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A very old… lute sound.

It moved like it was tickling my eardrums, sometimes mimicking the heartbeat at a steady tempo, and then, after a while, the tempo slowed again. It felt somewhat stifling.

The song began to move as if it knew my discomfort. The music slowly picked up pace again, and my heart raced in time with it.

An invisible conductor shouted, Presto—

I looked around. I couldn’t locate the source of the sound. It felt like it was echoing from all directions. The trees that grew haphazardly were reflecting the sounds.

ㅡI was annoyed.

–
[ Mental Strength Check – 5 or higher]

[ 10 – 3]

[ Success! ]

–
Suddenly, I felt relaxed.

“…Is this okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Even mentally weak people manage to endure somehow.”

Sure enough… if it’s 5 or higher, it should be easy enough for a child to succeed. I barely succeeded by a margin of 2…?

Why on earth is mental strength judged by intelligence modulation?

No, is that a good thing? If it were judged by health or stamina, I might have genuinely been lured by the music. At least intelligence makes the most sense, right?

My head throbbed a little. Maybe it was because my success was just a narrow one, not a high-number one.

“The performance… it’s good.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m not sure about it.”

There’s no ear for music here. This is a performance by a very skilled musician! It has a distinct natural flavor unlike the mechanical sound from modern times…!

Not the sound of machines or electronics, but the real sound of a lute.

If I had known this instrument produced such beautiful sounds, I should have at least practiced alone.

I’m a bard, for goodness’ sake! I can’t not know how to play the lute. I could earn money with my performance, and since I was technically a bard… maybe I could learn some related skills.

In RPG games, bards do all playing, give buffs, can heal, handle close combat just fine, and even use bows!

Why is it only me!

‘…No, sulking about it won’t change anything.’

Once this request is over and I return, I should at least find out how to perform on an instrument and what role bards play in a party.

To be honest, I should have looked this up ages ago… I don’t know why this thought only comes to me now. Is this also due to intelligence modulation? It feels a bit unfair.

“So, where exactly are we going now?”

“To the colony.”

“Eh?”

“They say a relatively large colony has formed. After assessing its scale, if a subjugation request comes through, we’ll come back. Probably a little over 5 people?”

“That’s quite a large scale.”

“One silver rank can easily handle a group of goblins, but you never know. Most subjugation requests recommend at least 4 people.”

“Why?”

“Because there are things that 2 or 3 people can’t handle. If things go south, it’s good to have enough numbers to drop one and escape.”

He mentioned abandoning someone expressionlessly, but there was a strange sadness in his expression. No offense, but he was still just a kid.

It felt a bit… closer. Psychologically.

As we chatted and built rapport, maybe later I could rely on him a bit more.

‘…This feels too calculative.’

Yeah. For now, let’s try to complete this job successfully.

There should be time to exchange a few words once the work is done. I have no information and no experience, so if it comes down to it, I’ll need someone to help.

Isn’t it good to have more people to know?

To be honest, it’s lonely. There’s not a single person I know in this world.

—
We walked for a long while again. My knee joints began to ache a bit. My muscles were preparing to scream. Truly pathetic stamina.

Seeing me breathing heavily from exhaustion, Skylar raised a finger and brought it to my face. Then he made a ‘shh’ sound.

It meant to be quiet.

I swallowed my breath and let it out slowly. The sound decreased.

In the distance, I heard rustling and saw moving bushes. Beyond that, there were signs of trees that had been cut and discarded.

Only the stumps of trees lay there.

Skylar observed the situation for a moment before speaking. He began to talk quietly.

“It’s nearby. If they have the intelligence to cut down trees, it must be goblins. They simply gather wood from the surroundings… there might be a cave nearby.”

“Mm.”

“Don’t spread out; it’s dangerous to stick together.”

I huddled closer to his warning. We became close enough that our heads would touch if we fell over.

Skylar turned back again.

He was pretending to be nonchalant, but I could see his ears turning slightly red.

Hmm, still a kid.

I wanted to tease him a little, but I’m not so dim-witted that I’d joke around in a situation like this! Nor did I want to act in such a girly manner!

Skylar rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper.

I instantly recognized what it was.

‘…A scroll.’

It had been a while since I saw something so fantastical. Only now did it hit home that I had been sucked into a game.

‘Actually, the reality hit me the moment I opened my eyes at the Adventurer’s Guild that morning. The moment I looked in the mirror.’

My unrealistic looks were fantasy in itself.

As I was lost in my own thoughts, Skylar cautiously unfurled the scroll. It had incomprehensible geometric patterns drawn in black ink.

Skylar placed a finger on the ink.

From his finger, blue magical light spread. I saw a sparkly light. A light that beautifully illuminated the surroundings… like stars.

“…[ Perception ].”

The blue magic flowed like water, and the black ink soon turned into a channel.

The starlight ceased twinkling, and all held their breath.

And with a feeling as though something had passed by… something invisible spread out around us. The wind made my hair flutter.

“I roughly located the position and direction. Let’s just confirm with our eyes and move quickly. It’s bigger than I thought.”

“Mm.”

“Why?”

“Eh?”

“Your expression is strange.”

“What does my expression look like right now?”

“Uh… It looks like a kid who just found a fun toy? That sort of feel.”

I couldn’t deny it.

I zipped my mouth shut.

I should change the subject.

“Let’s quickly confirm the goblins and head back!”

“…Y-yeah?”

Skylar momentarily looked flustered and quietly stared at my back.

He wasn’t following.

“Hurry up, I said?”

“That’s not the direction.”

“…Ugh.”

In the end, I trailed behind Skylar again.

I felt a bit embarrassed.

—
My stamina was starting to run out. I could hear the sound of my mental strength dropping. The throbbing headache that had been bothering me was increasing in intensity.

I wanted to go back quickly. I wanted to go home. I just wanted to lie down and do nothing.

‘Soon it’ll be over.’

Just a little longer…

“Look over there.”

“…Fire?”

“That’s probably a torch used to mark the area around the habitat. Goblins’ intelligence is proportional to the size of the colony. Ultimately, they can’t escape their instincts.”

“Are there goblins that can overcome instincts?”

“There is. Only one, though. It’s a tale from the mythological era, so nobody really knows. It could be a lie.”

“Mm. Right. Still, I want to believe.”

“Stories that endure are usually those we want to believe. Tragic or distasteful tales don’t stick around. But if it’s a masterpiece, that’s another story.”

“That’s true.”

“Anyway, you’ll be able to assess the scale from here.”

He focused for a moment and looked beyond.

Beyond the flickering torchlight, a small cave.

Rustling bushes.

A shabby wooden fence.

And beyond that… dozens of goblins.

“…”

“This one’s quite big. Let’s head back to report.”

Skylar turned back.

Nothing was visible behind him.

Sweat was running down my back.

“…Selina?”

There was no reply.

I felt no presence around.

…Why?

I wanted to call out loudly, but doing so while this close to a goblin colony was too dangerous. Revealing ourselves would lead to being tracked.

They are beings with intelligence similar to children. Historically, they threatened humans with numbers.

Now designated as a protected species, they are routinely hunted, but even I, a scroll-user, should be prepared for a bit of loss against them.

Scrolls are expensive. I wanted to save money as much as possible.

If I were to burn over three scrolls here, it would cost more than the request fee. That would be a loss.

“Ugh… I’m going crazy.”

The Adventurer’s Guild had asked me to ‘take good care of it.’

I had also heard a depressing story that needlessly troubled me.

I knew exactly what she went through.

Just by looking at the number of curses and blessings piled on her, I could tell what she experienced.

Despite going through such things, she could smile and treat others the next day… I didn’t want to abandon her. I wanted to remain ‘human’ as much as possible.

—
I was drawn in by a beautiful song.

No, to be precise… the song found me.

The surrounding environment changed in an instant, leaving only unfamiliar scenery in my sight.

“…What the heck.”

While I was bewildered, someone appeared before me.

There stood a woman cradling a lute in her arms.