voice, “W-what are you doing… Don’t tell e fetish?”
Red Cloak rolled his eyes and gru whether or not your bones are broken, so don’t give e look Furthermore, you don’t look ht now No one would have any interest in you! Also, what kind of man tries to cover up his chest? If you want to cover so down there?”
The bard instantly lowered his hands and switched to covering his nether regions
Seeing this, Red Cloak almost threw a punch However, the bard’s face simply did not have any uninjured areas for hih to add injuries to already existing wounds He could only clench his fists tightly and growl sternly, “Get over here so I can apply the medicine!”
“Okay…”
The bard glanced at the other party’s tightly clenched fists Although Red Cloak’s hands were not large, and could even be considered sh, proof of his extensive training day in and day out It was hard to say whether he could beat up a strong man, but at least it was no problem for him to beat up a bard So the bard meekly shi+fted back to Red Cloak’s side, and allowed the latter to apply the medicine on him
Red Cloak did his best to apply the ently, but it was impossible tobeyond his expectations, the bard actually didn’t yell out in pain… Although there were tears hovering at the edges of his eyes the entire time
“What happened?” Red Cloak asked as he applied the medicine
“Got beaten up” The bard answered obediently
“I’lared at hih the cloak was in the way, and the bard couldn’t see his expression either He coldly asked, “Why did you get beaten up?”
“I sang the Ballad of the Warrior Queen, and was seen by the city patrol…”
“So just because you sang the Ballad of the Warrior Queen, the patrol beat you up until you became like this?” Red Cloak frowned This was different froht Could it be that the patrol just happened to be fanatic worshi+ppers of the Holy King?
“No, they said that within this city, one must pay money to earn , I had to pay double the amount But as you know already, I am unable to hand over any money at all, so they beat me up”
Generally speaking, patrols naturally didn’t have any authority to extort money at all It was just that every city’s patrolup strange rules in order to take s were not uncommon at all
Under the rule of the Holy King, these happenings had been eradicated from the vicinity of the capital city However, this place wasn’t near the capital, so unfortunately nomay be, at the end of it all he only had one pair of eyes Thus, there was no way he could oversee places like this
“What about the ive it to them?”
The bard fiercely retorted, “How can I give it away? Had I given it to them, ouldn’t have any food to eat today and tomorrow It doesn’t matter if I don’t have any food to eat, but how can I be responsible for you not having anything to eat as well?! It is your money, after all!”
“I still have a lot of rations” Red Cloak repliedto look at, swollen to the likeness of five sausages This also pained the bard so much that he inhaled sharply
Red Cloak frowned deeply, criticizing, “They have gone too far, dealing blows as heavy as these just because you were unable to pay any money”
However, the bard spoke up on behalf of the patrol, “It wasn’t like that! I wasn’t beaten up this badly at first”
“Then what exactly happened? Can’t you say it all at once?” Red Cloak was finally starting to fume a little In his whole lifetime he had never before seen a man that was as wishy-washy as this!
Feeling a bit indignant, the bard said, “It’s because they demanded all my money from me, and then laid their dirty paws on a lady dancer… I couldn’t just stand by idly and watch! So I went up and helped shi+eld her for a bit, shouting at her to quickly leave After that I was beaten up until I became like this”
Upon hearing this, Red Cloak grinned with a trace of ridicule He already knew the answer, yet he still asked, “Did that dancer escape?”
The bard fell silent for a while, then spoke, “No”
Red Cloak mildly chided, “You’re really foolish Is this a world where a woman can walk alone? Most likely that lady dancer came out to sell herself There would certainly have beenthat money could be collected afterwards She also has to continue earning money in this city, so she cannot afford to offend the patrol It looks like she probably went off with the patrol, paying them with her body”
The bard turned silent, and Red Cloak also stopped his interrogation He knew very clearly that the situation had unfolded just like this There was no mistake about it
He wordlessly finished applying the , “Done”
The bard stu pain passed through his shoulder He coentler? I’m wounded…”
Red Cloak replied coldly, “Since you know that it’s painful, then don’t do this sort of stupid thing again! Now return to your rooo out at all for a while If you buet more than your share of pain!”
The bard let out an “Oh” He stood up, gathered his shi+rt, and then walked towards the door However, he suddenly stopped in his tracks halfway, hesitated for a while, and finally turned his head to ask, “Do I really look a lot like minced meat noodles at the moment?”
As he spoke, he touched his own face It stung very painfully, which made him even more worried
What would happen if he ruined his face? He was a bard whose livelihood depended on his singing voice and good looks
“It’s slightly better than that”
Considering that the bard was beaten up because he wanted to do a good deed, Red Cloak didn’t want to continue berating hih in the end he was still a fool
“Really? I’ this, the bard beaht
“Mmhm”
“How handsome?”
Red Cloak glanced at his face and flatly said, “As handsome as rainbow-colored bread”
“…”
Footnotes
1 “Eh? You use blades? Normally everyone wants to use a ‘sword’ to chop me up!”: What the bard ed swords on hied blades Red Cloak’s weapon is essentially a type of dao, but as Fe, ill not be calling it a dao