Chapter 148: Black and Gold – 19
Maya has been going out alone for a week.
She would leave the hotel when the sun rises and return when it sets.
She had a fixed place she visited every day.
It was Tettromino Plaza, the center of Yeterinpuurk.
There were a total of 7 types of shapes that could be formed by combining 4 squares.
J, L, T, Z, S, O, I.
These 7 blocks were arranged on the ground with no gap, each with its own color from red to purple.
The length of one square piece is 15cm.
Calculating, there were found to be 10 million square tiles here, meaning 2.5 million Tettromino blocks.
Maya walked quickly as she scanned the blocks on the floor.
There was a limit to the combinations that could be made with the 7 blocks.
Not long after examining the ground, she discovered a pattern.
Several Tettromino blocks combined to form around 500 patterns.
Maya assigned numbers to those patterns.
They kept repeating.
The problem was that the sequence of these patterns was irregular.
In some cases, pattern 43 and pattern 187 repeated, while in others, only pattern 368 appeared continuously.
She had memorized over a million blocks in the past 10 days.
Her head was storing all those patterns.
She tried recalling a million blocks.
Starting from the beginning.
A few minutes later, she sighed, holding her throbbing head.
Sweat dripped from her cheeks and neck.
Even though Maya was a genius, such work put a tremendous burden on her brain.
It wasnt just about confirming what she had memorized.
It involved hypothesizing and verifying any regularities within.
To do this, she had to use her available computational power to the maximum.
Maya went to a nearby cafe and sat down.
She cooled off with a cold coffee.
Rumors that scholars trying to uncover the meaning hidden in the Tettromino Plaza floor had collectively gone mad didnt seem exaggerated.
They could easily grasp the 2.5 million blocks.
And they could even organize the combinable patterns within.
The problem was what the irregular arrangement of these patterns meant.
Such patterns were likely to be substituted with symbols from a specific field.
The blocks in the plaza were said to have been transcribed from some design left by a certain clergyman.
The probability was high that it was related to theology or magic.
But even when Maya tried substituting any symbols or signs she knew from theology or magic, no clues were found.
Should she give up?
It was a problem that even world-class scholars had failed to solve despite gathering together to contemplate.
It was impossible for her to solve it in just 10 days, even if she was Maya.
In fact, Maya didnt come here every day to examine the blocks for any specific purpose.
She had nothing else to do.
The theme of the exam set by the Lekachep Circus School was Skill.
They wanted to evaluate acrobatics itself, not things like acting, scriptwriting, directing, or box office success.
So, there was nothing for her to do in this exam.
She often felt exhausted during physical training.
She couldnt possibly do acrobatics.
When Ella was here, she stuck around the villa.
She was concerned about Ella, who kept clinging to the director.
But since Reyna came, Maya thought there was no need for her to be worried.
She took out a golden flat disk from her pocket.
A memory disk.
In fact, solving this was the most important thing to her.
But no matter how much she thought about it, there was little progress.
So she decided to explore the mystery of the Tettromino Plaza floor while cooling her head.
Of course, instead of cooling her head, it only added to her worries but
An illusion of 7 Tettromino blocks shaped in her mind.
Even the director wouldnt understand this, right?
Gyaang.
Maya, would you like to visit the Candy factory?
Im not a child.
She was in the midst of intense research on her own when he asked.
She didnt like being treated like a child by Wonderstein.
In the midst of that, suggesting a candy factory tour?
She replied coldly and ended the conversation.
But that was suggesting an outing just for the two of them?
Ways to cultivate illusions in the mind!
She quickly dismissed the Tettromino fantasies.
What am I doing here right now?
Those two weeks without Ella were an opportunity!
Maya sprang up from her seat.
She bowed slightly towards the caf owner.
Thank you.
Youre welcome.
Maya left the caf owner with a satisfied smile and headed back to her accommodation a little earlier than usual.
***
The day of trades quickly approached.
Ella realized that she would have to return to her original circus troupe next Tuesday.
The Monster Circus.
Where Wonderstein was.
A smile formed on her lips.
At the same time, her heart thumped.
Her pulse carried a sense of unease unlike before.
Meeting Wonderstein again was both welcoming and strangely unsettling.
Why was that?
Was life here too enjoyable?
She had spent the best ten days at the Golden Carnival.
Performing the best acrobatics with the best acrobats.
It felt like her horizons had expanded several times over.
It was also fun to debate with Lord Fantastic about acrobatics every night.
This was something she hadnt experienced with Wonderstein.
She used to think he was as much of a circus enthusiast as herself.
But after getting closer since Dvallchep, she realized he was different from her expectations.
He hardly watched performances, was ignorant about cultural phenomena or basic to the industry. And he had no interest in what performance to put on after the Circus Grand Prix.
She acknowledged his writing skills, knowledge about other circuses, and amazing acrobatic skills, but she realized he didnt truly love the circus.
He was like Reyna.
Doing circus only out of necessity, not because he loved it.
Yet her affection for him remained unchanged.
She still admired and liked him.
But there were doubts.
Why didnt she know his true intentions until now?
Why didnt they have conversations unrelated to work in Luz?
Then, she heard a knock on her door.
It was Lord Fantastic, as usual, coming to her room.
What story are we going to discuss today? The tightrope theory from E?
Haha, thats a delightful topic, but theres something more important.
He said they would go out to the city for lunch tomorrow.
The owner of the villa they were staying in had come to the city.
Hes a Marquis, right? Should I go too? Im not even an official member.
Haha, hes also a circus enthusiast. Hes curious about the face that appeared like a comet during the entrance exams.
At that, Ella chuckled and smiled.
Alright then! Thats good news. Who is he?
Simon tapped the invitation card in his hand.
Do you know the name Candyman?
No.
He smiled back at her shaking his head.
Its Marquis Wilhelm Slagbrot. Hes the lord of the vast Candy Turnip Plain and the owner of the Slagbrot Factory here in Yeterinpurrk.
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