Chapter 25: Assistant Ringmaster Ella (End)
With each page of the script, Ella suppressed her sighs.
Utilization of three-dimensional stage settings.
Elegant use of everyday language.
Scientific and realistic background settings.
It skilfully incorporated the latest trend in the performing arts, naturalism.
The script was so impeccably crafted that it seemed almost inhuman.
What was astonishing, however, was not just its technical aspects.
This script also contained a human insight.
The dialogues were infused with a deep understanding of the personalities and behaviours of the characters, such as the conversations between the triplets or the mutterings of the dwarf Jobel.
It was as if he had thoroughly examined the characters and their usual conduct, and this attention to detail permeated every line.
Perhaps, if she was the leader of a circus troupe, one could understand such dedication, but the other party was no ordinary person.
Wonderstein...?
The man who treated everything in the world as a pretence
Did he genuinely have that level of interest and affection for the performers?
It was hard to believe.
That's when it all began.
Ella had lived in the world of acrobatics since she was born.
She had talent, and an eye for watching performances.
Her love for the circus field itself ran deep.
So, when she saw this high-quality script, her admiration for Wonderstein became difficult to suppress.
And she couldn't forgive herself for feeling that way.
He was a devil. A murderer who killed neighbours and family members!
But look at this script. Let's admit it. He's a genius! There's no doubt he loves the circus.
He's a mad killer!
What does that matter? Perhaps even such madness is the attitude an artist should have!
Ah, circus life...
Our god was always a bit crazy, wasn't he?
For the past two weeks...
A war had been raging in her heart.
Her hatred and admiration for Wonderstein.
The desire to enjoy the current situation and her self-loathing for feeling that way.
Her conflicting emotions had tormented her.
And now, finally, today had come.
"The fact that Wonderstein saved her own life... Why bringing this up now?"
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Back then, I could have just said, 'Let's go together'... on that day when we first met."
Her first performance, where she received recognition from the audience.
"The promise that he had the confidence to persuade Master."
Master, who had become a body that could never step onto the stage again.
"Why did you have to kill friends... Why did you have to kill the people in the village!"
The destroyed village.
The dead people.
"I would have rather... I would have rather... hoped.....kept wearing the mask until the end..."
The form of the man who revealed his true self.
Dozens of tentacles wriggling.
Thick spider legs piercing through human flesh.
Hundreds of sharp teeth.
Reptilian eyes embedded all over his body.
A sticky, meter-long tongue.
Threatening thorns protruding from his shoulders and back.
Pulsating green blisters.
"Why did you have to deceive me like this!"
The man at the centre of it all, as if erasing everything like an eraser, appeared.
The man who had extended his hand to her, saying, "Let's go together."
The man who still smiled at her.
"Why are you coming now to disturb people's hearts again!"
He found a handkerchief and handed it to her.
He helped her prepare for the performance throughout the night.
The one who leaped into the water to save her.
She had never shown any weakness in front of Wonderstein, at least as far as in front of him.
But now, her sturdy fortress had crumbled in an instant.
She had pretended to be strong, but she was still just a 16-year-old girl.
She couldn't bear this suffocating, irrational, contradictory situation.
With tears streaming down her face, she wailed loudly.
Wonderstein didn't know exactly what she was struggling with.
But he knew it was because of him.
He recalled the messages that had suddenly flooded in.
[Ella's favourability has increased by 1. As a reward for reaching affinity 15, she receives <Inspira: Spirit Link>. Current favourability: 15 (Next reward: favourability 30).]
[Ella's favourability has decreased by 2. She loses the <Inspira: Spirit Link> reward for reaching below favourability 15. Current favourability: 13 (Next reward: favourability 15).]
"...Phew, okay."
Ella suddenly extended her hand.
Wonderstein looked at her with an interested look and then shook hands with her.
"It's two and a half years. Without harming anyone. Got it? Promise me."
"Of course."
At that moment, Ella felt Inspira returning to her.
Kirku seemed to be asking her.
Is the wandering of your heart over now?
And at the same time, a message appeared in front of Wonderstein.
[Ella's favorability has increased by 1. As a reward for achieving favorability 15 (next reward: favorability 30), <Inspira: Spirit Link> has been granted to Ella.]
***
The riverside was bustling since early morning.
This was because the ringmaster and deputy ringmaster of the circus troupe, who were important guests, had gone missing.
Anais, who had been holed up in her office, finally came out and urged people to find them, and the crew members were able to find various pieces of evidence about their whereabouts.
"We found a slipper stuck on the window sill of the deputy ringmaster's room."
"And over here, judging by the fact that the leader left his shoes and socks by the window... "
"Come to think of it, a crew member sleeping in the lower cabin heard a sound of something falling into the water twice in a row..."
The situation was clear.
The deputy ringmaster had fallen into the water, and the ringmaster in the room next door had realized it and rushed to save her.
"Let's go back and look for them."
"Captain, I'm sorry, but the chances of both of them being alive are low. Judging by the time, it was after midnight, and in such a situation, it's not easy for sailors like us to get out. Moreover, isn't the ringmaster a serious person? How could such a person... "
Upon hearing the captain's words, Anais raised her head.
She had been annoyed for a while, but she was fundamentally level-headed and rational.
She was seeing the situation more calmly than anyone else.
"That gentleman is a remarkable magician. Haven't you heard the story of him curing my illness? And acrobats are generally physically fit and skilled. There's a good chance they're still alive."
At that moment, a commotion outside the door caught their attention, and a crew member entered with a troubled expression.
"Um, um, Captain, Chairman... one of the circus troupe members wants to meet the Chairman..."
"Let her in."
Yes, they might have some useful information.
Anais greeted the woman who came to see her. She appeared to be in her early to mid-20s.
Anais, who had been bedridden for a long time and had become thin, felt a sense of withering when she looked at the woman's body.
The crew members had said that there was a woman who was close to the ringmaster, but...
They must be on good terms...
Anais tried her best not to think of the nonsense brought up by the quartermaster, but her eyes couldn't help but wander to the woman's chest, waist, and hips.
Damn it.
"What's the matter?"
Yurakne hesitated for a moment in response to Anais' somewhat chilly response, then straightened her shoulders and stepped forward.
"This is... our deputy ringmaster's pet mouse. It seems this little one has something to say to the Chairman."
"A mouse...?"
An albino mouse with red eyes.
Cheeks, riding on Yurakne's arm, climbed down onto Anais' desk.
Then it dipped its foot into Anais' ink bottle and began to draw something on the paper.
It was... writing.
***
The sun was shining on the riverside.
The two of them, dressed in their original clothes, sat side by side to greet the morning.
Wonderstein extended a fruit that looked like a human head towards her.
"What's this?"
"It's a fruit from the rice-opening tree."
"...Where is it even from?"
Instead of answering, Wonderstein shook his own hand.
That was quite a convenient ability.
She accepted the fruit he offered.
It didn't feel as strange to Ella as before.
They had secured their promise.
After they finished eating, about an hour passed.
Ella, who had been lying down quietly, suddenly opened her eyes.
"It's almost here."
Woosh.
In the distance, they could hear the sound of a boat approaching.
Wonderstein and Ella got up from their seats.
"It's been a short time, but I had fun."
"I think it's long..."
Ella's response made Wonderstein awkwardly lower his head.
"Hehe, don't be like that. We'll still see each other for two and a half years more."
"But we won't see each other again after that."
"What if we want to see each other later?"
"That won't happen. Not with a human like you."
In the distance, the boat they were leaving on approached.
