Reincarnated as a bamboo rat, it begins its extreme survival struggle.

After all, he came into this world knowing nothing.

(Mr. Bell, who skipped the background introduction, wanted to go back in time for the Nth time to slap himself.)

"Edu Wine. Mr. Bamboo Rat, what should I call you?"

"Bear Rat Riels".

A gentle breeze rustled through the bamboo grove. Bell and the boy in front of him exchanged names, making him their first friend to talk to in this other world.

Bell had so many questions to ask, and the boy in front of him was also full of curiosity about Bell, this bamboo rat with its strange behavior.

Bell immediately asked Edu why he was being hunted down, and then listened to Edu recount the battle between the Blood Hand Mercenary Group and the Long River Adventurer Group.

After some explanation, Bell quickly understood the current situation near the bamboo forest.

"In other words, in the human world, the resources of the Bamboo Sea are controlled by the Long River Adventurer Group, and now a very powerful mercenary group wants to take these resources away from the Long River Adventurer Group."

"Is such that."

"So how did you get involved? Based on my experience, someone with your physique shouldn't be an adventurer."

Bell, who has used [Information Insight] to search through a large number of human adventurers, has some understanding of their physical strength and level.

Although Edu possesses the unique skill of [Beast Language], he is far too weak compared to other human adventurers.

Moreover, he himself said that his [beast language] could not control the magical beasts in the bamboo forest, because the magical power flowing within the magical beasts would negate the influence of his magical power.

This makes the Beast Language skill rather awkward; summoning weak animals provides limited help, while powerful magical beasts ignore it.

"Um...actually, I'm just here to earn some extra money."

When asked about his reasons for visiting the bamboo forest, Edu seemed quite aggrieved, placing his hands in front of his chest as if at a loss.

Although his animal language skills are useless for fighting, he can use his animal friends to scout his surroundings, and ordinary animals will not harm him.

So, this guy accepted a job from the Long River Adventurer Group. His task was to act as a transporter, transporting the monster materials hunted by the Long River Adventurer Group's elites to the outside of the Bamboo Forest, and delivering the supplies needed by the adventurer group into the Bamboo Forest.

His job was only on the outermost edge of the bamboo forest, and he had an old donkey to help him transport goods, which should have been an extremely easy job.

Unfortunately, the two major powers went to war at this time.

"None of my family members know anything about this. I just want to earn some extra money to buy myself a musical instrument."

At this point, Edu looked extremely aggrieved, a typical bystander caught in the middle of a dispute.

If he had decisively abandoned the cargo shipment when he was initially surrounded by the Bloodhand mercenaries, he would most likely have been temporarily detained by them, but at least he would have been able to save his life.

But he was a stubborn young man, and if it weren't for Bell's help, he would have been killed in the bamboo forest.

"So, what are you going to do now? There are members of the Long River Adventurer Group inside the bamboo forest, and members of the Blood Hand Mercenary Group outside the bamboo forest."

Bell scratched his head, stroking the slowly burning ahoge (cowlick) in his hair, curious about the young man's next decision.

"Me? I want to find the Long River Adventurer Group. The Blood Hand Mercenaries outside have probably controlled several intersections outside the Bamboo Sea. If the elite adventurers of the Long River Adventurer Group don't step in to break the deadlock, the individual investors inside the Bamboo Sea won't have an easy time."

Chapter 22 My Dream is to Be a Bard

"呲呲-"

Bamboo groves swayed, bonfires rose, and the moonlight was clear.

If he hadn't been chased during the day, Edu certainly wouldn't be looking so gloomy in this situation.

"Don't look so bitter and resentful. You're just a casual player who takes on quests and does odd jobs. Why are you concerned about those two adventure groups with thousands of members fighting each other?"

After rescuing the little brat and making their way to a safe area to set up camp,

Bale looked at Edu's bitter face and felt a headache coming on.

He discovered that although the kid wasn't stupid, he was a bit stubborn, or, in other words, a firm believer.

Even after learning that the Blood Hand Mercenary Group had taken control of the area, he still didn't want to leave this dangerous place. Instead, he wanted to go inside the bamboo forest and pass on the relevant information to the Long River Adventure Team.

“My mother used to tell me that if you accept someone’s entrustment, you should be loyal to them. I took the money from the Long River Adventure Team, so I have to transport their goods. Now that the goods are lost, I have to do something for them. I can’t just take the money from the Long River Adventure Team for nothing.”

Not to mention, ever since my mother died, the two older sisters from the Long River Adventurer's Guild have been supporting me. I wouldn't be alive today without them.

Edu crushed the few dry bamboo tubes he had picked up and threw them into the campfire in front of him.

Standing in the flames, Bell slowly turned over two bamboo chickens roasting on the fire, his dinner, which he had gone to great lengths to obtain.

To be honest, Bell wasn't interested in the battles between human factions; he just wanted to find the wood as soon as possible and tinker with it to make a workbench.

"From a rational point of view, I don't recommend that you take the risk, since with my help you can quickly leave the bamboo forest and escape this conflict. But if you insist on delivering the intelligence, I will help you."

He handed a roasted bamboo chicken to Edu, while Bel was already sitting on the charcoal fire, enjoying his meal.

Bell was very open and generous with this person she could talk to; being able to chat with someone greatly relieved Bell's psychological pressure.

Bale's casualness made Edu in front of him feel somewhat awkward.

“Mr. Bell, you’re so kind to me. I wish I could do something for you. My mom says I shouldn’t take favors from others for nothing.”

After eating most of the roasted bamboo chicken, Bell looked at the little guy in front of him, who was looking at him with a sincere expression, and the flame-shaped ahoge on his forehead swayed back and forth a few times.

Bell suddenly thought of something and said to Edu:

"Um... how about you teach me to speak, to speak human language?"

Upon hearing this, Edu was suddenly stunned.

He never imagined that Bell would make such a request of him, after all, no one in the world had ever seen a talking bamboo rat.

Can bamboo rats speak human language?

"Ordinary bamboo rats can't, but it might not be the case for me."

Edu asked a question hesitantly, which made Bale burst into laughter.

"It's decided then. After you deliver the intelligence, I'll officially hire you to teach me human languages. The payment is... well, is there anything you want?"

I wanted to stylishly announce that you've become my employee and that I offer you a generous salary.

But for a moment, Bell couldn't think of anything he could offer the other party, so he could only follow up his dashing declaration with a question.

"What I want, musical instruments are..."

? ”

Why musical instruments?

Following this topic, Edu began to talk about his past.

You wouldn't believe it until you hear it; after listening for a while, Bell felt that this guy's growth trajectory was just like that of an anime protagonist.

Edu's birth was special, but this specialness was not in any positive sense; there was no such thing as 'when you were born, the entire forest of Lordaeron whispered your name'.

There was only one single, pure-blooded human girl who gave birth to a baby boy with demi-human characteristics under impoverished conditions.

In human society, the appearance of an infant with animalistic features is not a good omen.

Discrimination and even hostility were the most common things Edu encountered growing up.

But the hostility directed at her mother is even more terrifying than the malice directed at Edu.

After all, her mother was a pure-blooded human and a young woman of marriageable age.

“I only heard from people around me that my mother was deceived by my so-called father. They said that my father only stayed in Cangxing City for two months.”

Edu's narration was somewhat disjointed, but Bell quickly imagined a plot where a social scoundrel swindles money and sex from a young girl, gets her pregnant, and then goes straight for sex.

Despite never having met his biological father and living under constant racial discrimination and moral pressure from his mother, Edu did not develop into an antisocial bully. Instead, he became a sunny, approachable boy next door.

The whole process was like the whole village ostracizing Naruto, and it was absurd that this guy could still think about everyone who had hurt him in his childhood.

All I can say is that Edu's gentle mother is really amazing; she managed to raise the child without him going astray under such circumstances.

“My mother died young. When she was alive, she loved listening to music the most: the street tunes of Cangxing City, the operatic singing of the aunt next door, and the epic poems sung by bards…”

When it comes to music, especially the music his mother likes, Edu becomes very talkative.

Musically, he has an excellent memory and is very good at imitation. He can even imitate various musical pieces from his memory and sing a few lines for Bell.

“I often think that if I had a musical instrument during my mother’s illness, maybe I could make her a little happier by playing it. At least, in her final days, I could make her a little happier… But until now, I still don’t have a musical instrument that I can play.”

At this point, Edu became somewhat dejected.

But after taking a bite of the roast chicken, his spirits lifted again, and he began to talk about his outlook for the future.

He wasn't someone trapped in the past. Edu felt the world was vast, there were still many things he hadn't seen, and he wanted to become a true adventurer.

"Once I've saved enough money, I'll buy my own musical instrument, any kind will do, then join the Bards' Guild to study and start traveling the world."

"Why did you choose the profession of bard?"

Edu's desire to become a bard is, in Bell's opinion, a rather unusual choice.

After all, in the fantasy world, warriors who hone their physical bodies, mages who study mysteries, and thieves who are skilled in techniques are much more popular and easier to develop than bards.

Generally speaking, it takes three years to train a warrior, five years for a thief, and the time it takes for a bard to become proficient is impossible to quantify.

In this profession, there are newly initiated bards who suddenly rise to prominence after completing an epic poem; there are also those who never even reach the edge of becoming a formal bard from the very beginning of their careers.

Chapter 23 Perhaps, I can teach you