2
“And now, lend me your ears, and I’ll sing you a song—‘The Draffin Betrayed by the Setting Sun.’”
A dark, tragic melody fell on the village square like early summer rain. In the center of the square, atop a crude stage of stacked wooden boards, stood a performer strumming a stringed instrument that resembled a guitar or a ukulele.
The symmetrical instrument warbled with a lively timbre, but the nearly palpable melancholy in the air was a testament to the musician’s technique. The mood in the village square was spectacularly dark.
Drawn by the gloomy melody and the captivating lyrics, the villagers came to the square, their eyes all distant. In the crowd were several old ladies whose eyes were swollen from mourning the end of the world. Even in the bleakest moments of the demon beast attack, none of them looked as dreadful as they did now.
“If life must be so painful, then I would rather die. But I cannot die. I’m not allowed to die…”
In the story, Draffin was betrayed by his closest friend and fiancée. He stood on the bridge where they had once exchanged a solemn vow, and as the light of the setting sun illuminated him, he pondered flinging himself off the edge and ending it all.
Despite the fact that she was singing and playing an instrument, the bard’s posture and gestures gave the performance an incredible sense of realism, immersing her listeners in the story. When a lone tear rolled down her cheek, no one in the audience could hold back any longer. Some even started to wail and whimper.
“Bubbles bursting from his lungs, he sinks to the quiet river floor. O, Draffin. O, O, Draffin…”
As Draffin surrendered to his darkest impulse and reached the bottom of the river, the helpless wind and flowers mourned his tragic death. And then the curtain fell—
“Geez, could you pick a more depressing song?!”
Before the bard’s last note died out, Subaru butted in with a one-liner out of sheer frustration.
“Eep!”
The Bard of Bad Ends gave a start—and the story world encapsulating the square came crashing down. The villagers snapped back to their senses and exchanged glances.
“Oh! Um…” “Yikes, why’m I crying?” “Oh dear, the floodgates open so easily with age…” “Draffin, you’re just like me!” “That bard girl is really cute!”
With tears in their eyes, everyone in the crowd started sharing their thoughts on the performance. And after they got that off their chests, they turned to look at the back row, where Subaru was trying to sneak out—
“Thanks for killing the mood, Subaru!”
—and they yelled so angrily that Subaru also jumped in surprise.
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