Chapter 104: A Bard?

"Arthur! I told you not to interfere!"

"Sorry, Merleen. It's just hard to watch him curse you. You know I hate those kinds of people."

"Even if you curse too?!"

"Yes."

After our exchange, I heaved out a sigh and dragged Merleen back to the caravan. Since the warrior kept hitting on Merleen, I had no other choice but to kick his balls. It would not be a surprise if that man could not bear any child in the future.

But who was I to care about him, anyway? These bandits had already killed dozens, if not hundreds, of innocent villagers wandering on this road. I did not kill anyone who stood in my way, since everyone could have a change of heart.

And this man was not worthy of my kind demeanour…. subjectively.

Merleen and I cleaned up the station before resuming our journey. She kept nagging about the interrogation part, saying that she did a great job if it weren't for my meddling shenanigans. I corrected her and told Merleen about my side, but she did not listen.

We ended the conversation when I told her about the new food I came up with for our next meal. No man could win an argument against a woman, except if you could cook something for her. There was no research on Earth about it if I had remembered, but it still worked for me.

Merleen kept humming an upbeat tone while we headed towards the cart. As I glanced at our fore, Fenrir noticed our figures but refused to greet our presence. Fenrir raised a brow, averted her gaze, and waited for us to arrive. She even had her legs crossed when Merleen and I were a few centimetres away from the carriage, telling me he was not interested in our adventurers.

But since we did nothing but fun with the interrogation, I let this occurrence slide as I went towards my seat.

However, before I could even sit on the horseman's chair, an arcane aura tapped my hand, freezing my body. As I glanced at the two girls, Merleen and Fenrir also got paralysed before me.

No matter how hard Fenrir struggled, the invisible spell bounded our movements, forcing us to stay in our place. We could only breathe and move our eyeballs in front of us. Besides that, we remained still like a statue, waiting for some explanation of some sort.

"You call yourselves as heroes of Caerleon yet got caught by a magic spell? I thought you're immune to illusions since you're a knight, Arthur." A voice coming from the forest mentioned my name.

As I squinted my eyes, a figure emerged from the sea of trees. A pair of eyes glowed in the dark, intimidating everyone present in the woodland. After a few seconds, the figure finally appeared before us.

It was a man wearing a green tunic, which also served as his armour. A dagger stuck out in his hips, but I doubt the bloke used it as a weapon. If I could guess it right, he used that blade to skin the animals he got. He had a peach skin tone, with petite shoulders. There was nothing I could say but recommend eating something before he could turn into a stick.

There was nothing remarkable about his looks or clothes besides the musical instrument clipped in his hands. If I remember correctly, that instrument was a harp. Out of all the musical instruments a person could use and bring, this man brought his harp.

But after a few moments, I widened my eyes and realised something. This man was not just an ordinary Joe, walking by in the forest. He was not even a bandit, considering the dress he wore. If that man was a robber, he would have stolen our goods immediately after neutralising our movements.

However, the man didn't. It was because….

"Are you a bard?" I gasped, when I shouldn't.

Since this spell tied up my entire body, I should not have spoken to the bard. However, because of my knight's class, I passively negate the effects of those mind spells.

Instead of attacking the bard head-on, I approached the man and asked, "What do you want? Why did you cast this spell?"

"Step back!" the bard exclaimed. "You knights are just reckless scums of Magique! You do not own the right to talk to me!"

As soon as the man growled, he played his harp and struck a tune. I was not a fan of listening to harps or any other instruments. And since this world did not have modern songs, I did not even bother asking the world about their music taste.

However, the bard hit the notes and played a piece for me. But despite his efforts, I could still freely move with no hindrance at all.

Bards had a special ability that they used with the instruments they used. Even players could become a bard if they wished to, since it could produce real-life music. So musicians and avid listeners picked this class, considering the benefits they received. Since the players choosing bards were musicians, they had fun playing that character than in other classes.

However, choosing bards had a myriad of downsides. This class did not have a single attack spell or basic attack. And even if they could, bards would deal no damage at all, despite being level 100.

But the speciality of bards came from illusions and psychological assaults. They could use their instruments to lure a party and make them fight with each other. It was a stupid spell that became difficult to counter.

So the game developers had to tone them down a little more, considering the overpowered abilities they had. As soon as they had the stats of a villager, their spells became harder to use than before. And since I was a knight, those illusion spells did not work on me.

"Maybe the spell became effective earlier because I got caught off guard?" I mumbled to myself, whilst staring at the bard.

The song had some effects on my body. But instead of taking the entire ailment, my body shook it off as if it was nothing but sweat. Since I was a knight, illusions and negative conditions such as that did not affect me.

That bard had a higher level compared to me.

After a few seconds, the bard finally realised that I did not become a slave to his spell. He furrowed his eyebrows and cracked his neck, wishing it could intimidate me. However, I was not in the mood to fight, especially a bard. I needed to be cautious about this fight, since I was up against an enemy that could use my allies.

If Merleen and Fenrir attacked me, I would instantly lose. There was no way I could win against those two beasts who could control light and transform into a werewolf.

But as we both turned around, Merleen and Fenrir shut their eyes and fell asleep. Fenrir even snored a score, despite everyone present in front of her. She got herself sucked into the music and let her body rest for the time being.

I almost asked the Bard to play for me if I ever felt exhausted after a battle. It would be nice to get a full night's sleep after listening to that kind of tone. That music would work wonders to my body like anaesthesia free of charge.

"I prepared myself to face a knight like you. And yet…. Tch." The bard clicked his tongue and changed his music. "I will kill all the knights that I think killed my father!"

"Your father!?" I asked, while waving my hands. "I'm innocent, bard! I don't even know you!"

Despite shouting at him, the bard continued playing his composition. I wanted to smack him using the pommel of my sword, but things got a little dicey.

The one that the bard played right now was something different from earlier. The song before had a solemn tone that calmed everyone's senses. But the bard switched it up and turned it into a wild tone. Despite its blaring and fast tone, my ears wanted to listen to it more. It was an alarm clock that let me sleep instead of waking me up.

Within a few seconds, Merleen and Fenrir opened their eyes and glared in my direction. They snapped their fist and sauntered towards me.

"What are you girls doing? Merleen…. Fenrir….? Hello?" I asked, while stepping backwards. "If you can snap out of that spell, now's a great chance. I don't want to hurt you…. please don't hurt me," I cried.

But it was already too late.

As soon as the bard hit his thunderous notes, Fenrir and Merleen dashed straight at me. Fortunately for me, the two of them did not conjure their abilities. If Merleen could use her light magic in this fight, my body would fall on the ground. And if Fenrir transformed into her berserk mode, I would have become humanoid sushi for her breakfast.