It's Time for the Performance

As Lin Yun's carriage entered, Lin Yun could see a large bonfire in the center of the village, built from a pile of sticks, with a bard in flowing, grayish-white clothes dancing and playing a lute by its side.

A group of villagers sat around him, their faces beaming with peaceful smiles.

It was a beautiful scene.

The loud rumble of the carriage wheels on the ground interrupted the bard's performance, drawing everyone's attention to Lin Yun.

"Aili." A young-looking villager stepped forward first, then looked towards a girl with golden twintails hiding in the corner of the carriage. It was clear that this girl had already...

As the shout from the young man, likely a father, echoed, the villagers began their reunions. Although these girls had mostly suffered misfortune, in Lin Yun's world, they might have been deemed too dirty, but the villagers here only felt immense relief that they had returned.

Not far away, the bard, holding his lute, watched the villagers' actions. It was clearly not the right time for him to appear. With a helpless smile, he took a waterskin from his waist and drank from it. However, in the firelight, his face began to turn slightly flushed, suggesting it was likely wine, not water.

At this moment, Lin Yun noticed the bard. The eyes hidden within his helmet looked at the bard and Lin Yun realized... the bard's style was far too peculiar. While many bards were artistic, a bard dressed in robes reminiscent of a wuxia protagonist felt subtly familiar to Lin Yun. This guy, Lin Yun guessed, had a high probability of being a player.

A sword-wielding bard? Hmm, while bards weren't strictly non-combat units, they were generally focused on negotiation, quests, and support. Someone who actually fought with a sword was quite formidable.

Of course, if one were to speak of bardic traditions, there was the Bladesong Academy faction, whose poets were called "Bladesong". They entertained through weapon juggling.

Bladesong performed feats such as sword swallowing, juggling, knife throwing, and mock combat. While they used their weapons for entertainment, they were also highly trained and skilled warriors in their own right.

Their prowess with weapons led many Bladesong to live double lives. A Bladesong might use a troupe to mask their nefarious activities, such as assassination, robbery, and extortion. Other Bladesong fought against evil, upholding justice and opposing tyranny. Most troupes were happy to incorporate the entertainment talents of Bladesong into their performances, but few performers fully trusted them.

Bladesong who abandoned their performer lives usually encountered trouble that prevented them from maintaining their secret activities. Being caught stealing or acting as vigilantes was too much of a burden for most troupes. Using their weapon skills and magic, these Bladesong became enforcers for the Thief guilds or forged their own paths as adventurers.

So, for someone from the Bladesong Academy, it wasn't strange at all for them to directly engage in melee combat against Goblin.

Furthermore, on the way here, Lin Yun had learned some details from the coachman. Because Lin Yun had asked the villagers to come down the mountain in advance to prepare, quite a few of the villagers, who possessed a modicum of courage, were armed with hoes, pitchforks, hammers, and the like as makeshift weapons. The Goblin, who were accustomed to ganging up on others but never being ganged up on, were suddenly engulfed by the masses. From a certain perspective, this bard was merely a mop-up artist, which explained things.

After all, even someone from the Bladesong Academy couldn't be so powerful as to challenge so many Goblin with only level 2 or even level 1 abilities.

However, at the very least, this individual, who presented himself in such a manner and blended seamlessly into this world despite his unusual style, was at least a veteran of Dungeons & Dragons. He was completely different from the boastful Thief who had disappeared at some point.

Because at the very least, this guy dared to kill Goblin. Even if it was just mopping up, courage was courage.

As if noticing Lin Yun's "observation," the bard looked at Lin Yun, smiled slightly, nodded, and then, seemingly with no intention of further interaction, prepared to turn and leave.

Just then, the young warrior stepped forward and, in a display of utter straightforwardness that left the bard bewildered, said, "Thank you so much for your help."

"Huh? Sir, what are you doing? I don't think I did anything that requires your thanks." The bard offered a somewhat stiff smile, looking at the young warrior, clearly not understanding what he was talking about.

"If we weren't so weak, those Goblin wouldn't have come to the village. You helping the villagers deal with those Goblin can be considered making up for our mistakes. Thank you so much," the young warrior said again, solemnly.

"This guy..." The Female Mage on the side felt like she couldn't bear to watch, as she found his words to be too far-fetched.

Even the very pure Goddess Priestess could only offer a wry smile and a sense of, well, intellectual superiority, perhaps...

As for Lin Yun, he just wanted to use Command to tell the guy to get lost.

"No, I was just doing what I should for my adoptive father." Lin Yun noticed the bard glance at him, then... with a helpless smile, his eyes filled with tears but unable to cry, he said.

"D20+4+2=16, opposed check failed." Lin Yun did not notice this message, as if he had somehow ignored it. At that very moment, the Goddess Priestess hesitated.

"Adoptive father?" the young warrior asked, feigning appropriate confusion.

"Ah, yes." The bard looked up 45 degrees, gazing towards the heavens in a Gold-proportional manner, as if to prevent his tears from falling. "I was an abandoned infant. There was nothing that could be done, as I am only half Elf. Then my adoptive father, a kind human, took me in and raised me. My adoptive father was an excellent bard, earning a good income from his performances at the theater every day. I grew up in relative prosperity. However, when my adoptive father and his troupe went out to perform, they were reportedly attacked by Goblin, and my adoptive father died. Because of this, I decided I would kill all the Goblin in the world. Unfortunately, as you can see, I am just a bard. Compared to the ferocious Goblin, it's just... alas, there are too many Goblin." The bard wiped his face with his sleeve and said.

"Th-that's truly moving, sir. If you don't mind, perhaps you could join our party? We are currently taking on quests specifically to exterminate Goblin." The young warrior, sniffling and looking deeply moved, said to the bard, as if the bard would be looking down on him if he didn't join.

"Yes, that would be wonderful. I've already heard about you from the villagers. To be able to eliminate a Goblin tribe of at least 30 or more, who also raise Wolf, you must be very high-level adventurers." The bard exclaimed with a poetic flourish, a subtle but... to someone like Lin Yun from another world, it was considered cool.

Lin Yun felt like he was seeing the title of a new teammate for Gate of OpeningET. At this moment, Lin Yun had also realized. There was no doubt this guy was a player. And based on the situation just now, his background was likely what he just described, or perhaps there were some subtle differences. In any case, his performance, whether deceptive or genuine, had momentarily incapacitated Lin Yun's judgment.

As expected, the bard was truly the dirtiest profession.

But could this guy have mistaken the young warrior's words for a game prompt? Was he performing so earnestly?

Lin Yun's face, hidden behind his helmet, became subtle once more.

"Not at all, not at all. We are currently only Porcelain-rank adventurers. But I believe after this mission, our rating should increase by one level." The young warrior scratched his head sheepishly at first, then said with great certainty.

"Oh? That's truly impressive." The bard said with a smile.