One-Eyed Monster

Igor scratched his head; he really didn’t have a good way to handle such awkward situations.

Kadi’s reaction, however, made Igor see him in a new light. He hadn’t expected the usually silly Kadi to react so swiftly in this moment. Otherwise, Igor would have been stammering and unable to speak, which would have truly affected his persona.

Igor inwardly sighed with relief, thinking, ”That was close!”

The vendors were quick; in no time, the stall was filled with musical instruments of all kinds—recorders, flutes, violins, harmonicas—a wide array of small items was laid out. These instruments fascinated Kadi, as he had never seen such things before!

Due to the market’s small scale, these musical instrument vendors didn’t bring too many instruments, just some small items to pass the time. There weren’t any big, intricate instruments, since there wasn’t much demand. These small items mostly attracted children visiting the market, but to prove they were musical instrument vendors and not toy sellers, these vendors did bring along a few genuine instruments. Yet, the quantity would not exceed the fingers on one hand, given the market’s nature. It was not easy to sell a genuine instrument just like that—the larger instruments still needed to be sold in stores because the real musicians hardly came to these markets…

”Have you two found anything you like?” The vendor asked enthusiastically. To the vendors, they wouldn’t pry too much; they were happy as long as someone bought their items, as everyone liked gold coins.

”Well, I think they’re all good, but I can’t make the decision. This gentleman here makes the call.” Kadi smiled at the vendor, though unfortunately, the vendor couldn’t see his smile because of the mask on his face.

The vendor glanced at Kadi’s strange attire, ”You two must not be ordinary travelers but Adventurers with Class, right?”

”Uh, I’m not, he is.” Kadi quickly responded to the vendor, suddenly recalling his current persona. Of course, he was also telling the truth; he himself wasn’t an Adventurer with Class—he was a monster.

”Looking at your outfits, you seem a bit like Wandering Bards, but there’s something a bit off.” The vendor furrowed his brow, not quite certain.

”Oh? What seems off about us?” Kadi suddenly took an interest in the vendor’s comment. After all, their current persona was a group of Wandering Bards. From the vendor’s comment, it seemed their disguise hadn’t completely broken yet, because he still thought they somewhat resembled Wandering Bards, just slightly. If they could find out what didn’t seem bard-like about them from this vendor, they could further refine their personas and successfully carry out their plan.

In musical instrument vendors’ eyes, Wandering Bards were usually not those who played music formally. Most of them were a band of travelers, drifting all over the world. Their instruments were usually simple and didn’t require much—just had to make noise. Unlike formal musicians whose requirements for instruments were obsessively exact, even tuning a single string had to be tried repeatedly…

Vendors never considered formal musicians’ music to be noble; they just thought formal musicians’ wallets were generous.

While Wandering Bards, those guys who also claimed to play music, were another story. Their wallets weren’t so generous; sometimes, they were so tightfisted they wouldn’t even tip the bartender when having a drink at the tavern. Some shameless bartenders would ask them to pay, but these Wandering Bards had thicker skins, claiming, ”You’ve listened to my music and poetry, you ought to tip me…” Such audacious rascals dared to call themselves musicians, which was quite baffling.

Nevertheless, it was quite strange that the music of these Wandering Bards spread more widely than that of the formal musicians. Walking down the street, even a small child could hum a tune or two from the bards’ songs, while the precisely tuned music of formal musicians was seldom hummed by anyone…

Vendors liked to interact with the Wandering Bards because these people could make even the most inferior instrument sound nice. Regardless of whether the music was in tune or the tone pure, the first thing they did when getting an instrument was play it, not tune it. Interacting with them was quite fun; however, vendors also didn’t like it when the bards patronized their business because sometimes these bards wouldn’t pay and would even walk off with a few instruments, claiming, ”We performed music—a fair trade for your instruments…”

This gave musical instrument vendors quite a headache. Whether or not the instruments were inferior, they were still merchandise, capable of selling for a few gold coins or copper coins, but whenever the Wandering Bards came to their stalls, they’d quickly take away their inferior instruments.

Of course, these Wandering Bards also brought a good amount of popularity to their stalls. Sometimes, because of the bards, quite a few small recorders, harps, and harmonicas would sell… The Wandering Bards weren’t so detestable, yet weren’t exactly favored by these vendors either.

The vendors had a love-hate relationship with Wandering Bards. Now, looking at the two young men before them, their outfits had a hint of a bardic look, but essentially, they didn’t seem like bards at all. How could Wandering Bards be so quiet!

”You mean we’re too quiet?” Kadi looked puzzled; he hadn’t thought their bardic shortcomings lay in such a spiritual area!

”Yes, you’re just too calm. Typically, where there are Wandering Bards, the place is lively—they’re extremely adept at stirring emotions. You kind of have the look, but ultimately, something feels off.”

”Uh…” Upon hearing this, Igor felt a sense of despair. He never thought his temporary plan would collapse this quickly. He hadn’t expected his persona to crumble so fast!

”Oh ho, that’s because we have this rapper among us!” Kadi laughed, trying to dispel the current awkwardness.

”He doesn’t seem right either,” the vendor shook his head. ”He’s been all tense after saying just one sentence, as if he’s sick!” The vendor shook his head; their stall was now fully set up, just waiting for people to come.

”Oh ho ho, you got it right!” Kadi followed the vendor’s lead, ”He is sick. This guy, ha ha, has amnesia!”

Upon hearing the word ’amnesia’, Igor’s near-dead heart instantly began beating with excitement again. The idea of amnesia was simply brilliant!