"The bard class?" I asked Rena.
"Yep! The prerequisite to unlock it is to perform in front of people you don't know. Check mine out! Status."
Suddenly, a green triangular prism appeared in front of Rena as she revealed her attributes to me.
Rena. Level 1.
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 19
Constitution: 17
Mana: 45
Magic Power: 10
Luck: 13
Experience: 0
Wow, she's level 1. She must have a level in bard. Wait, she has 0 experience…
"How are you level 1 but have no experience points?"
"I developed this level in bard naturally. I wanted to be an idol really badly so I guess my desires just took form." She declared while holding up a double peace sign.
"Get off the stage you loser!" One of the patrons shouted as he threw a flagon at me.
I dodged the flagon as it splattered its remaining beer on the ground. I could see other people preparing to throw their things at me as well.
The constant boo's and the fact that the crowd had begun to throw things at me made me eventually leave the stage. I solemnly walked back to my seat at the table the rest of the party was waiting at. When I arrived, I could tell that nobody wanted to look at me. I just sat in my seat and silently drank my lukewarm beer for a little while.
"U-Um… That was very… interesting, Kenji-san. Was that the language you were telling us about earlier today?" Erana looked up and asked me shyly.
"Huh? O-Oh… Um, yes. That was Japanese. It also had a few words in this other language that has been… lost to time." I said as I stared into my flagon of beer. I can't muster the courage to face Erana right now.
"W-Woah, wait what? A lost language? That's super cool! What's it called, Kenji?" Tael suddenly shot up and grabbed my arm.
I was shocked by Tael's sudden enthusiasm.
"English!" I shouted out. The shock from Tael grabbing me with my already shot nerves from performing in front of so many people made me nervously shout out. Fortunately, the rest of the bar was paying attention to Rena instead of me.
"English? What island is that from? England?" Tael asked in a joking manner.
"Y-Yes actually…" I was able to mutter. It's only now that I think about it that my explanation of the origins of my world's languages sounds like a lie.
"Hoho. Kenji… You wouldn't just be trying to cover up the gibberish that you were stating because you were scared of the stage, are you?"
"No! I promise! It's from England!" I grabbed Tael's arm and shook it. With my superior strength, I was able to shake Tael and his skinny body easily.
"W-Woah! Okay man! I get it, okay!"
I went back to my flagon of beer and discovered that it was empty. I've drank a total of 4 flagons of beer tonight. I must be absolutely plastered.
"Look… Can we just pay our bill and go to bed? We have to work tomorrow so we can't spend too long partying."
"I agree with Kenji-san. I'm not a fan of alcohol and we have work to do soon. A good night's rest results in a good start tomorrow!
"Ugh, fine. Waiter! We need our bill!"
"Got it. Wizard guy you owe 10 juns. Same with the tan girl. Little lady owes 20 juns. Big guy owes 25 juns."
We forked over the cash (Erana paid for the unconscious Kany) and we began to head upstairs. I offered to carry Kany to her room, but Erana said that she could handle it herself so we split off from there.
I hopped onto the bed and spread myself out as much as possible. I pulled my pillow and placed it in front of my face.
"AAAAAAGGGHHHH!" I shouted into the pillow. Thankfully, my voice was heavily muffled so it was barely audible.
"Yeah bud. You definitely screwed up tonight!"
"Please don't remind me, Tael…" I said while clutching my head.
"Look man, you screwed up and it happened. That's how it is. You can't turn back time. What you CAN do is deal with what you've done and accept your reality."
"Yeah but like, that was awful!"
"Oh yeah it totally was. You gotta roll with the punches though!"
"But how do I do that? I looked like a total idiot! Not only that, but that other girl totally played me!"
"Yeah, but think of it like this: If you wanted to do ANYTHING in the future, then she'd need to know who you were anyways. Best to accept that you're a goofy idiot on top of what she already thinks."
"Ugh!" I shouted as I turned to face my pillow once more.
"Well listen man, best case scenario is that you're really drunk right now and you'll forget about it by tomorrow morning. At that point, I bet Erana will just act like it never happened. Kany was asleep so she won't remember it. I promise I won't let anyone know about it. Tonight will just be a torn out page of the book of Kenji! How does that sound?"
"Huff…" I let out as I turned away from my pillow once more. "Tael, you're a good friend, you know that?"
"W-What? Why are you saying that so suddenly? Don't try to embarrass me too just so we're on equal levels! It won't work!" Tael shouted out as he was blushing. It seems he isn't used to genuine praise so I couldn't help but laugh.
"Why are you laughing? Are you laughing at me? Huh? Bring it on Kenji! I won't let you insult me so easily you know that?" Tael proclaimed as he rolled up his sleeve to show off his incredibly skinny arm. I think he's trying to flex.
"Sorry Tael. I'm just saying. Before I met you the only people I interacted with on a daily basis were an old woman that was almost a psychopath, an old man that would sleep all day, and an old woman that was kind but always disappeared all the time."
"...Did you make that up?"
"No! You met them! Remember the shop I took you to when we needed supplies?"
"Oh right! Wow. You really cut yourself off from the world, huh?"
"Yep. All I did for seven months was…" I cut myself off. Should I tell Tael about how I was fat before I met him? Kany saw me before so she knows I was fat. I don't want Tael to have a new avenue to insult me though.
"Was what? You stopped talking, Kenji. Did you blow a fuse?" Tael asked me.
"N-Nothing. I was just getting ready to be an adventurer is all." I was able to let out. I decided to tell the partial truth, as per usual.
"You told me that already."
"Y-Yeah, sorry… What were you doing before we met?" I decided to ask.
"Oh, the week before we met I was trying to find a party member." Tael said matter of factly.
"Why did nobody else take you? You were level one when we met so it's not like you were a liability like I was."
"Yeah that may be true, but people kept saying that I was 'too much' and stuff. I don't really get what they meant. It's water under the bridge though." Tael said as he mimicked water flowing.
"Heh. Yeah, you were pretty hard to deal with when we first met." I said. Tael's sudden angry face told me that I shouldn't have said that so I decided to add on. "But you became a really reliable guy! You saved me with that hobgoblin."
"O-Oh… Yeah! Haha!" Tael began to rub the back of his head. It seems like he's really proud of himself for that.
"Yeah, you even cast a spell without a focus and called me your 'first friend' like some character from a book! Had that moment been out of context then I'd be super embarrassed! Haha!"
"Y-Yeah… Okay I get it." Tael is pulling his hat downwards to cover his face. It seems like he's embarrassed about what he said. I might want to shift this conversation a little bit.
"H-Hey, come to think of it, you cast a spell without a focus! You shouldn't need that wand anymore now that you can cast without it!"
"What? No man. That was a spur of the moment thing. I exhausted all of my mana by doing that. I still have almost no control without a focus as it is. I can't cast without one and be reliable just yet." He said with a brushing motion to his face.
"Oh, I see… Well, that just means that you're able to do it in a pinch! I feel more comfortable knowing that I can rely on you in a pinch!" I declared.
"H-Haha! Yeah. Look, let's just go to sleep, alright?"
"Huh? Alright I guess. It's late after all and we have a lot to do tomorrow. You're probably right."
"Just don't snore too loudly, okay?"
"What?"
"You snore, Kenji."
"How would you know?"
"I heard it while I was on watch."
"F-Fine! I'll try to not snore!"
"Alright! Goodnight Kenji!"
"Goodnight Tael."
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