Speaker 3

Prev I TOC I Next

[The person in front of you can’t take their eyes off you.]

The mercenary, who had just removed the sack, stared at me blankly with his mouth slightly agape.

As if he were waiting for my next command.

[He’s captivated.]

[You start to think that maybe you could use his interest to your advantage]

Now it was time to get out of here.

“Do you like what you see?”

“…H-Huh?”

“My face.”

The mercenary still looked dazed as he silently nodded his head.

Seeing him completely bewitched by my beauty, I couldn’t help but smile a little.

“Then shall we go out together?”

“……What?”

“Take me somewhere secluded, where no one will come.”

At my words, the mercenary hesitated for a moment.

And in that instant, I could see a glimpse of clarity return to his dazed eyes.

It looked like he had just realized how absurd my request was, given the situation.

“Why… why?”

“…Haa.”

With a sigh of exaggerated frustration, I shot back at him.

“Do you really need me to spell it out?”

He seemed pretty shaken by the sudden shift in my attitude, which was the complete opposite of how submissive I’d been earlier.

“Well, it’s obviously because I want to do something that would be awkward if someone saw us, right?”

“…!”

But it only lasted a moment.

“So I’d prefer somewhere we won’t be disturbed, just the two of us.”

I lowered my head with a sigh, but looked up at him slyly as I said it.

“……”

Gulp.

I heard the sound of him swallowing again.

This time, I didn’t even need to roll a die for [Persuasion].

That single line seemed to blow away what little reasoning he had left, and he nodded as if hypnotized.

He didn’t seem to have the brainpower left to wonder why I was suddenly seducing him.

“F-Follow me.”

Eventually, he helped me to my feet.

Though of course, he still didn’t seem inclined to untie my hands or feet.

And on top of that—

“I’ll put the sack back over your head until we get out of here… I-It should be fine, right?”

He tried to cover my head with the sack again, saying he couldn’t let anyone catch him sneaking me out.

Well, it was a reasonable point.

If I left without the sack, my beauty would definitely draw too much attention. Everyone in this camp would come running.

Sure, the downside was that I wouldn’t be able to see where we were going, but it was still a much better option than sitting around in a cage.

And it’s not like this guy, whose mind was now filled with nothing but desire, would suddenly develop ulterior motives.

He’d already been captivated—just because my face was temporarily hidden didn’t mean he’d snap out of it.

If anything, he’d probably want to see it again so badly that he’d move faster to get us out of here.

So I agreed, and sure enough, he hurriedly—though carefully—put the sack back over my head.

Then, just like when he dragged me to the cage the first time, he began pulling on the rope that bound my hands.

Hoping we wouldn’t get caught and end up in a troublesome situation, I quietly followed him.

Maybe because he was already captivated and under the ‘Attention’ status, the usual [Melancholy Debuff] didn’t trigger this time, even though my face was covered.

Thanks to that, my senses were fully functional, and even if I couldn’t see, I could roughly guess what was happening.

Just from the strength of the tug on the rope and the sound of our footsteps, I could tell he was moving cautiously.

After a little while, I stopped hearing voices and any signs of other people around us.

Instead, I started to feel blades of grass brushing against my ankles.

We must’ve left the camp and entered the nearby forest.

Still, just in case, I decided to behave until he finally took the sack off my head.

Even if he was totally out of it, I hadn’t sensed even a trace of hostility or wariness from him so far.

“Wait here for a moment.”

If he had been wary, he wouldn’t have just left me here alone like this and vanished somewhere.

Makes sense.

He tied up my arms and legs, covered my eyes with a sack, and I had no weapons or magic—just some songs.

What could a Level 1 bard possibly do now?

It’s not like I could hurt him, let alone escape.

And honestly, he wasn’t wrong.

If I were a normal bard, that is.

Unfortunately for him, I was no ordinary Level 1 bard.

I’m a Level 1 bard with a Charisma stat of 30—an incarnation of the Goddess of Beauty herself.

Normally, support-type bard builds don’t max out Charisma from the beginning like this.

Since bards are meant to shine outside of combat, it’s better to distribute stats evenly to pass various checks.

And besides, just maxing out Charisma early on doesn’t mean the buffs you give your allies are dramatically better.

But that’s only if you’re talking about a conventional support bard.

What I focused on when creating this build was a different core skill—[Mocking Remark].

While standard bard skills like [Inspiration] and [Bard’s Song] boost allies through impressive performance or speeches, [Mocking Remark] is a class-unique bard skill that does the opposite.

It literally insults enemies to crush their fighting spirit.

It’s not just a metaphor—it actually deals damage.

And the damage scales with Charisma.

That’s also why I said the [Face That Could Topple Kingdoms] trait was the final piece of the puzzle for this build.

Not only does it boost Charisma, but it also guarantees that Charisma-based skills like [Mocking Remark] will always land a critical hit when the target is captivated.

So I don’t need weapons or magic.

My tongue was both a weapon and a form of magic.

“Hey, this way.”

And the mercenary, completely unaware of that fact, returned not long after and began pulling my rope again.

Then, he suddenly stopped and yanked the sack off my head without a word.

“……!”

The moment my face was revealed again, he swallowed hard, just like when he first saw me.

Only this time, his face was flushed red, and his breathing was noticeably heavier.

As if, in just those few minutes, the inability to see my face had driven him crazy.

It was clear now—his patience had reached its limit.

As he stepped toward me with urgency, I lightly pushed him back.

Then, as he stared at me in confusion, I silently raised both of my hands toward him.

Realizing what I meant, he fumbled to draw the dagger at his belt and quickly cut the ropes binding my hands.

I was going to ask him to cut the ropes on my legs too, but as soon as he finished with my hands, he shoved me down roughly, like he couldn’t wait another second.

I guess he really couldn’t wait to do something “not fit for public view.”

Well, in that case, I’ll give him what he wants.

“Hey.”

With a crooked smile, I grabbed the mercenary’s face with both hands as he leaned toward me on his knees.

“…!”

To make sure he couldn’t tear his gaze away from my “captivating” face.

Then I slowly opened my mouth and whispered,

『You really think I’d do anything with a lowlife piece of shit like you? Wake up, you dumb f*ck.』

-!?

If this were a broadcast, every word would’ve been drowned in censor beeps—my [Mocking Remark] slammed into his ears like a dagger.

[Critical hit!]

[The ‘Slave-Trader’s Mercenary’s mind has collapsed!’]

“Gah!”

Suddenly grabbing his head, the mercenary’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the floor foaming at the mouth.

I gave him exactly what he wanted—something no one should see.

That is, using [Mocking Remark] to kill someone.

“Wait a—ugh?!”

He fell forward, right on top of me, pinning me beneath him.

“Seriously…!”

With only 2 Strength, it took some effort to push him off, but I managed to squirm my way out.

Then I picked up the dagger that had rolled to the floor, cut the ropes on my legs, and quickly stood up.

The mercenary lay motionless on the floor.

Well, of course—he was dead.

I was finally, completely free… but maybe it was too soon to breathe a sigh of relief.

“…Where the hell is this?”

I thought we’d gone deep into the forest, but looking around, I realized we were indoors—surrounded by walls.

To be exact, I was in a room.

Thanks to the few torches hanging on the walls, I could see that the place was made of old bricks.

Something about it felt oddly familiar.

“…No way.”

A sudden possibility flashed through my mind, but it was so absurd that I let out a dry laugh.

I’d know for sure once I stepped outside, so I carefully opened the door and walked out of the room.

Just like inside, the outer corridor had torches sparsely mounted on the walls.

Following their faint light, I moved forward cautiously, running my hand along the wall in the familiar darkness.

And the more I walked, the harder it became to deny the possibility I had tried so hard to reject.

No way… No way it could be.

Even if I asked him to take me to a quiet, deserted place, this is way too much.

Sure, it technically fit my request…

“Crrk.”

Ah, f*ck.

It fit way too well…!

That psycho bastard…!?

I almost shouted out loud but quickly covered my mouth and ducked behind the corner of the wall.

Did they hear something?

As I carefully peeked around the corner with one eye,

‘……!’

I instinctively shuddered.

I locked eyes with goblins.

“Crrk.”

Yes, goblins—plural.

There were two of them.

But maybe it was too dark for them to see me clearly, or maybe they just happened to be looking my way by chance, because they soon turned their gaze away.

At least, it seemed like I hadn’t been spotted.

Still, saying “thank goodness” felt premature.

Now that I’d seen it with my own eyes, I couldn’t deny it anymore.

Sure, I did ask him to take me somewhere isolated…

But this?

This was way too isolated, you lunatic…!

Out of all the secluded places he could’ve chosen, this is what he picked?

He really brought me to a goddamn dungeon?!?

Yeah, no doubt about it now.

This place was a dungeon.

Prev I TOC I Next