The Freak Show Foreman

On August 11th, it had been exactly 10 weeks since the start of the Circus Grand Prix.

On this day, the restrictions on recruiting new members, which the competition organizers had prohibited, were partially lifted.

These regulations were introduced to prevent negative collusion and transactions among participants.

For example, if circus troupes conspired to exchange members or if groups favorable for passing certain tests lingered in a city, switching teams and taking the tests each time, it would undermine the fairness of the competition and make the festival unenjoyable for the spectators.

Therefore, during the first 10 weeks, all types of recruitment and transactions were completely prohibited.

After that period, some were allowed under certain conditions.

The contents of the tests held at the 6 theaters had already been disclosed.

Thanks to this, participants knew what talents they needed to pass the tests and what skills they lacked.

Because of this, on the day the prohibition was lifted, fierce competition erupted among circus troupes in cities with the 6 theaters to recruit new members.

However, Yeterinpuurk was an exception.

Even though it was the 11th, participants staying here weren't as passionate about recruiting.

This was because of the special event scheduled for the following Monday.

Most circus troupes in the city had left vacancies for new members for that day.

Our circus troupe, which always struggled with a shortage of people, was no exception.

Perhaps due to our performance in Luz, there were quite a few acrobats who knew we were a Monster Circus.

If it had been before the opening ceremony, we might have welcomed them, but not now.

The acrobats who came to us were all inferior in skill compared to our improved abilities.

Indeed, anyone confident in their own abilities would not try to join our circus at this point, waiting instead for the following Monday. Find your next read on empire

According to the competition regulations, we could only recruit one more person at the moment.

We couldn't afford to give away the precious single spot to just anyone.

Like other circus troupes, we decided to wait for the following Monday and sent all the visitors away.

And the day we had been waiting for arrived.

We had breakfast early and set off in the carriage to the villa.

"We don't need tightrope walkers. Yurakne is so excellent at it. The same goes for the jugglers. Where would we find anyone like Womon? It wouldn't be bad if someone could handle bandages like Bendict. The problem is the ground acts. Jobel's skills are still lacking a lot. If we're going to supplement, it would be good to pick someone who is excellent at ground acts. Ground acts are more effective when there are several people."

Ella sat beside me, passing over her notes while chattering.

She was sticking to me with her hat pressed against my cheek.

She continued to make eye contact with me, exchanging winks or smiles during the conversation.

It would have been unimaginable in the past.

For the past three weeks, I had roughly figured out what her memory was like.

Her unfortunate memories of me were either erased or distorted.

The massacre incident she had in her hometown, which was her biggest trauma, was packaged as if there was an epidemic in her hometown and I had saved them, reducing the number of victims significantly.

For her, I was the Saviour of her hometown, the first audience member who shared in her love for the circus, a co-founder who started the circus together, and the partner on stage.

The only change was the part about her hometown.

But just that changed her attitude by 180 degrees.

Her affection and trust towards me were unimaginably strong.

Her murmurs about her favorite person were never empty words.

Of course, Ella's visible favorability rating remained the same.

There was no change in it, as the notification before the Reaper's Scythe didn't allow even a slight variation.

Perhaps the magical increase in favorability was not acknowledged by the system.

Ella's current state was due to the curse by the Reaper's Scythe, not a natural change of heart.

"Hey, are you listening?"

She noticed that I was thinking something else and looked at me sharply.

But before I could make an excuse, she looked worried and asked,

"Did you not sleep well? Your light was on in your room until late last night."

Then, laughter burst out from my left.

"Hehe, of course. I was teaching alchemy late into the night yesterday."

The old man sitting to my left chuckled and spoke to Ella.

Upon hearing his words, her expression twisted slightly.

"What? Is that really you? You stayed up late studying herbs on such an important day?"

"Studying herbs? How dare you! Plants are far better than raising animals!"

"It seemed like no fun at all though?"

Voices came from both sides.

Gascon, using his status as a guest of the circus and an elder, occupied the seat beside me.

Thanks to him, Yurakne, who always sat next to me, was pushed aside.

Watching Ella and Gascon argue, Sven, sitting behind us, burst into laughter.

"Hehe, come to think of it, since those two showed up like that, you two haven't been able to sit next to the boss at all… Hrk!"

Sven's neck was twisted to the right by an unseen force, and his spine was bent to the left from an attack from an unseen angle.

The most likely suspects were Maya and Yurakne sitting on either side of him, but the two were standing with their arms crossed, looking out the window.

Of course, I knew they had other arms hidden, so I quietly smiled.

"Ella, please stop. I'm interested in caring for plants, it's just for you."

Gascon groaned in dissatisfaction.

"It's all for Ella's treatment."

At my words, Ella looked sheepish, avoiding my gaze and turning her head away.

"Ah… T-treatment, right? That's right. Sorry…."

Every time I mentioned treatment, she seemed uncomfortable.

I took it as a positive sign.

With each treatment session, it was clear that some unhappy memories were gradually resurfacing.

While they might fade in the moments of waking from a dream, with each successive treatment, it seemed possible to bring them back as actual memories.

Seeing progress in her treatment made me feel a bit relieved.

It might take a bit longer than using mental magic, but I felt satisfied with this method, minus the annoying eavesdropper.

"The next treatment method will be about adhesion, I'll teach you after you learn about it."

"What does adhesion have to do with pharmacy?"

"…If you don't like it, don't learn."

With a rough expression like an old man and a child, he turned his head away, so I had no choice but to laugh and persuade him.

"Understood, Master. I'll learn."

"Nng! I don't have to get treatment, so you won't learn!"

"You can't do that. It's for Ella's sake."

"Heh…"

As the carriage settled down, I checked the notification window.

As expected, there was nothing there.

For the past three weeks, I had habitually opened the quest notification window.

Just in case a new member quest appeared.

Member quests were provided by the system in the form of quests, detecting the desires of the members.

However, despite three weeks passing since their wishes were accepted, no member quest to heal them had appeared.

Based on past experiences, quests were never impossible or conflicting with the main quest.

If that wasn't the case, Ella's repeated demands to release all the members would have triggered it hundreds of times, and the members' desires to move to another area when escaping the Ismi Plateau would have triggered it immediately.

And thinking inversely about that fact, the fact that no quests appeared despite their desires meant that it was deemed impossible from the perspective of the 'system', or rather the perspective of the Circus God, Kirku.

Was it really impossible?

Or, was there a possible way, but treating them conflicted with the situation the main quest was inducing

I hoped for the latter.

I wanted to somehow fulfil their desires.

No matter how well-intentioned, indulging in false flattery for the sake of enjoying the benefits of their favor is akin to becoming a human no different from the pseudo-pastor who exploited my childhood.

I wanted to find a way to truly heal the members' bodies in the remaining two years of our journey.

It took a whopping hour and a half to reach the square in front of the theater from the villa.

Yeterinpuurk was the largest city in the eastern part.

It was several times the population and size of Luz.

Of course, in the game, it was implemented to be similar in size to Luz, only as a setting devastated by monsters.

I watched as the carriage entered familiar scenery.

"Wow!"

"This is the first time I've seen such a big place!"

Excited voices erupted from beside and behind me.

Ella, Yurakne, and Sven couldn't close their mouths as they looked out the window at the unfolding scenery.

Even Maya, usually calm, looked around with amazed eyes.

Only Gascon, who claimed to have been inside the Imperial Palace, didn't make a fuss.

I felt like I had returned to my long-lost hometown.

"This is Tettromino, the center of Yeterinpuurk."

A huge square, large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people, spread out before us.

Not only its size but also the unusual blocks on the ground were noteworthy.

Blocks representing all the characters that could be formed with J, L, T, Z, S, O, I, four squares were laid out on the ground in various colors, tightly packed without a gap.

They seemed to be randomly placed without any rules.

Because of its size and the peculiar shape of the blocks on the ground, various rumors spread about this square.

Rumors such as solving the mystery hidden in the patterns of the blocks would invite one to the magician's palace, or dozens of mathematicians rushing in to figure it out only to collectively go insane, or a secret treasure hidden in the location of the one missing black square 'missing block' somewhere in the square.

I smiled, recalling the special feature I had done introducing Easter eggs hidden throughout the map related to these rumors.

At that moment, people's voices and gazes focused on one place.

"Wow! Look at that! That's…"

"Wow, amazing."

"It's incredible."

The end of the direction the carriage was heading.

In one corner of the square stood a building emitting colors so intense it hurt the eyes.

That was our destination for today.

Nine towers of varying heights were asymmetrically arranged around a central pointed spire.

On top of the towers were onion-shaped domes, each painted in a different way: some with a single color, some with two colors spiraling, some with three colors in a grid pattern, each tower painted differently.

It was a dazzling building displaying the architect's strong determination to use every kind of color in existence.

That was the main dungeon appearing in the Yeterinpuurk stage of TT2.

One of the six theaters where the preliminary rounds of the Grand Prix Circus are held.

The elite acrobat training ground known as the best in the industry.

It was the Lekachep Circus School.