The Bard of Hogwarts

Chapter 9 Old John

"Red Shoes, Foolish Nock, The Bread-Stepping Girl, The Lazy Spinner, The Three Lucky Ones..."

One story after another flashed before my eyes.

Then, Ino shook her head again, clearing her mind of all the jumbled thoughts.

Because what we see now is simply not enough to guess a complete story.

After all... there are countless stories that happen in small towns like this.

What he needs to do now is to find a place to stay temporarily and a foothold in this town as soon as possible.

Accommodation was actually not a problem. After two years of traveling, Ino had saved up some copper coins, which was more than enough to stay in a small place like this for a while.

However, the entry point really requires careful consideration. The first thing is the positioning of his identity, just like he has always used before—the apprentice of a bard.

After confirming the identity, the second step is to select the people to contact, and in this regard, mediocre people must be excluded.

Just like the houses I saw on the street earlier, those that are all the same, ordinary, and without any special features are not within my selection range.

On the contrary, those houses with unique shapes or dilapidated buildings are his first choice.

Moreover, even if the story of the town has ended, there are still some hidden benefits to be gained from these places.

……

In the small town, after a day of shoe repair work, old John returned to his dilapidated house.

Although it was drafty and occasionally leaked water on rainy days, it was still one of the few properties that belonged to him.

"Hello, sir! I apologize for bothering you, but if it's alright, could I stay with you for a while? I'll pay you."

After some investigation, Ino finally chose this dilapidated old house. The moment the owner returned, he rushed up to strike up a conversation.

The sudden sound made old John stop in his tracks. After a moment of surprise, he asked uncertainly, "Are you talking to me?"

"Yes, sir! I am a wandering bard, and it is getting late. There is no inn in town."

With her facial expressions and reasonable explanations, Ino had mastered this entire process to the point of being flawless.

Even when facing Dumbledore, he was confident that he could convince the other man, let alone the other man who looked like just an ordinary old man over fifty.

"The bard!" Old John's face showed a hint of nostalgia, as if he were thinking about something.

"Alright, little guy! If you don't mind that this place is so run-down and drafty."

"Thank you, kind sir!" Ino replied obediently.

"Don't call me 'sir' or 'gentleman'! I'm not a master or a nobleman. They all call me Old John, and you can call me that too."

"Okay, old John! I also hope you can call me Ino, the little guy, that's what I was like three years ago."

Simple jokes can often bring people closer, and Ino knows this very well.

"Hahaha! Good! Strange bard Ino!" Old John responded with a hearty laugh.

……

night.

The small room was less than ten square meters, and a kerosene lamp, so faint it could go out at any moment, cast a tiny flame that could only illuminate a small area around it.

Beside the oil lamp, Ino and old John sat facing each other.

"...A bard, what a wonderful profession! When I was young, I also longed for freedom and always wanted to go out and explore. After wasting half my life away from home, I came back to find that the hometown I once despised now seems to have no place for me either."

In the dim firelight, the crisscrossing wrinkles on old John's face became even more pronounced.

"That's nothing! At least you've experienced it! There are many people in the world who return empty-handed and disappointed, but most of them don't regret it," Ino replied casually.

He deeply understood Old John's lament; in another world, so many people left their homes to study, work, and buy houses...

But in the end, they will find that it is extremely difficult for a wanderer to settle down and survive in a place that does not belong to him.

"Now I believe you are a bard," Old John said suddenly, his expression serious.

"Really? That's great!" Ino shrugged indifferently.

"I have many more stories to tell you later, but there will always be a fee."

"Haha, in this small town, you're destined to leave empty-handed."

Old John's casual remark instantly energized Ino. What was he painstakingly searching for in the access point map? It was simply to cleverly gather useful information.

"What, is it popular here to listen to stories without paying?" Ino asked casually.

"No, that's not it." Old John waved his hand and continued:

"This place used to be very poor, and people often went hungry. Only in recent years have people's lives improved somewhat, but asking them to pay to listen to stories is just wishful thinking."

Ino's mind raced. From Old John's words, he had gleaned a crucial piece of information: the story that had unfolded here should probably come to an end.

This was not a wild guess, but rather the result of his experience accumulated over two years of travel.

In a fantasy world, a place will only undergo a major transformation when the story that took place there comes to an end; otherwise... don't even think about things like building roads, starting businesses, or helping everyone get rich.

"It doesn't matter anymore, I won't be staying here for long. As long as I'm alive, the journey will never stop, whether it's the road under my feet or the road in my heart, it's all the same."

Ino suddenly said with a hint of boredom.

The story ends, signifying the beginning of a mundane life. And this, too, means he's destined to never gain anything of value.

Perhaps sensing the change in Ino's tone, old John offered words of comfort:

"Little one! You don't need to do this. Although people are used to saving money, they will at least give up some of their unused items as payment for listening to stories."

"I told you, don't call me little guy!" Ino said, feigning anger.

"Haha... okay! But you don't look very big."

Perhaps it was their first meeting, or perhaps chatting by the light of an oil lamp was simply too extravagant.

In short, not long after, old John ended their conversation, citing exhaustion.

……

late at night.

Ino lay on a bed covered with straw, while the cold wind howled outside.

But these cold winds seemed to have a mind of their own, cleverly bypassing the intact walls and sneaking in through those unknown gaps.

This made the already not-so-warm room even colder.

Faced with this situation, Ino could only tighten the blanket wrapped around her body.

To be fair, this blanket, which was picked up from a dumpster in a wealthy neighborhood, looks very tattered, but the cashmere on it is genuine, which can effectively insulate against heat loss.

"I'll try to do a divination tomorrow when I have some free time... But it's good that the story is over; I can use this time to read a book properly."

Since it has already happened, let's accept it calmly.

Ino always kept one thing in mind: to live in this world, one must eliminate greed.

Therefore, he never obsessively sought any benefit from the story. After all, one only has one life, and as long as one lives, there will always be opportunities in the future.

New book release, a new journey begins. Thank you to all the big names for your support.

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(End of this chapter)