I Was The Hero, But I Woke Up as a Phoenix Princess! – Chapter 88

Chapter 6 Bard
After a small commotion, Verafia and Ig continued their journey to Rubiel City.
As time passed, the cool morning breeze was gradually swallowed, and the scorching sun shone, and the young girl’s light humming that originally filled the air quickly turned into a complaining tone.
“How much further… I’m starving, Ig, this young lady needs to eat!”
Seeing Verafia’s resentful little face, Ig had to follow her wishes and find a tavern that was open.
Ig walked directly to the tavern owner.
“Boss, I want a honey-glazed baked steak, thick radish soup, Sirena bloody sausage, a honey-glazed roasted deer leg, and two servings of bread with cheese rolls.”
Ig took out a golden coin from his pocket and, following the young girl’s instructions, directly ordered the most expensive dishes.
Verafia was pleased with the boy’s obedience, and suddenly her big eyes lit up. She stood on tiptoe, pointing with her slender fingers, then turned her little face and said coquettishly.
“Ig, I want this too!”
Ig smiled helplessly.
He didn’t believe that this little phoenix wouldn’t know that these so-called fruits couldn’t possibly have come from the long-closed Emerald Forest, but since she was in a playful mood, he looked up and added to the tavern owner.
“En, please add this Forest Emerald Raspberry Juice for my young lady.”
The roadside tavern was not small, but it had quite a few merchants and adventurers stopping by today.
This made Miss Verafia look forward to her lunch with great anticipation, and finally she lowered her delicate and soft little face, extend her jade-like slender fingers to tap the table boredly.
The mercenaries hired by the merchant caravan casually threw their weapons by the table, their clothes and armor appeared old and covered in dust and grime, clearly having traveled for a long time.
Verafia glanced at them casually and found that the strongest among the dozen or so mercenaries was only a swordsman who had just reached Gold Rank and a bard playing a harp, while the rest were Silver Rank, and even a few Bronze Rank, so she lost interest.
“After all, the commission for adventurers is not cheap. My lady, don’t just look at this configuration, a single escort mission would cost at least tens of gold, which is not easy for some small trade unions to bear.”
“Of course, having a Gold Rank expert in charge is at least more cost-effective than having the goods robbed by thieves.”
Ig chuckled. Before he met Verafia, he had spent a thousand Bright Silver Coins to hire Fleck and his two companions, who pretended to be Silver Rank.
“Is that so… but if that’s the case, why hire a bard?”
Verafia seemed a little confused, raised her delicate and soft little face, and looked at the boy beside her with her Scorching Gold big eyes.
“Perhaps, this poet is also just passing by?”
Ig also shook his head and guessed with a smile.
For professions like bards, their abilities were mostly to provide buffs and dispels, or to record the legendary stories of heroes, but no one expected their combat power to be that strong.
Bards were more common in large mercenary groups or noble courts. For a guard team like this, hiring a bard was much more of a loss than a swordsman of the same rank.
Verafia also seemed to have piqued her interest a little, holding her chin with her slender hand, and raising her big eyes to look at the bard among the mercenaries.
Perhaps because the arduous journey of several months was about to end, the mercenaries sitting around the dining table seemed to be in high spirits. They tore at bread and cooked meat with large mouthfuls, and heartily drank thick soup and ale, with soup and alcohol overflowing from their lips, falling onto the wooden table and the floor.
The unrestrained bard leaned on an old wooden chair, holding a lute, with a complexion as fair as a maiden yearned for. He tilted his head slightly and whistled, the gray-brown cloak he wore revealing slightly curled silver hair, and his deep blue eyes were beautiful and deep.
The poet’s long fingers plucked the strings.
“The sun is born from the night, illuminating the world with its light. After a long sandy journey, we can finally see that great city again.”
“Master Dylan, you just need to play the Qin. Your poetry can be recorded on parchment.”
A mercenary archer put down the bread in his hand and looked up, tactfully advising the bard.
“Ha, isn’t it because we are about to return to Rubiel City?”
The poet smiled a little awkwardly, his fingers pressed on the strings, playing a beautiful melody.
“Master Dylan is right. Tomorrow, this task will finally be completed! I really don’t know why there are so many thieves in the kingdom now. Those nobles who eat for free are really useless. They only know how to count money and can’t even govern their own territories. If I were His Majesty the King, I would have long taken my sword and killed all these royal parasites!”
“If you were His Majesty, you probably wouldn’t be able to stay in the Palefu’en Palace for a day. The southern region is not like the east and north. Those nobles who consider themselves ancient and long-standing are all disloyal to His Majesty.”
A mercenary swordsman raised his wine glass and drank the ale, shaking his head and laughing.
“Speaking of which, in Lansiat, it’s good that we haven’t encountered those blood-sucking thieves. I heard that many people have been captured by them recently.”
Upon hearing this voice, many of the mercenaries showed expressions of gratitude, clearly having a deep aversion to what he said.
“Blood-sucking thieves?”
From the side, Verafia let out a soft sound. She thought of the thieves she had encountered who had tried to rob Ophelia, who clearly exuded the power of blood, and then slightly tilted her little face to ask Ig beside her.
“Ig, what is this?”
“If my young lady is not mistaken, they are probably referring to the ‘Bloodwind Blade’ that recently appeared in Aslandt. The one I mentioned earlier.”
Seeing that his young lady was interested, Ig also replied with a smile.
“When I passed by Rubiel City more than two months ago, I had already heard of their reputation. It is said that these thieves possess abilities similar to the blood races in legends. They not only attack the caravans of merchants and nobles, but have also attacked towns and villages more than once.”
“I heard that the Church Knights in Rubiel City and Duke Dawn’s guards have issued the highest-level wanted posters for these people.”
Ig paused, then continued.
“But looking at these people, it seems they haven’t been resolved yet… It seems their influence is not simple.”
Hearing Ig’s voice, Verafia also nodded her little head slightly. However, in her Scorching Gold pupils, a hint of doubt flashed.
“Golden Lion” Dawn Adrian, according to Ig, was not only a powerful Saint Rank expert and Duke, but also the undisputed leader of the Royalist faction.
How could someone with such obvious ability allow thieves to ravage his territory?