Chapter: The Wandering Bard
The fragrant, delicious fried rice was placed in front of the bard named Charles.
Smelling the fried rice, Charles couldn't wait to pick up a spoon and take a bite. The wonderful taste—unlike anything experienced before—danced on the tip of the tongue, as if entering a fairyland.
"Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ It's so delicious~"
A soul-stirring cry escaped from Charles's mouth.
"Don't scream," Cheng Yu reminded.
"Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ It's so good~"
Charles screamed while eating fried rice.
"I told you to stop screaming!"
Cheng Yu was a bit annoyed and kicked Charles in the rear.
If passersby outside the manor heard this, they'd think some adult film was being shot inside.
Hehe~
Rubbing the sore spot, Charles stopped screaming and continued eating fried rice with the spoon.
Cheng Yu stood to the side, looking at Charles, trying to identify gender characteristics.
Charles looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, with very fair skin and delicate features—might be a woman dressed as a man.
Flat chest—might be a man.
Shoulder-length hair and white stockings—might be a woman.
Cheng Yu's mind was a bit confused.
He couldn't figure out whether Charles was male or female for the moment.
Soon, the egg fried rice on the plate was cleaned out. Charles touched their stomach. "After wandering for a few months, I finally had a full meal today. Not easy~"
Hearing this, Cheng Yu instantly realized this person might be a freeloader eating without paying.
His face darkened. He stretched out a hand toward Charles. "Hey, pay up."
"That... actually... I don't have money..."
Charles smiled awkwardly.
"Wow, you really are a freeloader," Cheng Yu said angrily.
"Don't be angry, don't be angry."
Charles quickly tried to placate Cheng Yu, then took off a small harp from their waist. "My profession is bard. I can sing poems for you to pay off the debt."
"Bullshit!"
After doing business for so long, this was the first time encountering a dine-and-dasher.
"I'm not interested in your crappy poems. Pay me!"
"But I really have no money. Otherwise I wouldn't have gone without food."
Charles spread their hands, fully embracing the shamelessness.
The shamelessness was like saying: I have no money, only my life.
Cheng Yu saw that Charles looked like a girl. He approached Charles, his face almost touching that pretty little face. He rubbed his hands together and flashed a wicked smile. "No money? If you don't have money, pay with your body."
"But I'm a boy," Charles said calmly.
"Male?"
Cheng Yu's smile became even more wicked. "Hehehe, wouldn't that be even more exciting?"
"Don't come closer."
Charles's calm eyes turned panicked.
This guy in front of them was so absurd they didn't even spare men.
"You have very high magic talent. I'll teach you a type of magic to pay off the debt. What do you think?" Charles asked.
Cheng Yu was slightly stunned. Didn't magic talent need to be measured by a professional talent detection stone tablet? How did this Charles person see it?
"Are you also a mage?"
"My main job is bard. I'm also a mage as a hobby," Charles smiled.
"Really?"
Cheng Yu sat back in his original position, not quite believing what Charles said.
Mages had high status wherever they went. Even if they worked as escorts, the price would be higher than ordinary escorts. They wouldn't fall to the point of starving.
Cheng Yu was very skeptical that this homeless person—so poor they ate without paying—claimed to be a mage.
"I know a lot of magic. What kind of magic do you want to learn?"
Men shouldn't touch each other.
Charles pushed Cheng Yu away so he wouldn't get so close.
"I want to learn magic that can blow through the Celsis Continent with one strike," Cheng Yu said.
"No."
"I want to learn time-stopping magic."
"No."
"I want to learn ninth-tier forbidden spell magic."
"No."
"Then what kind of magic do you know?"
"I know fly-swatting magic, automatic clothes-cleaning magic, walking-in-snow-without-falling magic, automatic mouth-cleaning magic..."
"..."
This time it was Cheng Yu's turn to be speechless.
What a mess of magic. Just hearing the names is absurd.
However, on second thought, it wasn't a loss to exchange a bowl of fried rice for a spell.
"Teach me the fly-swatting magic."
As a chef, Cheng Yu was most annoyed by flies.
Not only did they buzz around his ears, they also landed on his food.
Charles raised their right hand, condensed a small magic array in their palm, and pointed to a fly on a tree trunk not far away. "Do you see that fly?"
Cheng Yu nodded.
Slap!
Charles struck. An invisible force slapped the fly on the tree trunk to death.
A palm print remained on the bark.
Cheng Yu exclaimed, "Holy crap, that's so cool!"
This magic perfectly solved two major problems: missing with a fly swatter and getting your hands dirty when killing a fly bare-handed.
"Hehe."
Charles smiled and pulled a page of paper from their magic pouch and handed it to Cheng Yu.
Cheng Yu took the paper. "What's this?"
"A magic book for fly-swatting magic."
"Magic book? Just one page?"
Cheng Yu had seen other magic books—all thick, similar to Chinese dictionaries. But this fly-swatting magic book was just one page.
"Fly-swatting magic is very low-level magic. Not complicated."
"Is that so?"
Cheng Yu was skeptical. He took the page of the magic book and skimmed through it.
This fly-swatting magic really was simple. It didn't require chanting incantations or wielding a magic staff. It could be released by condensing a magic array in the palm.
Cheng Yu looked at the palm print on the tree trunk not far away. "How far is the casting radius of fly-swatting magic?"
Charles thought for a moment. "The casting radius is probably a few thousand meters."
"That far?"
"God-tier magic for exterminating the fly clan. Makes flies have nowhere to hide."
"The person who invented this magic must have a serious grudge against flies," Cheng Yu complained.
At that moment, Cheng Yu suddenly thought of another question. "This magic has such a long effective range, but its power can only kill a fly?"
Fly-swatting magic could be considered an ultra-long-range harassment skill.
"The power of this magic is actually the strength of your slap. How strong can a mage's strength be?" Charles explained.
Mages were generally physically weak. The force of a slap was only slightly greater than an ordinary person's.
So fly-swatting magic could only kill flies.
Cheng Yu was very curious—with his physical strength combined with fly-swatting magic, could he kill an enemy with a big slap from a thousand meters away?
He'd try it after learning this magic.
Placing hands over chest, Charles looked at Cheng Yu hopefully. "The fried rice you made is so delicious. Can I live with you?"
"You have no money. Why should I let you live with me?"
"I can use my life magic to wash dishes, clean rooms, and sing poems for you."
The manor was very large with many empty rooms. Making space for Charles wouldn't be difficult.
After practicing magic, Ivennie left the farmland with her staff and walked over to Cheng Yu. She saw Charles sitting across from him. "Master Cheng Yu, who is this lady?"
"Uh... he's a man."
"Sorry, I thought you were a girl."
Ivennie knew she'd said the wrong thing and apologized quickly.
"It's okay."
Charles didn't care at all. They were used to people mistaking them for a girl.
Seeing Charles's legs wrapped in white stockings, Cheng Yu approached. "Young man, I have a question for you."
"What question?"
"Where did you buy those white stockings?"
"I bought them from a merchant in Snow City."
There are people selling white stockings in Snow City!
Cheng Yu was ecstatic.
"Tell me quickly—which merchant?"
Charles told Cheng Yu the location of the merchant selling stockings.