Not So Perfect Night

Down on the tavern floor, the final notes of the melody dissolved into the quiet room.

The traveling performer smoothly stepped down from the wooden counter, offering warm smiles and firm handshakes to his audience who crowded around him to praise his song.

Luck, sitting at a corner table with three local mercenaries he had just befriended over the free whiskey, leaned forward and nudged his new drinking companions.

"Hey, who is that guy? Does he perform here often?"

"Nah, he’s fresh in town," an old local replied, wiping a tear from his eye with a rough sleeve.

"A wandering musician. I think his name is Kale? Or something like that."

"No, you drunk fool," another mercenary cut in, slapping the first man's shoulder.

"His name is Zale. Zale the Bard of Badargh. He came from a faraway land of endless deserts, blazing suns, and vipers. They say he’s traveled through half the central kingdoms."

"Wow, look at you, knowing things," the first mercenary chuckled, mimicking his friend.

The tavern quickly returned to its lively noise, people drinking and chatting merrily under the warm lantern light.



Near the main counter, a heavily drunk adventurer suddenly stumbled forward, his movements sloppy as he aggressively tried to hit on the young barmaid.

Before the situation could turn sour, Zale smoothly stepped between them with a casual laugh, de-escalating the situation by offering the drunkard a fresh mug of whiskey and directing him back to his table.

The barmaid sighed, tapping down her apron as she looked at the musician. "You didn't have to help me, you know. If something was actually going to happen to me, the Perfect Prince would have come to stop it already."

Zale offered a gentle smile, adjusting the blue headband across his black hair.

"He is an exceptionally busy man, lovely lady. We can't leave every small task to a single Hero, can we?"

The barmaid stared at him as if he had just said something offensive. Her innocent eyes darkened with profound disbelief.

Realizing his mistake, Zale quickly raised his hands in mock defeat, his dark eyes softening as a charming grin broke across his blossomed face.

"Ah, but you are right. Forgive me, I was just trying to look brave and impress you."

The barmaid’s expression instantly softened, a faint blush running across her cheeks as she let out a soft laugh. Zale offered a polite bow of farewell, adjusted the peacock feather at his hip, and began walking toward the exit doors to leave the tavern.

That was interesting, Toshio thought to himself from up on the balcony.

Lady Toshio slowly rose from his wooden chair. Carefully managing the heavy velvet folds of his aristocratic gown with perfect grace, he walked down the stairs to catch the bard right at the exit.

"You sing remarkably well," Toshio said, utilizing his high-pitched, elegant noblewoman's voice. He stopped a single step away from the musician, his gold-trimmed monocular reflecting the dim candlelight.

"You are a gentleman for helping that naive girl."

"Thank you, dear lady," the musician replied politely, bowing with a hand over his chest. "Bard Zale, at your service."

Toshio fixed his unblinking gaze directly onto the traveler's eyes.

"Tell me, Sir Zale... what do you think about the mayor of the valley? I happened to overhear your conversation at the bar. You seem to think that the Perfect Prince won't be available everywhere, no?"

It was a direct, dangerous trap. Yet, the bard did not show a single shred of surprise or panic on his young face. His dark eyes remained perfectly calm as his hand rested against the heavy iron handle of the exit door.

"Now, if you will kindly excuse me, milady," Zale murmured smoothly, his voice dropping into a quiet hum.

"I am merely a simple singer who handles a lute. My opinions are pebbles."

With a polite tilt of his head, the musician opened the door and stepped out into the freezing winter night.

Toshio did not follow him. You lie really good sir bard...



He felt there was really something the bard was trying to hide, but he didn't dwell on it. It was time for Plan A.

"It's time to lure the Perfect Prince," Toshio whispered to the red-haired Luck near the entrance. He advised the party to stay inside and stay put.

The 'old man' Lily was worried about the dangerous plan, but the red-haired warrior reassured her, saying he would be ready to burst out as soon as something bad happened.

After wrapping his luxurious velvet noble coat tightly around his busty frame, the salaryman stepped through the doors alone, walking straight out into the dim, frozen alleys of the town.

The winter air was biting, and within less than three blocks, Toshio could feel the faint, rhythmic sound of heavy footsteps crunching the snow from behind.

He didn't speed up. Instead, he intentionally guided his heavy skirts into the darker, more isolated corners of a narrow stone alleyway, completely hidden from the main plaza torches.

*Step* *Step*

"Wait right there, wealthy lady," a raspy voice sneered from the darkness behind him.

"Your silk purse looks a bit heavy. Why don't you let us lighten your burden?"

Toshio paused, his heart rate remaining perfectly flat.

The bait is set, his mind calculated silently.

If the Perfect Prince truly monitors every single thing in real-time, an imminent assault on an elite noblewoman will immediately force him to intervene. I can finally see his skill up close.

Lady Toshio slowly turned around, executing a perfect act of a terrified noble woman. Standing before him were two local thugs from the tavern, looking heavily drunk and wielding rusty daggers that gleamed beneath the pale moonlight.

"P-Please..." Toshio cried out in his high-pitched feminine voice, backing against the cold stone wall. "Do not harm me."

There was no response from the sky. No silver-halberd knights came from the shadows. No high school uniform cut through the wind.

The two thugs began closing the distance, their filthy faces twisting into vile, sinister grins as they looked at her under the faint moonlight. Seeing the staggering beauty of the noblewoman trapped in a dead-end alley, their greedy desires mutated into something far more dangerous.

"You know, boss... maybe we can take more than just gold from this pretty lady tonight," the first goon whispered, stepping directly into Toshio’s personal perimeter.

Were my calculations wrong? Toshio thought frantically, his knuckles tightening beneath his gloves as his system was still locked.

Did I misjudge the Prince's omniscient tracking skill?

The thugs were now too close, their breath foul in the freezing air as they reached out to grab the velvet gown.

*CRACK*

Without a single warning, the second thug standing in the back was violently slammed face-first into the ground, his body going completely limp before he could even see the strike. The leader violently flinched, but before he could spin his head around to check the threat, a heavy object collided loudly against the side of his skull.

*WHAM*

The leader’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed onto the dirt like a broken log, revealing the shattered pieces of a broken wooden lute scattering across the snow. Toshio’s monocular eye widened slightly in genuine surprise.

This is not the fish I was trying to lure!

Standing right in the center of the narrow alleyway, holding the broken neck of his ruined musical instrument, was no one other than the traveling bard himself.

Zale stood over the unconscious goons, the upbeat, carefree grin entirely gone from his face. His dark, intense gaze locked directly into Toshio’s eyes, his voice a low, cold, and dangerous whisper that shattered the quiet of the winter night.

"So you really were trying to lure that monster here, huh?"