The Freak Show Foreman

At this rate, it felt like the circus would hit rock bottom.

The current reputation of the circus is 21. Thanks to a performance in Aksville and Ella briefly appearing on the stage of the Rose Windmill, their reputation had once reached 40, but now it was almost halved.

They had dropped by 20 points in just two weeks.

The days of waiting for the Reputation 50 reward felt like a distant memory.

"Thank you, Ringmaster," Anais said, looking at me with a smile.

She still looked pained and troubled, but she seemed much more relieved than she did earlier.

"It’s embarrassing to hear such words for something like this," I replied.

"No, not for this. I’m thankful that you comforted me," she clarified.

I stared at her blankly in response.

I hadn’t said a word while she was crying.

No matter what I said, it would have sounded like an excuse.

A coward hiding behind a wall due to his hurtful actions.

I didn’t know how to sincerely apologize to someone who had been calling out my name earnestly from below the wall, worn out from doing so.

Even when she confessed her love while crying.

Even when she forced a smile and expressed her disappointment.

I just remained silent and smiled.

Placing my hand on top of hers and lightly patting it was my greatest act of courage, as was wiping the water droplets from her hair in the bathroom with a handkerchief.

That’s all I could do.

And that’s something to be thankful for?

For not saying words of comfort?

Was I receiving sympathy from her again?

But her expression showed sincerity.

I imagined a scene where my opponent, who had scolded me, was now patting me with sympathetic eyes.

Oh.

A feeling of disgust welled up in my chest.

Her feelings must have been truly miserable.

That’s why she was thankful.

"I’m sorry."

Even to me, it sounded like an apology without context or sincerity.

And I even smiled.

What would she think?

Would she hate me?

Contrary to my fears, she smiled and shook her head.

"It’s okay. I feel relieved now that I’ve let it all out."

"…Really?"

She smiled even wider and nodded.

"It’s okay. It feels good to get it all out."

She is not angry at all.

Contrary to my concerns, she seemed to be genuinely relieved.

It was a relief that my actions didn’t cause more pain.

"Sorry for making you worry."

In my cautious approach, Anais clenched her fist and glared at me.

She playfully smirked and retorted, "Of course, it’s not okay! Do you think the person who got hurt in this incident will be feeling good?"

"I’m sorry," I apologized.

"Well, there’s no need to apologize," she replied. "Let’s just continue as we have been, given our relationship as the circus ringmaster and the sponsor. Oh, there’s something I’m curious about. You and Yurakne… there’s nothing between you two, right?"

She cautiously asked, as if she suspected something.

I smiled and shook my head. "No, we’re just fellow performers."

She raised an eyebrow at my response. "Really? I see. It must be tough on your side too. You know, you’re quite an unlucky person."

Out of the blue?

I couldn’t think of a suitable response and just chuckled as Anais let out a snort.

"Fine, forget it. It’s over now… Anyway, as planned, we’ll hold a press conference tomorrow. According to the board of elders, the ringmaster can be seen as the ’benefactor who cured the illness,’ and the one-month trip can be explained as ’for the sake of follow-up treatment.’ Oh, while we’re at it, how about doing it today?

There’s a ceremony scheduled for the opening, along with the circus ringmaster’s oath and an introduction of the sponsors."

She spoke rapidly, as if she was being chased by something.

She had said it was okay, but there were still wounds in the parts of her emotionally connected to me. So, I tried to avoid those parts as quickly as possible whenever they came up. I didn’t want to hurt her.

Because it would hurt me too.

As someone who had experienced heartbreak, I understood her feelings.

So, I consciously spoke in a cheerful tone, trying not to dwell on that aspect. "As we have been so far?"

"Yes. Oh, but there will be some changes. I’ll be more diligent in checking the accounts now. I’ve been letting things slide because I didn’t want to pressure the ringmaster too much."

Her words made me snap to attention.

She had been doing it haphazardly.

Whenever there was an expense that seemed unnecessary in the accounts (including charges for dozens of silk handkerchiefs that Womon had torn to shreds), I had to listen to her scolding as the representative.

I recalled her sharp voice as she picked apart each item.

I couldn’t imagine how she could examine things more closely from here. Maybe I should start giving the money to Ella as she requested and take the change as my allowance. I seriously considered changing the way things were done.

Then, suddenly, the entire hall went dark.

"It looks like they’re starting now."

"But, Miss Anais, about what you said earlier…"

"I said the apology is enough. I don’t want to hear such talk from the ringmaster anymore. Remember, the opening ceremony hasn’t ended yet. If you keep it up, I’ll withdraw my sponsorship."

She said firmly and then turned her gaze toward the stage.

I hadn’t meant to apologize but had merely been going to ask her about looking into the accounts. However, I couldn’t say anything more as her voice continued.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Rose Windmill Cabaret! We are delighted to have you here!"

The owner of the Rose Windmill, Bouvalle, stood in the spotlight and ascended the stage.

He briefly greeted the audience and invited the dignitaries who had supported the festival onto the stage.

The mayor of Luz, the deputy mayor, the owner of the Moustan estate, the members of the Luz Administrative Committee, local nobles, the colonel of the Luz Mounted Police, the department head of the Luz Police Station (strangely, he was wrapped in bandages all over his body), Director Yug Maroine, and others came up, greeted briefly, and then left the stage.

Bouvalle went on to explain how the Circus Grand Prix would be revived.

This was a setting that did not appear in the game.

In TT1, it was only introduced as the world’s largest performing arts festival, and from TT2 onwards, there was no further mention of the Grand Prix because it was the backdrop for future events.

I listened to his explanation with the feeling of hearing the game’s backstory.

"17 years have passed since the last competition, and this year’s event is taking place because six Eastern countries were able to cooperate. Kiev, Charlotia, Delos, Castya, Posturica, and Vegas. Let’s give a round of applause to the representatives of these six nations!"

Then, one by one, elderly people in suits came up and presented a prepared opening speech.

The content was filled with various investigations, and it was quite boring in terms of content and structure.

No matter how much it was called the Circus Grand Prix, this aspect was not much different from real festivals.

It was a considerable waste of time to get the cooperation of powerful people in exchange for the approval of political figures.

As time passed, Bouvalle began explaining the rules of the Circus Grand Prix in earnest.

When he gave the signal, a vivid illusion created by a magician appeared behind him.

A wide semi-circular island flew across the sea of clouds.

On top of it, there were ivory-colored buildings densely packed together.

I let out a slight sigh when I saw that sight.

It was such a familiar and welcoming place.

The Sky City Hippodrome.

It was the stage for TT1.

As Bouvalle gave the next signal, the illusion expanded gradually, heading towards a certain point in the city.

I could tell where it was going just by looking at the focal point of the expansion.

Thanks to my perfect knowledge of the Hippodrome’s layout and the context of the competition introduction, I could only focus that place.

A smooth circular ring with a diameter of 1.5 km was connected to the north end of the city by a bridge.

The Hippodrome consisted of several subsidiary islands in addition to the main island, and that was one of them.

I had a pleasant smile on my face.

Seeing it in this way made me happy.

That place was the main stage of the Circus Grand Prix.

It was also where the final boss battle of TT1 took place.

The Aerial Theater Wonder Stage.

This part was already known to me.

Ella had explained it to me.

Participate in the preliminary rounds held at the six theaters in six countries, and if you pass the test set by the theater, you can receive a star from that theater.

Traveling to six theaters and taking the tests while touring the eastern continent for two years.

That was the preliminary round of the Circus Grand Prix.

Similar events were happening in the other five regions apart from here.

Although there might be a slight time difference.

In this way, during the preliminary round, critics from an authoritative magazine would assign grades to circus troupes.

Stars ranged from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 3.

In other words, theoretically, even if you passed all the tests at the six theaters, if you didn’t receive stars from any of them, you couldn’t advance to the finals.

On the other hand, if you received 3 stars from one theater, you only needed to receive stars from four out of the six theaters.

Of course, both scenarios were not easy to achieve.

That concluded the explanation about the competition.

Bouvalle, who had been excitedly talking, suddenly had a solemn expression.

"Before we begin our specialty, we will take a moment of mourning."

Why a mourning ceremony at the start of the festival?

But it seemed that no one else had any questions, excluding me.

Everyone fell into a solemn silence.

"2nd Circus Grand Prix. We have not been able to hold this festival for a long time since that day. Many fellow acrobats, singers, actors, magicians, and audience members were injured and killed in a terrible accident."

Was there a setting I didn’t know about?

I pretended to pray, covering my mouth with my hand and closing my eyes.

"17 years ago, a terrorist incident occurred on the Wonder Stage of the Sky City Hippodrome. We do not know where the culprit came from. We do not know his purpose or identity. But we know how evil he was. That cursed name."

The word that came out of Bouvalle’s mouth was very familiar.

"The Black Magician."

One of Wonderstein’s nicknames.