Selling Him Out

Using an illusion was often much easier than seeing through one. The former meant you knew it was fake; the latter meant you had to guess whether it was fake. And clearly—you'd guessed right.

You obtained "True Sight Eye Potion":

A potion that could help you expose illusions. Lasted 8 hours.

Notes:

It was best not to use it while charmed by an illusion. Otherwise, you could have lost yourself in the false enchantment instead of facing a hag drooling at you.

"[Alertness], [True Sight Eye Potion]... I actually got two rewards this time?"

The moment Tang Qi finished reading the log, he suddenly felt something bulging in his pocket.

He felt around and discovered a tiny glass bottle about the length of a finger.

The liquid inside was crystal clear. If he hadn't been told it was a potion, he would have thought it was a small bottle of water.

"Better keep this on me."

He tucked the potion back into his pocket, then flipped to the title page and checked his renown. His followers were still "Unknown" and a lonely "1," confirming that this wasn't a bonus from becoming "Famous."

"So the rewards I get are based on my actions in the story.

"Does the value of the rewards also depend on how exciting and complex the story is?"

For example, [Tavern Performance] had been a single event.

But [Retrieve Star Plum] was a combination of [Explore Cave] and [See Through Lies].

So he'd received two evaluations and earned double the rewards.

Tang Qi felt as though he'd begun to figure out the log's reward system:

"I've tried writing fake stories and other people's stories, but the words on the page gradually faded, and I didn't get any rewards.

"That means it's encouraging me to take part in more events, and more complicated ones. As long as I'm alive to claim the rewards, I shouldn't just play it safe..."

Danger brought opportunity. It was clearly a double-edged sword.

"Kuru."

Tang Qi called to the kobold, who was in the corner, holding his staff and studying intently.

He suspected Kuru wouldn't put that precious stick down even to sleep or dream.

After dinner, Tang Qi had asked a few more questions about the Dragon Egg, which had displeased the kobold. As a result, they hadn't spoken again after returning to their room.

But he was still Kuru's "savior." Even if gratitude wasn't part of the kobold's creed, Kuru didn't harbor much ill will toward Tang Qi.

So Kuru's ears twitched. After hesitating for a moment, he raised his head.

"Rua?"

"Later, when I'm not paying attention, try to smack me on the back of the head with that stick. Remember, don't use magic."

"Hit you?"

"Make sure I'm not paying attention. Like when I'm turned away..."

As Tang Qi spoke, he turned his back and pretended to be writing at the desk.

But almost the instant he turned around,

the same pressing sense of imminent danger he'd felt in the cave stabbed into every pore of his body like a pin.

His scalp prickled, and his hair stood on end as if by reflex.

The moment he sensed danger behind him, Tang Qi almost instinctively threw himself to the right—

Thud!

Kuru's staff slammed into the desk!

"He can actually tell which direction danger is coming from? It's almost like predicting where an attack will come from. It's just like—"

Spider Sense?

Before he could finish thinking, danger swept over him again. Without a moment's hesitation, he threw himself to the side.

This time, the staff landed squarely on the floor beside him.

"That's enough—"

Another whack.

"I said that's enough!"

As he dodged yet another blow, Tang Qi grabbed the end of the staff and yanked it from Kuru's hands. Then he swung it hard against the kobold's backside.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

Kuru didn't understand. He'd only been following Tang Qi's orders, so why was he getting hit? He looked at Tang Qi with a deeply aggrieved expression.

Only then did Tang Qi realize the kobold barely understood the Common Tongue. He had no choice but to gesture as he spoke.

"Enough—stop. Understand?"

"Enough. Stop."

Kuru finally understood and rubbed his backside.

Tang Qi wondered if he'd hit him too hard.

He bent down to check whether the kobold's rear had bruised—

The room's door banged open.

"Mr. Tang Qi, are you all right?"

Catherine, who'd heard the commotion upstairs, pushed the door open.

But what met her eyes was Tang Qi's face, as he leaned toward the kobold and tried to lift his robe, exposing the backside beneath his tail—

Bang! The door slammed shut.

"Sorry to interrupt."

Some of her beliefs seemed to have been shaken. A moment after apologizing, she hurried away with footsteps that sounded almost like a sprint.

"..."

The man and the kobold stared at each other.

The next morning, at dawn.

As the first pale light appeared over the mountains, Tang Qi tried to explain things to Catherine, who still had the wrong idea.

"You misunderstood last night..."

"I understand, Mr. Tang Qi. You don't have to feel awkward. I was just startled yesterday. Of course, that doesn't mean I disrespect my friends' preferences.

"On the contrary, I'm willing to support you—even if it's a little unusual."

They said bards' tastes were always strange and varied.

So the rumors were true.

"I still need to explain. I like women."

"So Kuru's female?"

"I mean women! Humans with obvious female physical characteristics—uh, humanoid creatures!"

Catherine blinked, trying to make sense of the complicated sentence.

"I understand... You're attracted to more than one kind, right?"

Tang Qi imagined it.

Humans, elves, beast-eared girls, succubi...

In the end, he nodded.

Catherine thought it over as well.

Obvious female characteristics?

Humans, female goblins, cows, scarecrows made to look like women...

"Don't worry. Star Plum Town is an accepting place."

Did she really understand?

Tang Qi wasn't sure.

Afraid of embarrassing him, Catherine quickly added,

"Don't worry. I have a friend with different preferences too. I wouldn't discriminate against you for that."

"I give up trying to convince you."

Tang Qi followed Catherine as she carried the last box of Star Plums onto the cart.

The young woman wiped the sweat from her forehead and said,

"All three hundred kilograms of Star Plums are here. Let's get them to the manor early, before anyone else gets up."

"How much did all this cost?"

"If you'd bought them yourself, Holtz would probably have charged you the same price as the merchant caravan—around thirteen gold coins.

"But he thought I wanted to buy another batch, so he took off three gold coins."

"Thanks to you, I don't have to feel even worse about the expense."

That left him with only ten gold coins, not even enough to buy a decent longsword from the blacksmith.

He wondered how much a ride with the caravan would cost.

Tang Qi had a feeling it wouldn't be cheap.

"Oh, right. If you want to attract their attention, this might come in handy. You're a poet, after all."

Catherine hurried back to the tavern. A little while later, she returned with a ukulele—

It looked similar to Tang Qi's broken lute, but it was smaller, more delicate, easier to carry, and had only four strings.

An oak tree was carved into the brown wood, much like the one in the tavern courtyard.

"My mother used to play this all the time. I would lie across her lap and listen to her sing country ballads.

"It can't play many tunes, but at least it'll make your singing less dry."

"You can borrow it."

Tang Qi did need an instrument, so he gladly took it.

"Then there's only one last problem."

"What?"

"I can't drive the cart."

Tang Qi pointed to the old ox, which was mooing. It was the laborer Catherine's family had raised.

Catherine had no choice but to climb up onto the front of the cart and hold out a slender but rough hand to Tang Qi.

"Then you'll have to provide music for our family's workhorse."

Tang Qi took her hand and pulled himself up beside her.

The farm girl drove the cart with the ease of a knight leading troops.

With a sharp cry, she got the old ox to start its slow walk.

A ray of dawn passed through the mountains and spread over the dirt road in the countryside,

illuminating the muddy wagon tracks and guiding them toward the unknown road ahead.

"Rua!"

Accompanied by the lilting zither sounds and the kobold's cries, they reached the lord's manor.

But Tang Qi's smile soon disappeared—

He saw the merchant caravan, lined up in force before the gates, waiting for them.

That meant their plan had been exposed before it had even begun.

"Damn it. We've been sold out."