The Bard of the Grasslands

She had lost count of how many times she had died in total.

For now, having met her fifth death of the day, Sei revived.

"You're not neglecting your defense because you think you won't really die, are you?"

Having been told that, Ria repeated attacks that were non-lethal yet still inflicted pain.

Sei desperately tried to defend, but in the end, her head would be destroyed and she would die anyway.

However, before she knew it, Sei had made visible progress.

She had become able to distinguish between Ria's attacks that were lethal and those that weren't.

In the end, she still died with every bone in her body broken, but by using the healing magic Carla had taught her, the battles were lasting longer.

(So this is the line of death.)

Wounds that allowed combat to continue. Wounds that incapacitated but didn't kill. And instant-death attacks.

In the end, it only prolonged the process of dying, but progress was still progress.

"Looks like you've grasped something."

"Yes, I've become able to read which attacks will deal fatal damage and which won't."

"Oh… 'Lethal Sense', huh."

That skill appeared in Sei's skill list. Since it was still at level one, that meant there were higher levels beyond.

"Then what about this?"

Ria raised her wooden sword, and in the next instant, Sei's vision was filled with lines of death.

Receiving several hundred fatal strikes simultaneously, Sei died.

"That's cruel, Shishou…"

To Sei, who had slumped over in a girl's sitting position, Ria laughed cheerfully.

"How do you think you could have avoided that attack?"

"Let's see, dodging wouldn't have been fast enough, so… block it?"

"That's right. Since you have a shield, you might have been able to block it if you equipped it instantly. Or you could have destroyed my wooden sword."

Theoretically it might be possible, but actually doing it would require freely controlling the Folder.

The Gift shouldn't directly contribute to combat power, but depending on how you use it, it could certainly be useful in battle.

"Thinking about it this way, it really is superior to magical spatial storage. You could attack from mid-range with a spear, then immediately switch to a warhammer to knock away the enemy's shield with the impact, and finally finish them off with a sword."

Ria nodded in satisfaction, and they decided to try it out immediately. Of course, Sei would be on the defensive side.

She died as expected.

After reviving, Sei layered both mana barrier and magic barrier this time, desperately receiving Ria's attacks.

A barrage of attacks raining down like a storm. Until they stopped, it felt like an eternity.

But eventually, it came to an end.

Against Ria's final wooden sword strike, Sei intercepted with the Kotetsu held in both hands.

The real blade and wooden sword clashed, and the wooden sword was cut through.

It was a natural result when you thought about it, but Sei was surprised. If it were Ria, she could easily shatter a real blade with a wooden sword.

Ria seemed surprised too. But it quickly turned into a smile.

"Looks like you have more talent than I thought. Or maybe it's something acquired."

The next instant after saying that, Ria closed the distance until they were touching, and sent Sei flying with martial arts.

"Don't let your guard down just because your opponent lost their weapon. There are countless ways to kill someone barehanded."

While hearing those words, Sei lost consciousness.

That evening, Ria and Carla brought Sei to the village's dining hall.

The dwarves being drunk was normal, but today it was strangely quiet.

The cause was a bard sitting in one of the seats, playing a lute.

A short halfling boy… or rather, he was probably a young man.

Halflings were a race that built settlements in grasslands, but with very few exceptions, they set out on journeys when they reached adulthood.

Finding a partner and returning to their settlement was typical for halflings.

They were small, but their feet were faster than any human could hope to match, and their hands were dexterous too.

Unlike dwarves, they didn't do much smithing, but their skill at crafting fine goods was remarkable.

And they were also excellent as thieves. They had the troublesome habit of entering other people's homes and helping themselves to a little bit of food without permission.

After all, it was said that the first toy given to them at birth was a padlock and a piece of wire.

They sometimes wandered from country to country like bards, often earning travel money from tips.

Carla explained all this, but she was a bit shaken.

Because the song he was weaving was the ballad of the Dragon-Slaying Saint.

A foolish kingdom tried to summon a hero.

However, this was detected in advance, and the royal family was slaughtered by the dragon. All except one.

The Dragon-Eyed Queen Guinevere.

The nameless great mage.

The Dragon-Slaying Saint Carla.

Five heroes stood against the dragon, and only three survived.

In the end, Carla splendidly pierced the dragon's heart and saved the kingdom.

"That story is true, isn't it?"

"There's some exaggeration, but it's mostly fact."

The three sat in a corner of the dining hall and ordered food.

The halfling who had finished singing made his rounds of the tables, collecting tips.

Usually it was iron or copper coins. But what Ria put in was a gold coin.

To the young man who looked up in surprise, Ria made a request.

"Can you sing 'The Dragon Emperor and the Labyrinth of Trials'?"

The young man nodded with a smile and began singing in a light voice.

There was a princess named Ryukreiarna.

The lively and tomboyish girl one day left the palace and set out on an adventure.

During her adventures she gathered companions and challenged the Labyrinth of Trials.

It was a labyrinth where the dead revived. It was also called the Labyrinth of Immortality.

The princess added a cat beastkin girl to her party and reached the deepest part of the labyrinth.

What awaited there was the symbol of immortality, a vampire.

Overcoming her fallen companions, the princess magnificently conquered the labyrinth.

It was a splendid song. The young man looked satisfied too.

But Ria had a difficult expression. Still, she handed over a silver coin.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

To Ria's suspicious expression, the young man answered with a smile.

"What is it, Nee-chan?"

"Well, what I defeated was a cyclops, but is the final floor guarded by a vampire now?"

At those words, the young man blinked in confusion and looked back and forth between Ria and Carla.

"… Black hair with golden dragon eyes, silver hair with blue-green eyes…"

The young man muttered to himself, quite bewildered.

"Could you be… the real ones?"

"I'm Ria, and this is Carla."

"Whoa! The real deal! I heard they were in a dwarf village, but it was this one!"

The young man bounced up and down excitedly while strumming his lute.

The young man introduced himself as Kukuri.

As was typical, he had been earning travel money by doing a bit of peddling and bard work.

He had stopped by this dwarf village because he had been asked to deliver something. Since he was here anyway, he had been playing his lute to earn travel money, but he never expected to have such an encounter.

"So anyway, I'd love to hear various adventure stories."

"Let's see… How about the story of the Cordova slave hunters?"

"Never heard of it. What's it about?"

"Well, it's a mundane story."

Even as she said that, Ria was telling him about the events from 3000 years ago that she had experienced.

"Huh? When does Carla show up?"

"I met Carla pretty late actually. Somehow she got turned into a companion from the beginning though."

Ria and Carla. The combination of the two was a staple of bards' songs.

They had certainly spent a long time together, but during Ria's reckless days, she hadn't met Carla yet.

Without that being the case, the dragon-slaying story and the Labyrinth of Trials wouldn't even be consistent.

"Well, stories are more interesting when they have variety! It's not a history book after all!"

Kukuri didn't seem to mind the discrepancies with folk traditions.

Indeed, history and stories were different, so perhaps that was fine.

When he heard Ria and Carla's stories, Kukuri would immediately turn them into impromptu poems.

The battle with the Ogre King had been changed to a contest of strength with the Ogre King.

"Shishou has really done a lot of things…"

"Well, if you live for 3000 years, a lot happens."

"But running away from home at 13… that's pretty reckless. And you were a princess, right?"

"By that time, I was already stronger than the strongest knight in the knight order. I had survival skills from my previous life too, and more than anything, I was about to be used as a political marriage piece."

"I see."

A man's heart in a woman's body. If you were about to be used for a political marriage in that state, of course you'd run away.

While the dwarves in the tavern listened intently to Ria and Carla's adventure tales, Kukuri kept composing poems one after another.

When the three stood up to leave after finishing their meal, Kukuri stopped them.

"Hey, can I come hear more stories again? I'm getting ideas for all sorts of poems."

"When I'm free, I don't mind. We run a shop selling weapons and armor, so you'll find it easily if you ask around."

"Thanks. See you tomorrow then!"

With a wry smile at Kukuri who apparently planned to come by tomorrow, the three left the dining hall.

"Was that alright? It feels like he's going to follow you around a lot."

"I have something I want to ask of him too. It works out perfectly."

Ria said that while looking up at the sky.

The dwarf village had smoke rising, but the moon was still visible.

"The constellations are the same as on Earth."

"Well, this planet took Earth's place after destroying it."

Oh right, there was the Great Collapse.

This world with an incredible history. Ria and Carla were living witnesses to that history.

For the first time, Sei wondered if these two weren't lonely.

But seeing them walk home hand in hand like lovers, she felt like she wanted to spit sugar out of her mouth.

Toward a shooting star crossing the sky, Sei earnestly wished.

That she wanted a cute girlfriend.

… At this point, even a guy who looks like a girl might work.

"Come to think of it, the dwarves were the same, but the halfling was treating Shishou normally too."

Ria tilted her head, wondering what was strange about that.

"Normally when you say someone's a god, shouldn't they be more revered?"

"Well, if there were worldly benefits, maybe, but dragons basically don't interfere no matter what happens to humans or demons. People would rather revere the sealed gods who only give weak blessings."

"Ah, I see."

"The exception is Rana. She's revered as the guardian deity of the lizardmen in the wetlands, and she actually does protect them."

"Until 3000 years ago, the Golden Dragon Clarith and the Dark Dragon Bals were also objects of human faith, but now there are only a few regional rituals remaining."

"Well, I'm still worshipped in Orgus. I bring down the hammer on any foolish emperors who appear, and I try to prevent too many natural disasters."

"Well, they are our descendants, so we have to do at least that much."

Recently, there were even dwarves who deified Ria, but the actual person was like this.

"Even so, the reason this dwarf village hasn't been invaded even once in 3000 years is probably because I'm here."

Sei learning about the harshness of this world was still a story for later.